Isaiah 16:1-14
1 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."
This prophecy was against Moab for their haughtiness, pride, wrath, and lies. They were called to give shelter of sanctuary to God’s people to protect them from destruction with a future view to the Messianic rule of David’s line with all the people of God to come (that is, the church). That rule would be founded on a throne of mercy and truth so justice and righteousness could be governed with merciful judgment in the one of the lineage of David in the flesh but of God in the spirit, the Christ to come. How that has come to fruition! Jesus the Christ rules and will judge the earth to satisfy the wrath of God against the unrighteous symbolized by Moab and other nations opposed to His rule. But He will have built His throne on a sure foundation of mercy to forgive and righteousness to impart to the humble who believe and receive Him as their Sovereign King on that divine throne to rule and judge those not trusting but rejecting that rule. The proud and haughty ones who disbelieve and disobey will unknowingly even protect those under God’s rule at times until they are called to judgment for their abominations and unbelief in the day of judgment. There will be mourning for the lost who lost their joy and gladness of singing and temporary prosperity just as it was with Moab. And just as Moab was given three years before their accountability, so there is a time set in the heavens for the final judgment of accountability to the Lord which He alone knows but which signs have been given to alert us to that day’s coming. May our message of reconciliation and eternal hope be our witness to the righteousness and mercy of Christ therefore in light of the coming destruction and the Lord’s eternal reign on earth.
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