God, Vengeance, and Justice for His People

Received this question on Jeremiah 47-48, in which God assures His people that He will, indeed, be just, accomplishing justice in the future upon those who had troubled His people in Jeremiah’s day, around 600 B.C. “Hi, John. I noticed in Jeremiah 47-48, God spent more time speaking of Moab’s coming destruction than on Egypt’s or that of the Philistines. Does this say anything about the level of sin in those nations?” Answer: We can’t be sure as to why so much space is spent on Moab in comparison to the other nations. Perhaps it was because Moab was such a source of trouble for Israel through the years, being its eastern neighbor and raiding the promised land east of the Jordan every year (2 Kings 13:20). We do know from 2 Kings 24:2 that Moab was one of the nations, along with Aram  (Damascus) and Ammon, to join with Babylon in coming to crush Jehoiakim, king of Judah, in 602 B.C. This listing of condemnations against nations in this section of Jeremiah is naming those who troubled Judah in its last days before its exile to Babylon (which occurred from 598-538 B.C.), and especially those who helped Babylon in bringing about that exile. Jeremiah is assuring his readers (who were then living in exile) that justice would happen and, just as we see in Romans 12:14-21, vengeance was the Lord’s and that He would repay those nations, though in the future (after the exile).