The Sickness of Settled Wine Text: Jeremiah 48:11-17
Introduction: The Idol of Stability
Our modern world is utterly devoted to the idol of stability. We want our retirement accounts to be stable, our careers to be stable, our relationships to be stable, and our emotional lives to be stable. We have entire industries dedicated to eliminating risk, discomfort, and disruption. The great cry of the modern heart is, "Do not disturb." We want to be left alone, to settle, to be at ease. We want to be like Moab.
But the Scriptures teach us that this kind of settled ease is a spiritual disease. It is a sign not of health, but of stagnation. It is the quiet of the tomb, not the peace of the kingdom. God is a living God, a refiner's fire, and a disruptive force in the lives of those He loves and in the nations He judges. He is the great Vintner, and He knows that the best wine is not the wine that is left to sit on its dregs, undisturbed and unbothered. The best wine is that which has been poured from vessel to vessel.
In this passage, the prophet Jeremiah delivers God's verdict against Moab, a neighboring nation to Israel. Moab was proud, secure, and had largely avoided the major upheavals that had afflicted other nations like Israel and Judah. They had been at ease since their youth. They were comfortable. And in their comfort, they had grown stagnant, proud, and idolatrous. Their very stability was the source of their corruption.
This prophecy is therefore a profound warning to any nation, any church, or any individual Christian who mistakes comfort for blessing. God warns Moab that their quiet is about to be violently shattered. He is sending "tippers" to pour them out, to empty their vessels, and to break their jars. This is not just a historical account of judgment on an ancient near-eastern tribe. This is a revelation of the character of God and the nature of true spiritual vitality. God loves His people too much to leave them settled on the dregs of their sin and self-sufficiency.
The Text
"Moab has been at ease since his youth; He has also had quiet, like wine on its dregs, And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, And his aroma has not changed. Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares Yahweh, "when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars. And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their trust. How can you say, 'We are mighty warriors, And men valiant for battle'? Moab has been destroyed, and men have gone up to his cities; His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter," Declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts. "The disaster of Moab will soon come, And his calamity has quickly hastened. Mourn for him, all you who live around him, Even all of you who know his name; Say, 'How has the strong scepter been broken, A staff of beauty!'"
(Jeremiah 48:11-17 LSB)
The Stagnation of the Undisturbed (v. 11)
We begin with God's diagnosis of Moab's spiritual condition.
"Moab has been at ease since his youth; He has also had quiet, like wine on its dregs, And he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, Nor has he gone into exile. Therefore he retains his flavor, And his aroma has not changed." (Jeremiah 48:11)
The central metaphor here is that of winemaking. Good wine, in the ancient world, had to be carefully poured off its lees, or dregs. The dregs are the sediment, the yeast, and the impurities that settle at the bottom of the vessel. If the wine is left on its dregs for too long, it becomes thick, syrupy, and foul. It retains its raw, earthy, undesirable flavor. To be purified and refined, it must be poured from vessel to vessel, each time leaving more of the impurities behind.
Moab is this stagnant wine. He has been "at ease," undisturbed by the turmoil of exile and war that had so frequently disciplined Israel. He has not been "emptied from vessel to vessel." The result? "He retains his flavor, and his aroma has not changed." This is not a compliment. His flavor is the flavor of pride. His aroma is the stench of idolatry. His character has never been refined because it has never been tested. He is fat, complacent, and corrupt.
This is a terrifying picture of many churches and Christians in the West. We have been at ease. We have not been poured out. We have not known true persecution or trial. And so we have retained the flavor of the world. Our aroma has not changed. We smell more like the culture around us than we do like Christ. We have settled on the dregs of our materialism, our therapeutic moralism, and our political idolatries. And we call this state of stagnant impurity "peace" and "blessing." God calls it a sickness unto death.
The Divine Disruption (v. 12-13)
Because Moab will not be disturbed, God Himself will do the disturbing. The quiet is about to end.
"Therefore behold, the days are coming," declares Yahweh, "when I will send to him those who tip vessels, and they will tip him over, and they will empty his vessels and shatter his jars." (Jeremiah 48:12)
Notice the sovereignty of God in this. "I will send to him those who tip vessels." The Babylonians are coming, but they are merely God's instruments. God is the Vintner who has determined that this settled wine must be dealt with. The very process Moab avoided, being emptied, will now be visited upon him in judgment. But this will not be a careful, refining process. This is a violent overturning. The vessels will be emptied and the jars will be shattered. This is not sanctification; this is destruction.
The purpose of this violent pouring is to expose the vanity of Moab's trust.
"And Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their trust." (Jeremiah 48:13)
All idolatry ends in shame. Chemosh was the national god of Moab, a detestable idol to whom they even offered child sacrifices. He was their security, their pride, their trust. When God shatters their nation, the impotence of Chemosh will be laid bare for all to see. He cannot save them. He is nothing. Moab will be ashamed of him, just as the northern kingdom of Israel was put to shame for their trust in the golden calves at Bethel when the Assyrians destroyed them. When God decides to act, all false refuges are exposed as frauds, and all idolaters are clothed with shame.
The Boast and the Verdict (v. 14-15)
Jeremiah now contrasts Moab's proud self-assessment with the declaration of the true King.
"How can you say, 'We are mighty warriors, And men valiant for battle'? Moab has been destroyed, and men have gone up to his cities; His choicest young men have also gone down to the slaughter," Declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts." (Jeremiah 48:14-15)
Moab's comfort had bred arrogance. They looked at their history of stability, at their armies, and they boasted, "We are mighty warriors." This is the inevitable result of being left on your dregs. You begin to believe your own press. You mistake the absence of trial for the presence of strength. God's response is a bucket of cold reality. "How can you say that?"
And then comes the staggering verdict from the throne room of the universe. "Moab has been destroyed." Notice the past tense. In their own minds, they are strong and secure. In God's mind, the verdict has already been rendered and the sentence carried out. Their destruction is so certain that God speaks of it as an accomplished fact. And who is it that makes this declaration? "Declares the King, whose name is Yahweh of hosts." This is the ultimate power encounter. The petty king of Moab and his mighty men are nothing before the King of kings, the Lord of the armies of heaven.
The Imminent Fall (v. 16-17)
The prophecy concludes by emphasizing the speed of the coming judgment and the greatness of the fall.
"The disaster of Moab will soon come, And his calamity has quickly hastened. Mourn for him, all you who live around him, Even all of you who know his name; Say, 'How has the strong scepter been broken, A staff of beauty!'" (Jeremiah 48:16-17)
The long peace is over. Decades, centuries of ease are about to be erased in a swift and terrible calamity. The surrounding nations, who knew Moab's name and reputation for strength and stability, are called to mourn. Their lament reveals the extent of the collapse. The "strong scepter," a symbol of their royal power and authority, is broken. The "staff of beauty," a symbol of their national glory and pride, is shattered. Everything they trusted in, everything that made them feel secure, will be gone.
This is the end of all worldly glory. Every scepter built on human pride will be broken. Every staff of beauty carved by human hands will be splintered. Only the scepter of King Jesus will endure, and only the beauty of His holiness will last.
Poured Out for Glory
The story of Moab is a story of judgment. It is the story of what happens when a people refuse the refining process and God finally acts to shatter them. But for the people of God, this same metaphor of being poured out is not one of judgment, but of sanctification. God loves His church too much to allow her to settle on her dregs.
He pours us from vessel to vessel through trials, through afflictions, through church conflicts, through financial hardship, through sickness. Each pouring is designed to leave more of the sediment of our sin and pride behind. It is painful. It is disorienting. It feels like we are being emptied out. But it is the Vintner's loving hand, purifying His wine. The Apostle Peter tells us not to be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes to test us, as though something strange were happening (1 Peter 4:12). This is the normal Christian life. This is how the flavor is refined. This is how the aroma of Christ is developed in us.
The ultimate pouring out was accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. On the cross, His blood was "poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28). He was emptied, He was crushed, He was shattered, so that we, the foul and stagnant wine, could be made new. He took the violent judgment so that we might receive the loving discipline.
Therefore, do not despise the disruptions that God brings into your life. Do not mistake the world's definition of a stable, easy life for God's blessing. When God begins to tip your vessel over, do not resist Him. He is working to pour off the dregs of your sin. He is changing your flavor. He is making you into a wine fit for the King's table. He is emptying you of yourself so that you might be filled with Himself. And that is a glorious disruption.