Judgment begin with God's People

Jeremiah 48: 1-13

Judgment always begins at the threshold of God’s own, and with the Moabites, it is traced back to King Solomon for he is the lover of many foreign women.  Now it is somewhat discouraging when one reads that the wisest of men made so many mistakes when it came to obeying God.  You might want to check out 1 Kings 11:1-7, how anything we put before the Lord is a point of contention and in Solomon’s case it was the 700 wives, princesses, and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart from God.  “So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.” (1 Kings 11:6-8) 

And it came at a very high cost, for the nation of Judah and Solomon’s sons, they lost the kingdom after his death, for God promises to tear it out of the hands of Solomon’s sons.  The Moabites worshiped Chemosh and took great pride in mud brick production and then later with agricultural production.  And yet we live in a time of worship of many little gods, and we take pride in the blessing that comes from God and yet do not acknowledge the source of these blessings and give credit to a person.  I often wonder, how long, yes, how long before God tears this nation apart?

Verse 10 is a message to all mankind: “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.”  Do you recall in Colossians 3:23-24, these words from the Lord; “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”  It is also very clear that God sent men like King Nebuchadnezzar and King Cyrus to be His destroyers; in fact, God called them His servants.  And this was a warning to all that whatever God’s mission or calling on your life, be diligent in doing it.

Even though Moab shared proximity to the nation of Israel, they were off the main roads and had experienced few if any invasions.  Moab took great pride in their vineyards and yet God’s message to them is the day is coming when He will send those who will pour him out.  The Moabites have been complacent but not anymore for they are going to have all they trusted smashed and poured out because of Chemosh, their little god who was not able to protect them.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice