Philistia and Moab Invite God’s Discipline On Themselves

Jeremiah 47:1-48:47                             Kevin E. Jesmer

Key Verse: 48:10                                    4-8-18

“A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!    A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed”

Part 1: God Works In Anyway He Chooses (47:1-7)

Verses 47:1-7, “47 This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza: 2 This is what the Lord says: “See how the waters are rising in the north; they will become an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and everything in it, the towns and those who live in them.  The people will cry out; all who dwell in the land will wail 3 at the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds, at the noise of enemy chariots and the rumble of their wheels. Parents will not turn to help their children; their hands will hang limp. 4 For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines and to remove all survivors who could help Tyre and Sidon. The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.5 Gaza will shave her head in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. You remnant on the plain how long will you cut yourselves? 6 “‘Alas, sword of the Lord, how long till you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still.’7But how can it rest when the Lord has commanded it when he has ordered it to attack Ashkelon and the coast?”

God can use godless people to accomplish his purposes.  Jeremiah predicted that Babylon, not Egypt would be God’s instrument of judgment on Philistia. The “waters rising in the north” (2) refer to Babylon. Babylon was the “sword of the Lord.” (6) It is hard for people to accept a godless nation, like the Babylonians serve as God’s instrument of judgement. But it is true. Babylon would have to face judgement one day for their sins. They were not getting away with anything. Their own kingdom would fall to the Persians in about seventy years from the time of the exile.

God can use godless people to accomplish his purposes, for he is the Owner of all the world. We cannot put God in a box, saying that God can only work this way and in no other way. God can work how he wants. He is God. He is fulfilling his purposes. And in this chapter, he chooses to work through the godless nation, the Babylonians.

I need to not put God in a box and insist that he must only work in a certain way. I want to be open to follow God and hang on tight as he leads me in ways that I could never imagine. How is God going to send career missionaries to remote communities in northern Canada? How will God build up the body of Christ among us here in Dekalb/Sycamore? He is working and will continue to work in very imaginative and “out of the box” ways.

When we are in the midst of suffering, we must also ask ourselves, “What is God doing through all of these events.”. We may in the throws to pain and anguish. Our nations may be suffering at the hands of a cruel enemy. We must ask, “What does all of this mean? How am I to respond to this? What is God trying to teach me?” There may not be a clear answer. But I do know that God is working out his sovereign plan. He is in control. He has never stopped trying to teach us and grow us in faith and closer to him.”

Sometimes we don’t want to know why we are suffering, because like Moabites, we may be called to repentance. God’s goal is humbly us and draw us closer to him. That is not easy to accept. Could the present world events with Muslim extremists or with Russia and China be a message for America? What could happen to America if we let pride and arrogance grow unchecked? It is something to think about. It is a definitely a call to search out hearts and our souls.

Part 2: Moab’s Pride and Arrogance Will Be Checked (48:1-47)

Verse 48:1-47, “Concerning Moab: This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined.  Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered. 2 Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon people will plot her downfall: ‘Come, let us put an end to that nation. ’You, the people of Madmen, will also be silenced; the sword will pursue you. 3 Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim, cries of great havoc and destruction. 4 Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out. 5 They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard.6 Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert.7 Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials. 8 The destroyer will come against every town,  and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the Lord has spoken. 9 Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste ;her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them. 10 “A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work! A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed! 11 “Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another— she has not gone into exile. So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged. 12 But days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will send men who pour from pitchers, and they will pour her out; they will empty her pitchers and smash her jars. 13 Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel. 14 “How can you say, ‘We are warriors, men valiant in battle’? 15 Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded; her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,” declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty. 16 “The fall of Moab is at hand; her calamity will come quickly. 17 Mourn for her, all who live around her, all who know her fame; say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter, how broken the glorious staff!’ 18 “Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground, you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon, for the one who destroys Moab will come up against you and ruin your fortified cities. 19 Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, ask them, ‘What has happened?’ 20 Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered.  Wail and cry out! Announce by the Arnon  that Moab is destroyed.21 Judgment has come to the plateau—  to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath, 22  to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim, 23  to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon, 24  to Kerioth and Bozrah—  to all the towns of Moab, far and near.25 Moab’s horn is cut off; her arm is broken,” declares the Lord. 26 “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 labor.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.”

There are a lot of verses here to digest. I tried to highlight some verses to distill it down and see what God is trying to say to Moab here in this passage.

Flee! Run for your lives;….(10)

“A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work! A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed! …

(14) “How can you say, ‘We are warriors, men valiant in battle’?… ’

20 Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered. …2

5 Moab’s horn is cut off; her arm is broken,”…

26 Let Moab wallow in her vomit;….

33 Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab….

35 In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods,”…

38 for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants,” …

(39) How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her.”

(41) In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor… (42b) because she defied the Lord. …

(45) the skulls of the noisy boasters.

It seems that Moab was very boastful. They thought they were a nation of valiant warriors. She thought that she was powerful. They were enjoying life with joy and gladness coming from their orchards. Verses 29-30 reveal what was making him so upset about Moab. “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.” Moab had a bad history with God’s people. They had frequently harassed Israel. They had tried to curse the Israelites in the wilderness (Nu 22-25).

It was their time to be judged for their sins. Chemosh was the god of Moab (7,13). He would go into exile with the Moabites who worshiped him. The cities of Moab from one end to the other (Heshbon to Zoan) would be destroyed (9), because Moab had defied the Lord (42).  God encouraged Babylon to sweep into Moab with its armies. They were not to be lax in doing the Lord’s work–the work of punishing Moab (10).

God’s hand of judgment has a redemptive purpose. His people, the people of Judah would be refined and return to the Lord with humble obedient hearts. Even Moab could be restored. Look at verse 45 says, “Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come,” declares the Lord. Here ends the judgment on Moab.” God leaves people with hope, even though they would be receiving some very harsh treatment.

I think that the main point here is that we need to repent of our pride, arrogance and our boastfulness. God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. (James 4:6). We like to boast about ourselves, but what do we really have to boast about? What do we have that we have not been given? 1 Corinthians 4:7 reads, “For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”

If we want to exalt ourselves and think more about ourselves than we ought, we must repent pray that God may transform our hearts into humble hearts. God’s divine discipline is going to happen. We should not wait for God to do it for us through some very difficult discipline.

Prayer: “Lord, there are so many times that I am proud and arrogant, thinking I am more than I am. Help me to be humble and thankful and obey your words.”

One Word: Pride and arrogance invite God’s discipline.