Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 48:1
Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded [and] taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
1. Moab ] Its territory was the high tableland E. of the Dead Sea. See further on Jer 48:2.
Nebo ] not the mountain (Deu 32:49; Deu 34:1), but the city (Num 32:38). It was taken by Mesha king of Moab ( c. 895 b.c.) according to the records of the “Moabite stone.” See transl. of lines 14 18 in HDB. III. 406. Kiriathaim, Kerioth, Jahzah, Dibon, Aroer, Bozrah (Bezer), Beth-diblathaim, Baal-meon (see on Jer 48:23), and Horonaim are also mentioned on that stone.
Kiriathaim ] probably Kureyat, ten miles N. of the Dead Sea.
Misgab ] better, as mg. the high fort. Cp. Isa 25:12.
broken down ] better than (mg.) dismayed. So in Jer 48:20 ; Jer 48:39.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Against Moab – Concerning Moab.
Is confounded – Is brought to shame.
Misgab – The high fort; some special fortress, probably Kir-haraseth 2Ki 3:25.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XLVIII
The following prophecy concerning the Moabites is supposed to
have had its accomplishment during the long siege of Tyre in
the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. The whole of this chapter is
poetry of the first order. The distress of the cities of Moab,
with which it opens, is finely described. The cries of one
ruined city resound to those of another, 1-3.
The doleful helpless cry of the children is heard, 4;
the highways, on either hand, resound with the voice of
weeping, 5;
and the few that remain resemble a blasted tree in the wide
howling waste, 6.
Chemosh, the chief god of the Moabites, and the capital figure
in the triumph, is represented as carried off in chains, with
all his trumpery of priests and officers, 7.
The desolation of the country shall be so general and sudden
that, by a strong figure, it is intimated that there shall be
no possibility of escape, except it be in the speediest flight,
8, 9.
And some idea may be formed of the dreadful wickedness of this
people from the consideration that the prophet, under the
immediate inspiration of the Almighty, pronounces a curse on
those who do the work of the Lord negligently, in not
proceeding to their utter extermination, 10.
The subject is then diversified by an elegant and
well-supported comparison, importing that the Moabites
increased in insolence and pride in proportion to the duration
of their prosperity, 11;
but this prosperity is declared to be nearly at an end; the
destroyer is already commissioned against Moab, and his
neighbours called to sing the usual lamentation at his funeral,
13-18.
The prophet then represents some of the women of Aroer and
Ammon, (the extreme borders of Moab,) standing in the highways,
and asking the fugitives of Moab, What intelligence? They
inform him of the complete discomfiture of Moab, 19-24,
and of the total annihilation of its political existence, 25.
The Divine judgments about to fall upon Moab are farther
represented under the expressive metaphor of a cup of
intoxicating liquor, by which he should become an object of
derision because of his intolerable pride, his magnifying
himself against Jehovah, and his great contempt for the
children of Israel in the day of their calamity, 26, 27.
The prophet then points out the great distress of Moab by a
variety of striking figures, viz., by the failure of the
customary rejoicings at the end of harvest, by the mournful
sort of music used at funerals, by the signs which were
expressive among the ancients of deep mourning, as shaving the
head, clipping the beard, cutting the flesh, and wearing
sackcloth; and by the methods of catching wild beasts in toils,
and by the terror and pitfall, 28-46.
In the close of the chapter it is intimated that a remnant
shall be preserved from this general calamity whose descendants
shall be prosperous in the latter days, 47.
NOTES ON CHAP. XLVIII
Verse 1. Against Moab] This was delivered some time after the destruction of Jerusalem. The Moabites were in the neighbourhood of the Ammonites, and whatever evils fell on the one would naturally involve the other. See Isa 15:1-9 and Isa 16:1-14 on this same subject.
Wo unto Nebo! for it is spoiled] This was a city in the tribe of Reuben, afterwards possessed by the Moabites. It probably had its name from Nebo, one of the principal idols of the Moabites.
Kiriathaim] Another city of the Moabites.
Misgab is confounded] There is no place of this name known, and therefore several learned men translate hammisgab, literally, The high tower, or fortress, which may apply to Kiriathaim, or any other high and well-fortified place.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The prophet having, Jer 46; denounced Gods judgment against Egypt, and against the Philistines, Jer 47, in this chapter he cometh to do the like against the Moabites. Moab, the father of these Moabites, was the son of Lot, Gen 19:37. the Moabites country lay in the way the Israelites went to Canaan, Num 21:11,13, near the country of the Ammonites. Balak was king of it when the Israelites passed by it, who sent for the sorcerer Balaam to curse them, Num 22:5, who, Num 24:5, &c., blessed them. They seduced the Israelites to adultery and idolatry, Num 25:1.
Moab was a large country, and had many cities; we shall have divers of them named in this chapter; the first that we read of Nebo in holy writ is Num 32:3,38. Reuben built both that and Kirathaim, as may be read there, Num 32:38,39. It was also the name of a mountain, Deu 34:1. It should seem that in Jeremiahs time, the Moabites had got both the possession of Nebo, and Kiriathaim, and
Misgab, of which we read no more in Scripture. It seems to be a city built upon some hill or high place. The prophet threateneth ruin to all these three cities.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. Neboa mountain and town ofMoab; its meaning is “that which fructifies.”
Kiriathaima city ofMoab, consisting of two cities, as the word signifies;originally held by the Emim (Ge14:5).
Misgabmeaning”elevation.” It lay on an elevation.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,…. The prophecy concerning Moab is introduced with these epithets of God, partly to observe that the God of Israel was the only true God, in opposition to the gods of Moab, and other nations; and partly to point out his omnipotence, being able to perform what he here predicts and threatens; as also to suggest, that for the enmity of the Moabites to his people Israel, and their contempt of them, which is taken notice of in this chapter, and the ill treatment of them, the Lord would now take vengeance on them. Some render it, “concerning Moab” z; because every thing that is here said is not against it; the chapter concludes in favour of it; though the far greater part, and ever, all but the last verse, is against it. This prophecy, according to Josephus a, had its fulfilment about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem;
woe unto Nebo, for it is spoiled; its walls broken down; its houses demolished; its inhabitants destroyed, and plundered of their riches; this, in prophetic language, is represented as done, because of the certainty of it. Of this city [See comments on Isa 15:2]; It is thought to be an oracular one, where was a temple of their idol; and from whence their priests gave out oracles, promising peace, and prosperity and safety, to Moab; and therefore the desolation of that is first prophesied of, to show that no dependence was to be had on those lying oracles;
Kirjathaim is confounded [and] taken; a city in the tribe of Reuben, which afterwards came into the hands of the Moabites, Jos 13:19. The word is of the dual form; and it might be a double city, like Jerusalem, consisting of a lower and upper city; or it might be divided by a river; or, as Kimchi and Ben Melech think, it was so called because it had two towers in it. It seems to be the same with Kir of Moab, Kirharesh, and Kirhareseth, Isa 15:1; when it was taken by the Chaldeans, the inhabitants were confounded, as having looked upon the place, and boasted of it, as impregnable;
Misgab is confounded and dismayed; so called from its being built on a high place, and well fortified; though some think that this is not the proper name of a place; but only signifies a high and fortified place both by nature and art; a place of refuge, where persons thought themselves safe; and so the Targum renders it,
“the house of their confidence;”
this, when besieged and taken by the Babylonians, threw the inhabitants into the utmost consternation and confusion. Some take it to be the same with Bamoth, a name of much the same signification, Jos 13:17; see Isa 15:2.
z “ad Moab”, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus; “de Moabo”, Vatablus, Cocceius. a Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Calamities to come on Moab. – Jer 48:1 . “Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste! Kiriathaim is come to dishonour, it is taken: the fortress is come to dishonour and broken down. Jer 48:2 . Moab’s glory is no more. In Heshbon they have devised evil against her, [saying], Come, and let us cut her off from [being] a nation: thou also, O Madmen, art brought to silence; the sword shall go after thee. Jer 48:3 . A sound of crying from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction. Jer 48:4 . Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. Jer 48:5 . For they ascend the ascent of Luhith with weeping – weeping: for on the descent of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction. Jer 48:6 . Flee, save your life! and be like one destitute in the wilderness. Jer 48:7 . For, because they trust [was] in thy works, and in thy treasures, thou also shalt be taken; and Chemosh shall go into captivity, his priests and his princes together. Jer 48:8 . The destroyer shall come to every city, and no city shall escape; and the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be laid waste, as Jahveh hath said.”
With the exclamation “Woe!” Jeremiah transports the hearers of the word of God at once into the midst of the catastrophe which is to come on Moab; this is with the view of humbling the pride of this people, and chastening them for their sins. The woe is uttered over Nebo, but holds also of the towns named afterwards. Nebo is not the mountain of that name (Deu 32:49; Deu 34:1), but the city, which probably did not lie far from the peak in the mountain-range of Abarim, which bore the same name (Num 32:3, Num 32:38; Isa 15:2), although in the Onomasticon, s.v. , the situation of the mountain is given as being six Roman miles from Heshbon, towards the west, and s.v. , that of the city, eight Roman miles south from Heshbon, for both accounts point to a situation in the south-west. The Arab. name nba= is still applied to some ruins; cf. Robinson’s Palestine, iii. p. 170. “Kiriathaim is taken.” The site of this town, mentioned as early as Gen 14:5, has been fixed, since the time of Burckhardt, as that of a mass of ruins called et Teim, about five miles south of Heshbon; but Dietrich, in Merx’ Archiv. i. S. 337ff., has shown this is incorrect. According to Eusebius, in his Onomasticon, Kiriathaim lay ten Roman miles to the west of Medeba: this suits not merely the position of et Teim, but also the ruins of Kereyat south-west from Medeba, on the ridge of Mount Attarus, a little to the south of M’kaur ( Machaerus), and of Baara in the Wady Zerka Maein, where also is the plain mentioned in Gen 14:5, either in the plain stretching direct east from Kereyat between Wady Zerka Maein and Wady Wal, or south-east in the beautiful plain el Kura, described by Burckhardt, p. 371ff., between the Wal and the Mojeb. Nebo and Kiriathaim lay on the eastern border of the high range of mountains, and seem to be comprehended under , “the height, the high fortress,” in the third clause of Jer 48:1, as the representatives of the mountain country of Moab. Various expositors, certainly, take the word as a proper name designating an elevated region; Graf and Ngelsbach take it to be a name of Kir-Moab (Kir-heres, Kir-haresheth, Jer 48:31, Jer 48:36), the chief fortress in the country, the modern Kerek in the southern part of Moab; but no valid proof has been adduced. By “the height” Hitzig understands the highlands, which learn of the fall of these towns in the lowlands, and feel this disgrace that has come on Moab, but have not yet themselves been taken. But this view is untenable, because the towns of Nebo and Kiriathaim are not situated in the level country. Again, since is common to the two clauses, the distinction between and could hardly be pressed so far as to make the latter the opposite of the former, in the sense of being still unconquered. The meaning rather is, that through Nebo’s being laid waste, and the capture of Kiriathaim, the fortress on which the Moabites trusted is no more. And to this Jer 48:3 appropriately adds, “the boasting of Moab is gone,” i.e., Moab has no more ground for boasting. “In Heshbon they (the enemy, or the conquerors) plot evil against Moab.” Heshbon was formerly the capital of the Amorite kingdom of Sihon (Num 21:26; Deu 2:24, etc.), and was assigned to the tribe of Reuben (Jos 13:17); but because it lay on the boundary of the territory belonging to the tribe, it was given up to the Gadites, and set apart as a Levitical city (Jos 21:37). It lay ten Roman miles east from the Jordan, opposite Jericho, almost intermediate between the Arnon and the Jabbok, and is still pointed out, though in ruins, under the old name Heshbn (see on Num 32:37). At the time of Jeremiah it was taken possession of by the Ammonites (Jer 49:3), consequently it was the frontier town of the Moabite territory at that time; and being such, it is here named as the town where the enemy, coming from the north, deliberate regarding the conquest of Moab – “meditate evil,” i.e., decide upon conquest and devastation. The suffix of refers to Moab as a country, and hence is feminine; cf. v. 4. “We will destroy it (Moab) , so that it shall no longer be a nation.” Just as in there is a play on the words, so is there also in the expression which follows. This very circumstance forms an argument for taking Madmen as a proper name, instead of an appellative, as Venema and Hitzig have done, after the example of the lxx: “Yea, thou shalt be destroyed (and made into) a dunghill.” In support of this rendering they point to 2Ki 10:27; Ezr 6:11. But the verb , in its meaning, ill accords with in the sense of a dung-heap, and in this case there would be no foundation for a play upon the words (Graf). It is no proof of the non-existence of a place called Madmen in Moab, that it is not mentioned elsewhere; Madmena in the tribe of Benjamin (Isa 10:31), and Madmanna in Judah (Jos 15:31), are also mentioned but once. These passages rather show that the name Madmen was not uncommon; and it was perhaps with reference to this name that Isaiah (Isa 25:10) chose the figure of the dunghill. , to be silent, means, in the Niphal, to be brought to silence, be exterminated, perish; cf. Jer 49:26; Jer 25:37; Jer 8:14, etc. As to the form instead of , cf. Ewald, 140, b; Gesenius, 67, Rem. 5. The following clause refers to Madmen: “after thee shall the sword go;” cf. Jer 9:15.
Jer 48:3-4 A cry is heard from Horonaim against violence and destruction. The words are to be taken as the cry itself; cf. Jer 4:20; Jer 20:8. The city of Horonaim, mentioned both here and in Isa 15:5 in connection with Luhith, lay on a slope, it would seem, not far from Luhith. Regarding this latter place we find it remarked in the Onomasticon: est usque hodie vicus inter Areopolim et Zoaram nomine Luitha ( ). As to , the Onomasticon says no more than (ed. Lars. p. 376). The destruction over which the outcry is made comes on Moab. By “Moab” Graf refuses to understand the country or its inhabitants, but rather the ancient capital of the country, Ar-Moab (Num 21:28; Isa 15:1), in the valley of the Arnon, which is also simply called Ar in Num 21:15; Deu 2:9. But, as Dietrich has already shown (S. 329ff.), the arguments adduced in support of this view are insufficient to prove the point.
(Note: The mention of Moab among names if cities in Jer 48:4, and in connection with Kir-heres in Jer 48:31 and Jer 48:36 proves nothing; for in Jer 48:4 Moab is not named among towns, and the expression in Jer 48:31 and Jer 48:36 is analogous to the phrase “Judah and Jerusalem.” Nor can any proof be derived from the fact that Rabbath-Moab is merely called “Moab” in the Onomasticon of Eusebius, and Mb in Abulfeda, and Rabbath-Ammon, now merely “Amman;” because this mode of speaking will not admit of being applied for purposes of proof to matters pertaining to Old Testament times, since it originated only in the Christian ages,at a time, too, when Rabbath had become the capital of the country, and when Rabbath-Moab could easily be shortened by the common people into “Moab.” Rabbath (of Moab), however, is not mentioned at all in the Old Testament.)
, to break,of a nation or a city (Jer 19:11; Isa 14:25, etc.), as it were, to ruin, – is here used of the country or kingdom. is for , as in Jer 14:3. The little ones of Moab, that raise a cry, are neither the children (Vulgate, Dahler, Maurer), nor the small towns (Hitzig), nor the people of humble condition, but cives Moabi ad statum miserum dejecti (Kueper). The lxx have rendered (i.e., ), which reading is preferred by J. D. Michaelis, Ewald, Umbreit, Graf, Ngelsbach, but without sufficient reason; for neither the occurrence of Zoar in combination with Horonaim in Jer 48:34, nor the parallel passage Isa 15:5, will prove the point. Isa 15:5 is not a parallel to this verse, but to Jer 48:34; however, the train of thought is different from that before us here. Besides, Jeremiah writes the name of the town (not ), cf. v. 34, as in Isa 15:5; Deu 34:3; Gen 13:10 ( occurs only in Gen 19:22, Gen 19:30); hence it is unlikely that has been written by mistake for .
Jer 48:5 In Jer 48:5 this idea is further elucidated. The inhabitants flee, weeping as they go, towards the south, before the conquering enemy advancing from the north, up the ascent of Luhith, and down the descent of Horonaim. The idea is taken from Isa 15:5, but applied by Jeremiah in his own peculiar manner; is changed into , and the notion of weeping is thereby intensified. We take as an adverbial accusative, but in fact it is to be rendered like the preceding ; and stands with an indefinite nominative: “one ascends = they ascend,” not “weeping rises over weeping,” as Hitzig, Graf, and others take it. For, in the latter case, could not be separated from , nor stand first; cf. the instances adduced by Graf, and . The form for is either an error of transcription or an optional form, and there is no ground for taking the word as appellative, as Hitzig does, “the ascent of boards, i.e., as boards tower one above another, so does weeping rise,” – an unnatural figure, and one devoid of all taste. The last words of the second member of the verse present some difficulty, chiefly on account of , which the lxx have omitted, and which Ewald and Umbreit set down as spurious, although (as Graf rightly remarks) they do not thereby explain how it came into the text. To suppose, with the Rabbinical writers, that the construct state stands for the absolute, is not only inadmissible, as being against the principles of grammar, but also contrary to the whole scope of the passage. The context shows that the clamour cannot proceed from the enemy, but only from the fugitive Moabites. Only two explanations are possible: either must be taken in the sense of angustiae , and in connection with , “straits, distress of crying,” a cry of distress, as De Wette does; or, “oppressors of the cry of distress,” as Ngelsbach takes it. We prefer the former, in spite of the objection of Graf, that the expression “distress of crying,” for “a cry of distress,” would be a strange one: for this objection may be made against his own explanation, that means the bursting open of the mouth in making a loud cry; and is a loud outcry for help.
Jer 48:6 Only by a precipitate flight into the desert can the Moabites save even their lives. The summons to flee is merely a rhetorical expression for the thought that there is no safety to be had in the country. To in Jer 48:6 we must supply as the subject: “your souls shall be.” Ewald would change into ; but this proposal has against it the fact that the plural form is found in but a single case, Eze 13:20, and everywhere else: besides, is often used in the singular of several persons, as in 2Sa 19:6, and may further be easily taken here in a distributive sense; cf. , Jer 51:6. The assumption of C. B. Michaelis, Rosenmller, Maurer, and of the translators of our “Authorized” English Version, that is the second person, and refers to the cities, i.e., their inhabitants, is against the context. cannot here be the name of a town, because neither Aroer in the tribe of Reuben, which was situated on the Arnon, nor Aroer of the tribe of Gad, which was before Rabbath-Ammon, lay in the wilderness; the comparison, too, of the fugitives to a city is unsuitable. The clause reminds us of Jer 17:6, and = the of that passage; the form found here is either an error of transcription caused by thinking of Aroer, or a play upon the name of the city, for the purpose of pointing out the fate impending over it.
Jer 48:7-8 Moab will not be saved from destruction by any trust on their works or on their treasures. The lxx, Vulgate, and Syriac render by fortresses, hence Ewald would read instead; but there is no ground for the change, since the peculiar rendering alluded to has evidently originated from having been confounded with . Others, as Dahler, refer the word to idols; but these are always designated as . Graf translates “property,” and points to 1Sa 25:2; Exo 23:16; but this meaning also has really nothing to support it, for in these passages denotes only agriculture and its produce, and the combination of the word with in this passage does not require such a rendering. We abide by the common meaning of “doings” or “works,” not evil deeds specially (Hitzig), but “all that Moab undertakes.” Neither their efforts to maintain and increase their power, nor their wealth, will avail them in any way. They shall be overcome. Moab is addressed as a country or kingdom. , to seize, capture; of a land, to take, conquer. Chemosh, with his priests and princes, shall go into exile. is perhaps a mere error of the copyist for , Chemosh, the chief deity of the Moabites and Ammonites, worshipped as a king and the war-god of his people: see on Num 21:29. As in the last-named passage the Moabites are called the people of Chemosh, so here, not merely the priests, but also the princes of Moab, are called his priests and his princes. The Kethib is not to be changed, although Jeremiah elsewhere always uses , which is substituted in the Qeri; cf. Jer 49:3. In confirmation of this, it is added, in Jer 48:8, that all the cities of Moab, without exception, shall be laid waste, and the whole country, valley and plain, shall be brought to ruin. , “the level,” is the table-land stretching from the Arnon to Heshbon, and north-eastwards as far as Rabbath-Ammon, and which originally belonged to the Moabites, hence called “the fields of Moab” in Num. 21:40; but it was taken from them by the Amorites, and after the conquest of the latter was taken possession of by the Israelites (Deu 3:10; Deu 4:43; Jos 13:9), but at that time had been taken back once more by the Moabites. is the valley of the Jordan, commonly called , as in Jos 13:27 and Jos 13:19; here it is that portion of the valley towards the west which bounds the table-land. can only be taken in a causal signification, “because,” as in Jer 16:13, or in a relative meaning, quod, or “as.”
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Judgment of Moab. | B. C. 605. |
1 Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed. 2 There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee. 3 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction. 4 Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. 5 For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction. 6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. 7 For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together. 8 And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken. 9 Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein. 10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. 11 Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. 12 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles. 13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence.
We may observe in these verses,
I. The author of Moab’s destruction; it is the Lord of hosts, that has armies, all armies, at his command, and the God of Israel (v. 1), who will herein plead the cause of his Israel against a people that have always been vexatious to them, and will punish them now for the injuries done to Israel of old, though Israel was forbidden to meddle with them (Deut. ii. 9), therefore the destruction of Moab is called the work of the Lord (v. 10), for it is he that pleads for Israel; and his work will exactly agree with his word, v. 8.
II. The instruments of it: Spoilers shall come (v. 8), shall come with a sword, a sword that shall pursue them, v. 2. “I will send unto him wanderers, such as come from afar, as if they were vagrants, or had missed their way, but they shall cause him to wander; they seem as wanderers themselves, but they shall make the Moabites to be really wanderers, some to flee and others to be carried into captivity.” These destroyers stir up themselves to do execution; they have devised evil against Heshbon, one of the principal cities of Moab, and they aim at no less than the ruin of the kingdom: Come, and let us cut it off from being a nation (v. 2); nothing less will serve the turn of the invaders; they come, not to plunder it, but to ruin it. The prophet, in God’s name, engages them to make thorough work of it (v. 10): Cursed be he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully, this bloody work, this destroying work; though it goes against the grain with men of compassion, yet it is the work of the Lord, and must not be done by the halves. The Chaldeans have it in charge, by a secret instinct (says Mr. Gataker), to destroy the Moabites, and therefore they must not spare, must not, out of foolish pity, keep back their sword from blood; they would thereby bring a sword, and a curse with it, upon themselves, as Saul did by sparing the Amalekites and Ahab by letting Benhadad go. Thy life shall go for his life. To this work is applied that general rule given to all that are employed in any service for God, Cursed by he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully or negligently, that pretends to do it, but does it not to purpose, makes a show of serving God’s glory, but is really serving his own ends and carries on the work of the Lord no further than will suit his own purposes, or that is slothful in business for God and takes neither care nor pains to do it as it should be done, Mal. i. 14. Let not such deceive themselves, for God will not thus be mocked.
III. The woeful instances and effects of this destruction. The cities shall be laid in ruins; they shall be spoiled (v. 1) and cut down (v. 2); they shall be desolate (v. 9), without any to dwell therein; there shall be no houses to dwell in, or no people to dwell in them, or no safety and ease to those that would dwell in them. Every city shall be spoiled and no city shall escape. The strongest city shall not be able to secure itself against the enemies’ power, nor shall the finest city be able to recommend itself to the enemies’ pity and favour. The country also shall be wasted, the valley shall perish, and the plain be destroyed, v. 8. The corn and the flocks, which used to cover the plains and make the valleys rejoice, shall all be destroyed, eaten up, trodden down, or carried off. The most sacred persons shall not escape: The priests and princes shall go together into captivity. Nay, Chemosh, the god they worship, who, they hope, will protect them, shall share with them in the ruin; his temples shall be laid in ashes and his image carried away with the rest of the spoil. Now the consequence of all this will be, 1. Great shame and confusion: Kirjathaim is confounded, and Misgah is so. They shall be ashamed of the mighty boasts they have sometimes made of their cities: There shall be no more vaunting in Moab concerning Heshbon (so it might be read, v. 2); they shall no more boast of the strength of that city when the evil which is designed against it is brought upon it. Nor shall they any more boast of their gods (v. 13); they shall be ashamed of Chemosh (ashamed of all the prayers they have made to and all the confidence they put in that dunghill deity), as Israel was ashamed of Beth-el, of the golden calf they had at Beth-el, which they confided in as their protector, but were deceived in, for it was not able to save them from the Assyrians; nor shall Chemosh be able to save the Moabites from the Chaldeans. Note, Those that will not be convinced and made ashamed of the folly of their idolatry by the word of God shall be convinced and made ashamed of it by the judgments of God, when they shall find by woeful experience the utter inability of the gods they have served to do them any service. 2. There will be great sorrow; there is a voice of crying heard (v. 3) and the cry is nothing but spoiling and great destruction. Alas! alas! Moab is destroyed, v. 4. The great ones having quitted the cities to shift for their own safety, even the little ones have caused a cry to be heard, the meaner sort of people, or the little children, the innocent harmless ones, whose cries at such a time are the most piteous. Go up to the hills, go down to the valleys, and you meet with continual weeping (weeping with weeping); all are in tears; you meet none with dry eyes. Even the enemies have heard the cry, from whom it would have been policy to conceal it, for they will be animated and encouraged by it; but it is so great that it cannot be hid, 3. There will be great hurry; they will cry to one another, “Away, away! flee; save your lives (v. 6); shift for your own safety with all imaginable speed, though you escape as bare and naked as the heath, or grig, or dry shrub, in the wilderness; think not of carrying away any thing you have, for it may cost you your life to attempt it, Matt. xxiv. 16-18. Take shelter, though it be in a barren wilderness, that you may have your lives for a prey. The danger will come suddenly and swiftly; and therefore give wings unto Moab (v. 9); that would be the greatest kindness you could do them; that is what they will call for, O that we had wings like a dove! for unless they have wings, and can fly, there will be no escaping.”
IV. The sins for which God will now reckon with Moab, and which justify God in these severe proceedings against them. 1. It is because they have been secure, and have trusted in their wealth and strength, in their works and in their treasures, v. 7. They had taken a great deal of pains to fortify their cities and make large works about them, and to fill their exchequer and private coffers, so that they thought themselves in as good a posture for war as any people could be and that none durst invade them, and therefore set danger at defiance. They trusted in the abundance of their riches and strengthened themselves in their wickedness, Ps. lii. 7. Now, for this reason, that they may have a sensible conviction of the vanity and folly of their carnal confidences, God will send an enemy that will master their works and rifle their treasures. Note, We forfeit the comfort of that creature which we repose that confidence in which should be reposed in God only. The reed will break that is leaned upon. 2. It is because they have not made a right improvement of the days of the peace and prosperity, v. 11. (1.) They had been long undisturbed: Moab has been at ease from his youth. It was an ancient kingdom before Israel was, and had enjoyed great tranquillity, though a small country and surrounded with potent neighbours. God’s Israel were afflicted from their youth (Psa 129:1; Psa 129:2), but Moab at ease from his youth. He has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, has not known any troublesome weakening changes, but is as wine kept on the lees, and not racked or drawn off, by which it retains its strength and body. He has not been unsettled, nor any way made uneasy; he has not gone into captivity, as Israel have often done, and yet Moab is a wicked idolatrous nation, and one of the confederates against God’s hidden ones,Psa 83:3; Psa 83:6. Note, There are many that persist in unrepented iniquity and yet enjoy uninterrupted prosperity. (2.) They had been as long corrupt and unreformed: He has settled on his lees; he has been secure and sensual in his prosperity, has rested in it, and fetched all the strength and life of the soul from it, as the wine from the lees. His taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed; he is still the same, as bad as ever he was. Note, While bad people are as happy as they used to be in the world it is no marvel if they are bad as they used to be. They have no changes of their peace and prosperity, therefore fear not God, their hearts and lives are unchanged, Ps. lv. 19.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
JEREMIAH – CHAPTER 48
AN ORACLE CONCERNING MOAB
Moab lay East of the Dead Sea – a rich, elevated plateau wherein Reuben and Gad were first granted an inheritance. The Moabites (“father’s progeny”) were descendants of Lot through a drunken, incestuous relationship with his oldest daughter, (Gen 19:37).
Many of the men of Israel were beguiled Into idolatry by the women of Moab, just before the crossing of the Jordan to possess the Land of Promise, (Num 25:1-3) – from which time there was an intermittent warfare between the two peoples, (Jdg 3:12-30; 1Sa 14:47). David eventually made the Moabites tributaries to Israel, (2Sa 8:2; 2Sa 8:12).
Conquered by both Assyrla and Babylon, Moab managed to maintain her identity and regain her independence. A number of Old Testament prophecies speak of Moab as being under judgment, (Isaiah 15-16; Isa 25:10; Jer 9:26; Jer 25:21; Jer 27:3; Eze 25:8-11; Amo 2:1-3; Zep 2:8-11).
Vs. 1-10: THE DESTRUCTION OF MOAB
1. Nebo was a city built by the Reubenites, (Num 32:3; Num 32:38); a woe is pronounced upon it, while spoiling, confusion and dismay describe what is foreseen for the high fortresses (Misgab) of the Moabites, (vs. 1).
2. The renown of Moab has passed: in Heshbon (13 miles East of the upper end of the Dead Sea, and the ancient capital of Sihon, king of the Amorites) a plan has been devised to cut her off from being a nation, (vs. 2a).
3. There appears to be a play on words in the latter part of verse 2 – “Madmen”, in Hebrew, being somewhat associated with “daman”, meaning “to be silent”; thus, Moab has been. brought to silence.
4. From one end of the country to the other there is a cup of spoiling and destruction, (vs. 3-5; Isa 15:5).
5. If any in Moab are to find deliverance, it must come through flight, and such isolation as is illustrated by the “heath” or “tamarisk” of the desert – stripped and desolate, (vs. 6-9, 28; comp. Jer 51:6; Isa 16:2).
6. The sin of Moab was that of PRIDE and confidence in her wealth and great accomplishments, (vs. 7a, 29: Isa 59:4; comp. Jer 9:23 -24).
7. The spoiler (Babylon) will so overflow the land that none shall escape; Chemosh, the idol in whom Moab trusts, will go into captivity with his priests and princes, (vs. 7b-8; comp. Num 21:29; 1Ki 11:7-8, 33).
8. A curse is pronounced upon anyone who Is “negligent” In doing the Lord’s work, (vs. 10a; comp. 1Sa 15:3; 1Sa 15:9; 1Ki 20:42); or who refuses to execute the judgment that He has commanded, (vs. 10b; comp. 1Co 5:5-13).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
This prophecy is against the Moabites, who, though they derived their origin from Lot, and were of the same blood with the Israelites, had yet been inimical to them. This prophecy would be uninteresting, were we not to remember the history on which the application and use of what is said depends. We have said that the Moabites, as the father of their nation was Lot, were connected by blood with the Israelites; they ought then to have retained the recollection of their brotherhood, and to have dealt kindly with them; for God had spared them when the people of Israel entered into the land of Canaan. The Israelites, we know, passed through the borders of Moab without doing any harm to them, because it was God’s purpose, from a regard to Lot, to preserve them for a time. But this people never ceased to contrive all manner of plots against God’s people; and, as we shall hereafter see, when the state of that people became embarrassed, they cruelly exulted over them, and became more insolent than avowed enemies. Hence God prophesied against them, that the Israelites might know, as we reminded you yesterday, that their miserable condition was not overlooked by God, and that though he chastised them, yet some hope of mercy remained, as he undertook their cause and would be their defender. It was then no small comfort which this prophecy brought to the faithful; for they thus knew that God was still their father, though apparently he seemed to be severe to them. We now perceive the design of what is here said.
The case of the Moabites was different from that of the Egyptians, for the Egyptians were wholly aliens to the chosen people; but the Moabites, as we have said, were related to them. They were therefore willful, and as it were intestine enemies; and nature itself ought to have taught them to acknowledge the Israelites as their brethren, and to cultivate mutual kindness. This cruelty and ingratitude were so hateful to God, that at length he punished them most severely. But as the Moabites remained in quietness when Judea was laid waste, and the city Jerusalem destroyed, after the overthrow of the kingdom of Israel, and the banishment of the ten tribes to distant countries, it behooved the faithful to exercise patience, which could not have been done without hope. It was this then that Jeremiah had in view, even to sustain the minds of the godly with the expectation of God’s judgment, which he here denounces on the Moabites.
He says, Against Moab; (1) and then it follows, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel By the first term he designates the immense power of God, and reminds them that God is the judge of the whole world, and that his kingdom extends over all nations; but by the second expression he bears testimony to the love with which he had embraced the children of Abraham, because he had been pleased to choose them as his peculiar inheritance. Woe, he says, on Nebo; (2) which was a city in the land of Moab; because laid waste, ashamed, taken is Kiriathaim He names here, as we see, some cities, and he will name more as he proceeds. Ashamed then and taken is Kiriathaim; and Misgab (3) is ashamed and torn, or broken in mind. It follows, —
(1) All the versions, except the Syriac, which Calvin has followed, have “to Moab,” and connect the words with the following, that is, “Jehovah says thus to Moab.” The best version is, as given by Blayney and Henderson, “concerning Moab, thus saith,” etc. — Ed.
(2) Some give this rendering, “Alas! no Nebo;” it had ceased to exist, and the reason is given, “for it is laid waste. — Ed.
(3) Neither the Vulg. nor the Syr. gives this as a proper name, nor is there any such place found elsewhere. Blayney renders it “the high fortress,” agreeably with the Vulg., Syr., and the Targ. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MOABS LOST MORALE
Jer 48:1-47
OUR study today involves MOAB. It is a small country extending down the east side of the Dead Sea; in length, fifty miles, and in breadth but thirty miles, corresponding in size to an ordinary county. It is considerably smaller than St. Louis county, Minnesota, and but little larger than Koochiching county. It was an arid mountainous region, and, at present, is incapable of sustaining any large population, but undoubtedly the 3,500 to 4,000 years that sweep in between our time and Moabs zenith, have sufficed to deplete the land to no small degree; and so Moab occupies a rather conspicuous place in Old Testament history.
It is the region to which Lot escaped when Sodom and Gomorrah perished, and was doubtless peopled with Lots descendants, children you will remember, incestual in origin. Modern science tells us that the objection to inbreeding in the human family, rests in the fact that the weaknesses of the offspring are thereby doubled; hence the laws against the marriage of close relatives.
These Moabites bore the Lot mark, accentuated; as he had sought to take advantage of his great uncle Abraham, and revealed a selfishness that was extreme, so the Moabites, throughout their history, though relatives of Abrahams descendants, were their very constant and even dangerous enemies.
No sooner had the descendants of Abraham entered Canaan by conquering the Amorites to the North, than Moab was making an alliance with the Midianites against them, and calling upon Baalim to curse them (Numbers 22-24). In 1Sa 14:47 we see Saul, king of Israel, in battle with Moab who federated with Ammon, Edom, Zobah, and the Philistines. While Saul vexed them and smote them, and delivered Israel out of their hands, he did not annihilate them; and, again and again, they reappeared, and commonly as the enemies of Israel, the part, they are still playing in this Jeremiah record.
There are some interests of very considerable importance associated with Moab.
Their favorite deity was Chemosh, frequently mentioned in the Old Testament as a competitor of Jehovah. Their present descendants are the Arabs, a people who have played such a conspicuous part in history as to require the explanation that they also may be included in the promise of God to Abraham.
The Moabite stone, as a key to ancient, buried archives, almost equals the discovery of the code of Hamarabi.
But this morning we are to study
MOABS LOST MORALE.
The word Morale as applied to armies, refers especially to the spirit of confidence, courage, and zeal, that may be engendered and maintained; and yet, in its derivation, one certainly senses the fact that morality is basal to all, and without it confidence and courage cannot be long sustained. We know that there are certain principles of life that contribute alike to morals and to conquest; and we know that when those principles are lacking a failure in both is foreshadowed.
This 48th chapter of Jeremiah provides an illustration of those principles. Let us search the verses of the same and see the ground of Moabs danger. Our attention is very shortly called to Moabs
SELF-SUFFICIENCY
In Jer 48:1-6 we have the Divine declaration of judgment already coming upon this people, and beginning with Jer 48:7 we have the reasons assigned. In order to illustrate from modern life the full meaning of that verse, let us dissect the same and study carefully each of three suggestions to be found in it.
Moab trusted in his attainments!
Thou hast trusted in thy works.
In the mountain fastnesses, Moab had built their cave-like dwellings. Around their principal cities they had constructed a high and strong stone wall. Their palace was also a fortress, and in those facts they felt a perfect confidence and smugly said to themselves, We are safe! The work of our own hands has rendered us invincible; almost inaccessible! This mental conceit has its modern illustration.
It is not unusual to meet some distant relative of Israelthe husband of a Christian wife or the son of Christian parents or the grand-nephew of a famous Christian preacher, who will tell you that while he is not of Israel, he is quite all right. He is well connected. His conduct is above public reproach; his neighbors are compelled to respect his integrity; and society itself, holds him in some esteem. In these moral fastnesses he counts himself safe; in these ethical heights he regards himself as out of danger; and in his upright conduct he rests for his salvation.
The Book, however, clearly reveals the truth that all such expectations are falsely based. Paul writing to the Romans says,
By the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight.
The same great Apostle and inspired expositor of Christianity writes to the Ephesians:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast (Eph 2:8-9).
To the Galatians he says,
Man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the Law: for by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified (Gal 2:16).
The trouble is, as Paul writes to the Romans, that
They being ignorant of Gods righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Frederick W. Robertson once wrote, That which is done for self dies; that which ends in self is mortal; that alone which goes out of self unto God lasts forever.
When a man forgets that all his works are imperfect, that his heart is impure; that sin within him is in constant repetition, self looms so large as to shadow and cloud all that he undertakes.
It is related that Michael Angelo always worked with a lamp fastened to his hat to keep his own shadow from falling on the canvass and thereby dimming his vision to possible defects in his endeavors. This is certain, that he who works before the full glare of Divine Truth will see so much that is defective in all that he undertakes as to humble him and keep him ever ready to take further instruction from the Master, and receive help at those multiplied points at which he fails daily, if he be without Divine grace and assistance. God forbid that we should glory after the flesh. If we glory, let it be in Christ and His salvation.
Moab trusted in his rich treasures.
Because thou hast trusted in thy * * treasures (Jer 48:7).
Here again the Moabite of 3,500 years ago is identical with the citizen of the twentieth century. There were, just a few years ago, thousands of men who were trusting in their treasures. They had them in a strong box, and the strong box was in the fire-proof safe. Their pleasant occupation was clipping interest coupons, and their confidence for the future was in proportion to the monthly multitude of such; and there are thousands of them now who have learned that safety is not in treasures. No boxes have been built that were strong enough to make those treasures secure. No fire-proof vault has been found that would insure their continued values.
A woman was dying. She was a member of my church. Through her entire life she had skimped, and saved, and invested. A salesman of stocks had crowded her for payments upon the same to the point where she had borrowed not hundreds, but a few thousand dollars, from friends in order to keep them paid up. To her pastor she said, If I live, I will be able to do big things for the cause of Christ. If I die, I trust that His cause may profit. Morning dawned and she was gone. Her strong box was opened, and the stocks were examined, and though they filled the box to the full, and represented expenditure of life savings, and all that a fine character could borrow in addition, they had not value enough to bury her.
Thus saith the Lord, Let not the * * rich man glory in his riches (Jer 9:23).
David wrote:
If riches increase, set not your heart upon them (Psa 62:10),
He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch (Pro 11:28).
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold (Proverbs 22 :
A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked (Psa 37:16).
Many people tell me that I should save my money, and lay it up for old age. That is exactly what I am trying to do, and it is my candid conviction that the money invested in this sanctuary, in that educational plant, Jackson Hall, in the struggling poor, in ambitious students, and such, will bring more comfort to my old age than would millions, and they will abide to bless the world if the last bank has failed and the last strong box thereof has proven valueless. I try my best to be charitable always as I think of my brethren, for God knows I need their charity as they think of me, and I want to believe in the highest and best motive of every man who names the Name of Christ; but I have been depressed with questions when, on every occasion where it is distinctly known that a great financial appeal is to be made as last Sunday morning, I see the audience drop down. The day may come when it will be found that we have run away from our opportunities, and that we were absent from the very service which signally revealed His face.
I suspect there are others who are much like the Irishman of whom I read. My conviction is that he was a Scotchman, but Ill name him an Irishman, (my own relative) in order to give no national offence. It is reported that he went to hear an eloquent preacher, well-famed for his ability at money-raising. He sat beside one of his fellows. When the meeting was over they walked away together.
Man; Bradley, said his friend, that was a grand discoorse entoirely! Oi cudnt help givin half a crown at the collection.
Ah, replied Bradley, thats where Oi had the advantage av ye this toime; for Oive eard him afore. Whin Oi was puttin on me Sunday clothes, shure Oi left iverything out av me pocket but wan sixpence. Man, he has a powerful way with him altogether.
The Irish and the Scotch are not the only ones who prepare themselves for church by emptying their pockets. But the Scriptures do not shift either in statement or meaning. Pauls inspired injunction still stands,
Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come (1Co 16:2).
Do you know the world makes some pathetic history? Some years ago a woman died practically of starvation and privation. A search of her house revealed the fact that $8,000 in cash had been stored away in her cupboard, and security amounting to $1,000,000 in a strong box. Only recently in New York that same condition was discovered on a much larger scalea woman yet alive but demented. Truly there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty.
Does it pay, I wonder to toil for gold
Till the back is bowed and bent,
Till the heart is old and the hair is white,
And lifes best days are spent;
Till the eyes are blind with the yellow dust
That we strive for day by day,
Till all we hear is the coins dull clink
I wonder, does it pay?
Does it pay, I wonder, never to stop,
In the ceaseless rush and care,
And list to the songs of bird and brook,
Or wander through woodlands fair;
To never think of what lies beyond
The narrow sphere of today,
Till the new life dawns on our untried souls
I wonder, does it pay?
Turning back to the text we find a further suggestion.
Moab trusted in his temples.
And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.
As we have already told you, Chemosh was Moabs god. His priests were a multitude, and in him the princes trusted. To Chemosh they had erected their temples and there they bowed the knee to this idol. How easy it is for man to trust confidently in false gods, in temples of idols, in meaningless ceremonies, and even in deceptious philosophies.
Within the week I have listened to a University student, evidently in the advanced classes, probably doing post-graduate work, boast the contentment of mind, and the rest of spirit he has enjoyed since refusing orthodoxy and accepting modernism. The New Thoughtist, The Christian Scientist, The Millennial Dawnist will all, in turn, tell you how happy they are since they have settled in these modern temples of idolatry! Not long since a Unitarian preacher rehearsed to me how, although born and brought up in a strictly Evangelical atmosphere, he never found religious contentment until Unitarian literature fell into his hands and he adopted the philosophy which rejects the Deity of Christ.
But departure from the illumined path, characterizes not alone those who turn their back on God and His own Son, Jesus Christ; it often equally afflicts those who still retain His Name, and gather with some degree of regularity to the sanctuary erected in His honor!
How many trust in the sanctuary itself rather than the Saviour, and in a name written on the church rolls rather than in the assurance that their name is written in the Lambs Book of Life!
I often feel the profoundest sympathy with dear A. J. Gordon, who near the end of his pastorate at Clarendon Street, Boston, said,
I am tempted never to beg a cent for God again, but rather to spend my energy in getting Christians spiritualized, assured that they will then become liberalized! He wrote again:
Experts in such matters say that a bottle of wine that cannot throw out its own cork is rarely good for much. Certainly a Christians prayers and gifts and testimonies are of little value if they do not come forth by the effervescence of his own inward spiritual joy. For one, I am tired of using the pulpit corkscrew to draw out of Christians the offerings and prayers and service which, to be of real value, ought to be spontaneous. I shall continue to pray and persuade, and plead, but I shall not come begging you to do your duty. [My] people shall be willing in the day of [My] power, says the Lord.
We have here a beautiful sanctuary scarcely exceeded on the American continent; and with its educational facilities in Jackson Hall, and especially with the buildings of the Northwestern Bible School, it is hardly equalled in the world, but I want you people to know that I have never labored under any misapprehension in this matter.
A magnificent temple with its splendidly appointed worship is no fit substitute for the Spirits guidance.
Cushioned pews that call auditors to the most comfortable seats are no substitute for avid attention to the truth.
An ideal quartette and a great Christian chorus, such as inspire us with their songs, are no satisfactory exchange for that congregational praise that should be indicted by an indwelling Holy Ghost, and even an acceptable preacher, if he displace the approach of Gods people in that worship which is in spirit and in truth, is but another temple-detraction, for God is a Spirit and seeketh such to worship Him as do it in spirit and in truth. That worship can easily dispense with the temple and all of its appurtenances. Better a publican in the heart of the wild woods, his head bowed, his heart broken with a sense of sin, than a Pharisee inside the marble chancel of the most magnificent cathedral that has ever sent its spire toward the skies. God save us from trusting in temples!
Returning to our chapter we find a very logical fact, namely, self-sufficiency results in
SELF-SATISFACTION
Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and He hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
Here again ancient Scripture is adapted to nineteenth century situations. God changes not; and man does not much improve.
Moab played the part of the spoiled.
At ease from his youth!
The man or woman who begins life at ease seldom makes much of the same. The curse of this generation is at that point; too many children at ease. Fathers and mothers labors have been so well requited in America that sons and daughters are often exempt; they have nothing to do that seems to them worth the doing. Every boy now must have his autothe most expensive of modern luxuries, whether he is able to earn a dollar toward either its purchase or its upkeep. Many of them must have money for the dance, the picture show, the theater, the cigarettes, the wild parties, secret societies, etc., but as to work; no interest in that!
It is said that the President of the United States, on one occasion, attended a reunion of his college class, at which a professor told of a student who had just gotten out of school and in reply to the question of what he proposed to do in the world, answered with a yawn, There is not anything in the world worth doing!
Mr. Roosevelt was then Police Commissioner, and when he heard the remark he got up from the table and walking over to where the professor sat, he struck the table with his fist and said, That fellow ought to be knocked in the head. I would rather take my chances with a highway man than with him.
Doubtless the Presidents utterance was a bit colored by his indignation, but even so, he was not far wrong, for the boy who thinks there is nothing in the world worth doing will, in many a case, become a highway-man. You will remember that in Kiplings Tomlinson, Tomlinsons soul was suspended between Heaven and hell. He was an idler and neither place wanted him!
No man could go through a winter like this, when the economic conditions are such as to fling the formerly industrious out of work, and thereby end their income, and impose upon them penury and want, and withhold his sympathy. It is a time when the prospered of the earth should exercise compassion and practice division of favors. But those people who will suffer most this winter will not be the unfortunate industrious; but rather, the unfortunate indolent.
The Word of God is right on all subjects; where it speaks, the modern social philosophy is wasting words by attempting another explanation; and the Word says:
The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat (Pro 13:4)
The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain (Pro 15:19).
A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again (Pro 19:24).
Little wonder that Solomon addressed all such after this manner:
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man (Pro 6:6-11).
Nor is it any less wonderful that Jesus Himself should have given us a parable on this subject and described two faithful men and one indigent one. The first and the second double their gifts and receive the Masters approval, but the third made no use of his and lost it; and the language of Christ was:
Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
It sounds like a harsh law. As a matter of fact it is only justice in operation. The man who will not use that which he has does not deserve its retention.
Moab settled comfortably on his lees. That is one of the strangest sights in the world. The sight of a man impoverished, but content; creating nothing for himself, nothing for his fellows; contributing nothing to the world, yet all undisturbed.
There is a contentment that is divinely approved. Paul said: I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
A Scotch nobleman criticized his gardner for wearing an old and threadbare coat, to which the gardner replied, Aye, Sir; its the best of coats because it covers a contented spirit.
But there is a contentment that is contemptible, and that is the contentment of idleness, the contentment of indifference. There are a good many people that pass their time as the small boy spent his in school. A genial clergyman, visiting in the home addressed him, Well; my little man, what do you do in school all day? I wait until it is time to get out, Sir.
It is doubtful, however, if he got real rest out of it. It is a question whether a man who rests on his lees rests at all. It is our profound conviction that he is of all men the most weary. Of all the tiresome tasks known to this life, the task of doing nothing is doubtless the hardest. There is scarce a week but some dear, sympathizing soul expresses to me regret that I have so much work to do. It is a wasted sympathy. Of all the tasks of this present life God has so tempered His judgment against sin as to make work the most pleasant and the most comfortable.
We are told that a woman was watching a potter at his work. He kept one foot on the pedal, and that foot sent the potters wheel spinning around the long day through. The left foot rested patiently on the ground. When this woman noticed it, she said, How very tired your right foot must be. The man raised his eyes and said, No, Madam; it may seem strange to you, but that foot never gets tired. The other one is tired all the time.
There is a principle of life involved therein. If you want to retain your strength use it; if you want to rest yourself, be busy. There is but one job that is hard and heavy enough to kill, and that is idleness.
He imagined himself altogether secure.
His taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
As the text says, he is not like a liquid that has been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor is he like Israel who has been sent into captivity, Since Lots day he has lived in his mountain fastness. He has had a few fights, but nobody has ever completely conquered him. His conceit, therefore, has grown with the centuries and his sense of security has increased with the race of the years.
Beckford, in Vathek the Caliph gives us a forceful illustration of this sort of self-deception. You will remember that he puts into the livid lips of Soliman Ben Daoud this statement:
In my life-time I filled a magnificent throne, having on my right hand twelve thousand seats of gold, where the patriarchs and the prophets heard my doctrines; on my left the sages and doctors, upon as many thrones of silver, were present at all my decisions. Whilst I thus administered justice to innumerable multitudes, the birds of the air librating over me, served as a canopy from the rays of the sun; my people flourished, and my palace rose to the clouds; I erected a temple to the Most High, which was the wonder of the universe; but I basely suffered myself to be seduced by the love of women, and a curiosity that could not be restrained by sublunary things; I listened to the counsels of Aherman and the daughter of Pharaoh, and adored fire and the hosts of heaven; I forsook the holy city, and commanded the Genii to rear the stupendous palace of Istakar, and the terrace of the watch-towers, each of which was consecrated to a star; there for a while I enjoyed myself in the zenith of glory and pleasure; not only men, but supernatural existences were subject also to my will. I began to think, as these unhappy monarchs around had already thought, that the vengeance of Heaven was asleep; when, at once, the thunder burst my structures asunder and precipitated me hither.
Sin takes on many and varied forms, but when the sinner reaches a state of self-satisfaction his danger has attained the climax and there is but a single act remaining, namely,
SELF-DESTRUCTION
Moab took that plunge. Further study of this Scripture reveals that:
His descent came suddenly and unexpectedly.
Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of Hosts.
How easy it is for people, in self-inflation, to rush finally over a precipice of ruin. Look at Chicago, as an illustration, the most rapidly growing city in the world. In seventy-five years it went from a struggling village of bottomless muddy streets to the third metropolis of the earth. Its riches were almost incomputable; its millionaires a multitude; its sky-scrapers the astonishment of the Orient; its business and its banks the admiration of the world. Then what? Bankruptcy!
It looks now as if the United States might follow Chicagos example. According to the series of articles, appearing in the Tribune this past week, in twenty years we have increased our population 34%, our wealth 94%, and our federal taxes 467%, and yet our federal treasury shows a deficit that runs into the billions.
Conceit can destroy any individual; conceit can wreck any metropolis; conceit can doom any country. Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
The papers of yesterday morning reported the sudden but not unexpected death of Red Jackson, reputed to be one of the most colorful fliers known to the century, a man who has kept a ship in the upper air longer than any other living soul, his confederate excepted, the man who just because he had sailed the skies with such safety for so long a time doubtless came to feel as comfortable there as though his two feet were on solid ground. And yet, one daring deed too many, and death!
Moab, however, descended to that which was worse than death:
He lived to endure derision!
The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.
All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod! * *
The spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.
Moab is confounded * *.
Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision (Jer 48:15-26).
What we are in the eyes of others determines in no small measure what we are in our own eyes. So long as one can live and be honored by his fellows just that long he indulges respect for himself.
But alas for the man who must endure derision. It is the last word in the worlds spite. When they had uttered their criticisms of Christ, when they had dragged Him to the Cross, they had but fairly commenced their torture. Wait until that blessed bleeding Form must listen to their words of derision, must look on the inscription that they are nailing over His head, This is Jesus the King of the Jews! Must watch them as they pass by, reviling and wagging their heads, and crying out in scorn, Thou that destroyest the Temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself! The chief priests also joined with the rabble in mocking, the Scribes and elders being party with them, in the same, Saying, He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him!
Even the very thieves, dying at His sidesocial outcasts, justly executed criminals, joined their voices in holding Him in derision; and many a time in the last years, yea, the Lord pity us, within the last few days, have I heard Him derided by men, His Word scoffed, His Deity disputed.
But, as Moab derided Israel to become himself in turn the subject of derision, so unbelievers will one day listen to the echo of their own voices and the very God who so loved them as to give His only begotten to die that they might be redeemed, but whose love was requited with contempt, will rise in judgment,
He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure (Psa 2:4-5).
It is a frightful text to even recall and only the sin of all sins, the trampling of Gods Son under unhallowed feet could excite it; and yet it is a sentence divinely inspired,
Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded;
But ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof:
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.
Proud Moab becomes the object of pity.
Even the Lord Himself declares:
Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; Mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.
O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage (Jer 48:31-32).
One says, That is strange! Another says, I thought you told us that God will laugh that God will mock; and yet, in the next breath, you tell us that God will weep and mourn.
Exactly; that is God! Jesus stood on the hill overlooking Jerusalem and pronounced her doom, and while the words were on His lips His heart was breaking and His cry was:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killeth the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a Hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Israel offended to the point where Gods judgment could not be withheld; but even while He pronounced His hard words, He cried,
As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O House of Israel?
David discerned that his beautiful son Absalom was in rebellion, and Davids servants smote him through as he hung between heaven and earth, caught in the branches of a tree where his mule left him. But, though the punishment was great and the judgment was just, when the news of it reached Davids ears, his heart broke and he went up to his room over the gate crying as he went,
O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!
God did better than David; in Christ He died for us; and if men perish it will be because even Divine love was rejected and despised and sin was retained.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES.1. Chronology of the Chapter.Naegelsbach suggests, with ample justification, that this prophecy certainly belongs to the time of Jehoiakim, and before the fourth year, the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar not being mentioned; and adds: The form of the superscription favours its contemporaneousness with the first prophecy against Egypt (Jer. 46:1-2). Cf. notes on chap. 25.
2. Contemporary Scriptures.Cf. on chap. 25. Here it is appropriate to point out that this chapter is, to a remarkable degree, a compilation of extracts from other prophets, mainly from Isaiah. Gesenius depreciates this prophecy as a tasteless piece of patchwork [Dr. Payne Smith] from Isaiah; and adverse critics have challenged the wisdom and good taste of Jeremiahs work in thus putting together such a fragmentary collection of older inspired utterances against Moab. But Naegelsbach well states the case: Jeremiahs object in this prophecy was evidently to reanimate, as it were, the former declarations of similar purport, and comprise them together for the sake of a powerful total effect. From Jer. 48:29 onwards there is a constant, more or less free, use of older utterances. Quotations taken from Isaiah 15, 16 are numerous. Thus comp. Isa. 15:2-7 with Jer. 48:37-38; Jer. 48:34; Jer. 48:5; Jer. 48:36; Isa. 16:6-12, with Jer. 48:29-33; Jer. 48:36; Jer. 48:35; and Isaiah 24 with Jer. 48:43-44. So, also, words and phrases, in Jer. 48:45; Jer. 48:24; Jer. 48:41, seem to be appropriated from Amo. 2:2; and in Jer. 48:26; Jer. 48:42 from Zep. 2:8-10; and Jer. 48:15; Jer. 48:46 from Num. 21:28-29; Num. 24:17. It should be noted that Isaiah prophesies the devastation of Moab by the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser; Jeremiah refers to its overthrow by the Chaldean king, Nebuchadnezzar.
3. National Affairs.The historic record of 2Ki. 24:2, shows that Moab had at that time joined the Chaldeans in hostility to Judah.
4. Contemporaneous History.Moabs overthrow was effected by Nebuchadnezzar five years after his destruction of Jerusalem, at the time when he also attacked Egypt (cf. notes on chap. 43, specially Jer. 48:8-13) and Ammon (cf. chap. Jer. 49:1-6). In Josephus, Antiq., x. 9, 7, we have the record.
5. Geographical References.Jer. 48:1. Nebo, a mountain and town of Moab. Keria-thaim, a place of great antiquity, originally possessed by the Enim (Gen. 14:5), and afterwards by the Moabites; placed by Eusebius ten miles west of Medcba. Misgab, i.e. citadel, not a proper name at all.
Jer. 48:2. Heshbon, the chief city of Moab, situate midway between the rivers Arnon and Jabbok; it was an ancient and royal city. Madmen, a town of which no information exists.
Jer. 48:3. Horonaim: the same as the city Avara mentioned by Ptolemy. See Neh. 2:10; Isa. 15:5. It lay in a plain.
Jer. 48:5. Luhith lay on a height; locality unknown.
Jer. 48:18. Dibon, situate on the south bank of the Arnon. The remains of the fortifications of Dibon are still visible (Burckhardts Travels).
Jer. 48:19. Aroer. On the north bank of the Arnon, a city of Ammon.
Jer. 48:20. Arnon. This river was the north boundary between Moab and Ammon. See Num. 21:13.
Jer. 48:21. Holon. Cf. Jos. 15:51. Jahazah. Cf. Num. 21:23. Mephaath. Cf. Jos. 13:18; Jos. 21:37. Of these and following cities enumerated little or nothing is known.
Jer. 48:32. Sea of Jazar. Jazar lies in an upland valley, about fifteen miles north of Heshbon. Sea is very doubtful here; probably a transcribers error.
6. Personal Allusion.Jer. 48:7. Chemosh, the national god of Moab (Num. 21:29). His being led into captivity represents the total ruin of the nation he protected. The literal name here is Chemish, and this is doubtless correct, as in the word Carchemish, i.e. the fortress of Chemish.
7. Natural History.Jer. 48:28. The dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the holes mouth; lit. that resteth in the passages of the sides of the abyss. Tristram says, The wild pigeon invariably selects deep ravines for its nesting and roosting places. Henderson quotes the following classics:
.Iliad, xxi. 493.
Qualis spelunca subito commota columba
Cui domus, et dulces latebroso in pumice nidi.neid, 48:213.
8. Literary Criticisms.Jer. 48:2. In Heshbon they have devised: a play upon words. , Heshbon means a place of devising or counsel. Thou shalt be cut down (margin, brought to silence), O Madmen: another play on words; Madmen means silence.
Jer. 48:7. Thy works, i.e. fortifications. Moab was renowned for them.
Jer. 48:45. Because of the force, rather without force. A better translation is: The fugitives stand powerless under the shadow of Heshbon. The crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. Crown of the head is here poetical for the loftiest elevation of Moab; and the Moabites, in reference to the roar and fury with which they give battle, are called sons of tumult.
SUBJECT OF CHAPTER 48
MOABS DOOM
Jer. 48:1. Theme: SIN THE PRECURSOR OF DOOM. Because the destruction of the Moabites is of no service to us except for penitence, we must note well what particular sins are specified, of which they were guilty, and for which such heavy punishments were heaped upon them, viz.:
I. Disdain, in that they gave no one a good word, were unfriendly, and only blustered and boasted with every one (Psa. 52:3).
II. Confidence in their fortifications, power, money, and riches (2Ch. 32:8; Isa. 40:6).
III. Security, as if all were prosperous and peaceful, which was the sin of their sister Sodom (Eze. 16:49; Zep. 2:9).
IV. Talking great things, and indulging self-praise. But although Goliath was so mighty a fellow, he had yet to bite the grass (1Sa. 17:50).
V. Pride and arrogance. These never do well, but act with violence and injustice. By violence, injustice, and avarice, however, a kingdom passes from one people to another.Cramer.
Theme: SINNERS ALIKE IN ALL AGES. How many are still like the Moabites; for how many are there who
I. Depend on their power and violence, their fortified cities and buildings, their riches, money, and property, and set all their hope and confidence thereon! How many are there who, when they have been some time at peace,
II. Become secure, and anticipate no further evil, thinking there is no more trouble from the rising to the setting of the sun! How many are there who
III. Rely on their own strength, and say, Let the enemy come, we are a match for him! How many there are who, when they surpass others in bodily strength, or in mental gifts, or in perishable goods,
IV. Become proud and abusive; ridicule, despise, and treat badly their inferiors, as if they had found such among thieves, as God the Lord here says (Jer. 48:27)! And, although all good and perfect gifts come from the Father of lights, yet many will not acknowledge this, but
V. Ascribe their advantages to their own wisdom and skill, do not thank God for them, and thus make themselves the idol they serve.Bibl. Summarien, Halle, 1848. From Lange.
Jer. 48:2. Theme: PRAISE TO MAN SILENCED. There shall be no more praise of Moab.
I. Human praise is of short duration. Be it offered to nations or men, it is like the trumpet strain, which swells in loudness and then dies into silence; like the fragrance of a flower, which, however sweet, soon passes away.
II. Praise to men can scarcely be given with justice. Why should praise be given to a nation for its greatnessof wealth, intelligence, territorywhen that greatness is the result of the development of natural resources, or of administrative power, given to it of God? And why should praise be ascribed to a man of genius or benevolence, when his genius is a Divine endowment, and his benevolence a Divine implantation?
III. Praise is due only to God. Shall we praise the Alps that they reach unto the clouds, or the eagle that she bears her young upon her wings and covers them with her feathers? No! The mighty Alps are what they are by the creative power of God, and the noble eagle is what she is by the instinct God has given to her.
Mighty nations are but Alps of Gods creation, and great men are but eagles of Gods endowing; for of Him and through Him are all things, to whom be glory for ever and ever.
IV. Heaven-taught men never fail to trace the favours their fellow-men confer up to their Divine Source. Does Joseph obtain favour of Pharaoh? It is acknowledged that the Lord gave him favour (Gen. 39:21; Gen. 41:52). Is Daniel a favourite in the court of Babylon? God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love, &c. (Dan. 1:9). Is the Church at Corinth earnestly cared for by Titus? Paul thanks God for putting that care into the heart of Titus.
Every river has its source, the Avon or Thames, the Niger or Nile, and so has every blessing; and that source is God!
V. Praise to man shall be silenced that God may receive His due. Often, instead of all blessings being traced to God, they are in part traced to men; and sometimes so largely to man as if he were the greater benefactor of the two.
But silence eventually shall come upon all human praise.
VI. Gods praise is the Christians sweetest employ, and it shall be an endless employ. There shall be no more praise of Moab; but neither in time or eternity will Gods praise cease.
Praise shall employ my noblest powers
While immortality endures!
Thy days of praise shall neer be past
While life or breath or being last.
Death may silence the tongue, but it cannot the soul; and in heaven it will perpetuate Gods praises.
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
Ill sing Thy power to save.
As He loved us from everlasting, so shall our praise be to everlasting. His everlasting love will call forth our everlasting song.Arranged from Pledges Walks with Jeremiah.
Jer. 48:4. Theme: A CRY FROM LITTLE ONES. Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. Calamity comes upon all, young and old. However innocent, however little, none escape.
I. Children suffer. Cry, as if in distress! Yes, even little ones share in pain, grief, and calamity. (1.) Sad to think of suffering children; in hospitals, at home. (2.) Sad, also, to think of sorrowing children: little hearts broken with grief; orphans, ill-used children, hungry children. (3.) Most sad to think of sinning children. They suffer most,in their consciences now; and, if they die in their sins, they suffer in doom! For
II. Children perish. Cry as they fall under the destroyers hands. For Moab is destroyed, and in the destruction the children are included.
1. Cruel people will even injure and destroy little ones. Think of Herods soldiers slaying the infants of Bethlehem. There are evil men and women who would destroy the innocence, the purity, the affection, the truthfulness, the happiness of children. They do it with bad books, by teaching them to lie and deceive, by tempting them to break Gods day and His laws. And children are perishing around us! (See Mat. 18:6.)
2. Satan delights in destroying the little ones. A roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.
III. Children pray. Cry as if in prayer. Doubtless these little ones in Moab would cry out to the destroyers, entreating them not to hurt or kill them.
1. Children can pray. Cause a cry to be heard.
2. Children may pray in a wrong direction: to their cruel destroyers, instead of to God, their mighty Deliverer.
3. Children should pray; for peril is near, and Jesus waits to save those who seek Him. Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will hear thee.
Jer. 48:9. Theme: HASTENING TO ESCAPE. Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away.
I. Wherefore should a soul make haste in seeking salvation? Because
1. The spoiler is alert (Jer. 48:8).
2. None will be exempted (Jer. 48:8).
3. No hiding-place will be secure (Jer. 48:6).
4. Moments wasted give opportunity to the foe.
5. Lost opportunities never return.
II. From what should a soul so earnestly speed its flight?
1. From delights and possessions which it had hitherto cherished: Thy works and thy treasures (Jer. 48:7). Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
2. From every object of trust. Thou hast trusted in, &c. (Jer. 48:7). They are insufficient; and to cling to them will work delusion and destruction.
3. From all false religious hopes. Chemosh and his priests (Jer. 48:7), all shall fail Moab; as all religious hopes, but Christ, shall fail the soul.
III. How can a soul hasten its escape from pursuing perils? Give wings to Moab, that it may flee and get away. Comp. Psa. 55:6.
1. Its own unaided powers will not suffice to save the soul.
2. The wings a soul needs are prayer, purpose, faith. For by these it speeds its way to Christ.
3. Such supernatural endowments must be given; the soul cannot assume them at will, nor create them for the emergency. God will give such wings. He gives the Holy Spirit; and the Spirit stirs the soul to prayer, to purpose, and to faith.
Blessed is that soul who gets away from snares and pursuing foes, safely hid in Christ! Flee to the cross; flee to the throne of grace; flee to your Bibles; flee to the open heart of Jesus.
Jer. 48:10. Theme: DOING GODS WORK REMISSLY. This utter devastation of Moab was the work of the Lord; and the instruments He would use must do it thoroughly. Comp. Sauls sin as to Amalek (1Sa. 15:3; 1Sa. 15:9), and Ahabs as to Syria (1Ki. 20:42).
Notes.The prophet pronounces a curse upon ministers of the Divine justice if, being sent to destroy Moab, they are remiss in executing the sentence.Dr. Payne Smith.
The work of destroying Moab is here mainly meant. But the text taketh in all lawful employments: these are Gods works, and must be done vigorously, with all our might, in obedience to God, and for His greatest glory. Not soldiers only, that have a good cause, and in a good calling must likewise take a good courage, and do execution lustily; but magistrates also, who are keepers of both tables of the law, must do right to all without partiality. Ministers must look to the ministry which they have received from the Lord that they fulfil it. Every man, in his particular place and station, must be not slothful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. In Gods immediate service especially men must stir up themselves to take hold of Him, minding the work, and not doing it in a customary, formal way. A very heathen [Aristides] could say, Ignavia in rebus divinis est nefarisDulness in Divine things is abominable. And Numa, king of the Romans, made a law, that none should be careless or cursory in the service of God, and appointed an officer to cry oft to the people at such a time, Hoc agiteMind what you do, and do it to your utmost. He that is ambitious of Gods curse, let him do otherwise.Trapp.
Theme: DECEITFULNESS IN GODS SERVICE. Jeremy Taylor suggests
(i.) He that serves God with the body, without the soul, serves God deceitfully.
(ii.) He that serves God with the soul, without the body, when both can be conjoined, doth the work of God deceitfully.
(iii.) They are deceitful in the Lords work that reserve one faculty for sin, or one sin for themselves, or one action to please their appetite and many for religion.
(iv.) And they who think God sufficiently served with abstaining from evil, and converse not in the acquisition and pursuit of holy charity and religion.Quoted in Lange.
Jer. 48:10. War Theme: THE CURSE OF COWARDICE. The God of peace would have us follow peace with all men; and the Prince of peace has pronounced, Blessed are the peacemakers. But when the lusts of men are perpetually embroiling the world with wars and fightings; when avarice and ambition would rob us of our prosperity; when they would enslave the free-born mind by their usurpation and arbitrary power; when they would tear from our eager grasp Heavens highest blessing, our religionwhat then is the will of God? Must peace be maintained with perfidious and cruel invaders, at the expense of property, life, and religion? No; in such a time the Providence of God calls, To arms! The sword is then consecrated, and the art of war becomes part of our religion.
The Moabites, against whom this prophecy was denounced, were a troublesome and restless nation in the neighbourhood of the Jews, who, though often subdued by them, struggled to recover their power, and renewed their hostilities; by this and other sins their guilt rendered them ripe for execution. The Babylonians were commissioned to this work of vengeance, and they were bound to execute the commission faithfully, under penalty of a curse.
The text is a declaration of the righteous curse of God against a dastardly refusal to engage in war when it is our duty, or a deceitful, negligent discharge of that duty after we have engaged in it. This denunciation is levelled, like the artillery of heaven, against the coward, and against the self-seeking, as distinguished from the patriotic soldier.
I. Present a brief view of the circumstances which call us to war.
Barbarities and depredations of Indian savages and French papists. Homes demolished, and families fleeing in consternation; the dead lie mangled with brutal wounds; others have been dragged away captives, made the slaves of imperious savages. Our frontiers have been drenched with the blood of our fellow-subjects. Our country bleeds at a thousand veins, and without our timely remedy the wound will prove mortal.
Is it not, therefore, our duty in the sight of God, a work to which He loudly calls us, to take up arms for the defence of our country? Certainly: and Cursed is he who [without justifiable reasons] keepeth his sword from blood.
The man that can desert the cause of his country in such an emergency, whose blessings he has shared in times of peace, and whose sympathy and aid he shares in the day of distress, that cowardly, ungrateful man deserves the curse of both God and his country.
What greater evidence of ingratitude can be given than a supine neglect of the blessings the land enjoys, and a stupidly tame resignation of them into rapacious hands? Love of country and of religion calls us to action.
II. Show what is that deceitful performance of the Lords work, or unreasonable keeping back the sword from blood, which exposes to His curse. If soldiers should unman themselves with debauchery instead of risking life for defence of country; if they shun instead of seeking out the enemy; if they consult what is safest and easiest for themselves and not for their country; when they prolong the war that they may the longer live and riot at the nations expense; when they do not conscientiously exert all their power to repel the enemy and protect the state; then they do the work of the Lord deceitfully, and His curse lights on them as their heavy doom. Let sobriety, public spirit, courage, fidelity, and good discipline be maintained among you.
But, besides soldiers, you are sinners, and candidates for eternity. We may never meet more. You are concerned to save your own souls as well as your country. Surely immorality and debauchery cannot better inspire soldiers with fortitude against the fear of death than prayer and a life of holiness. Such courage must be a brutal stupidity or ferocity, not the rational courage of a man or a Christian.
If free from these vices, negative goodness is not enough to prepare you for death. You must experience Divine grace; become humble penitents and true believers in Jesus Christ; must live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present evil world. This is religion, which will inspire and befriend in conflict, and sustain you in death.
God grant you a safe return from the struggle, crowned with the laurels of victory.
But if the defence of our country, in which we can stay but a few years at most, be so important a duty, then how much more are we obliged to seek a better country, even a heavenly, and to carry on vigorous war against our spiritual enemies who would rob us of our heavenly inheritance! Therefore, in the Name of the Captain of our salvation, I invite you to enlist in the spiritual warfare. Take to you the whole armour of God; quit you like men; be strong. And for encouragement, remember, He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and enter a kingdom which cannot be shaken or assailed.Preached to the Militia by President Davies, A.D. 1758.
Jer. 48:10-11. Theme: CARNAL SECURITY. Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
For a considerable season Moab had been free from the inroads of war and the terrors of pestilence; had, therefore, become so conceitedly secure, that the Lord said, We have heard the pride of Moab, &c. (Jer. 48:29). The people became vain, hectoring, and boastful, and mocked at their afflicted neighbours the Israelites, manifesting ungenerous joy in their sorrows (Jer. 48:27). From this pride sprang luxury and all those other vices which find a convenient lair in the repose of unbroken prosperity. The warriors of Moab said, We are mighty and strong men for the war; as vainglorious sinners, they defied all law and power; trusting in Chemosh, they despised Jehovah, and magnified themselves against the Lord. The prophet compares that country to wine which has been allowed to stand unstirred and unmoved: it settles on its lees, grows strong, retains its aroma, and gathers daily fresh body and spirit. But, saith he, the day shall come when God shall shake this undisturbed liquor, when He shall send wandering bands of Chaldeans that shall waste the country, so that the bottles shall be broken and the vessels shall be emptied, and the proud prosperity of Moab shall end in utter desolation. The unusual repose of Moab had been the envy of the people of Israel, but they might well cease to envy when they understood how suddenly it should be overthrown.
That continued prosperity breeds carnal security is proved by the instance of Moab. In the first place, this is the common mischief of ungodly men; in the second place, this is the frequent danger of the most godly.
I. Carnal security is the common mischief of the unconverted, the godless, the prayerless, the Christless. Many have become like Moab. At ease from your youth, not emptied from vessel to vessel, but settled upon your lees, and therefore careless and heedless.
1. This is so common among the ungodly, that the whole world was in this condition immediately before the great Deluge which destroyed the ancient race. We read that they married and were given in marriage. They did eat and did drink, and were drunken even until the day when Noah entered into the ark, and the floods came and swept them all away. The preacher of righteousness for one hundred and twenty years warned them that their sins were become intolerable to Heaven, and that vengeance would surely be taken upon their devices, but they laughed the prophet to scorn. The world is so little changed to-day, that if the Lord Jesus Christ should now come, as come He will, in such an hour as ye think not, He would find the mass of men still in the same condition. As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. This is the abiding state of the world which lieth in the wicked one: settled on its lees, it is not emptied from vessel to vessel, and therefore it dreams itself into presumptuous peace.
2. But from the world at large to come to particulars.
(1.) The bold offenders who are at ease in open sin. They began life with iniquity, and have made terrible progress in it. These men are not disturbed in their sins; their conscience has been seared as with a hot iron: things which others would tremble at are to them a jest; they make a mock at sin; they play with burning coals of lust and carry fire in their bosom, and boast that they are not burned. These are they of whom David said, They are not in trouble as other men, &c. (Psa. 73:5). Read yonder handwriting on the wall, O despiser; and this is the interpretation thereof: Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting; thy joy shall soon be taken from thee, and thy life also, and what shalt thou do in the day when the Lord requireth thy soul?
(2.) Men who give themselves wholly up to the worlds business. Such men, for instance, as one whom Christ called Fool. You know the story: his fields brought forth plenteously, &c. He was a raiser of grain and a hoarder of gold, and nothing more. This is the end and object of the most of mankind. Gain is the worlds summum bonum, the chief of all mortal good, the main chance, the prime object, the barometer of success in life, the one thing needful, the hearts delight. And yet, O worldlings, Jesus Christ calls you fools. Thou fool, said He; and why? Because the mans soul would be required of him; and then whose would those things be which he had gathered together?
(3.) The man who forgets God and lives in slothful ease. He is like the man who deposited the napkin and the talent in the earth, and was perfectly at his easea fair picture, indeed, of many who ought to be serving God; but they think they have little ability, and therefore do not strive even to do what they can. They are not openly sinful; they are quiet, easy-going, good-tempered souls, but the talent, where is it? Buried! Alas! it will have a resurrection, and when it rises, all rusty from that rotting napkin, what a witness will it bear, and how will the Master say, Thou wicked and slothful servant! The charge of sloth was quite enough. His doom was swift and terrible. It is not enough to abstain from outward sin, and so to be negatively moral; unless you bring forth fruits unto righteousness, you have not the life of God in you; and however much you may be at ease, there shall come a rough awakening to your slumbers, and the shrill sound of the archangels trumpet shall be to you no other than the blast of the trumpet of condemnation, because ye took your ease when ye should have served your God.
(4.) There are many in the professing Christian Church who are in the same state as Moab. At the table of communion they sit with Gods people. Their profession is a very comely one, and their outward conduct exceedingly honourable, yet they lack the inward spiritual grace. They have the virgins lamp, but they have no oil in the vessel with their lamps; and yet so comfortable are these professors, that they slumber and sleep. Let not presumption hold you in its deadly embrace. Remember, you may think yourself a believer, and everybody else may think so too, and you may fail to find out your error until it is too late to rectify it. Be ye not, O ye professors, like Moab, that had settled upon his lees!
(5.) The mass of moral men who are destitute of faith in Jesus. They hear of the convictions and troubles of an awakened conscience, and they inwardly sneer at such fanaticism, and boast that they never stooped to such feelings. But those pangs, and throes, and tossings of a wounded conscience are signs of the dawn of spiritual life; it is by such things as these that we are led to put our trust in Jesus; and those who have never felt them may well lament before the Lord, and pray that they may experience themthat they may be brought soundly and safely out of their self-righteousness, and led to rest upon the finished work of the dear Redeemer. Better to suffer a present disturbance which will end in life, than enjoy the ease which is itself a protracted death. God give you to be saved through Jesus Christ!
II. Carnal security is the frequent danger of the most godly. A Christian may fall into a state of carnal security, in which he grows self-confident, insensible, careless, inactive, and worldly. The great disease of England is consumption, but I suppose it would be difficult to describe the causes and workings of consumption and decline. The same kind of disease is common among Christians. It is not that many Christians fall into outward sin, and so on, but throughout our Churches we have scores who are in a spiritual consumptiontheir powers are all feeble and decaying. They have an unusually bright eyecan see other peoples faults exceedingly welland sometimes they have a flush on their cheeks which looks very like burning zeal and eminent spiritual life, but it is occasional and superficial. Vital energy is at a low ebb: they do not work for God like genuinely healthy workmen; the heart does not beat with a throb moving the entire man; they go slumbering on, in the right road it is true, out loitering in it.
1. The rapid results of this consumption are just these: A man in such a state soon gives up communion with God. His walk with God is broken and occasional. His prayers very soon suffer. By degrees his conversation ceases to be earnest for Christ. And now, strange to say, The minister does not preach as he used to do; at least the backslider says so. The reason is, that now there is little savour about the Word to him. Hymns which used to be delightful for their melody now pall upon his ears; while the prayers in which he used to join with so much fervency are very flat to him now. Very much of this sluggishness is brought on by long-continued respite from trouble.
More the treacherous calm I dread
Than tempests rolling overhead.
2. The great secret danger coming out of all this is, that when a man reaches the state of carnal security he is ready for any evil. If the history of great offenders could be traced, it would be very much like this: they began well, but they slackened by degrees, till at last they were ripe for foul sin. Who would think that David, the man after Gods own heart, should come to be the murderer of his friend Uriah, to rob him of his wife? O David! art thou so near to heaven and yet so near to hell? There is a David in every one of our hearts, and if we begin to backslide from God, we do not know to what extent we may slip.
3. Gods cure for this malady. His usual way is by pouring our settled wine from vessel to vessel. If we cannot bear prosperity, the Lord will not continue it to us. Have you never dreamed that you were trying to walk and could not? You felt as though you could not move a footsome one was about to overtake you who would do you serious mischief, and you longed to run and could not stir an inch. That is the state of mind in which we get when we would but cannot pray, when we would but cannot repent, when we want to believe and cannot, when we would give a world for one single tear, would almost pawn our souls to obtain a quiver of spiritual feeling, but were insensible still:
If aught is felt, tis only pain
To find I cannot feel.
Do you ever sink into that petrified condition? Can you be its victim and yet be happy? Betake yourself to earnest prayer. It will need God within us to keep us from such a tremendous peril.
See Addenda: TROUBLES REVIVE US.
4. What ought we to do if we are prospering? If God is prospering us, the way to prevent lethargy isbe very grateful for the prosperity which you are enjoying; do not pray for troubleyou will have it quickly enough without asking for it; be grateful for your prosperity, but make use of it. Do all you possibly can for God while He prospers you in business; try to live very closely to Him. Watch the very first symptoms of declining, and fly to Christ, the Great Physician. He will give you the balm of Gilead which will prevent the mischief, and you may bear the heats of prosperity as safely as the chill blasts of adversity.
But if you have fallen into such a state, the one cure is the Holy Spirit. Go to the cross of Christ again. Christian, if you have fallen from your first estate, go as you hope you went at first; go with your deadness, and sloth, and lethargy, and put your trust in the precious blood, and ask the Lord Jesus to fill you with the Spirit once again, that you may be renewed. Try to get a due estimate of your indebtedness to Gods grace; try to see the danger of your lethargy; think more of eternity and less of time. Rend yourself away a little from your worldly engagements, if possible; put away your fancied security, and by strong crying and tears turn again to your former state of nearness to the living God.
Owing Thee so much, O Jesus! may we love Thee much in return, and be found faithful when Thou shalt come to reward Thy people and to be glorified in Thy saints. Amen.C. H. Spurgeon, A.D. 1867.
Jer. 48:11. Theme: INDIFFERENCE TO ETERNAL REALITIES. Moab hath been at ease from his youth.
I. True of men in the prime of life or in the decay of old age. The high-born, cradled in luxury, &c. No concern as to things temporal or spiritual. Soul, take thine ease, &c.
Multitudes of men of business and toilers in all grades of social life have been at ease from their youth touching their eternal interests. Conscience seared; no heed of the momentous truths of revelation.
II. Deplorable to see men at ease in the condition in which sin has placed them and the Gospel finds them. That condition is one of guilt and condemnation. In this condition the Gospel comes with declaration of free remission of all their sins through faith in Jesus Christ; yet states that, rejecting Christs grace, the soul must die!
Guilt and condemnation are, therefore, increased when the Gospel is rejected; and yet men, despising salvation, are at ease.
III. Apathy so serious, so appalling, calls for explanation. For men to be easy under condemnation, surely it bespeaks Satans influence exerted on mind and heart (2Co. 4:3-4).
The explanation therefore of this ease and indifference is supernatural blindness. Danger seen or apprehended destroys thoughtless ease and stoical apathy. No sooner is a soul enlightened to its state and peril than the distressed cry rises, What must I do to be saved?
IV. Peace can be found only in Jesus. It is a peace solid, substantial, and abidingthe fruit of faith. Far different from the stolidity of Moab. Yet this divinely-given peace is not mere quietude. For the soul is aroused, active, earnest.
V. Under the very sound of the Gospel souls sit at ease. The call is addressed, Awake, thou that sleepest, &c., but they remain in death-like torpor. The warning, Flee from the wrath to come! is given, but they treat it as a false alarm. The invitation is presented, Come unto Me, but they turn aside.
God regards such with special anger: Woe to them that are at ease in Zion. They slight not the word of man, but of God. I have called, but ye refused, &c. (Pro. 1:24; Pro. 1:26).
Careless souls, rouse from your torpor.
Why cry Peace, peace! when there is no peace?Pledges Walks with Jeremiah.
Comments.Jer. 48:12. I WILL SEND UNTO HIM WANDERERS, &c., lit., tilters, who shall tilt him up and empty his vessels, i.e., the Chaldeans, who would remove Moab from his settlements. His vessels are the cities of Moab. The broken bottles or pitchers alludes to smaller receptacles as well as the larger vessels, and suggests the destruction of everything that has contained the wine of her political life, both small and great.Dr. Payne Smith.
Jer. 48:13. ISRAEL WAS ASHAMED OF BETHEL. Israel had trusted in the calf-deity worshipped at Bethel (1Ki. 12:27; 1Ki. 12:29; Hos. 10:15; Amo. 3:14; Amo. 5:5-6; Amo. 7:13), but Shalmanezers conquest had put their trust to shame. Even so would Moab become ashamed of Chemosh, their hope in his protection being refuted.
Jer. 48:15. HIS CHOSEN YOUNG MEN ARE GONE DOWN TO THE SLAUGHTER. A text suitable for sermon on occasion of CALAMITY BEFALLING YOUNG MEN, or upon the theme SINS DESTRUCTIVE ACTION UPON THE YOUNG.
I. How appalling are the ravages of calamity or sin! Gone down to the slaughter.
II. How unsuspecting is youth of perils and destruction! Young men are gone down, not dreaming of the dire issue of their course.
III. How pitiless is evil to the preciousness of youth! Slaughters even chosen young men! i.e., the choice ones of his young men.
IV. How urgently should the young regard the warnings of danger! It was impossible for these young men to escape slaughter in going down to face the invincible Chaldeans. Young men may deem themselves strongmay scorn the perils which others see for them, and of which they warn thembut the world is full of dangers to youth!
Observe that this admonition of coming doom to the reckless young men is spoken by the KING whose name is the LORD of hosts.
Jer. 48:16. CALAMITY IS NEAR TO COME, AND AFFLICTION HASTETH FAST. Near to the prophets eye, although twenty-three years elapsed between the fourth year of Jehoiakim (when this prophecy was uttered) and the fifth year after Nebuchadnezzars conquest of Jerusalem (when this prophecy was fulfilled).
I. Gods warnings give time for preparation.
II. Justice, though slow, yet surely moves onward.
III. Gods hand lingers to deal the fatal blow so long as there is possibility of amendment.
Jer. 48:17. Theme: BEMOANING THE SINNERS DOOM. All human glory is turned to shame, whether one glorify himself, as (according to Jer. 48:14) Moab had doneto which the destruction of all his warlike power stands in strong contrast (Jer. 48:15)or good friends and neighbours praise us; for these may early and easily find occasion (Jer. 48:16) to turn their song of praise into a lamentation.Naeg.
Bemoannot that Moab deserved pity, but this mode of expression pictures more vividly the grievousness of Moabs calamities.Jamieson.
Know his namepeoples at a distance who had heard his name.
Strong staffmetaphorical of Moabs power, other nations having been oppressed and terrified thereby (Isa. 9:4; Isa. 14:4-5).
Beautiful rodthe splendour of the Moabite kingdom (Psa. 110:2; Isa. 14:29; Eze. 19:11-12; Eze. 19:14).
I. Human greatness brought to ruin. Fame reversed. Dignity humiliated. Wealth lost. Influence forfeited. Virtue squandered. Noble powers prostituted. Fair promises of piety falsified. Precious character degraded. Immortal soul lost. Oh, the wrecks of human greatness! Oh, the irretrievable loss of human purity! Oh, the eternal doom of impenitent souls!
II. A sinners ruin helplessly bewailed.
1. Friends, near and afar, those about him, and those who know his name, intimate friends and more remote acquaintances, can do nothing but lament! Cannot help, yet can weep.
2. The ruin of a noble life is indeed cause for bemoaning. Who can tell the woe of the lost, the weeping and gnashing of teeth!
III. Outward glory utterly desolated.
1. Strength (strong staff) and beauty (beautiful rod) win mens recognition and praise.
2. Outward virtues (physical and extrinsic) do not prove the possession of intrinsic worth of character and spirit.
3. External virtues are valueless to God without piety.
4. Mens admiration and praise will not save a soul.
Jer. 48:19. Theme: THE FATE OF OTHERS A WARNING TO US. Stand by the way and espy; ask him that fleeth and her that escapeth, What is done?
The pillar of salt on the plains of Sodom was a warning to individual sinners. Buried Nineveh is a monumental admonition to godless nations. Wretched homes around us show the woe consequent upon guilty indulgences. Embittered lives testify of the miseries of iniquity, the delusion of the worlds seductions, the falsity of sins pleasure, that it is an evil and a bitter thing to sin against God.
I. Admonitions are offered by the careers others pursue.
II. An observant eye will discern the consequences of wrong.
III. Miseries befalling others warn us to shun the cause.
IV. God writes lessons upon the lives men live that we may be wise.
V. Attention to human history proves the woe of ungodliness.
VI. Men need salvation from themselvesfrom their sins, which work their ruin; from their self-glorying, which shuts away the gracious help of God and the saving power of Christ.
Stand in the public way and see what sermons the careers of men preach; ask individual sinners of the consequences of their indulgences and their impiety; then beware! See Psalms 1.
Jer. 48:27. Theme: DERISION OF GODS PEOPLE AVENGED. Moab had exulted formerly over the calamity which befel the ten tribes (2Ki. 17:6) under the Assyrian Shalmanezer (Isa. 15:6); now Moab rejoices over the fall of Judah under the Chaldean Nebuchadnezzar.
I. God takes up His peoples cause as His own. See Oba. 1:10; Oba. 1:13. He feels what they endure.
II. Wrong charges against the godly refuted by God Himself. Jehovah demands the justification of Moabs derision. What had Israel done to deserve it? Was he detected in nefarious conduct? had he consorted with evil conspirators? Was Israel found among thieves? See Zec. 3:2.
III. Retribution comes back to evildoers in kind. Moab also shall be in derision (Jer. 48:26). He in his disaster shall be a derision to Israel. Oh, when sinners are overthrown in awful judgment at the end of the world, how will the saints of God have cause to chide and scorn them for their proud contempt of those whom God loved! See Moses song over the defeated host of Pharaoh, Exodus 15; also Israels exultation over Babel as Lucifer, Isa. 14:4-17; also the Churchs rejoicing over Satans fall, Rev. 12:9-12; and the true Church of Christ over the apostate Church of Rome, Rev. 18:1-20.
Even so shall God have scorners in derision when calamity overtakes them. See Pro. 1:26-30. I will laugh at your calamity, &c.
Jer. 48:28. Theme: A ROCK FOR SAFE HIDING. Dwell in the rock, and be like the dove.
Text part of prophecy concerning the overthrow and desolation of Moab. Yet she is warned to escape the impending danger, and shelter herself in the mountain fastnesses where the sword could not reach them.
I. Admire the compassion God displays.
1. He warns before He smites.
2. He provides a shelter before the storm bursts.
3. He shows solicitude for those who disregard their own safety.
II. Accept the security God provides.
1. Distrust the safety which the world offers. Leave the cities.
2. Dream of no security away from Christ. Dwell in the Rock.
3. Hide in Him amid lowering storms. Come, my people, hide thyself as it were for a little moment, &c., Isa. 26:20.
4. Fear no future crisis when safe in Him. Not death, nor the glorious return of Christ, &c.
III. Avoid the sins God condemns.
1. Apathy and heedlessness. Moab at ease from his youth (Jer. 48:11). Light thoughts of sin. Careless of Gods warnings.
2. Self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. Heard of the pride of Moab, &c. (Jer. 48:29).
3. Procrastination and delay. Calamity is near (Jer. 48:16).
IV. Announce the tidings God declares.
1. To those terrified by apprehensions. Let them know there is a Rock for safe hiding.
2. To those beguiled by false securities. Urge them to leave the cities which they imagine safe.
3. To those loitering amid gathering perils. It is wise to seek Christ at once, and hide in Him.
4. To those unsteady in their religious habits. Dwell in the Rockconstantly, contentedly; and be like the dove that maketh her nestRest in the Lord.
Jer. 48:28. Theme: FLEEING FOR REFUGE. Oh, ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities and dwell in the Rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest by the side of the holes mouth.
The uniformity of the principles of Divine government in providence and grace. It was an important part of the duty of the prophets to foretell the overthrow of those kingdoms which opposed the Church of God. It was a source of consolation that the empires that persecuted the Church should themselves be finally swept from earth, that the way might be made smooth for the coming of Christthe glory of His people Israel.
This prophecy was fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar, and the destruction of the chief cities of Moab took place, as Josephus says, five years after the overthrow of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. That conqueror not only burnt the Temple of God, but poured the tide of his desolation and conquests over the neighbour nations, and Moab among the number. But when pursuing his own gigantic and ambitious designs, he little thought that he was accomplishing prophecies of which he had never heardjust as Herod and Pilate, in the Crucifixion of Christ, only fulfilled what Gods own hand and counsel before determined to be done.
I. The parties addressed. Learn the compassion of God to the chief of sinners. The inhabitants of Moab, whose calamity is foretold with so much compassion and tenderness; which teaches us that God exercises a gracious solicitude not only for friends but for enemies. For Moab was not a neutral state, but a hostile onealways in enmity and arms against the Church of God. Their country closely bordered upon the Holy Land.
But though such near neighbours and closely allied in blood, the Moabites were bitter enemies to the people of God. When Israel came from Egypt, Moab met them with no provision, and refused them a passage through their country. They hired Balaam to curse; they fought bloody battles with them; they held Israel in bondage in time of the Judges eighteen years; they rebelled against Israel under Ahab; they warred against Judah under Jehoshaphat; and when the ten tribes were led into captivity by Sennacherib, they mocked their miseries and danced for joy. For was not Israel a derision to thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him thou skippest for joy. Yet Israel mourns their overthrow, and God here gives instruction and warning for their guidancethat they should escape the cities and enter the Rock.
1. Learn, then, that God warns before He strikes, and follows the wicked with warning upon warning and entreaty upon entreaty. Did He not forewarn the men of the old world one hundred and twenty years before the Deluge came on? Did He not wait till the iniquity of the Amorites was full before He swept them away? Did He not raise a long succession of prophets to foretell the destruction of Jerusalem? and is not Moab here warned of the approaching desolation? Was it not for rebellious sinners that God gave His own Son to die? Did not Jesus weep over Jerusalem? Is it not true that God willeth not the death of a sinner? Yet it is over these warnings and hindrances you pass on to destruction.
2. The loss of a single soul is an object of mourning to the Church of God, as the conversion of one sinner gives joy in heaven. What a harvest is burnt upon the ground! What a vintage is destroyed! O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee (Jer. 48:32). Where are the tears fit to be wept?
II. The direction given. Heed the dangers of false security. Leave the cities and dwell in the Rock.
In like manner God provides the refuge we need in the Gospel. He guards us against the evils of a fancied security; and would have us forsake all false refuges and enter the true. A man shall be a hiding-place from the wind. By two immutable things, &c., we have strong consolation who fled for refuge.
This affords an argument for hope and security to the righteous. If He show so much care and sympathy for enemies, how much more will He guard and bless His friends? If He find food for the raven, a shelter for the wild dove, and the shadow of a great Rock for guilty Moab, will He neglect His own children in their calamities, and leave them forsaken and shelterless under the storms of life? Did He not provide succour for Naomi in Moab itself? Did not the angel supply Elijah with food at Horeb? Was not David preserved against the persecutions of Saul? Were not Hagar and Ishmael preserved for Abrahams sake? Better to be Gods outcasts than the worlds favourites. A portion with Gods people is better than the best portion of the world. Their rock is not as our Rock, &c. (Deu. 32:31).
The cities were of mans building; the Rock was of Gods providing; and David wisely said, Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.
This accords with all analogy. God furnishes relief, and finds the means of protection and shelter to all beings. No creature but is furnished with means of security and defence. He wings the angel, guides the sparrow, directs the young lion to its prey, and hears the ravens when they cry.
The weakest creatures have often the strongest shelters. The vine stays on the elm; the ivy clings to the tower; the worm hides itself in the sure and firm-set earth; the dove flies to the rock; and man seeks and finds his refuge in God. In religion the extremes of being meet. Human weakness and Divine strength; human folly and Divine wisdom; human insufficiency, Divine all-sufficiency.
III. The faith and trust to be exercised. Be like the dove. The doves and wild pigeons in the East delight in cool and inaccessible places. They build their nests in cliffs and caverns overhanging fearful precipices, especially in clefts of the rock where the adventurous foot of man cannot tread. This is referred to by Homer, who tells us that, when frighted by the fowler, or by birds and beasts of prey, they are seen flying on the wings of fear to their hiding-place in the rocks. Voltaire says that Solomon makes him better acquainted with the customs of the East than Homer himself does. Oh, my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs; let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice: for sweet is thy voice.
We can scarcely have a more beautiful description of the simple exercise of faith and dependence than this image supplies. Flying to the rock and resting there. The poor dove has no weapons of defence. She does not stay to fight with the vulture or contend with the fowler, but, relying on the swiftness of her wings, hastens to the rock, assured that once there she shall be safe.
Faith is the eye that discerns Christ, the hand that grasps Christ, the wing that flies to Christ.
The constancy of our trust and dependence. Dwell in the Rock. It is not her place of shelter merely, but of permanent abode. He that DWELLETH in the secret place. That Christ may DWELL. Arise, go to Bethel, and DWELL there.
IV. The infatuation to be deplored.
1. Pride and self-sufficiency. We have heard of the pride of Moab. Everybody hadmentioned six times in this chapter. It is the distinction of impious men to have a hard heart under softening providences, and a proud heart under humbling ones.
2. Beware of idolatry and creature confidence (Jer. 48:35).
3. Beware of procrastination and delay; of despairing of mercy.Rev. S. Thodey (1856).
Jer. 48:29. Theme: VAUNTINGS OF PRIDE. We have heard of the pride of Moab (he is exceeding proud), &c.
I. Pride is the trumpeter of its own fame. We have heard, &c. Proud people cannot rest unnoticed; they will sound a trumpet before themselvesas did the Phariseesand make men know that they really do exist, and are of great consequence in the world.
Pride is his own glass, his
own trumpet, his own chronicle.Shakespeare.
What is pride? A whizzing rocket,
That would emulate a star.Wordsworth.
II. Pride has its grades of inflated grandeur. He is exceeding proud. There are higher heights of vanity, as there are lower depths of infamy.
Whatever sort beside
You take in lieu, shun spiritual pride!
A pride there is of rank, a pride of birth,
A pride of learning, and a pride of purse;
A London pridein short, there be on earth
A host of prides, some better and some worse;
But of all prides, since Lucifer attaint,
The proudest swells a self-elected saint.
Hood.
III. Pride manifests itself in numerous varieties of form. Loftiness, arrogancy, pride, haughtiness. In manner and bearingconceited: loftiness. In imperious and unreasonable exactions of attention and homageostentatious: arrogancy. In habitual estimates of self as compared with othersinflated: pride. In feelings of indifference to and contempt for inferiorscruel: haughtiness.
There is a pride of feeling, of speech, of action; a pride of possessions, and a subtler pride of profession [to be or to have what is false]; a pride of goodness, of greatness, and even of godliness.
IV. Pride has its seat in a haughty heart. The haughtiness of his heart. For out of the heart proceedeth every deformity. If a mans own heart could settle the question of his personal importance, each one of us would be too big for the world.
When Severus, emperor of Rome, found his end approaching, he cried out, I have been everything, and everything is nothing! Then ordering the urn to be brought to him in which his ashes were to be enclosed, he said, Little urn, thou shalt contain one for whom, the world was too little.
But the heart is deceitful; and whoso trusteth to his own heart is a fool.
Of all the causes which conspire to blind
Mans erring judgment and misguide the mind,
What the weak head with strongest bias rules
Is pride, the never-failing vice of fools.
Pope.
V. Pride provokes the scornful notice of God.
I know his wrath [or insolence], saith the Lord. And God hates pride and hot arrogance. Because of pride Nebuchadnezzar was thrust from mens society, Saul was cast from his kingdom, Adam was driven from Paradise, Haman was expelled from court, and Lucifer hurled out of heaven.
VI. Pride meets at length its degradation and defeat
But it shall not be so; his lies shall not effect it; i.e., all his brawlings are emptiness and fallacies. God will bring to nought the plans of arrogant Moab, and lay his pride low in contempt.
A proud heart and a lofty mountain are never fruitful.Gurnall.
As the first step heavenward is humility, so the first step hellward is pride. Pride counts the Gospel foolish, but the Gospel always shows pride to be so.Mason.
His heart is black with pride.
He for himself hells gate has opened wide,
For, weighed in God the All-Sufficients scale,
Not claims nor righteousness or men avail:
But these are costly in His sight indeed,
Repentance, contrite shame, and sense of need.
Oriental, tr. by Trench.
Jeremiah adds to Isaiahs words descriptive of Moabs pride (comp. Isa. 16:6) other terms, indicating that the chastisement inflicted on Moab for his former arrogance against Israel had not lessened his pride; he was even more lofty and arrogant; therefore now his sentence of doom is weighted with heavier penalties.
Comments.
Jer. 48:32-33. O vine of Sibmah, &c.
So great was the general joy inspired by the vintage, that its cessation was one of the punishments denounced against Moab.Topics for Teachers.
Their shouting shall be no shouting: for warriors shall tread down Moab in the battle-field, and change the joyous shoutings of vintners into the agonised cry of alarm.
Jer. 48:40. He shall fly as an eagle, i.e., the Babylonian conqueror. Points of analogy:i. The rapidity with which the eagle rushes on its prey. (See Hab. 1:8; 2Sa. 1:23; Lam. 4:19.) ii. Its peculiar habit of expanding its wings (see chap. Jer. 49:22), suggesting the spreading out of the Chaldean forces.
Jer. 48:42. Destroyed because he hath magnified himself.
i. SELF-EXALTATION often impresses beholders with its show of pomp, power, and permanence.
ii. SELF-EXALTATION AGAINST GOD provokes His swift indignation and ultimate overthrow.
iii. SELF-EXALTATION therefore is but ANOTHER FORM OF SELF-DESTRUCTION. They who magnify themselves against the Lord do thereby seal their sure doom, for they alienate Gods grace and invoke Gods justice. (See Addenda: SELF-ESTEEM.)
Jer. 48:45. A fire shall come forth out of Heshbon. Not only will Ammon (of which Heshbon was the capital) refuse aid to Moab, but her ruin would start from thence. Historically it occurred that the Ammonites were conquered before the Moabites; and Nebuchadnezzar formed the plan of his campaign against Moab in Heshbon (Jer. 48:2). Jeremiah here fitly appropriates and uses part of an old Mosaic triumphal poem (Num. 21:27), made on Sihons conquests over Moab. For Nebuchadnezzar would issue as a flame from the midst of Sihon, just as formerly the Amorites had done.
Jer. 48:47. Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab. Josephus records how the Moabites were afterwards restored to their country (Antiq., xiii. 13, 5, 14, 2, &c.), though never to their former political importance.
Notes.i. Moab is the SYMBOLICAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THOSE ENEMIES OF
GODS CHURCH who are characterised by carnal strength, lustful passion, unholy haughtiness, sensual and cruel violence.Wordsworth.
ii. Moabs restoration typifies and predicts GOSPEL BLESSINGS, temporal and spiritual, FOR THE GENTILES in the latter days.
ADDENDA TO CHAP. 48: ILLUSTRATIONS AND SUGGESTIVE EXTRACTS
Jer. 48:11. Troubles revive us. Staying for a while in the valley of Aosta, in Northern Italy, we found the air to be heavy, close, and humid with pestilential exhalations. We were oppressed and feverishones life did not seem worth a pin. We could not breathe freely, our lungs had a sense of having a hundred atmospheres piled upon them. Presently, at midday, there came a thunder-clap, attended by big drops of rain and a stiff gale of wind, which grew into a perfect tornado, tearing down the trees; then followed what the poet calls sonorous hail, and then again the lightning flash, and the thunder peal on peal echoing along the Alps. But how delightful was the effect! How we all went out upon the verandah to look at the lightning and enjoy the music of the thunder! How cool the air and bracing! How delightful to walk out in the cool evening after the storm! Then you could breathe and feel a joy in life. Full often it is thus with the Christian after trouble. He has grown to be careless, lethargic, feverish, heavy, and ready to die, and just then he has been assailed by trouble, thundering threatenings have rolled from Gods mouth, flashes of lightning have darted from Providence: the property vanished, the wife died, the children were buried, trouble followed trouble, and then the man has turned to God, and though his face was wet with tears of repentance, yet he has felt his spirit to be remarkably restored. When he goes up to the house of God, it is far more sweet to hear the Word than aforetime. He could not pray before, but now he leans his head on Jesus bosom and pours out his soul in fellowship. Eternity now exerts its heavenly attractions, and the man is saved from himself.Spurgeon.
Jer. 48:42. Self-esteem.
Beware of too sublime a sense
Of your own worth and consequence.
The man who deems himself so great,
And his importance of such weight,
That all around, in all thats done,
Must work and act for him alone,
Will learn in school of tribulation,
The folly of his expectation.
Cowper
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
A. Advancing Devastation Jer. 48:1-6
TRANSLATION
(1) Concerning Moab: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Woe unto Nebo! for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is put to shame, is captured; Misgab is put to shame and confounded. (2) The glory of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have plotted calamity against her. Come, let us cut her off from being a nation. Also, O Madmen, You shall be silent; the sword shall pursue you. (3) Hark! A cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction. (4) Moab is shattered; her little ones cause a cry to be heard. (5) For by the ascent of Luhith they shall go up with continual weeping; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction. (6) Flee! Run for your life! that you may be like the heath in the wilderness.
COMMENTS
The poem opens with a resounding woe. This word is derived from the Hebrew vocabulary of lamentation and expresses the idea how sad it is. Sometimes the word is used sarcastically; sometimes the prophets are sincere when they utter their woes. Here Jeremiah must feel genuine sympathy for the Moabites in the calamity they are about to experience at the hands of an unnamed northern army. The prophet sees in his minds eye the enemy devastating the northern cities of Moab, those cities north of the Arnon river. Nebo is not the mountain but a near-by village named in honor of the Semitic deity Nabu. Misgab (the high fortress) and Kiriathaim (the double city) are in the vicinity of Nebo. The inhabitants of these cities are dismayed and stupefied in the face of the enemy onslaught (Jer. 48:1). In Heshbon, the main city north of the river Arnon, the destroyers from the north assemble for the final push into Moab proper.[383] Come, let us cut her off from being a nation! The villages of Madmen (Jer. 48:2) and Horonaim (Jer. 48:3) just south of the Arnon are sacked and destroyed by the enemy. Jeremiah can hear the wails of panic-stricken men and terrified women and children as they flee southward up the road that leads to Luhith and down the valley that leads to Horonaim. The locations of these two villages are unknown.
[383] Heshbon was a border town between Reuben and Gad and served as one of the forty-eight Levitical cities (Jos. 21:39). In Jeremiahs day the city seems to have been occupied by Ammonites (Jer. 49:3).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
IV. THE ORACLE AGAINST MOAB Jer. 48:1-47
The Moabites occupied the region east of the Dead Sea and for the most part south of the river Arnon. The Arnon flows through a steep, twisting gorge in the mountains of Moab and was of great strategic importance in antiquity. In times of political decline the kingdom of Moab shrank to the area on the southern side of the river which thus became a natural border on the north. In more vigorous periods the kingdom expanded northward beyond the river. The Israelites first came into contact with the Moabites at the end of the period of wilderness wandering. At that time Balak, king of Moab, hired Balaam to curse Israel (Numbers 22-24). This was the beginning of a long history of enmity between the two nations.[381] The Moabite Stone as well as the Bible reflects the hostility between the Israelites and the Moabites.[382]
[381] See Jdg. 3:12-30; 1Sa. 14:47; 2Sa. 8:2; 2Ki. 3:4-6; 2Ki. 3:6-27; 2Ch. 20:1 ff.; 2Ki. 13:20. Only briefly was this hostility interrupted as for example when Elemelech and later David took refuge in Moab (Rth. 1:1 f.; 1Sa. 22:3-4).
[382] This inscription tells how Mesha, king of Moab, was able to recapture from Israel territory north of the river Arnon.
Prior to the time of Jeremiah a number of prophets had uttered oracles against Moab. Balaam himself had been compelled by the Spirit of God to utter a prophecy against Moab (Num. 24:17). Amos (Jer. 2:1-3) and Isaiah (Isa. 15:1-7; Isa. 16:6-12; Isa. 25:10-12) had foretold the doom of Moab about a century before Jeremiah. Zephaniah, an earlier contemporary of Jeremiah, also alludes to the forthcoming total destruction of Moab (Zep. 2:8-10).
Jeremiahs oracle against Moab is the most unique and in some respects the most difficult of all the foreign nations oracles found in his book. In at least three respects this oracle is unique. It is by far the longest oracle addressed to any of the smaller neighbors of Israel. Secondly, this oracle contains an enormous number of place names. Certainly Jeremiah must have had an intimate acquaintance with the geography of Moab. It is this aspect of the oracle that makes it difficult to interpret. Thirdly, this oracle is unique because of its similarities to other portions of Scripture. It would appear that the Holy Spirit directed Jeremiah to gather, rearrange, and reaffirm the utterances made concerning Moab by his predecessors. Jeremiah utilizes the earlier prophecies and incorporates their phrases and ideas into his own picture of the future of Moab.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XLVIII.
(1) Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts . . .Better, with a different punctuation, Concerning Moab (this being the title of the section), Thus saith the Lord of hosts. In the long prophecy that follows Jeremiah in part follows in the wake of the burden of Moab in Isaiah 15, 16, entering even more fully into geographical details. (See Notes there.) The relations between Moab and Israel had for a long period been more or less uneasy. The former had been tributary to the latter under Ahab, but on his death Mesha revolted, and a war ensued, which ended in the defeat of the Moabites by the allied forces of Israel, Judah, and Edom (2 Kings 3). They repeated their attack, however (2Ki. 13:20), and appear to have occupied the territory of the Trans-jordanic tribes on their deportation by Tiglath-pileser. Of the three places named, Nebo, memorable as the summit of Pisgah, from which Moses looked upon the land of promise, and forming part of the range of the mountains of Abarim (Deu. 32:49; Deu. 34:1), has been identified conjecturally with Djebel-el-Attarus, or Djebel-el-Jelad. Hitzig derives the name from the Sanscrit Nabho (= the cloud-heaven). Kiriathaim (= the double city) is named in Gen. 14:5 and Num. 32:37, in the latter passage in conjunction with Elealeh, Heshbon, and Nebo. Jerome places it at a distance of ten miles west of Medaba, as one of the cities rebuilt by the Reubenites, but it has not been identified. Misgab, the high fort or citadel of Isa. 25:12, has shared the same fate, but has been referred by some writers to Kir-Moab, or Kir-heres, as the chief fortified city of the country (see Jer. 48:31; Jer. 48:36; Isa. 15:1; Isa. 16:7). The article which is prefixed to it in the Hebrew has led Frst (Lexicon) to take it in a wider sense, as meaning the plateau or highland country of Moab generally.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
CALAMITIES IN MOAB, Jer 48:1-8.
1. Against Moab Rather, concerning “Moab.” In Isaiah (chaps. 15 and 16) and Amos (Amo 2:1-3) are prophecies against Moab. This one is, to a great extent, on the basis of that in Isaiah, which it amplifies and changes. It also contains two verses (43 and 44) from Isaiah, (Isa 24:17-18.)
Nebo Not the mountain, but the city of the same name in the vicinity. Kiriathaim is also a city in the same general region.
Misgab The high-fortress; probably the chief fortress of the country.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Destruction of Moab ( Jer 48:1-13 ).
Note how, as in Isaiah 15, the towns and prominent places are mentioned by name. Some of them were towns that had been taken over from Israel (compare Mesha’s account of his conquests above referring to Nebo and Horonaim). Now these trophies will be theirs no more.
Jer 48:1
‘Of Moab. Thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel:
‘Of Moab.’ A plain and succint heading indicating the country in mind in the prophecy. YHWH is then identified by His full official title as ‘YHWH of hosts’, the One Who is over all the hosts both of heaven and of earth, and as ‘the God of Israel’, the official God worshipped by Israel Who still acknowledges them as His people even though they have been unfaithful to Him.
Jer 48:2
“Woe to Nebo! for it is laid waste,
Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken,
Misgab is put to shame and broken down,
The praise of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they have devised (hshb) evil against her.
“Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation.”
You also, O Madmen, will be brought to silence (dmm),
The sword will pursue you.”
Note the play on words between the cities named and the verbs used of their judgment, something beloved of Hebrew poetry. Moab was noted for its pride (Isa 16:6), and its judgment is described accordingly. Thus it is to be ‘put to shame’, it is ‘no more to be praised’, it is to be ‘brought to silence’. It is to be humbled in the dust.
Various towns and cities in Moab are identified, and it is noteworthy that they are conurbations which had once been a part of Israel. Note, for example, that Nebo was mentioned in the Moabite Stone (see above) as taken by Mesha from Israel. Heshbon was the leading city of Sihon, King of the Amorites (Num 21:25-30), and had been taken over by the tribe of Reuben on his defeat (Num 32:37). The fact that it was now Moabite speaks for itself. Kiriathaim, the plural ending probably indicating an upper and lower city, was also formerly a Reubenite city (Jos 13:19). See Num 32:37-38; Jos 13:17-19 for the whole. Madmen is unknown although there were towns with a similar name in Judah and Benjamin (Jos 15:31; Isaiah 10 31). But it may refer to Dibon (Dimon in Isa 15:9) which was another Israelite city seized by Moab (‘m’ is often used to turn a verbal root into a noun). Thus there had been a considerable annexation of land by Moab from Israel and it is salutary that the very cities that the Moabites had annexed and now proudly called their own, would now be destroyed.
Jer 48:3-4
“The sound of a cry from Horonaim,
“Desolation and great destruction!”
Moab is destroyed,
Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.”
Moab no longer rings with shouts of pride, but with cries of destruction, as her people flee as refugees. All her ‘little ones’ (her towns and villages) cry out. The idea of towns and cities as ‘daughters’ is found regularly elsewhere. Horonaim was another annexed area and was another dual city that was to be destroyed. But it is then made clear that the destruction of these cities is synonymous with the destruction of Moab with all her towns.
Some see ‘her little ones’ as referring literally to children with the idea that even the children are involved in her suffering which is affecting the whole populace, but in context the restriction to ‘little ones’ in this sense seems unlikely. There is no mention of fathers, or mothers, or people. What has been in mind are the towns and cities.
Jer 48:5
“For by the ascent of Luhith,
With continual weeping will they go up,
For at the descent of Horonaim,
They have heard the distress of the cry of destruction.”
Compare here Isa 15:5 which may well have been in Jeremiah’s mind. As the people of Moab flee before the enemy, seeking to escape as they laboriously climb the ascent of Luhith and make their way down the descent of Horonaim, (consider the difficulty that they must have faced, a long line of refugees, as they made their way up and down the passes bearing with them the possessions with which they fled) there is continual weeping and distress for the destruction that has come on their country and on their cities, the sound of which destruction is ringing in their ears from behind even as they seek to escape down ‘the descent of Horonaim’.
Jer 48:6-8
“Flee, save your lives,
And be like the heath (vegetation) in the wilderness (semi-desert).
For, because you have trusted in your works and in your treasures,
You also will be taken,
And Chemosh will go forth into captivity,
His priests and his princes together.
And the destroyer will come upon every city,
And no city will escape,
The valley also will perish,
And the plain will be destroyed,
As YHWH has spoken.”
The call to them is to flee and save their lives, something which will result for them in conditions here depicted in term of ‘vegetation and shrubs in the semi-desert’, something stunted and fighting for life. They share the plight of all refugees in a war situation. And this was because their trust had been in their own achievements (their ‘work’) and in their wealth (their ‘treasures’ – mainly their vast numbers of sheep). Nor had Chemosh, their god in whom they had gloried (see again the Moabite stone inscription), been able to assist them. He too would be carried off into captivity, along with his priests and princes, to be ignominiously dealt with by his captors by being carried off helplessly on the backs of mules while the whole land was being destroyed. Compare the vivid picture of Babylonian deities being carried off by the invaders (probably the Assyrians) in Isa 46:1-2. Meanwhile no city would escape, and the countryside and valleys would bear their share of destruction. The whole land, city and countryside, would be devastated. And all this was because, in contrast with the helpless Chemosh, YHWH had spoken.
Note the huge contrast here between Chemosh and YHWH. Outwardly it might have appeared that neither could defend their people, for both nations would have been pillaged, but Jeremiah’s whole point is that YHWH’s people have suffered at YHWH’s hands as chastisement for their sins, precisely because they had turned to idols, and not because YHWH had been powerless to help them (had they obeyed YHWH’s word through Jeremiah they would not have been devastated). And He would therefore deliver them again. It did not thus indicate that YHWH had been helpless. No one had carried YHWH off in a mule train. Rather it was in fact He Who had brought the situation about. And as seen here He was still in overall control of events both on behalf of His people and on behalf of surrounding nations. He was LORD of all.
We should note here the very great difference between the Old Testament prophets, and the false prophets and the prophets of surrounding nations. The latter all assumed that their god would deliver, indeed that was the message that they were expected to give. Thus when their gods failed to do so those gods were discredited, although it should be noted that in the Moabite Stone Moab had suffered temporary humiliation at the hands of Israel because Chemosh was angry with them. But that was presumably over a lack if proper religious observance. However, in the case of YHWH His true prophets had regularly declared what YHWH would do to His people because of their disobedience to the covenant which covered their behaviour both religious and ethical, so that when it happened YHWH was actually vindicated.
Jer 48:9-10
“Give wings to Moab,
That she may fly and get her away,
And her cities will become a desolation,
Without any to dwell in them.
Cursed be he who does the work of YHWH negligently,
And cursed be he who keeps back his sword from blood.”
With pointed irony the prophet calls for wings to be given to Moab so that she could flee the more quickly. But it would not be for the people’s benefit. They would still be refugees. This prayer was rather in order to underline the speed that they would need in order to escape, the devastation that was being left behind, and the haste in which they were having to leave it. While she ‘flew away’ her cities would be left devastated and uninhabited, her land desolated by war.
Some translate this as ‘give salt to Moab’, based on comparison of sis with a Ugaritic word. Then the idea parallels what follows for the spreading of salt was used in order to render a city uninhabitable.
This whole picture is then underlined by what follows, the calling for a curse on the invaders if they failed to do their task properly. This was because they were seen as doing the work of YHWH in bringing judgment on Moab, and had thus to do it to His satisfaction. They must not therefore draw back or hesitate. They must fulfil that task to the full. It is a reminder that nothing that is done for God should be done casually. This call for a curse is of course hyperbole. It is a hyperbolic method of underlining the fact that what is occurring is of YHWH. It is not calling for a literal curse to be laid on individuals as such We can compare here Jdg 5:23; 1Sa 15:3 ; 1Sa 15:18; 1Ki 20:42.
Jer 48:11
“Moab has been at ease from his youth,
And he has settled on his lees,
And has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
Nor has he gone into captivity,
Therefore his taste remains in him,
And his scent is not changed.”
Moab is likened to a skin (bottle-equivalent) of wine which has been left to mature. The picture is vivid. It is quality wine which is left to mature in this way. The lees have settled on the bottom and nothing has escaped, neither scent nor taste, because the skin has never been opened and poured out into another container. The wine has thus become rich and fruity, a delight both to the nose and the palate. Compare here Zep 1:12. Moab was seen as like this because up until now her people had escaped invasion and being taken into exile. They had not been ‘poured out’. Rather they had continued to grow wealthy and expand their flocks of sheep without hindrance (their wealth was founded on sheep – 2Ki 3:4). They would, of course, at times have had to pay tribute, but by doing so expediently they had escaped worse. But we know that at this stage they were getting involved in intrigue against Babylon, and this time therefore they would not escape.
‘Emptying from vessel to vessel’ was a technique of wine producers used in order to clarify wine and improve its flavour. It was especially necessary for cheaper wines. In practise it is to some extent a matter of taste. Some like wine clear, some like it mature, but the point here is that it is for a nation’s good to be stirred up every now and again, because it prevents them from becoming arrogant like Moab had. She boasted in her own ‘good fortune’ and of course laid it at the door of her god Chemosh.
Jer 48:12-13
“Therefore, behold, the days come,
The word of YHWH,
That I will send to him those who pour off,
And they will pour him off,
And they will empty his vessels,
And break their bottles in pieces,
And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh,
As the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence.”
But Moab’s complacency will soon be shattered as surely as YHWH has spoken. Her wineskins will be opened up and poured out, and they will be made empty. And the wineskins themselves will be shattered and rendered useless. Such will be her condition that she will be ashamed of her god Chemosh as she recognises that he has been unable to help her. Just as in the same way Israel were made ashamed of Bethel. This latter possibly has in mind the golden calf at Bethel set up by Jeroboam I (1Ki 12:29), or it may refer to an actual god worshipped under the name of Bethel. Such a god was known among the Jewish colony at Elephantine in 5th century BC. The parallel and the phraseology might be seen as favouring the second as more probable, but even if that is so the worship of the golden calf would almost certainly be in mind. That god too had failed to deliver Israel.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
D). Prophecy Against Moab ( Jer 48:1-47 ).
Whilst the Philistines were a constant trouble to Israel/Judah from the west, mainly troubling western Israel/Judah, eastern Israel/Judah, especially east of Jordan, suffered constantly at the hands of Moab when it was strong. Moab was situated east of the Dead Sea. This was partly due to the fact that in the time of Moses Israel had occupied territory which Moab saw as its own, territory which had been taken from Moab by the Ammonites prior to the arrival of Israel, and had subsequently been occupied by Israel on the defeat of Sihon. The consequence was that when it was strong Moab never ceased to trouble Israel as it sought to gain back what it saw as its own, and it would take advantage of that position in order to further its own wider interests. Such marauding against Israel had taken place in the days of Jehioiakim (Jer 12:7-13; 2Ki 24:2). A particularly good example of similar marauding is seen in the activities of King Mesha of Moab, as described by him in the Mesha Stele (Moabite Stone), as follows:
‘I am Mesha, son of KMSYT (Chemosh[-yat]), the king of Moab, the Dibonite. My father was king over Moab thirty years, and I reigned after my father. And I built this high-place for Chemosh in QRH (“the citadel”), a high place of salvation because he saved me from all the kings (or “all the attackers”), and because he let me be victorious over all my adversaries. Omri was king of Israel and he oppressed Moab for many days because Chemosh was angry with his land. And his son replaced him; and he also said, “I will oppress Moab”. In my days he spoke thus. But I was victorious over him and his house. And Israel suffered permanent destruction, And Omri had conquered the land of Madaba, and he dwelt there during his days and half the days of his son, forty years. But Chemosh dwelt in it in my days. So I rebuilt Baal Meon, and I put the water reservoir in it. And I built Qiryaten. The men of Gad had dwelt in Ataroth from of old; and the king of Israel built Ataroth for himself. But I fought against the city and took it. And I slew all the people [and] the city became the property of Chemosh and Moab. And I carried from there the ariel (altar) for its DVDH (possibly “its Davidic altar-hearth”?) and I dragged it before Chemosh in Qerioit, and I settled in it men of Sharon and men of Maharit. And Chemosh said to me, “Go! Seize Nebo against Israel.” so I proceeded by night and fought with it from the crack of dawn to midday, and I took it and I slew all of them: seven thousand men and boys, and women and girls and female slaves because I had dedicated it to Ashtar Chemosh. I took from there the vessels of YHWH, and I dragged them before Chemosh. And the king of Israel had built Yahaz, and he dwelt in it while he was fighting with me, but Chemosh drove him out before me. so I took from Moab two hundred men, all captains. And I brought them to Yahaz, And I seized it in order to add (it) to Dibon. I (myself) have built the ‘citadel’, ‘the wall(s) of the forest’ and the wall of the ‘acropolis’. And I built its gates; And I built its towers. And I built a royal palace; and I made the ramparts for the reservoir for water in the midst of the city. But there was no cistern in the midst of the city, in the ‘citadel,’ so I said to all the people, “Make [for] yourselves each man a cistern in his house”. And I hewed the shaft for the ‘citadel’ with prisoners of Israel. I built Aroer, and I made the highway in the Arnon. I built Beth-Bamot, because it was in ruins. I built Bezer, because it was a ruin with the armed men of Dibon because all of Dibon was under orders and I ruled over [the] hundreds in the towns which I have annexed to the land. And I built Medeba and Beth-Diblaten and Beth-Baal-Meon, and I carried there my herdsmen to herd the small cattle of the land, and as for Horonain, in it dwelt — [and] Chemosh said to me, “Go down, fight against Horonain”. And I went down and I fought with the city and I took it and Chemosh returned it in my days. Then I went up from there —.’
This is one example of how over the centuries Moab, when it was able, had consistently harried Israel, and annexed their land, something for which it now had to give a reckoning. But that is not the reason stated by Jeremiah for what is to happen. The reason for their judgment is rather to be seen as resulting from:
a). Their trusting ‘in their works and in their treasures’ (Jer 48:7).
b). Their derision at Israel/Judah’s suffering (Jer 48:27; Zep 2:8-10).
c). Their trusting in their god Chemosh (Jer 48:7; Jer 48:13; Jer 48:46).
For the whole passage compare Isaiah 15-16, and consider especially Isaiah’s words ‘we have heard of the pride of Moab’ (Isa 16:6; repeated in Jer 48:29 below). Moab had exulted in itself and in its god Chemosh; had derided Israel in its sufferings; and had refused to turn to YHWH. It was thus ripe for chastening. For other prophetic references to judgment on Moab see Eze 25:8-11; Amo 2:1-3, and Zep 2:9. It was not to be the end of Moab, however. In the end they would find mercy (Jer 48:47).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jer 48:1-47 Prophecy Against Moab Jer 48:1-47 is a prophecy against Moab.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Prophecies Against the Nations Jer 46:1 to Jer 51:64 consists of a collection of nine prophecies against the nations surrounding the land of Israel. The Lord had spoken to Jeremiah during his divine commission and said, “Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.” (Jer 1:9-10)
1. Prophecy Against Egypt Jer 46:2-28
2. Prophecy Against the Philistines Jer 47:1-7
3. Prophecy Against Moab Jer 48:1-47
4. Prophecy Against the Ammonites Jer 49:1-6
5. Prophecy Against Edom Jer 49:7-22
6. Prophecy Against Damascus Jer 49:23-27
7. Prophecy Against Kedar and Hazor Jer 49:28-33
8. Prophecy Against Elam Jer 49:34-39
9. Prophecy Against Babylon Jer 50:1 to Jer 51:64
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Coming Devastation of Moab Described
v. 1. Against Moab. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Woe unto Nebo! v. 2. There shall be no more praise of Moab, v. 3. A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, v. 4. Moab, v. 5. For in the going up of Luhith, v. 6. Flee! v. 7. For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, v. 8. And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape, v. 9. Give wings unto Moab that it may flee and get away, v. 10. Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully, v. 11. Moab hath been at ease from his youth, v. 12. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send unto him wanderers, v. 13. And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, v. 14. How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war? v. 15. Moab,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
This prophecy is so full of repetitions that the question has naturally arisen whether the most prominent of these may not be due to interpolation. For instance:
1. Jer 48:29-38 recur in Isa 16:6-10; Isa 15:4, Isa 15:5, Isa 15:6; Isa 16:12, Isa 16:11; Isa 15:2, Isa 15:3; not, indeed, without many peculiarities, and those peculiarities are so striking, and so little in harmony with Jeremiah’s usual mode of using his predecessor’s writings, that some have held that verses 29-38 were inserted by one of Jeremiah’s readers.
2. Verses 43, 44 so closely resemble Isa 24:17, Isa 24:18, and cohere so loosely with the context, that interpolation is a not unreasonable hypothesis.
3. Verses 45, 46, which are omitted in the Septuagint, are evidently based on Num 21:28, Num 21:29.
4. Verses 40, 41 closely resemble Jer 49:22; the portion corresponding to that passage is omitted in the Septuagint.
Jer 48:1-8
The prophet foresees the calamity of Moab, and the attendant confusion and dismay. Yes; flee, save your lives, if ye can; for your confidences have proved untrustworthy; there is no hope left.
Jer 48:1
Against Moab; rather, concerning Moab. Nebo! Not, of course, the mountain range referred to in Deu 32:49 and Deu 32:34. I as that from which Hoses viewed the land destined for Israel, but a town in the neighbourhood, deriving its name, not from the mountain,but from the same old Semitic (and not merely Babylonian) deity. Kiriathaim. “The double city.” A place of uncertain situation, but probably in the same district as Nebo; mentioned in Gen 14:5, as the abode of the “terrible” aboriginal tribe called the Emim. Is confounded; rather, is brought to shame (as Jer 46:24). Misgab; rather, the fortress. The connection shows that some definite fortress is intended, but it is difficult to say which. Graf thinks of Kir-heres (verses 31, 36) or Kir-hareseth (another form of the same name; comp. Isa 16:7; 2Ki 3:25), generally identified with Kir-Moab, the chief fortified town of the Moabites.
Jer 48:2
There shall be no more praise of Moab; rather, Moab’s glory (or, glorying) is no more (comp. Jer 48:29). In Heshbon they have devised evil, etc. There is a word play in the Hebrew, which may be reproduced thus: “In Plot-house they plot evil against it” (so J. F. Smith’s Ewald). Against it (literally, her) means “against Moab.” Heshbon was at the time an Ammonitish town (it had in days gone by been Amoritish, Num 21:26); see Jer 49:3; but was on the border of Moab. O Madmen. There seems to be again a word play, which has been to some extent reproduced thus: “Thou shalt become still, O Still house.” The name Madmen does not occur again, though an allusion to it has been fancied in Isa 25:10, where the Hebrew for “dunghill” is madmenah.
Jer 48:3
Horonaim. This Moabite town was probably on the borders of Edom; hence, perhaps, “Sanballat the Horonite.”
Jer 48:4
Moab is destroyed. The mention of Moab in the midst of towns is certainly surprising. We should expect Ar-Moab. Her little ones. The received text, as it stands, is untranslatable, and our choice lies between the correction suggested by the vowel points, and the reading of the Septuagint and a few of the extant Hebrew manuscripts, “unto Zoar.” In favour of the latter, which is adopted by Ewald and Graf, it may he urged that Zoar and Horenaim are mentioned together, not only in Jer 48:34, but also in Isa 15:5, which has evidently been imitated in the following verse. It is not quite clear what “her little ones” in the first mentioned correction mean. Some think, the children; others, the poor; Hitzig prefers the small towns of Moab. On the site of “Zoar,” see Smith’s ‘Dictionary of the Bible,’ but compare Canon Tristram in ‘The Land of Moab.’
Jer 48:5
For in the going up of Luhith, etc. The verse is substantially taken from Isaiah (Isa 15:5), but with variations peculiar to this chapter. The most peculiar of these is that in the first verse half, which is literally, weeping goeth up (not, shall go up) with weeping, which is explained by Dr. Payne Smith to mean “one set of weeping fugitives pressing close upon another.” To the present commentator (as also to Delitzschsee his note on Isa 15:5) there seems no reasonable doubt that b’ki, the word rendered “weeping,” should rather be bo, “upon it,” so that the passage will run, as in Isaiah, “for the going up of Luhith with weeping doth one go up if,” Hitzig (whom for once we find agreeing with Delitzsch) remarks that the miswriting b’ki for bo may be easily accounted for by the fact that ki, “for,” is the word which follows next. We have no right to ascribe to Jeremiah such an artificial and un-Hebraic an expression as that of the received text. Small as the matter may be in itself, it is not unimportant as suggesting to the Old Testament student a caution against the too unreserved adoption of the canon Lectioni faciliori praestat ardua. In the going down of Horonaim. An interesting variation from Isaiah. The older poet, less attentive to minutiae, had said vaguely, “in the road to Horonaim;” by a slight change of expression, the younger and more reflective writer produces a striking antithesis between the ascent to the hill-town, and the descent to the hollow in which Horonaim (“double cavern”) appears to have been situated. It is possible, however, that Jeremiah has preserved the original reading, and that “the road” in Isaiah, l.c; is due to the carelessness of a scribe. The enemies have heard a cry of destruction. But why this reference to the enemies? The rendering, however, is ungrammatical. The text is, literally, the enemies of the cry of destruction have they heard. The prophecy in Isaiah omits “the enemies of,” and has a different verb for “have they heard.” Can the inserted words be an intrusion from the margin? The later scribes were accustomed to insert glosses in the margin on occasions where we should have thought them entirely unnecessary for the purpose of explanation. But then why “the enemies of”? It is an insoluble enigma.
Jer 48:6
Flee, save your lives; literally, your souls. The prophet’s human feeling prompts him to this counsel; but he knows full well that a life of abject misery is the utmost that can be hoped for. And be like the heath in the wilderness; literally, and (your souls) shall be like destitute ones in the wilderness. Imagine the ease of one who has been robbed of everything, and left alone in the desert; not less miserable is that of the Moabite fugitives. The word rendered “the heath” (aroer) is either miswritten for arar, which occurs in the sense of “destitute” in Jer 17:6 (see note), or also a rare plural form of the same word. The sense remains the same. It is tempting to see an allusion to one of the towns called Aroer (as in Isa 17:2). But the only Aroer the prophet could be thinking of is that on the Amen (Deu 2:36), which could not be described as “in the wilderness.”
Jer 48:7
In thy works; i.e. either “in thy evil deeds” (comp. Isa 28:15) or “in thy idols” (frequently called “the work of men’s hands,” e.g. Deu 4:28, and sometimes simply “works,” e.g. Isa 41:29; Isa 57:12; comp. Isa 1:31). Chemoah. In Num 21:29 Moab is called “people of Chemosh,” the patron-god being the king and lord of his people. In accordance with the strictly localizing theory of the nature of deity, current among primitive nations, Chemosh is said to go into captivity together with his worshippers (comp. Jer 49:3; Amo 1:15). This helps us to understand the idolatry into which the Jews fell during the Exile (Isa 42:17); they imagined that Jehovah himself was “in captivity,” and restrained from putting forth his power on behalf of his worshippers. The text reading is not Chemosh, but Chemish; the latter form does not occur elsewhere, but has been thought to illustrate the name of the Hittite city Carchemish, i.e. “castle of Chemosh.”
Jer 48:8
The valley the plain. The latter (Hebrew, mishor) is the upland region which extends from the Jordan eastward of Jericho into the Arabian desert; in Num 21:20 it is called the “field” (i.e. “open country”) of Moab. The former means that part of the Jordan valley which borders on this upland “plain” towards the west.
Jer 48:9-16
So sudden is the blow that Moab stands in need of wings to make good his escape. Were the human instrument to delay, the curse meant for Moab would come upon himself. Is a reason demanded? It is that Moab has long been in a state of morally perilous security, and requires to be thoroughly shaken and aroused, in order that he may discover the inability of Chemosh to help his worshippers.
Jer 48:9
Give wings, etc. Comp. Jer 48:28; also Isa 16:2, where the fugitive Moabites are likened to “wandering birds.”
Jer 48:10
Deceitfully; rather, slackly, negligently.
Jer 48:11
Moab hath been at ease from his youth. The “youth” of Moab dates from its subjugation of the aboriginal Emim (Deu 2:10)’ Since that event, though often at war, sometimes tributary and sometimes expelled from a part of the territory claimed by them (see the inscription on the Moabite Stone), yet they had never been disturbed in their ancestral homes to the south of the river Amen. He hath settled on his less. It was the custom to leave wine for a time on its lees or sediment, in order to heighten its strength and flavour (comp. Isa 25:6). Emptied from vessel to vessel. Thevenot, an old traveller in Persia, remarks of the Shiraz wine that, after it is separated from the lees, it is apt to grow sour. “The wine is put into large earthen jars, each holding from ten or twelve to fourteen carabas; but when a jar has been opened, it must be emptied as soon as possible, and the wine put into bottles or carabas, otherwise it spoils and becomes sour” (‘Voyages,’ 2.245, quoted by Lowth on Isa 25:6). In the application of the figure, the “taste” of Moab means obviously the national character.
Jer 48:12
Wanderers, that shall cause him to wander; rather, taters, and they shall tilt him. The earthen jars of which Thevenot speaks were doubtless similar to those of the Israelites. They would be tilted on one side, that the wine might run off clear from the dregs. Their bottles; rather, flagons or pitchers (of earthenware). The confusion of numbers and pronouns is remarkable. First, Moab collectively is spoken of as a wine jar; then the Moabites individually as Moab’s jars; last of all, the Moabites are spoken of as possessing “jars” (i.e. all the institutions, public and private, of the state and of society).
Jer 48:13
Ashamed of Bethel; i.e. of the golden calf or bull at Bethel, set up by Jeroboam I. as a symbol of the strong God, Jehovah. This idolatry was odious to the prophetic teachers of a nobler and more spiritual form of religion. They saw that the deity and the symbol were too much confounded, and that such a religion would not save its adherents from captivity and ruin (comp. Hos 10:15; Amo 3:14; Amo 5:5, Amo 5:6).
Jer 48:14
We are mighty; rather, we are heroes. The Hebrew is gibborim, the name of David’s select warriors (2Sa 23:8). The exclamation is designed to represent vividly to the mind the sinful vain glory specially characteristic of Moab.
Jer 48:15
Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities. The latter part of this clause in the Hebrew is extremely difficult; the Authorized Version is indefensible. It is even doubtful whether it can be translated at all consistently with grammar, though Hitzig, a good grammarian, has adopted the suggestion of Grotius, rendering, “and her cities have gone up,” viz. in smoke, i.e. they have been burnt; comp. Jdg 20:40, the end of which verso ought to run thus: “The whole city went up to heaven.” But even if the verb in third masc. sing. be allowable after the plural noun, it is very harsh to give it such an interpretation, when the context says nothing about fire or smoke. J.D. Michaelis and Ewald, therefore, propose to change the vowel points of the first word, rendering, “The spoiler of Moab and of her cities is gone up;” and Dr. Payne Smith inclines to follow them. We thus obtain a striking antithesis; the enemy has “gone up,” and Moab’s young men are gone down, i.e. are felled by murderous hands (comp. Isa 34:1-17 :71
Jer 48:16
The calamity of Moab, etc. The form of the verse reminds us of Deu 32:35; Isa 13:22.
Jer 48:17-25
How lamentable that such a glorious sceptre should be broken! But there is no remedy. Even Dibon, that highly honoured town, is disgraced. There is no hiding the sad fate of the Moabites; the crowds of fugitives sufficiently proclaim it. Judgment has been passed upon all the cities of Moab, a long roll of whose names is recited.
Jer 48:17
All ye that are about him; i.e. the neighbouring nations (setup. on Jer 46:14). The invitation to condolence is not ironical, but in the deepest spirit of human sympathy, as in the parallel prophecy in Isaiah (see on Isa 15:5). The strong staff; i.e. the sceptre as an image of royal authority (comp. Eze 19:11-14). Rod; as in Psa 110:2.
Jer 48:18
Dibon; now Diban, one of the chief towns of Moab, on two adjacent hills, now covered with ruins (Tristram), in the plain of Medeba (Jos 13:9), north of Aroer and the Amen. Here the famous Moabite Stone (on which see Dr. Ginsburg’s exhaustive monograph), with the inscription of King Mesha (2Ki 3:4), was found, which, after having been broke up and pieced together, has now found a resting place in the Louvre. It is difficult to say to which Israelitish tribe Dibon was, strictly speaking, attached; for while in Jos 13:17 it is given to Reuben, in Num 32:34 and in the Moabite Stone (line 10) it is assigned to Gad, Apparently the Israelitish population fluctuated. Sometimes Gad was the most adventurous in Occupying Moabitish territory, sometimes Reuben. On the phrase, the daughter, etc; see note on Jer 46:19. The form of the first verse haft is modelled on Isa 47:1. Sit in thirst. The expression is unexampled, and it is possible that we should alter one of the vowel points (which constitute no part of the Massoretic text), rendering, “sit in thirsty (ground),” i.e. the dust (comp. the parallel passage; Isa 47:1). Or there may be a less used collateral form of the Hebrew for “thirsty” (came). Canon Tristram speaks of the “waterless plain” of Diban. Thy strongholds. It appears from the Moabite Stone that Diben was the centre of a district which was reckoned as belonging to it; so at least we may account for the phrase, “all Dibon was submissive” (line 28). Compare the phrase in Num 21:25, “Heshbon, and all the villages thereof” (comp. on Jer 49:2).
Jer 48:19
The inhabitants of Aroer will come out in eager expectation to meet the fugitives, and ask, What hath happened? (so the question should be rendered). There were several Aroers (one belonged to the Ammonites, Jos 13:25), but as the enemy is driving the Moabites southward, the Aroer here intended can only be the town by the Arnon, which separated Moab proper first of all from the kingdom of the Amorites (Deu 4:48; Jos 12:2), and afterwards from the territory of the Israelites (Deu 2:36; Deu 3:12). The picture drawn in this verse is singularly appropriate to the site of Arnon, “just by the edge of the arterial highway of Moab,” and commanding a complete view of the pass of the Arnon. There is the same variety of statement as to the Israetitish tribe to which Aroer belonged as in the case of Dibon (see Jer 48:18). Jos 13:16 speaks in favour of Reuben; Num 32:34 in favour of Gad.
Jer 48:20
The answer of the fugitives begins in the latter part of this verse, and, continues to Jer 48:24. Confounded ought, as usual, to be brought to shame. The address, howl and cry, which is in the feminine, refers to Moab, which has just before been spoken of in the feminine (“It is broken down,” or rather, “she is dismayed,” refers to Moab, not to Dibon). In Arnon; i.e. in the region of the Amen; better, beside Arnon (comp. Jer 13:5, “by Euphrates”).
Jer 48:21
The plain country. The mishor (see on Jer 48:8). Holon is not known from other sources. Jahazah (called Jahaz in Jer 48:34), according to Eusebius, still existed in his days, and lay between Medeba and Dibon. Like Heshbon and Dibon, it was claimed by the Reubenites (Jos 13:18), and Mesha, in the famous inscription, states that the then King of Israel (Jehoram) “fortified Jahaz and dwelt in it, when he fought against me” (lines 18, 19). This was a great but only a temporary success, for Mesha adds that “Chemosh drove him out before me” (line 19). Mephaath was apparently near Jahaz, since it is always mentioned with that town (Jos 13:18; Jos 21:37; 1Ch 6:79).
Jer 48:22
Dibon (see on Jer 48:18). Nebo (see on Jer 48:1). Beth-diblathaim. Mentioned here only. There is an Almondiblathaim in Num 33:46, mentioned in connection with Dibon.
Jer 48:23
Kiriathaim (see on Jer 48:1). Beth-gamul. Nowhere else mentioned. Beth-meon. Called Baal-meon, Num 32:38; Beth-baal-meon, Jos 13:17. The extensive ruins of Ma’in are a short distance south of Heshbon.
Jer 48:24
Kerioth. Perhaps a synonym of Ar, the old capital of Moab (Isa 15:1). Hence in Amo 2:2, “I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth.” Bozrah. The capital at one time of the Edomites (see Jer 49:13). The ownership of particular cities varied from. time to time in this contested region. Far or near; i.e. towards the frontier or inland.
Jer 48:26-35
And what is Moab’s crime? At an earlier point the prophet said that it was the callousness produced by long prosperity (Jer 48:11); but here another sin is mentionedMoab’s haughty contempt of Jehovah. “For this it deserves that its contempt should be thrown back upon itself, by its being made, like a drunken man, the scorn of all” (Ewald). The figure is, no doubt, a coarse one, but not unnatural in the oratory (we must put aside inspiration, which leaves the forms of speech untouched) of a rude people like the Jews. It occurs not unfrequently elsewhere; see especially Isa 19:14; Hab 2:15, Hab 2:16; and, for milder examples of the figure, Jer 13:13 and Jer 13:25.
Jer 48:26
Make ye him drunken. The command is issued to the agents of the Divine wrath (comp. Jer 48:10, Jer 48:21). He magnified himself against the Lord. Offences against Israel being also offences against Israel’s God (see Jephthah’s striking words in Jdg 11:23, Jdg 11:24). Shall wallow; rather, shall fall heavily (literally, shall clapa pregnant expression).
Jer 48:27
Was he found among thieves? for, etc.; rather, that, as often as thou speakest of him, thou waggest thy head. What giveth thee the right to show such scorn and insolent triumph towards Israel, as if he were one who had been arrested in the very act of robbery (comp. Jer 2:26)?
Jer 48:28
Dwell in the rook. Jeremiah probably thinks of the rocky defiles of the Amen, so splendidly adapted for fugitives (see Consul Wetzstein’s excursus to the third edition of Delitzsch’s ‘Jesaja;’ he speaks of perpendicular walls of rock). Like the dove (i.e. the wild dove); comp. ‘Iliad,’ 21:493; ‘AEneid,’ 5:213.
Jer 48:29, Jer 48:30
These verses are an expansion of Isa 16:6. The boastfulness of Moab seems to have much impressed its Israelitish neighbours (comp. Isa 16:14, 27). It has been thought to be illustrated by the inscription on the Moabite Stone; but we must remember that all national monuments of this sort have a tendency to exaggeration.
Jer 48:29
We have heard; viz. the prophet and his countrymen.
Jer 48:30
But it shall not be so, etc. This is a case in which the accentuation must most decidedly be deviated from; it implies a faulty view of the word rendered in the Authorized Version, “his lies.” But the rendering of our version is neither in itself tenable nor is it that intended by the accentuation. The rendering suggested by the latter is “his praters” (i.e. soothsayers), as the word, no doubt, must be taken in Jer 1:1-19 :36; Isa 44:25. But it is much more natural to render thus: “And the untruth of his pratings [i.e. of his boastings]; the untruth that they have wrought.” In his words and in his works (and a word is equal to a work before the Divine Judge) Mesh was essentially “untrue.” Truth, in the Biblical sense, is to know and serve the true God.
Jer 48:31
Based upon Isa 16:7. Therefore. Moab cannot escape the catastrophe, for his moral basis is utterly insecure. “Therefore,” etc. Will I howl. It is at first sight strange that the prophet should speak thus sympathetically after the strong language in verse 26. But the fact is that an inspired prophet has, as it were, a double personality. Sometimes his human feelings seem quite lost in the consciousness of his message; sometimes (and especially in Jeremiah) the natural, emotional life refuses to be thus restrained, and will have itself expressed. All Moab; i.e. Moab in all its districts, both north and south of the Amen, or, at any rate, the fugitive populations. Mine heart shall mourn. The Authorized Version effaces one of the points of difference between Jeremiah and his original. The former leaves the subject indefiniteone shall mourn. For the men of Kir-heres. Isa 16:7 has “for the raisin cakes of Kir-heres” (i.e. for the cakes of pressed grapes, for which Kir-heres was specially famous)a much more expressive phrase. Jeremiah, or his scribe, has changed ashishe into anshe, and the Targum and Septuagint have adopted this weak reading in Isaiah, l.c.
Jer 48:32
Shortened from Isa 16:8, Isa 16:9. With the weeping of Jaser; rather, more than the weeping of Jazer. This may mean either “more than I weep for Jazer” (which is favoured by the insertion of “for thee”) or more than Jazer weeps” (for the devastated vineyards of Sibmah); comp. Isaiah, l.c. The site of Jazer is placed by Seetzen between Ramoth (Salt) and Heshbon, where some ruins called Sir are now found. “Sibmah,” according to St. Jerome, was not more than half a mile from Heshbon. King Mesha is thought to refer to it under the form Seran, miswritten for Seban (Sebamso the form should be readis an Old Testament version of the name; see Num 32:3); see inscription on Moabite Stone, line 13. It appears to have been famous for its vineyards; and Seetzen tolls us that grapes and raisins of specially good quality are still carried from the neighbouring Salt to Jerusalem. Thy plants are gone over the sea; rather, thy shoots passed over the sea. The prophet here describes the extensive range of these vines. The northern limit of their culture was Jazer, its southern or western file further shore of “the sea,” i.e. the Dead Sea. By a touch of poetic hyperbole the prophet traces the excellence of vines such as those of En-gedi (on the western bank of the Dead Sea) to a Moabitish origin. The reference to the sea of Jazer throws the whole passage into confusion. There is no lake or large pool at present to be found at Jazer, and the simplest explanation is that a scribe repeated the word “sea” by mistake. The true text will then be simply,” they reached unto Jazer.” The spoiler. Isa 16:9 has the more picturesque expression, “the shouting,” i.e. the wild battlecry.
Jer 48:33
Nearly identical with Isa 16:10. The plentiful field; rather, the garden land; i.e. land planted with “noble” plants, especially vines and olives. Wine. Here clearly sweet and unfermented wine (comp. Amo 9:13, Amo 9:14). None shall tread with shouting. This involves a very harsh construction of the Hebrew, and it is better (considering the numerous other errors of the same kind in the received text) to correct in accordance with Isa 16:10,” the treader shall not tread.” Their shouting shall be no shouting. “Shouting” (Hebrew, hedad) may be taken in two senses:
(1) the cheerful, musical cry with which “the treaders” pressed out the juice of the grapes (comp. Jer 25:30);
(2) the wild cry (Jer 51:14) with which the enemy “fell upon the summer fruits and upon the vintage” (verse 32), reducing the inhabitants to abject misery. In Isa 16:9, Isa 16:10 an allusion is made to this double meaning, and so, perhaps, it may be here (“There shall be shouting, but not that of the peaceful vintagers at their work”). Or, as others, we may explain “no shouting” as equivalent to “the opposite of shouting,” i.e. either silence or lamentation (comp. Isa 10:15, “not wood” equivalent to “that which is specifically different from wood;” and Isa 31:3, “not God,” equivalent to “the very opposite of Divine”).
Jer 48:34
Based on Isa 15:4-6. The cry of one town echoes to another, and is taken up afresh by its terrified inhabitants. Heshbon and Elealeh lay on eminences but a short distance apart, so that the shrill cry of lamentation would be heard far away in the southeast at Jahaz. Zoar and Horonaim both lay in the southern half of Moah (see on Isa 15:3, Isa 15:4). An heifer of three years old. If this is the right rendering, the phrase is descriptive of Horonaim, which may, in the time of Jeremiah, have been a “virgin fortress.” But the phrase, thus understood, comes in very oddly, and in the parallel passage in Isaiah it stands, not after Horonaim, hut after Zoar; it hardly seems likely that there were two Gibraltars in Moab. Another rendering (Ewald, Keil) is, “(to) the third Eglath.” This involves an allusion to the fact that there were other places in Moab called Egiath or Eglah, which has been rendered highly probable by Gesenius. The waters also of Nimrhn. Canon Tristram speaks of the “plenteous brooks gushing from the lofty hills into the Ghor-en-Numeira.” Consul Wetzstein, however, says that nature appears there under so unspeakably gloomy an aspect, that the identification is impossible. He proposes a site in the Wady So’eb, about fourteen miles east of the Jordan, which with its luxuriant meadows, covered with the flocks of the Bedouin, is probably suitable to the passages in Isaiah and Jeremiah. So also Seetzen, who remarks that the lower part of this wady is still called Nahr Nimrin. In Jos 13:27 a place called Bethnimrah is mentioned as situated in the valley (i.e. the Jordan valley); no doubt this was in the wady referred to by the prophets. “The valley” seems to have been sometimes used in a wider signification, so as to include lateral valleys like that of Nimrim. The antiquity of the name is shown by its occurrence in the Annals of Thothmos III; who penetrated into the heart of Palestine, and, in the temple of Karnak, enumerates the cities which he conquered. From before B.C. 1600 to nearly A.D. 1900 this secluded valley has borne precisely the same name!
Jer 48:35
Him that offereth in the high places; rather, him that goeth up to a high place. Apparently a reminiscence of Isa 15:2 and Isa 16:12. As Dr. Payne Smith well remarks, “The last stage of natural ruin is reached, when thus the rites of religion entirely cease.”
Jer 48:36-42
The description of Moab’s lamentations continued.
Jer 48:36
Based on Isa 16:11; Isa 15:7. Like pipes. Isaiah has, “like the harp [or, ‘lute’].” The pipe, or flute, was specially used at funeral ceremonies (Mat 9:23; Luk 7:32), and therefore, perhaps, seemed to Jeremiah more appropriate. Because the riches, etc. This is, no doubt, what we should have expected, but this is not what Jeremiah wrote; “because” should rather be therefore. Jeremiah simply transferred a clause (substantially at least) from his original, Isa 15:7, but into a context where it stands rather less naturally. The meaning of the words in Isaiah is that, the desolation being so great, the Moabites shall carry away as much of their goods as they can. In this new context, however, we can only explain this unexpected “therefore” by referring to a habit of the Israelitish mind by which that which contributed to a result was regarded as worked purposely for that result. Good instances of this habit are Gen 18:5; Psa 45:3; Psa 51:6; comp. Winer’s ‘New Testament Grammar’ (Clark), pp. 573, 574, especially note 1 on p. 574, though the idiom also occurs in Old Testament passages in which the religious view of life is hardly traceable.
Jer 48:37, Jer 48:38
(first part).Based on Isa 15:2 (latter part), 3 (first part). On the primitive Arabic, Egyptian, and Hebrew custom of cutting off the hair, see on Jer 16:6, and comp. Herod; 2.36. Clipped. The difference from the word in Isaiah is so slight that it may easily have arisen from a copyist. The meaning is virtually the same. Cuttings. So of Philistia (Jer 47:5); see on Jer 16:6.
Jer 48:38
Lamentation generally; literally, all of it is lamentation; i.e. nothing else is to be heard. Like a vessel, etc. For this figure, see on Jer 22:28 (Jeremiah repeats himself).
Jer 48:39
They shall howl, saying etc.; rather, How is it dismayed! (how) they wail! How hath Moab turned the back ashamed! Yea, Moab becometh, etc.
Jer 48:40, Jer 48:41
The Septuagint has a shorter form (see introduction to chapter).
Jer 48:40
He shall fly as an eagle; rather, he shall swoop (same word and figure in Deu 28:49). The subject is not named, but (as in Jer 46:18) is Nebuchadnezzar.
Jer 48:41
Kerioth is taken. Kerioth has been already mentioned in Jer 48:24 (see note). Another possible rendering is, The cities are taken, and this certainly agrees better with the parallel line. But a plural of kiryah, a city, does not occur elsewhere. If the identification of Kerioth with Ar-moab, the capital of Moab, be accepted (see on Jer 48:24), the equalization of Kerioth and “the strongholds” seems to be a stumbling block. Strongholds; or, mountain fastnesses (Jer 51:30).
Jer 48:43-47
Hence, as the final result, escape is absolutely impossible, for one can get succeeds another in an endless series The last and greatest danger besots those who seek refuge behind the strong fortifications of Heshbon, It is from this very city that the hottest fire of the enemy breaks forth. Chemosh has not saved his people; and yet there is hope for Moab in the future.
Jer 48:43
Fear, and the pit, and the snare. An alliteration in the Hebrew, which occurs again in Isa 24:17. In German it can be represented better than in Englishe.g. by Hitzig’s “grauen, graben, garn.” All primitive poetry delights in such alliterations.
Jer 48:45
Apparently quoted from memory from Num 21:28; Num 24:17, except the first clause; the application, however, is peculiar to this passage. They that fled, etc.; rather, The fugitives stand without strength in the shadow of Heshbon. There is a difficulty here, for, according to Num 24:2, the hostile raid into Moab started from Heshbon. Surely the fugitives would not think of escaping northwards, much less would they be able to elude the vigilance of the foe and reach Heshbon. But it is not surprising that the author of so long a poem should now and then make a slip; the author of the Book of Job is sometimes inconsistent with the Prologue, and verse 2 is as far away from the passage before us as the Prologue of Job is from Job 19:18. Nor can we be absolutely certain that our prophecy is exactly as Jeremiah wrote it. Shall come forth; rather, hath come forth (or, cometh forth). From the midst of Sihon. Sihon being, perhaps, regarded as the leader and representative of his warriors. The corner of Moab; rather, the sides (literally, side, used collectively) of Moab. The tumultuous ones; literally, sons of tumult, a poetical phrase for warriors. The prophet has substituted the more common word shaon for its synonym sheth.
Jer 48:46
Based on Num 21:29. The chief difference is in the second half of the verse, in which the bold expression of Chemosh “giving his sons and his daughters into captivity” is changed for a mere ordinary and prosaic phrase.
Jer 48:47
On the phraseology of this verse, see on Jer 29:14; Jer 23:20, and on the brighter prospect held out for Moab, see the analogies given in note on Jer 46:26. Thus far is the judgment of Moab is clearly an editor’s note (comp. Jer 51:64). “Judgment” as in Jer 46:21.
HOMILETICS
Jer 48:1-47
The judgment of Moab.
As the prophet’s “eye in a fine frenzy rolling” sees the flood of the Chaldean invasion sweeping over one after another of the nations, his words flash out in pictures full of energy and fire. If this world’s calamities are thus terrible, how shall the awful realities of eternity be contemplated? Why should some of us be so shocked at the strong language of preachers? Strange and fanatical as it may appear, the fury of a Knox is more consonant with much of life and revelation than the complacent mildness of an Addison. Visions of judgment are no topics for graceful moral essays. Nevertheless, however hot the language may be, it must not descend to mere wild, whirling words; it must be characteristic and truthful. The succession of pictures of approaching judgment which Jeremiah draws are not monotonous repetitions of the same description. They are definite and distinctively applicable to the respective subjects of them. Let us observe the special features of the judgment of Moab.
I. THE CHARACTER OF THE PEOPLE. The grounds of the judgment are given in the revelation of the sins of Moab. The head and front of her offence is pride (e.g. verse 29). Other characteristics are closely related, viz.:
(1) trust in wealth and material resources (verse 7);
(2) self-indulgent ease (verse 11);
(3) boastfulness (verse 14);
(4) scorn (verse 27);
(5) defiance of Heaven (verse 26).
Such a catalogue of offences is peculiarly hateful to God. Sins of appetite and passion are partly the result of weakness. The culpability of them is less than that of the intellectual and spiritual sins by all the weight of temptations which arise out of the natural constitution of man. For such sins as those of Moab there is no excuse. They are nearest to the most diabolical wickedness. Adam fell by a sin of appetite; Satan by a sin of spiritual pride.
II. THE NATURE OF THEIR DOOM.
1. Destruction. (Verse 4.) The general doom of all the nations. This is the leading form of the evil fruits of sin.
2. Shame and humiliation. (Verse 13.) “Moab also shall wallow in his vomit” (verse 26). What a terrible anticlimax from the pride and haughtiness which are the chief characteristics of this people!
3. Derision. Moab had mocked at Israel, now “he also shall be in derision” (verse 26). Thus scorn is rebuked with scorn, and the mocker is mocked.
4. Gloom and grief. (Verse 33.) The ease and self-complacency which had characterized Moab are exchanged for their opposites.
5. Poverty. “The riches that he hath gotten are perished” (verse 36). Moab had trusted in wealth. His punishment will consist in part in the loss of this. Finally, to Moab, as to other nations, there is promised an ultimate restoration. “Yet will I restore the prosperity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord” (verse 47). Most beautifully does this one verse close the terrible vision of judgment, like one ray of light breaking through the dense black thunderclouds and promising the dawn of a new day of life and gladness. Even to a heathen people the promise is made, and by the mouth of a Hebrew prophet. Who, then, shall dare to set limits to the future restoring power of the grace of God?
Jer 48:7
The dangers of riches.
Riches are not evil things in themselves. The gifts of God in nature, or the fruits of man’s industry, they are valuable just because they have in them some serviceableness for human wants. Money is not the root of all evil, but the love of it (1Ti 6:10). It is they who trust in riches who find it impossible to enter into the kingdom of God (Mar 10:24). But riches are snares, and the possessor of them had need beware of the dangers they necessarily bring. When the servant becomes a god the degraded worshipper is on the road to ruin. Let us consider some of the dangers of riches.
I. A DANGER OF DELUSIVE TRUST. The wealthy man is likely to think his riches will do more for him than it is in their power to do. He finds that money brings a number and variety of comforts and helps him out of many a difficulty. He is in danger of looking upon it as omnipotent. But money will not buy the choicest blessings. It will not purchase friends, nor peace of mind, nor spiritual blessedness here, nor the heavenly inheritance hereafter. To trust to riches for these things is to miss them. Yet they are the truest treasures. The poor man who seeks them aright, not being allured by the rich man’s peculiar temptations, may step in first; and so Dives may come to envy Lazarus.
II. A DANGER OF WORLDLINESS. Rich Moab lives at her ease (Jer 48:11). A wealthy man is tempted to be satisfied with his possessions. The earth is very fair to him. Possibly he is in the land of the lotus eaters, “where it is always afternoon.” He is thus in danger of caring only for this world, and making no provision for the better world. For he may value his earthly jewels so much as not to care to search after the pearl of great price, or to be unwilling to make any sacrifice in order to purchase it. He tends to become so engrossed with material things as to lose all appetite for and all perception of spiritual things. His treasure is on earth, and his heart is there also. Thus he loses the solid, lasting possessions of eternity while grasping at the shadowy treasures of time.
III. A DANGER OF PRIDE. Rich Moab is proud. The wealthy man is tempted to transfer his high estimation of his possessions to himself. Because he has much he is induced to think that he is much, and the world too often urges him to this mistake by its despicable sycophancy to mere money. When will people learn to value men by their characters and not by their purses? If pride has any valid excuse for existence, this must be found in the true nature of a man and his own personal excellences. Before God we are judged solely by what we are. Our possessions will only aggravate our guilt if they have been abused, for they will be regarded as talents to be accounted for, never as merits to secure us any reward. Therefore the pride of the rich man may be his ruin.
Jer 48:10
Slack service.
“Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord slackly.” These words refer immediately to the terrible work of destruction. We shudder at hearing so fearful a curse; but we should remember that, if the slaughter were believed to be in accordance with God’s will, and therefore also believed to be right and necessary, there could be no excuse for neglecting it. We may derive from this extreme instance most forcible argument against slack service. If such slackness could appear cursed to the Jew under the most trying circumstances, when pity and all humane instincts cried out against the work, how much more guilty is it in the Christian work of love!
I. INDICATIONS OF SLACK SERVICE.
1. Negative goodness. Great care to avoid all forms of impurity may be found together with a reluctance to make any sacrifice or put forth any exertion.
2. Conventionatism. A man follows in the rut of his predecessors, evinces no originality, has no device with which to meet an emergency, never inquires into the suitability of his work to its end, never thinks of improving it, sticks to old ways when the old objects of them are obsolete, cannot break up new ground though new requirements call him to it.
3. Working at half power. What service is rendered does not come up to the level of requirement nor to the measure of ability. It is done in a slow, dreamy style.
4. Failure before difficulty. The molehill is magnified into a mountain. The opposition, which is the spur to enthusiasm, puts a complete stop to slack service.
II. CAUSES OF SLACK SERVICE.
1. Worldliness. The clay of selfishness is mingled with the strong metal of devotion. A man would serve God and mammon. He tries to do the work of God with one hand, while he advances his own interest with the other. But no work for God is acceptable which is not done with both hands.
2. Unbelief. This paralyzes much of our workmore, I am persuaded, than we are ready to admit. The God served is a shadowy Being, and no wonder the service is faint and feeble.
3. Want of devotion. The service of the hands is given without the love of the heart. This mechanical work is a poor, spiritless thing. It is love and love only that can inspire a service of unwearying energy.
4. Cowardice. There is a fear to do difficult and dangerous work. We pity this for its weakness. We should condemn it as wicked. Should not the servant of Christ be willing to suffer all torments and die for his Lord who suffered and died for him? “Be thou faithful unto death.”
5. Mere indolence. Indolence may be partly constitutional, as in persons of lethargic temperament. Some men are habitually tardy and dilatory. They should learn to resist these tendencies as temptations to fatal unfaithfulness.
III. EVILS OF SLACK SERVICE. It is no slight failure to be gently rebuked. The curse of God lies upon it. “Cursed be he,” etc.
1. It is very wicked. We are God’s servants, and bound by ties of nature and of gratitude.
2. It is likely to be fruitless. Negligence in work may imperil the whole results of it. If the ship is carelessly steered it may be wrecked.
3. It injures the man who works negligently. Our manner of work reacts upon ourselves. Indifferent service produces a low tone of life, coldness, lethargy, unspirituality.
IV. CALLS TO BETTER SERVICE.
1. From the curse of slack service. This curse is a solemn warning. The evils that necessitate it should terrify us from incurring it.
2. From the obligations of duty. “We are not our own; we are bought with a price.” When we do our best we are unprofitable servants. Solemn voices of time and eternity bid us “work while it is day.” “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”
3. From the need of the world. Our Christian service is no profitless treadmill drudgery. It is for the good of mankind. The call in the text was to execute wrath; ours is to do deeds of mercy. The world in its darkness, its misery, its sin, cries loud for the Christian mission of consolation and redemption. Can we sleep while such calls pierce our ears?
4. From the constraining love of Christ. He died for us; he only asks that we shall live for him. But the least we can do is to live faithfully, earnestly, and devotedly, serving the Saviour with all earnest zeal.
5. From the heavenly reward (Heb 12:1, Heb 12:2).
Jer 48:11
Wine on the lees.
This is a figure of a people left for ages in a condition of ease. They are like wine settled on its lees, unchanged and unpurified.
I. IT IS BAD FOE A PEOPLE TO REMAIN LONG IN A CONDITION OF EASE.
1. Evil is not purged out. The wine is still on its lees. In times of quiet we settle down contented with ourselves as well as with our surrounding. We sayWhy disturb the air with cries for change while all is still and calm and dreamy as a summer noon? The old ruin stands unshaken in the fair weather. But presently the tempest rises, the wind howls, and the broken walls tremble to their foundations. Then we see that repairs must be executed or a new building erected.
2. Progress in good is stayed. Wine should improve with keeping. But of this wine it is said, “His taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.” Progress needs the stimulus of conflict. Trouble promotes reflection and urges to improved action in the future. “Woe unto you when all men shall speak welt of you!” (Luk 6:26).
3. Corruption and decay are induced. Ease means stagnation, and stagnation decomposition. If the vital functions are arrested, the body will not remain like a marble statue. Very soon other actions are set up, and the quiet of death gives place to a horrible scene of rapid corruption. The stagnant soul becomes the dead soul, and this a mass of moral rottenness.
II. THE EVILS OF A CONDITION OF EASE BELONG TO ALL CLASSES OF LIFE.
1. The nation. Moab had lived for ages amongst her hills and fertile fields beyond the surging tide of the world’s restless changes which swept along the western side of the Jordan between Egypt and the northern nations. She was not the better for this isolation. Wars, invasions, revolutions, turn out to be ultimately serviceable to the cause of human progress.
2. The Church. The Middle Ages, when the Church was all-powerful and at ease, were the dark ages of Christendom. The disturbance of the Reformation was a new birth to the Church, in the good of which even the Roman Catholics shared by the stimulus it brought to zeal and the check it put on the paganizing spirit prevalent in Italy in the fifteenth century.
3. The individual Christian. In times of ease we tend to become worldly, and our devotion cools. Trouble drives us to prayer and wakens the deeper instincts of the soul (Heb 12:11).
Jer 48:29
Pride.
With accumulated phrases emphasis is laid upon this leading sin of Moab, a sin which is condemned throughout Scripture as one of great wickedness.
I. THE NATURE OF PRIDE. Pride is a passion rising out of an inordinate opinion of our own worthiness. It is to be distinguished from vanity. Vanity is eager for the admiration of others, though, perhaps, in its own heart conscious of possessing hut little to deserve it. But pride is inwardly elated with the feeling of self-importance, and may be quite indifferent to the opinion of the world. Indeed, the height of pride is to scorn the admiration as much as the hatred of other men, to look down upon the “dim multitude” as in all respects beneath contempt. Vanity craves social position; pride is essentially lonely. Vanity smiles with the desire of pleasing; pride frowns in haughty independence. It is possible, however, for a man to have a very high opinion of his own powers, importance, etc; without much pride. For pride is not a mere conviction of the great worth of one’s self, it is an emotion, a passion, a disposition to dwell on one’s own merits and make idols of them.
II. THE SINFULNESS OF PRIDE. Why is this so strongly condemned in Scripture? so hateful to God? Consider how it must appear in his sight. We are all his helpless children; “we have erred and strayed from his ways like lost sheep;” before him we are foul with sin, humiliated with failure; our best works are poor and imperfect; in free grace he spares, endures, pardons. Where, then, is there ground for pride? Pride is the denial of guilt, the assumption that the good we receive from God is deserved; it is, therefore, a gross presumption, an evidence of base ingratitude, a proof of self-will that refuses to humble itself before the good and holy Father.
III. THE INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF PRIDE.
1. It blinds us to our own danger. It assumes that all must be well But the assumption does. not alter facts. It only aggravates the danger by preventing us from taking precautions against it. Moab was not saved in the general overthrow of the nations for all her pride. Humility sees the stumbling block in the path, but pride holds its head so high as never to observe it, and so fells over it (Pro 16:18).
2. It prevents us from securing our own highest good. This can only be given by the mercy of God, and he can only bestow it on the humble, the contrite, the submissive. The proud man bars his own heart against the incoming of the grace of God.
3. It hinders the good work of life. It is directly opposed to charity; it is incongruous with that spirit of mutual concession and cooperation which is required in the service of life. Thus pride often wastes those very powers on the existence of which it stands. To conquer pride let us look at our lives in the light of the life of the meek and humble Jesus of Nazareth.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR
Jer 48:11-13
The ease of Moab.
A figure: wine casks long undisturbed, whose contents improve and mellow in their taste, at length tilted by the coopers so that the wine is spilled.
I. WORLDLY PROSPERITY IS OFTEN VERY GREAT AND UNINTERRUPTED.
1. Frequently remarked. Heathen nations, whose very backwardness and barbarism have isolated them from the disturbing stream of the world’s life; and empires that seem to be based upon irreligion and wrong, and that are nevertheless in the van of civilization. The men who make the colossal fortunes of modern times are not, as a rule, distinguished for their religious virtues. Sins that immediately destroy some are committed with impunity by others. Many of the most ancient and lucrative vested interests of the world are owned by persons without moral character, and are prostituted to the basest purposes.
2. The moral perplexity of this. When wealth and influence almost phenomenally great are thus acquired and used, they cannot fail to trouble the minds of good men. The difficulties of a moral and religious life are so great that such a spectacle tempts and saddens. Israel had been afflicted from her youth (Psa 129:1-3), whilst Moab was at ease. David was envious when he saw the prosperity of the wicked (Psa 73:3).
II. SINNERS ARE THEREBY CONFIRMED IN THEIR EVIL HABITS AND BELIEFS. The material wealth and secular position of Moab were doubtless greatly advanced by this long security, and a kind of prestige attached to him amongst neighbouring nations. His customs gradually acquired a fixed and immovable authority. The national character, with all its inherent vices, developed a strong individuality: “His taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.” One trait of this character, for which Moab was notorious and intolerable, was his pride (Jer 48:29). His attachment to idolatry was also intense; his inhabitants were the “people of Chemosh” (Jer 48:46). To add to the cup of his transgression, he “magnified himself against the Lord” (Jer 48:42.). All this is in strict analogy with what may be observed anywhere under similar circumstances. National pride grows with impunity and conquest; and prejudice strengthens itself in the apparent success of its policy of life and the blessing that seems to attach to its religious observances. Israel was a derision to Moab (Jer 48:27).
III. BUT THEIR POSITION IS INSECURE, AND DESTRUCTION, THOUGH DELAYED, WILL BE THE MORE CERTAIN AND COMPLETE. The uncertainty of worldly prosperity is represented frequently and under many figures in Holy Writ. It is “that which moth and rust corrupt, and thieves steal;” it “takes to itself wings and flies away;” the whole life of which it is the material embodiment, is “even as a vapour, which appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (Jas 4:14). Here the metaphor is that of a tilted vessel. There will come a day when the cup of a nation’s or individual s iniquity will be full; then will they be as Sodom and Gomorrah, whose cry was great and their sin very grievous (Gen 19:20). It is just this confidence, born of long impunity, that becomes intolerable to God and provokes his wrath. The rich fool (Luk 12:16-21).M.
Jer 48:13
Betrayed by their gods.
This statement, as it is more especially from the religious standpoint, is a generalization of the cause of Moab’s ruin, full of spiritual insight and sagacity. It is in such directions as these we are to seek for the reasons of human success or failure; everything else is but superficial.
I. THE TRUE CAUSES OF HUMAN SUCCESS OR FAILURE, HAPPINESS OR MISERY, ARE OF A MORAL OR SPIRITUAL KIND. We do not know the exact nature of the Chemosh worship of Moab, but it is evident that, like other idolatries, it favoured materialism and the gratification of passion (Jer 48:7). The idol was the centre and representative of the whole life of the people.
1. Material circumstances are in themselves indifferent towards the achievement of national or individual greatness, but trust in material circumstances is an invariable precursor of ruin. It is the virtues that are the true bulwarks of a people. “If all the historians who record the ultimate extinction of nations were inspired of God to give the true reasons of their fall, we should often meet this testimony: ‘Perished of national pride, producing contempt of God and of fundamental morality'” (Cowles); Pro 14:34.
2. The chief object of desire to any one is his ruler and destiny. The god is the embodiment of all the sentiments and passions associated with its worship; the leading desire attracts towards itself and assimilates all others. It gradually but inevitably becomes his god. His whole life will henceforth take its complexion and direction from it. He conceives it to be the best and to be able to secure for him all that is desirable. From this we see:
(1) The peril of idolatry. Pandering to the worst and most selfish passions, it blinds and infatuates its votaries and leads them eventually to their ruin.
(2) Their importance of a true worship. It cultures the nature according to its essential principles, and secures the supremacy of the moral and spiritual. And all true guidance, help, and comfort are afforded in answer to believing prayer.M.
HOMILIES BY S. CONWAY
Jer 48:6
The heath in the wilderness.
Such will the sinner be; for, like it, he will be:
1. Barren. No rich, strength-sustaining fruit does the heath bear. A mere hard berry. The camel and the ass may browse thereupon, but it is no food for man. “Can men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” And thus barren of good is the sinner.
2. Unlovely. There is no form nor beauty about the heath; a stunted, misshapen shrub. Its wood can be used for no manufacture. It is fit only to be burned. And when our eyes are opened to see things as they are, sin and the sinner will appear in all moral unloveliness; all present outward charm gone, and only their evil deformity seen.
3. Alone. Surrounded by drear expanse of sand; no companion trees to form it into a grove or a verdant mass of plant life. And so will the sinner be one day. Christ goes with the believer down the dark valley, but the sinner goes forth alone. He stands at the bar of God with no advocate. None of all his old companions can redeem his soul or give to God a ransom for him. Alone; helpless.
4. The gracious influences of Heaven do him no good. The dew and the rain, the sun’s warmth, come upon it; but it remains the unlovely, solitary, barren thing it ever was. So the impenitent man is visited by the influences of Heaven, the pleading of the Spirit, the varied means of grace; but they avail him not.
5. Soon to perish. The driving sand, the scorching heat, the browsing camel, the encampment fire, all threaten its life, and by one or other of them it soon perishes. And they who are like to it are never safe. “How are they destroyed as in a moment!” Conclusion. But the godly are not so. “He shall be like a tree planted by,” etc. (Psa 1:1-6.).C.
Jer 48:10
Doing the work of the Lord deceitfully.
We observe
I. THE WORK OF THE LORD IS OF VARIED KINDS. Here it has reference to the vengeance to be taken on Moab, and denounces a curse on that soldier who failed to do his duty in the most thorough and terrible manner. No pity, no motive of any kind, was to lead them to spare the doomed nation. But whilst such dread work may be at times the work of the Lord, the expression more commonly points to that which is spiritual, and tends to man’s highest good. In the apostolic Epistles we have constant reference to the work of the Lord in this happier sense.
II. BUT THERE IS PERIL, WHATEVER THE WORK BE, OF DOING IT DECEITFULLY. Now, the work of the Lord is done deceitfully:
1. When it is not done thoroughly. When we shirk our work; do no more than we can help; get away from it as fast as we can. And how much of the “work” is thus done! Alas that it should be so! Evidently counted a drudgery rather than a delight. Do we not all know that there is danger of our thus working?
2. When it is not done sincerely. How varied and how questionable often the motive which leads men to engage in the work of the Lord!custom, ostentation, fear of reproach, sting of conscience, hope of gain, fashion, etc. These and such as these may crowd out the only right and sincere motivethe love of Christ. All others make us more or less hypocrites, and can find no acceptance of the Lord in the great day. But is there no peril from such motives? We know there is.
3. When it is not done earnestly. When our heart is not in our work. When it is laid hold of not, as it should be, “with both hands earnestly,” but, as it were, with one of the fingers. Some thus work; others as with one hand; others, indeed, with both hands, but slowly, loosely, not earnestly. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” Only such as obey that Word are sincere workers.
4. When it is done hypocritically. In the days of sore persecution there was but little peril of this; but when and where religion goes, as it is. said, in silver slippers, there is real peril of men taking up with the Lord’s work in order to further, not the work of the Lord, but their own poor worldly well being. What they do is all a pretence, a kind of deception. God keep us all therefrom! For note
III. THE SEVERITY WITH WHICH THE LORD LOOKS UPON HIS WORK DONE DECEITFULLY. “Cursed be he,” etc. (Jer 48:10). Now, wherefore this severity?
1. It is an insult to God. It is as good as saying to him that his work does not deserve true labour; that it is of so little importance that anything will do for itthe parings of your time, your energy, your thought, your means, your strength. What could be a greater affront to God?
2. The work is so great and urgent that it is traitorous thus to engage in it. What do we say of the watchman sleeping at his post (cf. Eze 33:1-33.)? of all who betray their trust or neglect it?
3. Such deceitfulness is contagious. How many a young servant of Christ is checked and chilled by the evil influence of professed servants of Christ like himself, but older, less fervent, and who are guilty of that which is here denounced! Such demoralize many in the army of the Lord.
4. It renders the work itself far more difficult. For the world sees clearly and judges keenly those who say they do the work of the Lord. They know what that work is, what it professes to aim at, what the interests involved in it. But they who do that work deceitfully cause men to laugh at all such work, to disbelieve all its claims, and to decline more stoutly than ever to surrender their hearts to it.
5. Such deceivers harden their own hearts, and steep themselves in a fatal slumber, from which there is no waking. Never has Satan a firmer hold on a man than when he can get him to do the work of the Lord deceitfully. The man is fully persuaded that he is all right, and dies with a lie in his right hand, and is not undeceived till, to his awful amazement, he hears the Lord say to him and to all such, “I never knew you; depart from me.” That thus it may not be with us, note
IV. OUR SAFEGUARDS AGAINST SUCH SIN.
1. Solemn recollection and pondering of God’s severe anger against it.
2. And chiefly by continually seeking and Cherishing in your hearts that love of Christ which the Holy Spirit creates and maintains there, and which alone, but ever, makes all our work sincere, acceptable, effectual, and true.C.
Jer 48:11
Much ease, much peril.
“There is a reference here to wine, or to the process by which it is prepared and finished. It is first expressed from the grape, when it is a thick discoloured fluid or juice. It is then fermented, passing through a process that separates the impurities and settles them as lees at the bottom. Standing thus upon its lees or dregs in some large tub or vat, it is not further improved. A gross and coarse flavour remains, and the scent of the feculent matter stays by and becomes fastened, as it were, in the body of the wine itself. To separate this and so to soften or refine the quality, it is now decantered or drawn off into separate jars or skins. After a while this is done again and then again; and so, being emptied from vessel to vessel, the last remains of the lees or sediment are finally cleared, the crude flavours are reduced, the scent itself is refined by ventilation, and the perfect character is attained.” Now, the prophet affirms here that Moab had been at ease from his youth. It is difficult in the face of the somewhat checkered history of Moab to see the exact meaning of this. Probably he refers to the long lapse of time since their great and awful defeat told of in 2Ki 3:21. Some two centuries and a half had rolled away since that dread day, and in that interval Moab regained all, and more than all, of its former prosperity. For the land was beautiful and rich in the extreme. Its pastures were covered over with sheep and its valleys with corn. The very name “Moab” is thought to mean the land of desire, that is, the desirable land. Now, during these long periods, the description here given is applicable. They had enjoyed much ease, and the natural evils engendered by their cruel idolatrous system had become more fixed and settled; “their scent had not changed.” The truth, therefore, which is here taught is that prolonged and abundant ease, however coveted by men, is full of peril to their higher nature, and tends continually to the deterioration of character and the hardening of the habit of evil. Now, we note that
I. GOD IS EVER TEACHING US THIS TRUTH.
1. In his Word. Cf. Psa 55:19, “Because they have no changes,” etc. Cf. also Heb 12:1-29; where the writer urges the acceptance of the Divine chastisements on the ground that no child of God is without them. “For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” And as we go over the roll of names of patriarchs, prophets, apostles, saints, and above all the Son of Godnot one was without chastisement. Of Christ it is said, “The chastisement of our peace was upon him” (Isa 53:1-12.). And so in the history of the chosen people. How they were moved from vessel to vessel! What changes and adversities, what agitation and tossing about by wars, rebellions, invasions, captivities, etc; they had to endure! And so of the history of the Church! What a checkered and often tumultuous and much tried career was allotted to her! All these illustrations from God’s Word, showing the determination of God that his people should not suffer the peril of overmuch ease and become as Moab, and as they who because they have no changes, therefore, etc.
2. By analogy. God suffers nothing to be without change. Even the rocks and hills, the solid globe, all have experienced, and do and will experience, change. The seasons alternate in their orderly change. Storm and tempest cleanse the air which, as in the Swiss valleys, would otherwise become stagnant. The great sea one prophet describes as “the troubled sea,” because it can never be quiet. And yet more is this refusal of ease and quiet, this law of change, seen in all forms of life.
(1) In vegetable life. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,” etc. And it springs up, “First the blade, then the ear, then,” etc. All the varied and ever acting processes of change in the whole plant world are in proof.
(2) In animal life. Change is ever proceeding there. Even when we are asleep the work still goes on. For it to be otherwise is dissolution and death.
(3) In mental life. Not to have that aroused, stirred by the study of fresh truth and the readjustment of old, would be to condemn to feebleness and semi-idiocy.
(4) In social life.
“The old order changeth, giving place to new .
Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.”
(5) In ecclesiastical life. What was the Reformation but the tempest storm that rushed through the valleys of the Church life of that day, where the air had become stagnant and so corrupt and poisonous that men could not breathe it and live? But the wild storm came and the air was made pure, not in the reformed lands alone, though there chiefly, but in those also that cling to the old faith. Such corruption and abominableness as characterized the ante-Reformation Church were not again possible.
(6) In political life. Where that is healthy, overmuch ease is not possible. It has not been so with us. It has in the empires of the East, China, etc; and see the result.
(7) In moral life. Virtue must be tried, there must be conflict and struggle if it is to continue and grow more truly itself. Hence, as in all other forms of life, we should conclude that the moral law would hold good in the spiritual life. And that this is so we learn also:
3. By experience. We do not glide into heaven. We are not translated, whilst in a trance, out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God. But the often severe spiritual conflicts of repentance and confession and striving against sin. “Yea, we must fight if we would win.” And God’s providence without us as well as his Spirit within is ever forbidding our being at ease continually. Sorrows and losses, temptations and trials, changes and adversities,they are ever “moving us from vessel to vessel.” God forces on us “changes,” lest we fear not his Name.
II. BUT WHY IS ALL THIS? Because in our nature there are rooted evils which can only be got rid of by the action of this law of change. Such evils are:
1. Self-will. You have seen a mountain stream come brawling along over its stony bed. But on it goes, heeding not until, right in mid-stream, there is a huge rock. Down comes the stream full tilt against it, as if it were saying, “Just you get out of my way.” But that is precisely the thing the rock does not do, and so the stream comes right against it. And then what a fuss, and a froth, and a foam there arises! but the rook does not move, and after a moment you will see the stream gliding softly, smoothly, quietly round the rock, and going more gently on its way. That is one of the ten thousand natural parables with which the world is full. That stream of our self-will, determined to go its own way, rushes on its course. The rock of God’s law of change and adversity and trial stands in its way and will not move, and the stream of self-will is broken against it, as God intended it should be. Only by this law can this evil be cured.
2. Pride. Trial forces men to call on God.
3. Unbelief. This law of trouble and change shatters the materialism and atheism of the present day. They break down, and the soul in the day of its trouble calls upon God.
4. Selfishness. Ease fosters this, as it fosters all those other evils named. But trial, adversity, teach men to be “touched with the feeling” of their brethren’s infirmities.
5. Love of the world; and
6. Indolence. These which ease fosters, God’s law of change does much to cure.
III. HOW, THEN, SHOULD WE BEAR OURSELVES TOWARDS THIS LAW OF CHASTENING CHANGE? Cf. Heb 12:1-29; which teaches:
1. That we do not despise it. By denying it, or by defying it. Some do this and persevere in the sins which it was designed to amend.
2. That we do not “faint” under it. We are not to give up in despair, letting the hands hang down and the knees totter and become feeble. But we are to take this law as a spur and lash and ask, “Wherefore dost thou contend with me?” and see to it that we amend. But:
3. Submit ourselves unto God. “Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father,” etc.? Let his will be ours; let his way our way.
“He always wins who sides with thee;
No chance by him is lost;
Thy will is sweetest to him when
It triumphs at his cost.”
(Faber.)
Then let us welcome whatever God sends, trying though it be, remembering the peril of ease and the sure profit of trial.C.
Jer 48:27
Touching the apple of God’s eye.
A father may chasten his son, but will be very wroth if he sees another man so dealing with him. No one may punish the child but the child’s father. Now, thus is it with the Lord and his people. He will, he dogs, punish them himself, but he allows none other to do so; or, if they presume to touch them, as Moab had done to Israel, then sure, if not swift, vengeance follows. Then is fulfilled the saying, “He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of mine eye” (Deu 32:10; Zec 2:8). Now, why is this? The case supposed of the father who, though he chastens his own son, is yet angry if another touch him, may help us to answer this question.
1. The child is under no obligation to the stranger. The father has right to claim all obedience from his child; not so another.
2. The child is not beloved by a stranger. Anger and revenge can alone impel the stranger to do the child harm. But these are the last motives, are never the motives, of the chastisements the father inflicts.
3. The child is unknown to the stranger or but little known. Such a one, therefore, even if he be not actuated by evil motives, cannot possibly deal wisely with one of whom and whose character, circumstances, and needs he is ignorant.
4. The child will get no good from chastisement by a stranger. A father’s chastisement, because of the father’s love, cannot but have a mighty moral influence upon the child for his good. “What son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” But what good could come, or ever did come, to Israel and Judah from the cruelties inflicted upon them by such. people as the Moabites, and of which the prophet here tells?
5. The child will very likely be dealt cruelly and injuriously with by a stranger. A father will chasten for his child’s profit; wisdom and love will guide him. True, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, “We have had fathers of our flesh who verily chastened us after their own pleasure.” But we trust that his experience was a limited one, and that there were, and yet more that there are, but few lathers who “for their own pleasure” would chastise their children.
6. And the child, with all its guiltin the case of the Lord’s childrendeserves to suffer less than they who have presumed to punish him. Israel and Judah were guilty without doubt; but were Moab and Ammon, Babylon and the rest, less guilty? Had they nothing to answer for? Had they not far more? And so, whilst the sin of a child of God is sin indeed, yet it does not make him so heinous, so black, so repulsive, as the persistent, high-handed, never-repented-of sin of the godless, the profane, and the unbeliever. To see one who is chargeable with great sin punishing one whose sin is comparatively trivial; the man who had incurred the debt of ten thousand talents taking by the throat him whose debt was but a hundred pence;that is evidently a monstrous thing.
7. But chief of all, because God’s people are God’s children in Christ. We are identified with the well beloved Son. “Members of his body, his flesh and his bones, one with him.” It is so, but it is not so with those who have never yielded themselves to God. Such surrender, which is faith, vitalizes the connection between us and God, and he becomes our Father, in a sense that he never was before. Conclusion. All history demonstrates the truth now insisted on, that “he that toucheth you,” etc. Let us thank God that he will suffer none to chasten us but himself. Seek that such chastisement may be no longer necessary. Strive to do good to all, “especially to them that are of the household of faith,” and tremble to do them harm. “Whosoever offendeth one of these little ones,” said our Lord, “it were better for him that a millstone,” etc.C.
Jer 48:29
Concerning pride.
The graces of God’s Spirit are like choice flowers and fruits. They will not grow just anywhere, nor without cultivation and careful tending, and they are easily destroyed. Not so with moral evils like pride. They are as the ill weeds which grow apace. They will grow anywhere, and require no cultivation; the more you let them alone the more they will increase, and, do what you will, you can hardly destroy them. Now, concerning this ill weed, pride, note
I. THAT IT IS VERY HATEFUL IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. See here, in this verse, with what varied names it is branded. Evil names, all of them. And turn to the many utterances in Scripture concerning this same sin, and the condemnation of God upon it will be yet more clearly seen. “There never was a saint yet that grew proud of his fine feathers, but what the Lord plucked them out by and by; there never yet was an angel that had pride in his heart, but he lost his wings, and fell into Gehenna, as Satan and those fallen angels did; and there shall never be a saint who indulges self-conceit and pride and self-confidence, but the Lord will spoil his glories, and trample his honours in the mire, and make him cry out yet again, ‘Lord, have mercy upon me!’ less than the least of all saints, and the ‘very chief of sinners.’ The first Adam was for self-exaltation, and to be as gods; the second bids us be as he was, ‘meek and lowly in heart.'”
II. ITS SIGNS AND TOKENS. Sometimes it is so concealed and masked that only a very intimate acquaintance with the man enables you to detect it; and sometimes the man himself may be unaware how proud he is, and may deem himself a very Moses for meekness, when he is just the reverse. But at other times it may be discerned in the countenance. There is “a proud look.” The face is the dial plate of the character, “the expression” of what lies silent in the mind. Conduct yet more betrays it. Note how a man acts towards those whom he deems superior or inferior to himself; he will fawn upon the former, and be disdainful towards the latter. He will “mind high things,” but will not “condescend to them that are of low estate.” Who does not know pride’s hateful ways, and has not had to suffer from them; and also, alas! has made others suffer from them at one time or another? But note
III. SOME OF ITS OCCASIONS AND EXCITEMENTS.
1. Birth is one of them; as if a man chose his own father and mother. Men pride themselves that they come of a certain family, that they are “well born.” “We are Abraham’s children;” what a multitude of sorrows did that notion originate! They who pride themselves on those who were their ancestors in generations gone by are, as one has quaintly said,.” like those useful vegetables of which we are wont to eatthe best part of them is underground.”
2. Physical strength. “It always seems to me to be a very insane thing for a man to glory in his animal force, for there can be no merit in it. In the strength of those brawny limbs of theirs and those powerful muscles, some vaunt themselves abundantly. Though ‘the Lord taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man,’ yet some count it a very wonderful thing that they can outrun or outleap their fellows. O athlete, though thou be strong as Samson or swift as Asahel, what hast thou that thou hast not received? Hadst thou been born with a tendency to consumption, or with some other hereditary weakness, couldst thou have prevented it? And now that thou art strong, art thou to be praised for that, any more than a horse or a steam engine?” (Spurgeon).
3. Beauty. What a fount of pride this is!
4. And talentof intellect, power of application, artistic taste, and the like.
5. Acquirements. “I have noticed of self-made men,” says one, “that they generally have great respect for their Maker.” And he who has acquired wealth is in sore peril of the pride which it is apt to beget. Position, influence, high office, and the like,these, too, are acquirements won, it may be, by diligent toil, yet, when won, may do a man much harm by generating an unhallowed pride. And even God’s grace to a man in giving him a name and a place amongst sincerely religious men, even this may be an occasion of pride. Our best works may be made fuel to the fire of pride. “The demon of pride was born with us, and it will not die one hour before us. It is so woven into the very warp and woof of our nature that, till we are wrapt in our winding sheet, we shall never be completely rid of it.”
IV. SOME OF ITS MANY EVILS. They are such as these:
1. It leads to the forgetting of God. “What hast thou that thou hast not received?” (1Co 9:7). “Is not this great Babylon that I have built?” so spake the God-forgetting and therefore the God-forsaken Nebuchadnezzar” (Dan 4:30).
2. It sets but little value upon God. God dwindles in the proud man’s esteem, whilst to himself he himself ever grows greater. The reverse of John the Baptist’s thought is his. John said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The proud man changes the place of the “he” and the “I.”
3. It makes a man despise his fellows. He looks down upon them, and therefore is unjust to them.
4. It leads him to make bad use of what gifts he has. He is so taken up with admiration of the machinery that he fails to apply it to those ends which it was designed to serve.
5. It is the prelude not seldom to some great fall. “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
6. It makes a man content with the inferior, when, instead of so admiring what he has, he should be aspiring after what is higher and better still. It is said of an artist that, when he had painted a picture which satisfied himself, he threw away his brushes; for now, he said, “I never shall go beyond this.” And so he who is self-satisfied will never rise to a higher degree.
7. It dishonours Christ and his cause. A proud Christian helps the devil, for he makes men hate Christianity and all belonging to it.
V. SALUTARY SUGGESTIONS FOR ITS CURE.
1. How entirely all our gifts are gifts! Much as we may think of ourselves on account of them, we are excelled by very many. If we have many gifts, that does but mean much and solemn responsibility. How ill it would fare with us were we to be called now to account for the use we have made of our gifts in the past! How but for the mercy of God in Christ, the most gifted is but a poor lost sinner, cast out from the presence of God forever!C.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Jer 48:2
The departed praise of Moab.
I. NOT FOR WANT OF DISPOSITION TO PRAISE. If the things had still remained which people had been in the habit of praising, they would have gone on praising. But the God of righteousness takes them away, and then there is necessary silence. Instead of praise there is humiliation, astonishment at a change so complete, but no insight into the hollowness and instability of that which had been praised. If it had all come back again, it would have been praised as much as ever. Thus we see
II. A THING MAY BE PRAISED WITHOUT BEING PRAISEWORTHY. This can easily be understood from the experience of many who once praised things to which they are now indifferent, which they may even utterly condemn. Why this change? It may be to some extent from change in the things, but it more frequently comes from growth and increase of light and the reception of higher principles. We have ever to be on ore: guard against what is merely popular. Not in a cynical way, as if we grudged any one success, but recollecting what power belongs to fashion and to the love of pleasure. Let our effort be to discern, measure, and profit by intrinsic excellence.
III. THINGS NOT PRAISEWORTHY MAY GET THE HIGHEST PRAISE. Mere cleverness and astuteness, the exercise of power irrespective of ends, visible and material success on a large scale,these attract the laudations of inconsiderate men. This is just what we may expect. If things the most praiseworthy, fullest of virtue and blessing, are yet neglected by the eyes of those who have opportunity to see them, then it is little wonder that the things most approved by the common multitude are those which God has branded as utterly bad. What changes need to be effected in human judgments, that we may be willing to burn what we adored and adore what we would have burned!
IV. GOD GIVES FRESH TOPICS OF PRAISE IF THERE BE A DISPOSITION TO CONSIDER THEM. Those whose tongues had been full of the praises of Moab needed not to be silent. The very overthrow of Moab would be a signal for praise and congratulation among the good. When the unhallowed praises of men are silenced by destruction of the things they praised, then angels begin to sing. And they who praise low, earthly things may have their thoughts introduced to heavenly ones, and then they will discover what man was made to praise. How the words that are exaggerated and altogether disproportioned when applied to the works of men, have in them an exquisite fitness when we speak of the works of God or of Christ, or of men properly engaged in Christian service!Y.
Jer 48:7
The consequence of a wrong confidence.
I. THE CAPTURE WAS THEIR OWN FAULT. Not all capture is so. There may be a going into durance for conscience’ sake; there may be the necessary surrender to superior strength; the captured one may be the victim for a time to the unscrupulous selfishness of others. We must be careful not to draw rash conclusions from suffering to sin; for therein we may be adding suffering to suffering. As a rule, when suffering comes from sin, the sufferer is not left without a witness in his own heart. But inasmuch as it is a whole people that is here suffering nationally, there needs to be a distinct mention of why they are suffering. We are also reminded how important it is to make the distinction between what comes through our own fault and what comes through other causes.
II. WRONG OBJECTS OF TRUST ALWAYS INVOLVE SOME DISASTER, It is but the form that differs; the real, essential mischief is always there. God mentions here the best things a man can have outside of God himself. There is his own worth, that into which he puts his energy, skill, and experience; where also he profits by the work of those who have gone before him. There are also the pleasures of life, all that a man, in his best judgment, reckons to be best. Moab would reckon among its pleasures its men of war, its chosen young men, its accumulation of wealth. But all these things, solid and extensive as they look, give no guarantee of abiding security and prosperity. They may, by the very falsehood of appearances, become the ministers of ruin. The case is as if a plant should seek root in its own substance, as if a man should try to maintain physical life from his own body. And to trust other people is an even more precarious ground of support than we find in ourselves. For in ourselves there is at all events the element of self-interest to help us. No doubt, by the work and the pleasures here mentioned, there is a reference to the idol worshipped in Moab, which indeed is mentioned in the same verse. We can hardly understand the feeling ourselves, but great must have been the confidence of Moab in its god; and this, of course, amounted to nothing else than its own imagination of deity. Be we may be trusting in an apparent connection with God, in forms of religion, in works that look as if they were meant for God’s glory and for our good. But nothing is of any use as a ground of confidence unless it has a living connection with the Infinite and the Eternal.Y.
Jer 48:10
Doing the work of Jehovah deceitfully.
I. THE ENTRUSTING OF JEHOVAH‘S WORK TO THE HANDS OF MEN. Here is a great work of judgment, and Jehovah effects such works either through operations of his own or through agents to whom he makes the awful duty evident. What he has done himself is sufficiently illustrated in many terrible visitations recorded in the Old Testament; nor is there entire absence of such a record in the New. But men have also been called to visit upon others their iniquity in a solemn and thorough way. That men have made the command of God a pretext for the greatest cruelties, and for indiscriminate slaughter on an extensive scale, does not in the least alter the fact that such commands have been givengiven out of the greatest wisdom and with the best results. Every nation reckons that the temporal life of its subjects is at its disposal; they must be ready to serve with life or in death, as may be required. And shall not the God of all the earth dispose of temporal life according as his all-comprehending wisdom sees may be best for the whole world and for all ages?
II. THE TEMPTATIONS TO DO THIS WORK DECEITFULLY. Not, perhaps, with an intention to deceive, but with sophistical evasions, with attempts to make something less than completeness seem complete. Such an act was that of Saul when he went out with a stern command ringing in his earsthe command of one proved to be a prophet, that he should utterly slay the Amalekites. He seemed to have reason in the pleas he urged for the imperfect execution of the command. And so it may often be. There looks to be needless severity, needless waste. Oftentimes there is an amount of suffering, suffering even of the innocent, which takes all will and vigour out of the arm that should strike God’s blow. Besides, it needs to be always borne in mind that the Word of God requiring severity and suffering is only a part of God’s work. We shrink from it through mere sensitiveness to pain, But there is another large sphere of work where there is plain benefit, where we have to make no one suffer, where we are contributors to something positive. The husbandman is not forever plucking up weeds; his main work is to sow good seed and reap it. “Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully” is a word that has its correspondence in Paul’s ejaculation, “Woe is me if! preach not the gospel.” Jesus put his servants through an exacting discipline, a self-revealing one, in order that they might do his work thoroughly, uprooting all evil, getting down to proper foundations, making no compromises, ready for all persecutions. They who, after preparation and warning and putting their hands to the work, yet do that work with slack hands, cannot wonder if God should in due time make manifest his anger with them for their heedlessness..Y.
Jer 48:11, Jer 48:12
Moab settled, on the lees.
Here we find a not uncommon difficulty in the Old Testament, namely, that of an illustration which to us is by no means so clear as the thing to be illustrated. The words are spoken with regard to a wine country. This will be seen on looking at the references in Jer 48:32, Jer 48:33 to the wine of Sibmah, the spoiled vintage, the wine that has failed from the wine presses, the silence where once was shouting of those who trod the grapes. An illustration drawn from the process of making wine perfect was, therefore, most appropriate. It would be understood and convey its lesson at once to those of the right disposition. We, however, must go to the underlying truth at once, without pretending to see the propriety of the illustration in all its parts. Moreover, we must look on Moab itself as representative of individuals. We have to look at individuals, at the possibilities of their life, at the experiences they ought to pass through, and the results which come from missing those experiences.
I. THE POSSIBILITIES OF LIFE. “Moab hath settled on his lees.” Moab is, therefore, compared to wine. There are sour grapes with which nothing can be done; but there are also grapes of splendid natural quality, that have had the best culture of the vineyard and have come to all due ripeness. That which is to become perfect wine starts from a fruit of which much is expected. The wine producer knows that his wine will be according to his grapes. Now, from Moab much was expected; this truth being involved in the very comparison to wine. There was something that had in it the making of an exquisite taste and an exquisite scent.
II. HOW THE POSSIBILITIES ARE MISSED. There is the chance of ease, enjoyment, and self-indulgence, and this chance is ignobly accepted. Of some men the character is tried by difficulties and repeated discouragements; the strength and worth that lie deep in them are manifested by their perseverance. Other men are tried by the absence of difficulties. They are born to a competency. As children they have whatever money can provide for in the way of instruction and pleasure. Everything external to them is made as easy as it can be made. Many voices, near to them every day and all day long, say, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years: take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.” Everything depends on the way the young man, placed in such circumstances, looks.
III. THE RESULT OF NEGLECTED DISCIPLINE. Possessions give opportunities of service, opportunities denied to many, who see the needs of others, have the will to meet them, and lack the power. Is it not a righteous thing that God should deal severely with those whose circumstances give them the means and the time for doing great good, and yet who fill their lives with selfish pleasure? Such lives will come out at last in pitiable contrast with what they might have been. To change the figure: “If the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? henceforth it is good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men.” Note how the vessels that should have been used toward the perfection of the wine, and the bottles that should have held them, become at last useless. If we will not use our opportunities for God’s purpose, God will secure, in due time, that we should not use them for our own.Y.
Jer 48:26, Jer 48:27
Moab exulting over fallen Israel.
Here is another allusion to a wine country. Moab knew well what it was to drink to excess. The drunkard with his silly talk and behavior is a common object of ridicule everywhere. And Moab shall become to other nations abject and degraded as the drunkard. This is the end of its wrong excitement over the fall of Israel Moab has seen Israel in its days of power and glory and pride, and, cooing, has feared. Could the days of Balak and the prophecies of Balaam be forgotten? Nor is it likely that Israel would be without unseemly exultations and reciprocal jealousies. And now at last Israel falls. And all that Moab can take knowledge of is the fact of the fall. That it has been caused by disobedience and rebellion, that Jehovah is the real Author of it and not the King of Babylon, who is but as Jehovah’s sword, Moab cannot well have means for knowing. All it can see is a rival fallen, and. as it seems permanently fallen. Therefore Moab must be taught a lesson. In exulting over Israel it is exulting against Jehovah. Indeed, there is no reason why we should reject the notion of some open and bold comparison between the weakness of Jehovah, God of Israel, and the strength of Chemosh, god of Moab. As if the people said, “See how strong Chemosh is; for we are still here, though Babylonian armies have not been far from us! and see how weak Jehovah is; for the nation to whom he was God is gone into a distant captivity!” To exult over the fall of those who have been avowedly the servants of God is a dangerous thing to do. The man who is tempted and falls should be an object of pity, one to be helped up and reinstated, even though the work needed for this be one with some loss and risk to ourselves. And surely we should be especially careful not to rejoice over the calamities of those whose calamity seems to give us a better chance. Moab had now to drink to the dregs a cup of shame, because it had failed to comprehend the duty of rejoicing with those who rejoiced and weeping with those who wept.Y.
Jer 48:38
The broken vessel
I. NOT BROKEN BY ACCIDENT. A vessel broken by accident would not have furnished the proper figure. Lives that are as real serviceable vessels in the hand of God never do get broken by accident. Earthen vessels though they often be, there is a providence and a watchfulness which preserves them till their work is done. They are kept through days of persecution; they are restored from sickness; they live on into a good old age, while men apparently stronger and of greater physical resource are stricken down. And when there seems sometimes a premature and unaccountable breaking, yet it is really to be regarded in another light, namely, as a change to higher and fuller service.
II. NOT BROKEN BY CAPRICE. That which is not broken accidentally must have been broken purposely. And if purposely, either with a reason or through mere recklessness. Men too often destroy things in a reckless, thoughtless way, from the first unconsidered impulse that comes into the mind. It is an action in which is expressed, by a sort of bravado, the sentiment that a man may do what he likes with his own. But God would ever have us feel that, though he has made the world and all that therein is, his disposition of these works is regulated by fixed laws, and our disposition of things under our control should be regulated in the same way. Never let it be said of us that we have destroyed or injured anything without sufficient reason. We should not even pull a flower to pieces through mere thoughtlessness, mere vacuity of mind.
III. BROKEN FOR A SUFFICIENT REASON. Moab is a vessel in which there is no pleasure. It is of no real use to God. Whether we shall be vessels of use to God or not depends upon whether we put ourselves as clay into his hands as Potter. Moab was a nation which had loved to shape its own life, to hew its own designs. And just in proportion as it persevered in this path did it become useless to God. Appearance is only a small thing. The first consideration is use. The commonest earthenware pitcher, if without a flaw, is worth more than a cracked golden pitcher that will hold no waterworth more, that is, as a pitcher. Gold is a rare, glittering, fascinating thing compared with common earth, but after all it is the common earth out of which vessels are made for daily use. The real value of a human life depends upon what God gets out of it.Y.
Jer 48:43, Jer 48:44
No ultimate escape.
I. THERE ARE TEMPORARY EVASIONS OF DOOM. As there are great varieties of wickedness, so there is also great variety in the consequences of it. Sometimes the visitation is sudden, quick, and terrible, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. But oftener men go on sinning with no bad consequences to themselves, so far as appearance goes. They do not lose health; they do not seem to lose reputation; there are no checks in their success; and perhaps they even furnish an example whereby worldly wisdom hangs its maxim that it is not well to be too particular. The frequent prosperity of the wicked is indeed a fact not at all concealed or qualified in the Scriptures. A man of the world takes his own worldly way to keep peril at a distance, and he seems to fall into no pit, no snare. Let all this be allowed. Nothing is gained by trying to make out that the wicked have no advantages. It was an old-world legend that some men sold themselves to the devil, and that his protection secured to them their wonderful immunities and prosperity.
II. THERE IS NO WAY OF ESCAPE PROM DANGER SAVE GOD‘S WAY. All that is gained is in the way of postponement. Wicked men travel in a narrowing path, and at last are shut up to face the judgments of God. The moment of what seems to them complete success is quickly followed by the moment of complete collapse. We have the crowning illustration of this in the death of Jesus. His enemies seemed to have succeeded. All their efforts to bring his death about had been wonderfully favoured. And what could they do but be jubilant when he was actually dead? The death of Jesus, however, was really a condition for the utter downfall of these enemies. The grave of Jesus, so to speak, was the snare in which spiritual evil was finally taken and overcome. It is one of the triumphs of faith to be well assured in our own hearts that there is no ultimate escape for wickedness. God has his own wise reasons in tolerating wicked men for a long time, and the evil they do to others is not so great in reality as it is in appearance. They cannot inflict more than outward suffering and inconvenience on God’s people. Indeed, the mischief they mean to do can be wonderfully transmuted to good.Y.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Jer 48:1. Against Moab, &c. The Moabites were in league with Zedekiah against Nebuchadnezzar: see chap. Jer 27:3; Jer 27:9, &c. But they gave Israel no assistance against him. See Jer 48:26-27. Nebo and Kiriathaim, were the names of two cities of Moab, the latter of which was given to the Reubenites; but the inhabitants of Moab afterwards recovered it, together with several other places. The reader will refer to Isaiah’s prophesies concerning Moab. Instead of Misgab, Houbigant and many other commentators read, That high structure, or that which boasted itself.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
5. Prophecy Against Moab (chap. 48)
Although Israel had received the command by Moses, not to oppress or make war on the Moabites (Deu 2:9), the Moabites on their part acted in a most hostile manner towards Israel, and according to Balaams counsel (Num 31:17), did them greater injury by seducing them to idolatry, than they could have done with weapons of war. In consequence of the command given by Moses, the Israelites took possession of none, of the country of the Moabites, but the Arnon, which had formed the boundary line between the Moabites and Ammonites (Num 21:13; Jdg 11:18), now formed that between Moab and Reuben (Deu 2:36; Jos 13:9). From this time the history of the relations between Israel and Moab falls into two periods. The first extends from the occupation of the transjordanic country to the subjugation of the Moabites by David (2Sa 8:2). During this period many struggles took place between the two nations with varying success (Jdg 3:12 sqq.; Jdg 3:28 sqq.; 1Sa 14:47). The second period embraces the subjection of the Moabites under David and his successors (after the division under the kings of Israel) to their revolt after the death of Ahab (2Ki 1:1; 2Ki 3:4-5). The third period again is one of hostility with varying success (2Ki 3:6-27; 2Ki 13:20), but closes with the occupation of the region to the north of the Arnon by the Moabites in consequence of the deportation of the East-jordanic Israelites by Tiglath Pileser (2Ki 15:29; 1Ch 5:6; 1Ch 5:26). The fourth period embraces their entire subsequent history. In this the only account we have of wars between the two nations is, that Moabitish troops were sent against Jehoiakim after his revolt from the Chaldeans (2Ki 24:2). Under Zedekiah we see the Moabites in league with Israel against the common enemy, the Chaldeans (Jer 27:1-3), of which Josephus (Ant. X., 9,7) that records that Nebuchadnezzar in the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem subjugated the Ammonites and Moabites. In this fourth period fall the other prophecies against Moab, with the exception of the brief oracle, Amo 2:1-3, viz., those of Isaiah (Isa. 15. and 16. coll. Isa 25) Zephaniah (Zep 2:8-11), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 48.), Ezekiel (Eze 25:8-11).
No-proof is needed that Jeremiah had occasion to direct a prophecy against this old hereditary foe. The account in 2Ki 24:2 shows that even specially at that time the disposition of the Moabites was hostile to Judah; for this prophecy certainly belongs to the time of Jehoiakim and before the fourth year, the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar not being mentioned. The form of the superscription favors its contemporaneousness with the first prophecy against Egypt (Jer 46:1-2). Comp. rems. on that passage. Jeremiahs object in this prophecy was evidently to reanimate, as it were, the former declarations of similar purport, and comprise them together for the sake of a powerful total effect. From ver.29 onwards, there is a constant, more or less free, use of older utterances. Of special importance appeared to our prophet the prophecy of Isaiah, itself reproducing an older oracle (Isa 16:13). He makes very extensive use of it, particularly of Jer 48:29-38. Amos also (comp. , Jer 48:45, and , Jer 48:24; Jer 48:41, with Amo 2:2). Zephaniah (comp. , Jer 48:26; Jer 48:42, with Zep 2:8; Zep 2:10) and even older utterances of the Pentateuch (comp. Jer 48:45-46 with Num 21:28-29; Num 25:17) have not been left unemployed. Thus the prophecy has not only become very long, but many unevennesses have been produced by the introduction of foreign matters. Movers and Hitzig have thus been misled to assume various interpolations. Graf, however, has satisfactorily rebutted these attacks on the integrity of our text. As regards the structure of the discourse, it consists, according to the peculiarity of Jeremiahs style, in pictures of various extent, of which we number eleven. The first five are predominantly occupied with the description of the punitive Judgment breaking in upon Moab (Jer 48:1-25), while the four following (Jer 48:26-42) have the reasons of this judgment for their subject. The last two pictures (Jer 48:43-44, and Jer 48:45-46) are related to the two main divisions as supplements, in so far as they contain nothing new, but draw only on two older sources, viz.: 1, a drastic passage by Isaiah, which moreover has nothing to do with Moab; 2, some declarations of the book of Numbers referring to Moab. The last verse is a consolatory glance forming a conclusion to the whole.
1. The Description of the Punitive Judgment (Jer 48:1-25)
1. The Devastation Proceeding from City to City
(Jer 48:1-5.)
1Against Moab.
Thus saith Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel:
Woe unto Nebo, for it is laid waste!
Confounded and taken is Kiriathaim!
Confounded and broken to pieces is the citadel [Misgab].
2The glory of Moab is departed.
In Heshbon they have spun evil against her.
Up! and let us cut her off from being a nation!1
Thou also, O Madmen, art made mad [feeble]:2
Behind thee cometh the sword.
3Hark! Crying from Choronaim
Desolation and great ruin.
4Broken in pieces is Moab!
They cry aloud towards Zoar.3
5For the ascent of Luhith is ascended with weeping, with weeping.4
For on the descent of Choronaim are heard the oppressors5 of the cry of woe.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The prophet proclaims destruction to Moab by, as it were, sketching a great picture, in which we not only perceive the abomination of desolation embracing and, as it were, enveloping the whole country, but also distinguish particular points marked by glaring colors. In the enumeration of the cities there is a general progress from north to south.
Against Moab. The superscription leans for support on Jer 46:2. Comp. the introduction to chh. 4651.
Jer 48:1. Thus saith citadel. That the mountain Nebo is not meant, is seen from the verb, both in its sense and form (fem.). The city of Nebo (comp. Jer 48:22; Num 32:3; Num 32:38) was situated, according to the Onomasticon of Jerome, eight Roman miles south of Heshbon, while Mt. Nebo was six miles west of this city. Comp. Raumer, Palst., S. 265.Kiriathaim (comp. Jer 48:23; Gen 14:5; Num 32:37; Jos 13:19; Eze 25:9) is one of the oldest cities of the East-Jordanic district. Burkhardt (Travels in Syria, II., S. 626) found ruins of a place called Et-Taim, half an hour west of Medaba, which, however, does not well harmonize with the statement of Jerome, who places (Koroiatha, Kiriathaim), ten Roman miles west of Medaba. Comp. Raumer, S. 263, 4 et pass.; Herz.R.-Enc., VII., S. 710.
The citadel [Misgab]. It is very probable from the context that a definite locality is meant, for otherwise either the citadel of the last mentioned city must be intended, or the citadels of Moab generally. In both cases, however, we should expect the word to have a suffix. Hence the chief fortress of the Moabites, Kir-Moab, or Kir-heres (comp. Jer 48:31; Jer 48:36; Isa 15:1; Isa 16:7; Isa 16:11; 2Ki 3:25) has been correctly understood. No appeal can be made in behalf of this view to Isa 25:12, since it is extremely questionable whether a definite locality is there intended. Comp. Drechsler on Isa 25:12. On Kir-Moab, comp. Herz.R.-Enc. VII:, S. 558 sqq.
Jer 48:2. The glory the sword. From Jer 48:29-30, we see that the Moabites were inclined to proud self-praise, but we cannot here take the word translated glory in the subjective sense, as the whole strophe has for its subject the destruction of real objects. It is, therefore, here as in Deu 26:19; Jer 13:11; Jer 51:4, the subject of their glory.The name of the city Heshbon gives occasion for a play upon words. We translate spun after the example of Meier. Heshbon was then in the possession of the Ammonites (Jer 49:3). On arriving at the boundary the enemy projects his plan of attack. Comp. rems on Jer 48:45. After the deportation of the East-Jordanic tribes by Tiglath-Pileser (2Ki 15:29; 1Ch 5:26), the Moabites appear to have taken possession of their territory. Hence Isaiah (Jer 15:4; Jer 16:8-9) mentions Heshbon among the Moabitish cities. The Ammonites must have come subsequently into possession of the city. Comp. Graf, S. 554; Von Raumer, S. 202 and 289, 270.A place called Madmen, in Moab, is not expressly mentioned elsewhere, but there seems to be a trace of it in the figure of the dung pit (Isa 25:10), to the choice of which Isaiah may have been occasioned by the existence of such a place, as Joseph Kimchi supposed. Besides a is mentioned in Benjamin, Isa 10:31; a in Judah, Jos 15:31; a in Zebulon, Jos 21:35. Hence here also is not to be taken as an appellative, as some modern commentators would do, following the LXX., Vulg. and Syr., but as a proper noun.
Jer 48:3-5. Hark cry of woe. From Choronaim (comp. Isa 15:5) a loud cry is heard, and at (he same time the noise of the city falling into ruins. Comp. Jer 4:6; Jer 6:1; Jer 50:22; Isa 59:7; Isa 60:18.Graf has made it very probable that by Moab in Jer 48:14 is to be understood, not the country, but the city (Num 21:28; Isa 15:1; Num 22:36). The mention of several cities in connection, and the feminine gender of the verb (comp., however, the masculine in Jer 48:11) favor this. I refer also to Num 21:15, where alone seems to be given as the name of the city.The first hemistich of Jer 48:5 is taken almost verbatim from Isa 15:5, there being a difference only in the last words. As we have Luhith in Isaiah, without any difference in reading, we ore justified in following the Keri, which has the same here. From the other reading (= tables, boards) a suitable sense can be wrung only with difficulty. Est usque hodie vicus inter Areopolin (i.e., Ar-Moab) et Zoarum nomins Luitha, says Jerome in the Onomasticon. By For the declaration of the preceding verse, that the inhabitants of Ar-Moab cry towards Zoar, is explained, viz., the ascent of Luhith, which is on the road designated, they are seen to ascend weeping.In the second half of the verse we find a much altered copy of the second half of the verse in Isa 15:5. Instead of in the way of Horonaim it is in Jeremiah, in the descent of Horonaim. The present form of the text appears to me to betray an effort after greater distinctness and closer correspondence to the topography. Hence the ascent of Luhith is opposed to the descent of Horonaim. He who would go from Ar-Moab to Zoar, would have to go down a declivity at Horonaim, and ascend an elevation at Luhith. Similarly Vitringa on Isa 15:5, only that he makes Luhith come first after Ar-Moab and Horonaim afterward, which, however, evidently contradicts the connection. In Isaiah it reads they raise a cry of destruction, and here it might be objected, how could those who go up by Luhith weep, because they raise a cry at Horonaim? When the ascent of Luhith is taking place, the descent of Horonaim lying in the rear is vacant. Or are the people of Horonaim supposed to have remained behind, when the stream of fugitives passed through from Ar-Moab? How could this stream raise a cry at Horonaim while ascending Luhith? They might, however, he anxious when they heard the oppressors behind them at Horonaim. I therefore think that , which has given the commentators so much trouble, and produced so many curiosities of exegesis, is quite correct. is the oppressor; for is premere, urgere aliquem hostili modo. The genitive is to be taken in that wider and freer sense, which the construct state so frequently has. The oppressors of the cry of woe are those who cause the cry by their oppressions.
Footnotes:
[1]Jer 48:2.. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 106, 6.
[2]Jer 48:2.Whether is Kal or Niphal, is doubtful. Both are possible. The Niphal meaning would correspond best to the connection. Comp. Olsh., 243 d, with Ewald, 140 b.
[3]Jer 48:3.I concur with Graf in reading , following the LXX., instead of . In Isa 15:5, which passage the prophet had in view here, the fugitives of Moab flee , and in Jer 48:34 of this chapter, is mentioned with Choronaim. The reading which appears also to have led the LXX. astray, so that they write instead of , as they elsewhere leader (Gen 14:2; Gen 19:22 sqq.; Isa 15:5) seems to have arisen in a similar manner with ,, etc. Comp. rems. on Jer 17:23. The analogy of Jer 14:3 finally produced the alteration into .
[4]Jer 48:5. is a paronomasia with ; grammatically it is the third person singular impersonal. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 101, 2 b. Instead of the second , we have in the passage in Isaiah. It is natural to suppose that here arose from a blending of the following with the preceding , in consequence of indistinct or defective writing of the vowel. Delitzsch also (Jes., S. 207) attributes the reading to a mistake. It is not, however, to be denied that Jeremiah may possibly have written . Then it would be more advisable to take the second as an emphatic rhetorical repetition of the first with omission of the preposition (comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 112, 8), than to give it the part of the subject. For, when we compare cases like , , we must not forget that here the immediate juxtaposition of the two assonant words is essential.
[5]Jer 48:5.Comp. with accus., and following as a designation of the term. ad quem; Jdg 9:31; Isa 29:3, and on the construct state, as a substitute for the preposition, Naegelsb. Gr., 64, 5 c. In accordance with the exegesis of this passage, as given below, we are neither to take as an abstraction=angusti, nor with Hitzig to read (), and regard this as the literal name, and connect it as a gloss with , meaning the same nor with Graf to take (which does not once occur in old Hebrew) is connection with = cry of murder.
2. Summons to flight, which yet will not secure safety
Jer 48:6-10
6Flee, save your lives!
But they shall be6 like a forsaken one7 in the wilderness.
7For on account of thy confidence in thy bungling work8
And in thy treasures shalt thou also be taken,
And Chemosh shall go into captivity,
His priests and his princes together,9
8And the spoiler shall come upon every city,
And the city shall not be delivered;
The valley also shall perish,
And the plains shall be devastatedas10 Jehovah hath spoken.
9Give wings11 unto Moab, for it will flee forth.
But its cities shall be desolation
Without any to dwell therein.
10Cursed be he who doeth Jehovahs work remissly,
And cursed be he who keepeth back his sword from blood.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
This strophe portrays the destruction threatening Moab by summoning the people to flight, but at the same time distinctly declaring that this would not avail. This summons is made in a double gradation: 1. Moab is simply called upon to flee (Jer 48:6 a), but it is directly remarked; that Moab would only barely escape and then be recaptured (Jer 48:6 b7a), and that in consequence the entire people, idols, priests and princes at their head, would be carried into captivity, while all remaining immovable property would be destroyed (Jer 48:7 b, 8). 2. The means of flight are offered to Moab in a figure (9a) but, as the second half of the verse briefly intimates, the end will yet be the same, namely, devastation (Jer 48:9 b). It cannot also possibly be otherwise, for the Lord makes known His fixed resolution to destroy Moab, by threatening remissness or forbearance in the work of destruction with His curse (Jer 48:10).
Jer 48:6-8. Flee hath spoken. The call to flee is evidently intended ironically, for the announcement directly follows that the condition of the fugitives will be an extremely wretched one, that they will indeed be again taken.Like a forsaken one,like Aroer. Three Aroers are known; in Judah (1Sa 30:26), in Gad (Num 32:34; Jos 13:25; Jdg 11:33, 2Sa 24:5), and in Reuben (Deu 2:36; Deu 3:12; Deu 4:18; Jos 12:2; Jos 13:9; Jdg 11:26). The first cannot possibly be meant. How one of the two others, whether that on the Arnon, or that further to the north, in the vicinity of Rabbath-Ammon, can be called Aroer in the wilderness, it is difficult to perceive. For if even on the basis of Isa 17:2, the city be supposed to be then destroyed, it is yet strange that a destroyed city should be designated as situated in the wilderness, since this expression by no means involves the idea of destruction. Hence I have adopted the alternate reading proposed, which is favored by what follows. Neither a city, nor a tree, nor ruins, can See and be taken, but this may easily happen to one nudatus et desertus in the wilderness. The causal sentence, Jer 48:7, has then the sense: thy flight will no longer procure thee protection, as one forsaken in the desert, finds out, for thou also (like other nations) wilt be taken. And this will be the punishment of Moab for having founded its happiness on false supports.Chemoah (the Chethibh is perfectly unique) was the national god of the Moabites and Ammonites (1Ki 11:7; 2Ki 23:13; Jdg 11:24). Moab is, therefore, called the people of Chemosh (Jer 48:46; Num 21:29); accordingly here, also, his princes are called princes of Chemosh. The idol goes into captivity when his image is carried away. Comp. Jer 49:8; Amo 1:15; Hos 10:5-6. The passage Amo 1:15 seems to have been in the prophets mind here, as in Jer 49:3.
Jer 48:8 describes the destruction of the immovable property; cities, valleys (all river-valleys in antithesis to elevated plains and mountains), and plains ( the plateau of Rabbath-Ammon, south as far as the Arnon. Comp. Deu 3:10; Deu 4:43; Jos 13:9; Jos 13:16-17; Jos 13:21; Jos 20:8; Raumer, Pal. S. 71 ff.)
Jer 48:9. Give wings therein. In comparison with Jer 48:6 there is evidently a progress here; there it is a mere call to Fight, here the call is to at ford Moab the only still imaginable means for this, viz., wings. The one call is as ironical as the other. There is a strengthening of the irony in the word for, which designates the fleeing away as the object not of the speaker, but of Moab. Comp. Isa 16:2.The second half of the verse corresponds as a brief synopsis to all that has been mentioned from Jer 48:6 b to Jer 48:8, as the result of the first summons (Jer 48:6 a). The expression is as in Jer 46:19; Jer 49:17; Jer 51:43; Jer 4:9, etc.
Jer 48:10. Cursed from blood. These words are the foil to the foregoing description. On this background the irony appears in its full strength. From these words we perceive what was the true meaning of the summons to flight, and how much more bitter the severity is rendered by these contrasting announcements (Jer 48:6 bJer 48:8; Jer 48:9 b). Moabs destruction is designated as the work of the Lord, because this is no more than the execution of a decree of judgment pronounced by Him. Comp. Jer 25:31; Jer 46:10; Jer 51:6.Remissly. Comp. Pro 10:4; Pro 12:27.
Footnotes:
[6]Jer 48:6.. If the condition to be expected as a consequence of the flight were to be designated, or would be grammatically more correct. Hence I take in the adversative sense, and the Imperf. as a simple announcement. The plural of the third person refers to the ideal plural contained in the collective .
[7]Jer 48:6.It has been with reason supposed that is to be read instead of , according to the analogy of Jer 17:6 The opinion that the strange word was also the name of a city, and indeed of the well known Aroer, may easily have given occasion to the raiding of the text. The ancient translations vacillate: the LXX. translate (). Vulg.: myrica (virgultum humile et spinosum); Syrus: truncus arboris, stips. All these renderings lack proper etymological foundation, Gesenius (Commentary on Isa 7:2), and in his Thesaurus (S. 10, 74), fixes the meaning of rudera, ruin, on itself, but for this also there is no etymological basis.
[8]Jer 48:7.The meaning of is doubtfulbulwark, bungling work (idol images), propertythe latter according to passages like Exo 23:16; 1Sa 25:2. But in these passages denotes only the pursuit of agriculture and its products. An emphasis on this appears to be superfluous with . Since immediately afterwards the disgraceful carrying away of the principal idol of Moab is expressly mentioned, the mention of these manufactured idols as vain supports is more suitable to the connection (Jer 50:16; Jer 10:3; Jer 10:9; Jer 25:6-7. Comp. Jer 49:4).
[9]Jer 48:7. (Chethibh) does not occur elsewhere in Jeremiah. In the parallel passages, also, we find .
[10]Jer 48:8. . This , whether we take it as=as, because, or which, is quite contrary to the usage of Jeremiah, since he always inserts alone (Jer 6:15; Jer 30:3; Jer 33:11; Jer 33:13; Jer 49:2; Jer 49:18). J. D. Michaelis supposes it is ortum ex repetitione finalium literarum prcedentis, . It is also wanting, according to him, in Cod. 72.
[11]Jer 48:9. from the radical meaning micare, promicare, has also the meanings of forehead plate (of the high-priest, Exo 28:36-38), flower, and wing, in which last it occurs here. In Chaldee it is used for ala, Psa 139:9; for fin Lev 11:9. Comp. Buxtorfs Lox. Chald., p. 1907. The choice both of this word and the following , seems to have been occasioned by an effort at paronomasia. For also (properly . Comp. , wing; Eze 17:3; Eze 17:7; Job 39:13the for the sake of uniformity with . Comp. Naegelsb. Gr. 93 d, Anm.), is .
3. The Transfusion
Jer 48:11-13
11Moab hath been at ease from his youth,
And he lay still on his lees,
And was not drawn off from one vessel to another,12
Neither hath he gone into exile:
Therefore hath his taste remained in him,
And his fragrance hath not changed.
12Therefore behold, the days are coming, saith Jehovah,
That I will send unto him tilters, who shall tilt him up
And empty his vessels and dash his dishes in pieces.13
13And Moab shall be put to shame by Chemosh,
As the house of Israel was put to shame by Bethel, their confidence.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
In a very palpable figure the prophet compares Moab with wine, which has never been drawn off into another cask and has therefore retained its taste and scent unchanged (Jer 48:11). The Lord will transfuse Moab and cause his old cask to be broken in pieces (Jer 48:12), and then, like Israel, he will be put to shame by his idols.
Jer 48:11-13. Moab their confidence. Since the Moabites took the land from the original inhabitants, the Emims (Deu 2:10), they had generally remained in quiet possession of it. They had never been carried into captivity, as had been the case with Israel in their stay in Egypt and the deportation of the ten tribes. That this is the meaning of the figure is expressly declared in Jer 48:11, by the words neither hath he gone into exile. It seems to me doubtful whether Jeremiah has reference to Isa 25:6; at any rate, on account of the difference in the main thoughts, the reference can be only cursory and verbal. Essentially the same thought, however, is expressed in the same words in Zep 1:12, whence it is probable that Jeremiah had this passage in mind. Four points are distinguished: 1. As a basis the fact that Moab has never been transfused. 2. The primary consequence that its taste and odor have remained. So far as this refers to the outward status rerum, a great degree of national prosperity is thus designated. In so far, however, as the words refer to the inward habitus, or to their relation to God and connected with this to His people, they express a sense unfavorable to Moab. They declare that Moab has never been thoroughly purified, never been freed from its enmity to the Lord and His people. 3. As a secondary consequence, it is mentioned, that a time of visitation is impending on Moab, since it cannot possibly be privileged against such a season. The instruments of the visitation are designated, in accordance with the figure in Jer 48:11, as coopers, who are to tilt up the old casks, empty and then break them in pieces. 4. As the final result it is mentioned that Moab will be put to shame by Chemosh as Israel by Bethel. The long undisturbed quiet was physically considered a benefit to Moab, but spiritually a gracious opportunity which it did not make use of. Hence Moab must become wise, like Israel, by loss and suffering (comp. 1Ki 12:28-33).
Footnotes:
[12]Jer 48:11.On for comp. rems. on Jer 10:1.
[13]Jer 48:12., inclinare, only here and Jer 2:20 in Jeremiah. In , the object is Moab, or the wine representing it; since it is to be mentioned what is made empty there must be another object to and as , (originally a leathern bottle, and then cadus, urceus; comp. Jer 13:12; Lam 4:2; Isa 30:14) offered itself as a paronomasia [alliteration] to , it is given as the third object, though really the object remains the same. In order to render the alliteration we have translated, after Luther, [Blayney, Noyes, Wordsworth] tilters and tilted; [Cowles: emptyers; and the former after Meier, render dash and dishes.S. R. A.]
4. THE VANITY OF HUMAN GLORY
Jer 48:14-17
14How can ye say, we are heroes
And strong men for the war?
15Desolated is Moab and his cities go up,14
And his best young men go down to the slaughter,
Saith the King, Jehovah Zebaoth is his name.
16Moabs destruction is near approaching,
And his calamity hastens on apace.15
17Bemoan him, all his neighbors,
All ye, who know his name,
Say, how is the mighty stem broken,
The splendid rod!
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
All human glory is turned to shame, whether one glorify himself, as, according to Jer 48:14, Moab had done, to which the destruction of all his warlike power stands in strong contrast (Jer 48:15), or good friends and neighbors praise us. These may soon and easily find occasion (Jer 48:16) to turn their song of praise into a lamentation.
Jer 48:14-15. How can his name. In opposition to Moabs boastful glorying in his warlike strength, desolation is announced in general and destruction according to a just Nemesis of the main objects of his glorying: the fortified cities, which seemed to rest immovably on their foundations, must fly away in smoke; the strong youths, who aimed high, must go down to slaughter.Go down, etc. Comp. Isa 34:6-7; Jer 50:27; Jer 51:40.Saith, etc. Comp. Jer 46:18; Jer 51:57.
Jer 48:16-17. Moabs destruction splendid rod. So near and certain is the destruction of Moab that his neighbors and friends are called upon to bemoan the overthrow of this power so highly extolled hitherto by themselves.Bemoan him. Comp. Jer 15:6; Jer 16:5; Jer 22:10.Neighbors (comp. Jer 46:14; Jer 48:39; Jer 49:5), literally those round about him, therefore most intimately acquainted with him, ye who know his name, being the more distant acquaintances. (Comp. the related expressions in Psa 87:4; Job 19:13; Job 42:11; Ps. 56:14; psa 88:9, 19).The mighty stem. Comp. Psa 110:2; Eze 19:12; Eze 19:14.
Footnotes:
[14]Jer 48:15.The singular is certainly surprising, but the alteration of the text to (the spoiler of Moab and his cities goes up) [as J. D. Mich., Ewald, Graf, Blayney], seems to me unnecessary. I believe that Jeremiah had in view the passage in Jdg 20:40 ( ), and that thus the sing. masc. is explained, which moreover in the principle of the ideal number (the entirety of the cities regarded as a unit. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 105, 4 a) has a grammatical support.
[15]Jer 48:16Comp. Isa 13:22; Isa 54:1; Naegelsb. Gr., 95, 3 b.
6. MESSAGE TO THE FUGITIVES ON THE ARNON
Jer 48:18-25
18Come down from thy glory and seat thyself in the thirsty,16
Thou inhabitant daughter of Dibon!17
For the spoiler of Moab is advancing against thee,
He destroyeth thy strongholds.
19Place thyself by the wayside and look out,
Thou inhabitress of Aroer;
Ask of the fugitive and her who is escaped!18
Say, What hath been done?19
20Moab is confounded, for she is broken down.20
Howl and cry!21
Proclaim it on the Arnon, that Moab is destroyed;
21And judgment has come on the land of the plain,
On Holon and on Jahazah, and on Mephaath,
22And on Dibon, Nebo and Beth-diblathaim,
23And on Kiriathaim, Beth-gamul and Beth-meon,
24And on Kerioth and Bozrah,
And on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
25The horn of Moab is broken off,
And his arm is shatteredsaith Jehovah.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
An animated picture! First some concrete forms of cities are directly addressed: Dibon is to go down, Aroer to question the fugitives (Jer 48:18-19). The answer of the latter is sad enough. Arrived on the Arnon, where Aroer is situated, and thus on the borders of the mishor, they proclaim that it is at an end with Moab, for all the cities of the northern half of the country are taken (Jer 48:20-24). From this it follows as the total result, that the power of Moab is broken (Jer 48:25).
Jer 48:18. Come down thy strongholds. Isa 47:1 was here in the prophets mind, Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon.On Dibon, which, as we conclude from thy strongholds, was a fortified city and was situate a league north of the Arnon, comp. Num 32:3; Num 32:34; Jos 13:9; Jos 13:17; Isa 5:2; Raumer, Pal. S. 261.
Jer 48:19. Place thyself done. To the inhabitants of Aroer, the southern boundary city of the (comp. rems. on Jer 48:8) the sad summons is addressed to go out into the street, to spy out (comp. Nah 2:2) and then to make inquiries from the approaching train of the fugitives.
Jer 48:20-25. Moab saith Jehovah. These verses contain the answer of the escaped.Judgment. The choice of the expression is occasioned by the mishor, plain, which signifies not merely plain, but quitas, justitia. Comp. Psa 29:11; Psa 45:7; Psa 67:5. Judgment is thus to come upon the land, whose name also signifies land of righteousness. The cities mentioned afterwards are all in the Mishor. Holon (different from another in Judah, Jos 15:51) is mentioned here only. Jahaza (Comp. Isa 15:4; Num 21:23; Jos 13:18; Jdg 11:20) lay, according to Eusebius and Jerome, in the vicinity of Medaba. Comp. Raumer, S. 263.Mephaath is elsewhere called (Jos 13:18) or (Jos 21:37; 1Ch 6:64). According to the passages cited from the book of Joshua it belongs to the tribe of Reuben and to the Mishor.Dibon. Comp. rems on Jer 48:18.Nebo. Comp. rems. on Jer 48:1.Beth-diblathaim is not mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament. Its position is clear from the statement of Jerome, that Jahaza was situated between Medaba and Diblathaim. (Vid. Onomasticon s. v. Jaffa).Kiriathaim. Comp. rems. on Jer 48:1.Beth-gamul occurs here only. If Porter is correct in recognizing Bozrah, Kerioth and Beth-gamul in the present ruined cities of the Hauran, Bosra, Kureiyeh and El Jemal, we have here three cities not in Moab, but separated from it by the entire territory of the Ammonites. Comp. Raumer, Pal. S. 251, 2. This hypothesis is, however, improbable, since real Moabitish cities can be shown for Bozrah and Kerioth. See below.Beth-meon was named in full Beth-baal-meon (Jos 13:17); elsewhere Baal-meon (Num 32:38), and is designated among the other places as belonging to the Mishor and to the tribe of Reuben. Comp. Raumer, S. 259 and 264.Kerioth. Comp. Jer 48:41 and Amo 2:2. Seetzen found a place on Mt. Attarus (comp. Num 32:34-35) called El-Karrit, which he decidedly regards as Kerioth not Kiriathaim. Comp. Raumer, S. 251, 2.Bozrah. There is a Bozrah mentioned as in Edom (comp. rems. on Jer 49:13) and one as in the Hauran, but the latter not in the Bible. It was the Bostra of the Romans, the birthplace of Philippus Arabs. Immense ruins still testify to the importance of the city. Comp. Raumer, S. 244. Since, however, a place in the Mishor is expressly mentioned (Deu 4:43; Jos 20:8; Jos 21:36), and since the LXX. always render this name by B, we do not hesitate to recognize in this .And on all the cities, etc. From the context it can only be the cities to the north of Aroer which are meant, for according to Jer 48:19 sqq., the fugitives announce to the people of Aroer that both the cities further to the north, and also those more to the south in the vicinity of Aroer were already taken. From this it follows that the whole northern half of the country was in the hands of the enemy, and consequently Moabs horn and arm (the biblical types of dominion and strength, comp. Ps. 75:5, 11, 1Sa 2:31; Psa 10:15) are broken.
[On the Moabitic stone recently discovered, which confirms many of the names here mentioned, see Bibliotheca Sacra, Oct. 1870. Andover.S. R. A.]
II. The Reasons of the Punitive Judgment (Jer 48:26-42.)
1. Moabs Pride and his Punishment in General
Jer 48:26-30
26Make ye him drunken, for against Jehovah hath he magnified himself!
And Moab may wallow22 in his vomit,
And he also may become a derision!
27Or23 was not Israel a derision24 unto thee,
When he was found25 among the thieves?
Yea, for at each of thy words concerning him thou shookest thyself.
28Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, ye inhabitants of Moab,
And be as the dove that maketh her nest on the walls of the yawning ravine.
29We have heard the arrogance of Moab, the very arrogant,26
His loftiness, and his arrogance and his pride and the haughtiness of his heart
30I know, saith Jehovah, his insolence
And the nothingness of his boastings; nothing have they effected.27
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
To Jer 48:42 the prophet describes specially the judgment of God on the criminal arrogance of Moab, which he manifested particularly towards Israel and Israels God. First, generally, (Jer 48:26-30) the disgraceful fate of a drunken man, who falls into his own vomit (Jer 48:26), is announced as a just punishment for the scorn, with which they always treated Israel when chastised by his God (Jer 48:27), and further, the fate of the dove driven into the fearful clefts of the rock (Jer 48:28) as a punishment for his insolent and false arrogance (Jer 48:29-30).
Jer 48:26-27. Make ye him shookest thyself. A man, who is beastly intoxicated, falls into his own vomit, and how does he provoke to its full extent the derisive laughter of the beholder! So shall it be to Moab for his boasting against Jehovah. This making drunk reminds us of the figure of the cup of wrath (Jer 15:15 coll. Jer 13:13). As there, those who make drunk are those whom the Lord has appointed His agents in executing the punishment.Magnified himself Comp. Jer 48:42. The expression seems to be taken from Zep 2:8; Zep 2:10, an older prophecy against Moab. Comp. also Joe 2:20.The objection on the part of Moab that this is too severe a punishment is met with the intimation that Moab had done the same to the Israelites.When he was found, etc. This is usually also taken as a question. But was not Israel really often caught in thievery and punished for it? Jeremiah expressly affirms this in Jer 2:26. What reason would Moab otherwise have had for scorning Israel? I therefore regard as a particle of time=when, as often as (Num 21:9; Gen 38:9). It is then thus admitted that Israel had been more than once caught in criminal conduct and punished, but observe that it is said among thieves. In this there is an allusion to the fact that Israel was only seduced by others, and that the principal thieves, to which Moab belonged, were his heathen neighbors.Yea, for, etc. This is the answer to the question. We supply Yea.=pro sufficientia, pro ratione (Isa 66:23; Zec 14:16), comp. Jer 31:20. From the latter passage we see also that () him is to be referred to thy words.Shookest thyself. This may be shaking of the head (comp. Jer 18:16) or shrugging of the shoulders, but equally in either case is it an expression of scorn.
Jer 48:28. Leave yawning ravine. The preceding figure was adapted to humble Moabs national pride, the present relates to his warlike pride. They boasted greatly of their valor in war (Jer 48:14), and doubtless also of their excellent fortifications (comp. Jer 48:18). They are now told that they will be driven from their bulwarks and into the rocky mountains, there like a wild pigeon to pass a troubled, ever threatened existence.On the walls. The word is found besides only in Isa 7:20, where it undoubtedly signifies beyond. , however, signifies not merely the side beyond, but the side generally. (Comp. Jer 49:32; 1Ki 5:4; Exo 32:15). On the doves in Palestine comp. Herzog, Real-Enc., XV. S. 425.
Jer 48:29-30. We have heard effected. These two verses are no more than a reproduction, extended by a few additions, of Isa 16:6 in accord with Zep 2:10. In this quotation the prophet expresses the thought, which is expected as a foundation to Jer 48:26-28, viz., an answer to the question, whence comes on the one band Moabs scorn towards Jehovah and His people, on the other, the particularly severe punishment of the same? Answer: to the pride of Moab corresponds both his scorn against Israel and the chastisement, which he receives on the part of Jehovah. Hence the prophet labors by an accumulation of terms to describe the arrogance of the Moabites as surpassing all bounds.
Footnotes:
[16]Jer 48:18.Judging from the parallel passage (Isa 47:1) we must read with the Keri . everywhere else signifies thirst. To seat ones self in the thirst, however, sounds very strange. We must then either punctuate , or regard as a collateral form of (comp. with , Gen 49:12; with , Exo 23:19). In Latin also sitientia is used for regiones arid. Comp. Plin. Hist., N. X. 73; XII. 28; XXV. 11.
[17]Jer 48:18. . This form of expression is found besides here only in Jer 46:19. The construction is as in , Isa 37:22. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 64, 4.
[18]Jer 48:19. . The different gender is to express the variety. On the irregular accentuation of comp. Olsh., S. 253 and 363.
[19]Jer 48:19.On and its difference from the masc. (the idea of multiplicity involved in the feminine) comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 60, 6 b.
[20]Jer 48:20.The fem. can only be referred to Moab, in spite of the immediately preceding . It is the same change in gender as in Jer 48:9, Jer 48:11, Jer 48:15 ( , and then again ), Jer 48:38-39. Observe besides that precedes as does.
[21]Jer 48:20.The alteration of the Keri (to accord with the following ) is unnecessary, since the fem. form of the imperf. evidently attaches itself to the preceding , etc. Accordingly it is Aroer, which is addressed, not Moab.
2. MOAB UTTERLY DESTROYED
Jer 48:31-35
31Therefore I howl over Moab,
And over Moab, the whole of it, I cry.
Over the men of Kir-heres there is sighing.28
32My tears over Jazer flow even to thee, thou vine of Sibmah:
Thy shoots are gone over the sea,
Even to the sea of Jazer they did reach.
On thy fruit harvest and thy vintage is the spoiler fallen;
33And joy and gladness is taken from the fruit fields and the land of Moab;
And I cause the wine to fail from the wine presses;
They will not tread with shouting,
With a shouting that is no shouting.
34From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh,
Unto Jahaz they raise their voice:
From Zoar to Horonaim, the three year old heifer,29
For even the waters of Nimrim shall be desolations.30
35And I destroy Moab, saith Jehovah,
Him who ascends31 the high places and burns incense to his gods.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
After the reason and manner of the judgment on Moab have been set forth in general, the latter is now described more in particular. This is done by the prophets first expressing (Jer 48:31 a) what feeling he has in consequence of his knowledge of the destruction threatening all Moab (i.e., no longer merely the northern half as in Jer 48:18-25), and then turns to single places of the whole land, with special emphasis on the destruction which is impending on the vine and fruit culture of Moab (Jer 48:32-33), as well as the worship of the idols connected therewith (Jer 48:35).
Jer 48:31. Therefore there is sighing. This verse begins with a free rendering of Isa 16:7. While there the third person is used, here Jeremiah speaks in the first person, being evidently himself shocked by the fearful import of the message which he has to deliver. Comp. Isa 15:5; Isa 16:9; Isa 16:11; Isa 21:3 and Drechslerad loc.In the words, the whole of it, he declares that here he has not merely the northern half of the country, the Mishor, but the whole country in view, mentioning a series of cities from the north to the extreme south (Jer 48:34).Over the men, etc. In the original passage it reads over the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth will ye sigh, deeply troubled. There is no need of seeking aid from indistinctly written MSS., it being quite in Jeremiahs manner to substitute for a marked and strange expression, one softer and more usual. He has evidently omitted the concluding words and substituted (men) for (grapes, raisin-cakes). The second person plural would be in too strong a contrast to the first person in the hemistich, and therefore the third person singular masculine is chosen, which is to be taken in its impersonal sense.
Jer 48:32-33. My tears no shouting. In Isa 16:9 it reads Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer. If we take of the text in the sense of a comparison the connection in meaning with the original would disappear, and then no good ground for the comparative is apparent. Jaazer, according to the Onomast. (s. v. Azer and Jazer), was 15 m. p., Sibmah only live hundred paces from Heshbon. They were, therefore, neighboring towns in a fertile district abounding in fruit and wine. Since then they were thus, as it were, sisters, the centres of agriculture closely connected by solidarity of interest, and the blow which strikes one affects the other also, one is not to be bewailed alone, but both at the same time. This is essentially the meaning of (in the weeping over Jaazer is contained also that over Sibmah) and of (Sibmah participates in the tears which flow over Jaazer).The district of Salt, in the vicinity of which Jaazer must have been situated (comp. Raumer, S. 262, 3) is still very rich in vines. Comp. Herzog, R.-Enc., XVII. S 611.
The elements of the two following sentences also are found in Isa 16:8, branches only instead of shoots and sea, being wanting before Jazer. The sea of Jazer may denote only a pond or great basin. That the term may be so used is shown by the sea in the temple (1Ki 7:23). The sea of Jazer was probably some celebrated large pond, like the ponds of Heshbon, in which the water of the Wady (Nahr) Sir, which springs near by, was collected. Seetzen found some ponds there still. Delitzsch, Jes., S. 211 [Eng. Tr., p. 384]. Raumer, Pal., S. 263, Anm. The hypothesis that the repetition of the word sea is based on a scriptural error is therefore unnecessary. The widely extended (even according to Isa 16:7-8, over the Dead Sea) wine-culture of Moab is poetically represented under the figure of a single vine. Comp. Drechsler [and Alexander] on Isa 16:8.On thy fruit-harvest, etc. Comp. Jer 40:10; Jer 40:12. Instead of vintage, which suits the connection better, we find in Isa 16:9 harvest, and instead of spoiler the more forcible but less distinct shouting.And joy, etc., from Isa 16:10. Comp. Joel 2:20; 4:15. Carmel (fruit-fields) cannot possibly be a proper noun here. For what occasion had the prophet to make such a spring? In Isa 16:10, also stands , but there without the following and the land of Moab, and hence evidently in an appellative significance. The prophet would say: joy and gladness having vanished from the vineyards they have departed from the whole country.And I cause, etc. These words are altered from Isa 16:10 b, in a peculiar manner. Instead of they will not tread with shouting, we read in Isaiah the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses. The following words contain the justification of the rendering given. It is emphasized that the trending will be altogether without shouting. A shouting will indeed be heard, not, however, such as pertains to the treading of grapes (Jer 25:30), but another, a warlike shouting. The word is elsewhere only applied to war-cries. Jer 51:14
Jer 48:34. From the cry be desolations. These words to their voice are taken, with modifications from Isa 15:4. The cry of Heshbon, as it is called in Jeremiah, represents at the same time a place, and consequently serves as a terminus a quo. On Heshbon comp. rems. on Jer 48:2. Elealeh (now El AI) lies only half an hour from Heshbon. Comp. Num 32:37; Isa. 16:19; Raumer, S. 261. Jahaz (identical with Jahza, Jer 48:21) must, according to Num 21:23 have lain to the south east, towards the desert. Zoar (comp. Jer 48:4) and Horonaim (Jer 48:3) represent the south country of the Moabites. We distinctly meet here the idea of the whole of Moab (Jer 48:31 in contrast to the limitation, in which Moab is spoken of in Jer 48:18-25. The individual elements are taken from Isa 15:5. There Eglath-shalishiyah appears to stand in apposition to Zoar. In the present passage it is as formally co-ordinated with the name Horonaim. Both are possible only if Eglath, etc., is either a place near both the cities in question, or a predicate equally applicable to both. The latter view is favored by the grammatical structure, for in the former case we should expect unto or (comp. on Jahaz, Jer 48:21, etc.) In what sense, however, are these cities called Eglath-shalishiyah? Kster (Stud. u. Krit., 1862, I., S. 113 ff.) perceives herein a topographical definition. Egla was a Tripolis, and Egla of the third part is equivalent to the third part of Egla. Egla is the principal name, Zoar and Horonaim the names of the two other parts. It is however surprising that of this group of cities, which must certainly have been of some importance, we find no trace elsewhere. We should also expect the reverse order. Shalishah-Eglath, and if Egla, Zoar and Horonaim form one city, what is the cry from Zoar to Horonaim to mean? Delitzsch (on Isa. S. 206) [Eng. Tr., p. 336] attaches himself to Gesenius and his predecessors (Vulg., Targ.) taking the words to signify juvenca tertii, i.e., anni = indomita, jugoque non assueta. Yet he does not refer the predicate to Moab (which can be done in Isaiah only with great harshness, and in Jeremiah not at all) but to Zoar the beautiful, fortified, hitherto unconquered city. Although the reason why Zoar should be so called is not very transparent, the language compels us to give this exegesis the preference. Whether Horonaim deserved the predicate in the same degree as Zoar is a question of minor importance, for the transference to Horonaim, which is mentioned only one line after in Isa 15:5, can be only accidental.For even, etc. Comp. Isa 15:6. If by we are to understand Beth-Nimrah, we shall thus be carried into the extreme north-west of the country, not inappropriately to the purport of the strophe. (Comp. the whole, Jer 48:31). The name and character of Beth-Nimrah favor the identity, for this place at the mouth of the Wady Shaib or Shob in the plain of the Jordan is still celebrated for its wealth of springs. Comp. Winer, R.-W.-B., s. v. Bethnimra. Yet it must be confessed, that according to the connection, a place in the South, as the ruined Numre with the spring Moyet Numre (Delitzsch, S. 207) [Eng. Tr., p. 327], might be meant.
Jer 48:35. And I destroy to his gods. The prophet has Isa 15:2; Isa 16:12 in mind. What he means by the words is not perfectly clear. They may mean, who erects the high places, throws them up (Hitzig) or, who offers on the height (literally: offerers of the height), or who ascends to the height; or, finally, the ascending to the height. Each of these renderings has its light and its shadow. In Isa 16:12, however, the idea of going up to the sanctuary is expressed. Hence I give those explanations the preference which take in the sense of ascending.
3. THE LAMENTATION FOR THE DEAD
Jer 48:36-38
36Therefore my heart sighs over Moab like flutes,
And my heart sighs like flutes over the men of Kir-heres;
Because the remnant32 of what was gained has perished.
37For every head is bald, and every beard cut short,
Upon all hands cuttings, and on the loins sackcloth!
38On all the roofs of Moab and in his streets all is lamentation:33
For I have broken Moab like a vessel
Wherein there is no more pleasure, saith Jehovah.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The prophet Feels his heart to be, as it were, a mourning flute in view of the great loss of Moab (Jer 48:36) and this all the more that he perceives in Moab itself on every hand lamentation for the dead (Jer 48:37-38 a). This is also warranted, for the Lord has broken Moab like a vessel which has become worthless (Jer 48:38 b.)
Jer 48:36. Therefore perished. This verse is parallel to Jer 48:31. For 1, both begin with therefore; 2, in both the object of the utterance of feeling is designated as Moab (hardly Ar Moab Jer 48:4, on account of whole, Jer 48:31and why should Jeremiah have constantly omitted the ?) and Kir-heres; in both eases an analogous thought is introduced by the particle “therefore:” there the expression of howling and crying, here the sighing of the heart compared with the tone of a funeral flute. Therefore” in Jer 48:36 then refers not to the special calamities enumerated immediately before, but to that general description, which we have read in Jer 48:25-30. Moreover here also the single elements of the discourse are taken primarily from Isaiah 15. This employment of foreign property explains much of the unevenness in the arrangement of the sentences. Isa 16:11; Isa 15:5 are in the prophets mind, but he changes the harp, spoken of in Isa 21:11 into the flute, as is correctly remarked, because the flute is the instrument used in mourning, and thus conformity is obtained with the funeral customs afterwards described. On the use of the flute in mournings for the dead comp. Mat 9:23. Joseph.Bell. Jud. III., 9, 5; OvidFast. VI., 656; Herzog, R.-Enc, 16. 5. 364Because, etc. The words are from Isa 15:7, but there they are the object of the following verb () instead of which we here find perished. The words remnant, etc., must therefore be the subject of the verb, since never means to lose but only to be lost, to perish. The plural of the predicate is explained by the collective meaning of the subject.[ is also here taken from Isa 15:7, but it cannot possibly signify therefore as it does there. So unless we assume an error there is nothing left but to take it as equivalent to , a meaning which is certainly not proved, since this very passage is adduced as the strongest evidence (comp. Gesen., Thes. pag. 669). A double reason is then given for the mourning of the prophet in Jer 48:36 : 1. a mediate, Jer 48:36 b; 2. an immediate, Jer 48:37-38 a. Whence dost thou know that all is lost ? From the fact that all mourns.
Jer 48:37-38. For every head . . Jehovah. Isa 15:2-3 is the original passage. On Bald comp.7. 29; Jer 16:6. Instead of cut short () Isaiah has cut off (cssa). In the latter passage however the editions vary. Comp. Delitzsch, S. 205 [Eng. Tr., p. 325].Cuttings. Comp. Jer 16:6; Jer 41:5Sackcloth. Comp. Jer 4:8; Jer 6:26; Joe 1:8.Roofs. Comp. Isa 22:1; Herzog, R.-Enc. 16 , 5. 863.All is lamentation. In Isaiah everything wails, melting into tears.For I have broken,etc. The ground of the facts which cause the lamentation is, that (not chance, or any human or demoniac power, but) Jehovah has broken Moab. In like a vessel, etc., Jeremiah quotes himself, 22. 28.
Footnotes:
[22]Jer 48:26. an onomatopotic word, denotes originally to spank, to clap. Comp. , Jer 31:19. Then it is frequently used of striking hands: Num 24:10; Job 34:37; Lam 2:15. is used in part for (Job 27:23), and in part as an independent root with meaning sufficere. In the latter signification it occurs, however, in the Hebrew of the Old Testament only in the imperfect (1Ki 20:10), and (perhaps) in the Hiphil (Isa 2:6), and besides (perhaps) the substantive (Job 36:18). Yet in consequence of the interchange of the related radical occurs in Job 20:22, as also in the Aramaic and in the sense of sufficiency and superfluity. Here it is evident that the rendering that Moab had superfluity in his vomit (Meier) is feeble, and moreover unsafe, since the prefix is striking, and it is not proved that the meanings of sufficiency (of the things) and of having a superfluity (of the persons) are united in the verb. The common radical meaning of to strike, to clap, gives a perfectly satisfactory sense. Comp. Isa 19:14.
[23]Jer 48:27.=or ? Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 107, 4. In the second clause of the disjunctive question (with a following Dag. forte. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 53, 3 Anm.) is repeated as in Gen 17:17; Psa 94:9.
[24]Jer 48:27.=object of derision as in Job 12:4.
[25]Jer 48:27.The fem. is unjustly suspected by the Masoretes. Comp. rems. on , Jer 48:20.
[26]Jer 48:29. is an adjective (Comp. Isa 2:12; Psa 94:2), and to be referred to Moab.
[27]Jer 48:30.Isa 16:6 concludes with . Here the words , also are added. And the Masoretes punctuate so as to connect with as its subject. We cannot, however, doubt that , in accordance with the fundamental passage, belongs to . It would then be the nothingness (comp. 2Ki 17:9; Pro 15:7) of his boastings (Isa 44:25; Job 11:3), while the words seem to declare the nothingness of his deeds.
[28]Jer 48:31.The correction , which Meier allows himself, is unnecessary and not sufficiently authorized by the examples adduced by him (Mic 6:10, for , Jer 48:11, for , for ).
[29]Jer 48:34. is used of nations is Jer 46:20; Jer 50:11; Hos 4:16; Hos 10:11. The genitive is explained by analogies like , anno quarti, i.e., numeri (Jer 46:2; Jer 51:59; 2Ki 17:6), (Lev 24:22), (2Ki 12:10).
[30]Jer 48:34.We have adopted the translation of Meier [German]Nimrim nimmer rinnen [Nimrim will never run, which expresses the alliteration of the Hebrew, but is rather a free rendering]. The at the beginning of the verse is transferred from Isaiah, where it is fully in place. In the present passage it can only introduce a single point in corroboration of the main proposition (Jer 48:31).
[31]Jer 48:35.Is a participle or a substantive? Grammatically the latter is the easier (comp. Jer 48:5), but the discrepancy with is disturbing. We may take it then in the direct causative meaning (ascensum faciens. Comp. on Jer 48:5; Jer 48:2), and observe the remark of Graf that correspondence with this word occasioned the choice of the Hiphil participle.
4. Pride comes before a Fall
Jer 48:39-42
39How is she broken! How do they howl!
How has Moab turned the back shamefully!
And Moab shall become a derision
And a horror to all his neighbors.
40For thus saith Jehovah: Behold like an eagle he flies,
And spreads his wings over Moab.
41Taken are the cities,34
And the fortresses captured,35
And the heart of the heroes of Moab in that day
Shall be like the heart of a parturient woman.36
42And Moab shall be destroyed from being a nation,
For against Jehovah hath he magnified himself.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
With Jer 48:38 the quotations from Isa. 15. and 16. cease; the beginning of Jer 48:39 reminds us of the beginning of Jer 48:31; Jer 48:26; Jer 48:39; Jer 48:41 are evidently closely related, reproducing, as it were, the fundamental thought of Jer 48:26-27 that Moab is to become a derision, because he has magnified himself against the Lord. I therefore take Jer 48:39-41 as one strophe. This begins with an exclamation; how is Moab broken, given up to shameful flight, and thus become an object of ridicule and horror (Jer 48:39)! This effect corresponds exactly to the cause, for a powerful enemy, comparable to a powerful eagle, is to come upon Moab (Jer 48:40). In consequence the fortified places are taken, the courage of all the warriors broken (Jer 48:41), and Moab stricken from the roll of nations. This is his punishment for having magnified himself against Jehovah.
Jer 48:39. How is she his neighbors. Moab is here again conceived of as feminine. Comp. rems. on Jer 48:20. Since this passage was generally in the prophets mind, also must be taken in the meaning which it has there, viz., of being broken. (Comp. Isa 7:8). The first result of this being broken is howling. We however take as 3d pers. perf., since the imperative here, as afterwards in , does not suit the connection. The further consequence is shameful flight ( to be regarded as in the accusative. Comp. Mic 1:11). From all this it follows lastly that Moab is become two things, a derision (Jer 48:26-27) and a terror (Jer 17:17) to all his neighbors.
Jer 48:40. For thus saith over Moab.For is argumentative. The effect corresponds to the cause. The choice of figures is founded on Deu 28:49, where the people of Israel are assured in case of apostasy of severe judgment, to be executed by a nation coming from afar. Lam 4:13 also there was an echo of this passage. It is possible that Isa 46:11 was in the mind of the prophet, even as this present passage lay before the prophet. Ezekiel, when in Jer 17:3 he used the same figure of Nebuchadnezzar. Who the eagle is here the prophet does not say. If what we have said in the introduction concerning the date of composition of this and the contemporary prophecies against the Nations is correct, the present passage is in so far dissimilar to Jer 46:18 in that there Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned just before (Jer 48:13). Here the non-mention is due to the circumstance that the prophet did not yet know who was the chosen instrument for the execution of the judgment.And spreads, etc. Here also a passage from Deuteronomy (Jer 32:11) seems to have hovered before the prophets mind. This however applies only to the expression, for here the spreading of wings is intended in an exactly opposite sense. Comp. also Job 39:26. A repetition of this passage and of the following verse is found in Jer 49:22.
Jer 48:41-42. Taken magnified himself. The prophet here passes into the literal style of discourse.From being, etc. Comp Jer 48:2 and Isa 7:8For against Jehovah, etc. This points back to Jer 48:26, and here as there is to be regarded as a reminiscence from Zep 2:8; Zep 2:10. The prophet here brings to a close that part of his prophecy, which has the pride of Moab especially for its object.
Footnotes:
[32]Jer 48:36.On the construct state of comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 65, 2, 3.
[33]Jer 48:38.In regard to the construction, the abstract stands for the concrete. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 59, 1.
[34]Jer 48:41. cannot here as in Jer 48:14, be a proper name on account of the following . The plural does not indeed occur in an appellative sense elsewhere, but this form no objection, since the prophet may have chosen this form with reference to the names to the name of Moabitish cities. Comp. olsh 146 d ; 152 a
[35]Jer 48:41.On the singular comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 105, 4, b ; Ewald, 3 1 7 , a
[36]Jer 48:41.The expression (mulier uterum comprimens) occurs here and in Jer 49:22 only. On the subject matter comp. Jer 4:31.
III. Two Appendices with a Concluding Word (Jer 48:43-47)
1. Application to Moab of a passage from Isaiah
Jer 48:43-44
43Terror37 and ditch [pit] and trap38 on thee,
Thou inhabitant of Moab,39 saith Jehovah.
44He that fleeth40 from the terror shall fall into the ditch,
And he that riseth from the ditch shall be taken in the trap;
For I bring upon them, upon Moab,41
The year of their punishment, saith Jehovah.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Application of a passage from Isaiah (Isa 24:17-18). That Jeremiah is the original here, and at most took the remote analogy of Amo 5:19 for his model, appears to me an entirely unwarranted assertion. This pithy drastic play upon words corresponds as much more to the Old Testament master of such word-play, Isaiah, as it is contrary to the softer and more fluent style of our prophet. In addition it is inconceivable that at the close of his discourse, where he has evidently already exhausted himself and has for some time been speaking only in quotations, he should suddenly make such a pithy original utterance. Comp. Delitzsch in DrechslersComm. zu Jes. III., S. 405, 6, and in his own Comm. on Isaiah, S. 271 [Eng. Tr., pp. 431, 2].
Footnotes:
[37]Jer 48:43. fear, terror, is found besides in Jeremiah only in Jer 30:5 and Jer 49:5.
[38]Jer 48:43. pit, only In Jer 48:28. snare, only in the plural, Jer 18:22. [The rendering ditch for pit and trap for snare is given to express the alliteration of the original pahadh, pahath, pah.S. R. A.]
[39]Jer 48:43. . This expression is entirely contrary to the usage of Jeremiah, as he never uses the singular in this connection. Isaiah however uses the singular in a similar connection.
[40]Jer 48:44.The Chethibh (comp. Fuerst, Concord, S. 691, 1365) is a form which does not occur elsewhere, so the Keri would read after Isaiah. Ac echo of this passage is found in Lam 3:47.
[41]Jer 48:44. . Comp. Jer 9:14; Jer 11:15; Jer 27:8, etc. Naegelsb. Gr., 77, 2. [ is anticipative of as the pronominal suffixes frequently are in the Aramaic dialects. Henderson.S. R. A.
2. THE TESTIMONY OF THE BOOK OF NUMBERS CONCERNING MOAB, AND CONCLUDING WORD
Jer 48:45-47
45In the shade of Heshbon the fugitives stand powerless;42
For fire43 goes forth from Heshbon,
And came from the midst of Sihon,
And it devoured the side of Moab
And the crown (of the head) of the sons of tumult.44
46Woe unto thee, Moab!
Destroyed is the people of Chemosh,
For thy sons are led away into prison,
And thy daughters into captivity.45
47And I turn the captivity of Moab at the end of days, saith Jehovah.
Thus far the judgment on Moab.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
With the exception of Jer 48:45 a, the verses are a free reproduction of Num 21:28-29; Num 24:17. The prophet who already in the previous context has brought into use old prophecies against Moab, does the same here with some passages of the book of Numbers. It is only natural that Jeremiah should not leave unemployed those ancient utterances occasioned by the first conflict between Israel and Moab. This use is evidently the main intention, and no emphasis is therefore to be laid on the less strict connection of the words with the previous context, and with each other. Graf has, therefore, rightly rejected the hypothesis of Movers and Hitzig, that these verses are a later gloss.
Jer 48:45-46. In the shade captivity. As the passage to be used speaks of a going forth of the fire from Heshbon upon the Moabites (Num 21:28), the Moabites must be represented as having come into the district of Heshbon. This is done by assuming a flight of the Moabites in that direction (doubtless also with a reference to he that fleeth, Jer 48:44). It has indeed been correctly remarked that as the enemy is approaching from the north, the flight could not be towards Heshbon (comp. rems. on Jer 48:19 sqq.), but all that concerns the prophet is to show that the ancient sentence will be verified anew in this judgment on Moab. It is assuredly not his meaning that this will take place literally in the form chosen by him (for which Isa 30:2-3, also was, perhaps, in his mind). Jer 48:45 a is thus a mere connecting clause, of which the expressions are not to be emphasized.Powerless declares that the fugitives, who for protection had betaken themselves to the shade of Heshbon, receive from thence no strength but the contrary. The following which is also taken from Num 21:28, need not then be taken in an adversative sense (but).From the midst of Sihon. In Num 21:28 it reads, from the city of Sihon. Heshbon is called in Num 21:26 the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites. Owing to the omission of city here, I would neither alter the text with J. D. Michaelis, Ewald and Meier ( for ) so as to read, from the house of Sihon, nor with Graf, conceive an ideal presence of Sihon (with reference to Gen 49:10), but as in Jer 48:4, and more frequently according to Graf, Moab stands for Ar-Moab, and elsewhere usually Shechem for city of Shechem (Gen 33:18), so here also the name of Lord of the city stands for the city itself. The sense of from the midst, is that fire breaks forth from between the openings of the city (i.e., the gates of the walls and towers).The side of Moab. Num 24:17, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the borders of Moab. As here the subject is a staff which smites, the borders can mean only the sides of the body. Accordingly in this passage also it is more natural to think of the side (Meier) as burnt or roasted by the fire, than the end of the beard [Henderson; corner of the beard], which would inflict no material injury.And the crown, etc.Num 24:17, and destroy all the children of Sheth, Sheth has also the meaning of tumult. The children of tumult are homines tumultuosi. The designation corresponds on the one hand to the arrogant character of the Moabites mentioned in vers, 2630, and on the other hand there seems to be an allusion to Amo 2:2, where it reads and Moab shall die with tumult.Woe unto thee, etc., from Num 21:29. Moab is called the people of Chemosh (comp. Jer 48:7) as Israel the people of Jehovah (Num 11:29; Num 17:6 Jdg 5:11).For thy sons, etc., Num 21:29 : he gives his sons up as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity. It is apparent that the original is softened down. Comp. Gen 12:15.
Jer 48:47. And I turn on Moab.Close of the chapter. Comp. Jer 46:26; Jer 49:6; Jer 49:39.I turn. Comp. Jer 30:3; Jer 30:18; Jer 33:7; Jer 33:11.At the end of days. Comp. rems. on Jer 23:20. The expression points to that final period in which the heathen also will be converted to the God of Israel. Comp. Jer 3:17; Isa 24:13-16; Isa 25:6; Hag 2:7.Thus far the judgment. Comp. Jer 48:21; Jer 51:64. With the exception of the latter passage (on which comp. the exeg. rems.) this formula is not found in Jeremiah. It appears to be a later addition.
Footnotes:
[42]Jer 48:45.On the privative in comp. Naegelsb. Gr.; 112, 5, d; Jer 10:14.
[43]Jer 48:45. is used in Numbers as feminine, as it usually is, but here as masculine, as in Psa 104:4. (In Job 20:26 regarded as neuter is in apposition. Comp. Naegelsb. Gr., 60, 4 coll. Jer 20:9).
[44]Jer 48:45. Num 24:17, not being appropriate to the present passages (it signifies suffodit, radicitus evertit from fodit) we cannot say that is the original reading, although it seems to suit the passage in Numbers better, and is really the rending of Cod. Samarit. Jeremiah, dealing very freely after his manner with the text of his sources, may have substituted a word of similar form, is of like meaning with , as the latter stands for , Lam 3:47 (as Job 41:16 for , Jer 13:11) and this for . Comp. Olsh., 153.
[45]Jer 48:46.The form is found in Jeremiah here only. Since he uses () only in the connection of he was obliged, in order to have a corresponding word to , to choose either or , which latter occurs more rarely than the former, since it is found only in Isa 52:2.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Because the destruction of the Moabites is of no service to us except for penitence, we must note well what particular sins are specified, of which they were guilty, and for which such heavy punishments were heaped upon them, viz.; 1. Disdain, in that they gave no one a good word, were unfriendly and only blustered and boasted with every one, Psa 52:3 (1). 2. Confidence in their fortifications, in their power, money and riches, 2Ch 32:8; Isa 40:6. 3. Security, all being prosperous and peaceful, which was the sin of their sister Sodom, Eze 16:49; Zep 2:9. 4. Talking great things, and thrasonic self-praise. But although Goliath was such a mighty fellow he had yet to bite the grass, 1Sa 17:50. 5. Pride and Arrogance. These never do well, but act with violence and injustice. By violence, injustice and avarice, however, a kingdom passes from one people to another, Sirach 10, 8. Cramer.
2. On Jer 48:10. His verb is duo peccata severissime prohibentur. 1. negligentia in operibus vocationis, cui oppositum cap. 39 Sirach 2. misericordia intempestiva (2Ti 4:2). Frster.
3. On Jer 48:10, Est ex ore Dei maledictus et impius est hic Qui Domini curat corde dolosus opus.
(MS. marginal note in my copy of the Cramer Bible).
4. On Jer 48:10. God glorifies Himself in such judgments over the malignant and proud powers of the world. He who knows Him is also made strong, so as to see the world perish and yet be able to sing praises to God thereat. Diedrich.
5. On Jer 48:11. Moab retained its old character; being far from the traffic of the great world it was well pleased to keep to itself. Yet things cannot continue thus in this world forever, every family and every nation is at some time rudely terrified from its rest, for what is peculiar, natural or national is not in itself the good. This comes here only through conflict and tribulation, and by Gods word among men. Ones own way is full of idolatry, and all idols will in like manner come to shame: the golden calf of the Israelites certainly first, but afterwards Kamosh. Diedrich.
6. On Jer 48:11. Hic notetur, quod hac allegoria Jeremi nefarie et fanatice abusus circa annum Christi 1664 quidam Martinus Steinbach, vector vinarius sive doliarius Selecestadiensis, qui se esse dictitavit spiritum sanctum incarnatum uti Christus filius incarnatus est, hreseos su fundamentum statuens hoc prsens Jeremi dictum. Cumque sibi asseclas fecisset circiter viginti ex plebe, obiit et se post mortem appariturum splendors luminis affirmavit. Vide Theatr. Zwingeri Vol. V., L. 4, F. 1328 Frster.
7. On Jer 48:26-27. Proud men rejoice with malicious pleasure when they can treat one, whom they do not like, as a caught thief. But it may happen to them that notwithstanding their age, rank and high dignity, they may yet fall in a truly beastly manner into that which they have themselves vomited, and thus become a laughing stock to the street gamins.
8. On Jer 48:39. It also comes about that the natural man hangs his head, and at this time believers commonly look up and raise their heads, because their redemption draweth nigh. Zinzendorf.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
1. How many are still like the Moabites? For how many are there of those who depend on their power and violence, their fortified cities and buildings, riches, money and property, and set all their hope and confidence thereupon! How many are there of those who, when they have been some time at peace, become secure and think there is no more trouble from the rising to the setting of the sun! How many of those who rely on their own strength and say, let the enemy come, they area match for him! How many who, when they surpass others in bodily and mental gifts or in perishable goods, become proud and despise, ridicule and treat badly their inferiors, as if they had found such among thieves, as God the Lord here says! Not to mention that even the dear God is not exempted. For although all good and perfect gifts come only from above, from the Father of light (Jam 1:17), yet many will not acknowledge this, but ascribe them to their own wisdom and skill, do not thank God for them, and thus make themselves and the outward means, by which they obtain one and another thing, the idol which they serve. Bibl. Summarien, Halle, 1848.
2. On Jer 48:10. Remissness in the work of the Lord. 1. Wherein it consists (in not doing or doing ill that which is commanded. Comp. Saul in 1 Samuel 15, and doing that which is forbidden). 2. Its causes (Selfishness, Pride, Unbelief, Cowardice, Indolence, worldly interests). 3. Its punishment (to be cursed).
[Jeremy Taylor: 1. He that serves God with the body, without the soul, serves God deceitfully. 2. He that serves God with the soul, without the body, when both can be conjoined, doth the work of the Lord deceitfully. 3. They are deceitful in the Lords work that reserve one faculty for sin, or one sin for themselves, or one action to please their appetite and many for religion. 4. And they who think God sufficiently served with abstaining from evil, and converse not in the acquisition and pursuit of holy charity and religion.S. R. A.]
3. On Jer 48:42. The worlds boldness towards God. 1. Whereon it is supported (on the one hand on the real [material] powers apparently standing at its behest alone; on the other hand, on the apparent powerlessness of Gods servants, who have only truth and right on their side). 2. What its end will be (Destruction, or termination of national existence). [Cowles: If all the historians who record the ultimate extinction of nations were inspired of God to give the true reasons of their fall, we should often meet this testimony, Perished of national pride, producing contempt of God and of fundamental morality.S. R. A.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
In this Chapter Moab is called to account, and a long and trying account it is. The last verse, however, (and probably in allusion to the Gentiles given to Christ in Moab,) closes with a gracious promise.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Prophet Jeremiah, whom the Lord when giving him his commission, had set over the nations and over the kingdoms, (see Jer 1:10 ) is here arraigning, trying, and condemning Moab; and an awful condemnation it is. But what I particularly beg to notice in this account is, the cause assigned in this last verse. Moab hath been at ease from his youth. Reader! mark, I beseech you, what the Lord saith. And this is the one fatal cause, both of the destruction of kingdoms and individuals, an unawakened, unregenerated state. Sinners continue sinners. They are at ease in Zion. They have no changes, saith the Psalmist, therefore they fear not God. Psa 55:19 . As they were born so they continue. Thus they live, and thus they die. Hence the old scent of the old nature remains! An awful state, and according to our Lord’s account, impossible ever to enter the kingdom of heaven, Joh 3:5 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The History of Moab the History of Mankind
Jer 48:25
This chapter is full of Moab. We take next to no interest in Moab, the son of Lot; he is not one of the choice figures of history; yet, like many a land little known, there are wonderful surprises for those who will penetrate the history and study its meaning. Moab is a large word: it means not a man only, but a nation large, haughty, and powerful; and it is in this view that we must now interpret its continual significance. The relations between Moab and Israel had for a long time been of a troubled and uneasy character. Moab had been tributary to Israel under Ahab, but, as we saw in 2 Kings iii., on the death of Ahab, Mesha revolted, and in the war which ensued the Moabites were defeated by the allied forces of Israel, Judah, and Edom. Moab, however, was not to be so easily suppressed. The Moabites repeated their attack ( 2Ki 13:20 ), and appear to have occupied the territory of the trans-Jordanic tribes. But Moab was to have no more “praise”; in silence it was to be made silent, and from her little ones a cry as of continual weeping was to be heard. The heath in the wilderness, a stunted, solitary shrub of the desert, is set forth as the type of desolation. Even Chemosh, the national deity of Moab, was to go forth into captivity. The valley which was full of cities was to perish, even the sunken valley of the Jordan, and the plains of Moab. The arms of the Moabites having been broken, there arose a taunting cry, “Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away,” Moab could strike no longer; its only hope was in flight.
The first charge brought against Moab is self-confidence, self-trust, self-sufficiency: “Because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken.” This makes us contemporaries of the Moabites. We thought they were an ancient people, but behold how human they are, how English, how like ourselves and our children! They were so pleased with the stone wall they had put up; they measured it, and admired it, and said that it would save them from the high wind and the mighty storm. It was enough high enough, broad enough, impenetrable, invincible. Now that is the kind of reasoning which God will not allow in human life. He demands that human life be lived in himself, and not in things that our own hands have made. Moab became her own god, and the true God judged her, and burned her with fire. Every man is under the temptation to be self-trustful. The temptation is the more powerful because it comes out of a principle which is right in itself, namely, the principle of self-preservation, or self-defence. It is by a very fine shading that self-defence passes into self-sufficiency and idolatry, so much so that you can hardly see where the one becomes the other. If money is set up as a wall against providence it may be thrown down, and if intellect is content with its own victories, and will live only within the horizon which reason can see and measure, it shall be perplexed, bewildered, and humbled. We are to be taught distinctly that we do not live in ourselves; that in ourselves we have actually no life; that we have nothing that we have not received, and in that spirit alone we are to hold life and to live. “Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies”; “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us.” It would seem to be easy to put our whole trust in the living God, and yet it is the most difficult of all lessons. We will persist, even in opposition to many theories of our own to the contrary, that we are self-contained, self-consisting, and self-managing; and herein arises God’s perpetual controversy with mankind. There is, too, so much to favour the temptation. It looks as if we could do most things; that as we have so much we might easily have more. God says to us in every day’s providence, You are here for a purpose; you are here for a little time; you now but begin to be; every lesson you must learn, and every commandment you must keep. It is against that arrangement that we chafe, just as the little child chafes against parental authority and loving restraint. When that child puts back the hand that would do him good, we see a picture of what we ourselves are doing against the great Father. The man who trusts to his own works and his own treasures shall be spoken of with upbraiding and even taunting in the final issue “Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness”; “Neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.” In proportion as the temptation is direct, and might on some ground be argued as even legitimate, ought the religious appeal to be strong and importunate. “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.”
From the history of Moab we see that even blessings may be perverted, and sacred privileges may be turned into occasions of self-destruction. Read the eleventh verse:
“Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.” ( Jer 48:11 )
When discipline is not endured gradually it is brought to bear upon the life as an overwhelming judgment. This is the burden of the text “The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the Lord.” The horn of animals was the symbol of their strength, and in this instance the semblance is extended to men and nations. The broken arm is a figure familiar to Scripture: “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and, lo, it shall not be bound up to be healed, to put a roller to bind it, to make it strong to hold the sword. Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand”; “The arms of the wicked shall be broken”; “The arms of Pharaoh shall fall down”; “The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” It would seem as if every human life required a certain measure of discipline, and must have it, and cannot by any possibility escape it; and if it be not spread over the space of the whole life, it must be condensed and given out in great bursts of judgment. “Moab hath been at ease from his youth,” that is the opening of the chapter; “The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken…. Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision,” that is the chapter of his advanced age. Two classes of persons should consider this. First, those who have daily discipline; they should say, Better have discipline a little at a time, as we are able to bear it: “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth”; “No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby”: these daily chafings and frettings are hard to bear, these daily disappointments are sharp thorns thrust into the very eyes; yet who knows what the judgment would be were it all to come at once? I will rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: no temptation has happened unto me but such as is common to men; by-and-by the explanation will come, and then I shall be able to say, He hath done all things well. Then the lesson should be well considered by those who seem to escape discipline of God. For a long time this was the case with Moab, and during that time Moab misinterpreted all the purposes of providence. It is impossible to deny that some persons seem to have a smooth career, without break or danger or scarcely inconvenience of any kind: all their adventures fructify in large profits; all their schemes are successes immediately they are made known; their health is strong, their sleep is sound, their estates seem to multiply themselves without the necessity of care or anxiety on the part of their owners.
Circumstances of this kind are apt to be misjudged by those who merely look on. They have driven many a good man into perplexity and have caused his feet well nigh to slip. Let the ease-loving consider well the monitions of religious history. The volcano is a long time in gathering all its fiery energy, but the outburst is momentary, and who can measure the destruction which follows? Christ may well say, “What I say unto one, I say unto all, Watch,” even those who have apparently least necessity to watch should not relax their vigils for a moment. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” See how frightful is the humiliation to which God can bring a man or a people. Look at the picture of Moab horn cut off, the arm broken, the man drunk but not with wine, and reeling in helplessness, the proud one wallowing in his vomit and laughed to derision! “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Truly this has been described as “A dry drunkenness with the fierce wrath of God.” Israel shall see its derider overthrown. When Israel was carried away captive by Shalmaneser, Moab made himself merry in the misery of Israel, and turned the tragedy into food for foolish laughter. Moab skipped for joy, and delighted in the evil which befell Israel. But the mocker has a short day, and his laughter is turned against himself: “Neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress. Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity.” The pride of Moab was humbled; his loftiness and his arrogancy and his pride and the haughtiness of his heart were trodden down. Let boasters now and evermore beware! “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down…. The day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.” “Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
We cannot, however, rest here: for the mercy of the Lord endureth for ever. Mercy triumphs over judgment. In one verse ( Jer 48:42 ) we read, “And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the Lord.” The destruction, therefore, was not arbitrary, but moral, being based upon an assigned reason. “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” We should say, therefore, that this verse was the concluding verse in the whole history of Moab. What can there be after destruction? With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. The chapter does not end with the forty-second verse, but with the forty-seventh, and this is how it reads: “Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord.” One would fain construe these words into a hopeful omen. Out of what extremities cannot God deliver mankind? Let the most desponding rekindle their hope, and the most distant prodigal hear his father’s voice. “The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Can we be worse than Moab? Can we present fewer elements of hopefulness? Are we nearer ruin? Impossible! It is in the very extremity of our condition that God’s grace is magnified. “They shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a Saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them…. And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them.” Who can set bounds to the mercy of God? Yet must there be no trifling, even with a gospel of hope. He who says he may continue to the end in the service of the devil and in the enjoyment of his own passions, and at the last God will be merciful to him, is guilty of blasphemy against the mercy to which he appeals. “Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.” To all ruined men we would utter this gracious testimony. Remember the horn of Moab was cut off, and his arm was broken, and he became the contempt of the whole earth; and remember also that at the last his captivity was turned or brought again. Destruction alone can complete despair; but where there is life there should be hope, and where there is hope it should be fixed steadfastly and exclusively on the Son of God.
Prayer
Almighty God, thou dost always astonish us by the wonders of thy power, and thy wisdom, and thy love. Our amazement heightens as we gaze upon thy way; it is full of wonder, full of light, and we bless thee that it is a continual challenge to our imagination and to our adoring love. Thou art not to be known by us in all the fulness of thy being and purpose. We cannot find out the Almighty unto perfection. All these things that we see are but parts of his way, whisperings in the air; but the thunder of his power who can understand? Thou dost give power to the faint; and to them that have no might thou dost increase strength. These are the uses of thy power; these are the condescensions of almightiness. Here we begin to wonder with a great thankfulness that thou shouldst remember the son of man and visit the children of dust. Come to us now, we humbly pray thee, as we need thee most; in darkness bring light with thee; in trouble set before us the larger truth, which involves healing and immortality, and we shall scorn the trouble that would slay us; in perplexity show us the right way; carrying heavy burdens, if thou wilt not lessen the weight thou wilt increase the strength to bear. So we fall into thine hands; it is better to fall into the hands of God than into the hands of men. Specially do we fall into the hands of the redeeming God, revealed in Christ Jesus. This Man receiveth sinners; his blood cleanseth from all sin. In his wisdom is an answer to every doubt; in his righteousness an answer to every accusation; in his atonement a triumphant vindication of the law. We have all things in Christ; we can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XI
THE PROPHECIES OF JEREMIAH CONCERNING THE NATIONS
Jeremiah 46-51
We now take up the prophecies of Jeremiah to the foreign nations, recorded in Jeremiah 46-51. We note first, by way of introduction, that when Jeremiah was called to be a prophet, it was said, Jer 1:5 : “I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations.” Note again in Jer 1:10 : “I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow.” Thus Jeremiah’s work was not to be confined to Israel, but to comprise the known world, at least all that part of it which had any relation to or connection with Israel. So, in Jer 25 , we see him exercising this function of prophet to the nations. Jehovah speaks to him and says) Jer 25:15 : “Take this cup of wine of wrath at my hand, and cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it.”
We are not told that Jeremiah visited other nations. By this passage it seems that he did either visit them and deliver the prophecy, or that he wrote it and sent it to them by a messenger. Certain it is that he sent this message of destruction to all the nations that troubled Israel. He goes on, Jer 25:17 : “Then took I the cup at Jehovah’s hand and caused all nations to drink it unto whom Jehovah sent me.” In the next several verses we have all these nations named. There are twenty-one, altogether. And those nations which he names in Jer 25 constitute some of the very people to whom he is writing the messages in this section. Again in Jer 27 we have Jeremiah exercising the prophetic function to the nations. In verses 2, 4 he makes a yoke to be sent to the kings of the nations and addresses the ambassadors that have been assembled at Jerusalem to arrange a plan for rebellion against Babylon and devise methods by which they may throw off the Babylonian yoke. Jeremiah meets them and Zedekiah and says, as recorded in the latter part of Jer 27:12 : “Bring your necks under the yoke of the king of Babylon and serve him arid live.” He gave them this advice because he had said, “All the nations shall serve the king of Babylon, and all those that do not serve him shall perish, or go into captivity, at the hands of the great Nebuchadnezzar. It is interesting to note that in the Septuagint Version, made in the third century before Christ, the prophecies found in chapters 46-51 are found immediately following Jer 25:13 , where their names are mentioned. That looks as if these were written and sent to the nations about the same time that Jeremiah gives his counsel to the messengers of the nations and to Zedekiah.
The dates of these chapters range from 604 B.C. to about 594 B.C. The critics put some of them much later. But there is ample evidence to lead to the conclusion that they occurred in that period in which Pharaoh-Necho suffered defeat at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, unto the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah. Notice that these various prophecies to the nations are grouped together as Isaiah and Ezekiel grouped them. See Isaiah 12-23 and Ezekiel 25-32.
The date of the prophecy concerning Egypt is about 604 B.C. Probably the latter portion of the chapter was written a little later, but certainly the first twelve verses were written about 604 B.C. Compare with this Isa 19 and Ezekiel 29-32 which deal with the same subject, the downfall and punishment of Egypt. Jer 46:1 is a general introduction to all these various prophecies.
We have an account of Egypt’s defeat at Carohemish (Jer 46:2-12 ). The second verse gives the date and the occasion of the prophecy. They occurred somewhere about tour years after the disastrous defeat and death of the good King Josiah at Megiddo. Pharaoh-Necho had pressed as far north and east as the fords of the Euphrates, seeking to swell his coffers and enlarge his territory. He was met there by the invincible Nebuchadnezzar. There was fought the great battle which was to decide the fate of one or the other of these two kings. Carchemish was a large city on the banks of the Euphrates, commanding the fords of that great river, which was the dividing line between the empires. Pharaoh-Necho was overwhelmed and driven back to Egypt. Jeremiah in the spirit of sarcasm addresses the great army of Pharaoh-Necho: “Prepare ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to battle. Harness the horses, and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with your helmets; furbish the spears, put on the coats of mail.”
Note the tone of verse Jer 46:5 : “Wherefore have I seen it? they are dismayed and are turned backward; and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: terror is on every side.” Then again with a note of sarcasm he raises this question, verse Jer 46:7 : “Who is this that riseth up like the Nile, whose waters toss themselves like the rivers?” That is Egypt. Again, with a note of stinging sarcasm he continues in verse Jer 46:9 : “Go up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men go forth: Gush and Put, that handle the shield; and the Ludim, that handle and bend the bow.” In Jer 46:10 he pictures the defeat: “For that day is a day of the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he many avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour and be satiate, and shall drink its fill of their blood; for the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.” This magnificent picture is the description of the hand of God punishing Egypt. It is a sacrifice of Jehovah’s righteousness.
In Jer 46:13 he gives the occasion and the substance of the prophecy. Nebuchadnezzar would come and smite the land of Egypt. Then in Jer 46:14 he speaks of the cities of Egypt. He tells them to be ready and prepared. With a note of sarcasm he continues in Jer 46:15 by asking a question, “Why are thy strong ones [thy gods] swept away?” Then the answer follows in the same verse: “Because Jehovah did drive them.” That is the reason. In Jer 46:17 we have a striking prophecy: “Pharaoh) the king of Egypt, is but a noise.” He has no power; he is only a noise; all boast and brag and not to be feared.
In Jer 46:25 he prophesies that Pharaoh’s city, the city of Thebes, called “Noamon,” or “Amon of No,” shall perish. Of late years Egyptologists have discovered that city, and it is today just as Jeremiah described it in this prophecy. It is utterly destroyed. In the latter part of Jer 46:26 he makes a remarkable promise regarding the kingdom of Egypt. There shall not be made a full end of it; “afterward it shall be inhabited, as in the days of old”; Egypt shall not be utterly destroyed. It shall live. But Egypt was never the same after her defeat and subjugation by Nebuchadnezzar. Profane history tells us that in the year 560 B.C. or thereabout, Nebuchadnezzar defeated and overthrew Egypt. Jeremiah is vindicated in his prophecy here, since what he wrote took place beyond any doubt.
There are words of reassurance and encouragement to Israel in Jer 46:27-28 : “Fear not thou, O Jacob my servant, saith Jehovah; for I am with thee: for I will make a full end of all nations whither I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of thee, but I will correct thee in measure, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished.” That sounds much like the second part of Isaiah. In that prophecy this same promise is worked out in the great doctrine of the servant of God. The Philistines were the old, hereditary enemies of Israel. From the days of Samuel and the Judges, David and Solomon this nation had existed and was, all the time, an enemy and troubler of Israel and Judah.
The date of the prophecy (Jer 47:1-7 ) is a little uncertain. The latter part of the first verse says that this prophecy came before Pharaoh smote Gaza. Now that was the Pharaoh-Necho who defeated Josiah, some time previous to 604 B.C. He had laid siege to Gaza, the chief city of Philistia, and had utterly overwhelmed it. Previous to that Jeremiah uttered this prophecy against Philistia. He says in Jer 47:2 , “Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and shall become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land and all that is therein.” Thus he pictures the invading hosts of Nebuchadnezzar coming from the north like an overflowing river, down the plains of Tyre to this Philistine city. In Jer 47:4 he says that they shall all be overthrown.
Now, we have a remarkable question on this part of Jeremiah, Jer 47:6 . He sees this fearful shedding of blood, and raises the question, “O thou sword of Jehovah, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard; rest, and be still.” Evidently this implies that God ordered this bloodshed and that the nation was doing his will in thus punishing the wickedness of the Philistines.
What the relation of Moab to Israel and what the main points of the prophecy against her (Jer 48:1-47 )? It is interesting here to compare this passage with Isaiah 15-16, and also Eze 25:9-11 . Israel had come into very intimate relations with Moab. They passed through that land, and the tribe of Reuben had the territory which joined Moab. Between these two (Reuben and Moab) there were constant feuds with intermittent friendship. Finally Moab succeeded in throwing off the yoke of Israel and absorbing the tribe of Reuben. Moab was famous for her pride, her self-sufficiency. She was one of the proudest nations of the world. It was against this pride and self-sufficiency that this prophecy was directed. It contains a great many expressions that are identical with what we find in Isaiah 15-16. In this chapter the prophet gives us much of the geography of Moab. He mentions, altogether, about twenty-six cities. The principal thoughts are these:
1. Moab’s threatened destruction and exile by Babylon (Jer 48:1-10 ).
2. Moab’s disappointed hope, and the imminence of her calamity (Jer 48:11-25 ).
3. The humiliation of Moab, and her fate described (Jer 48:26-46 ).
4. A promise of return: “Yet will I bring back the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith Jehovah” (Jer 48:47 ).
I call attention to two or three striking passages in this prophecy against Moab. In Jer 48:10 Jeremiah is speaking of the terrible work which Nebuchadnezzar will do to Moab and he wants that work thoroughly done, and says, “Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently.” Now that is a fine text. He continues, “Cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.” The idea in it all is that Jehovah wants these Babylonians to do their work thoroughly. Also in Jer 48:11 we have a striking passage: “Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remaineth in him, and his scent is not changed.” The figure here is that of fresh wine left to stand. When it is left thus, sediment gathers in the bottom. It becomes thick and stagnant and the quality is injured. Something like that had happened in Moab. She had grown stagnant; had been quiet for years. It was not good for her to remain in this condition. Self-satisfaction is not a good thing.
We have the prophecy against Ammon (Jer 49:1-6 ). The country of Ammon bordered on the land of Moab and the territory of the tribe of Reuben. There was constant strife between Ammon and Reuben. When Tiglath-Pileser invaded the land and deported the inhabitants, Ammon came up and seized the country that belonged to Reuben. Because of that incident Jeremiah uttered these oracles: “Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? Why then doth Malcam possess Gad, and his people dwell in the cities thereof?” He had seized the property that belonged to Israel, and that is what Jeremiah is denouncing. They shall all go into exile. He then closes this prophecy with a promise of restoration: “But I will bring back the captivity of the children of Ammon.”
Compare with the prophecy against Edom the prophecy of Obadiah, which is almost identical. Jeremiah must have been familiar with the prophecy of Obadiah. Compare also Isa 34 . Edom was a kinsman of the house of Jacob. Edom dwelt in his mountain fastnesses and impregnable heights, and was something of a military power. He never lost the bitterness of Esau against Jacob because the latter got his birthright and blessing. They first dwelt in tents and were Bedouin, but at this time most of them dwelt in cities or towns. Edom watched from his fastnesses the career of Jacob and, as Obadiah says, looked on her destruction without pity. When she had opportunity she took some of the inhabitants of Israel, made them slaves and rejoiced over the downfall of Jerusalem. For such unbrotherly conduct Judah never forgave Edom. Sufficient is it to say that we have here the pronouncement of doom upon her and there is no promise of restoration. For several centuries Edom flourished to some extent, and in the time of the restoration she occupied considerable territory of Judah. In the time of Christ an Edomite sat upon the throne of Judah, but since then Edom has gone down and today nothing remains of her but a great wilderness of mountains and deserts.
In connection with the prophecy against Damascus (Jer 49:23-27 ) we have prophecies concerning two little countries, namely, Hamath and Arpad. Damascus is to have troubles, she is to be sad in her fate and she is to wax very feeble. Her city is to be, not utterly destroyed, but greatly humbled. There is no promise of restoration.
Kedar is the name of the wandering and marauding, warlike tribes that live in the deserts east of Palestine, between eastern Palestine and the river Euphrates. They are called the “Children of the East.” They have lived there from time immemorial. They were there before the days of Abraham and are there yet. The men of Kedar are to be overwhelmed by the Babylonian power. The city of Hazor is referred to as belonging to this people. The larger portion of these Arabians lived in tents and were Bedouin, but some of them lived in cities or villages. So the prophet addresses both classes, Kedar and Hazor, pronouncing destruction upon them.
We have the prophecy against Elam (Jer 49:34-39 ). In Abraham’s time there was a king of Elam, who was the overlord of Babylon, and the over-lord of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He came to the plains of Palestine and collected tribute from them. Elam was one of the principal forces that Abraham attacked and destroyed. A great many of the inhabitants were transported to northern Palestine when Samaria was destroyed by Sargon, so that Jeremiah is brought into touch with these Elamites because they lived in the northern part of the country. The fate of Elam is bound ‘up with the fate of Babylon and that of Israel. Elam is threatened with destruction, but in Jer 49:39 there is a promise of restoration. It is interesting to note that in the fulfilment of that promise of restoration, there were Elamites in the city of Jerusalem when Peter preached his great sermon at Pentecost. Doubtless there were Elamites converted at that time and brought into the fold of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The prophecy against Babylon (Jeremiah 50-51) is the longest of any of the prophecies concerning the foreign nations. Compare this with Isaiah 13-14; 40-48. The date of this prophecy is set forth in Jer 51:59 . It was in the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah, about 494 B.C. Jeremiah penned this long prophecy and sent it by a messenger to the king of Babylon, to be read by the exiles, and he says in Jer 51:63 , “When thou hast made an end of reading this book, thou shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates: and thou shall say, Thus shalt Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her.” A copy of the prophecy was kept by the prophet. This action was symbolical. We cannot go into detail in the study of this prophecy. The situation is the same as that set forth in Isaiah 40-66. It presents many of the same ideas and the same problems. There are scores of similar expressions. The principal ideas are as follows:
1. The people of Israel were in exile in Babylon and the city of Jerusalem had been destroyed: Jer 50:6-7 ; Jer 50:17 ; Jer 50:28 ; Jer 50:33 ; Jer 51:11 ; Jer 51:34 ; Jer 51:51 .
2. Babylon was the instrument of Jehovah in punishing Israel and the nations, four times stated: Jer 50:7 ; Jer 50:17 ; Jer 51:7 ; Jer 51:20-23 .
3. Jehovah remains the deliverer of his people. This is stated by the prophet four times: Jer 50:34 ; Jer 51:5 ; Jer 51:15-19 ; Jer 51:36 .
4. Jehovah will execute his wrath upon Babylon and her gods and they shall be destroyed. Fully two-thirds of this entire prophecy is given to the discussion of this thought: Jer 50:2-3 ; Jer 50:10-16 ; Jer 50:18 ; Jer 50:21-27 ; Jer 51:1-4 ; Jer 51:8-9 ; Jer 51:11-19 .
5. The Modes and their allies are to break the Babylonian yoke. This is stated eight times altogether: Jer 50:3 ; Jer 50:9 ; Jer 50:41-42 ; Jer 50:44 ; Jer 51:11 ; Jer 51:27-28 .
6. Promise of release from Babylon and command to leave the city. Eleven times the prophet makes statements to that effect: Jer 50:4-5 ; Jer 50:8 ; Jer 50:19-20 ; Jer 50:28 ; and others.
7. Spiritual renewal of Israel shall follow the return from Babylon. This is stated by the prophet five times: Jer 50:4-5 ; Jer 51:10 ; Jer 51:50-51 .
In these seven divisions we have the substance of these chapters. Isaiah 40-48 contains the same thoughts, sometimes even in the same words.
Almost all the critics maintain that Jeremiah did not write these chanters. Even a Baptist professor produced a commentary that was published by a Baptist publishing house, in which it is plainly affirmed that Jeremiah did not write them. The arguments used against the Jeremiah-authorship are in substance, as follows:
1. The historical situation had not yet arrived. These chapters picture Israel in exile, the Temple destroyed and Jerusalem in ruins. If Jeremiah wrote these chapters in 594 B.C. (and it is plainly stated that he did) Jerusalem was still standing, the Temple intact, and the end of Babylon was yet seventy years more in the future. Therefore, the critics conclude that since the historical situation was not in harmony with these chapters, Jeremiah did not write them. That conclusion is undeniably based upon the assumption that Jeremiah could not see the future.
2. There is not the same point of view on the part of the prophet. The point of view of the prophet about this time was that Zedekiah and his people must submit to Babylon, and if they would submit, they would be saved. But now in these chapters the point of view of the prophet seems to be that these nations are to be destroyed and Judah triumph. Therefore, Jeremiah must have a different point of view. Did he? As in the other contention, it is based upon the assumption that Jeremiah could not see the future.
3. The temper which permeates these chapters was not that of Jeremiah. In other words, Jeremiah, during the reign of Zedekiah, had been friendly to Babylon in that he continually counseled submission to Babylon. He seems to be a friend to Babylon. Now, these two chapters were written by a man whose soul seemed to be on fire with denunciation of Babylon because of her ruthless and unrelenting cruelty to Israel. The critics cannot account for the change in the temper of Jeremiah, if it is conceded that he wrote these two chapters in question.
In reply, it may be asked, Does it follow that because he advised submission to a foreign power he loved that power and was not loyal to his own people? Jeremiah counseled submission to Babylon, not because he loved Babylon, but because he could see, in fact it was revealed to him, that Babylon was destined to prevail and that if his people would quietly submit, it would be better than to resist. By no means does it follow that he loved Babylon. He did not love Babylon; he was a patriotic Israelite and could not but have hated that savage nation that overwhelmed his own beloved kinsmen. It is easy to see how he could, with perfect consistency, thus write the doom that was coming upon this savage nation for its wickedness. Though it was a wicked heathen nation, God could overrule its cruelty to be the just punishment for Israel’s sins and wickedness.
4. It is full of repetitions and lacks logical development. And so it does. But is it not in that very fact, like the work of Jeremiah? Our critical friends have worked out a system of logical development and they make heaven and earth fit into the mold of their theory. I fear that in trying to get all heaven into their logical system, they have failed to get any of it into their hearts.
Here are five reasons for accepting the Jeremiah authorship of chapters Jeremiah 50-51:
1. It is expressly stated that Jeremiah did write it (Jer 51:59-64 ). That ought to settle the question.
2. The style is like that of Jeremiah, full of repetitions. We have called attention to that very thing over and over again in our studies of the book.
3. The prophecy is altogether appropriate. Jeremiah was a patriotic Israelite, and his feelings toward Babylon could not have been that of friendship. He must have been permeated with the spirit of denunciation.
4. Denial of his authorship is based upon a mechanical theory of prophecy and inspiration. That is, after all, the real source of these denials.
5. Granting inspiration, Jeremiah was thoroughly competent to write every word of these two chapters. We could not expect that Jeremiah, a prophet to the nations, would live and die without having something to say about Babylon.
QUESTIONS
1. What the theme of Jeremiah 46-51 and what the evidence elsewhere of Jeremiah’s call to this special function as a prophet?
2. What the dates of these several prophecies?
3. What the date of the prophecy concerning Egypt, what parallel prophecies in the other prophets and what the nature of Jer 46:1 ?
4. Give an account of Egypt’s defeat at Carchemish (Jer 46:2-12 ).
5. Give an account of the overthrow of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 46:13-26 ).
6. What the words of reassurance and encouragement to Israel in Jer 46:27-28 ?
7. Who were the Philistines, what the date of this prophecy (Jer 47:1-6 ) against them and what the prophecy itself, especially verse 6?
8. What the relation of Moab to Israel and what the main points of the prophecy against her? (Jer 48:1-47 .)
9. What things worthy of special note in this prophecy against Moab?
10. What the occasion of the prophecy against Ammon in Jer 49:1-6 and what the points of the prophecy?
11. What the relation of Edom to Israel and what the prophecy here (Jer 49:7-22 ) against her?
12. What the prophecy against Damascus? (Jer 49:23-27 .)
13. Who was Kedar and what the prophecy here against Kedar? (Jer 49:28-33 .)
14. Who were the Elamites and what the prophecy against Elam in Jer 49:34-39 ?
15. How does the prophecy against Babylon compare with the other prophecies here given, what the date and what the symbolical action in this connection, the meaning of it, and what the principal ideas?
16. What the arguments of the critics against the authenticity of this section and upon what is each based?
17. Give five reasons for accepting the Jeremiah authorship of Jeremiah 50-51.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Jer 48:1 Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded [and] taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
Ver. 1. Against Moab. ] That bastardly brood, infamous for their inveterate hatred of God’s Israel, at whom they were anciently irked, fretted, vexed, though no way provoked, Num 22:3 whom also they outwitted, by the counsel of Balaam, in the business of Baal-peor, Num 25:1-3 ; Num 25:16-18 had been plagued and judged by the kings of Israel, by David especially, as also by Sennacherib, Isa 15:1-9 ; Isa 16:1-14 but were no whit amended; and are therefore here, and Eze 25:9 , threatened with utter destruction by the Chaldeans, and that very much in a scoffing way; like as they were a proud, petulant, scornful people, despisers of all other nations, but especially of the Jews, their near neighbours and allies.
Woe unto Nebo.
Kiriathaim is confounded.
Misgab is confounded.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jeremiah Chapter 48
Against [or “concerning,” for it is not exclusively a prediction of calamity] Moab thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel.” The judgments of God were abroad; and should Moab be unpunished? Confidence in political wisdom is not the characteristic as with Egypt; but pride may be shown in other ways, and in all is most offensive to God: in what land or people was it more conspicuous than in Moab P
“Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed. There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it: come, and let us cut it of from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee. A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction. Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.” (Ver. 1-6.) The language, especially in what follows, so echoes that of Isaiah that one can hardly resist the inference that the same judgment is before the eyes of the revealing Spirit. Only we must bear in mind that the earlier prophet appends to “the burden of Moab,” in the last verse of Isa 16 an approaching blow “within three years,” which would be an earnest of still deeper humiliation in store when Nebuchadnezzar would bring them to the dust. To this latter Jeremiah confines himself save so far as room may be left for both judgment and mercy in the then far distant future – the yet future day of Jehovah.
In verses 6-9 the prophet addresses his solemn counsel: “Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together. And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as Jehovah hath spoken. Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.” They had flesh for their arm and trusted in man, departing in heart from Jehovah. But wings do not suffice to flee away, when Jehovah directs the blow, denouncing him that does His work with negligence. “Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and be hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed, Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence. How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war? Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is Jehovah of hosts. The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteneth fast. All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!” (Ver. 10-17.)
Then calls follow to the daughter that inhabits Dibon to come down, and to the inhabitress of Aroer to stand and espy. (Ver. 18, 19.) The truth is, the time of ruin was surely come: Moab was confounded, and spoiled, and judgment come on the plain and on all the cities of the land far or near. (Ver. 20-24.) “The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith Jehovah. Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against Jehovah: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy. O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole’s mouth. We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his wrath, saith Jehovah; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.” (Ver. 25-30.)
The prophet then adopts Isaiah’s words, as also his howling for its fallen pride. “Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-heres. O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage. And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting. From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonairn, as an heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate. More. over I will cause to cease in Moab, saith Jehovah, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods. Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab, like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kir-heres; because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.” (Ver. 31-36.) But the picture is much amplified here: “For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith Jehovah. They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him.” (Ver. 37-39.)
In verses 40-46 is given a vigorous sketch of their enemy’s resistless course of victory, and of Moab’s presage of helpless ruin, under Jehovah’s resolve against those who magnified themselves against Him. “For thus saith Jehovah; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab. Kerioth is taken and the strongholds are surprised, and the mighty men’s hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against Jehovah. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith Jehovah. He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation saith Jehovah. They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth, for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.”
Yet the last verse (47) which pronounces this awful course of judgment on Moab declares that Jehovah will bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days. Has He spoken and will He not perform? Nothing is more sure.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Jer 48:1-10
1Concerning Moab. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
Woe to Nebo, for it has been destroyed;
Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured;
The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and shattered.
2There is praise for Moab no longer;
In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her:
‘Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!’
You too, Madmen, will be silenced;
The sword will follow after you.
3The sound of an outcry from Horonaim,
‘Devastation and great destruction!’
4Moab is broken,
Her little ones have sounded out a cry of distress.
5For by the ascent of Luhith
They will ascend with continual weeping;
For at the descent of Horonaim
They have heard the anguished cry of destruction.
6Flee, save your lives,
That you may be like a juniper in the wilderness.
7For because of your trust in your own achievements and treasures,
Even you yourself will be captured;
And Chemosh will go off into exile
Together with his priests and his princes.
8A destroyer will come to every city,
So that no city will escape;
The valley also will be ruined
And the plateau will be destroyed,
As the LORD has said.
9Give wings to Moab,
For she will flee away;
And her cities will become a desolation,
Without inhabitants in them.
10Cursed be the one who does the LORD’S work negligently,
And cursed be the one who restrains his sword from blood.
Jer 48:1 Moab The etymology of the name is uncertain. Gen 19:37 seems to connect it to Lot’s daughter, linking the child to her father, from my father or water of my father, but this is the type of popular etymology so common in the OT. Lot’s incestuous child becomes the designation of a nation (as does the other daughter’s son, Ammon (cf. Gen 19:38). Their territory was between the Zered and Arnon Rivers on the eastern side of the Dead Sea.
Nebo This term (BDB 612) has several biblical orientations.
1. a Babylonian deity (cf. Isa 46:1), sometimes spelled Nabu. He was the eldest son of Marduk.
2. a mountain in Moab just east of the top of the Dead Sea, in the plains of Moab from which Moses was allowed to view (but not enter) the Promised Land (cf. Deu 32:48-52). He died there and was buried by God (cf. Deuteronomy 34). The mountain was also known as Pisgah (cf. Deu 34:1).
3. a city on the plains of Moab (cf. Num 32:3; Num 32:38; Isa 15:2; Jer 48:1; Jer 48:22)
Kiriathaim This city (not to be confused with Kiriatharim) is located on the eastern side of the Jordan River on the plateau of Moab (cf. line 5) in the tribal allocation of Reuben (cf. Num 32:37; Jos 13:19; Jer 48:1; Jer 48:23; Eze 25:9). The name itself (BDB 900) means double city.
NASBthe lofty stronghold
NKJVthe high stronghold
NRSV, NETthe fortress
TEVits mighty fortress
NJBthe citadel
REB, JPSOA
footnoteMisgab
LXXHamasagab
JPSOAthe stronghold
This word (BDB 960, KB 640) basically means high refuge (cf. Isa 33:16). However, it has the ARTICLE which is unusual the fortress unless it is referring to all of the plateau of Moab (cf. Jer 48:8 d). Also, the NOUN for fortress is MASCULINE in gender, but all the VERBS used in Jer 48:1 (except for the first one, say) are THIRD PERSON FEMININE SINGULAR. There are two other cities listed in Jer 48:1. These FEMININE forms fit a place name (cf. LXX and REB). Unfortunately this place name appears nowhere in ancient literature.
Jer 48:2 Heshbon This city (BDB 363 II) is in northern Moab but it was in an area contested by Ammon (cf. Num 21:25). Apparently it is involved in a conspiracy against Moab, possibly by the Ammonites. However, it is probably better to see it as a reference to a campsite of the Babylonian army.
There is a word play between the name of Heshbon (BDB 363 II, ) and the VERB devised calamity (lit. think, BDB 362, KB 359, Qal PERFECT, ).
Madmen There is considerable doubt about the meaning of this word (, BDB 199, KB 226-227). Do not confuse it with the English meaning.
1. a play on the VERB (BDB 198 I, KB 226 I) be silenced (cf. LXX)
2. a play on dung hill (BDB 199 I, KB 226, , cf. Isa 25:10)
3. a city’s name (BDB 199), found only in Jer 48:2
4. a play on Dimon (BDB 192, , cf. Isa 15:9), a variant of Dibon (BDB 192, cf. Isa 15:2)
Jer 48:3 Horonaim The term (BDB 357) means two hollows, two caves, or two ravines. This city’s name is found only in Isa 15:5 and Jer 48:5; Jer 48:34 although RSV translates 2Sa 13:34 as a form of this word.
Jer 48:4 Her little ones The RSV and NRSV think this word ( [translated servants in Jer 14:3], BDB 859) should be translated by a city’s name, Zoar (, BDB 858, cf. Jer 48:34 and Isa 15:5). The LXX also has a place name here (i.e., Zogora).
The UBS Text Project gives the Qere reading, her little ones, a B rating. In this way the grammar of the Hebrew verse fits better.
Jer 48:5 Luhith This Moabite city (BDB 532) is linked to Horonaim as a place of ascent and descent, probably close to the Dead Sea.
Jer 48:6 The cities of Moab are doomed. They are commanded to
1. flee – Qal IMPERATIVE
2. save your lives – Piel IMPERATIVE
3. give wings – Qal IMPERATIVE
NASB, NKJVlike a juniper
NRSV, LXXlike a wild ass
TEV, NJBlike a wild donkey
JPSOAlike Aroer
REBlike one destitute
Pehsittalike a plant
The MT is uncertain, as the various options show. Aroer (cf. Jer 48:19 b) is the name of a city in Moab (BDB 792 II) and the parallelism of other cities seems to favor this option.
However, a similar word shrub or juniper is used in Jer 17:6 (BDB 792 I),
Aroer – (BDB 792 II), as in Jer 48:19
wild ass – (KB 882) in LXX and Aquila, cf. Jer 2:24; Jer 14:6 (different Hebrew word)
juniper – (BDB 792 I, KB 883, cf. Jer 17:6) in MT which UBS Text Project gives a C rating (considerable doubt)
Jer 48:7 For because you trusted in. . . Several things are mentioned that Moab trusted (BDB 105, KB 120, Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT).
1. NASB our own achievements
NKJV works
NRSV, LXX strongholds
TEV strength
NJB deeds
JPSOA wealth
REB defenses
The MT has deeds or works (BDB 795), which could refer to a number of things.
2. treasures JPSOA sees both #1 and #2 as parallel
3. they also trusted in their national idol Chemosh who would utterly fail them (cf. Jer 48:13; Jer 48:35)
The pride, arrogance, and idolatry of Moab is clearly seen in Jer 48:29-30; Jer 48:42.
Chemosh This was the national deity of the Moabites (cf. Num 21:29), where Moab is called the people of Chemosh. In Jdg 11:24 this deity is linked to Ammon. Solomon brought this cult into Jerusalem in 1Ki 11:7; 2Ki 23:13, on behalf of his young Canaanite wives.
The etymology of the name itself (BDB 484) is uncertain. Some scholars assume destroyer, or subduer, while other scholars see it linked to a fish god. Most of our information about this Canaanite deity comes from the Mesha Stele called the Moabite Stone, discovered in 1868 at Dibon.
The text of 2Ki 3:21-27 (esp. Jer 48:27) strongly suggests that Chemosh was worshiped with child sacrifice, as were Molech and Ba’al, two other Canaanite fertility gods.
Jer 48:8 Moab’s doom was by the word of YHWH (cf. Jer 48:15 c). His instrument was Babylon.
Jer 48:9
NASB, NKJV,
NJB, JPSOAGive wings
NRSVSet aside salt
TEVSet up a tombstone
LXXgive signs
REBgive a warning signal
There are several options on how to understand this line of poetry.
1. the MT has wings (BDB 851 II), a unique meaning from a supposed Aramiac root used only here
2. LXX, TEV, and REB see the VERB as a road marker (BDB 846, cf. Jer 33:21)
3. the NRSV assumes a Ugaritic root, salt, which would fit the context of judgment (cf. Jdg 9:45)
Jer 48:10 Many English translations mark this as a parenthesis (cf. TEV, NJB, NET). It is addressed to the Babylonian invaders, admonishing them to fully execute YHWH’s judgment on every city in Moab. Show no mercy!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
The Forty-Fourth Prophecy of Jeremiah (see book comments for Jeremiah).
Against = concerning.
Moab. Always hostile to Israel. Compare Jdg 3:12, Jdg 3:28; 1Sa 14:47. 2Sa 8:2. 2Ki 1:1; 2Ki 3:4-27; 2Ki 13:20. In the reign of Jehoiakim they joined with the Chaldeans.
thus saith. As in Num 21:28, Num 21:29; Num 24:17 (compare verses: Jer 48:45, Jer 48:46), and Amo 2:2.
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel. See note on Jer 7:3.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4.
Nebo. Not the mountain, but formerly a Reubenite possession (Num 32:37, Num 32:38), now belonging to Moab.
Kiriathaim. Now probably el Kureiyat, between Medeba and Dibon.
Misgab. Probably = the high fort.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 48
In forty-eight, he now directs his attention to Moab. Moab was across the Jordan on the east side of the Jordan River and of the Jordan rift.
Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled ( Jer 48:1 ):
Now, this is not mount Nebo but the city of Nebo in Moab at that time.
Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed ( Jer 48:1 ).
A couple of the cities.
There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee. A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction. Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down to Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction. Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt be taken ( Jer 48:2-7 ):
Trusting in their work and in their riches. These are the things that people commonly trust in. How many people today are trusting in their works for their standing before God. How many people are trusting in their riches for their security. But in the day of God’s judgment, neither of these have any value.
And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken. Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein. Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully ( Jer 48:8-10 ),
Mark that one if it isn’t already underlined in your Bible. God declares that curse against any man who would do the work of the Lord deceitfully.
and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed ( Jer 48:10-11 ).
So as God speaks of the destruction that is coming upon Moab, now He gives us the reason for the destruction that is coming. “For Moab has been at ease from his youth.” Moab has not had any problems. Moab has been sheltered and protected, and because of it being sheltered and protected, it has become weak. And it is ready now to fall.
And then he turns to an illustration of winemaking processes and uses that as an illustration of Moab. “Having settled in her lees.” In the making of wine they would pour the juice of the grape into a large container and then they would allow it to just set there until it fermented. And after the fermentation, these lees or dregs would begin to settle to the bottom of the vessel. And as these dregs had settled in the bottom of the vessel, then they would pour off the top into another vessel. Allow the settling process to go on again and then pour it off into the next vessel, back and forth from vessel to vessel. Letting the dregs settle down and developing the clarity and purity of the wine. Now, when these dregs begin to settle, if you did not pour the wine off of the dregs, then the dregs turn sour and they begin to smell. And he said, “This is the problem with Moab. It’s been at ease. Never had any problem. Never been disturbed. Never poured from vessel to vessel. It is settled down on the lees which have turned sour. And thus the scent remains. The taste is in the wine of the sourness of the lees. Thus Moab is to be destroyed.”
It is interesting how that we often complain at the processes of God in our lives as He pours us from vessel to vessel. We have sort of a nesting instinct. We like to get comfortable. We like to relax and kick back and think, “Well, we’ve got it made.” And it’s so easy for us to get in a rut. But the great danger of this is forgetting God and leaving God out of our lives. “Oh, God has a place. Yes, I’ve got a neat, little compartment over here, God, and You’re welcome. Feel free. Come and visit anytime You want. Always glad to see You. Providing You don’t come next weekend, because we plan to be gone next weekend. But anytime, Lord. But couple weeks from now we’re going again so, but anytime, Lord. We’re always glad to see You.” Amazing how we sort of begin to leave God out of our lives as we begin to just settle in our lees in this life of the flesh and after the flesh. It is so easy, so easy to just sort of drift away from that commitment to God.
In Hebrews we are told, “Let us take the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should drift away from them” ( Heb 2:1 ). There are those times when God pours us from a vessel to another and we say, “God, what’s going on?” And suddenly God has our attention. He begins to deal with us. We renew our commitment and we say, “Oh, Lord, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Lord.” And genuinely we are. We meant the vows when we made them to God. And we are genuinely sorry for our failures and for our drifting away from God. And God disturbs our lives. He brings in disturbing issues and He can disturb our lives in so many ways–by sickness, by accident, by the loss of a job. So many ways God can just bring a disturbance into our lives. And God does bring them for that purpose of purifying us. We’ve got too much flesh. We’re beginning to settle in a life of the flesh. And God says, “It stinks. It’s beginning to permeate your whole life. You’re beginning to smell of the flesh.” And so God pours you into another vessel. Disrupts, disturbs in order that He might refine. But that didn’t happen to Moab. And because it didn’t happen, now Moab is to be destroyed.
Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles. And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh ( Jer 48:12-13 ),
Now that was the Moabites’ god.
as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence ( Jer 48:13 ).
So the place of worship for Israel was in Bethel, but at its destruction they became ashamed. So the place of worship, Chemosh, for the Moabites was going to become the same as Bethel.
How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war? Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is The LORD of hosts. The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction is hastening fast. All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod! Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strongholds. O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and spy; ask him that is fleeing, and her that is escaped, and say, What is happened? Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled, And judgment is come upon the plain country ( Jer 48:14-21 );
And it begins to name these cities of Moab that have been destroyed.
all the cities of the land of Moab, both far and near. The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD. Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he shall be in derision. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? ( Jer 48:24-27 )
And, of course, when Israel was destroyed Moab also attacked Israel and so now Moab is to receive like in being a derision.
for since you spake of him, you have skipped for joy ( Jer 48:27 ).
They were happy at the destruction of Israel.
O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole’s mouth. We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud), his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it. Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres. O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage. And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting. From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as the heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate. Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to their gods. Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches that he has gotten are perished. For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth ( Jer 48:28-37 ).
These were the pagan ways of expressing their mourning in the shaving of their heads, the cutting of their beards and the cutting of their bodies and putting on of sackcloth. It’s the typical sign of mourning. And thus Moab will be in mourning.
There shall be lamentations generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD ( Jer 48:38 ).
Very graphic.
They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him. For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab. Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are surprised, and the mighty men’s hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her travail. And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD ( Jer 48:39-42 ).
Met any Moabites lately? God said they’d be destroyed from being a people.
Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab. He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives. Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab ( Jer 48:43-47 ).
And so Moab’s in trouble. And surely God did fulfill these prophecies that were declared against Moab.
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Jer 48:1-10
Jer 48:1-4
JEHOVAH vs. CHEMOSH; THE DOWNFALL OF MOAB (Jer 48:1-10)
Of Moab. Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel: Woe unto Nebo! for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; Misgab is put to shame and broken down. The praise of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have devised evil against her: Come, and let us cut her off from being a nation. Thou also, O Madmen, shalt be brought to silence: the sword shall pursue thee. The sound of a cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction! Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
Nebo…
(Jer 48:1). This is not the mountain from which Moses viewed the Promised Land, but the city of Num 32:3; Num 32:38, built by the Reubenites.
Kiriathaim…
(Jer 48:1). A city six miles south of Dibon. Dibon was where the Moabite Stone was found.
Heshbon…
(Jer 48:1). This was an important city, belonging originally to Moab; but then captured by Sihon and made his capital (Num 21:26); after its conquest by Israel under Moses, it was given to the Reubenites (Num 21:21-24; Num 32:37). By the times of Jeremiah, the city was at the zenith of its prosperity and had been retaken by Moab.
But in the times of a certain Alexander, Heshbon again became a Jewish city. Moab eventually was lost as a nation, except for the hope expressed in Jer 48:47 (below).
In Heshbon they have devised evil against her…
(Jer 48:2). It is believed that this is a prophecy that the Babylonians would plan their subjugation of Moab at Heshbon. There is a play on the word. Heshbon means to plan; and the words plan evil are similar in the Hebrew.
Misgab…
(Jer 48:1) and Madmen … (Jer 48:2). Nothing is known of either of these towns; and the dictionaries available to us have no notes on them whatever.
Horonaim…
(Jer 48:3). This is the same as the city of Avara, mentioned by Ptolemy; the name means ‘the double caves’ (Neh 2:10; Isa 15:5).
Her little ones have caused a cry to be raised…
(Jer 48:4). The little ones referred to here were in all probability the infant sacrifices offered to the savage old god Molech, or Chemosh. That horrible rebellion against God in offering such sacrifices was certainly one of the reasons that brought the wrath of God upon Moab. See more about that pagan god under Jer 48:7.
Jer 48:5-10
For by the ascent of Luhith with continual weeping shall they go up; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction. Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. For, because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou also shalt be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together. And the destroyer shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed; as Jehovah hath spoken. Give wings unto Moab, that she may fly and get her away: and her cities shall become a desolation, without any to dwell therein. Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently; and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
Ascent of Luhith… descent of Horonaim…
(Jer 48:5). Whether fleeing to a high mountain or descending into the caves at Horonaim, the people would hear the cry of destruction. ‘Luhith’ is unknown; but the mention of ascent suggests that it was some kind of summit, or high place.
Flee, save your lives, be like the heath in the wilderness…
(Jer 48:6). Textual uncertainties in Jer 48:6 have led to several different translations here. The word here rendered ‘heath’ is also rendered as ‘tamarisk,’ ‘sand-grouse,’ or ‘wild ass’ (See KJV, ASV, the English Revised Version (1884), the New English Bible, the Jerusalem Bible, and LXX).
Chemosh shall go forth into captivity…
(Jer 48:7). Chemosh is referred to on the Moabite Stone as Ashtar-Kemosh. Ashtar in Canaan was the god of the morning star. Thus we have another example of the Israelites and their kinsmen worshipping the host of heaven (Act 7:42 ff). In fact, many of the ancient gods and goddesses of paganism were identified with the sun, the moon, various stars and planets
Chemosh, the national god of the Moabites, is here prophetically doomed to captivity, and that meant also that the whole nation of Moab would suffer in a similar way. Like all other manmade gods, Chemosh was of no help whatever to Moab in the day of their calamity.
Jer 48:10 here is a mystery, especially the last clause, of which Robinson said, ,’Here the prophet incites to the slaughter with a curse.” However, we reject that interpretation. The only true application of such a command would be to those instruments whom God commissioned to punish rebellious nations for their wickedness. Certainly, Pope Gregory VII’s making this his favorite verse has no possible justification.
Advancing Devastation Jer 48:1-6
The poem opens with a resounding woe. This word is derived from the Hebrew vocabulary of lamentation and expresses the idea how sad it is. Sometimes the word is used sarcastically; sometimes the prophets are sincere when they utter their woes. Here Jeremiah must feel genuine sympathy for the Moabites in the calamity they are about to experience at the hands of an unnamed northern army. The prophet sees in his minds eye the enemy devastating the northern cities of Moab, those cities north of the Arnon river. Nebo is not the mountain but a near-by village named in honor of the Semitic deity Nabu. Misgab (the high fortress) and Kiriathaim (the double city) are in the vicinity of Nebo. The inhabitants of these cities are dismayed and stupefied in the face of the enemy onslaught (Jer 48:1). In Heshbon, the main city north of the river Arnon, the destroyers from the north assemble for the final push into Moab proper. Heshbon was a border town between Reuben and Gad and served as one of the forty-eight Levitical cities (Jos 21:39). In Jeremiahs day the city seems to have been occupied by Ammonites (Jer 49:3). Come, let us cut her off from being a nation! The villages of Madmen (Jer 48:2) and Horonaim (Jer 48:3) just south of the Arnon are sacked and destroyed by the enemy. Jeremiah can hear the wails of panic-stricken men and terrified women and children as they flee southward up the road that leads to Luhith and down the valley that leads to Horonaim. The locations of these two villages are unknown.
THE ORACLE AGAINST MOAB Jer 48:1-47
The Moabites occupied the region east of the Dead Sea and for the most part south of the river Arnon. The Arnon flows through a steep, twisting gorge in the mountains of Moab and was of great strategic importance in antiquity. In times of political decline the kingdom of Moab shrank to the area on the southern side of the river which thus became a natural border on the north. In more vigorous periods the kingdom expanded northward beyond the river. The Israelites first came into contact with the Moabites at the end of the period of wilderness wandering. At that time Balak, king of Moab, hired Balaam to curse Israel (Numbers 22-24). This was the beginning of a long history of enmity between the two nations. See Jdg 3:12-30; 1Sa 14:47; 2Sa 8:2; 2Ki 3:4-6; 2Ki 3:6-27; 2Ch 20:1 ff.; 2Ki 13:20. Only briefly was this hostility interrupted as for example when Elemelech and later David took refuge in Moab (Rth 1:1 f.; 1Sa 22:3-4). The Moabite Stone as well as the Bible reflects the hostility between the Israelites and the Moabites. This inscription tells how Mesha, king of Moab, was able to recapture from Israel territory north of the river Arnon.
Prior to the time of Jeremiah a number of prophets had uttered oracles against Moab. Balaam himself had been compelled by the Spirit of God to utter a prophecy against Moab (Num 24:17). Amos (Jer 2:1-3) and Isaiah (Isa 15:1-7; Isa 16:6-12; Isa 25:10-12) had foretold the doom of Moab about a century before Jeremiah. Zephaniah, an earlier contemporary of Jeremiah, also alludes to the forthcoming total destruction of Moab (Zep 2:8-10).
Jeremiahs oracle against Moab is the most unique and in some respects the most difficult of all the foreign nations oracles found in his book. In at least three respects this oracle is unique. It is by far the longest oracle addressed to any of the smaller neighbors of Israel. Secondly, this oracle contains an enormous number of place names. Certainly Jeremiah must have had an intimate acquaintance with the geography of Moab. It is this aspect of the oracle that makes it difficult to interpret. Thirdly, this oracle is unique because of its similarities to other portions of Scripture. It would appear that the Holy Spirit directed Jeremiah to gather, rearrange, and reaffirm the utterances made concerning Moab by his predecessors. Jeremiah utilizes the earlier prophecies and incorporates their phrases and ideas into his own picture of the future of Moab.
Urgent Exhortation Jer 48:7-10
Knowing the destruction that awaits Moab Jeremiah urges the inhabitants of that nation to flee for their lives. Be like the heath (desert shrub) in the wilderness (Jer 48:6). The RSV follows the Septuagint version and renders wild ass. Others suggest the translation destitute man. In any case the thought is the same: Get out of the cities and take your chances in the uninhabited areas. Flight is necessary because the judgment of Moab is inevitable. Moab will fall because she has put her trust in her works (some translate strongholds) and in her treasures instead of the living God. Judged by this criteria many nations today would fall under the prophetic indictment. The Moabites should also flee because their national god Chemosh will not be able to save them. Indeed Chemosh will not even be able to prevent his own captivity: Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together (Jer 48:7). The inhabitants of Moab shall flee because the destruction will touch every part of the land. No city shall escape. The Jordan valley which formed part of the boundary of Moab on the west shall perish. The plain or plateau, the Transjordanian highland which stretches from the Arnon north to Heshbon, shall also experience the devastation (Jer 48:8). In order to escape the destroyer Moab will need wings and the prophet prays that she shall be provided with them (Jer 48:9). While the prophet feels sympathy for Moab he realizes that the destruction of the Moabites is the work of the Lord which he has committed to human destroyers. A curse is pronounced upon the destroyer if he is negligent in performing the task which the Lord has given him (Jer 48:10).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
The word of the Lord concerning Moab is a judgment, which nevertheless closes with a gleam of hope. The judgment is described, first, from the standpoint of the scourge. The widespread extent of it is foretold, and the diction and helplessness are graphically set forth.
The judgment is then spoken of from the standpoint of Moab, that is to say, the long security of Moab and his freedom from affliction are recognized, as is also his self-confidence. In contrast with this, the judgment is announced. All his past security is to end and his strength is to vanish. Finally, in a long passage full of tremendous power, the judgment of Moab from the standpoint of the onlooker is described. Surrounding nations are called on to observe and to lament, while yet they recognize the justice of the judgment, as it is a punishment for Moab for the sin of magnifying himself against the Lord.
The prophet himself, observing the judgment, broke out into mourning and lamentation, with sobs describing the desolation, until at last, in one brief sentence, he announced the promise of Jehovah that finally He would restore the captivity of Moab, and indicated that until that time of the divine intervention the judgment of Moab must continue.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
The way of address to Moab in the opening verse is noticeable: “Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel.” (Jer 48:1) This brings out the close relationship of Moab and Israel. To none of the others in this group of nations does He introduce Himself as “the God of Israel.”
Woes are pronounced upon Nebo, the mountain of Moab from whose summit Moses viewed the promised land; Kiriathaim, called in Num 32:37 Kirjathaim; and Misgab, a fortified city of which little is known.
In Heshbon, the city of “devices,” as its name means, “they have devised evil against it.” Madmen, that is, “dunghill,” shall become a scene of carnage. Horonaim and Luhith shall be spoiled likewise. “There shall be no more praise of Moab” (Jer 48:2-5).
The inhabitants are warned to flee and save their lives; to be “like the heath in the wilderness” (Jer 48:6), as it is not GOD’s purpose to utterly destroy them. The heath (literally, “the naked tree”) referred to, is a desert shrub, having an abundance of vitality; so much so, that if a part be torn from the parent bush and carried away by the wind, it will take root where it may fall. The application of the figure to the remnant of Moab is plain. Their seed abides today, and shall remain even in the Millennium. In Jer 17:6 the same figure is applied to the one who trusts in man, though there it is the nakedness of the plant to which attention is drawn.
Chemosh, the patron deity of Moab, was to be put to shame. He should go into captivity with his priests and his princes together. Upon every city the spoiler should come; for so the Lord had spoken (Jer 48:7-8).
The only safety is in flight; for the Lord’s curse rested upon him who should do the Lord’s work of judgment negligently. It must be unsparing, and he who held back his sword from blood should be devoted to judgment himself (Jer 48:9-10).
For a long season Moab had been permitted to go unpunished. The result was a settling down in haughty carelessness, with utter indifference to the abominations everywhere practiced. “Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed” (Jer 48:11). This condition can be no longer tolerated.
The Lord is about to “send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels and break their bottles” (Jer 48:12). The result shall be to destroy their confidence in Chemosh and to make them ashamed “as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence” – that is, of the calves set up by Jeroboam (Jer 48:13). It is evident that Moab’s destruction was not to be forever. Like Israel, they were to be punished in measure; but the discipline would eventually prove corrective.
In Jer 48:14-25 the prophet sees in vision the advancing armies of the spoiler, and graphically portrays the alarm and final rout of the inhabitants of the cities of this interesting people.
“The horn of Moab is cut off” signifies that all his power was to be broken. In his pride he had “magnified himself against the Lord,” and gloried over Israel when their affliction carne. “He shall wallow in his vomit, and be himself in derision” (Jer 48:26-27).
Ere the besom of wrath shall come upon them, the dwellers in the cities are warned to flee to “the rocks” for safety. A remnant would thus be preserved. They are exhorted to “be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole’s mouth” (Jer 48:28).
Pride ever goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
It was this abominable trait that particularly characterized these descendants of Lot. “We have heard the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud! his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart” (Jer 48:29).
Because he will not humble himself, he must be humbled – in the case of individuals as well as nations who fail to acknowledge Heaven’s rule. Upon all the land the hand of GOD shall fall; for it is His hand, though a heathen army be the instrument used. How fitting that he who prophesies such dire sorrow should do so with weeping and strong crying (Jer 48:30-34).
Idolatry will be made to cease in their cities, and “There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof,” when the Lord has “broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure” (Jer 48:35-41). It is the same simile of the potter and the clay, used long before in regard to Israel (chap. 18). “And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the Lord.” This was his awful sin. How many, alas, have followed in his steps! For such, judgment is certain at last, though it may for a long time seem to slumber. When it falls, there shall be no escape. “Fear, and the pit, and the snare,” shall devour them all (Jer 48:42-46).
Thus Balaam’s prophecy was to be at length fulfilled, when the Lord should “smite the corners of Moab” (Num 24:17). “Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord. Thus far is the judgment of Moab” (Jer 48:47). In the Millennium, when the Lord, in His own times, shall show who is that blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, Moab shall rejoice with His people, a remnant being spared to enter into the world-kingdom of our GOD and His CHRIST.
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Jer 48:11
The principle that underlies the text is this: that we require to be unsettled in life by many changes and interruptions of adversity, in order to be most effectually loosened from our own wills, and prepared to do the will and work of God.
Observe:-
I. How God manages, on a large scale, in the common matters of life, to keep us in a process of change, and prevent our lapsing into a state of security, such as we desire. Nature herself conspires to loosen all our calculations-meeting us with her frosts, her blastings, her droughts, her storms, her fevers; and forbidding us ever to be sure of that for which we labour. The very scheme of life appears to be itself a grand decanting process, where change follows change, and all are emptied from vessel to vessel.
II. The radical evil of human character, as being under sin, consists in a determination to have our own way; which determination must be somehow reduced and extirpated. Sin is but another name for self-direction. If we could stand on our lees, in continual peace and serenity-if success were made secure, subject to no change or surprise-what, on the other hand, should we do more certainly than stay by our evil mind, and take it as a matter of course that our will is to be done; the very thing above all others of which we most need to be cured?
III. Consider the fact that our evils are generally hidden from us till they are discovered to us by some kind of adversity. If God should let us be as Moab from our youth, then we should be as Moab in the loss of all valuable improvement.
IV. It is another point of advantage in the changes and surprises through which we are continually passing, that we are prepared, in this manner, for gracious and refining work of the Spirit in us.
V. Great quiet and security, long continued, are likely to allow the reaction or the recovered power of our old sins, and must not therefore be suffered. As the wine, standing on its dregs or lees contracts a taste from the lees, and must, therefore, be decanted or drawn off; so we, in like manner, need to be separated from everything appertaining to the former life, to be broken up in our expectations, and loosened from the affinities of our former habit.
H. Bushnell, The New Life, p. 392.
We may lay it down as a principle of universal application that a man needs to be frequently disturbed and displaced by the dispensations of God’s providence, if he would grow in all the elements of that greatness which consists in holiness. To remain “at ease,” to “settle on the lees,” is fatal to spiritual advancement.
I. Consider what there is in these “emptyings” that fits them to promote our spiritual advancement. (1) It is obvious that such dispensations have in them an influence which is well calculated to reveal us to ourselves. It was a shrewd remark of Andrew Fuller, that “a man has only as much religion as he can command in the day of trial;” and if he have no religion at all, his trouble will make that manifest to him. (2) The frequent unsettlements which come upon us in God’s providence have a tendency to shake us out of ourselves. The essence of sin is self-preference. We will take our own way rather than God’s. We will make our own plans, as if only ourselves were to be consulted. Now, what a corrective to this idolatry of self is administered by these providential dispensations, which, coming as all such things do, unexpectedly, unsettle all our engagements, disarrange all our plans, and disappoint all our calculations. By many bitter failures we are made to acknowledge that “it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,” and then by the Spirit of God we are led up to confidence in Jehovah. (3) These frequent unsettlements have a tendency to keep us from being wedded to the world, or from thinking of rooting ourselves permanently here.
II. Notice the particular qualities of character which providential unsettlements are most calculated to foster. (1) Purity of motive and conduct. (2) Strength either for endurance or action. (3) Sympathy and charity.
W. M. Taylor, Limitations of Life, p. 358.
References: Jer 48:11, Jer 48:12.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 761. Jer 48:28.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. xi., p. 75. Jer 49:8.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii., No. 1085. Jer 49:23.-Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 253; J. B. Heard, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xiii., p. 241.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
CHAPTER 48
Concerning Moab
1. The overthrow of Moab (Jer 48:1-10)
2. The humiliation of Moab (Jer 48:11-19)
3. Reaping what they sowed (Jer 48:20-28)
4. Destroyed on account of its pride (Jer 48:29-47)
With these divisions the chapter may be studied in detail. Moab was of incestuous off spring Gen 19:37. Israel is now exhorted to flee and save itself because Moab is to be destroyed. Moabs national deity was Chemosh, who was also worshipped by the sister nation, the Ammonites. Chemosh was probably the same as Molech. He is now to go forth into captivity with his priests and princes. On Jer 48:10 critics say: This bloodthirsty verse is surely not Jeremiahs. But they forget that the whole prophecy is introduced with, Thus saith the LORD, and the critics knife, which cuts out certain verses from this chapter, mutilates the Word of God. There is no valid reason to brand this and other verses as the work of some supplementer.
The chief places of Moab are mentioned. The horn of Moab (horn the emblem of power) is cut off and his arm is broken, saith the LORD. And why this judgment? For he has magnified himself against the LORD. They were filled with pride, yea, they were exceedingly proud. The Lord speaks of it thus: His loftiness and his arrogancy and his pride and his haughtiness of heart. How God detests pride! In both Testaments it is marked out as the great abomination in the sight of God. Filled with pride and haughtiness, they derided Israel, Gods people; whenever Israel was mentioned they skipped for joy (verse 27). Of Jer 48:28 and Jer 48:29, critics declare that they are mostly derived from Isa 15:1-9; Isa 16:1-14. These two chapters contain a similar prophecy about Moab, but these utterances by Jeremiah are not copied from Isaiah, but are a divine repetition of the coming judgment of that people. Woe be unto thee Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth! for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captive. This is the final word in this predicted judgment of Moab. And thus Moab was broken.
The last verse speaks of a territorial restoration of Moab, not of a restitution of that wicked generation, as some teach. We do not know where a remnant of Moab is today, to possess in millennial times their former land; nor do we know how the Lord is going to accomplish it. But we know He will fulfill His own Word and we do not need to invent some scheme of how it will be done.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
am cir, 3420, bc cir, 584
Moab: Jer 9:26, Jer 25:21, Jer 27:3, Gen 19:37, Num 24:17, 2Ch 20:10, Isa 15:1 – Isa 16:14, Isa 25:10, Isa 27:3, Eze 25:8-11, Amo 2:1, Amo 2:2, Zep 2:8-11
Nebo: Jer 48:22, Jer 48:23, Num 32:3, Num 32:37, Num 32:38, Num 33:47, Isa 15:2
Misgab: or, The high place
Reciprocal: Gen 14:5 – Shaveh Kiriathaim Ezr 2:29 – Nebo Neh 13:1 – the Ammonite Isa 46:1 – Bel Jer 12:14 – I will Jer 48:20 – confounded Jer 49:1 – Concerning Eze 25:11 – upon Zep 2:9 – Surely
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 48:1. This entire chapter is against the land of Moab which was situated on the east side of the Dead Sea, Its people were descended from one of the sons of Lot (Gen 19:37) and were hence related by blood to the line coming down from Abraham. For this reason the Lord would not permit his people to deal with them as they did with other nations with whom they came in contact (Deu 2:9). Yet the relations between the two peoples were somewhat strained and in the main the Moabites were considered as enemies to the Israelites and were marked for some severe judgments from the Lord, The places named were cities of the Moabites that were destined to feel God’s wrath.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 48:1. Against Moab Hebrew, , To, or, concerning Moab, thus saith the Lord of hosts This prophecy concerning the Moabites, as also the following which respect the Ammonites, Edomites, and other neighbouring nations, are supposed to have been fulfilled during the siege of Tyre by Nebuchadnezzar: see note on Jer 47:1. Many expressions and passages are found in this chapter which Jeremiah seems to have borrowed from a prophecy of Isaiah, chap. 15., and 16., concerning a like calamity which befell Moab, in all probability when Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, seized upon their cities and fortresses, and ravaged their country, on his march through it to invade the kingdom of Israel. By comparing the parallel places much light may be mutually thrown upon them. Kiriathaim, one of the cities of Moab, here mentioned, was given by Moses to the Reubenites, as appears by Jos 13:10, but the Moabites afterward recovered the possession of it. Blaney thinks the word which our translators have rendered Misgab, as if it were the proper name of a city, is rather to be considered as an appellative, especially as it has an article prefixed. He therefore renders it, the high fortress, observing that it may either mean Kiriathaim, before mentioned, or any other high fortress of Moab.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 48:1. Against Moab, saith the Lord. Isaiah had prophesied of the devastation of Moab by Salmaneser: chap. 15, 16. Jeremiah here speaks of the terrible conquest of the country by Nebuchadnezzar, which, according to Josephus, happened five years after the fall of Jerusalem.It was Messiah, the eternal Word, that gave the prophet his commission on this occasion, and inspired him with an elegy on the doom of Moab, an elegy of incomparable beauty, that it might be read with interest in the cities of Moab, and that the style and general character of the composition might not dishonour a minister of the Lord. On the divine presence, when nations are addressed, the words of Zechariah are remarkable. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: after the Glory hath he sent me to the nations which spoiled you: Zec 2:8. Such is the general testimony of jewish targums, or paraphrases of the prophets, that the Word of Jehovah talked with the holy seers. In short, such also is the faith of the christian fathers. Professor Cocceius, on this grand credential of the prophets, remarks, Nil impedit, qu minus, id ipsius Person Divin oratio sit. Why should we think otherwise than that the oration is the dictate of the Divine Person?
Woe unto Nebo. A frontier town in the tribe of Reuben, of which the Moabite, in some crisis of weakness, had gained possession. Kiriathaim is confounded, stormed and taken. The prophet, with the sanction of the Lord, speaks of the conquest as already done.
Jer 48:2. Moab shall have no more praise: in Heshbon they have devised evil against her. The princes of Chaldea have decided on the fall of Moab. All the small states of Palestine were agreed to pull down the kingdom of David; but blind in policy, they pulled the building on their own heads.
Jer 48:6. Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. The word heath is unsuccessful: a heath cannot flee away. On the word Ke-aroer, we have almost as many readings as versions. Montanus has juniper. The sense seems to be, as thistle-down, which grows in dry places, and is blown far away in the wind. Cocceius has instar myricarum aut ericarum aut carduorum in deserto. Hos 9:17.
Jer 48:7. Chemosh shall go forth into captivity. This idol was reckoned the titular divinity of the land. Num 21:29. Jdg 11:24. How mortifying to see the priests and the princes accompanying their gods into captivity.
Jer 48:9. Give wings to Moab. Such is the reading of Kimchi. Others read, give flowers to Moab, which shall soon fade as a garland. The English reading is no doubt correct, and it best agrees with the dispersion of thistle- down.
Jer 48:13. Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as much as Samaria was of the golden calves in Bethel. The gods of gold and silver are in more danger than gods of wood. Our little silver goddess at Loretto disappeared before the French reached the place. Her right foot, says Dr. Smith in his view of the manners of Italy, was rather shorter than the left, supposed to have been worn away by the kissing of millions of votaries.
Jer 48:16. The calamity of Moab is near approaching. Though we know not the date of these prophecies, yet it is likely that three or four years were the limits of the divine forbearance. When Jerusalem fell, Moab shouted for joy, as in Jer 48:27.
Jer 48:18. Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon. The country of Moab was well watered with streams from the hills, and the vales were exquisitely beautiful. In this modern travellers are agreed. Isaiah bids the daughter of Babylon come down, and sit in dust, the position of mourners; but Moab must leave her limpid streams, and sit in thirst, while crossing the parched deserts. With Dibon, the prophet counts twelve other cities, as sharing the like calamities, and closes this part of the elegy with a full stroke. The horn of Moab is broken.
Jer 48:29. We have heard the pride of Moab. Her riches, her splendour of dress, her beautiful mansions, all the enlivened cosmography, and retiring graces of her palaces were proverbs in the country. Now all must be plundered and lost in the blaze of conflagration. The prophet commands her to leave those inviting abodes, to dwell on the rocks, and mourn like the doves that have lost their mates.
Jer 48:32. The sea of Jazer. This town stood on the dead sea: hence the lake of Sodom is here called after Jazer. All large collections of water are called seas in the Hebrew.
Jer 48:34. From the cry of Heshbon even to Eleleh, the most western city of Moab, shall be strong and incessant, like the cry of a heifer three years old when she has lost her company. God in anger would cast away the pride of Moab, as the broken pieces of a potters vase.
Jer 48:40. Behold, he (the Assyrian) shall fly as an eagle, and spread his wings over Moab. Thus Daniel also beheld him: Dan 7:4. This designates the eagerness of a victorious army for conquest, and the spoils of war. David wisely preferred the pestilence to the sword.
Jer 48:42. Moab shall be destroyed, so as to be no more a people, enjoying national power and glory under her own king. Her wound could only be healed with the loss of limbs.
Jer 48:47. Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord. Whatever reference this promise may have to the Messiahs times, Josephus in his Antiquities, Jer 13:23, says that after the captivity, the Moabites were reduced under the power of the Jews, and received circumcision. They are accused of vacillation: when the affairs of the Jews were prosperous, they claimed kindred with them, but disowned them in adversity. See on Isaiah 15.
REFLECTIONS.
Jeremiah, in this chapter, has borrowed many expressions from Isaiah 15. and 16., it being proper that the prophets should confirm the words of one another. Micah has done the same in chap. 4. It is a maxim of providence to thrust in the sickle when the harvest of the earth is ripe; and when God begins in anger to punish nations, no man knows when the storms of vengeance shall subside. Moab soon recovered from her visitation by Assyria, and enjoyed repose for about a hundred years. She was too weak to fight with great nations, and this weakness was frequently the cause of her safety; she avoided doubtful contests with her powerful neighbours. She was as a cask of wine settled on its lees, and it was high time to draw it off. She saw Jerusalem fall, of which she had been afraid, and rejoiced at the evil, because the storm, for the present, was bought off no doubt, by concessions to the victor. She was therefore fat and at ease; her pride was her leading sin, and proved her utter destruction.
When the severer storms of national visitations come, happy is the man who can fly to a peaceful retreat. Hence, says the prophet, Give wings to Moab. But happier still is the sinner who takes refuge in Christ; he is a hidingplace from all the storms of life, and all the fears of a future world. Gods indignation ran so high against the sins of Moab, that he sealed the mission of the Chaldeans with a malediction, in case of too much lenity. Cursed be the man that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully; and cursed be the man that keepeth back his sword from blood; and withal he promises mercy to a remnant who should return. How faithful then should ministers of religion be in the discharge of their duty, for theirs is a ministry of grace; a ministry to save both men and nations from destruction and eternal death. Oh preacher, enjoying honours and revenues in the church, do not think that thou shalt escape the curse, if thou art silent concerning the extortions, the adulteries and atheism of thy supporters and patrons.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jeremiah 48. Moab (the territory E. of the Dead Sea, from Wady Kerak in the S. to the neighbourhood of Heshbon in the N.). Many of the numerous places named in this prophecy will be found on G. A. Smiths map, though some of his identifications are disputable; others such as Misgah (Jer 48:1) are quite unknown. Much of this chapter is almost certainly later than Jeremiah, as it incorporates parts of Isaiah 15 f. (note mgg.), an elegy apparently of the fifth century.
Jer 48:1-10. The spoiling of the cities of Moab, and the end of her glory (praise, Jer 48:2), are declared. The lamentation of the Moabites is described (Jer 48:5); they are told to flee like the wild ass (hard to capture; so with LXX, instead of heath, Jer 48:6). Moabs confidence in her strongholds (so LXX for treasures; omit in thy works and) is misplaced; Chemosh (the national god, identified with his people; cf. Isa 46:1 f.) is exiled. The destruction shall be general, both in the valley (where the Jordan widens out above the Dead Sea) and on the table-land (Deu 3:10, mg.); Moab would need wings to escape it (Jer 48:9). The prophet incites to the slaughter with a curse.
Jer 48:2. Heshbon . . . Madmen: the Hebrew plays on these names.
Jer 48:4. her little ones: read with LXX and Isa 15:5, etc.; to ZoarSE. corner of the Dead Sea(they make a cry to be heard).
Jer 48:5. Omit continual, as in the parallel of mg., and the distress of with LXX.
Jer 48:9. Render with Driver, for she would fain fly away.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
48:1 Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe to {a} Nebo! for it is laid waste: Kiriathaim is confounded [and] taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
(a) These were cities of the Moabites, which Nebuchadnezzar took before he went to fight against Nebo King of Egypt.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
1. The destruction of Moab 48:1-10
The oracle begins with a general prediction of Moab’s destruction.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Lord announced the destruction of two key cities in Moab, which was Judah’s neighbor to the southeast: Nebo (Num 32:3; Num 32:38) and Kiriathaim (Jos 13:19). Moab’s boundaries were the Arnon River on the north, the Arabian Desert on the east, the Zered River on the south, and the Dead Sea on the west. At various times Moab also occupied territory to its north, in the old Amorite kingdom of Sihon (Num 21:21-31). The Moabite (or Mesha) Stone, erected about 840 B.C., but now in the British Museum, refers to many of the numerous Moabite towns mentioned in this chapter. [Note: For a translation of it, see Pritchard, ed., pp. 320-21.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER XIX
MOAB
Jer 48:1-47
“Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against Jehovah.”- Jer 48:42
“Chemosh said to me, Go, take Nebo against Israeland I took itand I took from it the vessels of Jehovah, and offered them before Chemosh.”-MOABITE STONE.
“Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days.”- Jer 48:47
THE prophets show a very keen interest in Moab. With the exception of the very short Book of Joel, all the prophets who deal in detail with foreign nations devote sections to Moab. The unusual length of such sections in Isaiah and Jeremiah is not the only resemblance between the utterances of these two prophets concerning Moab. There are many parallels of idea and expression, which probably indicate the influence of the elder prophet upon his successor; unless indeed both of them adapted some popular poem which was early current in Judah.
It is easy to understand why the Jewish Scriptures should have much to say about Moab, just as the sole surviving fragment of Moabite literature is chiefly occupied with Israel. These two Terahite tribes-the children of Jacob and the children of Lot-had dwelt side by side for centuries, like the Scotch and English borderers before the accession of James I. They had experienced many alternations of enmity and friendship, and had shared complex interests, common and conflicting, after the manner of neighbours who are also kinsmen. Each in its turn had oppressed the other; and Moab had been the tributary of the Israelite monarchy till the victorious arms of Mesha had achieved independence for his people and firmly established their dominion over the debatable frontier lands. There are traces, too, of more kindly relations: the House of David reckoned Ruth the Moabitess amongst its ancestors, and Jesse, like Elimelech and Naomi, had taken refuge in Moab.
Accordingly this prophecy concerning Moab, in both its editions, frequently strikes a note of sympathetic lamentation and almost becomes a dirge.
“Therefore will I howl for Moab;
Yea, for all Moab will I cry out.
For the men of Kirheres shall they mourn.
With more than the weeping of Jazer
Will I weep for thee, O vine of Sibmah.
Therefore mine heart soundeth like pipes for Moab,
Mine heart soundeth like pipes for the men of Kirheres.”
But this pity could not avail to avert the doom of Moab; it only enabled the Jewish prophet to fully appreciate its terrors. The picture of coming ruin is drawn with the colouring and outlines familiar to us in the utterances of Jeremiah-spoiling and destruction, fire and sword and captivity, dismay and wild abandonment of wailing.
“Chemosh shall go forth into captivity, his priests and his princes together.
Every head is bald, and every beard clipped;
Upon all the hands are cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
On all the housetops and in all the streets of Moab there is everywhere lamentation;
For I have broken Moab like a useless vessel-it is the utterance of Jehovah.
How is it broken down! Howl ye! Be thou ashamed!
How hath Moab turned the back!
All the neighbours shall laugh and shudder at Moab.
The heart of the mighty men of Moab at that day
Shall be like the heart of a woman in her pangs.”
This section of Jeremiah illustrates the dramatic versatility of the prophets method. He identifies himself now with the blood thirsty invader, now with his wretched victims, and now with the terror-stricken spectators; and sets forth the emotions of each in turn with vivid realism. Hence at one moment we have the pathos and pity of such verses as we have just quoted, and at another such stern and savage words as these:-
“Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently,
Cursed be he that stinteth his sword of blood.”
These lines might have served as a motto for Cromwell at the massacre of Drogheda, for Tillys army at the sack of Magdeburg, or for Danton and Robespierre during the Reign of Terror. Jeremiahs words were the more terrible because they were uttered with the full consciousness that in the dread Chaldean king a servant of Jehovah was at hand who would be careful not to incur any curse for stinting his sword of blood. We shrink from what seems to us the prophets brutal assertion that relentless and indiscriminate slaughter is sometimes the service which man is called upon to render to God. Such sentiment is for the most part worthless and unreal; it does not save us from epidemics of war fever, and is at once ignored under the stress of horrors like the Indian Mutiny. There is no true comfort in trying to persuade ourselves that the most awful events of history lie outside of the Divine purpose, or in forgetting that the human scourges of their kind do the work that God has assigned to them.
In this inventory, as it were, of the ruin of Moab our attention is arrested by the constant and detailed references to the cities. This feature is partly borrowed from Isaiah. Ezekiel too speaks of the Moabite cities which are the glory of the country; {Eze 25:9} but Jeremiahs prophecy is a veritable Domesday Book of Moab. With his epic fondness for lists of sonorous names-after the manner of Homers catalogue of the ships-he enumerates Nebo, Kiriathaim, Heshbon, and Horonaim, city after city, till he completes a tale of no fewer than twenty-six, and then summarises the rest as “all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near.” Eight of these cities are mentioned in Joshua {Jos 13:15-28} as part of the inheritance of Reuben and Gad. Another, Bozrah, is usually spoken of as a city of Edom. {Jer 49:13, possibly this is not the Edomite Bozrah.}
The Moabite Stone explains the occurrence of Reubenite cities in these lists. It tells us how Mesha took Nebo, Jahaz, and Horonaim from Israel. Possibly in this period of conquest Bozrah became tributary to Moab, without ceasing to be an Edomite city. This extension of territory and multiplication of towns points to an era of power and prosperity, of which there are other indications in this chapter. “We are mighty and valiant for war,” said the Moabites. When Moab fell “there was broken a mighty sceptre and a glorious staff.” Other verses imply the fertility of the land and the abundance of its vintage.
Moab in fact had profited by the misfortunes of its more powerful and ambitious neighbours. The pressure of Damascus, Assyria, and Chaldea prevented Israel and Judah from maintaining their dominion over their ancient tributary. Moab lay less directly in the track of the invaders; it was too insignificant to attract their special attention, perhaps too prudent to provoke a contest with the lords of the East. Hence, while Judah was declining, Moab had enlarged her borders and grown in wealth and power.
And even as Jeshurun kicked, when he was waxen fat, {Deu 32:15} so Moab in its prosperity was puffed up with unholy pride. Even in Isaiahs time this was the besetting sin of Moab; he says in an indictment which Jeremiah repeats almost word for word:-
“We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud,
Even of his arrogancy and his pride and his wrath.” {Isa 16:6}
This verse is a striking example of the Hebrew method of gaining emphasis by accumulating derivatives of the same and similar roots. The verse in Jeremiah runs thus: “We have heard of the pride (GeON) of Moab, that he is very proud (GEEH): his loftiness (GABHeHO), and his pride (GeONO), and his proudfulness (GAaWATHO).”
Jeremiah dwells upon this theme:-
“Moab shall be destroyed from being a people,
Because he hath magnified himself against Jehovah.”
Zephaniah bears like testimony:-{Zep 2:10}
“This shall they have for their pride,
Because they have been insolent, and have magnified themselves
Against the people of Jehovah Sabaoth.”
Here again the Moabite Stone bears abundant testimony to the justice of the prophets accusations: for there Mesha tells how in the name and by the grace of Chemosh he conquered the cities of Israel; and how, anticipating Belshazzars sacrilege, he took the sacred vessels of Jehovah from His temple at Nebo and consecrated them to Chemosh. Truly Moab had “magnified himself against Jehovah.”
Prosperity had produced other baleful effects beside a haughty spirit, and pride was not the only cause of the ruin of Moab. Jeremiah applies to nations the dictum of Polonius-
“Home-keeping youths have ever homely wits,”
and apparently suggests that ruin and captivity were necessary elements in the national discipline of Moab:-
“Moab hath been undisturbed from his youth;
He hath settled on his lees”
He hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel;
He hath not gone into captivity:
“Therefore his taste remaineth in him,
His scent is not changed.
Wherefore, behold, the days come-it is the utterance of Jehovah-
That I will send men unto him that shall tilt him up;
They shall empty his vessels and break his bottles.”
As the chapter, in its present form, concludes with a note-
“I will bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days-it is the utterance of Jehovah”-
we gather that even this rough handling was disciplinary; at any rate, the former lack of such vicissitudes had been to the serious detriment of Moab. It is strange that Jeremiah did not apply this principle to Judah. For, indeed, the religion of Israel and of mankind owes an incalculable debt to the captivity of Judah, a debt which later writers are not slow to recognise. “Behold,” says the prophet of the Exile, –
“I have refined thee, but not as silver;
I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” {Isa 48:10}
History constantly illustrates how when Christians were undisturbed and prosperous the wine of truth settled on the lees and came to taste of the cask; and-to change the figure-how affliction and persecution proved most effectual tonics for a debilitated Church. Continental critics of modern England speak severely of the ill-effects which our prolonged freedom from invasion and civil war, and the unbroken continuity of our social life have had on our national character and manners. In their eyes England is a perfect Moab, concerning which they are ever ready to prophesy after the manner of Jeremiah. The Hebrew Chronicler blamed Josiah because he would not listen to the advice and criticism of Pharaoh Necho. There may be warnings which we should do well to heed, even in the acrimony of foreign journalists.
But any such suggestion raises wider and more difficult issues; for ordinary individuals and nations the discipline of calamity seems necessary. What degree of moral development exempts from such discipline, and how may it be attained? Christians cannot seek to compound for such discipline by self-inflicted loss or pain, like Polycrates casting away his ring or Brownings Caliban, who in his hour of terror,
“Lo! Lieth flat and loveth Setebos!
Maketh his teeth meet through his upper lip.
Will let those quails fly, will not eat this month
One little mess of whelks, so he may scape.”
But though it is easy to counsel resignation and the recognition of a wise, loving Providence in national as in personal suffering, yet mankind longs for an end to the period of pupilage and chastisement and would fain know how it may be hastened.