Verse 11
11. The reason for these judgments is here given. Moab had remained at ease, and in the enjoyment of a prosperity which had vitiated her life. Hence she is compared to wine which has remained long on the lees a process which improves good wine, but makes poor wine more harsh and thick. The teaching of the figure is, that if a people retain undisturbed possession of their country for a long time their characteristic national qualities will have a high development, but if they be emptied from vessel to vessel, the process may indeed purify them, but may also render them light, weak, and insipid. What is true of national life is true also of individual life; and what is true of life in its lowest conditions applies also to life in its highest aspects. (See, on this last, the most ingenious and admirable sermon of Dr. Horace Bushnell on The Necessity of Spiritual Dislodgments.)
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