What is the meaning of Jeremiah 48:11? Moab has been at ease from youth “Moab has been at ease from youth…” • From the days of Lot (Genesis 19:36–37) Moab lived undisturbed on the east side of the Jordan. • God told Israel, “Do not harass Moab or provoke them to war” (Deuteronomy 2:9), so the nation was spared the trials that shaped Israel. • Like the complacent in Amos 6:1, Moab grew self-satisfied, mistaking God’s patience for approval. • Such ease dulled any sense of dependence on the Lord—something Proverbs 1:32 warns will destroy the simple. Settled like wine on its dregs “…settled like wine on its dregs;” • In winemaking, fresh wine is drawn off its sediment (lees) so it won’t grow thick, sour, or stale. • Moab’s comfort meant it was never “stirred.” The nation’s pride, noted in Isaiah 16:6, thickened over time. • Zephaniah 1:12 pictures Judah in a similar state: “like wine left on its dregs, who say in their heart, ‘The LORD will do nothing.’” Moab embodied that same attitude. He has not been poured from vessel to vessel “…he has not been poured from vessel to vessel…” • Trials and changes are God’s way of refining people (Psalm 66:10; 1 Peter 1:6-7). • Because Moab avoided such pouring, its character remained unrefined—no clarity, no purity, no softening. • Jeremiah’s picture anticipates the day when the Lord would upend that seeming stability (Jeremiah 48:12). Or gone into exile “…or gone into exile.” • Unlike Israel (2 Kings 17:6) or Judah (Jeremiah 29:4-7), Moab had never tasted displacement. • Exile is painful, yet Hebrews 12:6 reminds us God disciplines those He loves. Moab read God’s forbearance as immunity and stayed spiritually asleep. So his flavor has remained the same “So his flavor has remained the same…” • Wine left on lees keeps its original taste, whether good or bad. • For Moab that meant entrenched arrogance, idolatry, and self-reliance (Jeremiah 48:7). • Romans 2:4-5 warns that refusing to change under kindness only stores up wrath; Moab’s unaltered “flavor” positioned it for judgment. And his aroma is unchanged “…and his aroma is unchanged.” • Fragrance signals character (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). Moab emitted the same old scent of pride and complacency. • Instead of becoming a “pleasing aroma” to God (cf. Genesis 8:21; Ephesians 5:2), the nation gave off the stench of rebellion. • Because there was no repentance, Jeremiah 48:42 predicts, “Moab will be destroyed as a nation because he defied the LORD.” summary Jeremiah 48:11 diagnoses a nation unshaken by hardship, never decanted by discipline, and therefore spiritually stagnant. Moab’s uninterrupted comfort produced complacency, pride, and an unchanging heart—faults that would soon invite God’s corrective judgment. The verse reminds us that ease without dependence on the Lord hardens rather than helps, while God-sent stirrings, though uncomfortable, refine and preserve true spiritual life. |
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