Jeremiah 48:1 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, we can observe, first, who brings about Moab’s destruction. It is the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, the one who commands all armies (Jeremiah 48:1). He will defend the cause of his people against a nation that has always troubled them, and he will punish Moab for the harm it did to Israel long ago. Israel had been forbidden to disturb Moab (Deuteronomy 2:9), so this judgment on Moab is called the Lord’s own work (Jeremiah 48:10). His actions will match his word exactly (Jeremiah 48:8).

Second, we see the agents of this destruction. Spoilers will come, armed with the sword that will pursue them (Jeremiah 48:2). God says, “I will send wanderers against him,” people who seem like travelers from far away, almost like they have lost their way, but they will make Moab the one that truly wanders. They will cause some to flee and others to be carried into captivity. These attackers will set their hearts on Heshbon, one of Moab’s chief cities, and they aim to destroy the whole kingdom. “Come, and let us cut it off from being a nation” (Jeremiah 48:2) means they are not coming just to plunder, but to ruin it.

The prophet, speaking for God, calls for the work to be done fully (Jeremiah 48:10). “Cursed be he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully,” that is, carelessly or only halfway. This is bloody and destructive work, and though it goes against human feelings of mercy, it is still the Lord’s work and must not be done in a halfhearted way. The Babylonians, by God’s secret directing, are appointed to destroy Moab, so they must not spare it. If they foolishly held back their sword, they would bring judgment on themselves, as Saul did when he spared the Amalekites, and Ahab did when he let Ben-hadad go. Their own life would answer for his life.

This same warning applies to all who serve God in any way. “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord deceitfully or carelessly,” pretending to serve God while really serving his own interests, or doing God’s work only as far as it fits his own plans. It also warns against laziness in God’s service, when a person makes little effort and little care to do the work well (Malachi 1:14). Such people should not fool themselves, because God cannot be mocked.

Third, we see the sad effects of this judgment. The cities will be ruined, spoiled, and cut down (Jeremiah 48:1, 2). They will become empty and desolate, with no one left to live there (Jeremiah 48:9). No city will escape. The strongest city will not be able to protect itself, and the most attractive city will not win the enemies’ pity. The land itself will be wasted too. The valley will perish and the plain will be destroyed (Jeremiah 48:8). The grain and the flocks that once filled the fields will be destroyed, eaten, trampled, or carried away.

Even the most honored people will not escape. The priests and princes will go into captivity together. Even Chemosh, the god Moab worshiped and trusted to protect them, will share in the ruin. His temples will burn, and his image will be carried away with the rest of the plunder. This judgment will bring great shame and confusion. Kirjathaim will be ashamed, and Misgah too. Moab will no longer boast about Heshbon, or about the strength of its cities, once the planned disaster falls on them (Jeremiah 48:2). They will also be ashamed of Chemosh (Jeremiah 48:13), ashamed of all the prayers they offered to him and all the confidence they placed in him.

This is like Israel’s shame over Bethel, where they trusted in a golden calf that could not save them from the Assyrians. Chemosh will prove no better able to save Moab from the Babylonians. Those who will not be taught by God’s word to be ashamed of idolatry will be taught by God’s judgments instead, when they discover by painful experience that the gods they served cannot help them.

There will also be great sorrow. A cry will be heard, and it will be a cry of spoil and destruction (Jeremiah 48:3). “Alas, alas! Moab is destroyed” (Jeremiah 48:4). The leaders will have fled the cities to save themselves, and the cry will rise even from the little people, or perhaps from the children, whose cries are especially heartbreaking in such a time. If you go up into the hills or down into the valleys, you will find nothing but weeping everywhere. The whole land will be full of tears. Even the enemy will hear the cry, though such a cry would normally be hidden for fear of encouraging them. But the distress will be too great to conceal.

There will also be great panic. The people will cry to one another, “Run, flee, save your lives” (Jeremiah 48:6). They will need to escape as fast as they can, even if they leave behind everything they own. They may survive only like a bare shrub in the wilderness. They must not try to save their goods if doing so may cost them their lives (Matthew 24:16-18). Let them take refuge anywhere, even in the wilderness, if only they may keep their lives. The danger will come suddenly and quickly, so Moab must be given wings, as it were (Jeremiah 48:9). That would be the greatest kindness they could ask for: “If only we had wings like a dove!” Without wings, there will be no escape.

Finally, we are shown the sins for which God is judging Moab. One reason is that they were secure in themselves and trusted in their wealth and strength, in their works and treasures (Jeremiah 48:7). They had labored to fortify their cities, build strong defenses, and fill their treasuries. So they thought they were ready for war and that no one would dare attack them. They trusted in their riches and grew bold in their sin (Psalm 52:7). For that reason, God will send an enemy strong enough to overpower their defenses and plunder their wealth, so they may learn how empty such confidence really is.

We lose the comfort of any created thing when we put our trust in it the way we should trust God alone. The reed will break if we lean on it. A person, nation, or thing cannot bear the weight of our hope forever if it was never meant to do so.

Moab’s ruin also came because it did not make good use of its years of peace and prosperity (Jeremiah 48:11). Moab had long lived without trouble. It was an old kingdom before Israel, and it had enjoyed a great deal of calm, even though it was a small land surrounded by powerful neighbors. God’s people had been afflicted from their youth (Psalm 129:1, Psalm 129:2), but Moab had been at ease from its youth.

The image is of wine that has never been poured from vessel to vessel. Such wine settles on its lees, the thick sediment at the bottom, and keeps its strength because it has not been stirred or strained. In the same way, Moab had not gone through hard changes, had not been unsettled, and had not gone into captivity as Israel often had. Yet Moab was still a wicked, idolatrous nation, one of the allies against God’s hidden ones, his protected people (Psalm 83:3, Psalm 83:6). Many people keep on in open sin while enjoying steady prosperity.

Moab had also been corrupt for a long time and had never been reformed. It had settled on its lees, meaning it had grown secure and sensual in its comfort. It had rested in prosperity and drawn its life from it, just as wine draws strength from the lees. Its taste and smell had not changed, in other words, it was still the same bad people it had always been.

This is often true of the wicked. When they keep enjoying the same outward peace, it is no surprise that they remain the same inwardly. Because their prosperity never changes, they do not fear God, and their hearts and lives stay unchanged (Psalm 55:19).