READ: Jeremiah 47-48
Verses
chosen for meditation: Jeremiah 48:35-36
35 And I will bring to an
end in Moab, declares the Lord, him who offers sacrifice in the high
place and makes offerings to his god. 36 Therefore
my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the
men of Kir-hareseth. Therefore the riches they gained have perished.
REFLECT
The
chapters this week feature the judgement of the nations bordering Judah and
beyond. It starts with Egypt in Chap 46 and ends with Babylon in Chap 50. Today,
we look at the judgement concerning Moab. For such a small country, it has
quite the lengthy prophecy. Only Babylon’s prophecy is longer. This may be due
to the close relationship between Israel-Judah and Moab over the centuries. Moab
was Judah’s closest neighbours, so they knew each other inside out. Ruth, David’s
ancestor, came from Moab. Hence, Moab is quite a significant country in
Israel-Judah’s history.
This
prominent country allied with Zedekiah’s Judah to rebel against Babylon,
something that God warned time and again not to do. As a result, they paid a
heavy price, with their land devastated and people displaced. This judgement was
a humbling to the nation characterised by pride, arrogance and complacency. Boasting
in their military strength, they trusted themselves and their God, Chemosh
(Jeremiah 48:7, 13, 29-30).
Unsurprisingly,
mourning and laments from suffering Moab followed. What was unexpected was the call
for others to weep and mourn for Moab (Jeremiah 48:17, 20). What was even more
unexpected, was God Himself weeping for Moab, even as He delivers judgement
(Jeremiah 48:31-32, 36).
RELATE
The
fact that God weeps as He brings down judgement provides an important insight
into His character. He does not only weep for His people, Israel, but for other
nations. He is God of Israel, and God of all. As we read so much about the judgement
of God, many may fixate on his wrath and think He’s a God who likes to punish.
We judge His judgements, but struggle to empathise with the love and grief that
accompanies his wrath. He does not only weep for the innocents, but also the wicked suffering, as Moab here was wicked.
God
does not take pleasure in the suffering of the wicked. This is unlike us where
we may take some pleasure in knowing how evil people get their just desserts,
especially those who have offended us. We say, “they finally got what they
deserve”, maybe even celebrate it. We may even feel justified if we ourselves deal
the punishment to those who did us dirty. Yet when God punishes, we sometimes
feel He is harsh.
If
we trust in the word more than we do our emotions and thoughts, we come to
realise some emotions can’t be further from the truth. The truth is that while
we think others deserve punishment, we avoid the fact that we probably deserve
as much punishment for our trespasses against others. For the same reason,
we have no right to rejoice in the suffering of others. Imagine if we had God's power and given how we feel we have the right to serve justice to others, we would have been a lot more trigger happy and reactive than God. Comparatively, could our God then be the most understanding person?
The
truth is that God, as the creator and owner of the universe, is fully justified
in doing whatever He wants, even whimsically destroying the universe many times
over. Yet He did not exercise His authority that way. Instead, He is merciful.
He gave many chances for repentance and brings down judgement as a last and
necessary resort, and always for the good of the people. The truth is that God
can feel whatever He wants when He delivers judgement. Yet, He does not punish
for his own entertainment, but grieves more than any of us, for those He’s
punishing.
How
can we begin to understand that? Parents may relate a little, as they rightfully
discipline their kids, but their hearts break inside as their kids cry. Their
love is expressed through the punishments, but some kids may not understand and
even resent them. Our God’s pain is magnified many times over, as He exercises
more love, more patience, more restraint, and faces more rejection, than any
other parent. More crucially and comforting for us, He also never
gives up and never forsakes, more than any other parent. This is why as the book
climaxes with Babylon’s destruction, what accompanies judgement is not only God’s
internal grieving, but hope of restoration for the future.
REST
As we make sense of the wars in the world now, of
the suffering of others, or of our own suffering, we may speculate the reasons
and never fully understand them. We are uncertain how everything fits within God’s
will. However, we can rest in the certainty of His love for us, how His ways
are in our best interests, and how He is with us, mourning with us.
Chris
Chong
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