Jeremiah 48:1-27
After the short chapter devoted to the Philistines the LORD has a lot to say on the other hand about Moab. This people had trusted in their works, in their treasures (v. 7), in their god, Chemosh (v. 13), and in their men of war (v. 14). Now not only would these things on which they depended never save them, they were also the reason why judgment fell upon them (v. 7).
Moab had missed out on something vital. No matter how amazing it may seem, it was afflictions. New wine must first of all be decanted from one vessel to another so that it becomes clear, "cleaned out", all the dregs having settled, little by little. But Moab had never undergone such treatment. He had been "at ease from his youth" (v. 11; Zechariah 1:15); he had never learnt to get to know himself through difficult circumstances so as to lose his original unpleasant taste (this is the result which the LORD sought to produce in Israel by sending her into captivity). Yes, the Lord knows what He is doing when he shakes us up and drags us out of our easygoing ways (Psalms 119:67). These unpleasant "decantings" are designed to make us lose each time a bit more of our own will, a little of our pretentiousness, a little of our self-confidence.