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英語原文
Moab is next set to the bar before Jeremiah the prophet, whom God has constituted judge over nations and kingdoms, from his mouth to receive its doom. Isaiah's predictions concerning Moab had had their accomplishment (we had the predictions Isa 15:1-16:14 and the like Am 2:1), and they were fulfilled when the Assyrians, under Salmanassar, invaded and distressed Moab. But this is a prophecy of the desolations of Moab by the Chaldeans, which were accomplished under Nebuzaradan, about five years after he had destroyed Jerusalem. Here is, I. The destruction foretold, that it should be great and general, should extend itself to all parts of the country (Jer 48:1-6,8, and again Jer 48:21-25,34), that spoilers should come upon them and force some to flee (Jer 48:9), should carry many into captivity (Jer 48:12,46), that the enemy should come shortly (Jer 48:16), come swiftly and surprise them (Jer 48:40,41), that he should make thorough work (Jer 48:10) and lay the country quite waste, though it was very strong (Jer 48:14,15), that there should be no escaping (Jer 48:42,45), that this should force them to quit their idols (Jer 48:13,35) and put an end to all their joy (Jer 48:33,34), that their neighbours shall lament them (Jer 48:17-19) and the prophet himself does (Jer 48:31,36, etc.). II. The causes of this destruction assigned; it was sin that brought this ruin upon them, their pride, and security, and carnal confidence (Jer 48:7,11,14,29), and their contempt of and enmity to God and his people, Jer 48:26,27,30. III. A promise of the restoration of Moab, Jer 48:48).
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The Judgment of Moab (605 BC)
简体中文
对摩押的审判（主前605年）
¹ 论摩押。万军之耶和华以色列的神如此说：尼波有祸了！因它变为荒场；基列雅琳蒙羞被攻取；米斯迦蒙羞惊惶。 ² 摩押不再被称赞；人在希实本设谋害它，说：来吧，我们将它剪除，使它不再成国。玛得缅啊，你也必被剪除；刀剑必追赶你。 ³ 从何罗念有哀号的声音：『荒凉和大毁灭！』 ⁴ 摩押被毁坏；她的孩童也发了哀声。 ⁵ 人在上鲁希坡上行，必随走随哭；因为下何罗念的下坡，仇敌听见了毁灭的哀声。 ⁶ 你们要逃跑自救性命，像旷野的灌木一样。 ⁷ 你因倚靠自己的作为和自己的财宝，也必被攻取；基抹必和它的祭司、首领一同被掳去。 ⁸ 行毁灭的必临到各城，并无一城逃脱；山谷也必致败亡，平原必被毁坏，正如耶和华所说的。 ⁹ 要给摩押翅膀，使它可以飞去逃离；因为它的城邑必荒凉，无人居住。 ¹⁰ 怠惰不行耶和华之工的，可咒可诅；禁止刀剑不经血的，可咒可诅。 ¹¹ 摩押自幼年以来常享安逸，如酒未从这器倒在那器里，也未曾被掳去，所以它的原味尚存，香气未变。 ¹² 耶和华说：日子将到，我必差遣趐散之客到它那里，使它趐散；又必倒空它的器皿，打碎它的坛。 ¹³ 摩押必因基抹羞愧，像以色列家因伯特利——他们所倚靠的——羞愧一样。
在这些经文里我们可留意：
一、摩押毁灭的创始者——「万军之耶和华」，他有一切军兵、所有军兵在他命令之下；又是「以色列的神」（耶48:1）。他要在此为他以色列人的案件伸冤——这一族向来恼烦他们；并要因摩押素来对以色列的欺压而刑罚他们，虽然以色列曾被吩咐不可惹他们（申2:9）。所以摩押的毁灭称为「耶和华之工」（耶48:10），因为是他在为以色列伸冤；他的工作必精确地与他的话相符（耶48:8）。
二、所用的器皿：「行毁灭的必来」（耶48:8），必带刀而来——必「追赶他们」的刀（耶48:2）。「『我必差遣趐散之客到它那里』——这些人从远处来，仿佛是流浪者，或是迷了路；但他们『必使它趐散』。他们自己看似趐散之人，却要使摩押人真正成为趐散的人——有的逃奔，有的被掳。」这些毁灭者激励自己执行杀戮；他们「在希实本谋害它」——希实本是摩押首要的城之一；他们志在无少于全国的倾覆：「来吧，我们将它剪除，使它不再成国」（耶48:2）；侵略者所求不达此目的不止。先知奉神的名劝他们务必作得彻底（耶48:10）：「『怠惰不行耶和华之工的，可咒可诅』」——这血腥之工、这毁灭之工；虽与怜悯人之人的天性相违，但这乃是「耶和华之工」，不可作一半。迦勒底人奉命——借暗中的本能（加塔克先生如此说）——毁灭摩押人，所以他们不可顾惜；不可因愚昧的怜悯而「禁止刀剑不经血」；否则他们必因此招刀剑和咒诅到自己身上，正如扫罗因顾惜亚玛力人，亚哈因放走便哈达而招祸一样。「你的命必抵他的命。」这话也适用于一切奉派为神作工之人的通则：「『怠惰不行耶和华之工的，可咒可诅』」——或译「诡诈地」；即假装作，却不作到点上；表面事奉神的荣耀，实则事奉自己的目的，把耶和华之工推行到合乎自己目的之处便止；或在神的事工上怠惰，既不尽心也不尽力照所当行的去行（玛1:14）。这样的人不可自欺，因为神不会这样被戏弄。
三、这毁灭的可悲实例和结果。各城必成废墟：它们必「变为荒场」（耶48:1），被「剪除」（耶48:2）；必「荒凉」（耶48:9），「无人居住」；要么无可居之屋，要么无居之之人，要么想居者无安全安逸可言。「各城必被行毁灭的攻取，无一城逃脱。」最坚固的城不能在仇敌的权势下保全自己，最美的城也不能讨仇敌的怜惜和恩待。「山谷也必致败亡，平原必被毁坏」（耶48:8）。素常覆盖平原、使山谷欢呼的五谷和羊群，都必被毁——被吞吃、被践踏、或被掳去。最神圣的人也不得免：「祭司和首领必一同被掳去。」不但如此，他们所敬拜、所指望保护他们的基抹，也必与他们同遭毁灭；他的庙宇必化为灰烬，他的偶像也必与其余掠物一同被带走。这一切的结果是：1. 极大的羞耻和混乱：「基列雅琳蒙羞」，米斯迦也蒙羞。他们必为他们素常对己城的夸耀感到羞愧：「摩押不再被称赞」——也许可如此读（耶48:2）；当人所设计加于希实本之祸临到它时，他们必不再夸这城的坚固。他们也不再夸他们的神（耶48:13）；他们「必因基抹羞愧」——为他们素来向那粪堆般的偶像所献的祷告和所存的信赖而羞愧——「像以色列家因伯特利羞愧一样」——为他们设在伯特利的金牛犊羞愧，他们曾信赖它为保护者，却受了骗，因为它不能救他们脱离亚述人；照样，基抹也不能救摩押人脱离迦勒底人。当记取：那些不肯因神的话受劝、为偶像之愚昧羞愧的人，必因神的审判受劝、为之羞愧——当他们借可悲的经历发现所事奉的神全然无力帮助他们之时。2. 必有极大的悲哀；有「哀号的声音」（耶48:3），那声音尽是「荒凉和大毁灭」。「哀哉！哀哉！『摩押被毁坏』」（耶48:4）。大人既已离城各自逃生，连「孩童也发了哀声」——或是下层百姓，或是小儿——那无辜无害之人，他们在这样的时刻哀声最为凄切。上到山岭，下到山谷，所遇见的是「随走随哭（哭泣上加哭泣）」；人人流泪；所遇见的无干眼之人。甚至仇敌也听见了哀声——按计本当隐瞒，因为仇敌听见必受激励、受鼓舞；但这声音太大，无法隐藏。3. 必有极大的混乱；他们彼此相告：「走，走！『逃跑，自救性命』（耶48:6）！要以最快之速自寻安全，即使像『旷野的灌木』那样赤身逃走也在所不惜；不可想带走你所有之物，因为这样作可能丧命（太24:16-18）。要在荒芜旷野中寻庇所，好以性命为掠物。危险必忽然而迅速地临到；所以『要给摩押翅膀』（耶48:9）——这是你能为他们作的最大善事；这也是他们所要呼求的：『但愿我有鸽子的翅膀！』因为除非有翅膀能飞，否则无可逃脱。」
四、摩押现在要被算账的罪——这些罪正是神如此严厉对待他们的依据。1. 是因他们安逸自恃，倚靠自己的财富和势力——「自己的作为和自己的财宝」（耶48:7）。他们曾费很大力气加固城邑，在周围筑起大规模工程，充实公库和私家府库；自以为处于最佳备战状态，无人敢侵，因而蔑视危险。「他们『倚靠财富的丰富，以自己的恶自恃』」（诗52:7）。如今为要使他们切身体会肉身之倚靠的虚妄和愚昧，神必差一仇敌，制伏他们的工程，劫掠他们的财宝。当记取：我们把本当归给神的信赖归给受造之物，就丧失了那受造之物的安慰。所倚靠的芦苇必折断。2. 是因他们没有善用太平兴盛的日子（耶48:11）。（1）他们长久未受搅扰：「『摩押自幼年以来常享安逸。』」它在以色列以先便已是古国，虽幅员狭小，又被强邻环绕，却享大太平。神的以色列「从幼年以来受苦」（诗129:1-2），摩押却「自幼年以来常享安逸」。它「未从这器倒在那器里」——未曾经历任何搅扰削弱的变化，却如未倒动、未滤过的酒，仍存其味和力。它未曾动摇，也无任何不安；它「未曾被掳去」，像以色列人屡次被掳那样；然而摩押却是个拜偶像的恶国，是「反对神隐藏之人」的同盟者之一（诗83:3、6）。当记取：许多人坚持不悔改的罪孽，却仍享受未断的亨通。（2）他们也同样长久败坏而不改：「『如酒未从这器倒在那器里』」；他在兴盛中安逸而放纵，以之为安息，并从其中汲取灵魂一切的活力和生命，正如酒从其渣滓汲取一般。「它的原味尚存，香气未变」；它仍是老样子，一如既往地坏。当记取：恶人在世上既如从前一样亨通，便毫无奇怪地仍如从前一样恶。他们没有改变其太平兴盛，所以「不敬畏神」，他们的心意和生活也一成不变（诗55:19）。
英語原文
The Judgment of Moab (605 BC)
¹ Against Moab thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Woe unto Nebo! for it is spoiled: Kiriathaim is confounded and taken: Misgab is confounded and dismayed.
² There shall be no more praise of Moab: in Heshbon they have devised evil against it; come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen; the sword shall pursue thee.
³ A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, spoiling and great destruction.
⁴ Moab is destroyed; her little ones have caused a cry to be heard.
⁵ For in the going up of Luhith continual weeping shall go up; for in the going down of Horonaim the enemies have heard a cry of destruction.
⁶ Flee, save your lives, and be like the heath in the wilderness.
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.
⁸ And the spoiler shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape: the valley also shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD hath spoken.
⁹ Give wings unto Moab, that it may flee and get away: for the cities thereof shall be desolate, without any to dwell therein.
¹⁰ Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
¹¹ Moab hath been at ease from his youth, and he hath settled on his lees, and hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel, neither hath he gone into captivity: therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed.
¹² Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause him to wander, and shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles.
¹³ And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their confidence.
We may observe in these verses,
I. The author of Moab's destruction; it is the Lord of hosts, that has armies, all armies, at his command, and the God of Israel (Jer 48:1), who will herein plead the cause of his Israel against a people that have always been vexatious to them, and will punish them now for the injuries done to Israel of old, though Israel was forbidden to meddle with them (De 2:9), therefore the destruction of Moab is called the work of the Lord (Jer 48:10), for it is he that pleads for Israel; and his work will exactly agree with his word, Jer 48:8.
II. The instruments of it: Spoilers shall come (Jer 48:8), shall come with a sword, a sword that shall pursue them, Jer 48:2. "I will send unto him wanderers, such as come from afar, as if they were vagrants, or had missed their way, but they shall cause him to wander; they seem as wanderers themselves, but they shall make the Moabites to be really wanderers, some to flee and others to be carried into captivity." These destroyers stir up themselves to do execution; they have devised evil against Heshbon, one of the principal cities of Moab, and they aim at no less than the ruin of the kingdom: Come, and let us cut it off from being a nation (Jer 48:2); nothing less will serve the turn of the invaders; they come, not to plunder it, but to ruin it. The prophet, in God's name, engages them to make thorough work of it (Jer 48:10): Cursed be he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully, this bloody work, this destroying work; though it goes against the grain with men of compassion, yet it is the work of the Lord, and must not be done by the halves. The Chaldeans have it in charge, by a secret instinct (says Mr. Gataker), to destroy the Moabites, and therefore they must not spare, must not, out of foolish pity, keep back their sword from blood; they would thereby bring a sword, and a curse with it, upon themselves, as Saul did by sparing the Amalekites and Ahab by letting Benhadad go. Thy life shall go for his life. To this work is applied that general rule given to all that are employed in any service for God, Cursed by he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully or negligently, that pretends to do it, but does it not to purpose, makes a show of serving God's glory, but is really serving his own ends and carries on the work of the Lord no further than will suit his own purposes, or that is slothful in business for God and takes neither care nor pains to do it as it should be done, Mal 1:14. Let not such deceive themselves, for God will not thus be mocked.
III. The woeful instances and effects of this destruction. The cities shall be laid in ruins; they shall be spoiled (Jer 48:1) and cut down (Jer 48:2); they shall be desolate (Jer 48:9), without any to dwell therein; there shall be no houses to dwell in, or no people to dwell in them, or no safety and ease to those that would dwell in them. Every city shall be spoiled and no city shall escape. The strongest city shall not be able to secure itself against the enemies' power, nor shall the finest city be able to recommend itself to the enemies' pity and favour. The country also shall be wasted, the valley shall perish, and the plain be destroyed, Jer 48:8. The corn and the flocks, which used to cover the plains and make the valleys rejoice, shall all be destroyed, eaten up, trodden down, or carried off. The most sacred persons shall not escape: The priests and princes shall go together into captivity. Nay, Chemosh, the god they worship, who, they hope, will protect them, shall share with them in the ruin; his temples shall be laid in ashes and his image carried away with the rest of the spoil. Now the consequence of all this will be, 1. Great shame and confusion: Kirjathaim is confounded, and Misgah is so. They shall be ashamed of the mighty boasts they have sometimes made of their cities: There shall be no more vaunting in Moab concerning Heshbon (so it might be read, Jer 48:2); they shall no more boast of the strength of that city when the evil which is designed against it is brought upon it. Nor shall they any more boast of their gods (Jer 48:13); they shall be ashamed of Chemosh (ashamed of all the prayers they have made to and all the confidence they put in that dunghill deity), as Israel was ashamed of Beth-el, of the golden calf they had at Beth-el, which they confided in as their protector, but were deceived in, for it was not able to save them from the Assyrians; nor shall Chemosh be able to save the Moabites from the Chaldeans. Note, Those that will not be convinced and made ashamed of the folly of their idolatry by the word of God shall be convinced and made ashamed of it by the judgments of God, when they shall find by woeful experience the utter inability of the gods they have served to do them any service. 2. There will be great sorrow; there is a voice of crying heard (Jer 48:3) and the cry is nothing but spoiling and great destruction. Alas! alas! Moab is destroyed, Jer 48:4. The great ones having quitted the cities to shift for their own safety, even the little ones have caused a cry to be heard, the meaner sort of people, or the little children, the innocent harmless ones, whose cries at such a time are the most piteous. Go up to the hills, go down to the valleys, and you meet with continual weeping (weeping with weeping); all are in tears; you meet none with dry eyes. Even the enemies have heard the cry, from whom it would have been policy to conceal it, for they will be animated and encouraged by it; but it is so great that it cannot be hid, 3. There will be great hurry; they will cry to one another, "Away, away! flee; save your lives (Jer 48:6); shift for your own safety with all imaginable speed, though you escape as bare and naked as the heath, or grig, or dry shrub, in the wilderness; think not of carrying away any thing you have, for it may cost you your life to attempt it, Mt 24:16-18. Take shelter, though it be in a barren wilderness, that you may have your lives for a prey. The danger will come suddenly and swiftly; and therefore give wings unto Moab (Jer 48:9); that would be the greatest kindness you could do them; that is what they will call for, O that we had wings like a dove! for unless they have wings, and can fly, there will be no escaping."
IV. The sins for which God will now reckon with Moab, and which justify God in these severe proceedings against them. 1. It is because they have been secure, and have trusted in their wealth and strength, in their works and in their treasures, Jer 48:7. They had taken a great deal of pains to fortify their cities and make large works about them, and to fill their exchequer and private coffers, so that they thought themselves in as good a posture for war as any people could be and that none durst invade them, and therefore set danger at defiance. They trusted in the abundance of their riches and strengthened themselves in their wickedness, Ps 52:7. Now, for this reason, that they may have a sensible conviction of the vanity and folly of their carnal confidences, God will send an enemy that will master their works and rifle their treasures. Note, We forfeit the comfort of that creature which we repose that confidence in which should be reposed in God only. The reed will break that is leaned upon. 2. It is because they have not made a right improvement of the days of the peace and prosperity, Jer 48:11. (1.) They had been long undisturbed: Moab has been at ease from his youth. It was an ancient kingdom before Israel was, and had enjoyed great tranquillity, though a small country and surrounded with potent neighbours. God's Israel were afflicted from their youth (Ps 129:1,2), but Moab at ease from his youth. He has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, has not known any troublesome weakening changes, but is as wine kept on the lees, and not racked or drawn off, by which it retains its strength and body. He has not been unsettled, nor any way made uneasy; he has not gone into captivity, as Israel have often done, and yet Moab is a wicked idolatrous nation, and one of the confederates against God's hidden ones, Ps 83:3,6. Note, There are many that persist in unrepented iniquity and yet enjoy uninterrupted prosperity. (2.) They had been as long corrupt and unreformed: He has settled on his lees; he has been secure and sensual in his prosperity, has rested in it, and fetched all the strength and life of the soul from it, as the wine from the lees. His taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed; he is still the same, as bad as ever he was. Note, While bad people are as happy as they used to be in the world it is no marvel if they are bad as they used to be. They have no changes of their peace and prosperity, therefore fear not God, their hearts and lives are unchanged, Ps 55:19.
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The Judgment of Moab (605 BC)
简体中文
摩押的审判 (605 BC)
¹⁴ 你们怎么说：我们是勇士，是善战之力呢？ ¹⁵ 摩押受毁灭，且已离开她的城邑；她的精壮少年人都下去被杀，那是名为万军之耶和华的君王说的。 ¹⁶ 摩押的灾祸临近来到，他的苦难速速奔至。 ¹⁷ 凡在他四围的，都当为他哀哭；凡知道他名的，都当说：那有力的杖，怎样折断，那荣美的棒，怎样毁坏！ ¹⁸ 住在底本的女子啊，当从荣耀中下来，坐在干旱之地；因为毁坏摩押的必临到你，他必毁坏你的坚固保障。 ¹⁹ 住亚罗珥的啊，要站在道旁观望；问那逃走的和逃脱的，说：发生了什么事？ ²⁰ 摩押蒙羞被毁；你们要哀号、呼喊；要在亚嫩宣告：摩押受毁灭了。 ²¹ 审判临到平原之地，临到何伦、雅杂、米法押， ²² 临到底本、尼波、伯低比拉太音， ²³ 临到基列亭、伯迦末、伯米恩， ²⁴ 临到基列斯、波斯拉，并摩押地远近一切城邑。 ²⁵ 摩押的角被砍断，他的膀臂折断；这是耶和华说的。 ²⁶ 你们要使他喝醉；因他向耶和华夸大；摩押必在自己的呕吐中打滚，自己也要成为笑谈。 ²⁷ 以色列岂不是你嘲笑的对象吗？他岂是在贼中被拿获的呢？你每逢提到他，就摇头雀跃。 ²⁸ 住在摩押的啊，要离开城邑，住在磐石中，像鸽子在洞口之旁搭窝一般。 ²⁹ 我们都听见摩押的骄傲（他极其骄傲），听见他的狂妄、骄傲、自大，并心里所存的傲慢。 ³⁰ 耶和华说：我知道他的忿怒；但必不如此成就；他的谎言也不如此行事。 ³¹ 因此我要为摩押哀号，为摩押全地呼喊；我的心必为基列熙珥人悲哀。 ³² 西比玛的葡萄树啊，我要以雅谢的眼泪为你哭泣；你的枝子越过大海，直达到雅谢的海；毁坏者已经临到你夏天的果子和你的葡萄收成之上。 ³³ 喜乐和欢呼从肥美的田地、从摩押地被夺去；我使酒从酒醡中断绝；必无人踹酒欢呼；他们的欢呼必不再是欢呼。 ³⁴ 希实本的哀声达到以利亚利，直到雅杂；从琐珥直到何罗念，如三岁之牛犊的鸣叫；因为宁林的水也必变为荒凉。 ³⁵ 耶和华说：我必使摩押境内那在高冈上献祭的、那向他的神烧香的，都断绝。 ³⁶ 因此我的心必为摩押如箫发声，我的心必为基列熙珥人如箫发声；因为他所得的财富已经消灭。 ³⁷ 各人的头必光秃，各人的胡须必被剃除；各人手上必有刀伤，腰间要束上麻布。 ³⁸ 在摩押各房的房顶上和街道上，处处必有哀号；因为我打碎摩押，如同打碎无人喜悦的器皿；这是耶和华说的。 ³⁹ 他们必哀号说：摩押何竟被毁！摩押何竟满面羞愧转背退后！这样，摩押必成为四围一切人所嗤笑、所惊骇的对象。 ⁴⁰ 耶和华如此说：他必如鹰飞去，展开翅膀覆盖摩押。 ⁴¹ 加略被攻取，坚固保障被占据；到那日摩押勇士的心，必如临产妇人的心一样。 ⁴² 摩押必被毁灭，不再成国；因他向耶和华夸大。 ⁴³ 耶和华说：摩押的居民哪，恐惧、坑阱、罗网必临到你。 ⁴⁴ 那躲避恐惧的，必坠入坑阱；那从坑中上来的，必被网罗捉住；因为我必使追讨之年临到摩押；这是耶和华说的。 ⁴⁵ 逃跑的人因势力而站在希实本的荫下；但必有火从希实本出来，有火焰从西宏中间发出，烧尽摩押的角，和那喧嚷人的头顶。 ⁴⁶ 摩押啊，你有祸了！基抹的民灭亡了；因你的儿子被掳去，你的女儿也被掳去。 ⁴⁷ 耶和华说：到末后，我还要使摩押被掳的人归回。摩押的审判到这里为止。
摩押的毁灭在此被进一步详尽预言，表达极为丰富多样，且笔触极为凄切动人，不仅是要借此唤醒他们借全民悔改与改革来避开这场灾祸，或借个人的悔改与改革来预备面对它，更是要使我们深受触动，看见人生的可悲境况——它是如此易遭这样哀惨的事故，并看见神怒气的权能和他审判的可畏——当他出来与惹动他的百姓相争之时。在研读这长长的威吓卷轴，默想其中的可畏时，我们若一直将此记在眼前，使自己的心被对神和他忿怒的圣洁敬畏所充满，比之苛求地探究这里所用一切生动的比喻和隐喻，对我们更有益处。
一、这里所威吓的，是一场出人意外的毁灭，且极其突然。他们十分自恃安稳，自以为「善战之力」，能与最强的敌手抗衡（耶48:14），然而灾祸已近，他却无力抵挡，甚至无法使敌人稍作对峙拖延，因为「苦难速速奔至」（耶48:16），转眼就要到极点。敌人必「如鹰飞去」，来势如此迅疾、如此猛烈（耶48:40），如鹰扑食，他必「展开翅膀」，即展开他军队的翅膀，「覆盖摩押」；他必四面围困，使无人逃脱。摩押的「坚固保障」被「攻取」（耶48:41），所以他们一切的力量都无济于事；这使连他们「勇士的心」也都要消化，因为他们没有时间重整那本来可以激励他们的心思。要在「忽然来的惊恐」面前不惧怕，需要超乎寻常的勇气。
二、这是一场彻底的毁灭，使摩押全然荒废：「摩押受毁灭」（耶48:15），彻底被毁，「蒙羞被毁」（耶48:20）；他们的城邑化为灰烬，或被敌人攻取，迫使他们弃城而逃（耶48:15）。这里列出了多座已临到审判的城邑，名单以「等等」作结——「以及其他诸如此类的城」。既然审判临到「摩押远近一切的城邑」（耶48:21-24），又何必列举更多细节呢？请注意：罪恶既普世盛行，我们就当预料灾祸也必如此。国度失去了它的尊荣与权势：「摩押的角被砍断」，即他能力与权势之角，无论是攻击还是防御都被砍断；「他的膀臂折断」，既不能出击，也不能拦阻（耶48:25）。国度的青年若为其力量与荣美，又如何呢？「他的精壮少年人下去被杀」（耶48:15）。他们下去争战，满心以为必凯旋而归；但神告诉他们，他们是「下去被杀」；凡神与之争战的人，必死无疑。一言以蔽之：「摩押必被毁灭，不再成国」（耶48:42）。那些与神子民为敌的，不久就必不再成为一国。
三、这是一场可哀的毁灭；它必成为合理的哀悼对象，并将喜乐变为沉重。1. 预言这事的那位先知，自己也为此哀号，在看见其远景之时便已悲哀，这是出于对同受人性之同胞的怜悯和对人类本体的关切。先知自己要「为摩押哀号」；他的「心」要为他们「悲哀」（耶48:31）；他要「为西比玛的葡萄树哭泣」（耶48:32）；他的心要「为摩押如箫发声」（耶48:36）。摩押的毁灭虽能证明他是真先知，但他想到这事却仍不能不伤痛。罪人的灭亡并不使神喜悦，因此对我们也不应是乐事；即使那些发出警告的人，也当将之放在心上。这些经文，以及本章中其他许多经文，与以赛亚论摩押的预言中所用的话十分相似（赛15:16）；因为虽然两段预言之间相隔甚久，却都是由同一位圣灵所默示的，而神的先知也当说那些在他们以前的先知所说过的话。有时借用古时的表达并不算是剽窃，只要带着新的情感和新的应用便是。2. 摩押人自己也必哀号；这必是他们所能想象的最大羞辱与痛苦。那些坐在「荣耀」之中，享受财富、欢宴及各样逸乐的人，必「坐在干旱之地」，住在无水、无安慰的干旱之地（耶48:18）。当「毁坏者来到」，要将他们剥夺得一干二净之时，正是他们当「坐在干旱之地」、习惯于艰苦的时候了。住在国中最偏远的角落、离危险最远的摩押人，会焦急地打听战况如何，前线有何消息，要问每一个「逃脱的人：发生了什么事？」（耶48:19）。当他们被告知一切都完了、入侵者已得胜之时，他们便要在苦楚与灵里的伤痛中「哀号、呼喊」（耶48:20）；他们要退隐独处，为祖国的荒凉哀悼；他们要「离开城邑」——那些素来充满欢乐的城邑——「住在磐石中」，在那里尽情沉湎于忧郁；他们不再是歌唱的鸟儿，而是哀鸣的鸟儿，「像鸽子一样」（耶48:28）；「谷中的鸽子」（结7:16）。那些纵情欢乐的人当知道，神能转眼之间改变他们的调子。他们的悲伤将剧烈到极点，以致他们要剃成「光秃」，并「用刀划伤自己」（耶48:37），这是绝望之痛的表现，受试探的人甚至会作自己的毁灭者。「约伯」固然「撕裂外袍、剃了头」，他却没有割伤自己。无论激情的洪水涨得多高，智慧和恩典都必须为它划定界限，筑起堤防，约束它不致流入这样野蛮的行径。这悲伤必是普世性的（耶48:38）：「在摩押各房的房顶上必有普遍的哀号」——他们曾在那里敬拜偶像，向偶像徒然哀求；「在一切街道上」也是如此，他们曾在那里彼此来往，因为他们将自由地传扬自己的悲伤与恐惧，并使之扩散；因为他们看见一切都完了：「我打碎摩押，如同打碎无人喜悦的器皿」，这器皿既不受重视，也无法再修补。摩押素来引以为乐的，是他们的佳果和丰美的美酒。感官之乐便是他们喜乐的全部内容。夺去这些，毁坏他们的园子和葡萄园，就使「他们的一切欢乐止息」（何2:11-12）。当他们的庄稼被移植、「越过大海」（耶48:32），被带往他国栽种之时，便有大大的哭泣。「毁坏者已经临到你夏天的果子和你的葡萄收成之上」，正是这使「希实本的哀声达到以利亚利」（耶48:34）。「从肥美的田地夺去喜乐和欢呼」，便是从「摩押地」夺去它（耶48:33）。若「酒从酒醡中断绝」——素来踹酒之时欢呼不已——他们一切的欢乐便都断绝了。夺去那欢呼，便再没有欢呼了。请注意：那些以感官之乐为主要喜乐、至高喜乐的人，既容易在短时间内被剥夺这些，便使自己受制于最大悲伤的暴虐；而那些以神为乐的人，即使「无花果树不发旺、葡萄树不结果」，仍能如此行。这些摩押人不仅失去了美酒，也失去了水源：连「宁林的水也必变为荒凉」（耶48:34），因此他们的悲伤变得异常喧嚣吵闹，他们的哀号在各处都如「三岁之牛犊的鸣叫」一般被听见。这里的表达借自赛15:5-6。3. 他们一切邻舍都被召来与他们同哀，为他们倾覆而哀悼（耶48:17）：「凡在他四围的都当为他哀哭。」让他得着这一丝悲伤的慰藉，让他看见自己受邻近诸国的怜悯。不，连远处的人，凡「知道他名」、曾闻其盛名的，也当留意他的倾覆，并说：「那有力的杖怎样折断」——其力曾使敌人畏惧——「那荣美的棒怎样毁坏」——其美曾为朋友所夸！愿列国都留意这事并受教。不要因自己的力量或美貌而自夸，也不要在其中倚靠，因为二者都不能在神的审判面前作保障。
四、这是一场可羞辱的毁灭，必使他们暴露在轻蔑之下：「摩押喝醉了」（耶48:26），醉了的人必成为卑贱；他「必在自己的呕吐中打滚」，成为可憎的景观，并「理当被讥笑」。让摩押人饮神忿怒之杯，直到他们踉跄跌倒，直到他们「失魂落魄」，不仅因激情的狂乱，也因计谋的荒谬，而使自己成为笑柄。又说（耶48:39）：「摩押必成为四围一切人所嗤笑、所惊骇的对象」；他们必嗤笑他所夸之荣华权势的倾覆。请注意：心里骄傲的人正在为自己预备羞辱与卑贱。
五、这是夺去他们所爱之物的毁灭，不仅夺去他们的夏果和葡萄收成，也夺去他们的财富（耶48:36）：「他所得的财富已经消灭」——他原以为存藏得十分稳妥，并指望长久享用，如今却已荡然无存。请注意：藏在箱中的钱财，与暴露在田野中的夏果一样，都同样会朽坏消亡。财富是易于流失之物，本如尘土一般，即便我们最小心翼翼地紧握不放，仍要从指缝间溜走。然而这还不是最糟的；连那些宗教虚假愚蠢的人，也格外钟爱它，绝不肯放弃；因此，虽然这其实是一项应许，对他们却成了威吓（耶48:35）：神「必使那在高冈上献祭的断绝」，因为高冈必将被毁，献祭之地必成荒场，那些「向他的神烧香」的祭司自己也必被杀或被掳（耶48:7）。请注意：唯独真宗教、真神的敬拜与事奉，才能在患难之日为我们效力。
六、这是一场公义而正直的毁灭，是他们因罪所当得、并因罪招致到自己身上的。 1. 他们最显赫地犯下、神如今正与之清算的罪，就是骄傲。这事提到了六次（耶48:29）。「我们」都「听见过摩押的骄傲」；他的邻舍都注意到了；这事当面指证他，正如以色列的骄傲当面指证以色列一样；「他极其骄傲」，且每况愈下。请看「他的狂妄、他的自大、他的骄傲、他心里所存的傲慢」；用这么多同义的词来形容，表明他在多少事上显出自己的骄傲，这骄傲在神和人面前又是何等可憎。这事在赛16:6已曾指控他们，但在此表达得更为详尽。从那时以来，他们虽经历了使人谦卑的护理，却仍未谦卑；不，他们反而更加狂妄自大，这就清楚地表明，他们已注定要遭受那以骄傲为前奏的彻底毁灭。这里举出摩押骄傲的两个实例：（1）他对神行事狂妄。他必蒙羞被降卑（耶48:26），因为「他向耶和华夸大」；又说（耶48:42），他「必被毁灭，不再成国」，正是为此缘故。摩押人看基抹胜过耶和华，自以为能与以色列的神匹敌，公然向他挑衅。（2）他对以色列行事傲慢，尤其是在以色列近来的患难之中；因此摩押必陷入同样的患难，落入同样的手，并成为笑谈，因为以色列「是他嘲笑的对象」（耶48:26-27）。大多数摩押人听见邻舍犹大人所遭的灾祸与荒凉时，不仅不为之哀痛，反倒因此欢喜，「摇头雀跃」。许多人在这种情形中，心里暗暗因所厌恶之人的跌倒而快乐，却因审慎而加以掩饰，因为这是招怨的事。但摩押人却刻意张扬他们的喜乐，公然宣示他们对以色列的敌意，对每一遇见的遭难以色列人幸灾乐祸、嗤笑他，这既不人道，又不敬虔，既是对同受人性的同胞的公然侮辱，也是对被称为他名下的神的公然亵渎。请注意：那些在患难中讥笑别人的，自己必公正而确定地迟早落入患难，并被讥笑。那些「幸灾乐祸」——尤其是对神教会灾祸幸灾乐祸——的人，「必不长久不受罚」。 2. 此外，他们还对神的子民怀有恶意，并在与他们的交往中行诡诈（耶48:30）。他们拿犹大和耶路撒冷的荒凉开玩笑，假装他们嗤笑时不过是戏言，不过是自娱；但神说：「我知道他的忿怒；我知道这是出自他对亚伯拉罕的后裔、对真神敬拜者自古以来的敌意。我知道他认为犹太民族的这些灾祸终必以他们的彻底灭绝告终。他如今告诉迦勒底人犹太人是何等恶劣的民，并煽动他们去攻击他们；但事情必不如他所期望的那样成就；他的谎言也不如此行事。他们所嗤笑其倾覆的那个民族，必再复兴。」有人这样读：「我知道他的暴怒。岂不是如此吗？」他岂不是对神的百姓十分狂怒吗？「他的谎言我也知道。他们岂不正是这样行吗？」他们岂不是诬赖他们吗？请注意：教会仇敌的一切狂怒和一切谎言，无论他们用什么借口以为掩饰，神都完全知道（赛37:28）。
七、这是一场错综复杂的毁灭，并将一样接一样地最终完成；因为那些从一样审判中逃脱的，必死于另一样：「恐惧、坑阱、罗网，必临到他们」（耶48:43）。必有恐惧驱使他们落入坑阱，又有罗网在他们落入其中时紧紧捉住他们；以致他们既不能逃避这毁灭，也不能从其中逃脱。论到罪人的一般情形所说的话（赛24:17-18）——「那躲避恐惧的必坠入坑阱，那从坑中上来的必被网罗捉住」——在此特别针对摩押的罪人宣告（耶48:44）；因为这是「追讨之年」，神来与他们清算，并「借所行的审判使自己被人认识」，因他是「名为万军之耶和华的君王」（耶48:15）；他不仅是有权柄判语的「君王」，更是能成就他所定之旨意的「万军之耶和华」。耶48:44所用的比喻在一个实例中得到解释（耶48:45）：「那些逃跑的人」因敌军之力而「站在希实本的荫下」，驻扎在那里，以为安然，正如如今军队有时退到设防城的大炮荫下受其保护；但他们在此必大失所望，因为当他们「从坑中逃出」，就「陷入网罗」；他们以为可以庇护他们的希实本，正如摩西早已预言的那样（民21:28），要吞噬他们：「有火从希实本出来，有火焰从西宏的城邑发出」，吞灭「摩押各角」的来人，并贴在「那喧嚷人之头顶」——即那些咆哮、逞威、喧哗的人，或纵酒狂欢者，或喧闹之子——身上；这里并非指粗鄙喧嚣的群众，而是指那些逞威风、发狂言、大作声势的权贵；神的审判必临到他们身上。我们愿听这事的总意吗？这里有（耶48:46）：「摩押啊，你有祸了！你完了；敬拜基抹的民灭亡了，都过去了；别了，摩押。你的儿子和女儿——下一代所寄予的希望——已经随着他们所幸灾乐祸的犹太人一同被掳去了。」
八、然而，这不是一场永久的毁灭。本章以一个简短的应许作结，应许他们在「末后的日子」必从「被掳中归回」。使他们被掳的神，必「使他们被掳的人归回」（耶48:47）。神待摩押人尚且如此温柔，更何况待他自己的子民呢！即对摩押人，他也「不永远争辩，也不长久怀怒」。当以色列归回时，摩押也归回了；也许这预言主要是为鼓励神的子民，使他们盼望连摩押人也将有分的救恩。然而它也望得更远，指向福音时代；犹太人自己也将这预言归到弥赛亚的日子；那时，外邦人在罪与撒但的轭下被掳的，必蒙神恩典的带领归回，这恩典「使他们自由，真得以自由」。关于摩押的这预言虽长，到此便告结束；结束得令人得安慰：「摩押的审判到这里为止。」
英語原文
The Judgment of Moab (605 BC)
¹⁴ How say ye, We are mighty and strong men for the war?
¹⁵ Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of her cities, and his chosen young men are gone down to the slaughter, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
¹⁶ The calamity of Moab is near to come, and his affliction hasteth fast.
¹⁷ All ye that are about him, bemoan him; and all ye that know his name, say, How is the strong staff broken, and the beautiful rod!
¹⁸ Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst; for the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, and he shall destroy thy strong holds.
¹⁹ O inhabitant of Aroer, stand by the way, and espy; ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth, and say, What is done?
²⁰ Moab is confounded; for it is broken down: howl and cry; tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled,
²¹ And judgment is come upon the plain country; upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath,
²² And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth-diblathaim,
²³ And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon Beth-meon,
²⁴ And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, and upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near.
²⁵ The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, saith the LORD.
²⁶ Make ye him drunken: for he magnified himself against the LORD: Moab also shall wallow in his vomit, and he also shall be in derision.
²⁷ For was not Israel a derision unto thee? was he found among thieves? for since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy.
²⁸ O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth.
²⁹ We have heard the pride of Moab, (he is exceeding proud) his loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the haughtiness of his heart.
³⁰ I know his wrath, saith the LORD; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not so effect it.
³¹ Therefore will I howl for Moab, and I will cry out for all Moab; mine heart shall mourn for the men of Kirheres.
³² O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping of Jazer: thy plants are gone over the sea, they reach even to the sea of Jazer: the spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy vintage.
³³ And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, and from the land of Moab; and I have caused wine to fail from the winepresses: none shall tread with shouting; their shouting shall be no shouting.
³⁴ From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as a heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.
³⁵ Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the LORD, him that offereth in the high places, and him that burneth incense to his gods.
³⁶ Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes, and mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of Kirheres: because the riches that he hath gotten are perished.
³⁷ For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth.
³⁸ There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD.
³⁹ They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down! how hath Moab turned the back with shame! so shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them about him.
⁴⁰ For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.
⁴¹ Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs.
⁴² And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, because he hath magnified himself against the LORD.
⁴³ Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, O inhabitant of Moab, saith the LORD.
⁴⁴ He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of their visitation, saith the LORD.
⁴⁵ They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon because of the force: but a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, and shall devour the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones.
⁴⁶ Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives.
⁴⁷ Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
The destruction is here further prophesied of very largely and with a great copiousness and variety of expression, and very pathetically and in moving language, designed not only to awaken them by a national repentance and reformation to prevent the trouble, or by a personal repentance and reformation to prepare for it, but to affect us with the calamitous state of human life, which is liable to such lamentable occurrences, and with the power of God's anger and the terror of his judgments, when he comes forth to contend with a provoking people. In reading this long roll of threatenings, and meditating on the terror of them, it will be of more use to us to keep this in our eye, and to get our hearts thereby possessed with a holy awe of God and of his wrath, than to enquire critically into all the lively figures and metaphors here used.
I. It is a surprising destruction, and very sudden, that is here threatened. They were very secure, thought themselves strong for war and able to deal with the most powerful enemy (Jer 48:14), and yet the calamity is near, and he is not able to keep it off, nor so much as to keep the enemy long in parley, for the affliction hastens fast (Jer 48:16) and will soon come to a crisis. The enemy shall fly as an eagle, so swiftly, so strongly shall he come (Jer 48:40), as an eagle flies upon his prey, and he shall spread his wings, the wings of his army, over Moab; he shall surround it, that none may escape. The strong-holds of Moab are taken by surprise (Jer 48:41), so that all their strength stood them in no stead; and this made the hearts even of their mighty men to fail, for they had not time to recollect the considerations that might have animated them. It requires a more than ordinary degree of courage not to be afraid of sudden fear.
II. It is an utter destruction, and such as lays Moab all in ruins: Moab is spoiled (Jer 48:15), quite spoiled, is confounded and broken down (Jer 48:20); their cities are laid in ashes, or seized by the enemy so that they are forced to quit them, Jer 48:15. Divers cities are here named, upon which judgment has come, and the list concludes with an et cetera—and such like. What occasion was there for him to mention more particulars when it comes upon all the cities of Moab in general, far and near? Jer 48:21-24. Note, When iniquity is universal we have reason to expect that calamity should be so too. The kingdom is deprived of its dignity and authority: The horn of Moab is cut off, the horn of its strength and power, both offensive and defensive; his arm is broken, that he can neither give a blow nor prevent a blow, Jer 48:25. Is the youth of the kingdom the strength and beauty of it? His chosen young men have gone down to the slaughter, Jer 48:15. They went down to the battle promising themselves that they should return victorious; but God told them that they went down to the slaughter; so sure are those to fall against whom God fights. In a word, Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, Jer 48:42. Those that are enemies to God's people will soon be made no people.
III. It is a lamentable destruction; it will be just matter of mourning and will turn joy into heaviness. 1. The prophet that foretels it does himself lament it, and mourns at the very foresight of it, from a principle of compassion to his fellow-creatures and concern for human nature. The prophet will himself howl for Moab; his very heart shall mourn for them (Jer 48:31); he will weep for the vine of Sibmah (Jer 48:32); his heart shall sound like pipes for Moab, Jer 48:36. Though the destruction of Moab would prove him a true prophet, yet he could not think of it without trouble. The ruin of sinners is no pleasure to God, and therefore should be a pain to us; even those that give warning of it should lay it to heart. These passages, and many others in this chapter, are much the same with what Isaiah had used in his prophecies against Moab (Isa 15:16); for, though there was a long distance of time between that prophecy and this, yet they were both dictated by one and the same Spirit, and it becomes God's prophets to speak the language of those that went before them. It is no plagiarism sometimes to make use of old expressions, provided it be with new affections and applications. 2. The Moabites themselves shall lament it; it will be the greatest mortification and grief imaginable to them. Those that sat in glory, in the midst of wealth, and mirth, and all manner of pleasure, shall sit in thirst, in a dry and thirsty land, where no water, no comfort is, Jer 48:18. It is time for them to sit in thirst, and inure themselves to hardship, when the spoiler has come, who will strip them of all, and empty them. The Moabites in the remote corners of the country, that are furthest from the danger, will be inquisitive to know how the matter goes, what news from the army, will ask every one that escapes, What is done? Jer 48:19. And when they are told that all is gone, that the invader is the conqueror, they will howl and cry, in bitterness and anguish of spirit (Jer 48:20); they will abandon themselves to solitude, to lament the desolations of their country; they will leave the cities that used to be full of mirth, and dwell in the rock where they may have their full of melancholy; they shall no more be singing birds, but mourning birds, like the dove (Jer 48:28); the doves of the valley, Eze 7:16. Let those that give themselves up to mirth know that God can soon change their note. Their sorrow shall be so very extreme that they shall make themselves bald and cut themselves (Jer 48:37), which were expressions of a desperate grief, such as tempted men to be even their own destroyers. Job indeed rent his mantle and shaved his head, but he did not cut himself. When the flood of passion rises ever so high wisdom and grace must set bounds to it, set banks to it, to restrain it from such barbarities. The sorrow shall be universal (Jer 48:38): There shall be a general lamentation upon all the house-tops of Moab, where they worshipped their idols, to whom they shall in vain bemoan themselves, and in all the streets, where they conversed with one another, for they shall be free in communicating their grief and fears and in propagating them; for they see all lost: "I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, which shall not be regarded and cannot be pieced again." That which Moab used to rejoice in was their pleasant fruits and the abundance of their rich wines. The delights of sense were all the matter of their joy. Take away these, destroy their gardens and vineyards, and you make all their mirth to cease, Ho 2:11,12. There is great weeping when their plants are transplanted, have gone over the sea (Jer 48:32), are carried into other countries, to be planted there. The spoiler has fallen upon thy summer-fruits and upon thy vintage, and it is this that makes the cry of Heshbon to reach even to Elealeh, Jer 48:34. Take joy and gladness from the plentiful field, and you take it from the land of Moab, Jer 48:33. If the wine fail from the wine-presses, that used to be trodden with acclamations of joy, all their gladness is cut off. Take away that shouting, and there shall be no shouting. Note, Those who make the delights of sense their chief joy, their exceeding joy, since these are things they may easily be deprived of in a little time subject themselves to the tyranny of the greatest grief; whereas those who rejoice in God may do that even when the fig-tree does not blossom and there is no fruit in the vine. These Moabites lost not only their wine, but their water too: Even the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate (Jer 48:34), and therefore their grief grew extravagantly loud and noisy, and their lamentations were heard in all placed like the lowing of a heifer of three years old. The expressions here are borrowed from Isa 15:5,6. 3. All their neighbours are called to mourn with them, and to condole with them on their ruin (Jer 48:17): All you that are about him bemoan him, Let him have that allay to his grief, let him see himself pities by the adjoining countries. Nay, let those at a distance, who do but know his name and have heard of his reputation, take notice of his fall, and say, How is the strong staff broken, whose strength was the terror of its enemies, and the beautiful rod, whose beauty was the pride of its friends! Let the nations take notice of this and receive instruction. Let none be puffed up with or put confidence in their strength or beauty, for neither will be a security against the judgments of God.
IV. It is a shameful destruction and such as shall expose them to contempt: Moab is made drunk (Jer 48:26), and he that is made drunk is made vile; he shall wallow in his vomit, and become an odious spectacle, and shalljustly be in derision. Let the Moabites be intoxicated with the cup of God's wrath till they stagger and fall, and be brought to their wits' end, and make themselves ridiculous by the wildness not only of their passions but of their counsels. And again (Jer 48:39): Moab shall be a derision and a dismaying to all about him; they shall laugh at the fall of the pomp and power he was so proud of. Note, Those that are haughty are preparing reproach and ignominy for themselves.
V. It is the destruction of that which is dear to them, not only of their summer fruits and their vintage, but of their wealth (Jer 48:36): The riches that he has gotten have perished, though he thought he had laid them up very safely, and promised himself a long enjoyment of them, yet they are gone. Note, The money that is hoarded in the chest is as liable to perishing as the summer-fruits that lie exposed in the open field. Riches are shedding things, and, like dust as they are, slip through our fingers even when we are in most care to hold them fast and gripe them hard. Yet this is not the worst; even those whose religion was false and foolish were fond of it above any thing, and, such as it was, would not part with it; and therefore, though it was really a promise, yet to them it was a threatening (Jer 48:35), that God will cause to cease him that offers in the high places, for the high places shall be destroyed, and the fields of offerings shall be laid waste, and the priests themselves, who burnt incense to their gods, shall be slain or carried into captivity, Jer 48:7. Note, It is only the true religion, and the worship and service of the true God, that will stand us in stead in a day of trouble.
VI. It is a just and righteous destruction, and that which they have deserved and brought upon themselves by sin.
1. The sin which they had been most notoriously guilty of, and for which God now reckoned with them, was pride. It is mentioned six times, Jer 48:29. We have all heard of the pride of Moab; his neighbours took notice of it; it has testified to his face, as Israel's did; he is exceedingly proud, and grows worse and worse. Observe his loftiness, his arrogancy, his pride, his haughtiness; the multiplying of words to the same purport intimates in how many instances he discovered his pride, and how offensive it was both to God and man. It was charged upon them Isa 16:6, but here it is expressed more largely that there. Since then they had been under humbling providences, and yet were unhumbled; nay, they grew more arrogant and haughty, which plainly marked them for that utter destruction of which pride is the forerunner. Two instances are here given of the pride of Moab:— (1.) He had conducted himself insolently towards God. He must be brought down with shame (Jer 48:26), for he has magnified himself against the Lord; and again (Jer 48:42), he shall be destroyed from being a people, for this very reason. The Moabites preferred Chemosh before Jehovah, and thought themselves a match for the God of Israel, whom they set at defiance. (2.) He had conducted himself scornfully towards Israel, particularly in their late troubles; therefore Moab shall fall into the same troubles; into the same hands, and be a derision, for Israel was a derision to him, Jer 48:26,27. The generality of the Moabites, when they heard of the calamities and desolations of their neighbours the Jews, instead of lamenting them, rejoiced in them, they skipped for joy. Many, in such a case, entertain in their minds a secret pleasure at the fall of those they had a dislike to, who yet have so much discretion as to conceal it; it is so invidious a thing. But the Moabites industriously proclaimed their joy, and avowed the enmity they had to Israel, triumphing over every Israelite they met with in distress and laughing at him, which was as inhuman as it was impious and an impudent affront both to man, whose nature they were of, and to God, whose name they were called by. Note, Those that deride others in distress will justly and certainly, sooner or later, come into distress themselves, and be had in derision. Those that are glad at calamities, especially the calamities of God's church, shall not long go unpunished.
2. Besides this they had been guilty of malice against God's people, and treachery in their dealings with them, Jer 48:30. They made a jest of the desolations of Judah and Jerusalem, and pretended, when they laughed at them, that it was but in sport and to make themselves merry; but, says God, "I know his wrath; I know it comes from the old enmity he has to the seed of Abraham and the worshippers of the true God. I know he thinks these calamities of the Jewish nation will end in their utter extirpation. He now tells the Chaldeans what bad people the Jews are, and irritates them against them; but it shall not be so as he expects; his lies shall not so effect it. The nation, whose fall they triumph in, shall recover itself." Some read it, I know his rage. Is it not so? Is he not very furious against the people of God? And his lies I know also. Do they not do so? Do they not belie them? Note, All the fury and all the falsehood of the church's enemies are perfectly known to God, whatever the pretenses are with which they think to cover them, Isa 37:28.
VII. It is a complicated destruction, and by one instance after another will at length be completed; for those that make their escape from one judgment shall perish by another: Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon them, Jer 48:43. There shall be fear to drive them into the pit, and a snare to hold them fast in it when they are in it; so that they shall neither escape from the destruction nor escape out of it. What was said of sinners in general (Isa 24:17,18), that those who flee from the fear shall fall into the pit and those who come up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare, is here particularly foretold concerning the sinners of Moab (Jer 48:44); for it is the year of their visitation, when God comes to reckon with them, and will be known by the judgments which he executes, for he is the King whose name is the Lord of hosts (Jer 48:15); he is not only the King who has authority to give judgment, but he is the Lord of hosts, who is able to do what he has determined. The figurative expressions used Jer 48:44 are explained in one instance (Jer 48:45): Those that fled out of the villages for fear of the enemy's forces put themselves under the shadow of Heshbon, stood there, and supposed they stood safely, as now armies sometimes retire under the cannon of a fortified city, and it is their protection; but here they should be disappointed, for, when they flee out of the pit, they fall into the snare; Heshbon, which they thought would shelter them, devours them as Moses had foretold long since (Nu 21:28): A fire has gone out of Heshbon, and a flame from the city of Sihon, and devours those that come from all the corners of Moab, and fastens upon the crown of the head of the tumultuous noisy ones, or of the revellers, or children of noise, not meant of the rude clamorous multitude, but of the great men, who bluster, and hector, and make a noise; the judgments of God shall light on them. Shall we hear the conclusion of this whole matter? We have it (Jer 48:46): "Woe be to thee, O Moab! thou art undone; the people that worship Chemosh perish, and are gone; farewell, Moab. Thy sons and daughters, the hopes of the next generation, have gone into captivity after the Jews, whose calamities they rejoiced in."
VIII. Yet it is not a perpetual destruction. The chapter concludes with a short promise of their return out of captivity in the latter days. God, who brings them into captivity, will bring again their captivity, Jer 48:47. Thus tenderly does God deal with Moabites, much more with his own people! Even with Moabites he will not contend for ever, nor be always wrath. When Israel returned, Moab did; and perhaps the prophecy was intended chiefly for the encouragement of God's people to hope for that salvation which even Moabites shall share in. Yet it looks further, to gospel times; the Jews themselves refer it to the days of the Messiah; then the captivity of the Gentiles, under the yoke of sin and Satan, shall be brought back by divine grace, which shall make them free, free indeed. This prophecy concerning Moab is long, but here it ends; it ends comfortably: Thus far is the judgment of Moab.
摩押接着被押到先知耶利米面前——神已立他作列国列邦的审判官，要从他口中领受判决。以赛亚论摩押的预言早已应验（预言见赛 15:1-16:14，类似的还有摩 2:1），是在亚述人撒缦以色入侵并扰害摩押时应验的。但本章是预言摩押将被迦勒底人荒凉——这事在尼布撒拉旦手下应验，约在他毁灭耶路撒冷之后五年。本章内容：一、预言毁灭——这毁灭必大而普遍，遍及全国各地（耶 48:1-6、8，又见耶 48:21-25、34）；毁坏者必临到他们，迫使人逃亡（耶 48:9），必掳走许多人（耶 48:12、46）；仇敌必速速来到（耶 48:16），疾驰而至，使他们猝不及防（耶 48:40-41），必彻底行事（耶 48:10），使那地全然荒凉，尽管它本极坚固（耶 48:14-15）；必无可逃脱（耶 48:42、45）；这必迫使他们放弃偶像（耶 48:13、35），并终结他们一切的欢乐（耶 48:33-34）；邻邦必为他们哀叹（耶 48:17-19），先知自己也为他们哀哭（耶 48:31、36 等）。二、指明这毁灭的因由——是罪将这败亡招致他们身上：他们的骄傲、安逸和肉体的倚靠（耶 48:7、11、14、29），以及他们对神和他百姓的藐视与敌意（耶 48:26、27、30）。三、应许摩押必得复兴（耶 48:47）。