Bird's-eye view
Here in the forty-eighth chapter of Jeremiah, the prophetic word turns to Moab. This is not just any nation; Moab has a long and storied history with Israel, beginning with its incestuous origins from Lot, Abraham's nephew (Gen. 19:37). They were cousins who became perennial antagonists. The central theme of this oracle is the absolute dismantling of national pride. Moab was known for its arrogance, its self-reliance, its high places, and its wealth. And here, the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, declares that it is all coming down. This is not simply a geopolitical forecast; it is a divine sentence. Every source of Moabite security, from their cities to their strongholds to their reputation, will be systematically shattered. The woe pronounced here is a vivid picture of the end of all human boasting before a holy God.
The passage unfolds as a series of pronouncements and descriptions of the coming calamity. The prophet names specific cities, one after another, to emphasize the totality of the destruction. There is no corner of Moab that will escape. The praise they enjoyed will turn to plotting against them. The noise of their commerce and celebration will be replaced by the sound of the sword and the cries of the broken. This is a picture of de-creation. A people is about to be unmade, cut off from being a nation, because they set themselves against the God of all nations. The weeping will be as ubiquitous as the landscape itself, heard on every ascent and descent. This is the end of the line for the proud.
Outline
- 1. The Divine Sentence Against Moab (v. 1)
- a. The Authority of the Judge (v. 1a)
- b. The Woe on the Cities (v. 1b)
- c. The Shaming of the Strongholds (v. 1c)
- 2. The Silence of Moab's Pride (v. 2)
- a. Praise Replaced by Plots (v. 2a)
- b. The Sentence of Annihilation (v. 2b)
- c. The Sword's Pursuit (v. 2c)
- 3. The Sounds of Utter Destruction (vv. 3-5)
- a. The Outcry from the Towns (v. 3)
- b. The Cry of the Little Ones (v. 4)
- c. The Geography of Grief (v. 5)
Context in Jeremiah
Jeremiah 48 is part of a larger section of the book (chapters 46-51) containing oracles against the nations. This is a standard feature in the prophetic books (see Isaiah 13-23; Ezekiel 25-32). The purpose is to demonstrate that Yahweh is not a mere tribal deity. He is the God of Israel, yes, but He is also the sovereign Lord over all the earth. His judgment falls not only on His unfaithful covenant people but also on the pagan nations surrounding them. Each nation is judged for its particular sins, and for Moab, the characteristic sin is pride (Is. 16:6; Jer. 48:29).
This oracle against Moab is the longest of the collection, indicating the depth of the historical and theological issues at play. The judgment is to be executed by Babylon, God's instrument of wrath in this era. But the text is clear that Babylon is only the sword; the hand that wields it is the Lord's. This passage serves to comfort Judah, in a sense, by showing that their enemies will not ultimately triumph or escape justice. But it also serves as a stark warning: if God judges the pagan nations for their pride and idolatry, how much more will He judge His own people who should have known better?
A Word of Judgment
Jeremiah 48:1
Concerning Moab. Thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel, “Woe to Nebo, for it has been destroyed; Kiriathaim has been put to shame, it has been captured; The lofty stronghold has been put to shame and shattered.”
Right from the start, the authority is established. This is not Jeremiah's opinion. This is a declaration from "Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel." The Lord of Armies, the one who commands the heavenly powers, is speaking. And He speaks as the covenant God of Israel, the very nation Moab so often despised. The judgment is personal. A "woe" is a formal declaration of doom. It is the opposite of a blessing. The first target is Nebo, a prominent Moabite city, but also ironically the name of a chief Babylonian deity. The city named for a false god is laid waste by the true God. Kiriathaim and the "lofty stronghold" represent Moab's trust in its own power. They built high, they fortified themselves, they trusted in stone and strategy. God's response is to put it all to shame. Shame is the result of misplaced trust. When what you rely on fails you utterly, the result is shame. And then it is shattered. God does not just defeat the proud; He breaks their pride into pieces.
Jeremiah 48:2
There is praise for Moab no longer; In Heshbon they have devised calamity against her: ‘Come and let us cut her off from being a nation!’ You too, Madmen, will be silenced; The sword will follow after you.
A nation's reputation, its praise, is a vapor. Moab was a proud nation, but its glory days are over. The praise has ceased. In its place, in the city of Heshbon, the enemy councils of war are meeting. Notice the sovereignty of God here. "They have devised calamity," but God is the one announcing it. He uses the evil intentions of men, in this case the Babylonians, as the instruments of His righteous judgment. Their stated goal is utter extermination: "let us cut her off from being a nation!" This is the language of un-creation. To be blotted out from the map. The prophet then turns to another town, Madmen, with a sharp play on words. The name sounds like the Hebrew verb for "be silent." Your frantic activity, your prideful noise, will be brought to a dead stop. The final word is the sword, and it is relentless. It will "follow after you." There is no outrunning the judgment of God.
Jeremiah 48:3
The sound of an outcry from Horonaim, ‘Devastation and great destruction!’
Judgment is not a quiet, abstract theological concept. It is loud. It is terrifying. It is an outcry, a scream of agony from a place being torn apart. The world wants a God who is always quiet, always affirming, never disruptive. The Bible shows us a God whose judgments are audible. The content of the cry is simple and stark: devastation and great destruction. The Hebrew piles it on for emphasis. This is not a minor setback. This is complete and utter ruin.
Jeremiah 48:4
Moab is broken; Her little ones have made their cry of distress heard.
The nation as a whole is described as "broken," like a clay pot smashed on the ground, beyond repair. And then the lens focuses on the most vulnerable. The judgment is so total that the cries of the children are heard. This is a hard word for our sentimental age. But the Bible is unflinchingly realistic about the nature of sin and judgment. Corporate sin brings corporate judgment. The consequences of a nation's rebellion against God fall upon the entire community, from the king in his palace to the infant in his cradle. This is not to say the children are personally guilty of Moab's pride, but rather to show that the fabric of their society is being so completely unraveled that even the children are caught in the disaster. This is what sin does. It destroys, and its destruction is not selective.
Jeremiah 48:5
For by the ascent of Luhith They will ascend with continual weeping; For at the descent of Horonaim They have heard the distressed cry of destruction.
The very landscape of Moab becomes a theater for their grief. The geography itself is consecrated to sorrow. As the refugees flee, every uphill climb is an ascent of "continual weeping." The effort of the climb is matched by the depth of their sorrow. And on the other side, every downhill path, the descent of Horonaim, offers no relief. It is there they hear the echoes of the destruction, the distressed cries from the ruin behind them. There is no escape. Going up is weeping, going down is destruction. Every direction is filled with the consequences of their sin. This is a portrait of a people entirely enveloped by the wrath of a holy God.
Application
The story of Moab is the story of every person, every institution, every nation that builds its security on a foundation of pride. Moab trusted in its high places, its wealth, and its own strength. We do the same, though our high places may be stock portfolios, academic credentials, or political influence. The message of Jeremiah is that every lofty stronghold that is not the Lord Himself will be put to shame and shattered. There is no security apart from God.
The woe pronounced on Moab is a picture of the wrath of God that all sin deserves. The cries from Horonaim and the weeping on the ascent of Luhith are a taste of the weeping and gnashing of teeth that awaits all who remain in their rebellion. But the good news of the gospel is that a greater woe was pronounced on another hill. Jesus Christ, on the cross, absorbed the full measure of God's wrath against sin. He became a curse for us, so that the woe we deserved might pass over us.
Therefore, the application is straightforward. We must repent of our Moabite pride. We must abandon our self-built strongholds and flee for refuge to the cross of Christ. For it is only there that we find a stronghold that cannot be shattered. All other kingdoms will be broken, but the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ will stand forever. The praise of Moab ceased, but the praise of those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb will never end.