.48:1-47.

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A message concerning Moab (Jer 48:1-47)

Moab was one nation that tried to form an alliance with Judah against Babylon (see Jer 27:1-3).

Moab will now suffer Babylon’s anger. Jeremiah pictures the scene: the land devastated, fortresses smashed, cities destroyed, people crying out in distress, refugees fleeing from the invading armies (Jer 48:1-6).

Chemosh, Moab’s national god, cannot save the nation. Rather, it will be taken into captivity along with Moab’s civil and religious leaders. The towns of Moab will be left desolate (Jer 48:7-9).

In destroying Moab, the Babylonians are executing God’s work of judgment. Therefore, they must carry that work out to its completion (Jer 48:10).

Because its people had not previously been taken into exile, Moab is likened to wine that is allowed to sit in a jar undisturbed. But now, because its people are to be taken captive to Babylon, it is likened to wine that is to be emptied out of its jar (Jer 48:11-12).

The Moabites will lose trust in their god who has proved powerless to save them (Jer 48:13).

The best of Moab’s soldiers will be killed in the dreadful slaughter, and there will be widespread mourning over the shattered nation (Jer 48:14-17).

People throughout Moab will be shocked to hear how the nation’s defences have been ruined. The proud nation will be disgraced (Jer 48:18-20), the mighty nation broken, as God’s judgment spreads from one Moabite city to the next (Jer 48:21-25).

The people of Moab once despised and mocked Israel and Judah, but now they will be despised and mocked themselves. They will drink God’s wrath till they are drunk and vomit (Jer 48:26-27).

Once proud and arrogant, the Moabites will now be forced to flee in shame to look for refuge in the caves and dens of the mountains (Jer 48:28-30).

Jeremiah even feels pity for them, as he sees their widespread power broken, their crops destroyed, their country ruined (Jer 48:31-36).

The people shave their heads, cut their flesh and put on sackcloth as signs of their mourning, but it is too late. Moab is finished. It is like a broken pot that is thrown on the rubbish heap (Jer 48:37-39).

In a final declaration of Moab’s destruction, the prophet pictures Babylon swooping down on Moab as an eagle swoops down on its prey (Jer 48:40-43).

No matter which way they turn, there will be no escape for those on whom God’s judgment falls (Jer 48:44).

Moab’s chief cities will be burnt and its people taken captive (Jer 48:45-46; cf. Num 21:28-29). Yet God, in his mercy, will again preserve a remnant (Jer 48:47).