25:8 The residents of Moab and Seir (Edom) had regarded Judah as just one of the other nations even though the Judahites were blood relatives of theirs (cf. Jer. 48:27; Zeph. 2:8-9). This attitude reflected disrespect for Yahweh. They viewed Israel's God as no better than other pagan deities since Judah had fallen to the Babylonians.
25:9-10 Consequently the Lord promised to destroy the frontier cities in which the Moabites took much pride. Beth-jeshimoth lay in the Jordan Valley and guarded the ascent to the Medeba Plateau. Baal-meon was farther to the east and south in northern Moab, and Kiriathaim was another northern town on the Medeba Plateau. Its name means "the glory of the land,"a play on words with the same phrase that appears earlier in verse 9. Yahweh would give the whole country over to the control of the eastern invaders along with Ammon, which would cease to exist as a nation (cf. v. 7; Jer. 48:7-9).
25:11 Yahweh would judge Moab, and the Moabites would come to realize that He is God. This nation also passed out of existence during the Exile.348Yet Yahweh promised to restore the fortunes of Moab in the distant future (Jer. 48:47; cf. Jer. 46:26; 49:6, 39). This happened in a limited way after the Exile, but it will happen in the eschaton when modern residents of Moab's territory will stream to Jerusalem to worship Messiah in the Millennium.
