God’s Burden Against Moab

Isaiah 15:1-9 

1 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;
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 Dimon will be full of blood;
Because I will bring more upon Dimon,
Lions upon him who escapes from Moab,
And on the remnant of the land."

Those who worship false gods (which are not divine because only One is God, He of the scriptures whose Son we serve) will face the consequences of sin by their destruction as Moab was judged here.  These idol worshiping people mourn and weep over the loss of inanimate wood and stone which they bow down to, not unlike today where entertainment and sports and political heroes are idolized, and ignore their Creator and heavenly Sovereign.  These of Moab were so distraught that they cried out and wandered heartbroken in the streets because of their loss of their own making.  God cried out to them as He does now to those with cheap and worthless substitutes.  The alternative now is destruction instead of abundance and crying instead of joy and peace with God in Christ just as Moab and the others faced judgment and death apart from the Lord.  Only the remnant who are drawn to the narrow way will escape.  Such is the lesson today as it was then for the enemies of God until they find rest and peace in the calling out of darkness into the light of life.  This is God’s burden calling out against and for Moab as it is still to all who serve other gods today.  Amen.