Jeremiah 48:33 (ESV)
Gladness and joy have been taken away
from the fruitful land of Moab;
I have made the wine cease from the winepresses;
no one treads them with shouts of joy;
the shouting is not the shout of joy.
The last chapters of Jeremiah are written judgments against the surrounding nations to Israel and, specifically, to Babylon, their ultimate captors. The above passage is in the section of the judgment on Moab. God is outlining both His sovereign power of the nations, but also His divine wrath based upon His holiness. All the nations called into judgment in this section are nations who did something against Israel. The judgments announced are severe. There is some form of destruction outlined in each of the judgments (referred to as oracles by Jeremiah). However, in the above verses we see a different type of judgment. Here we read that one aspect of Moab’s judgment (like all the others) includes not something happening to them but, rather, something taken from them: Their genuine joy. God can punish and discipline in many ways. In this section there is death and carnage. There is burning and flames. There is banishment and plunder. That all takes its toll. But in the above lines we read that God takes their joy. The drinking of wine will be replaced by the feelings of wrath. The shouting once indicating joy will be shouting of pain indicating judgment. God has many ways to discipline, punish and send corrective measures. But taking away joy and gladness might be one of the most harmful. It is one thing to inflict pain on the body, but quite another to steal the joy of the soul. Sin steals joy.
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