Because you have trusted in your wealth and skill, you will be taken captive. Your god Chemosh, with his priests and princes, will be exiled to distant lands. (Jeremiah 48:7 New Living Translation)

The country of Moab in the Old Testament has an interesting history. When God decided to destroy Sodom, He promised Abraham to protect Lot (Abraham’s nephew) as well as Lot’s wife and two daughters. God sent a couple of angels to warn Lot of the destruction that was about to take place; and they told Lot to flee to the mountains with his family. “Don’t stop and don’t look back!”

Unfortunately, Lot’s wife couldn’t resist, and she turned to look back at the destruction of her home, becoming a pillar of salt in the process. Lot and his two daughters left her and traveled on to the mountains. Sadly, the small family didn’t live where there were any men for them to marry and extend their family to the next generation; so both daughters ended up getting their father drunk and having their way with him. They both became pregnant and from their children, two nations were created. Ben-Ammi became the founder of the Ammonites and Moab became the founder of the Moabites.

Moab was the nation where Naomi and her family moved when the country of Judah was having a famine. This was where her son married Ruth before he died and the book of Ruth tells the story of how Naomi and her daughter-in-law traveled to Judah where Ruth met Boaz and became an ancestor of Jesus.  

Unfortunately, Moab meandered away from the God who had created and protected the nation and its people ended up worshipping Chemosh, a god associated with war and fertility. It has been said that some of his worshippers sacrificed their children to him.

During the time of Jeremiah, God decided that he had had enough of trying to get Moab to acknowledge that it wasn’t Chemosh who was building up Moab. God decided to destroy the nation of Moab and wipe it off the face of the earth; and he did just that. Even then, however, God promises to restore the fortunes of Moab during the “latter days.”  

The thing is, if there is someone who is helping you out – providing food and shelter when you need it or even befriending you when you are at your loneliest, it isn’t wise to start ignoring them when your fortunes start to rise. While God has a lot of time and patience, people generally don’t. If God can get tired of providing for our needs when we ignore Him, why do we think people would do any better? It would be a wise move to think carefully before we turn our backs on those who have supported us just to cozy up with someone who thinks they have it all. It’s something to think about.

Becky Gillette is a former teacher, newspaper reporter, and preacher who seeks to take an original approach to life’s lessons. She is the author of “Jessie’s Corner: Something to Think About,” a collection of articles which she wrote for a weekly newspaper.