15 The [a]oracle concerning Moab.
Surely in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined;
Surely in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.
2 They have gone up to the [b]temple and to Dibon, even to the high places to weep.
Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba;
Everyone’s head is bald and every beard is cut off.
3 In their streets they have girded themselves with sackcloth;
On their housetops and in their squares
Everyone is wailing, [c]dissolved in tears.
4 Heshbon and Elealeh also cry out,
Their voice is heard all the way to Jahaz;
Therefore the [d]armed men of Moab cry aloud;
His soul trembles within him.
5 My heart cries out for Moab;
His fugitives are as far as Zoar and Eglath-shelishiyah,
For they go up the ascent of Luhith weeping;
Surely on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of distress over their ruin.
6 For the waters of Nimrim are [e]desolate.
Surely the grass is withered, the tender grass [f]died out,
There is no green thing.
7 Therefore the abundance which they have acquired and stored up
They carry off over the brook of [g]Arabim.
8 For the cry of distress has gone around the territory of Moab,
Its wail goes as far as Eglaim and its wailing even to Beer-elim.
9 For the waters of Dimon are full of [h]blood;
Surely I will bring added woes upon Dimon,
A lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon the remnant of the land.
As we read this chapter, it seems that the judgment on Moab is pretty complete. Though we don’t know how many cities were in Moab, the passage lists many of them in this attack of judgment. It doesn’t seem they were being judged for their attacks of long ago on Israel, but more likely for their idol worship, and for ignoring God himself–there is more to come in future chapters, and Jeremiah also speaks of judgment on Moab.
Yet in the middle of God’s wrath being poured out, there is this curious statement, “My heart cries out for Moab…” What? This was a pagan nation, and sure, they were distantly related to Israel (via Abraham’s nephew Lot). But if they were so wicked as to deserve this judgment, why should God care, why should his heart cry out?
While we don’t see an answer in this passage, and I don’t think their relation to Israel was sufficient to explain it, we do see a clue much later in the writings of Peter. “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
This didn’t apply only to the Israelites, but to all mankind, and thus God’s judgment was (oddly enough) a reaction of his compassion. If we see our son or daughter doing something harmful and we say nothing, do we have love? No, we discipline them so that they will turn from doing wrong. Even more so for God, who knows that the wages of our sin is death.
Judgment was a last resort for God, and still is, but we are more stubborn than is good for us sometimes. So also we may face judgment or trials to purge the sin and wickedness from our own lives. Do not begrudge God for this, whether it is for judgment, or even just to refine us into the people He desires us to be. It is because of His great compassion for us that He disciplines us as children.
That’s a hard thing to be thankful for, but it’s better than the alternative of staying in our filth and rags and never knowing His love. God had compassion on the Moabites even as He poured out wrath, and His compassion still reaches out for us every day. Do not take it for granted, but embrace it, and embrace Him.