Slices
Prepare
Take your concerns and struggles to your loving heavenly Father.
Bible passage
‘Make her drunk,
for she has defied the Lord.
Let Moab wallow in her vomit;
let her be an object of ridicule.
27 Was not Israel the object of your ridicule?
Was she caught among thieves,
that you shake your head in scorn
whenever you speak of her?
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.
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.
31 Therefore I wail over Moab,
for all Moab I cry out,
I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth.
32 I weep for you, as Jazer weeps,
you vines of Sibmah.
Your branches spread as far as the sea;
they reached as far as Jazer.
The destroyer has fallen
on your ripened fruit and grapes.
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.
34 ‘The sound of their cry rises
from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz,
from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah,
for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.
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.
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.
37 Every head is shaved
and every beard cut off;
every hand is slashed
and every waist is covered with sackcloth.
38 On all the roofs in Moab
and in the public squares
there is nothing but mourning,
for I have broken Moab
like a jar that no one wants,’
declares the Lord.
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.’
40 This is what the Lord says:
‘Look! An eagle is swooping down,
spreading its wings over Moab.
41 Kerioth will be captured
and the strongholds taken.
In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors
will be like the heart of a woman in labour.
42 Moab will be destroyed as a nation
because she defied the Lord.
43 Terror and pit and snare await you,
you people of Moab,’
declares the Lord.
44 ‘Whoever flees from the terror
will fall into a pit,
whoever climbs out of the pit
will be caught in a snare;
for I will bring on Moab
the year of her punishment,’
declares the Lord.
45 ‘In the shadow of Heshbon
the fugitives stand helpless,
for a fire has gone out from Heshbon,
a blaze from the midst of Sihon;
it burns the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls of the noisy boasters.
46 Woe to you, Moab!
The people of Chemosh are destroyed;
your sons are taken into exile
and your daughters into captivity.
47 ‘Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in days to come,’
declares the Lord.
Here ends the judgment on Moab.
Explore
What is God like? There are many places we can go in search of answers to that all-important question. In the 500s BC, God’s actions, the prophets, and their interpretation of events gave foundational insight: insight which we gain from too.
So, what can we glean from today’s passage? Moab lies desolate, food production has stopped, the whole land echoes with the sound of weeping, and all this at God’s instigation: ‘I have stopped the flow of wine’ (v 33); ‘I will put an end to those who make offerings’ (v 35); ‘I have broken Moab…’ (v 38). From this, we see God is holy and is angered by sin and especially idolatry. God is powerful and fearful. But there are other qualities shown here too, which prevent us mischaracterising him as cruel, sadistic or cold.
Ezekiel tells us God gets no pleasure from the death of the wicked (Ezekiel 18:23), but here it goes much further than neutrality – the enactment of his righteous judgement causes him profound pain: ‘I wail … I cry out … I moan … I weep for you … my heart laments …’ (vs 31,32,36).
In Jesus, God has revealed to us his true nature, the fullness of himself in human form. And his crucifixion is the ultimate picture of God’s own suffering in the judgement of our sin (Isaiah 53:4–6).
Respond
Thank God that you have peace with him through the blood of Jesus, shed on the cross (Colossians 1:20).
Deeper Bible study
Lord, the fortunes of all the nations and all their people are in your hands. Teach me to surrender my life to you and lead others to do the same.
Moab is totally ruined and its destruction is described in many vivid metaphors. Its demise is territorial, social, religious and economic. In its heyday, Moab was famed for overweening pride, conceit and arrogant self-admiration. It was offensively contemptuous, boastful and idolatrous. It did not take God into its reckoning. It defied God and ridiculed Israel. Therefore, it faced God’s total judgement. It is described as a despised drunk wallowing in its own vomit (v 26). It has lost its status, its land; it is homeless and stateless. Its military strength drains away as in childbirth, in its defencelessness it is picked on and shattered as if it was a discarded clay jar. Its famed vine groves and the wine that formed the basis of its economic success are ruined by God through his agent Nebuchadnezzar, who is likened to a bird of prey (v 40).
The destruction is so total that Jeremiah is moved to mourn with Moab (vs 32,36). The nation's immediate future is bleak, with nowhere to turn; terror, snare, pit and exile are its only choices. ‘It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.’1 However, in the midst of judgement, God remembers mercy and so promises to re-establish a remnant in Moab (v 47).
The reasons given for Moab’s harsh judgement are, first, that its people defied God (v 42) and, second, that they ridiculed Israel for no reason (v 27). The Bible makes it clear that there is only one God, the Lord (whom we know as the Father of our Lord Jesus). Therefore, worship of any gods, like Chemosh, and other forms of idolatry are defying God and incur his wrath.
Every person and nation will give account of themselves to God and receive his unbiased judgement. In Jesus, God has given a way by which we may be saved.
1 Heb 10:31, AV
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Obadiah; Psalms 142,143
Pray for Scripture Union
Content Assistant Jill Warren is responsible for managing many of the resources produced by the Development Hub liaising with authors and suppliers. Pray for her as she works on finalising Daily Bread for October to December 2023.
