Jeremiah 48:7: “For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken: and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity [with] his priests and his princes together.”
Chapter 48 of Jeremiah speaks of the burden of Moab. Moab does not exist today but there are numerous archaeological findings along the mountainous strip of land in Jordan alongside of the Eastern shore of the Dead Sea that give evidence that the nation of Moab once existed along a prosperous trade route. Moab and Ammon were the sons of Lot through an incestuous relationship with his daughters (Genesis 19:37-38). There were often times of peace between Moab and Israel but more often there were times of war. Ruth the Moabite lived in such a time of peace between Moab and Israel. David is descended from Ruth as well as Jesus so they both have Moabite blood flowing through them. David committed the protection of his parents to the King of Moab when he was pursued by Saul. Still much of the history of Moab has been one of contention with Israel.
In 1860 in Dhibah, Jordan the Mesha Stele or Moabite Stone was discovered written using the Phoenician alphabet. This stone tells the story of King Mesha of Moab who angered the god Chemosh, the god of Moab. As a result the god placed the nation under subjugation to Israel. Soon Chemosh cooled off and returned to Moab and assisted King Mesha to throw off the yoke of Israel and have their land restored. The rest of the story is all smooched up on the stone and we are not sure what it says. The story seems to parallel the account in II Kings 3:4-8 and appears to mention the Israelite God Jehovah or YHWH. It is only one of four known ancient inscriptions to mention Israel. It is located in the Louvre Museum in France and is currently being demanded that it be returned to Jordan who claims rightful ownership.
Anyway, from these records we learn that King Omri of Judah and King Ahab of Israel joined forces and subdued Moab and compelled them to pay a tribute of sheep well into a hundreds of thousands. Moab being located near the Northern Kingdom of Israel was sort of absorbed or became a vassal state to King Ahab of Israel. After King Ahab of Israel died his son Jehoram rose to the throne and the Moabites revolted and succeeded to restore their lands per the inscription of the Moabite Stone. However the Bible tells us the rest of the story. King Jehoram called on King Jehoshaphat of Judah and the King of Edom to form an alliance with him and they entered into a campaign where Moab’s trees were cut down, their wells stopped up and their land made barren. At a moment when it looked like all was lost for Moab, in the sight of both the armies the King of Moab offered his son as a human sacrifice to the god Chemosh and inspired the army Moab to be victorious. Moab then turned around and formed an alliance with Assyria which eventually took Israel into captivity.
Jeremiah seems to be repeating to the people of Judah the same prophecy given by Isaiah earlier with regard to the coming destruction of Moab. Why would Jeremiah emphasize the destruction of Moab when it was really the Babylonians who were the threat? I believe with a PhD in Biblical Archaeology I am allowed to make some historical speculation here. This speculation would not be of any value to a secular historian but would be to one who is a Christian. The human sacrifice of the Moabite prince, the king’s own son to the god Chemosh to save his people from the alleged armies of the God Jehovah must have had a profound impact on the Armies of Israel and Judah. Then for the armies of Moab to prevail against the armies of God after such a sacrifice could have cause a lot of people in Israel and Judah to question whether God Jehovah was truly the supreme God.
Jeremiah is demanding that people return to their worship of God Jehovah and I can imagine the people saying, “Jeremiah, we trusted in Jehovah and look what happened. Moab defeated us with their god Chemosh. They are living high on the hog now while our brothers in the Northern Kingdom are in captivity.”
Jeremiah responds by saying that Moab will one day be destroyed, lie in ruin and taken into captivity along with their god Chemosh. The reason they will be destroyed is not because they trusted in their god Chemosh but in their own works and treasures. The word works in Hebrew is a very interesting word here and very revealing. It is the word ma’aseh which are not just deeds, but deeds meant to bring about a desired end. Ma’aseh has the idea of sacrificing to persuade someone or something to come to your aid or deliverance. You see the people were not trusting in Chemosh so much as they were trusting in the ma’aseh of their king in sacrificing his son. Surely such a great and mighty sacrifice would bring a desired result. The victory of Moab was to be short lived. Not too far into the future the Arabians would invade the Moab territory during the Persian Empire and completely wipe them off the map just as predicted in Jeremiah 48. For the time being they were only God’s tool to bring His own people back to Him. It wasn’t Chemosh who delivered them for that god would end up in captivity as well and it was not their ma’aseh deeds done for deliverance nor their treasures or payments to Assyria that delivered them. It was all part of God’s design.
We face many challenges today. There is much fear in the world. Today in the very territories of ancient Israel and Moab there is another show down taking place by two powerful military armies. The United States and Russia are threatening nuclear war over the power struggle in Syria. Russia said it is ready to go to war if the United States establishes a no fly zone over Syria. The United States seems determined to stand their ground. Evacuations are taking place in Russia and China over the threat of nuclear war. Nuclear weapons are being mobilized and tactical nuclear weapons are being placed in Syria. People are just as frightened today as they must have been during the time of war between Israel and Moab. Our enemies are making sacrifices to their gods. Their gods that they are trusting in are their ma’aseh, their works for deliverance. The question is, are we trusting in our ma’aseh works for deliverance and our treasuries or are we simply trusting in God?
The message of Jeremiah is that God does not need any bribes or sacrifices. Just as the king of Moab sacrificed his son with the hope of saving his people, God sacrificed His son to save us. No other sacrifices are needed not necessary to receive God’s deliverance. We just need to rest in Him. If we do make any sacrifices to Him they are not ma’aseh, done to get something in return, our sacrifices are made out of our love and devotion to Him asking nothing in return, for He has already given us everything.
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