Jeremiah 48

Jeremiah 48:1-47

MOAB’S LOST MORALE Jeremiah 48:1-47OUR study today involves MOAB. It is a small country extending down the east side of the Dead Sea; in length, fifty miles, and in breadth but thirty miles, corresponding in size to an ordinary county. It is considerably smaller than St. Louis county, Minnesota, and but little larger than Koochiching county. It was an arid mountainous region, and, at present, is incapable of sustaining any large population, but undoubtedly the 3,500 to 4,000 years that sweep in between our time and Moab’s zenith, have sufficed to deplete the land to no small degree; and so Moab occupies a rather conspicuous place in Old Testament history. It is the region to which Lot escaped when Sodom and Gomorrah perished, and was doubtless peopled with Lot’s descendants, children you will remember, incestual in origin. Modern science tells us that the objection to inbreeding in the human family, rests in the fact that the weaknesses of the offspring are thereby doubled; hence the laws against the marriage of close relatives.These Moabites bore the Lot mark, accentuated; as he had sought to take advantage of his great uncle Abraham, and revealed a selfishness that was extreme, so the Moabites, throughout their history, though relatives of Abraham’s descendants, were their very constant and even dangerous enemies.No sooner had the descendants of Abraham entered Canaan by conquering the Amorites to the North, than Moab was making an alliance with the Midianites against them, and calling upon Baalim to curse them (Numbers 22-24). In 1 Samuel 14:47 we see Saul, king of Israel, in battle with Moab who federated with Ammon, Edom, Zobah, and the Philistines. While Saul vexed them and smote them, and delivered Israel out of their hands, he did not annihilate them; and, again and again, they reappeared, and commonly as the enemies of Israel, the part, they are still playing in this Jeremiah record.There are some interests of very considerable importance associated with Moab.Their favorite deity was Chemosh, frequently mentioned in the Old Testament as a competitor of Jehovah. Their present descendants are the Arabs, a people who have played such a conspicuous part in history as to require the explanation that they also may be included in the promise of God to Abraham.The Moabite stone, as a key to ancient, buried archives, almost equals the discovery of the code of Hamarabi.But this morning we are to study“MOAB’S LOST MORALE”. The word Morale as applied to armies, refers especially to the spirit of confidence, courage, and zeal, that may be engendered and maintained; and yet, in its derivation, one certainly senses the fact that morality is basal to all, and without it confidence and courage cannot be long sustained. We know that there are certain principles of life that contribute alike to morals and to conquest; and we know that when those principles are lacking a failure in both is foreshadowed.This 48th chapter of Jeremiah provides an illustration of those principles. Let us search the verses of the same and see the ground of Moab’s danger. Our attention is very shortly called to Moab’sSELF- In Jeremiah 48:1-6 we have the Divine declaration of judgment already coming upon this people, and beginning with Jeremiah 48:7 we have the reasons assigned. In order to illustrate from modern life the full meaning of that verse, let us dissect the same and study carefully each of three suggestions to be found in it.Moab trusted in his attainments!“Thou hast trusted in thy works”. In the mountain fastnesses, Moab had built their cave-like dwellings. Around their principal cities they had constructed a high and strong stone wall. Their palace was also a fortress, and in those facts they felt a perfect confidence and smugly said to themselves, “We are safe! The work of our own hands has rendered us invincible; almost inaccessible!” This mental conceit has its modern illustration.It is not unusual to meet some distant relative of Israel—the husband of a Christian wife or the son of Christian parents or the grand-nephew of a famous Christian preacher, who will tell you that while he is not of Israel, he is quite all right. He is well connected. His conduct is above public reproach; his neighbors are compelled to respect his integrity; and society itself, holds him in some esteem.

In these moral fastnesses he counts himself safe; in these ethical heights he regards himself as out of danger; and in his upright conduct he rests for his salvation.The Book, however, clearly reveals the truth that all such expectations are falsely based. Paul writing to the Romans says,“By the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight”. The same great Apostle and inspired expositor of Christianity writes to the Ephesians:“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). To the Galatians he says,“Man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the Law: for by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified” (Galatians 2:16). The trouble is, as Paul writes to the Romans, that“They being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God”. Frederick W. Robertson once wrote, “That which is done for self dies; that which ends in self is mortal; that alone which goes out of self unto God lasts forever.”When a man forgets that all his works are imperfect, that his heart is impure; that sin within him is in constant repetition, self looms so large as to shadow and cloud all that he undertakes.It is related that Michael Angelo always worked with a lamp fastened to his hat to keep his own shadow from falling on the canvass and thereby dimming his vision to possible defects in his endeavors. This is certain, that he who works before the full glare of Divine Truth will see so much that is defective in all that he undertakes as to humble him and keep him ever ready to take further instruction from the Master, and receive help at those multiplied points at which he fails daily, if he be without Divine grace and assistance. God forbid that we should glory after the flesh. If we glory, let it be in Christ and His salvation.Moab trusted in his rich treasures.“Because thou hast trusted in thy * * treasures” (Jeremiah 48:7). Here again the Moabite of 3,500 years ago is identical with the citizen of the twentieth century. There were, just a few years ago, thousands of men who were trusting in their treasures. They had them in a strong box, and the strong box was in the fire-proof safe. Their pleasant occupation was clipping interest coupons, and their confidence for the future was in proportion to the monthly multitude of such; and there are thousands of them now who have learned that safety is not in treasures. No boxes have been built that were strong enough to make those treasures secure. No fire-proof vault has been found that would insure their continued values.A woman was dying.

She was a member of my church. Through her entire life she had skimped, and saved, and invested. A salesman of stocks had crowded her for payments upon the same to the point where she had borrowed not hundreds, but a few thousand dollars, from friends in order to keep them paid up. To her pastor she said, “If I live, I will be able to do big things for the cause of Christ. If I die, I trust that His cause may profit.” Morning dawned— and she was gone. Her strong box was opened, and the stocks were examined, and though they filled the box to the full, and represented expenditure of life savings, and all that a fine character could borrow in addition, they had not value enough to bury her.“Thus saith the Lord, Let not the * * rich man glory in his riches” (Jeremiah 9:23). David wrote:“If riches increase, set not your heart upon them” (Psalms 62:10), “He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the righteous shall flourish as a branch” (Proverbs 11:28). “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold” (Proverbs 22 : “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked” (Psalms 37:16). Many people tell me that I should save my money, and lay it up for old age. That is exactly what I am trying to do, and it is my candid conviction that the money invested in this sanctuary, in that educational plant, Jackson Hall, in the struggling poor, in ambitious students, and such, will bring more comfort to my old age than would millions, and they will abide to bless the world if the last bank has failed and the last strong box thereof has proven valueless. I try my best to be charitable always as I think of my brethren, for God knows I need their charity as they think of me, and I want to believe in the highest and best motive of every man who names the Name of Christ; but I have been depressed with questions when, on every occasion where it is distinctly known that a great financial appeal is to be made as last Sunday morning, I see the audience drop down. The day may come when it will be found that we have run away from our opportunities, and that we were absent from the very service which signally revealed His face.I suspect there are others who are much like the Irishman of whom I read. My conviction is that he was a Scotchman, but I’ll name him an Irishman, (my own relative) in order to give no national offence. It is reported that he went to hear an eloquent preacher, well-famed for his ability at money-raising.

He sat beside one of his fellows. When the meeting was over they walked away together.“Man; Bradley,” said his friend, “that was a grand discoorse entoirely!

Oi cudn’t help givin’ half a crown at the collection.”“Ah,” replied Bradley, “that’s where Oi had the advantage av ye this toime; for Oi’ve ‘eard him afore. Whin Oi was puttin’ on me Sunday clothes, shure Oi left iverything out av me pocket but wan sixpence. Man, he has a powerful way with him altogether.”The Irish and the Scotch are not the only ones who prepare themselves for church by emptying their pockets. But the Scriptures do not shift either in statement or meaning. Paul’s inspired injunction still stands,“Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come” (1 Corinthians 16:2). Do you know the world makes some pathetic history? Some years ago a woman died practically of starvation and privation. A search of her house revealed the fact that $8,000 in cash had been stored away in her cupboard, and security amounting to $1,000,000 in a strong box. Only recently in New York that same condition was discovered on a much larger scale—a woman yet alive but demented. Truly “there is that withholdeth more than is meet, and it tendeth to poverty”. Does it pay, I wonder to toil for gold Till the back is bowed and bent, Till the heart is old and the hair is white, And life’s best days are spent; Till the eyes are blind with the yellow dust That we strive for day by day, Till all we hear is the coin’s dull clink— I wonder, does it pay?

Does it pay, I wonder, never to stop, In the ceaseless rush and care, And list to the songs of bird and brook, Or wander through woodlands fair; To never think of what lies beyond The narrow sphere of today, Till the new life dawns on our untried souls— I wonder, does it pay? Turning back to the text we find a further suggestion.Moab trusted in his temples.“And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together”. As we have already told you, Chemosh was Moab’s god. His priests were a multitude, and in him the princes trusted. To Chemosh they had erected their temples and there they bowed the knee to this idol. How easy it is for man to trust confidently in false gods, in temples of idols, in meaningless ceremonies, and even in deceptious philosophies.Within the week I have listened to a University student, evidently in the advanced classes, probably doing post-graduate work, boast the contentment of mind, and the rest of spirit he has enjoyed since refusing orthodoxy and accepting modernism. The “New Thoughtist”, “The Christian Scientist”, “The Millennial Dawnist” will all, in turn, tell you how happy they are since they have settled in these modern temples of idolatry! Not long since a Unitarian preacher rehearsed to me how, although born and brought up in a strictly Evangelical atmosphere, he never found religious contentment until Unitarian literature fell into his hands and he adopted the philosophy which rejects the Deity of Christ.But departure from the illumined path, characterizes not alone those who turn their back on God and His own Son, Jesus Christ; it often equally afflicts those who still retain His Name, and gather with some degree of regularity to the sanctuary erected in His honor!How many trust in the sanctuary itself rather than the Saviour, and in a name written on the church rolls rather than in the assurance that their name is written in the Lamb’s Book of Life!I often feel the profoundest sympathy with dear A.

J. Gordon, who near the end of his pastorate at Clarendon Street, Boston, said,“I am tempted never to beg a cent for God again, but rather to spend my energy in getting Christians spiritualized, assured that they will then become liberalized!” He wrote again:“Experts in such matters say that a bottle of wine that cannot throw out its own cork is rarely good for much.

Certainly a Christian’s prayers and gifts and testimonies are of little value if they do not come forth by the effervescence of his own inward spiritual joy. For one, I am tired of using the pulpit corkscrew to draw out of Christians the offerings and prayers and service which, to be of real value, ought to be spontaneous. I shall continue to pray and persuade, and plead, but I shall not come begging you to do your duty. ‘[My] people shall be willing in the day of [My] power’, says the Lord.”We have here a beautiful sanctuary scarcely exceeded on the American continent; and with its educational facilities in Jackson Hall, and especially with the buildings of the Northwestern Bible School, it is hardly equalled in the world, but I want you people to know that I have never labored under any misapprehension in this matter.A magnificent temple with its splendidly appointed worship is no fit substitute for the Spirit’s guidance.Cushioned pews that call auditors to the most comfortable seats are no substitute for avid attention to the truth.An ideal quartette and a great Christian chorus, such as inspire us with their songs, are no satisfactory exchange for that congregational praise that should be indicted by an indwelling Holy Ghost, and even an acceptable preacher, if he displace the approach of God’s people in that worship which is “in spirit and in truth”, is but another temple-detraction, for “God is a Spirit” and “seeketh such to worship Him” as do it “in spirit and in truth”. That worship can easily dispense with the temple and all of its appurtenances. Better a publican in the heart of the wild woods, his head bowed, his heart broken with a sense of sin, than a Pharisee inside the marble chancel of the most magnificent cathedral that has ever sent its spire toward the skies. God save us from trusting in temples!Returning to our chapter we find a very logical fact, namely, self-sufficiency results inSELF- “Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and He hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed”. Here again ancient Scripture is adapted to nineteenth century situations. God changes not; and man does not much improve.Moab played the part of the spoiled.“At ease from his youth”! The man or woman who begins life at ease seldom makes much of the same. The curse of this generation is at that point; too many children “at ease”. Father’s and mother’s labors have been so well requited in America that sons and daughters are often exempt; they have nothing to do that seems to them worth the doing. Every boy now must have his auto—the most expensive of modern luxuries, whether he is able to earn a dollar toward either its purchase or its upkeep. Many of them must have money for the dance, the picture show, the theater, the cigarettes, the wild parties, secret societies, etc., but as to work; no interest in that!It is said that the President of the United States, on one occasion, attended a reunion of his college class, at which a professor told of a student who had just gotten out of school and in reply to the question of what he proposed to do in the world, answered with a yawn, “There is not anything in the world worth doing!”Mr. Roosevelt was then Police Commissioner, and when he heard the remark he got up from the table and walking over to where the professor sat, he struck the table with his fist and said, “That fellow ought to be knocked in the head.

I would rather take my chances with a highway man than with him.”Doubtless the President’s utterance was a bit colored by his indignation, but even so, he was not far wrong, for the boy who thinks “there is nothing in the world worth doing” will, in many a case, become a highway-man. You will remember that in Kipling’s Tomlinson, Tomlinson’s soul was suspended between Heaven and hell. He was an idler and neither place wanted him!No man could go through a winter like this, when the economic conditions are such as to fling the formerly industrious out of work, and thereby end their income, and impose upon them penury and want, and withhold his sympathy. It is a time when the prospered of the earth should exercise compassion and practice division of favors. But those people who will suffer most this winter will not be the unfortunate industrious; but rather, the unfortunate indolent.The Word of God is right on all subjects; where it speaks, the modern social philosophy is wasting words by attempting another explanation; and the Word says:“The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat” (Proverbs 13:4) “The way of the slothful man is as an hedge of thorns: but the way of the righteous is made plain” (Proverbs 15:19). “A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again” (Proverbs 19:24). Little wonder that Solomon addressed all such after this manner:“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: “Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, “Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. “How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? “Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: “So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man” (Proverbs 6:6-11). Nor is it any less wonderful that Jesus Himself should have given us a parable on this subject and described two faithful men and one indigent one. The first and the second double their gifts and receive the Master’s approval, but the third made no use of his and lost it; and the language of Christ was:“Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: “Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. “Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. “For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath”. It sounds like a harsh law. As a matter of fact it is only justice in operation. The man who will not use that which he has does not deserve its retention.Moab settled comfortably on his lees. That is one of the strangest sights in the world. The sight of a man impoverished, but content; creating nothing for himself, nothing for his fellows; contributing nothing to the world, yet all undisturbed.There is a contentment that is divinely approved. Paul said: “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content”.A Scotch nobleman criticized his gardner for wearing an old and threadbare coat, to which the gardner replied, “Aye, Sir; it’s the best of coats because it covers a contented spirit.”But there is a contentment that is contemptible, and that is the contentment of idleness, the contentment of indifference.

There are a good many people that pass their time as the small boy spent his in school. A genial clergyman, visiting in the home addressed him, “Well; my little man, what do you do in school all day?” “I wait until it is time to get out, Sir.”It is doubtful, however, if he got real rest out of it.

It is a question whether a man who “rests on his lees” rests at all. It is our profound conviction that he is of all men the most weary. Of all the tiresome tasks known to this life, the task of doing nothing is doubtless the hardest. There is scarce a week but some dear, sympathizing soul expresses to me regret that I have so much work to do. It is a wasted sympathy. Of all the tasks of this present life God has so tempered His judgment against sin as to make work the most pleasant and the most comfortable.We are told that a woman was watching a potter at his work. He kept one foot on the pedal, and that foot sent the potter’s wheel spinning around the long day through. The left foot rested patiently on the ground.

When this woman noticed it, she said, “How very tired your right foot must be.” The man raised his eyes and said, “No, Madam; it may seem strange to you, but that foot never gets tired. The other one is tired all the time.”There is a principle of life involved therein. If you want to retain your strength use it; if you want to rest yourself, be busy. There is but one job that is hard and heavy enough to kill, and that is idleness.He imagined himself altogether secure.“His taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed”. As the text says, he is not like a liquid that has been emptied “from vessel to vessel”, nor is he like Israel who has been sent “into captivity”, Since Lot’s day he has lived in his mountain fastness. He has had a few fights, but nobody has ever completely conquered him. His conceit, therefore, has grown with the centuries and his sense of security has increased with the race of the years.Beckford, in “Vathek the Caliph” gives us a forceful illustration of this sort of self-deception. You will remember that he puts into the livid lips of Soliman Ben Daoud this statement:“In my life-time I filled a magnificent throne, having on my right hand twelve thousand seats of gold, where the patriarchs and the prophets heard my doctrines; on my left the sages and doctors, upon as many thrones of silver, were present at all my decisions. Whilst I thus administered justice to innumerable multitudes, the birds of the air librating over me, served as a canopy from the rays of the sun; my people flourished, and my palace rose to the clouds; I erected a temple to the Most High, which was the wonder of the universe; but I basely suffered myself to be seduced by the love of women, and a curiosity that could not be restrained by sublunary things; I listened to the counsels of Aherman and the daughter of Pharaoh, and adored fire and the hosts of heaven; I forsook the holy city, and commanded the Genii to rear the stupendous palace of Istakar, and the terrace of the watch-towers, each of which was consecrated to a star; there for a while I enjoyed myself in the zenith of glory and pleasure; not only men, but supernatural existences were subject also to my will. I began to think, as these unhappy monarchs around had already thought, that the vengeance of Heaven was asleep; when, at once, the thunder burst my structures asunder and precipitated me hither.”Sin takes on many and varied forms, but when the sinner reaches a state of self-satisfaction his danger has attained the climax and there is but a single act remaining, namely,SELF-Moab took that plunge. Further study of this Scripture reveals that:His descent came suddenly and unexpectedly.“Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the Lord of Hosts”. How easy it is for people, in self-inflation, to rush finally over a precipice of ruin. Look at Chicago, as an illustration, the most rapidly growing city in the world. In seventy-five years it went from a struggling village of bottomless muddy streets to the third metropolis of the earth. Its riches were almost incomputable; its millionaires a multitude; its sky-scrapers the astonishment of the Orient; its business and its banks the admiration of the world. Then what? Bankruptcy!It looks now as if the United States might follow Chicago’s example.

According to the series of articles, appearing in the “Tribune” this past week, in twenty years we have increased our population 34%, our wealth 94%, and our federal taxes 467%, and yet our federal treasury shows a deficit that runs into the billions.Conceit can destroy any individual; conceit can wreck any metropolis; conceit can doom any country. “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall”.The papers of yesterday morning reported the sudden but not unexpected death of Red Jackson, reputed to be one of the most “colorful fliers” known to the century, a man who has kept a ship in the upper air longer than any other living soul, his confederate excepted, the man who just because he had sailed the skies with such safety for so long a time doubtless came to feel as comfortable there as though his two feet were on solid ground. And yet, one daring deed too many, and death!Moab, however, descended to that which was worse than death:He lived to endure derision!“The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast. “All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod! * * “The spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds. “Moab is confounded * *. “Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision” (Jeremiah 48:15-26). What we are in the eyes of others determines in no small measure what we are in our own eyes. So long as one can live and be honored by his fellows just that long he indulges respect for himself.But alas for the man who must endure “derision”. It is the last word in the world’s spite. When they had uttered their criticisms of Christ, when they had dragged Him to the Cross, they had but fairly commenced their torture. Wait until that blessed bleeding Form must listen to their words of derision, must look on the inscription that they are nailing over His head, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews”! Must watch them as they pass by, reviling and wagging their heads, and crying out in scorn, “Thou that destroyest the Temple, and buildest it in three days, save Thyself’!

The chief priests also joined with the rabble in mocking, the Scribes and elders being party with them, in the same, Saying, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him”!Even the very thieves, dying at His side—social outcasts, justly executed criminals, joined their voices in holding Him in derision; and many a time in the last years, yea, the Lord pity us, within the last few days, have I heard Him derided by men, His Word scoffed, His Deity disputed.But, as Moab derided Israel to become himself in turn the subject of derision, so unbelievers will one day listen to the echo of their own voices and the very God who so loved them as to give His only begotten to die that they might be redeemed, but whose love was requited with contempt, will rise in judgment,“He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. “Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure” (Psalms 2:4-5). It is a frightful text to even recall and only the sin of all sins, the trampling of God’s Son under unhallowed feet could excite it; and yet it is a sentence divinely inspired,“Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; “But ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof: “I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh”. Proud Moab becomes the object of pity.Even the Lord Himself declares:“Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; Mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres. “O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage” (Jeremiah 48:31-32). One says, “That is strange!” Another says, “I thought you told us that God will ‘laugh’ that God will ‘mock’; and yet, in the next breath, you tell us that God will weep and mourn.”Exactly; that is God! Jesus stood on the hill overlooking Jerusalem and pronounced her doom, and while the words were on His lips His heart was breaking and His cry was:“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killeth the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a Hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate”. Israel offended to the point where God’s judgment could not be withheld; but even while He pronounced His hard words, He cried,“As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O House of Israel”? David discerned that his beautiful son Absalom was in rebellion, and David’s servants smote him through as he hung between heaven and earth, caught in the branches of a tree where his mule left him. But, though the punishment was great and the judgment was just, when the news of it reached David’s ears, his heart broke and he went up to his room over the gate crying as he went,“O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son”! God did better than David; in Christ He died for us; and if men perish it will be because even Divine love was rejected and despised and sin was retained.