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Jeremiah 48 (ESV)

1 Concerning Moab.

Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:

“Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste!
Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken;
the fortress is put to shame and broken down;
2     the renown of Moab is no more.
In Heshbon they planned disaster against her:
‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’
You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence;
the sword shall pursue you.

3 “A voice! A cry from Horonaim,
‘Desolation and great destruction!’
4 Moab is destroyed;
her little ones have made a cry.
5 For at the ascent of Luhith
they go up weeping;
for at the descent of Horonaim
they have heard the distressed cry of destruction.
6 Flee! Save yourselves!
You will be like a juniper in the desert!…

⁴⁵ “In the shadow of Heshbon
fugitives stop without strength,
for fire came out from Heshbon,
flame from the house of Sihon;
it has destroyed the forehead of Moab,
the crown of the sons of tumult.
⁴⁶ Woe to you, O Moab!
The people of Chemosh are undone,
for your sons have been taken captive,
and your daughters into captivity.
⁴⁷ Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab
in the latter days, declares the Lord.”
Thus far is the judgment on Moab.

REFLECTION:

This chapter predicts the punishment of Moab. The Moabites were the descendants of the incest between Lot and his eldest daughter (cf. Gen. 19:30-37). They tempted the Israelites to worship idols (cf. Num. 25:1-3) and joined Nebuchadnezzar’s army in attacking Judah in 602 BC, but in the end Moab was destroyed by Babylon. Chemosh is a false god worshipped by the Moabites, and the most important part of its worship ceremony is the sacrifice of children as a burnt offering. This evil act aroused God’s fierce anger and incurred severe punishment from God. We should understand that our God is a jealous God. The first commandment in the Ten Commandments is not to worship other gods. The sin of idolatry is a blasphemy against the true God and the sin that offends God the most. We should be vigilant in this world filled with all kinds of tangible and intangible idols, we must not be tempted to follow the world in idol worship and evil deeds in the process of idolatry, and otherwise we will incur severe punishment from God.

PRAYER:

Pray for God to enlighten you and enable you to examine all aspects of your life and your thoughts to see if there are any tangible or intangible idols that are injuring your life; pray that God will remove these idols and cleanse you, and heal the injury caused by the idols; ask God to help  you live a holy life, to be a good witness for Him, so that your friends and relatives who are still worshipping idols will realize the great harm of idols, and you can bring them to God.

HYMN:

God and God Alone – youtu.be/plxNqgvbg74