Who was Chemosh?

One of the chief gods of the Moabites and the Ammonites, the worship of which was introduced at Jerusalem by Solomon, and abolished by Josiah. Num. 21:29; Judges 11:24; 1 Kings 11:7, 33;

2 Kings 23:13; Jer. 48:7, 13, 46. On the 'MOABITE ' STONE, q.v., this 'god' is mentioned. The king, referring to the king of Israel, says, "Chemosh drove him before my sight."

It has been stated that Solomon himself was not actually guilty of idolatry. If he built the places of idolatrous worship for his many wives only, he was guilty of the sin of idolatry. The abominations were then introduced. Luxuries, wealth, self-indulgence, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life led into idolatry. It is the same in the closing days of the present age. Ashtoreth, a Phoenician goddess, was worshipped with impure rites. Milcom (Molech) was the idol-god of the Ammonites. Chemosh was the sun-god and war-god of the Moabites.

With these divisions the chapter may be studied in detail. Moab was of incestuous off spring (Gen. 19:37). Israel is now exhorted to flee and save itself because Moab is to be destroyed. Moab's national deity was Chemosh, who was also worshipped by the sister nation, the Ammonites. Chemosh was probably the same as Molech. He is now to go forth into captivity with his priests and princes. On verse 10 critics say: "This bloodthirsty verse is surely not Jeremiah's." But they forget that the whole prophecy is introduced with, "Thus saith the LORD," and the critic's knife, which cuts out certain verses from this chapter, mutilates the Word of God. There is no valid reason to brand this and other verses as the work of some supplementer.

The chief places of Moab are mentioned. "The horn of Moab (horn the emblem of power) is cut off and his arm is broken, saith the LORD." And why this judgment? "For he has magnified himself against the LORD." They were filled with pride, yea, they were exceedingly proud. The Lord speaks of it thus: "His loftiness and his arrogancy and his pride and his haughtiness of heart." How God detests pride! In both Testaments it is marked out as the great abomination in the sight of God. Filled with pride and haughtiness, they derided Israel, God's people; whenever Israel was mentioned "they skipped for joy" (verse 27). Of verses 28 and 29, critics declare that they are mostly derived from Isaiah 15 and 16. These two chapters contain a similar prophecy about Moab, but these utterances by Jeremiah are not copied from Isaiah, but are a divine repetition of the coming judgment of that people. "Woe be unto thee Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth! for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captive." This is the final word in this predicted judgment of Moab. And thus Moab was broken.

Then we have a transition from wives to children, and that most inhuman rite in which parents were so blinded of Satan as to devote their offspring sacrificially to Molech or Moloch, and probably Malcham or Milcom. It was the tutelary God of the Ammonites; and Chemosh, the deity of the Moabites, differed little from it, Fürst making the name signify "fire," as Molech, etc., mean "King." From Jer. 19:5 it appears that Baal was worshipped thus. It was widespread under various idols over the earth; and how awful the fact that Solomon yielded to his heathen wives, and went after Ashtoreth, the licentious goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom or Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, and built a high place for Chemosh, that of Moab! The greatest science and learning, the highest civilization and luxury, can in no way hinder this, if they do not help it on; and the day hastens, when the Jews, now so staunch apparently against every idol, will fall under strange gods, and set up a man as God in His temple, drawing apostate Christendom into this fatal revolt, all the more guilty on the part of those called to worship the Father and the Son in Spirit.

This verse 21 is but one of many solemn prohibitions of a horror, which prevailed down to Josiah's days, as Ahaz was a notable patron of it long before. Some have reasoned on "passing through the fire," as here and elsewhere, to deny the burning of their seed: but this seems a kindly effort to soften the reality of the wickedness. It was the fullest, though not the only, profanation of the name of Israel's God. Jehovah accepted a sheep or an ox, or even a much smaller sacrifice; Satan under these names demanded their sons.

All seems to speak of that which is the natural result of the true church sinking into the world, — a profession which is but the world, alien and hostile to the true people of God, characterized largely by the principles of confederacy, mutual interest, etc., which the city, as it now exists, implies. In Moab, the "city" covers, as it were, the country. Thus we need not wonder that their God is not Jehovah. For Moab God is Chemosh, the "vanquisher," as the mere professor goes with what in fact is prevalent, what has gained the day. In Ammon he is Moloch, — i.e., "king," — in fact, whether or not in right. Nay, rather, fact is right: not God is King, — reigns because He is divine; but the king is God — is divine because he reigns. And this is no strange thing among men: the sect of Herodians has always been a large one. Hence again, (for this is a system connected in all its parts,) to both Chemosh and Moloch they sacrificed men: humanity is immolated at such shrines constantly.

Between Moab and Ammon it is harder to distinguish. "The near relation between the two peoples indicated in their origin," says Grove, "continued throughout their existence: from their earliest mention (Deut. 2) to their disappearance from biblical history, the brother-tribes are named together. (Comp. Judges 10:6; 2 Chron. 20:1; Zeph. 2:8, etc.) Indeed, so close was their union, and so near their identity, that each would appear to be occasionally spoken of under the name of the other … They are both said to have hired Balaam to curse Israel (Deut. 23:4) … In the answer of Jephthah to the king of Ammon the allusions are continually to Moab (Judges 11:15, 18, 25), while Chemosh, the peculiar deity of Moab (Num. 21:29), is called 'thy god' (24.) The land from Arnon to Jabbok, which the king of Ammon calls 'my land' (13), is elsewhere distinctly stated to have once belonged to a 'king of Moab.' (Num. 21:26.)"

THE MOABITE STONE. In connection with Moab an interesting monument was discovered in 1868 at Dibon (Dhiban) in the land of Moab. It was a stone 3ft. 10in. by 2ft., and contained 34 lines of inscription in the Phoenician character. When the Arabs discovered that two or three nations were desirous of possessing the stone they thought they should gain more by breaking it into pieces: a fire was kindled beneath it, and, when heated, cold water was poured on the top, which broke it. Eventually about two thirds of these pieces were obtained, and are now in the Museum of the Louvre in Paris: a paper cast is in the British Museum. A paper impression had been taken of the stone before it was broken, which, with the pieces recovered, renders it possible to give a nearly complete translation of the inscription.

It is dedicated to Chemosh, the god of Moab, by Mesha. He admits that Chemosh was angry with his land, and that Omri king of Israel took it, and he and his son oppressed them forty years. Then Chemosh had mercy on it, and the king was able to rescue some of the cities, kill the people, and take the spoil, and he built others, of which he gives the names. There can be no doubt that the Mesha of the stone is the same as the Mesha, of scripture. The son of Omri would be Ahab; and in 2 Kings 3:5 it says that on the death of Ahab the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. Ahaziah succeeded Ahab, but it was not he that attacked Moab: his reign (called two years) and the beginning of the reign of Jehoram, would give Mesha time to strengthen himself against Israel and attack some of the outlying cities. Scripture is thus confirmed by this interesting monument.

Then in despair the King of Moab did the horrible thing of sacrificing his eldest son, the one to reign after him. He offered him upon the wall, in plain sight of Israel, as a burnt offering, to conciliate his god Chemosh, who is mentioned on the Moabite stone. (See Appendix.)

Then we get something more definite. "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso reads let him understand): then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains" (verses 15, 16). Here we have a very important sign. What is meant by "the abomination of desolation"? "Abomination" is the Scripture title for an idol. Thus we read of "Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites," and "Chemosh the abomination of Moab" (1 Kings 11:5-7). It is, therefore, an idol set up in the holy place at Jerusalem. This has never happened in the past. True, the temple was defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. 11:31), but this was long before the Lord's prophecy. The only event of note in connection with the temple since the Lord Jesus spoke was its destruction by the Roman armies under Titus in A.D. 70; consequently the Lord's prediction has yet to be fulfilled.

It is more to Israel; in Genesis 2, "Jehovah" is used, though it is the name of God to Israel. He was not a mere national God, though He was indeed their God. He was the Lord of all the earth, and He will shew that out too; He is the Sovereign God. Two things there are, namely, God's government of this world of which Israel is the centre; and then the Sovereign grace which puts poor sinners in the same place as the Son of God, and that is the Lord of all the earth. After all, He who is the God of the Jews, is God over all, blessed for evermore. A national deity was a common enough thing, and so was the ascribing to it of things that were done. Jephthah says, "Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess?"

The Amorite boasted against Moab. Israel now boasts over the Amorite, and in derision turns their boasting against them. They had a national song commemorating the capture of Heshbon, and Israel takes it up as a proverb against them. "Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared; for there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon; it hath consumed Ar of Moab and the lords of the high places of Arnon." Sihon seems to have made the captured city the point whence, in his boasting song, fire issued and consumed Ar of Moab. Whether the following verse (29th) be the continuation of the Amorite's boast, or Israel's lament over Moab, the impotence of their god Chemosh is declared. In irony they say that Chemosh had played them false, and had given his sons and daughters (the Moabites) captives to the Amorite. If this be the language of Israel, it is but a proof of the deceitfulness of the heart, for Israel afterwards worshipped the god they here despise. The 30th verse seems the triumph of Israel over the Amorite. "We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba." If fire came from Heshbon and destroyed Ar of Moab, fire came from Israel and Heshbon perished.