HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1080
J EREMIA H 4 8
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He is like wine that has been allowed
to settle.
He has not been poured from flask
to flask,
and he is now fragrant and smooth.
But the time is coming soon,” says the
Lord,
“when I will send men to pour him
from his jar.
They will pour him out,
then shatter the jar!
At last Moab will be ashamed of his idol
Chemosh,
as the people of Israel were ashamed
of their gold calf at Bethel.*
“You used to boast, ‘We are heroes,
mighty men of war.’
But now Moab and his towns will be
destroyed.
His most promising youth are doomed
to slaughter,”
says the King, whose name is the Lord
of Heaven’s Armies.
“Destruction is coming fast for Moab;
calamity threatens ominously.
You friends of Moab,
weep for him and cry!
See how the strong scepter is broken,
how the beautiful staff is shattered!
“Come down from your glory
and sit in the dust, you people of Dibon,
for those who destroy Moab will shatter
Dibon, too.
They will tear down all your towers.
You people of Aroer,
stand beside the road and watch.
• Judging Others
page 710
Shout to those who flee from Moab,
‘What has happened there?’
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JE R E MIA H 4 8 :2 7
What is wrong with judging people?
When Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah,
the Moabites laughed. It was fun to see
their rival in trouble. Plus, this calamity—
well-deserved punishment, of course—
seemed to justify the Moabites’ negative
opinion of Judah. But now God says the
same disaster will fall upon Moab. Moab
is as sinful as Judah. A judgmental spirit
leads us to mistakenly consider ourselves morally superior to others—we
deserve blessing, they deserve judgment.
This displays dependence on our good
deeds, not God’s grace. This misplaced dependence can only harm our
relationship with God and with other
people.
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“And the reply comes back,
‘Moab lies in ruins, disgraced;
weep and wail!
Tell it by the banks of the Arnon River:
Moab has been destroyed!’
Judgment has been poured out on the
towns of the plateau—
on Holon and Jahaz* and Mephaath,
on Dibon and Nebo and Beth-diblathaim,
on Kiriathaim and Beth-gamul and
Beth-meon,
on Kerioth and Bozrah—
all the towns of Moab, far and near.
“The strength of Moab has ended.
His arm has been broken,” says the Lord.
“Let him stagger and fall like a drunkard,
for he has rebelled against the Lord.
Moab will wallow in his own vomit,
ridiculed by all.
Did you not ridicule the people of Israel?
Were they caught in the company of
thieves
that you should despise them as you do?
“You people of Moab,
flee from your towns and live in the
caves.
Hide like doves that nest
in the clefts of the rocks.
We have all heard of the pride of Moab,
for his pride is very great.
We know of his lofty pride,
his arrogance, and his haughty heart.
I know about his insolence,”
says the Lord,
“but his boasts are empty—
as empty as his deeds.
So now I wail for Moab;
yes, I will mourn for Moab.
My heart is broken for the men of
Kir-hareseth.*
“You people of Sibmah, rich in vineyards,
I will weep for you even more than I did
for Jazer.
Your spreading vines once reached as far as
the Dead Sea,*
but the destroyer has stripped you bare!
He has harvested your grapes and
summer fruits.
Joy and gladness are gone from fruitful
Moab.
The presses yield no wine.
No one treads the grapes with shouts of joy.
There is shouting, yes, but not of joy.
48:13 Hebrew ashamed when they trusted in Bethel.
48:21 Hebrew Jahzah, a variant spelling of Jahaz.
48:31 Hebrew Kir-heres, a variant spelling of Kir-hareseth;
also in 48:36. 48:32 Hebrew the sea of Jazer.