Jeremiah 48 tells the story of Moab and it’s pending destruction. It is not a pretty picture. God has had it with their attitude and worship of Chemosh and other false gods. The destruction is coming. It is pretty clear why as well: “because of …defiant arrogance against me” seems to be the root of the issue here. Defiant arrogance – seems like a couple problems. First there is that good old obedience thing. Defiance flies in the face of doing what we are supposed to do. God doesn’t put up with it for long. But the second word here – arrogance – may be one of the keys. Scripture goes on to explain that in a little more depth: “We’ve all heard of Moab’s pride….strutting, bullying, puffed-up pride, the insufferable arrogance”. Obviously these people have an issue with thinking more highly of themselves than they ought. That is how I look at pride. It is when we forget that life is not about me, but totally about God. It is when I push God off the throne and climb up there myself because I somehow believe that what I know and want is more important than the One who created it all. Pride is a big problem and God doesn’t like it. And when we put it with defiance – bad combination.
But there is one other thing that jumped out at me in this chapter: “You trusted in thick walls and big money, yes? But it won’t help you now”. Do you see it – they have put their trust in self and stuff and actually bought into the idea that they were in control. Hmmm…anyone else ever start to believe that lie? I know that some days I do. The enemy begins to convince me that the things I have done and the stuff I have accumulated somehow matters. Maybe in my little world and my little mind, but in God’s economy, it doesn’t even begin to move the needle of importance. No amount of money or stuff that I will ever have makes a hill of beans difference. What matters is the relationship I have with God through Jesus and what that leads me to do with what He has entrusted to me. None of what it appears is mine really is. It all belongs to God and my job is to use it for His honor and glory as He directs. Not the message we get from the TV or radio is it? But God owns it all. He created it and controls it. He may choose to entrust it to us for a period, but that does not shield us from the responsibility of our actions and certainly does not give us reason to be proud or defiant. Hard lessons here for a country that thought they were on top the world. Only problem is they forgot how that happens. They didn’t realize that their little world was just that, insignificant in the grand scheme of God’s design and when it becomes totally focused on the wrong things, change happens. Not exactly what they saw coming. But they quit looking because they became focused on self. That is our battle – keeping God who He is and remembering who we really are….
