Jeremiah 48: 1 – 47
Pulling their hair out
1 Against Moab. Thus, says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe to Nebo! For it is plundered, Kirjathaim is shamed and taken; The high stronghold is shamed and dismayed— 2 No more praise of Moab. In Heshbon they have devised evil against her: ‘Come and let us cut her off as a nation.’ You also shall be cut down, O Madmen! The sword shall pursue you; 3 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim: ‘Plundering and great destruction!’ 4 “Moab is destroyed; Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard; 5 For in the Ascent of Luhith they ascend with continual weeping; For in the descent of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction. 6 “Flee, save your lives! And be like the juniper in the wilderness. 7 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. 8 And the plunderer shall come against every city; No one shall escape. The valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD has spoken. 9 “Give wings to Moab, that she may flee and get away; For her cities shall be desolate, without any to dwell in them. 10 Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD deceitfully and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood. 11 “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. 12 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I shall send him wine-workers who will tip him over and empty his vessels and break the bottles. 13 Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. 14 “How can you say, ‘We are mighty and strong men for the war’? 15 Moab is plundered and gone up from her cities; Her chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King, Whose Name Is the LORD of hosts. 16 “The calamity of Moab is near at hand, and his affliction comes quickly. 17 Bemoan him, all you who are around him; And all you who know his name, say, ‘How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!’ 18 “O daughter inhabiting Dibon, come down from your glory and sit in thirst; For the plunderer of Moab has come against you, he has destroyed your strongholds. 19 O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch; Ask him who flees and her who escapes; Say, ‘What has happened?’ 20 Moab is shamed, for he is broken down. Wail and cry! Tell it in Arnon, that Moab is plundered. 21 “And judgment has come on the plain country: On Holon and Jahzah and Mephaath, 22 On Dibon and Nebo and Beth Diblathaim, 23 On Kirjathaim and Beth Gamul and Beth Meon, 24 On Kerioth and Bozrah, on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. 25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken,” says the LORD. 26 “Make him drunk, because he exalted himself against the LORD. Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he shall also be in derision. 27 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. 28 You who dwell in Moab, leave the cities and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove which makes her nest in the sides of the cave’s mouth. 29 “We have heard the pride of Moab (He is exceedingly proud), of his loftiness and arrogance and pride, and of the haughtiness of his heart.” 30 “I know his wrath,” says the LORD, “But it is not right; His lies have made nothing right. 31 Therefore I will wail for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; I will mourn for the men of Kir Heres. 32 O vine of Sibmah! I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer. Your plants have gone over the sea, they reach to the sea of Jazer. The plunderer has fallen on your summer fruit and your vintage. 33 Joy and gladness are taken from the plentiful field and from the land of Moab; I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses; No one will tread with joyous shouting—Not joyous shouting! 34 “From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh and to Jahaz they have uttered their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim, like a three-year-old heifer; For the waters of Nimrim also shall be desolate. 35 “Moreover,” says the LORD, “I will cause to cease in Moab the one who offers sacrifices in the high places and burns incense to his gods. 36 Therefore My heart shall wail like flutes for Moab, and like flutes My heart shall wail for the men of Kir Heres. Therefore, the riches they have acquired have perished. 37 “For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped; On all the hands shall be cuts, and on the loins sackcloth—38 A general lamentation on all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets; For I have broken Moab like a vessel in which is no pleasure,” says the LORD. 39 “They shall wail: ‘How she is broken down! How Moab has turned her back with shame!’ So, Moab shall be a derision and a dismay to all those about her.” 40 For thus says the LORD: “Behold, one shall fly like an eagle, and spread his wings over Moab. 41 Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are surprised; The mighty men’s hearts in Moab on that day shall be like the heart of a woman in birth pangs. 42 And Moab shall be destroyed as a people, because he exalted himself against the LORD. 43 Fear and the pit and the snare shall be upon you, O inhabitant of Moab,” says the LORD. 44 “He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit, and he who gets out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For upon Moab, upon it I will bring the year of their punishment,” says the LORD. 45 “Those who fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of exhaustion. But a fire shall come out of Heshbon, a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the brow of Moab, the crown of the head of the sons of tumult. 46 Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perish; For your sons have been taken captive, and your daughters’ captive. 47 “Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab in the latter days,” says the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
Trichotillomania is a mental illness that causes a person the irresistible urge to pull out hair.
Trichotillomania is a type of impulse control disorder. People with these disorders know that they can do damage by acting on the impulses, but they cannot stop themselves. They may pull out their hair when they're stressed to try to soothe themselves.
There is no proven way to prevent trichotillomania. Learning stress management is also a good idea, since stress often triggers the hair-pulling behavior.
In today’s scripture we read in verse 37 “For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped.” People will be pulling out their hair due to the extreme stress in which they are going through. We have been learning in the last few studies our Holy Righteous God Yahweh Is bring about destruction on the nations surrounding Israel for all their evil. His tool to bring on this devastation are the Babylonians.
While the Philistines were a constant trouble to Israel/Judah from the west, mainly troubling western Israel/Judah, eastern Israel/Judah, especially east of Jordan, suffered constantly at the hands of Moab when it was strong. Moab was situated east of the Dead Sea. This was partly due to the fact that in the time of Moses Israel had occupied territory which Moab saw as its own, territory which had been taken from Moab by the Ammonites prior to the arrival of Israel, and had subsequently been occupied by Israel on the defeat of Sihon. The consequence was that when it was strong Moab never ceased to trouble Israel as it sought to gain back what it saw as its own, and it would take advantage of that position in order to further its own wider interests. Such marauding against Israel had taken place in the days of Jehioiakim
This is one example of how over the centuries Moab, when it was able, had consistently harried Israel, and annexed their land, something for which it now had to give a reckoning. But that is not the reason stated by Jeremiah for what is to happen. The reason for their judgment is rather to be resulting from:
a). Their trusting ‘in their works and in their treasures’ (verse 7).
b). Their derision at Israel/Judah’s suffering (verse 27; Zephaniah 2.8-10).
c). Their trusting in their god Chemosh (verses 7, 13, 46).
For the whole passage compare Isaiah 15-16, and consider especially Isaiah’s words ‘we have heard of the pride of Moab’. Moab had exulted and, in its god, Chemosh; had derided Israel in its sufferings; and had refused to turn to YHWH. It was thus ripe for chastening.
1 Against Moab. Thus, says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe to Nebo! For it is plundered, Kirjathaim is shamed and taken; The high stronghold is shamed and dismayed— 2 No more praise of Moab. In Heshbon they have devised evil against her: ‘Come and let us cut her off as a nation.’ You also shall be cut down, O Madmen! The sword shall pursue you;
‘Of Moab.’ A plain and succinct heading indicating the country in mind in the prophecy. YHWH is then identified by His full official title as ‘YHWH of hosts’, the One Who is over all the hosts both of heaven and of earth, and as ‘the God of Israel’, the official God worshipped by Israel Who still acknowledges them as His people even though they have been unfaithful to Him.
Moab was noted for its pride (Isaiah 16.6), and its judgment is described accordingly. Thus, it is to be ‘put to shame’, it is ‘no more to be praised’, it is to be ‘brought to silence’. It is to be humbled in the dust.
Various towns and cities in Moab are identified, and it is noteworthy that they are settlements which had once been a part of Israel. Heshbon was the leading city of Sihon, King of the Amorites (Numbers 21.25-30), and had been taken over by the tribe of Reuben on his defeat (Numbers 32.37). The fact that it was now Moabite speaks for itself. Kiriathaim, the plural ending probably indicating an upper and lower city, was also formerly a Reubenite city (Joshua 13.19) may refer to Dibon (Dimon in Isaiah 15.9) which was another Israelite city seized by Moab (‘m’ is often used to turn a verbal root into a noun). Thus, there had been a considerable annexation of land by Moab from Israel and it is salutary that the very cities that the Moabites had annexed and now proudly called their own, would now be destroyed.
3 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim: ‘Plundering and great destruction!’ 4 “Moab is destroyed; Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard;
Moab no longer rings with shouts of pride, but with cries of destruction, as her people flee as refugees. All her ‘little ones’ (her towns and villages) cry out. The idea of towns and cities as ‘daughters’ is found regularly elsewhere. Horonaim was another annexed area and was another dual city that was to be destroyed. But it is then made clear that the destruction of these cities is synonymous with the destruction of Moab with all her towns.
5 For in the Ascent of Luhith they ascend with continual weeping; For in the descent of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.
As the people of Moab flee before the enemy, seeking to escape as they laboriously climb the ascent of Luhith and make their way down the descent of Horonaim, (consider the difficulty that they must have faced, a long line of refugees, as they made their way up and down the passes bearing with them the possessions with which they fled) there is continual weeping and distress for the destruction that has come on their country and on their cities, the sound of which destruction is ringing in their ears from behind even as they seek to escape down ‘the descent of Horonaim’.
6 “Flee, save your lives! And be like the juniper in the wilderness. 7 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. 8 And the plunderer shall come against every city; No one shall escape. The valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD has spoken.
The call to them is to flee and save their lives, something which will result for them in conditions here depicted in term of ‘vegetation and shrubs in the semi-desert’, something stunted and fighting for life. They share the plight of all refugees in a war situation. And this was because their trust had been in their own achievements (their ‘work’) and in their wealth (their ‘treasures’ - mainly their vast numbers of sheep). Nor had Chemosh, their god in whom they had gloried been able to assist them. He too would be carried off into captivity, along with his priests and princes, to be ignominiously dealt with by his captors by being carried off helplessly on the backs of mules while the whole land was being destroyed. Meanwhile no city would escape, and the countryside and valleys would bear their share of destruction. The whole land, city and countryside, would be devastated. And all this was because, in contrast with the helpless Chemosh, YHWH had spoken.
Note the huge contrast here between Chemosh and YHWH. Outwardly it might have appeared that neither could defend their people, for both nations would have been pillaged, but Jeremiah’s whole point is that YHWH’s people have suffered at YHWH’s hands as chastisement for their sins, precisely because they had turned to idols, and not because YHWH had been powerless to help them (had they obeyed YHWH’s word through Jeremiah they would not have been devastated). And He would therefore deliver them again. It did not thus indicate that YHWH had been helpless. No one had carried YHWH off in a mule train. Rather it was in fact He Who had brought the situation about. And as seen here He was still in overall control of events both on behalf of His people and on behalf of surrounding nations. He was LORD of all.
9 “Give wings to Moab, that she may flee and get away; For her cities shall be desolate, without any to dwell in them. 10 Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD deceitfully and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood.
With pointed irony the prophet calls for wings to be given to Moab so that she could flee the more quickly. But it would not be for the people’s benefit. They would still be refugees. This prayer was rather to underline the speed that they would need in order to escape, the devastation that was being left behind, and the haste in which they were having to leave it. While she ‘flew away’ her cities would be left devastated and uninhabited, her land desolated by war.
This whole picture is then underlined by what follows, the calling for a curse on the invaders if they failed to do their task properly. This was because they were seen as doing the work of YHWH in bringing judgment on Moab, and had thus to do it to His satisfaction. They must not therefore draw back or hesitate. They must fulfil that task to the full.
It is a reminder that nothing that is done for God should be done casually.
11 “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.
Moab is likened to a skin of wine which has been left to mature. The picture is vivid. It is quality wine which is left to mature in this way. The lees have settled on the bottom and nothing has escaped, neither scent nor taste, because the skin has never been opened and poured out into another container. The wine has thus become rich and fruity, a delight both to the nose and the palate. Moab was like this because up until now her people had escaped invasion and being taken into exile. They had not been ‘poured out’. Rather they had continued to grow wealthy and expand their flocks of sheep without hindrance (their wealth was founded on sheep - 2 Kings 3.4). They would, of course, at times have had to pay tribute, but by doing so expediently they had escaped worse. But we know that at this stage they were getting involved in intrigue against Babylon, and this time therefore they would not escape.
12 “Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I shall send him wine-workers who will tip him over and empty his vessels and break the bottles. 13 Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.
Moab’s complacency will soon be shattered as surely as YHWH has spoken. Her wineskins will be opened and poured out, and they will be made empty. And the wineskins themselves will be shattered and rendered useless. Such will be her condition that she will be ashamed of her god Chemosh as she recognizes that he has been unable to help her. Just as in the same way Israel were made ashamed of Bethel. This latter possibly has in mind the golden calf at Bethel set up by Jeroboam I (1 Kings 12.29), or it may refer to an actual god worshipped under the name of Bethel. Such a god was known among the Jewish colony at Elephantine in 5th century BC. The parallel and the phraseology might be favoring the second as more probable, but even if that is so the worship of the golden calf would almost certainly be in mind. That god too had failed to deliver Israel.
14 “How can you say, ‘We are mighty and strong men for the war’? 15 Moab is plundered and gone up from her cities; Her chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter,” says the King, Whose Name Is the LORD of hosts.
In their complacency the people of Moab trusted in their armed forces, in their champions and in their men of valor. They had no doubt that they could cope with anything. (Like many peoples of that day they did not quite realize what they were up against). But the consequence of that trust would be that Moab would be laid waste, her cities possessed, and her choice young men slaughtered.
Note the growth of the case against Moab. She had trusted in her accomplishments and her wealth (verse 7), she had trusted in the fact that she had never experienced exile for her people (verse 11), she had trusted in the ability of her god Chemosh (verses 7, 13), and now she trusted in her military strength. What she was always unwilling to do was trust in the true and living God, even though her antecedents had been God-worshippers (Genesis 19.37-38).
And this will occur because it is the word of the true King (melech), YHWH of hosts, in contrast with the false god Melech, who was worshipped both by Moab’s neighbor Ammon, and by many throughout Canaan). Thus, both Chemosh and Melech (Molech) have been dismissed, for it is YHWH Who is over all the hosts of heaven and earth.
16 “The calamity of Moab is near at hand, and his affliction comes quickly. 17 Bemoan him, all you who are around him; And all you who know his name, say, ‘How the strong staff is broken, the beautiful rod!’
Because of the word of YHWH Moab’s downfall is imminent, her affliction will speedily come. All who her neighbors who had so admired her would soon mourn for her, having seen her as the strong and reliable one in the area, the strong staff/scepter, and the beautiful stave. Such staffs were used for scepters, for weapons, and for assisting men in walking, indicating the strength that Moab was seen to have. Her neighbors had relied on her strength. But soon it would be having come to nothing.
18 “O daughter inhabiting Dibon, come down from your glory and sit in thirst; For the plunderer of Moab has come against you, he has destroyed your strongholds. 19 O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way and watch; Ask him who flees and her who escapes; Say, ‘What has happened?’
Dibon was an important city (once an Israelite city), probably above the banks of the River Arnon. It belonged to Moab by the time of Mesha. There was no shortage of water for them. And it dwelt in splendor and glory, a royal city. But it is to be equally humiliated with all the other towns and cities. It too will sit in thirst in the heat and the dust, possibly awaiting transportation. But the ‘coming down’ to the thirst and the dust may also indicate self-humiliation because of what it sees coming on Moab, for the destroyer of Moab is coming against them, and has already destroyed many strongholds. There is therefore no point in her sitting there in her pride.
This was probably the Aroer on the north bank of the Arnon where its inhabitants were to observe the flight of the once proud Dibonites. They are called on to observe the humiliation of Dibon, and, as the refugees from Dibon stream past, to ask, ‘what has happened?’. It is a theoretical picture. In reality the inhabitants of Aroer would be fleeing as well. It is intended simply to bring out the awfulness of the situation.
20 Moab is shamed, for he is broken down. Wail and cry! Tell it in Arnon, that Moab is plundered. 21 “And judgment has come on the plain country: On Holon and Jahzah and Mephaath, 22 On Dibon and Nebo and Beth Diblathaim,
23 On Kirjathaim and Beth Gamul and Beth Meon, 24 On Kerioth and Bozrah, on all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. 25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken,” says the LORD.
Prior to this the emphasis has been on the towns and cities in northern Moab, which had been seized from Israel. But now the whole of Moab is in mind, and its great towns and cities are listed, including many mentioned above. What is now being described is the devastation of the whole of Moab. Its great pride was now to be humbled, and it was to be ‘put to shame’. At the crossing-place of the Arnon the story would be told, ‘Moab is laid waste, and judgment has come on the Plateau’.
The great towns and cities of the Plateau are now listed as being a part of the destruction. Dibon and Nebo have been mentioned, and along with Kiriathaim and Beth-diblathaim.
‘The horn of Moab is cut off.’ Wild animals in captivity had their horns cut off so as to render them powerless, and the horn is ever a symbol of strength. The breaking of the arm indicated a similar situation. A man could not fight with a broken sword arm. In the same way would Moab be rendered powerless by Babylon. And all this in accord with the prophetic word of YHWH.
26 “Make him drunk, because he exalted himself against the LORD. Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he shall also be in derision. 27 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.
The invaders, ‘you’, are called on to make Moab so drunk with the wine of the wrath of YHWH that she wallows in her own vomit, becoming a pitiable sight mocked by the nations, in the same way as she had once mocked Israel. The invaders are to be instruments in God’s hands. But we should note that the whole idea of drinking emphasizes that Moab themselves deliberately partake of it by their own actions. YHWH’s punishments are not direct but are the consequences of man’s rebellion connected with man’s inhumanity to man. Thus the arrogance of Moab and the cruelty of the Babylonians were both tools in His hands for the fulfilling of His purposes. Indeed had Moab heeded YHWH when He warned against rebellion against the Babylonians she would not have suffered these judgments. She thus brought them on herself. We should always remember that God’s judgments are brought about by men’s schemes, even though it be under His sovereign hand.
It was, however, because Moab had magnified itself against YHWH by deriding His failure to protect Israel, by not responding to Him and by not heeding YHWH’s warning against rebellion against Babylon, that they themselves must be brought low. They had continually wagged their heads in derision at Israel’s earlier fate, and the prophet challenges them as to why they had done so. Had they any grounds for suggesting that Israel were deserving of their fate because they had allied themselves with marauding nations (had been found among thieves)? Moab’s attitude was due to the consequence of Israel having entered alliance with bad companions. If that is so they had now done the same thing themselves, for they were not alone in the rebellion which brought Nebuchadnezzar’s wrath on them.
The verb ‘Wallow’ literally means ‘clap the hand’ or ‘slap the thigh’. The thought is seemingly of their response to their situation expressed in gesticulation.
28 You who dwell in Moab, leave the cities and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove which makes her nest in the sides of the cave’s mouth.
So, the Moabites are now called on to flee from their cities and become refugees in the mountains. Like the dove who chooses the most inaccessible place for its nest, they are to seek out hiding places where they can be safe, dwelling in caves and holes in the rocks, a contrast with their sophisticated lives in their cities.
29 “We have heard the pride of Moab (He is exceedingly proud), of his loftiness and arrogance and pride, and of the haughtiness of his heart.”
These words are very similar to those found in Isaiah 16.1-11. They are similar enough to indicate that Jeremiah knew of Isaiah’s prophecy. It would seem clear that Moab’s pride in itself, and its extreme arrogance, were proverbial. It was time now for them to be humbled so that they would recognize the inadequacy of their god Chemosh, and the smallness of their own status.
30 “I know his wrath,” says the LORD, “But it is not right; His lies have made nothing right. 31 Therefore I will wail for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; I will mourn for the men of Kir Heres. 32 O vine of Sibmah! I will weep for you with the weeping of Jazer. Your plants have gone over the sea, they reach to the sea of Jazer. The plunderer has fallen on your summer fruit and your vintage. 33 Joy and gladness are taken from the plentiful field and from the land of Moab; I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses; No one will tread with joyous shouting—Not joyous shouting!
In Isaiah it is Moab which howls, although the prophet also weeps with them God’s judgments are always accompanied by God’s weeping even as He carries them out. He is no hard-nosed judge.
YHWH looks with scorn at Moab’s attempts to aggrandize itself. “I know his wrath, the word of YHWH, that it is naught, his boastings have accomplished nothing --.” Both his self-expressed haughty anger against lesser peoples, and his loud boastings, are a nothing, and accomplish nothing. They are empty attitudes and words. In the end all empires, both small and great, collapse into themselves and find themselves subdued.
It is YHWH Himself Who weeps for Moab. And His weeping is in parallel with the weeping of Moab or of sympathetic onlookers (‘they’). This underlines the compassion of YHWH while at the same time emphasizing the certainty of what will be. It also brings out the inevitable nature of what follows. The fact that YHWH will weep over it proves that it will happen. But it further brings out that YHWH is not acting in a vindictive manner. He is doing what has to be done. But even as He judges He weeps. He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, necessary though it be.
Kir-heres, ‘the city of the sun’, was probably a strong Moabite fortress the defeat of which with its powerful defenders signaled the totality of the disaster coming on Moab. Even the sun god worshipped there could not prevent coming disaster. It was only to be seen as an irrelevance not worthy of mention. What happened there was in the hands of YHWH. For Kir-heres compare Kir-haresheth (Isaiah 16.7) and Kir of Moab (Isaiah 15.1). Taken together these references indicate an important city.
Both Jazer (Joshua 21.39) and Sibmah (Joshua 13.19) appear to have been near Heshbon, and they appear to have been situated in a part of the land prominent for its vineyards. The vineyards encompassed Jazer and Sibmah stretching even to ‘the sea of Jazer’. This latter was probably a famous inland lake in northern Moab, although some see it as referring to the Dead Sea. Thus their inhabitants were united in mourning over the destruction of their vineyards. But though the mourning of the vinedressers of Jazer might be deep, it did not compare with the depths of the weeping of YHWH. He was equally deeply involved.
The whole of Moab’s vintage crop will be destroyed, along with its summer fruits (figs and pomegranates) and harvests, with the result that the wine presses will lie empty and unused, and there will be no threaders of the grapes to shout joyously as they trample on the grapes. What shouting occurs will not be joyous shouting. It will not be the shouting of the threaders of the grapes exulting in the harvest, but that of the conquerors scenting their own harvest of booty and conquest.
34 “From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh and to Jahaz they have uttered their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim, like a three-year-old heifer; For the waters of Nimrim also shall be desolate.
The weeping and crying will not just be localized, it will stretch to all the cities of Moab. Heshbon and Elealeh were two miles apart, and Jahaz was not too far away. The whole area in northern Moab (once Reubenite) would be filled with weeping and cries of distress. And the same would apply to the region from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah, including the waters of Nimrim. Here we are in southern Moab. All would become desolate.
‘Eglath-shelishiyah ’ means literally ‘heifer of the third year’, that is, one not brought under the yoke. Most commentators see it as the name of a city, the three names in southern Moab paralleling those in northern Moab. Others see it as signifying ‘the third Eglath’ (there being two other towns of the same name), or as signifying that Eglath is the third of the triumvirate Zoar, Horonaim and Eglath. Still others consider that it rather indicates that Horonaim (or Horonaim and Zoar) was a city that had never been previously brought under foreign control, the parallel to Jazer (compare ‘the sea of Jazer’ above) being the waters of Nimrim.
35 “Moreover,” says the LORD, “I will cause to cease in Moab the one who offers sacrifices in the high places and burns incense to his gods.
Here is one of the foundations causes of YHWH’s judgments, the false worship of the Moabites, for they were descended from worshipers of the true God (Genesis 19.37) and were therefore without excuse. Thus, YHWH prophetically assures them that the priests and worshipers of Moab’s false gods will have their activities ended by Him. The ‘high place’ has in mind altars in sanctuaries, some possibly in the mountains. Incense offering was common throughout the Near East, and ancient incense altars have been found.
36 Therefore My heart shall wail like flutes for Moab, and like flutes My heart shall wail for the men of Kir Heres. Therefore, the riches they have acquired have perished. 37 “For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped; On all the hands shall be cuts, and on the loins sackcloth—
The heart of YHWH is so moved that its vibes sound like funeral pipes playing for the men of Moab and Kir-heres. Even while they suffer under His judgments YHWH weeps with them over their sufferings. And yet His weeping is the very proof that it will happen. Of course, all these expressions are emphasizing that God understands our sufferings and shares in our grief, something especially revealed when He became man on our behalf. This reminds us that when we look at the problem of suffering we must look deep. Our problem is that we are so sinful that we are not aware of the problem of sin. Thus we do not understand why God has to act as He does.
The consequence of what YHWH wept for was that the wealth of Moab would perish, her abundance would cease. And as a result, they would all be in dire mourning. The shaving of the head, the clipping of the beard, the cuttings on the hands and the sackcloth on the loins were all recognised funerary activities.
38 A general lamentation on all the housetops of Moab, and in its streets; For I have broken Moab like a vessel in which is no pleasure,” says the LORD.
In every town and city lamentation would be everywhere, and this would include in rooftop sanctuaries and resting places. And this would be because YHWH had broken Moab like a clay vessel which no one wanted, either because it was cracked, or because it was dirty, past its user date and useless. The point is that Moab’s condition is in mind. It has become defiled and useless. And this was the assured prophetic word of YHWH.
In its pride Moab considered itself invulnerable and well able to take care of itself. It exalted its own god, Chemosh, above YHWH as it arrogantly surveyed what had happened to Judah/Israel. But its very pride led to it refusing tribute to Babylon, with the consequences which followed. When men become too confident in themselves they are heading for a downfall. It may be delayed, but it will come. And if we put anything before God we can be sure that it will be the cause of our downfall.
39 “They shall wail: ‘How she is broken down! How Moab has turned her back with shame!’ So, Moab shall be a derision and a dismay to all those about her.”
The end of Moab is vividly described. It is shattered. Its people wail. It turns away with shame. For it has become a derision to all who are around it and were aware of its arrogant claims. The proud nation is to be humbled before all, to the horror of the nations, who will themselves be terrified at the sight, something seen as already accomplished in the prophet’s eyes. How many people today have experienced a similar fate when they have foolishly turned away from or forgotten God? What we sow we reap
40 For thus says the LORD: “Behold, one shall fly like an eagle, and spread his wings over Moab. 41 Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are surprised; The mighty men’s hearts in Moab on that day shall be like the heart of a woman in birth pangs. 42 And Moab shall be destroyed as a people, because he exalted himself against the LORD.
The people were used to the sight of the terrible eagle as it hovered in the sky and then pounced on some prey for which it had been seeking. In a similar way would Nebuchadrezzar descend upon Moab, flying as an eagle and spreading his wings over Moab, descending to seize his prey. Even mighty Kerioth (see verse 24) would be taken, and Moab’s strongholds would all be seized, and the heart of its trained fighting men would be as desperate and helpless as a woman lying helpless in her labor pains. The dove which had its nest in the clefts of the rock (verse 28), and had thought itself invulnerable, would fall prey to the mighty eagle swooping down from above. For Moab was to be destroyed from being an identifiable nation. And it was because it had magnified itself against God.
43 Fear and the pit and the snare shall be upon you, O inhabitant of Moab,” says the LORD. 44 “He who flees from the fear shall fall into the pit, and he who gets out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For upon Moab, upon it I will bring the year of their punishment,” says the LORD.
The picture is one of hunted animals, first the animals in terror at the approach of the hunters, then the pit prepared for them into which they are driven, and finally for those who manage to scramble out of the pit, the hunter’s snare which seals the fate of those who escape.
So, the vivid picture changes, although the message is the same. Moab is now seen as fleeing in fear like a hunted animal and falling into a hunter’s pit. And if any manage to scramble out of the pit it is only to find themselves caught in a snare’s trap. There is to be no escape. For it is the year of their visitation, the time when they receive retribution for all that they have been and done. It is a reminder of the words of our own poet, ‘The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small’. And all this in accordance with the prophetic word of YHWH.
It is salutary for us all to recognize that ‘the day of our visitation’ will come. One day every one of us will give account to God for what we have done in our bodies, whether good or bad. We should therefore live in readiness for that day.
45 “Those who fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of exhaustion. But a fire shall come out of Heshbon, a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the brow of Moab, the crown of the head of the sons of tumult.
The Moabites are fleeing to mighty Heshbon, once the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, prior to the arrival of Israel (Numbers 21.26). Now the capital city of Ammon (49.3). But Heshbon will do them no favours. For instead of succor, from Heshbon will come fire, for Heshbon also will be in the hands of their enemies. And the fire will devour them, identified as deserving of judgment as they are by their godless symbolism. Arriving at Heshbon panic-stricken, the shaping of their beards and their heads as an indication of mourning, reveal them as belonging to Chemosh, the Moabite god, for they are recognized symbols of pagan mourning. It is as such that they will be devoured.
46 Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perish; For your sons have been taken captive, and your daughters’ captive. 47 “Yet I will bring back the captives of Moab in the latter days,” says the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
And the final consequence will be exile. As those who proudly call themselves ‘the people of Chemosh’ they will be hauled away to foreign lands to eke out their existence, as Israel/Judah had been because of their worship of false gods. Chemosh can do nothing to help them. He is a nonentity.
But it is not to be an end. In later days many of them will be restored to their land, as indeed would happen under Cyrus of Persia. And this in accordance with the prophetic word of YHWH. There is also in this the hint that one day Moab would participate in the blessing of God when the Gospel reached out to the ends of the earth.
‘Thus far is the judgment of Moab.’ The judgment has been pronounced. Now awaits its execution. But it is a judgment tinged with mercy.
