Now, Isaiah turns to the nation of Moab. Moab has an interesting history which takes us back to the judgment and destruction of Sodom. Lot, Abraham’s nephew, escaped the fire and brimstone with his wife and 2 daughters. After being told not to look back at the first sin city, his wife couldn’t resist and became a pillar of salt when she turned to look. Lot and his daughters fled and ended up in a cave. The daughters get the bright idea, since there were no men left in area to marry, that they would get their father drunk then sleep with him. They both got pregnant. The eldest daughter’s son was named Moab and her sister named her son Ammon. Check out that bible study on Genesis 19 here.
So, technically, the Moabites and the Ammonites are cousins of the Israelites. Being Lot’s descendants, the knew about the One True God. Yet, they worshiped the useless, pagan god Chemosh.
Pastor Sandy Adams summarized the Moabites nicely…
Moab typifies the person who knows the truth about God – has access to this truth – is surrounded by this truth – yet never embraces this truth. In a spiritual sense it seems today’s churches are full of Moabites.
Sandy Adams
I have a correction from yesterday. I got the date of Isaiah book wrong. It was written in 725 BC not 699 BC. Thus, the Babylonian prophecy didn’t happen until 186 years later. They had plenty of time to repent, turn away from their pagan idols and gods and worship the True God. Similarly, Isaiah’s warning to the Moabites gives them 3 years to repent.
Again, this prophecy is 2-fold — some of it was fulfilled back then and some is yet to be fulfilled. Let’s dig in….
Isaiah 15 – A Message to Moab
The burden against Moab.
Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
2 He has gone up to the temple and Dibon,
To the high places to weep.
Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba;
On all their heads will be baldness,
And every beard cut off.
3 In their streets they will clothe themselves with sackcloth;
On the tops of their houses
And in their streets
Everyone will wail, weeping bitterly.
4 Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out,
Their voice shall be heard as far as Jahaz;
Therefore the armed soldiers of Moab will cry out;
His life will be burdensome to him.5 “My heart will cry out for Moab;
Isaiah 15 NKJV
His fugitives shall flee to Zoar,
Like a three-year-old heifer.
For by the Ascent of Luhith
They will go up with weeping;
For in the way of Horonaim
They will raise up a cry of destruction,
6 For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate,
For the green grass has withered away;
The grass fails, there is nothing green.
7 Therefore the abundance they have gained,
And what they have laid up,
They will carry away to the Brook of the Willows.
8 For the cry has gone all around the borders of Moab,
Its wailing to Eglaim
And its wailing to Beer Elim.
9 For the waters of Dibon will be full of blood;
Because I will bring more upon Dibon,
Lions upon him who escapes from Moab,
And on the remnant of the land.”
Isaiah 16
Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,
From Sela to the wilderness,
To the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2 For it shall be as a wandering bird thrown out of the nest;
So shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.3 “Take counsel, execute judgment;
Make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day;
Hide the outcasts,
Do not betray him who escapes.
4 Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab;
Be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler.
For the extortioner is at an end,
Devastation ceases,
The oppressors are consumed out of the land.
5 In mercy the throne will be established;
And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David,
Judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.”6 We have heard of the pride of Moab—
He is very proud—
Of his haughtiness and his pride and his wrath;
But his lies shall not be so.
7 Therefore Moab shall wail for Moab;
Everyone shall wail.
For the foundations of Kir Hareseth you shall mourn;
Surely they are stricken.8 For the fields of Heshbon languish,
And the vine of Sibmah;
The lords of the nations have broken down its choice plants,
Which have reached to Jazer
And wandered through the wilderness.
Her branches are stretched out,
They are gone over the sea.
9 Therefore I will bewail the vine of Sibmah,
With the weeping of Jazer;
I will drench you with my tears,
O Heshbon and Elealeh;
For battle cries have fallen
Over your summer fruits and your harvest.10 Gladness is taken away,
And joy from the plentiful field;
In the vineyards there will be no singing,
Nor will there be shouting;
No treaders will tread out wine in the presses;
I have made their shouting cease.
11 Therefore my heart shall resound like a harp for Moab,
And my inner being for Kir Heres.12 And it shall come to pass,
When it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place,
That he will come to his sanctuary to pray;
But he will not prevail.13 This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time. 14 But now the Lord has spoken, saying, “Within three years, as the years of a hired man, the glory of Moab will be despised with all that great multitude, and the remnant will be very small and feeble.”
Isaiah 16 NKJV
Those who try to escape God’s judgment will be cut down.
- The Moabites were stripped of their prosperity. It was a horrible demise.
- Verse 16:1 tells them to pay tribute due to Israel. Back in 2 Samuel 8, King David attacked Moab and put them under Israel’s control. Since then, they’ve rebelled, and here they are rebuked.
- In verse 16:4, we jump to the end times when the Jews will be persecuted by the Antichrist, here called, “the Spoiler” and “the Extortioner”. During the Great Tribulation, described in Revelation 12 and 13, the Antichrist is revealed. He will blackmail the people left behind after the Rapture into worshiping him and taking his mark. Jesus talks about this in Matthew 24:15-16. He warns the Jews that when they see the abomination of desolation — the Antichrist — desecrating the 3rd temple — they are to run to the hills. That’s Moab.
- Verse 16:5 promises the Messiah. “The mercy throne will be established; and the One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.” That is the 2nd coming of Jesus also foretold in Revelation.
A 4th Temple?
In the Book of Acts, James, Jesus’ brother tells us…
16 ‘After this I will return
And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down;
I will rebuild its ruins,
And I will set it up;
17 So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord,
Even all the Gentiles who are called by My name,
Says the Lord who does all these things.’18“Known to God from eternity are all His works.
Acts 15:16-18 NKJV
Jesus’ final temple and throne will be AWESOME! The question now is, will you be there to witness it or will you be suffering eternal damnation? That’s your choice — Heaven or hell.
If you’re not sure if you’re saved or not, if you truly want to be born again and have the assurance of salvation, receive the Holy Spirit, feel His Shalom — a peace that surpasses all understanding, and get a 1-way, non-stop ticket to Heaven after you die, or that you won’t be left behind at the Rapture, which can happen at any moment, this is what you have to do…
Believe. Repent. Be Baptized. Receive the Holy Spirit.
- Believe — have Faith — that Jesus is the Christ and He died taking your sins away forever and that He rose from the dead 3 days later.
- Repent of your sins — stop sinning! Do a complete 180-degree turn in your life and surrender your life to Him. When you ask Jesus to forgive you He will. ALL your sins will be wiped clean — past, present, and future! And All means ALL!
- Be Baptized by water baptism — show the world and yourself that you have died to your old life and are born again in Christ.
- Receive the gift of Holy Spirit in your heart.
