JEREMIAH 48 - A message about Moab 

OVERVIEW

• Ezekiel (chapters 25-32) includes prophecies that addressed the surrounding pagan nations of Israel, also found in Isaiah (13-19) and Jeremiah (46-51)

• This series of prophecies, with one exception, was delivered at the time of the fall of Jerusalem, shortly before or after the capture of the city; they were to be a warning to the nations not to exult in their neighbor Israel’s fall  <C33>

• The Lord gave Jeremiah something like ‘traces of a plan’ concerning surrounding nations, conveyed to the Jews during the reign of Jehoiakim  <C32>

• The last chapters of Jeremiah (46-51) reveal God’s thoughts about the surrounding Gentile nations and are not chronically ordered by time or the affairs of the Jews

• These prophecies belong to all nations, not just the Jewish nation  <C34>

NOTES BY VERSE

Note: each ** comment in this document is listed in numerical order according to the verse(s) from this chapter

** Jeremiah prophesied against Egypt (ch 46) and the Philistines (ch 47), and now he pronounced destruction against the Moabites (ch 48); Moab, whose father was the son of Lot, was a large country with many cities

Jeremiah 48:2,4 NIV

[2] Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon people will plot her downfall: 'Come, let us put an end to that nation.' You, the people of Madmen, will also be silenced; the sword will pursue you. [4] Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out.

Genesis 19:36-38 NIV

[36] So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. [37] The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab ; he is the father of the Moabites of today. [38] The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi ; he is the father of the Ammonites of today.

Jeremiah 48:28 NIV

[28] Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave.

** Most of this chapter in Jeremiah is a prophecy against Moab which other nations will witness but the last verse announces God’s restoration of it

Jeremiah 48:2,4 NIV

[2] Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon people will plot her downfall: 'Come, let us put an end to that nation.' You, the people of Madmen, will also be silenced; the sword will pursue you. [4] Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out.

Jeremiah 48:16-17 NIV

[16] “The fall of Moab is at hand; her calamity will come quickly. [17] Mourn for her, all who live around her, all who know her fame; say, 'How broken is the mighty scepter, how broken the glorious staff!'

Jeremiah 48:19 NIV

[19] Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, ask them, 'What has happened?'

Jeremiah 48:39 NIV

[39] “How shattered she is! How they wail! How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her.”

Jeremiah 48:47 NIV

[47] “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come,” declares the Lord. Here ends the judgment on Moab.

** Do not trust in personal accomplishments or riches, for they will turn out to be your downfall

Jeremiah 48:7 NIV

[7] Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials.

Jeremiah 48:33,36 NIV

[33] Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy. [36] “So my heart laments for Moab like the music of a pipe; it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone.

** God willingly involves us in His plans, specific with instructions and consequences for disobedience

Jeremiah 48:10 NIV

[10] “A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord's work! A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed!

** The country of Moab did not experience  ‘suffering upon suffering’ — similar to wine being sifted as it is poured from one container to another — so her sin was not made conscious through difficulty; the nation therefore settled into its own sin and God’s judgment rested upon her  <M130>

Jeremiah 48:11-12 NIV

[11] “Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another---she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged. [12] But days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will send men who pour from pitchers, and they will pour her out; they will empty her pitchers and smash her jars.

Jeremiah 48:16-17 NIV

[16] “The fall of Moab is at hand; her calamity will come quickly. [17] Mourn for her, all who live around her, all who know her fame; say, 'How broken is the mighty scepter, how broken the glorious staff!'

** Isaiah 47 is a song of triumph over the fall of Babylon while other passages confirm this event; the speaker is either Jehovah or "a chorus of celestial beings" (Cheyne) bent on expressing their sympathy with Israel

The song divides itself into four strophes or stanzas... the first one of four verses (1-4), the second of three verses (5-7), the third of four verses (8-11) and the fourth also of four verses (12-15)  <B20>

Jeremiah 48:18 NIV

[18] “Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground, you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon, for the one who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities.

Isaiah 47:1,5,11 NIV

[1] “Go down, sit in the dust, Virgin Daughter Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, queen city of the Babylonians. No more will you be called tender or delicate. [5] “Sit in silence, go into darkness, queen city of the Babylonians; no more will you be called queen of kingdoms. [11] Disaster will come upon you, and you will not know how to conjure it away. A calamity will fall upon you that you cannot ward off with a ransom; a catastrophe you cannot foresee will suddenly come upon you.

Jeremiah 51:33 NIV

[33] This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Daughter Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time it is trampled; the time to harvest her will soon come. ”

Lamentations 2:10 NIV

[10] The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have sprinkled dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground.

Zechariah 2:7 NIV

[7] “Come, Zion! Escape, you who live in Daughter Babylon!”

** Pride and idolatry were two of the indicators that led Moab to destruction

Jeremiah 48:29-30 NIV

[29] “We have heard of Moab's pride---how great is her arrogance!---of her insolence, her pride, her conceit and the haughtiness of her heart. [30] I know her insolence but it is futile,” declares the Lord, “and her boasts accomplish nothing.

Jeremiah 48:35 NIV

[35] In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods,” declares the Lord.