Why does the Lord ask, How do you say, We are heroes and mighty men of war?  

In Jeremiah 46:18 the Lord confronts the arrogant pride of Pharoah by speaking as the King. The Lord is the King who rules over all kings and he addresses the Moabites now in the same way. The Lord questions the arrogant claims of Moab’s fighting men, How do you say, We are heroes and mighty men of war? The reality is that the destroyer of Moab and his cities has come up, and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter, declares the King whose name is the LORD of hosts. The Lord is the great King who has a mighty army at his disposal, including the Babylonians. He is sending them to destroy Moab, and her boastful army will be humbled in defeat. These words are spoken in the prophetic perfect tense. According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, Nebuchadnezzar defeated Moab five years after Jerusalem fell in 587 BC, fulfilling this prophecy.¹ The calamity of Moab is near at hand, and his affliction hastens swiftly. Moab’s fate was sealed the moment Jeremiah delivered this oracle.