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Day 46 Jeremiah 18 48:1 Against Moab thus says 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 does the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keeps 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, says 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 Bethel their confidence. 14 How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war? 15 Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, says the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. 16 The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hastes fast. 17 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! 18 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 strong holds. 19 O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that flees, and her that escapes, and say, What is done? 20 Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled, 21 And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath, 22 And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Bethdiblathaim, 23 And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Bethgamul, and upon Bethmeon, 24 And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. 25 The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, says the LORD. 26 Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision. 27 For was not Israel a derision unto thee? Was he found among thieves? For since thou spoke of him, thou skipped for joy. 28 O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that makes her nest in the sides of the hole’s mouth. 29 We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart. 30 I know his wrath, says the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it. 31 Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres. 32 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. 33 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. 34 From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as a heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate. 35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, says the LORD, him that offers in the high places, and him that burns incense to his gods. 36 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 hath gotten are perished. 37 For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. 38 There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, says the LORD. 39 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. 40 For thus says the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab. 41 Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men’s hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. 42 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD. 43 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, says the LORD. 44 He that flees 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, says the LORD. 45 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. 46 Woe be unto thee, O Moab! The people of Chemosh perishes: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives. 47 Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, says the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab. We see many instances of destruction, most of it natural, with devastating hurricanes, typhoons, cyclones, monsoons, mud slides, blizzards, tornadoes, earthquakes, forest fires, and volcanic eruptions. Many lives are lost in those disasters. Families torn apart, and needing to rebuild from nothing. Then there are the disasters caused by man intent on destroying his fellow man, taking the lives of not one, but many in an attempt to destroy those they feel are a threat to them. These also include acts of war. God used three means of destruction on the nations at the time when Judah went into captivity: sword, pestilence, and famine. Not only did he use that means against his people, he used it against the nations who did not fully stand with his people. Here we see God’s judgment against Moab. God’s judgment is distinctive, in that he brought total judgment against the Philistines, as we saw in the last chapter. However, though it looks total against Moab, we see in the final verse of this chapter that God will bring back the captivity of Moab. There will be a remnant who will return to live in the land again. Why would God not bring a complete end to Moab, as he did the Philistines? We need to look back to the beginning, when God blessed Abraham, and brought judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham had a nephew, Lot, who lived in Sodom when he pleaded with God to save the city for ten righteous souls, but there weren’t ten righteous. Only Lot, his wife, and two daughters. were righteous. The angels who had come to Abraham, told Lot they could not overthrow the cities until he was safe. When Lot and his daughters were safe, his wife having looked back at the destruction, became a pillar of salt, the elder daughter made an agreement with the younger that they would become pregnant by their father because there weren’t any other men for them. The firstborn son of the elder was named Moab. Because Moab belonged to Abraham, God kept him safe. Genesis 19:29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. (KJV) Genesis 19:37 And the firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. 38 And the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. Now, with Moab being a nation, and far from God, God determined not total destruction, but captivity, as he did with Judah, because Moab had a part in Abraham, and God had promised to bless Abraham. As Christians, you also have a part in Abraham because Jesus lineage is traced back to Abraham, and you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord. However, many Christians have family who are not yet Christians. God promised to save those of your household as well. Paul and Silas were in prison when God shook the prison with an earthquake and the jailer was about to kill himself because he feared all the prisoners had fled, and losing prisoners was punishable by death. However, Paul told him they were all there and not to kill himself. Acts 16:30 And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (KJV) This promise isn’t just to the jailer’s household, but to every believer who has children and family who don’t know the Lord. Lot was a man connected to Abraham and blessed through him, he and his house. You have the same blessing and promise. Let’s pray: Father, just as Elijah said, I am the only one, I too stand alone for you, with family members who don’t know you. Just as you spared Moab because of Abraham, bring salvation to my family and loved ones. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen. Copyright © 5 December 2017 by Valerie Routhieaux Image courtesy of Pixabay