What does your nation put its trust in? Another nation? It’s resources? It’s people? The LORD?
Moab was said to put their trust in their deeds and their money (v. 7). But there was more to it than that. It says that Mighty Moab has “defied the LORD,” (v. 26, 42), ridiculed Israel (v. 26) and was caught among thieves (v. 27). They were known for their pride, conceit and haughtiness of heart (. v 29).
Twice it says they defied the LORD. They spurned Him and His ways. And there would be judgment for them. It would be bad. There’s a whole chapter on what that would look like.
Some people use these things to say that God is judgmental. But is that the case? If an earthly judge convicts murderers, rapists, thieves and more, do we see that judge is just being judgmental? No. The criminals are the ones who got themselves into the mess that made their actions worthy of judgment.
So is God saying (as many have accused), ‘love me or go to hell’? Absolutely not. We live in a world of morality, a world that God has made, and when people do things that harm one another, there is justice. There’s not a nation on this earth that doesn’t practice justice. Because justice flows from God.
When nations persist in evil, God must act. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be good. He gives much time to repent. In fact he gave the Canaanites 400 years to repent and they did not. So the LORD brought judgment for their evil practices and harm to one another and people accuse God of being “judgmental.”. For me that’s overwhelmingly patient.
The bottom line is that God does eventually say enough. These chapters in Jeremiah are all about his “enough.”. World war was going to erupt and many nations would fall. Nations that were honored and upheld and people thought would never fall. But their corruption was their downfall. And their judgment was to come.
People cannot defy God forever nor live in the arrogance of their ways. Just as Moab was mocking Israel for its fall, God said they would fall too. Be careful of such mockery as we will all be held accountable to God.
There is a way out of God’s judgment. It’s called repentance and throwing ourselves as a nation on the mercy of God. Perhaps He will relent. Maybe He won’t. But either way, we deserve His justice. It’s not the judge who is guilty for passing sentence. It is the criminal.
