Jeremiah against the nations;- Moab, page 1

Jeremiah and Ezekiel are the prophets of the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. To balance out their prophesies of judgement, both prophets have a collection of compensating prophesies against the enemies of Israel, with promises of hope for the future.

The Moabites clashed with the Israelites in Numbers ch25, and they were dominating Israel in Judges ch3. David made them a tributary people, but they reasserted their independence from the time of Ahab. After the fall of Jerusalem, they were among the neighbours who exploited the weakness of Judah (see Ezekiel ch25). Jeremiah ch48 is a sub-collection of prophecies concerning Moab, possibly from a different time.

In vv1-8 the plans for Moab’s destruction are made in Heshbon, known in Numbers as the city of Sihon king of the Amorites. Woe is reported from many of the cities of Moab; from Nebo, Kiriathaim, Horonaim. They trusted in their stronghold and their treasure but they are now being advised to flee. Their god Chemosh will go into exile with them. V9 says Moab needs wings to fly away.

V10; “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness; and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed”. Context is always important. This verse has been placed in a context where it encourages those who wage war against Moab.

V11 tells us that Moab has been “at ease from his youth” and has never gone into exile before. Yet the Lord says that the days are coming when he will send people to overthrow Moab, and they will be ashamed of their god Chemosh, in the same way that the house of Israel (that is, the northern kingdom) became ashamed of “Bethel, their confidence”. This comparison suggests that the prophecies are describing local wars in the period when Assyria was dominant.

The message begins to get repetitive. Vv14-17 are mocking the “heroes and mighty men of war”. Destruction or exile are announced for Dibon (v18) and Aroer (v19). Many other places are named in vv22-22.

V27 offers a reason for the Lord’s vengeance. The Moabites were guilty of mocking the troubles of Israel; “Was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him you wagged your head?” I take this to be a reference to the time when the northern kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians and taken into exile. That is how Moab “magnified himself against the Lord”. In return, the Lord is going to “make him drunk”, so that he wallows in his own vomit and is held in derision in his turn. The best known example of the “making drunk” image is probably the “cup of the wine of wrath” in ch25, where Babylon makes everybody drink it and then drink it themselves. I believe that “getting drunk” in this image is a metaphor about becoming weak and vulnerable.

Vv28-30 complain about the pride and insolence of Moab. That is why (vv31-33) the “fruitful” land will wither. No more shouts of joy when treading the wine-press. There will also be an end (v35) to the offering of incense and sacrifice to their gods. In all the towns of the Moabite there will be nothing but lamentation and signs of mourning; “For every head is shaved and every beard cut off; upon all the hands are gashes, and on the loins is sackcloth.”

V40 appears to introduce a specific conqueror; “behold, one shall fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Moab… Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he magnified himself against the Lord”. The inhabitants will be given the three choices of “terror, pit, and snare”.

V45; “A fire has gone forth from Heshbon, a flame from the house of Sihon.” That is the immediate threat to Moab, the reason why fugitives lose their strength “in the shadow of Heshbon”. The picture of destruction as coming by fire runs through the first chapter of Amos, also, which is another reason for associating these prophecies with an earlier generation. Heshbon will be “the house of Sihon” in the sense that Sihon was its legendary founder, in the same way that the men of Shechem still regarded themselves as the children of Hamor even in the time of Judges (Judges ch9 v28).

But what people, what political force does Heshbon represent? The town seems to be in debatable territory, just as Ramoth-Gilead was always in dispute between Israel and Syria. In v34, Heshbon was one of the lamenting towns of Moab. In ch49 v3, it will be named as one of the lamenting towns of the Ammonites. As a threat to the Moabites in v45, it could be an Ammonite city or it could be an independent power.

To sum up the situation. On the one hand, v46, the people of the god Chemosh are “undone”, because their sons and daughters have been taken into captivity (which sounds like an experience at the hands of the Assyrians).

On the other hand, v47, “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, says the Lord”. Because, of course, they had recovered by the time of Jeremiah, ready for a fresh set of offences.