The Book of Amos
James J. Barker

Lesson 4
THE LORD’S JUDGMENT UPON MOAB

Text: AMOS 2:1-3

INTRODUCTION:


  1. We have seen that all of these judgments begin the same way, “Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof…” (Cf. 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6).
  2. I mentioned in an earlier message that the expression seems to indicate that their measure of iniquity was full, and now God’s wrath had to come down upon them.
  3. Chapter 2 is a continuation of chapter 1. Tonight we will look at God’s judgment upon Mob (2:1-3).
  4. Proverbs 29:1 says, “He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”
  5. It is the same way with nations as it is with individuals.

     

    I. THE HISTORY OF MOAB

    II. THE SINS OF MOAB

    III. THE JUDGMENT OF MOAB

 

I. THE HISTORY OF MOAB

  1. Like the Ammonites (Amos 1:13-15), the Moabites were also descended from Lot (Genesis 19:29-38), making them relatives of the Israelites.
  2. Moab figures prominently in the OT. The word “Moab” is found 168 times in 151 verses.
  3. The great Bible teacher, HA Ironside, said that Moab “might picture for us those who make a profession of being children of God while actually with no legitimate claim to that name. In other words, Moab may represent to us the easy-going religious profession with which many are contented who fail to recognize the importance of the new birth. Generally speaking, Moab was somewhat friendly toward Israel but when the nation was first passing through their borders on the way to their inheritance in the Promised Land, Balak was fearful of being destroyed by them and so hired Balaam, the son of Beor, to curse them, but as we know, God turned the curse into a blessing. The book of Ruth tells us of the visit of Elimelech and his family to Moab in the time of famine and the unhappy results of that period of sojourn. When David was pursued by Saul he took his parents to the country of Moab and put them under the protection of its king, but as the years went on Moab, like Edom, became an enemy of Israel, for no matter how friendly religious professors may seem to be at times to the true children of God, the day always comes when they resent what seems to them to be the assumed superiority of those who really know the Lord. So from time to time we find Moab allied with the enemies of Israel and Judah” (Isaiah).
  4. Moab was the son of Lot’s older daughter; Benammi (“the same is the father of the children of Ammon”) was the son of the younger.
  5. The Moabites settled in the area surrounding Zoar (Gen. 19:30). The Ammonites were to their north, the Edomites to the south, the Dead Sea to the west, and the Arabian desert the east (see MAP 3 in Scofield Bible).
  6. Today this is modern-day Jordan.
  7. In Numbers 22, we read that Balak the king of Moab saw all that Israel had done to the neighboring Amorites, and so he was sore afraid and distressed because of the children of Israel.
  8. Because of his fears, Balak hired Balaam, the false prophet (Numbers 22; cf. II Peter 2:15; Jude 11; Rev. 2:14).
  9. Later on, Moab became a tributary of Israel, but they revolted after the death of King Ahab. “But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel” (II Kings 3:5).

 

II. THE SINS OF MOAB

  1. God judged Moab for their implacable hatred and revenge.  The Moabites were so cruel and revengeful that they burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime  (2:1). This particular incident is not recorded elsewhere in the Bible.
  2. Second Kings 3:27 says the king of Moab “took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall.”
  3. “We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so” (Isa. 16:6).

 

III. THE JUDGMENT OF MOAB

  1. “But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth: and Moab…” (Amos 2:2). “Kirioth” is called “Kir” in Isaiah 15:1.
  2. Kirioth is named on the Moabite Stone, discovered in Jordan in 1868, by a German missionary in Jerusalem. The Moabite Stone (about 4 feet in length by 2 feet wide) is now located in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. The language is very similar to Hebrew.
  3. The Moabite Stone was erected by King Mesha (apparently the king mentioned in II Kings 3, who offered his son for a burnt offering) in honor of the Moabite god Chemosh (c. 850 BC).
  4. “Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet” (2:2b). This prophecy was fulfilled when the Moabites were wiped out by King Nebuchadnezzar.
  5. The Moabites became extinct.  God cut off their judges and their princes (2:3). Only a very small and feeble remnant was allowed to survive (Isa. 16:14).

 

CONCLUSION:

  1. The Moabites (along with the Ammonites, the Edomites, and others) are listed among the nations at the battle of Armageddon (Psalm 83:6, 7; Dan. 11:41).
  2. Jeremiah 48:47 says, “Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the LORD. Thus far is the judgment of Moab.”
  3. This could be a reference to Jordan and other Arabs that are descended from Moab.

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