Jeremiah 48
OGCREVIEW OF CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
I. Facts to Master
The names of the eight nations concerning which Jeremiah has a message from the Lord in Chapter s 46-49.
The following facts about the great battle of Carchemish: (a) the location of Carchemish; (b) the commander of the losing army; (c) the commander of the winning army; (d) the synchronism with the history of Judah (Jeremiah 46:2)
Names of the countries furnishing mercenary troops to Egypt (Jeremiah 46:9).
Name of one of the leading gods of Egypt (Jeremiah 46:25).
Names of four prominent cities of Egypt (Jeremiah 46:14; Jeremiah 46:19; Jeremiah 46:25).
Name of the king who would smite the land of Egypt (Jeremiah 46:13).
Name of the chief god of Moab (Jeremiah 48:7; Jeremiah 48:13; Jeremiah 48:46).
Name of the chief god of Ammon (Jeremiah 49:1; Jeremiah 49:3).
The ancestor of the Edomites (Jeremiah 49:8; Jeremiah 49:10).
The previous overthrow to which God compares the destruction of Edom (Jeremiah 49:18).
II. Questions to Ponder
In Jeremiah 46:1-12 is Jeremiah predicting the outcome of the battle of Carchemish or is he celebrating or commemorating it?
In the oracle concerning Egypt what literary technique is most prominent?
What is meant by the phrase the time of her punishment (visitation)?
What are the sins which the nations have committed which justifies their destruction? Is there an explicit accusation made in each of the oracles?
Which of the oracles conclude on a positive note? To what period of time does the phrase the latter days refer? What does the expression bring back the captivity really mean?
What important differences exist between the Hebrew text and the Greek version of this section of Jeremiah? How can you account for these differences? See comments in Chapter Three.
In how many of the prophetic books can oracles concerning foreign nations be found? Why were the Hebrew prophets interested in the destiny of foreign nations?
How would you arrange the oracles concerning the nations in chronological sequence? What purpose is there in the arrangement as it stands in the text?
What evidence is there in these oracles of Jeremiah’s personal distress over the fate of the foreign nations?
Jeremiah 48:1-6
A. Advancing Devastation Jeremiah 48:1-6
TRANSLATION
(1) Concerning Moab: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Woe unto Nebo! for it is laid waste; Kiriathaim is put to shame, is captured; Misgab is put to shame and confounded. (2) The glory of Moab is no more; in Heshbon they have plotted calamity against her. Come, let us cut her off from being a nation. Also, O Madmen, You shall be silent; the sword shall pursue you. (3) Hark! A cry from Horonaim, desolation and great destruction. (4) Moab is shattered; her little ones cause a cry to be heard. (5) For by the ascent of Luhith they shall go up with continual weeping; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distress of the cry of destruction. (6) Flee! Run for your life! that you may be like the heath in the wilderness.
COMMENTS
The poem opens with a resounding woe. This word is derived from the Hebrew vocabulary of lamentation and expresses the idea how sad it is. Sometimes the word is used sarcastically; sometimes the prophets are sincere when they utter their woes. Here Jeremiah must feel genuine sympathy for the Moabites in the calamity they are about to experience at the hands of an unnamed northern army. The prophet sees in his mind’s eye the enemy devastating the northern cities of Moab, those cities north of the Arnon river. Nebo is not the mountain but a near-by village named in honor of the Semitic deity Nabu. Misgab (the high fortress) and Kiriathaim (the double city) are in the vicinity of Nebo. The inhabitants of these cities are dismayed and stupefied in the face of the enemy onslaught (Jeremiah 48:1). In Heshbon, the main city north of the river Arnon, the destroyers from the north assemble for the final push into Moab proper.[383] Come, let us cut her off from being a nation! The villages of Madmen (Jeremiah 48:2) and Horonaim (Jeremiah 48:3) just south of the Arnon are sacked and destroyed by the enemy. Jeremiah can hear the wails of panic-stricken men and terrified women and children as they flee southward up the road that leads to Luhith and down the valley that leads to Horonaim. The locations of these two villages are unknown.
[383] Heshbon was a border town between Reuben and Gad and served as one of the forty-eight Levitical cities (Joshua 21:39). In Jeremiah’s day the city seems to have been occupied by Ammonites (Jeremiah 49:3).
Jeremiah 48:1-47
IV. THE ORACLE AGAINST MOAB Jeremiah 48:1-47
The Moabites occupied the region east of the Dead Sea and for the most part south of the river Arnon. The Arnon flows through a steep, twisting gorge in the mountains of Moab and was of great strategic importance in antiquity. In times of political decline the kingdom of Moab shrank to the area on the southern side of the river which thus became a natural border on the north. In more vigorous periods the kingdom expanded northward beyond the river. The Israelites first came into contact with the Moabites at the end of the period of wilderness wandering. At that time Balak, king of Moab, hired Balaam to curse Israel (Numbers 22-24). This was the beginning of a long history of enmity between the two nations.[381] The Moabite Stone as well as the Bible reflects the hostility between the Israelites and the Moabites.[382]
[381] See Judges 3:12-30; 1 Samuel 14:47; 2 Samuel 8:2; 2 Kings 3:4-6; 2 Kings 3:6-27; 2 Chronicles 20:1 ff.; 2 Kings 13:20. Only briefly was this hostility interrupted as for example when Elemelech and later David took refuge in Moab (Rth 1:1 f.; 1 Samuel 22:3-4).
[382] This inscription tells how Mesha, king of Moab, was able to recapture from Israel territory north of the river Arnon.
Prior to the time of Jeremiah a number of prophets had uttered oracles against Moab. Balaam himself had been compelled by the Spirit of God to utter a prophecy against Moab (Numbers 24:17). Amos (Jeremiah 2:1-3) and Isaiah (Isaiah 15:1-7; Isaiah 16:6-12; Isaiah 25:10-12) had foretold the doom of Moab about a century before Jeremiah. Zephaniah, an earlier contemporary of Jeremiah, also alludes to the forthcoming total destruction of Moab (Zephaniah 2:8-10).
Jeremiah’s oracle against Moab is the most unique and in some respects the most difficult of all the foreign nations oracles found in his book. In at least three respects this oracle is unique. It is by far the longest oracle addressed to any of the smaller neighbors of Israel. Secondly, this oracle contains an enormous number of place names. Certainly Jeremiah must have had an intimate acquaintance with the geography of Moab. It is this aspect of the oracle that makes it difficult to interpret. Thirdly, this oracle is unique because of its similarities to other portions of Scripture. It would appear that the Holy Spirit directed Jeremiah to gather, rearrange, and reaffirm the utterances made concerning Moab by his predecessors. Jeremiah utilizes the earlier prophecies and incorporates their phrases and ideas into his own picture of the future of Moab.
Jeremiah 48:7-10
B. Urgent Exhortation Jeremiah 48:7-10
TRANSLATION
(7) Surely because you trusted in your works and in your treasures, you also shall be captured. Chemosh shall go out into captivity, his priests and his princes together. (8) And the destroyer shall come upon every city and no city shall escape. The valley shall perish and the plain shall be destroyed just as the LORD has said. (9) Give wings to Moab, for she must fly; and her cities shall become a desolation without inhabitant. (10) Cursed be the one who does the work of the LORD negligently; and cursed be the one who withholds his sword from blood.
COMMENTS
Knowing the destruction that awaits Moab Jeremiah urges the inhabitants of that nation to flee for their lives. Be like the heath[384] (desert shrub) in the wilderness (Jeremiah 48:6). Flight is necessary because the judgment of Moab is inevitable. Moab will fall because she has put her trust in her works (some translate strongholds) and in her treasures instead of the living God. Judged by this criteria many nations today would fall under the prophetic indictment. The Moabites should also flee because their national god Chemosh will not be able to save them. Indeed Chemosh will not even be able to prevent his own captivity: Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together (Jeremiah 48:7). The inhabitants of Moab shall flee because the destruction will touch every part of the land. No city shall escape. The Jordan valley which formed part of the boundary of Moab on the west shall perish. The plain or plateau, the Transjordanian highland which stretches from the Arnon north to Heshbon, shall also experience the devastation (Jeremiah 48:8). In order to escape the destroyer Moab will need wings and the prophet prays that she shall be provided with them (Jeremiah 48:9). While the prophet feels sympathy for Moab he realizes that the destruction of the Moabites is the work of the Lord which he has committed to human destroyers. A curse is pronounced upon the destroyer if he is negligent in performing the task which the Lord has given him (Jeremiah 48:10).
[384] The RSV follows the Septuagint version and renders wild ass. Others suggest the translation destitute man. In any case the thought is the same: Get out of the cities and take your chances in the uninhabited areas.
Jeremiah 48:11-17
C. Prophetic Explanation Jeremiah 48:11-17
TRANSLATION
(11) From his youth Moab has been at ease, and settled on his lees; he was not emptied from vessel to vessel, nor had he gone into captivity; therefore, his taste remains in him and his aroma has not changed. (12) Therefore, behold, days are coming (oracle of the LORD) when I will send to him tilters, and they shalt tilt him; and they shall empty his vessels, and smash their bottles. (13) Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their trust. (14) How can you say; We are mighty men, valiant men of war? (15) Moab is plundered, and one assaults her cities, and the finest of her young men have gone down to the slaughter (oracle of the king whose name is the LORD of hosts). (16) The calamity of Moab is close at hand, and his misfortune hastens quickly. (17) Mourn for him all you who are round about and who know his name. Say: How sad it is that the strong staff is broken, the glorious staff.
COMMENTS
Why is Moab to suffer so terribly? In answering this question Jeremiah utilizes the figure of wine and wine jars. Owing to its mountainous terrain and some-what isolated geographical position (shielded by the Dead Sea on the west and the desert on the east) Moab had remained comparatively undisturbed throughout history. The country had been invaded from time to time and periodically had been subject to tribute. But unlike surrounding nations which had faced the fierce wrath of the Assyrian and Chaldean conquerors, Moab had never seen her cities totally destroyed and her people carried away into captivity. Jeremiah compares the nation to wine which has settled on the lees (sediment). It was the custom to leave new wine for a time on its sediment in order to heighten its strength and flavor. In other words, due to its relatively undisturbed existence Moab had become a strong and proud nation with a culture and character unchanged by foreign influences.[385] All that is about to change. God is about to send to Moab what the KJV renders as wanderers. The ASV gives a better translation, them that pour off, and the RSV a still better translation tilters. The reference is to those whose job it was to pour the wine out of the aging vessels into vessels of skins or earthenware. The tilters who will come to Moab will not perform their task in the careful manner which men of that profession normally used. They will in fact pour Moab on the ground and then smash his vessels (Jeremiah 48:12). Moab is to experience a radical and abrupt change in fortunes. Her proud, ancient culture will be poured out like wine from the jar; her political existence smashed like an earthenware jar.
[385] Many commentators take the figure settled on his lees in a somewhat more negative sense: Moab is compared to an inferior wine which has been left too long on the lees and hence had become sour and bitter.
Two aspects of Moabite pride are doomed to horrible disappointment. First, their confidence in Chemosh will be shaken in that day when they discover that he is unable to save his people from calamity. Like the inhabitants of the fallen kingdom of Israel who had placed their trust in the fake religious system established by Jeroboam at Bethel,[386] the Moabites would come to realize the folly of misplaced trust (Jeremiah 48:13). They would come to realize that Chemosh was a nonentity. secondly, their pride in military might will prove unjustified. How sad it is, says Jeremiah, that you are saying, We are strong men, powerful men of war! (Jeremiah 48:14). What sinful vainglory! Moab shall be spoiled, the walls of her cities scaled by the enemy,[387] her chosen young men slaughtered in battle. This is the oracle which the King of all nations and the God of history, the Lord of Hosts, has spoken concerning Moab (Jeremiah 48:15). The ruin of Moab was prophesied by Balaam eight hundred years before (Numbers 24:17) and foretold by Amos (Jeremiah 2:1-3) and Isaiah (chaps. 15-16) is now rapidly approaching (Jeremiah 48:16). All who are friends of Moab are sincerely urged by the prophet to bemoan the fate of that nation for the scepter of Moabite sovereignty and the rod of Moabite splendor is broken (Jeremiah 48:17).
[386] Jeroboam I established a counterfeit form of worship for the people of the northern kingdom of Israel. Golden calves were erected at Bethel and Dan and later at Samaria. Israel was carried away into captivity in 722 B.C. by the Assyrians. [387] The translation of the ASV they are gone up into his cities, is much to be preferred over the KJV which takes the phrase to be referring to the Moabites and translates and gone up out of her cities.
Jeremiah 48:18-28
D. Complete Degradation Jeremiah 48:18-28
TRANSLATION
(18) Go down from your glory! Sit in thirst, O delicate daughter of Dibon; for the destroyer of Moab has gone up against you; he will destroy your fortifications. (19) Stand by the way and watch, O inhabitress of Aroer! Ask the fleeing man and the fugitive woman, What has happened? (20) Moab is put to shame for it is dismayed! Howl and cry out! Declare in Arnon that Moab is plundered. (21) Judgment has come upon the land of the plain, upon Holon, Jahzah, Mephaath, (22) Dibon, Nebo, Bethdiblathaim (23) Kiriathaim, Bethgamul, Beth-meon, (24) Kerioth, Bozrah and upon all the cities of the land of Moab both far and near. (25) The horn of Moab is cut off and his arm is broken (oracle of the LORD). Moab shall wallow in his own vomit and he also shall be an object of derision. (27) Was not Israel an object of derision to you? Was he found among thieves so that as often as you spoke of him you wagged the head? (28) Forsake the cities and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab, and he like the dove that makes her nest on the far sides of a gorge.
COMMENTS
Even Dibon, the highly honored royal city (cf. 2 Kings 3:4-5), will be disgraced in the coming calamity. Dibon, personified as a delicate damsel, is bidden by the prophet to descend from her glory and sit in thirst i.e., in the dust. Why this ignominy and shame for the proud city built on two hills? The mighty strongholds of Moab are destroyed by the invader (Jeremiah 48:18). The inhabitants of Aroer spot the fugitives from the north coming down the King’s Highway which passed through Dibon and Aroer and ask them what has happened (Jeremiah 48:19). In anguished cries the refugees reply: Moab is confounded; Moab is shattered! Jeremiah urges the inhabitants of Moab to howl and cry i.e., take up a lamentation for their land. He urges the fugitives and inhabitants of Aroer to spread the word that Moab has been destroyed (Jeremiah 48:20) and that the judgment of God has come upon the land. City after city has fallen (Jeremiah 48:21-24).[388] The horn of Moab (symbol of power) is cut off and the arm (symbol of authority) has been broken (Jeremiah 48:25).
[388] The location of most of the cities in these verses is uncertain. Several of them are named in the famous Moabite Stone which was found at Dibon in 1868.
The divine command has been issued: Moab must drink the wine of God’s wrath. Like a drunken man, Moab reels and totters, vomits and then falls into his own filth. Neighboring nations who observe Moab in this helpless and debased condition will make that nation the object of derision. But is this not exactly the attitude which Moab had toward Israel? From the very beginning of their dealings with one another the Moabites had treated the Israelites with the same contempt which one has for a thief caught in the act of stealing (Jeremiah 48:27). As often as the name Israel was mentioned the Moabites would wag their heads (ASV)[389] in a gesture of contempt (cf. Matthew 27:39). By so despising the people of God the Moabites had in effect magnified themselves against the Lord (Jeremiah 48:26). Because of the impending judgment Moab is advised to seek refuge where the dove or wild pigeon makes its nest in the inaccessible rocky crevices of the mountains (Jeremiah 48:28).
[389] The rendering of the KJV is: thou skippedst for joy. The ASV rendering is preferred by most commentators.
Jeremiah 48:29-30
E. Abhorrent Exaltation Jeremiah 48:29-30
TRANSLATION
(29) We have heard of the pride of Moab, so very proud; his loftiness and his pride, his arrogancy and the haughtiness of his heart. (30) I know (oracle of the LORD) his insolence. His boasts are empty, he is not able to perform them.
COMMENTS
Without question the major theme running through the oracles against the nations is that of national arrogance. Indeed nearly every conceivable facet of this theme is treated in one or more of these oracles. National arrogance is an affront to the Lord and He must deal with it. The proud will be humbled. With poignant pictures Jeremiah depicts again and again the shame, degradation and disgrace into which the nations shall fall.
The arrogance of the Moabites must have been well known in antiquity. Isaiah many years earlier had emphasized this characteristic of the Moabites and now Jeremiah borrows his terminology to make the same point here, The point is forcibly made by piling up synonyms for pride and haughtiness (Jeremiah 48:29). In verse thirty the Lord corroborates the assertion of the prophet in the previous verse: I know his wrath (oracle of the LORD). The term wrath here probably refers to the arrogant, angry outbursts to which proud men are so prone. The last part of verse thirty is extremely difficult to translate and there is no agreement among the standard English translations as to how it should be rendered, The King James Version is extremely vague. The American Standard Version renders: his boastings have wrought nothing. The Revised Standard Version offers this interpretative translation: his boasts are false, his deeds are false. The basic idea is that in his words and in his works Moab is essentially untrue.
Jeremiah 48:31-38
F. Bitter Lamentation Jeremiah 48:31-38
TRANSLATION
(31) Therefore, I will wail over Moab, and I will cry out for all of Moab, and I will moan for the men of Kir-heres. (32) With more than the weeping of Jazer I will weep for you, O vine of Sibmah. Your branches passed over the sea, they reached unto the sea of Jazer. Upon your summer fruit and your vintage the destroyer has fallen. (33) Gladness and joy have been removed from the fruitful land, the land of Moab. I have caused wine to cease from the vat; no one treads with shouting; shouting is not shouting. (34) From the cry of Heshbon unto Elealeh, unto Jahaz they have uttered their voice; from Zoar unto Horonaim, Eglath-shelishiah; for even the waters of Nimrim shall become desolations. (35) And I will cause to cease in Moab (oracle of the LORD) the one who offers sacrifices on the high places and the one who offers incense to his gods. (36) Therefore, my heart murmurs like the flute, yea my heart murmurs like a flute for the men of Kirheres because the riches he accumulated have perished. (37) For every head is bald, every beard is shorn; on all hands are gashes, and sackcloth on the loins. (38) Upon all the roofs of Moab and in all her streets there is lamentation; for I will shatter Moab as a vessel in which there is no delight (oracle of the LORD).
COMMENTS
Because Moab is doomed to destruction, Jeremiah takes up a lamentation over that land. The lament expresses once more the prophet’s sincere sympathy with Moab. The weeping prophet was not only concerned with the destruction of his own people, he was deeply moved by the thought that others would suffer too. Kir-heres (Jeremiah 48:31) is the chief fortress of southern Moab and in mourning the loss of that city the prophet suggests that the conquest of Moab is complete. The prophet’s sorrow is deeper than that of the city of Jazer located fifteen miles north of Heshbon. Jeremiah is distressed to think that the luxuriant vineyards of Sibmah (located near Heshbon) which stretch as far as the Dead Sea and the sea of Jazer (location unknown) must now be destroyed. These famous and beautiful vineyards will be hopelessly ruined, ruthlessly trampled down and destroyed by the enemy, together with the summer fruits (Jeremiah 48:32). Joy and gladness, normally characteristic of that plentiful land, shall disappear. Since the vineyards will be destroyed, the winepresses or winevats will contain no wine. The shouting which shall be heard in the land will not be the joyous shoutings of the grape treaders, but the battle shout of the invading soldiers (Jeremiah 48:33). Throughout the land a cry of woe is heard (Jeremiah 48:34). The King James a heifer of three years old is probably a proper name, Eglatshelishliah, as in the ASV. The Hebrew language has no capital letters and it is not always possible to distinguish between common and proper nouns. Since the whole land of Moab is depopulated no longer will sacrifice be offered at the shrines, nor incense burned before the idols (Jeremiah 48:35).
In Jeremiah 48:36 Jeremiah again expresses his personal sorrow over the destruction of Moab. He compares the agony of his heart to the pipes or flutes whose monotonous and mournful sounds filled the air during funeral services. The prophet weeps because the riches, the abundance of Moab, have perished (Jeremiah 48:36). Everywhere he looks the prophet sees signs of mourning: bald heads, clipped beards, cuttings upon the body, sackcloth about the loins (Jeremiah 48:37). On every roof and in every street the lamentation can be heard. The Lord, the God of Israel has broken Moab like a vessel which no longer pleases Him (Jeremiah 48:38). What intense agony in the land of Moab and in the heart of a Judean prophet!
Jeremiah 48:39-46
G. Inescapable Destruction Jeremiah 48:39-46
TRANSLATION
(39) How sad the dismay! They howl! How sad that Moab has turned the back in shame! Moab shall become an object of derision and terror to those round about! (10) For thus says the LORD: Be-hold, he shall fly as an eagle and spread his wings ever Moab. (41) The cities are captured and the strongholds are seized and the heart of the mighty men of Moab shall be In that day like the heart of a woman in travail. (42) Moab shall be destroyed from being a people because he has exalted himself against the LORD. (43) Terror and pit and trap are upon you, O inhabitant of Moab (oracle of the LORD). (44) The one who climbs out of the pit shall be captured by the trap; for I will bring upon her, upon Moab, the year of their punishment (oracle of the LORD). (45) In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand without strength; for a fire has come forth from Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and it has devoured the corner of Moab, and the head of the son of tumult. (46) Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished; for they have taken your sons into captivity, and your daughters into exile.
COMMENTS
Surrounding nations will observe the fate of once proud Moab and will themselves take up a mocking lamentation: Moab has turned the back with shame i.e., fled before the enemy. But Moab will not only be an object of derision to neighboring nations, she will also be an object of terror or dismay. If Moab falls to the enemy, what chances do the less powerful nations have for survival? (Jeremiah 48:39). The reason for their terror is completely justified. The conqueror of Moab will swoop down like an eagle and spread his wings over the whole land (Jeremiah 48:40). No doubt Jeremiah is here referring to Nebuchadnezzar who is reported to have conquered Moab, Ammon and the neighboring peoples in 582-581 B.C.[390] The figure of an eagle is a favorite description of a victorious conqueror.[391] Victoriously the conqueror sweeps through the land. Kerioth (already mentioned in Jeremiah 48:24) and the strongholds of the land fall before him. The defenders of the land will be as terrified as a woman experiencing the pangs of childbirth (Jeremiah 48:41). When the conquest is complete Moab will be destroyed and eventually will cease to be a nation. All of this must happen because Moab has magnified himself against the Lord, the God of Israel (Jeremiah 48:42). The meaning of this expression, which was used previously in this oracle (Jeremiah 48:26), is perhaps clarified by a verse in Zephaniah. I have heard the reproach of Moab and the revilings of the children of Ammon, wherewith they have reproached My people, and magnified themselves against their border (Zephaniah 2:8). The phrase magnify themselves against seems to mean that Moab and Ammon sought to dominate Israel, sought to regain possession of land which the Lord had taken from them and given to Israel. By so harassing Israel they were challenging the Lord himself.
[390] Josephus, Antiquities X. 9. 7.
[391] See Jeremiah 49:22; Isaiah 46:11; Ezekiel 17:3.
The judgment coming upon Moab will be inescapable. To make this point Jeremiah again borrows from Isaiah (Isaiah 24:17-18). In that day of divine visitation the Moabites will be confronted by fear, the pit and the snare (Jeremiah 48:43). The one who flees from the terror will fall into the pit; the one who climbs up out of the pit will be captured by the snare (Jeremiah 48:44). These verses seem to reflect a popular proverb meaning that men would go from one danger into another until they are finally, inescapably trapped, Some fugitives of Moab will attempt to seek safety in Heshbon, the neighboring city of the Ammonites. But Heshbon can offer no refuge. In the words of an ancientproverb[392] Afire shall come forth out of Heshbon which will consume the corner or side of Moab and the crown of his head (Jeremiah 48:45). Far from being a place of safety, Heshbon will be the spot from which the Chaldean flame will spread southward through Moab (cf. Jeremiah 48:2) just as centuries earlier the Amorite king Sihon launched his attack against Moab from the city of Heshbon (Numbers 21:28-30). The Moabites are called tumultuous ones because of their noisy and boastful opposition to the people of Israel and their God. The prophecy ends as it began with a woe against Moab. Those who worship the god Chemosh will go into exile. Their deity would not be able to save them from this fate (Jeremiah 48:46).
[392] The proverb quoted in Numbers 21:28 is here given a new application.
Jeremiah 48:47
H. Ultimate Salvation Jeremiah 48:47
TRANSLATION
(47) But I will reverse the fortunes of Moab in the latter days (oracle of the LORD). Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
COMMENTS
A note of hope is appended to the prophecy of doom against Moab. In the latter days, the New Testament age, God, because of His infinite grace, will turn the captivity, i.e., reverse the fortunes of the Moabite people. This is not a prediction of the restoration of Moab’s national existence; rather it concerns the descendants of Moab who will hear the gospel and will become heirs to eternal life through Christ. The same prediction is made concerning Ammon (Jeremiah 49:6) and Elam (Jeremiah 49:39) and the nations which have harassed the people of God (Jeremiah 12:14-17). Perhaps the fulfillment of the prophecy is the numerous Arab Christians of the countries of Syria and Jordan.