Proclamation Against Moab
August 22, 2020
Commentary
This chapter opens with a historic reminder of the fall of Ar, the capital of Moab and their chief fortress (v. 1). For centuries, Moab, located east of the Dead Sea, had been an enemy of Israel. The Moabites were the product of Lot’s incestuous union with his daughter (Gen. 19:30-38).
As this chapter unfolds, it reveals how the prophet weeps over the coming Assyrian invasion. A list of Moabites cities are given that will be over-run by the Assyrian army (vv. 2-4). The prediction states that it will fall in the night and Isaiah’s heart was broken by Moab’s distress. Zoar (v. 5) was the city that was often resorted to by the fleeing Moabites. This was one of the cities to which Lot attempted to flee (Gen. 19:23). The people fled to their temples and prayed to their gods, but to no avail. Even a day of national mourning did not stop Assyria from invading Moab and ravaging the land. The advancing armies stopped at the springs and waterways and left them in desolation (vv 6-7). The wailing extended to Eglaim and Beer Elim, sites presently unknown, but perhaps near Moab’s southern border (v. 8). Where there was water in Moab, it was stained with blood (v. 9). Yet in spite of all of this, a remnant was still to be left in the land.
Application
God used His prophets in their day to warn the people of coming judgment. Today I can read His word and see the parallel of our day and realize that some day, in the future, judgment is coming to our country. I need to be doing all that I can to share His word with others.
Isaiah 15:1– 9 (NET)
1 This is an oracle about Moab: Indeed, in a night it is devastated, Ar of Moab is destroyed! Indeed, in a night it is devastated, Kir of Moab is destroyed!
2 They went up to the temple; the people of Dibon went up to the high places to lament. Because of what happened to Nebo and Medeba, Moab wails. Every head is shaved bare, every beard is trimmed off.
3 In their streets they wear sackcloth; on their roofs and in their town squares all of them wail; they fall down weeping.
4 The people of Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voices are heard as far away as Jahaz. For this reason Moab’s soldiers shout in distress; their courage wavers.
5 My heart cries out because of Moab’s plight, and for the fugitives stretched out as far as Zoar and Eglath Shelishiyah. For they weep as they make their way up the ascent of Luhith; they loudly lament their demise on the road to Horonaim.
6 For the waters of Nimrim are gone; the grass is dried up, the vegetation has disappeared, and there are no plants.
7 For this reason what they have made and stored up, they carry over the Stream of the Poplars.
8 Indeed, the cries of distress echo throughout Moabite territory; their wailing can be heard in Eglaim and Beer Elim.
9 Indeed, the waters of Dimon are full of blood! Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon. A lion will attack the Moabite fugitives and the people left in the land.
Illustration: Respond on The Basis of Grace Not Law
We begin our Christian life in God’s grace, and then quickly abandon grace, and try to live our life, and almost to continue to earn our salvation, – by what we do, by our works. Author Jerry Bridges puts it like this: “We tend to give an unbeliever just enough of the gospel to get him or her to pray a prayer to receive Christ. Then we immediately put the gospel on the shelf, so to speak, and go on to the duties of discipleship. The grace that brought salvation to you is the same grace that teaches or disciplines you. But you must respond on the basis of grace, not law.” (Jerry Bridges – from his book Transforming Grace)