Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 48:12

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Jeremiah 48:12. I will send unto him wanderers that shall cause him to wander — Dr. Blayney renders צעים tsaim, tilters; those who elevate one end of the wine cask when nearly run out that the remains of the liquor may be the more effectually drawn off at the cock. And this seems to be well supported by the following words, -

And shall empty his vessels — I will send such as will carry the whole nation into captivity.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

A message concerning Moab (48:1-47)

Moab was one nation that tried to form an alliance with Judah against Babylon (see 27:1-3). Moab will now suffer Babylon’s anger. Jeremiah pictures the scene: the land devastated, fortresses smashed, cities destroyed, people crying out in distress, refugees fleeing from the invading armies (48:1-6).
Chemosh, Moab’s national god, cannot save the nation. Rather, it will be taken into captivity along with Moab’s civil and religious leaders. The towns of Moab will be left desolate (7-9). In destroying Moab, the Babylonians are executing God’s work of judgment. Therefore, they must carry that work out to its completion (10).
Because its people had not previously been taken into exile, Moab is likened to wine that is allowed to sit in a jar undisturbed. But now, because its people are to be taken captive to Babylon, it is likened to wine that is to be emptied out of its jar (11-12). The Moabites will lose trust in their god who has proved powerless to save them (13). The best of Moab’s soldiers will be killed in the dreadful slaughter, and there will be widespread mourning over the shattered nation (14-17).
People throughout Moab will be shocked to hear how the nation’s defences have been ruined. The proud nation will be disgraced (18-20), the mighty nation broken, as God’s judgment spreads from one Moabite city to the next (21-25).
The people of Moab once despised and mocked Israel and Judah, but now they will be despised and mocked themselves. They will drink God’s wrath till they are drunk and vomit (26-27). Once proud and arrogant, the Moabites will now be forced to flee in shame to look for refuge in the caves and dens of the mountains (28-30). Jeremiah even feels pity for them, as he sees their widespread power broken, their crops destroyed, their country ruined (31-36). The people shave their heads, cut their flesh and put on sackcloth as signs of their mourning, but it is too late. Moab is finished. It is like a broken pot that is thrown on the rubbish heap (37-39).

In a final declaration of Moab’s destruction, the prophet pictures Babylon swooping down on Moab as an eagle swoops down on its prey (40-43). No matter which way they turn, there will be no escape for those on whom God’s judgment falls (44). Moab’s chief cities will be burnt and its people taken captive (45-46; cf. Numbers 21:28-29). Yet God, in his mercy, will again preserve a remnant (47).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

DESTRUCTION AND DISILLUSIONMENT

"Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he has settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remaineth in him, and his scent is not changed. Therefore the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will send unto them that pour off, and they shall pour him off; and they shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles in pieces. And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence. How say ye, we are mighty men, and valiant men for the war? And they are gone up into his cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King whose name is Jehovah of hosts. The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast. All ye that are round about him, and all ye that know his name; say, How is the strong staff broken, the beautiful rod!"

"Settled on his lees" This expression came from the wine-making industry. The best wine cannot be produced without a process of draining off the liquid from the dregs repeatedly, and by pouring the wine from vessel to vessel during the fermentation process. If this is not done, the color of the wine, its taste and quality are inferior. The metaphor of Moab being settled on their lees meant that they had been very fortunate, due to their location, and had not been exercised, as a people, by the hardships and calamities which, had they suffered such, might have hardened and prepared the people for what would eventually come upon them. It was simply a case of a nation growing, fat, lazy and incompetent, a situation which this writer fears is gradually coming upon our own country at this very moment. For over a hundred years all of our wars have been fought on the other man's homeland, not ours.

"They shall pour him off" This is a metaphor, meaning that the Babylonians will fall upon Moab, which will be helpless before them and will suffer total ruin.

"Ashamed of Chemosh . .. as Israel was ashamed of Bethel" Israel was indeed ashamed of Bethel. That city was where Jeroboam established the sinful altar for Israel, setting up the calf worship there. This is where all Israel "kissed the calf" (Hosea 13:2); but kissing the calf did them no good whatever when Shalmanezer fell upon Samaria and mined the nation forever. Israel must indeed have been ashamed of all that calf-kissing when the blow fell! So would it be with Moab and their pagan, man-made Chemosh!

"They are gone up into his cities" Textual uncertainties here have led to alternate renditions, i.e., "Her cities have gone up in smoke (burnt)." and, "The waster of Moab and of her towns is coming up to the attack, and her chosen youths are gone down to the slaughter."Scribner's Bible Commentary (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898), p. 541.

"The calamity of Moab is come near, and his affliction hasteth fast" The certainty of our dealing with a predictive prophecy here is seen in the construction of these sentences. It would have been impossible, after the destruction of Moab had occurred, for any man in his right mind to have made a statement of this kind. Can one imagine a serious writer appearing publicly in Atlanta, Georgia, today and shouting that "General Sherman is advancing upon Atlanta!"?

Barnes noted that this prophecy was given twenty-three years before the events foretold, the fulfillment coming, "Five years after the destruction of Jerusalem."Barnes' Notes (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House), p. 260.

"The strong staff broken" "The emblems of Moab's rule and authority, `the scepter' and `glorious staff' will be broken, showing that their power and national glory will pass."Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 659.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

I will send - tilters “unto him and they shall” tilt “him, and they shall empty his vessels, and break their” pitchers “in pieces.” “Pitchers” originally meant “skins,” but the word came to signify small earthenware jars Isaiah 30:14 : thus the Chaldaeans shall destroy of Moab everything that has contained the wine of her political life both small and great.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

The Prophet said in the last lecture that the Moabites, as long as they lived prosperously, were very hardened, as impunity becomes an incentive to sin; for the ungodly, while God spares them, think that they shall never be called to an account. He now adds, that the days would come, in which God would suddenly execute vengeance on them. But he pursues the comparison which he had used; for he had said, that the Moabites were like wine which had not been poured from one vessel into another; and hence they retained their own odor, that is, they were inebriated with their own pleasures, because God had granted them peace and quietness for a long time.

Now, the Prophet, on the other hand, says that God would send to them drivers, ⁽⁷⁾ to drive them away, and who would empty their vessels and scatter their bottles, — the containing for the contained; though I do not disapprove of another rendering, “and destroy their bottles;” for the verb is sometimes taken in this sense. Properly it means to scatter, to dissipate; but the verb נפף, nuphets, sometimes expresses a stronger idea, even to scatter or to cast forth with violence, so as to break what is thus cast forth. As to the real meaning there is not much difference: for we perceive what was God’s purpose, that he would send to the Moabites enemies to drive them into exile, and thus to deprive them of those pleasures in which they had so long indulged. But this was not said for the sake of the Moabites, but that the Jews might know, that though that land had been in a quiet state, yet it would not escape the hand of God; for its long continued felicity could not render void that decree of God of which the Prophet had spoken. It now follows —

(7) “Incliners” is the Sept.; “strewers,” the Vulg. ; “plunderers,” the Syr. and Targ. The verb means to spread, to strew. They were those who turned the wine vessels in order to empty them. Henderson has “overturners;” but Blayney has the best word, “tilters,” who should tilt him. — Ed.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 48

In forty-eight, he now directs his attention to Moab. Moab was across the Jordan on the east side of the Jordan River and of the Jordan rift.

Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled ( Jeremiah 48:1 ):

Now, this is not mount Nebo but the city of Nebo in Moab at that time.

Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed ( Jeremiah 48:1 ).

A couple of the cities.

There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee. A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction. Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down to Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction. Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness. For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt be taken ( Jeremiah 48:2-7 ):

Trusting in their work and in their riches. These are the things that people commonly trust in. How many people today are trusting in their works for their standing before God. How many people are trusting in their riches for their security. But in the day of God's judgment, neither of these have any value.

And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken. Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein. Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully ( Jeremiah 48:8-10 ),

Mark that one if it isn't already underlined in your Bible. God declares that curse against any man who would do the work of the Lord deceitfully.

and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. 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 ( Jeremiah 48:10-11 ).

So as God speaks of the destruction that is coming upon Moab, now He gives us the reason for the destruction that is coming. "For Moab has been at ease from his youth." Moab has not had any problems. Moab has been sheltered and protected, and because of it being sheltered and protected, it has become weak. And it is ready now to fall.

And then he turns to an illustration of winemaking processes and uses that as an illustration of Moab. "Having settled in her lees." In the making of wine they would pour the juice of the grape into a large container and then they would allow it to just set there until it fermented. And after the fermentation, these lees or dregs would begin to settle to the bottom of the vessel. And as these dregs had settled in the bottom of the vessel, then they would pour off the top into another vessel. Allow the settling process to go on again and then pour it off into the next vessel, back and forth from vessel to vessel. Letting the dregs settle down and developing the clarity and purity of the wine. Now, when these dregs begin to settle, if you did not pour the wine off of the dregs, then the dregs turn sour and they begin to smell. And he said, "This is the problem with Moab. It's been at ease. Never had any problem. Never been disturbed. Never poured from vessel to vessel. It is settled down on the lees which have turned sour. And thus the scent remains. The taste is in the wine of the sourness of the lees. Thus Moab is to be destroyed."

It is interesting how that we often complain at the processes of God in our lives as He pours us from vessel to vessel. We have sort of a nesting instinct. We like to get comfortable. We like to relax and kick back and think, "Well, we've got it made." And it's so easy for us to get in a rut. But the great danger of this is forgetting God and leaving God out of our lives. "Oh, God has a place. Yes, I've got a neat, little compartment over here, God, and You're welcome. Feel free. Come and visit anytime You want. Always glad to see You. Providing You don't come next weekend, because we plan to be gone next weekend. But anytime, Lord. But couple weeks from now we're going again so, but anytime, Lord. We're always glad to see You." Amazing how we sort of begin to leave God out of our lives as we begin to just settle in our lees in this life of the flesh and after the flesh. It is so easy, so easy to just sort of drift away from that commitment to God.

In Hebrews we are told, "Let us take the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should drift away from them" ( Hebrews 2:1 ). There are those times when God pours us from a vessel to another and we say, "God, what's going on?" And suddenly God has our attention. He begins to deal with us. We renew our commitment and we say, "Oh, Lord, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Lord." And genuinely we are. We meant the vows when we made them to God. And we are genuinely sorry for our failures and for our drifting away from God. And God disturbs our lives. He brings in disturbing issues and He can disturb our lives in so many ways--by sickness, by accident, by the loss of a job. So many ways God can just bring a disturbance into our lives. And God does bring them for that purpose of purifying us. We've got too much flesh. We're beginning to settle in a life of the flesh. And God says, "It stinks. It's beginning to permeate your whole life. You're beginning to smell of the flesh." And so God pours you into another vessel. Disrupts, disturbs in order that He might refine. But that didn't happen to Moab. And because it didn't happen, now Moab is to be destroyed.

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles. And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh ( Jeremiah 48:12-13 ),

Now that was the Moabites' god.

as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel their confidence ( Jeremiah 48:13 ).

So the place of worship for Israel was in Bethel, but at its destruction they became ashamed. So the place of worship, Chemosh, for the Moabites was going to become the same as Bethel.

How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war? 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. The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction is hastening 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! Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strongholds. O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and spy; ask him that is fleeing, and her that is escaped, and say, What is happened? Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled, And judgment is come upon the plain country ( Jeremiah 48:14-21 );

And it begins to name these cities of Moab that have been destroyed.

all the cities of the land of Moab, both far and near. The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD. Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he shall be in derision. For was not Israel a derision unto thee? ( Jeremiah 48:24-27 )

And, of course, when Israel was destroyed Moab also attacked Israel and so now Moab is to receive like in being a derision.

for since you spake of him, you have skipped for joy ( Jeremiah 48:27 ).

They were happy at the destruction of Israel.

O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth. We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud), his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it. 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. And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting. From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as the heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate. Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to their gods. Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches that he has gotten are perished. For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth ( Jeremiah 48:28-37 ).

These were the pagan ways of expressing their mourning in the shaving of their heads, the cutting of their beards and the cutting of their bodies and putting on of sackcloth. It's the typical sign of mourning. And thus Moab will be in mourning.

There shall be lamentations generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD ( Jeremiah 48:38 ).

Very graphic.

They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him. For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab. Kerioth is taken, and the strongholds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her travail. And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD ( Jeremiah 48:39-42 ).

Met any Moabites lately? God said they'd be destroyed from being a people.

Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab. He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD. They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives. Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab ( Jeremiah 48:43-47 ).

And so Moab's in trouble. And surely God did fulfill these prophecies that were declared against Moab.

"

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. The complacency of Moab 48:11-17

The emphasis in the next section of the oracle is on the end of Moab’s complacency.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

However, the days would come when the Lord would upset Moab’s complacency. He would send judgment, pictured in terms of foreign "tilters" who would decant her wine, prepare it for distribution, and destroy its casks. Then Moab would be disillusioned with Chemosh for not protecting her, even as Israel had been ashamed of the idols she had worshipped at Bethel.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord,.... This being their case, they should not continue in it; a change would be made, and that in a very short time, as there was; for, according to Josephus p, it was about five years after the destruction of Jerusalem that the Moabites were subdued by the king of Babylon:

that I will send unto him wanderers that shall cause him to wander; the Chaldeans, who wandered out of their own country to Moab, directed by the providence of God to come there to do his work; and who, at first, might be treated by the Moabites with contempt, as vagrants, but would soon be made to know that they would cause them to wander; or would remove them out of their own country into other lands, particularly Babylon, to be vagrants there. The word may be rendered "travellers" q; and signifies such that walk with great strength of body, in a stately way, and with great agility and swiftness; in which manner the Chaldeans are described as coming to Moab, and who should cause them to travel back with them in all haste; see word in Isaiah 63:1. The Targum renders it "spoilers"; according to the metaphor of wine used in

Jeremiah 48:11, it may signify a sort of persons that cause wine to go, or empty it from one vessel to another; such as we call "wine coopers"; and this agrees with what follows:

and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles; depopulate the cities of Moab; destroy the inhabitants of them, and make them barren and empty of men. The Targum is,

"I will send spoilers upon them, and they shall spoil them, and empty their substance, and consume the good of their land;''

see Jeremiah 48:8. The Septuagint version is, "they shall cut in pieces his horns"; which, as Origen r interprets them, were a kind of cups anciently used; for in former times they drank out of horns, either of oxen, or other animals; and Pliny s says that the northern people used to drink out of the horns of buffaloes, a creature larger than a bull, and which the Muscovites call "thur"; the same is asserted by Athenaeus t, and others, that the horns of beasts were drinking vessels before cups were invented.

p Antiqu. l. 10. c. 9. sect. 7. q צעים "viatores", Tigurine version. r Apud Drusium in fragmentis in loc. s Nat. Hist. l. 11. e. 37. t Deipnosoph. l. 11. p. 235. Rhodigin. 1. 30.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.   2 There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.   3 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.   4 Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.   5 For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.   6 Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.   7 For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together.   8 And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.   9 Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.   10 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.   11 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.   12 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.   13 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence.

      We may observe in these verses,

      I. The author of Moab's destruction; it is the Lord of hosts, that has armies, all armies, at his command, and the God of Israel (Jeremiah 48:1; Jeremiah 48:1), who will herein plead the cause of his Israel against a people that have always been vexatious to them, and will punish them now for the injuries done to Israel of old, though Israel was forbidden to meddle with them (Deuteronomy 2:9), therefore the destruction of Moab is called the work of the Lord (Jeremiah 48:10; Jeremiah 48:10), for it is he that pleads for Israel; and his work will exactly agree with his word, Jeremiah 48:8; Jeremiah 48:8.

      II. The instruments of it: Spoilers shall come (Jeremiah 48:8; Jeremiah 48:8), shall come with a sword, a sword that shall pursue them,Jeremiah 48:2; Jeremiah 48:2. "I will send unto him wanderers, such as come from afar, as if they were vagrants, or had missed their way, but they shall cause him to wander; they seem as wanderers themselves, but they shall make the Moabites to be really wanderers, some to flee and others to be carried into captivity." These destroyers stir up themselves to do execution; they have devised evil against Heshbon, one of the principal cities of Moab, and they aim at no less than the ruin of the kingdom: Come, and let us cut it off from being a nation (Jeremiah 48:2; Jeremiah 48:2); nothing less will serve the turn of the invaders; they come, not to plunder it, but to ruin it. The prophet, in God's name, engages them to make thorough work of it (Jeremiah 48:10; Jeremiah 48:10): Cursed be he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully, this bloody work, this destroying work; though it goes against the grain with men of compassion, yet it is the work of the Lord, and must not be done by the halves. The Chaldeans have it in charge, by a secret instinct (says Mr. Gataker), to destroy the Moabites, and therefore they must not spare, must not, out of foolish pity, keep back their sword from blood; they would thereby bring a sword, and a curse with it, upon themselves, as Saul did by sparing the Amalekites and Ahab by letting Benhadad go. Thy life shall go for his life. To this work is applied that general rule given to all that are employed in any service for God, Cursed by he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully or negligently, that pretends to do it, but does it not to purpose, makes a show of serving God's glory, but is really serving his own ends and carries on the work of the Lord no further than will suit his own purposes, or that is slothful in business for God and takes neither care nor pains to do it as it should be done, Malachi 1:14. Let not such deceive themselves, for God will not thus be mocked.

      III. The woeful instances and effects of this destruction. The cities shall be laid in ruins; they shall be spoiled (Jeremiah 48:1; Jeremiah 48:1) and cut down (Jeremiah 48:2; Jeremiah 48:2); they shall be desolate (Jeremiah 48:9; Jeremiah 48:9), without any to dwell therein; there shall be no houses to dwell in, or no people to dwell in them, or no safety and ease to those that would dwell in them. Every city shall be spoiled and no city shall escape. The strongest city shall not be able to secure itself against the enemies' power, nor shall the finest city be able to recommend itself to the enemies' pity and favour. The country also shall be wasted, the valley shall perish, and the plain be destroyed,Jeremiah 48:8; Jeremiah 48:8. The corn and the flocks, which used to cover the plains and make the valleys rejoice, shall all be destroyed, eaten up, trodden down, or carried off. The most sacred persons shall not escape: The priests and princes shall go together into captivity. Nay, Chemosh, the god they worship, who, they hope, will protect them, shall share with them in the ruin; his temples shall be laid in ashes and his image carried away with the rest of the spoil. Now the consequence of all this will be, 1. Great shame and confusion: Kirjathaim is confounded, and Misgah is so. They shall be ashamed of the mighty boasts they have sometimes made of their cities: There shall be no more vaunting in Moab concerning Heshbon (so it might be read, Jeremiah 48:2; Jeremiah 48:2); they shall no more boast of the strength of that city when the evil which is designed against it is brought upon it. Nor shall they any more boast of their gods (Jeremiah 48:13; Jeremiah 48:13); they shall be ashamed of Chemosh (ashamed of all the prayers they have made to and all the confidence they put in that dunghill deity), as Israel was ashamed of Beth-el, of the golden calf they had at Beth-el, which they confided in as their protector, but were deceived in, for it was not able to save them from the Assyrians; nor shall Chemosh be able to save the Moabites from the Chaldeans. Note, Those that will not be convinced and made ashamed of the folly of their idolatry by the word of God shall be convinced and made ashamed of it by the judgments of God, when they shall find by woeful experience the utter inability of the gods they have served to do them any service. 2. There will be great sorrow; there is a voice of crying heard (Jeremiah 48:3; Jeremiah 48:3) and the cry is nothing but spoiling and great destruction. Alas! alas! Moab is destroyed,Jeremiah 48:4; Jeremiah 48:4. The great ones having quitted the cities to shift for their own safety, even the little ones have caused a cry to be heard, the meaner sort of people, or the little children, the innocent harmless ones, whose cries at such a time are the most piteous. Go up to the hills, go down to the valleys, and you meet with continual weeping (weeping with weeping); all are in tears; you meet none with dry eyes. Even the enemies have heard the cry, from whom it would have been policy to conceal it, for they will be animated and encouraged by it; but it is so great that it cannot be hid, 3. There will be great hurry; they will cry to one another, "Away, away! flee; save your lives (Jeremiah 48:6; Jeremiah 48:6); shift for your own safety with all imaginable speed, though you escape as bare and naked as the heath, or grig, or dry shrub, in the wilderness; think not of carrying away any thing you have, for it may cost you your life to attempt it, Matthew 24:16-18. Take shelter, though it be in a barren wilderness, that you may have your lives for a prey. The danger will come suddenly and swiftly; and therefore give wings unto Moab (Jeremiah 48:9; Jeremiah 48:9); that would be the greatest kindness you could do them; that is what they will call for, O that we had wings like a dove! for unless they have wings, and can fly, there will be no escaping."

      IV. The sins for which God will now reckon with Moab, and which justify God in these severe proceedings against them. 1. It is because they have been secure, and have trusted in their wealth and strength, in their works and in their treasures,Jeremiah 48:7; Jeremiah 48:7. They had taken a great deal of pains to fortify their cities and make large works about them, and to fill their exchequer and private coffers, so that they thought themselves in as good a posture for war as any people could be and that none durst invade them, and therefore set danger at defiance. They trusted in the abundance of their riches and strengthened themselves in their wickedness,Psalms 52:7. Now, for this reason, that they may have a sensible conviction of the vanity and folly of their carnal confidences, God will send an enemy that will master their works and rifle their treasures. Note, We forfeit the comfort of that creature which we repose that confidence in which should be reposed in God only. The reed will break that is leaned upon. 2. It is because they have not made a right improvement of the days of the peace and prosperity, Jeremiah 48:11; Jeremiah 48:11. (1.) They had been long undisturbed: Moab has been at ease from his youth. It was an ancient kingdom before Israel was, and had enjoyed great tranquillity, though a small country and surrounded with potent neighbours. God's Israel were afflicted from their youth (Psalms 129:1; Psalms 129:2), but Moab at ease from his youth. He has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, has not known any troublesome weakening changes, but is as wine kept on the lees, and not racked or drawn off, by which it retains its strength and body. He has not been unsettled, nor any way made uneasy; he has not gone into captivity, as Israel have often done, and yet Moab is a wicked idolatrous nation, and one of the confederates against God's hidden ones,Psalms 83:3; Psalms 83:6. Note, There are many that persist in unrepented iniquity and yet enjoy uninterrupted prosperity. (2.) They had been as long corrupt and unreformed: He has settled on his lees; he has been secure and sensual in his prosperity, has rested in it, and fetched all the strength and life of the soul from it, as the wine from the lees. His taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed; he is still the same, as bad as ever he was. Note, While bad people are as happy as they used to be in the world it is no marvel if they are bad as they used to be. They have no changes of their peace and prosperity, therefore fear not God, their hearts and lives are unchanged, Psalms 55:19.