Good morning to all on this glorious Sunday morning. For whatever reason, God woke me up early this morning so I am fresh and in a state of thankfulness. Waine and I are in Thomaston this weekend and he is getting over the flu. He said this is the 1st day he has felt like his old self in about a week. we have been seeing a lot of flu in Thomaston and my little patients are so sick. Thank God my staff and I have remained well.
I am continuing my journey in Jeremiah 48 verses 1 - 47, " This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Woe to Nebo, for it will be ruined. Kiriathaim will be disgraced and captured; the stronghold will be disgraced and shattered. Moab will be praised no more; in Heshbon people will plot her downfall: Come, let us put an end to that nation. You, the people of Madmen, will also be silenced; the sword will pursue you. Cries of anguish arise from Horonaim, cries of great havoc and destruction. Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out. They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard. Flee! Run for your lives; become like a bush in the desert. Since you trust in your deeds and riches, you too will be taken captive, and Chemosh will go into exile, together with his priests and officials. The destroyer will come against every town, and not a town will escape. The valley will be ruined and the plateau destroyed, because the Lord has spoken. Put salt on Moab, for she will be laid waste; her towns will become desolate, with no one to live in them. A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the Lord’s work! A curse on anyone who keeps their sword from bloodshed! Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another—she has not gone into exile.So she tastes as she did, and her aroma is unchanged. But days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will send men who pour from pitchers, and they will pour her out; they will empty her pitchers and smash her jars. Then Moab will be ashamed of Chemosh, as Israel was ashamed when they trusted in Bethel. How can you say, ‘We are warriors, men valiant in battle’? Moab will be destroyed and her towns invaded; her finest young men will go down in the slaughter,”declares the King, whose name is the Lord Almighty. The fall of Moab is at hand; her calamity will come quickly. Mourn for her, all who live around her, all who know her fame; say, ‘How broken is the mighty scepter, how broken the glorious staff! Come down from your glory and sit on the parched ground, you inhabitants of Daughter Dibon, for the one who destroys Moab will come up against you
and ruin your fortified cities. Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, ask them, ‘What has happened?’ Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered. Wail and cry out! Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed. Judgment has come to the plateau—to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath, to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim, to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon, to Kerioth and Bozrah—to all the towns of Moab, far and near. Moab’s horn is cut off; her arm is broken,” declares the Lord. Make her drunk, for she has defied the Lord. Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule. Was not Israel the object of your ridicule? Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head in scorn whenever you speak of her? Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave. We have heard of Moab’s pride—how great is her arrogance! How great is her insolence, her pride, her conceit and the haughtiness of her heart. I know her insolence but it is futile, declares the Lord, and her boasts accomplish nothing. Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth. I weep for you, as Jazer weeps,
you vines of Sibmah. Your branches spread as far as the sea; they reached as far as Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your ripened fruit and grapes. Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy. The sound of their cry rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up. In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods, declares the Lord. So my heart laments for Moab like the music of a pipe; it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off; every hand is slashed and every waist is covered with sackcloth. On all the roofs in Moab and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants,” declares the Lord. How shattered she is! How they wail! How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her.” This is what the Lord says: Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab. Kerioth will be captured and the strongholds taken. In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor. Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the Lord. Terror and pit and snare await you, you people of Moab,” declares the Lord. Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring on Moab the year of her punishment,”declares the Lord. In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand helpless, for a fire has gone out from Heshbon, a blaze from the midst of Sihon; it burns the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of the noisy boasters. Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh are destroyed; your sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity. Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come,” declares the Lord. Here ends the judgment on Moab. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of his Word. Amen.
and ruin your fortified cities. Stand by the road and watch, you who live in Aroer. Ask the man fleeing and the woman escaping, ask them, ‘What has happened?’ Moab is disgraced, for she is shattered. Wail and cry out! Announce by the Arnon that Moab is destroyed. Judgment has come to the plateau—to Holon, Jahzah and Mephaath, to Dibon, Nebo and Beth Diblathaim, to Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul and Beth Meon, to Kerioth and Bozrah—to all the towns of Moab, far and near. Moab’s horn is cut off; her arm is broken,” declares the Lord. Make her drunk, for she has defied the Lord. Let Moab wallow in her vomit; let her be an object of ridicule. Was not Israel the object of your ridicule? Was she caught among thieves, that you shake your head in scorn whenever you speak of her? Abandon your towns and dwell among the rocks, you who live in Moab. Be like a dove that makes its nest at the mouth of a cave. We have heard of Moab’s pride—how great is her arrogance! How great is her insolence, her pride, her conceit and the haughtiness of her heart. I know her insolence but it is futile, declares the Lord, and her boasts accomplish nothing. Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth. I weep for you, as Jazer weeps,
you vines of Sibmah. Your branches spread as far as the sea; they reached as far as Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your ripened fruit and grapes. Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy. The sound of their cry rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up. In Moab I will put an end to those who make offerings on the high places and burn incense to their gods, declares the Lord. So my heart laments for Moab like the music of a pipe; it laments like a pipe for the people of Kir Hareseth. The wealth they acquired is gone. Every head is shaved and every beard cut off; every hand is slashed and every waist is covered with sackcloth. On all the roofs in Moab and in the public squares there is nothing but mourning, for I have broken Moab like a jar that no one wants,” declares the Lord. How shattered she is! How they wail! How Moab turns her back in shame! Moab has become an object of ridicule, an object of horror to all those around her.” This is what the Lord says: Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab. Kerioth will be captured and the strongholds taken. In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor. Moab will be destroyed as a nation because she defied the Lord. Terror and pit and snare await you, you people of Moab,” declares the Lord. Whoever flees from the terror will fall into a pit, whoever climbs out of the pit will be caught in a snare; for I will bring on Moab the year of her punishment,”declares the Lord. In the shadow of Heshbon the fugitives stand helpless, for a fire has gone out from Heshbon, a blaze from the midst of Sihon; it burns the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of the noisy boasters. Woe to you, Moab! The people of Chemosh are destroyed; your sons are taken into exile and your daughters into captivity. Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in days to come,” declares the Lord. Here ends the judgment on Moab. May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of his Word. Amen.
Wow, I really had to do some research on this chapter to understand the significance of Moab and their relationship to God and the Israelites. This is what I found. The Moabites were the result of an incestuous relationship between Lot and his older daughter. Lot, as we remember, was Abraham's nephew and was rescued in the nick of time from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. From that point forward whenever you hear of the Moabites in the Bible, you will know that some sort of calamity will follow because as you remember Lot and his family were involved in some sort of pagan god worhsiping and had gotten caught up in the life style of the peole of Sodom and Gomorrah. He and his family were saved because of the Promise God made to Abraham. Lot was always a contenuous person, very jealous of the blessings given to Abraham however from the Moabites came Ruth and thus King David which is a testament that God always brings good out of evil. From the lineage of David comes Christ, the Messiah. Ruth was unique in that she was willing to give up her pagan gods for the one true God. She loved Naomi so much that she was willing to leave her homeland and go to Israel, a land where she would be despised. As you follow the Moabites through the Bible to the time of the Judges, God uses them, like He used the Philistines, to punish the Israelites when they fall away. When the Israelites call out to God, He brings forth a judge to rescue them from their oppressors and this chapter in Jeremiah describes the destruction of the Moabites.
This theme of Judgement and Restoration is also applicable in the lives of Christians but in a slightly different way. We are protected from judgement because of the Blood of Jesus--however I think we need restoration on a constant basis. We are free of the Judgement of God because as Christians we have declared that there is only One and True God--Jehovah. We acknowledge that Christ is Lord and is the Only way to be free of the Judgement of God and restored to God as was intended when God created us. We also know that when we sin, we are not in the presence of God because God and sin cannot exist in the same plane, so when we ask God for forgiveness of our sins we are then restored to God, not unto salvation which has been secured forever, but unto Blessings. When we are restored we are free to receive the Blessings that come from God. Hallelujah!! Christ taught us this lesson when He taught us how to pray and on a Daily basis.
"Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom Come, They will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for Thine is the Kingdom and the Glory FOREVER and Amen!" Be blessed today as you welcome the restoration of the Father and your protection from judgement by the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus!!
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.
Stephanie
No comments:
Post a Comment