By Eugene Garner

ISAIAH - CHAPTER 15

ORACLE CONCERNING MOAB, (vs. 1-9)

   The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab Is laid waste, and brought to silence; He Is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Noah shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off. In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly. And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him. My heart shall cry out for Moab: his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall rise up a cry of destruction. For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing. Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beerelim. For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land.

    1. The Moabites were the descendants of Lot, through incestuous union with his oldest daughter (Gen. 19:37); their land was the mountainous plateau East of the Dead Sea. They had been perpetual enemies of Israel.
    2. The whole land is pictured as being in mourning, (vs. 1-4).
      a. On the housetops, the streets and broad ways, there is weeping, wailing, sackcloth, baldness of head and shaven beards, (Lev. 21:5; Jer. 48:37-38; Comp. Isa. 22:4).
      b. Moab is laid waste, brought to naught, and made desolate - suddenly and "in the night".
    3. In pity, Isaiah's heart cries out for Moab - her waters made desolate, her grass withered, with no green thing left, (vs. 5-6; comp. Joel 10-12; 2:3; Jer. 4:19-20; 31:18).
    4. The abundance they have stored up for themselves is seen being carried away over the brook of willows, (vs. 7; comp. 2 Kings 3:19, 25; Isa. 30:6-7; Jer. 48:36).
    5. That a great slaughter has taken place is evidenced by the fact that: "The waters of Dimon are full of blood", (vs. 8-9a).
    6. And still further calamity is to befall the remnant that has escaped, (vs. 9 b; comp. 2 Kings 17:24-26; Jer. 5:6; 15:3; 50:17).

ISAIAH - CHAPTER 16

ORACLE CONCERNING MOAB - Continued

Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

    1. Seiss renders verse 1 far differently than most commentators: "Send ye (or, I will send) the Lamb, the Ruler of the land, from Sela of the wilderness unto the mount of the daughter of Zion" - making the passage allude to Messiah, the anointed king of Israel, (Seiss, Apoc. sec. 10; p. 282 footnote).
      a. This surely harmonizes with numerous other passages which indicate an appearance of the Messiah "in the wilderness" where He deals "face to face" with a remnant of His people whom He gathers there - protecting them from the fierceness and wrath of the Man of Sin, (Ezek. 20:33-39; Rev. 12:13-17).
      b. Here Messiah will also lay the foundation (assigning roles of authority and responsibility) for the righteous rule to be established when, with His saints, He marches toward Jerusalem (resisted by Anti-christ and his forces), stands on the Mt. of Olives, vanquishes His foes and raises up the fallen throne of His father, David, to rule thereon for 1,000 glorious years! (63:1-6; Zech. 14:3-4; Amos 9:11; Acts 15:15-17).
    2. Moab is commanded to hide the "outcasts" of Israel, believed to be in Petra, who have taken refuge among them, until the time arrives for the destruction of the Man of Sin, (comp. 25:4; 32:2).
    3. As Moab provides a sanctuary for His people in Petra, so, the Lord will protect Moab from the destroyer in the last days.
    4. Verse 5 clearly refers to the coming kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ to reign over all; His throne is established:
      a. In loving-kindness ("hesed", fidelity to His covenant-promise) - one of the highest and greatest concepts set forth in the Old Testament, (54:8; Jer. 9:23-24; Hos. 6:6; comp. Matt. 9:10-13; 12:7; Hos. 2:20).
      b. In justice and righteousness, (Psa. 103:6; Prov. 21:3; Isa. 32:1; 9:6-7; 11:5).

   We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so. Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken, for the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea. Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, 0 Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting (or thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. And gladness is taken sway, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease. Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh. And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray: but he shall not prevail. This is the word that the LORD hath spoken, concerning Moab since that time. But now the Lord hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.

    1. Moab is charged with pride, arrogancy, wrath and boastings which are lies, (vs. 6; Jer. 48:29-30).
    2. Deep humiliation awaits him; the joyful shout and song of his vineyards will be exchanged for mourning, (vs. 7-8).
      a. His grapes are withered - being unattended.
      b. And his choice vines are destroyed by the lords of the nations, (Amos 2:1; Obad. 3-4; Zeph. 2:8-10).
    3. Likening his own feelings to the sad notes of a harp, the prophet is deeply moved at the intensify of Moab's distress - his heart broken for a guilty, unrepentant people upon whom he must pronounce the calamity of divine wrath, (vs. 9, 11; Jer. 48:32-35).
    4. Desperately appealing to his idols to deliver him from impending ruin, Moab finds them powerless, (vs. 12; Psa. 115:4-7; Jer. 10:5; I Cor. 8:4; 10:20).
    5. The reference (vs. 13) to what the Lord spoke "concerning Moab of old" may look clear back to the time of Balak, who attempted to hire Balaam to curse the people of God, (Num. 23:7-10, 18-24; 24:1-9; 15-20).
    6. The calamity of Moab is now imminent; within three years everything in which he glorified will be disgraced - that which remains being small and of little value, (25:10-12; Jer. 48:42-44).