Chemosh — Blog — KEN D. MILLER

“Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.

“Moab has been at ease from his youth
    and has settled on his dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
    nor has he gone into exile;
so his taste remains in him,
    and his scent is not changed.

“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his jars in pieces. Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

“How do you say, ‘We are heroes
    and mighty men of war’?
The destroyer of Moab and his cities has come up,
    and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter,
    declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
The calamity of Moab is near at hand,
    and his affliction hastens swiftly.
Grieve for him, all you who are around him,
    and all who know his name;
say, ‘How the mighty scepter is broken,
    the glorious staff.’

“Come down from your glory,
    and sit on the parched ground,
    O inhabitant of Dibon!
For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you;
    he has destroyed your strongholds.
Stand by the way and watch,
    O inhabitant of Aroer!
Ask him who flees and her who escapes;
    say, ‘What has happened?’
Moab is put to shame, for it is broken;
    wail and cry!
Tell it beside the Arnon,
    that Moab is laid waste.” – Jeremiah 48:10-20 ESV

The heading of this particular blog post comes from a line found within God’s expanded oracle against Moab.

“Moab has been at ease from his youth
and has settled on his dregs;
he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel…” – Jeremiah 48:11 ESV

This somewhat obscure lines is a reference to the very common practice in that day of pouring wine from one container into another in order to remove the sediments. The object was to allow the wine to sit undisturbed for a period of time, causing the sediment to settle to the bottom of the vessel. Then the contents were carefully poured into yet another vessel, allowing the impurities and dregs to remain behind. All the effort was expended in order to arrive at a sediment-free product. That is the image that God uses to describe Moab, a city known for its wine production. The wine has been allowed to settle, but there has been no one to disturb the vessel and pour its contents. In other words, God had allowed Moab to remain trouble-free for a prolonged period of time. Their geographic location had kept them off the radar screen of the various nations that had invaded Canaan over the centuries. The city of Moab was like a young child who had gotten away with all kinds of chicanery, receiving no punishment or discipline for any of the evil things they had done. But all that was about to change. The judgment of God was going to catch up with them.

Their days of complacency and casual comfort were going to come to a screeching halt.

“But the time is coming soon,” says the Lord,
“when I will send men to pour him from his jar.
They will pour him out,
then shatter the jar!” – Jeremiah 48:12 NLT

The jar was going to be smashed, contents and all. Over the centuries, the people of Moab had grown comfortable and complacent, trusting in their false god, Chemosh. They had been no reason to doubt that their god was all-powerful and had done a great job of protecting them from their enemies. But God had bad news for them.

“At last Moab will be ashamed of his idol Chemosh,
as the people of Israel were ashamed of their gold calf at Bethel.” – Jeremiah 48:13 NLT

Here, God refers to an event from Israel’s history. After King Solomon had proven to be unfaithful to God, the nation of Israel was split in two, with the northern tribes forming the nation of Israel, and two of the southern tribes forming the nation of Judah. King Jeroboam, who had been the newly appointed king of Israel, out of fear that the people of Israel would want to return to Jerusalem in order to worship Yahweh at the temple, decided to make his own gods, build his own shrines, and appoint his own priests.

So on the advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He said to the people, “It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!”

He placed these calf idols in Bethel and in Dan—at either end of his kingdom. But this became a great sin, for the people worshiped the idols, traveling as far north as Dan to worship the one there. – 1 Kings 12:28-30 NLT

That shrine would remain in place for generations, until King Josiah of Judah, during many of his ongoing reforms, had it destroyed.

The king also tore down the altar at Bethel—the pagan shrine that Jeroboam son of Nebat had made when he caused Israel to sin. He burned down the shrine and ground it to dust… – 2 Kings 23:15 NLT

But from the time of Jeroboam until Josiah, the people of Israel had worshiped the golden calves that Jeroboam had erected there. And it had taken the intervention of God to bring this idolatrous practice to a close. Now, He was going to do the same thing to the god of the Moabites. They were going to learn that their much-beloved god was not match for Yahweh, the God of Israel. Chemosh would be hauled off as just another piece of booty by the Babylonian troops.

And not only would the Moabites be ashamed by the ineptitude of their god, they would find out that their once mighty army was also no match for the judgment of God.

“You used to boast, ‘We are heroes,
mighty men of war.’
But now Moab and his towns will be destroyed.
His most promising youth are doomed to slaughter,” – Jeremiah 48:14-15 NLT

The cities of Moab would fall. The god of Moab would be taken as property. The mighty men of Moab would be scattered and slaughtered. And the allies of Moab would be left to cry over the fate of their former neighbor. And God sarcastically taunts the people of Dibon as well, telling them:

“Come down from your glory
and sit in the dust, you people of Dibon,
for those who destroy Moab will shatter Dibon, too.” – Jeremiah 48:18 NLT

They would be humbled and humiliated by God. Every city in Moab and all the surrounding regions would feel the full force of God’s wrath and judgment. And the devastation would be so comprehensive and complete that it would leave everyone simply asking, “What has happened there?” It will be beyond belief, like nothing anyone could have ever imagined. But God will provide the answer to the question:

“Moab lies in ruins, disgraced;
weep and wail!
Tell it by the banks of the Arnon River:
Moab has been destroyed!” – Jeremiah 48:20 NLT

Moab would be emptied of people, possessions and pride. Like wine poured out and its vessel smashed, Moab would find the hand of the Lord heavy and their treatment by Him devastatingly complete. God would hold nothing back. His justice and judgment would be fully meted out and no one, including the might warriors of Moab or their almighty god, Chemosh would stand in His way.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Message (MSG)

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;
    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.

“A voice! A cry from Horonaim,
    ‘Desolation and great destruction!’
Moab is destroyed;
    her little ones have made a cry.
For at the ascent of Luhith
    they go up weeping;
for at the descent of Horonaim
    they have heard the distressed cry of destruction.
Flee! Save yourselves!
    You will be like a juniper in the desert!
For, because you trusted in your works and your treasures,
    you also shall be taken;
and Chemosh shall go into exile
    with his priests and his officials.
The destroyer shall come upon every city,
    and no city shall escape;
the valley shall perish,
    and the plain shall be destroyed,
    as the Lord has spoken.

“Give wings to Moab,
for she would fly away;
her cities shall become a desolation,
with no inhabitant in them.” – Jeremiah 48:1-9 ESV

Moab, Nebo, Kiriathaim, Madmen, Heshbon, Horonaim, Luhith, and Chemosh. This is like a Who's-Who of who's that? Besides Moab, most of these other names are probably unfamiliar to us. And yet, God has His prophet, Jeremiah, call out each of these cities and Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, in particular, providing them with specific words of warning concerning their future fates. Moab was the son of Lot, the nephew of Abraham. So, the Moabites were distant relatives of the Jews. But they had been a thorn in the side of the Israelites since the days of King Saul and King David. David’s great-great grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabite. And Solomon, David’s son and successor to his throne would have many Moabite concubines, who would entice him to erect a shrine near Jerusalem, to Chemosh, the Moabite god.

We are not told when this oracle against Moab was given. But it is clearly a prediction by God of their looming destruction and, while this passage does not provide us with the reasons behind God’s anger with them, we can determine their guilt based on other passages. The Moabites are listed among those nations that joined King Nebuchadnezzar’s forces by providing raiding parties to destroy Judah.

During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land of Judah. Jehoiakim surrendered and paid him tribute for three years but then rebelled. Then the Lord sent bands of Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiders against Judah to destroy it, just as the Lord had promised through his prophets. – 2 Kings 24:1-2 NLT

Because of the disobedience of the nations of Israel and Judah, God was obligated by His justice to punish them for their sin and rebellion against Him. So, He used the nations around them to bring about their destruction. His primary tool would be the Babylonians, but other nations would join in the feeding frenzy like sharks drawn to blood in the water. The Moabites would opportunistically take advantage of the fall of the people of God, hoping to benefit from their elimination. But God would hold them responsible for the part they played. While it is clear that God sovereignly ordained the roles the Babylonians, Moabites, Ammonites and others played in Judah’s fall, that does not mean they were forced to do so. It is not an indication that they did so against their wills. It simply means that God orchestrated the timing and sovereignly utilized the natural proclivities of these pagan nations to accomplish His divine will concerning Judah. These nations were naturally blood-thirsty and opportunistic. Their leaders were predisposed to conquer and destroy. God did not make Nebuchadnezzar invade Judah against his wishes. But God did orchestrate Nebuchadnezzar’s rise to power and the timing of the Babylonian invasion of the land of Judah.

And while God would also use the Moabites to accomplish His divinely ordained destruction of Judah, He would also hold the Moabites responsible for the part they played. Once again, they played their part willingly and eagerly. God simply used the natural predisposition of the Moabites to accomplish what He had ordained. And He would see that they paid for their part in Judah’s fall.

“What sorrow awaits the city of Nebo;
it will soon lie in ruins.
The city of Kiriathaim will be humiliated and captured;
the fortress will be humiliated and broken down.” – Jeremiah 48:1 NLT

Nebo and Kiriathaim were two major cities in the land of Moab. God specifically mentions a number of towns located throughout the land of Moab, signifying that the destruction would be widespread. The entire nation would feel the impact of God’s wrath and subsequent judgment. The Moabites would attack Judah when they were down and out, but God would hold them responsible for their opportunistic treatment of their distant relatives. And God makes it painfully clear: “All Moab is destroyed” (Jeremiah 48:4 NLT). He warns them in advance to run for their lives and escape the coming destruction, because the fall of Moab will be inevitable and unavoidable. God also provides a not-so-subtle indictment against Moab’s idolatry and prideful self-sufficiency.

“Because you have trusted in your wealth and skill,
you will be taken captive.
Your god Chemosh, with his priests and officials,
will be hauled off to distant lands!” – Jeremiah 48:7 NLT

Even Chemosh, the Moabite god, would be hauled away as booty, a fitting fate for a god who was non-existent and totally incapable of providing protection for itself, let alone the people who worshiped it. Moab’s destruction will be complete.

“All the towns will be destroyed,
    and no one will escape—
either on the plateaus or in the valleys,
    for the Lord has spoken.
Oh, that Moab had wings
    so she could fly away,
for her towns will be left empty,
    with no one living in them.” – Jeremiah 48:8-9 NLT

As with God’s prediction of the fall of the Philistines in chapter 47, this oracle concerning Moab’s fall is clearly meant to let the people of Judah know that the God they have forsaken is in control. He is all-powerful, completely sovereign over all the nations, and fully capable of accomplishing all He has promised to do, using any and every resource at His divine disposal to make it happen. And each and every actor in God’s divine drama will play their part, but also be held responsible for the role they play. No one, including the people of Judah, will escape God’s justice. No nation or king will walk away unscathed or guiltless in this God-orchestrated, divinely-ordained chain of events. Pagan kings, false gods, mighty nations, opportunistic neighbors, large cities, small villages, and people of all walks of life would feel the wrath of God. When the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel speaks, everyone may not listen to or obey what He has to say, but they will all experience the full impact of His sovereign will.

The Message (MSG)

Emptied From Vessel to Vessel.

Thus Says the Lord…