Bible Commentaries

The History of Moab the History of Mankind

Jeremiah 48:25

This chapter is full of Moab. We take next to no interest in Moab, the son of Lot; he is not one of the choice figures of history; yet, like many a land little known, there are wonderful surprises for those who will penetrate the history and study its meaning. Moab is a large word: it means not a man only, but a nation—large, haughty, and powerful; and it is in this view that we must now interpret its continual significance. The relations between Moab and Israel had for a long time been of a troubled and uneasy character. Moab had been tributary to Israel under Ahab, but, as we saw in2Kings iii, on the death of Ahab, Mesha revolted, and in the war which ensued the Moabites were defeated by the allied forces of Israel, Judah, and Edom. Moab, however, was not to be so easily suppressed. The Moabites repeated their attack ( 2 Kings 13:20), and appear to have occupied the territory of the trans-Jordanic tribes. But Moab was to have no more "praise"; in silence it was to be made silent, and from her little ones a cry as of continual weeping was to be heard. The heath in the wilderness, a stunted, solitary shrub of the desert, is set forth as the type of desolation. Even Chemosh, the national deity of Moab, was to go forth into captivity. The valley which was full of cities was to perish, even the sunken valley of the Jordan, and the plains of Moab. The arms of the Moabites having been broken, there arose a taunting cry, "Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away,"—Moab could strike no longer; its only hope was in flight.

The first charge brought against Moab is self-confidence, self-trust, self-sufficiency: "Because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken." This makes us contemporaries of the Moabites. We thought they were an ancient people, but behold how human they are, how English, how like ourselves and our children! They were so pleased with the stone wall they had put up; they measured it, and admired it, and said that it would save them from the high wind and the mighty storm. It was enough—high enough, broad enough, impenetrable, invincible. Now that is the kind of reasoning which God will not allow in human life. He demands that human life be lived in himself, and not in things that our own hands have made. Moab became her own god, and the true God judged her, and burned her with fire. Every man is under the temptation to be self-trustful. The temptation is the more powerful because it comes out of a principle which is right in itself,—namely, the principle of self-preservation, or self-defence. It is by a very fine shading that self-defence passes into self-sufficiency and idolatry, so much so that you can hardly see where the one becomes the other. If money is set up as a wall against providence it may be thrown down, and if intellect is content with its own victories, and will live only within the horizon which reason can see and measure, it shall be perplexed, bewildered, and humbled. We are to be taught distinctly that we do not live in ourselves; that in ourselves we have actually no life; that we have nothing that we have not received, and in that spirit alone we are to hold life and to live. "Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies"; "Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us." It would seem to be easy to put our whole trust in the living God, and yet it is the most difficult of all lessons. We will persist, even in opposition to many theories of our own to the contrary, that we are self-contained, self-consisting, and self-managing; and herein arises God's perpetual controversy with mankind. There Jeremiah 48:11)

When discipline is not endured gradually it is brought to bear upon the life as an overwhelming judgment. This is the burden of the text—"The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the Lord." The horn of animals was the symbol of their strength, and in this instance the semblance is extended to men and nations. The broken arm is a figure familiar to Scripture: "Son of Jeremiah 48:42) we read, "And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the Lord." The destruction, therefore, was not arbitrary, but moral, being based upon an assigned reason. "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." We should say, therefore, that this verse was the concluding verse in the whole history of Moab. What can there be after destruction? With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible. The chapter does not end with the forty-second verse, but with the forty-seventh, and this is how it reads: "Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord." One would fain construe these words into a hopeful omen. Out of what extremities cannot God deliver mankind? Let the most desponding rekindle their hope, and the most distant prodigal hear his father's voice. "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Can we be worse than Moab? Can we present fewer elements of hopefulness? Are we nearer ruin? Impossible! It is in the very extremity of our condition that God's grace is magnified. "They shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a Saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.... And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them." Who can set bounds to the mercy of God? Yet must there be no trifling, even with a gospel of hope. He who says he may continue to the end in the service of the devil and in the enjoyment of his own passions, and at the last God will be merciful to him, is guilty of blasphemy against the mercy to which he appeals. "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation." To all ruined men we would utter this gracious testimony. Remember the horn of Moab was cut off, and his arm was broken, and he became the contempt of the whole earth; and remember also that at the last his captivity was turned or brought again. Destruction alone can complete despair; but where there is life there should be hope, and where there is hope it should be fixed steadfastly and exclusively on the Son of God.

Prayer

Almighty God, thou dost always astonish us by the wonders of thy power, and thy wisdom, and thy love. Our amazement heightens as we gaze upon thy way; it is full of wonder, full of light, and we bless thee that it is a continual challenge to our imagination and to our adoring love. Thou art not to be known by us in all the fulness of thy being and purpose. We cannot find out the Almighty unto perfection. All these things that we see are but parts of his way, whisperings in the air; but the thunder of his power who can understand? Thou dost give power to the faint; and to them that have no might thou dost increase strength. These are the uses of thy power; these are the condescensions of almightiness. Here we begin to wonder with a great thankfulness that thou shouldst remember the son of man and visit the children of dust. Come to us now, we humbly pray thee, as we need thee most; in darkness bring light with thee; in trouble set before us the larger truth, which involves healing and immortality, and we shall scorn the trouble that would slay us; in perplexity show us the right way; carrying heavy burdens, if thou wilt not lessen the weight thou wilt increase the strength to bear. So we fall into thine hands; it is better to fall into the hands of God than into the hands of men. Specially do we fall into the hands of the redeeming God, revealed in Christ Jesus. This Man receiveth sinners; his blood cleanseth from all sin. In his wisdom is an answer to every doubt; in his righteousness an answer to every accusation; in his atonement a triumphant vindication of the law. We have all things in Christ; we can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth us. Amen.