When Jeremiah was just a boy, growing up in the Israelite city of Anathoth, he could look eastward across the Dead Sea and see a high plain. This was the land of the Moabites, to whom the prophecies of chapter 48 are addressed. The Moabites were long-lost cousins of the Jews, originally conceived through incest. One of the daughters of Lot had sexual relations with her father and gave birth to Moab (Genesis 19:36-37). Throughout the Old Testament, his descendants continually shook their fists at God. Balak was a king of Moab who tried to convince Balaam to pronounce a curse against Israel (Numbers 22-24). In the days of the judges, Moab was defeated by Ehud, the famous left-handed judge (Judges 3). King David made them pay tribute to Israel (2 Samuel 8:1-2). And when they rose up in opposition many years later, they were delivered by God into the hands of King Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 20). For their years of rebellion against the LORD, the Moabites were about to experience His judgment. The word announced by Jeremiah is not good news for them. Town by town, Moab was to be destroyed. In all, twenty-five specific locations are mentioned by name (v 1-3, 21-24, 34). Their destruction will be comprehensive, “and no city shall escape” (v 8-9). In Jeremiah’s day, the Moabites had defied God by mocking His people, but in the end, they would be the ones humiliated (v 26-27, 39). They were self-righteous, greedy, and idolatrous (v 7), but the main sin of Moab was their pride (v 29). With smug complacency, they enjoyed their easy lifestyle, their affluence, and their thriving wine culture. But Babylon will soon empty Moab like one pours wine from a jar after it has been allowed to age (v 11-12). Jeremiah urges Moab’s executioners to do their work with zeal, for they are doing “the work of the LORD” (v 10). Yet he writes with tears and not anger. The weeping prophet is moved by the anguish that will be known in Moab. He mourns over the sins of these people (v 31-34) and calls upon others to do the same (v 17). Remarkably, God Himself joins the lament (v 35-36). Do you share God’s heart for lost people? Those who know God should be deeply affected by the realities of impending judgment. When is the last time we mourned over the desperate spiritual condition of unbelievers? If we would pattern our lives after Jesus Christ, we must feel His grief when people reject His gospel. And we must faithfully bear witness for Him, not simply as an act of obedience, but with hearts full of genuine compassion. For further meditation: