Jeremiah 48:7,11,26,27,47a

Chapter 48 is a judgment against Moab. You may recall that the Moabites were the descendants of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, who chose the good life in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah before they were destroyed (from which he was saved by direct intervention by God). However, since the early times, when Abraham got on well with Lot, things had turned pear-shaped between the nations spawned by both parties. Moab often fought with Israel, and chapter 48 of Jeremiah makes it clear how the Moabites thought of Israel:

‘For was not Israel a derision to you?
Was he found among thieves?
For whenever you speak of him,
You shake your head in scorn.’ (Jeremiah 48:27)

The two didn’t get along that well, then. It isn’t an attitude that we are unfamiliar with in our present day: anti-Semitic attitudes. To me, it seems almost like proof of God’s divine plans, that such a small nation of so little note could generate such hate and jealousy in all the other nations, at any time in history. There is no reason for such an attitude, but the very existence of it seems to me to show that Israel is indeed a nation central to God’s plans (to which humans unwaveringly majoritorily object to).

In any case, this is the context of the chapter. It is a chapter that announces the destruction of the Moabites in the near future (by God’s chosen destructive vehicle, Babylon). Now, we can get caught up in all the methods and language used in these passages of destruction, which all sound fairly similar. However, I believe the most useful thing to look at is usually why. God always provides a reason for the destruction of a nation (proving that He has no favourites and does not act willy-nilly). Now, I found 3 reasons for the coming judgment stated in this chapter, each of them getting more serious (in my opinion) as the chapter proceeds. I shall proceed to state each one, and attempt to show that we are not incapable of having the same sin in our own life, so that we should be warned.

1) ‘For because you have trusted in your works and your treasures,
You also shall be taken.
And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity,
His priests and his princes together.’ (Jeremiah 48:7)

What is the sin here? They trusted in their own works and treasures. Why is this bad? Why is this sin? Well, we are in Jeremiah, and a key verse right at the start of Jeremiah, which I have heard so many times since I started Jeremiah (all of a sudden it seems to be the main verse in the Bible!) is Jeremiah 2:13 – ‘For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns – broken cisterns that can hold no water.’ (Jeremiah 2:13) The sin is both turning away from God, and trying to find satisfaction in things done by oneself. It seems that Moab had completely ignored God, and were trusting their satisfaction to their own ‘good’ works and their material possessions. That’s where they found their ‘happiness’. This is a sin, very offensive to the God who made them, and the Universe around them. Think about it: Image you were a billionaire and adopted a son from Africa, someone who had never even had a full plate of food for a meal, and decided that because you loved them so much you would give them all of these things: toys galore, brand new label clothing, all the cool appliances and computers they could want, a brilliant education...the whole Richie Rich deal. Now imagine that the kid was so taken by all these things that they completely ignored you and spent all their time mucking around with all the stuff you had given them: how would you feel? Well, take that scenario to the infinite limit, and that is how God feels when we ignore the satisfaction and love that He can give us, and instead search for satisfaction in the temporal things He has given us. This is indeed sin.

2) ‘Moab has been at ease from his youth;
He has settled on his dregs,
And has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
Nor has he gone into captivity.
Therefore his taste remained in him,
And his scent has not changed.
Therefore...’ (Jeremiah 48:11)

This verse got my attention straight away (I’m a sucker for analogies). It means two things to me: one is the real meaning, and the other is what came to mind from the imagery. Let’s get what it really means first. According to Macarthur (whose study Bible I so conveniently have), the analogy comes from common practice in wine making. While making wine, the wine was kept in a wineskin for a while so that the dregs (nasty parts) could settle to the bottom, whereupon the wine was poured into another wineskin where it was left til the dregs again settled to the bottom (those that were still in the wine that is), and the process was iterated (repeated) until theoretically no dregs were left and the wine was pure and sweet. Thus, this verse is saying that Moab has not undergone painful purging of sin in the past (ie. He has been at ease form his youth) which would have got rid of some of the sin from within, and over time made the nation more and more impure. Rather, it has been free of pain and judgment from its early days (remembering that its early days would have been rather God-centred, given that Lot was their father), leading it further and further into sin. Thus, the bitter taste of the dregs (or sin) remain in Moab.

How can this be applied to us? Well I think in two ways (one passive and one active). Actively, it shows that we are to discipline in order to purify. For example, with our children (when we have children...), the Biblical method is no doubt to discipline the child, to uproot evil by admonition as it comes, rather than to let them ‘settle on their dregs’ so that they are at ease from their youth. This will only lead to harsh judgment in the end.

Passively, we are to expect to be disciplined by God, in order to purify us. We know that we are not perfect yet, and will not be until glorification, and so the process of sanctification carries on, with us being poured from one wineskin to the next...each pouring leaves some of us behind, some dregs of sin, but also strains at the very nature of who we are, and therefore can be painful. Let us expect this, and welcome it.

The second meaning I took from it, and it is very similar to the first, is something that the mere imagery reminded me of (unbeknownst of the true analogy on display). The impression I first received was one of personal disregard of sin. Ignorance of sin personally. For instance, if I watch certain shows that are non-conducive to my profession of faith in a Holy God, and yet purposely ignore this sin, and incorporate it as ‘a part of my life’ (for my own pleasure), then I am ‘settling on my dregs’, just letting sin stay in my life with my passive permission. This will inevitably lead to greater and greater decay (‘a little leaven leaven’s the whole lump’), and necessary judgment from God in the long run.

3) ‘Make him drunk,
Because he exalted himself against the LORD.
Moab shall wallow in his vomit,
And he shall also be in derision.’ (Jeremiah 48:26)

The third and most vile sin of the Moabites was to exalt themselves against the LORD. I tend to believe that this was a symptom of the previous two: they rested on their own treasures and works, thinking more and more that they were both satisfied and justified because of completely naturalistic things, while letting sin grow and grow in their midst. Eventually, their own contorted view was such that they were better than God, that their own plans and own sinful pleasures were better than anything God had to offer (in an explicit, rather than implicit sense). This apparent madness (to us) was a logical progression from the former, not so mad (to us) sins. And yet again, it is a trap that we ourselves fall into.

When we ‘tell’ God what to do in our lives, and expect things of Him for our own desires, we are exalting ourselves above Him. What right do we have to demand things of the God who not only made us, but the infinitely huge and infinitely complex Universe that surrounds us? It is an absurd notion, but one that many of us take to breaking point.

And here is the final point I wish to make: God’s grace. For through all that has been said of Moab, the last verse of the chapter says:

‘”Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab
In the latter days,” says the LORD.’ (Jeremiah 48:47a)

What grace! The punishment given is enough to admonish them for the sins they have committed, and God will bring the captives back to their own land in the latter days (this obviously hasn’t happened yet – further proof of the ‘latter days’ referring to a time not yet happened).

The application? Inevitably you have read the sins here and found yourself guilty on at least one account. The challenge is to change it. But remember that God is gracious and is willing to forgive all the sins you commit, which is the only way you will ever grow and become more pure in Him.