”Send lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela in the desert to the mountain of Daughter Zion. Like a bird fleeing, forced from the nest, the daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon. Give us counsel and make a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade that is as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees. Let my refugees stay with you; be a refuge for Moab from the aggressor. When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ended, and marauders have vanished from the land. Then in the tent of David a throne will be established by faithful love. A judge who seeks what is right and is quick to execute justice will sit on the throne forever. We have heard of Moab’s pride — how very proud he is — his haughtiness, his pride, his arrogance, and his empty boasting. Therefore let Moab wail; let every one of them wail for Moab. Mourn, you who are completely devastated, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth. For Heshbon’s terraced vineyards and the grapevines of Sibmah have withered. The rulers of the nations have trampled its choice vines that reached as far as Jazer and spread to the desert. Their shoots spread out and reached the Dead Sea. So I join with Jazer to weep for the vines of Sibmah; I drench Heshbon and Elealeh with my tears. Triumphant shouts have fallen silent over your summer fruit and your harvest. Joy and rejoicing have been removed from the orchard; no one is singing or shouting for joy in the vineyards. No one tramples grapes in the winepresses. I have put an end to the shouting. Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab, as does my innermost being for Kir-heres. When Moab appears on the high place, when he tires himself out and comes to his sanctuary to pray, it will do him no good. This is the message that the Lord previously announced about Moab. And now the Lord says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, in spite of a very large population. And those who are left will be few and weak.’“ (Isaiah 16:1-14 HCSB)
Most of us are very familiar with photos and news reports showing scenes from war torn areas with long lines of refugees fleeing the danger. The scenes show people carrying what they can as they escape the conflict with little more than the clothes they are wearing and the few items they can carry. The anxiety, fear and desperation they’re experiencing is evident on their faces and expressed in the tears that stream down their faces.
Over the past several weeks, we have been confronted by God’s judgment of the nations. This week, we consider His judgment on Judah’s small neighbor to the southeast, Moab. While I’ve only cited Isaiah 16 above, for a clearer picture and better understanding of God’s judgment upon Moab you should read Isaiah 15 and 16. For those of you who may not know, the people of Moab are descended from Abraham’s nephew Lot through an incestuous encounter with one of his daughters (see Genesis 19:30-38). While Moab is not a military threat to Judah, the nation is judged by God in this passage for the same basic reason as Babylon – she is judged for her arrogant pride.
As you read this week’s focal passage, keep that mental image of those refugees in mind. Those are the images being described as Isaiah recounts the vision God has given him in these verses. As the people of Moab flee an unknown threat, they mourn by shaving their heads and the men shave their beards. They wear sackcloth as they weep, wail and collapse in tears. The devastation is so quick and complete that everything is gone in one night. Even their soldiers cry out and tremble as everything, the entire nation – from the northern most town to the southern border – is completely destroyed in one night.
Isaiah is overwhelmed by what he sees in God’s oracle even as God weeps and His heart cries out over the destruction of Moab. He sobs as he watches them seeking refuge carrying the few items that survived the attack. The land is barren, all vegetation and foliage stripped away and the grass withered. Even the rivers are lifeless and desolate. In Isaiah 15:9, the waters of the Dibon run red with the blood of the slain. But God isn’t finished judging them even as He weeps over their plight.
That last statement might surprise you, but it shouldn’t. God takes no pleasure in judgment. Though His judgment is just and right He laments their suffering and refusal to repent. I know there are those who like to portray God as angry and vengeful, but I believe this passage clearly illustrates the compassion He has and the pain He feels even as He judges man’s sinful pride and rebellion.
I’ve heard some who question why God would judge sin and yet offer His Son as a substitute for our punishment. Why must Jesus die? Why not just forgive sin? There’s a much deeper need, a much more basic human need at work here. While scripture clearly tells us that sin must be atoned for (see Heb. 9:22 and nearly all of Leviticus) we also know this, deep down in our own hearts. When someone wrongs us we want them to be held accountable. We call this justice and we feel something’s deeply wrong in the world if they aren’t held accountable. But, it’s not just those who wrong us that must be held accountable – we must also be held accountable for our wrongs. If we aren’t held accountable for our wrongful actions then we become emboldened to do them again and, likely, even worse things.
”For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.“ (Romans 3:23 HCSB)
One thing that comes through clearly in Isaiah 15 is Moab’s attempts to escape God’s judgment. As the armies of the enemy descend from the north, the Moabites who escape flee towards the south. Isaiah 15:7 tells us that they flee carrying their wealth and belongings “over the Wadi of the Willows” and their cries echo across the entire country, from border to border. But, there’s no escaping God or His judgment on sin for the lion awaits those who seek to escape as well as those who remain in the land.
While Isaiah 15 is all about Moab’s sin and God’s judgment upon it, the next chapter is all about God’s atonement and Moab’s response. I mentioned above that God weeps over Moab even as He unleashes judgment upon them, but the people seek refuge from Him and from His judgment. In the opening verse of chapter 16, the Moabites gather lambs to send as a gift to the king of Judah on the “mountain of daughter Zion.” The refugees seek refuge from God’s wrath among God’s people and they send sacrificial lambs in hopes they will be accepted for refuge among God’s people.
Isn’t it ironic? The refugees are hopeful that they will be granted shelter from God’s judgment by hiding among God’s people. They flee from the aggressor that is ravaging their homeland, but they fail to realize that the aggressor they flee is the God of Judah judging them for their pride and sinful rejection of Him. They want to hide at noon among God’s people as though it is the darkest night. But you can’t hide in the darkness from Him who is “the light of the world.”
”In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.“ (John 1:1-5 HCSB)
Maybe you’re a bit surprised by my reference to Jesus in the midst of God’s judgment against Moab. But, maybe you also noticed that the Moabite refugees seek refuge among God’s people and even offered lambs as a gift in hopes of being granted shelter. They want to hide at noontime as though it is the darkest night and they want to remain hidden and sheltered until “the oppressor has gone, destruction has ended, and marauders have vanished from the land (Is. 16:4).” So, they seek refuge and shelter from God’s judgment until all of these things have passed, so God responds: “Then in the tent of David a throne will be established by faithful love. A judge who seeks what is right and is quick to execute justice will sit on the throne forever (Is. 16:5).”
The refuge and shelter that Moab seeks will come, but it will come in an unexpected and in a very offensive way to the Moabites. The refuge they seek, the shelter they need from God’s wrath on their sin will come through “the tent of David” or his house/family lineage and an eternal throne will be established by faithful love. Everything about the establishment of the Moabites as a people flows from the story of Lot’s family and their inability to trust God.
As I mentioned above, Lot and his family are rescued from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by messengers from God. They are told to flee the ensuing destruction and to not look back. As they fled, Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. Afterwards, Lot and his daughters fled into the mountains and took shelter in a cave. Like their mother, the two girls could not see a future in which God cared for and provided for them. They thought their world was destroyed and saw no hope for the future. So, they took matters into their own hands by getting their father drunk and sleeping with him. Their hope for the future now rested in their own scheming and shameful actions instead of in their trust in God.
Like their ancient ancestors, the Moabites of Isaiah’s day could not see a future in trusting the promises of Judah’s God in the eternal reign of a King He would establish through David’s lineage. That eternal King would be established by love, would seek what is right, would be quick to execute justice and would reign forever (see Is. 16:5). Instead of bowing before this eternal King, the Moabites would be guided by their own pride. They would act in haughtiness, walk away in their pride, guided by their own arrogance and bolstered by their empty boasting. Instead of bowing before the King who could and would save them, they walked away into judgment and destruction because their pride would not bow before God’s Savior/King.
Because they rejected God’s offer of shelter and salvation through His eternal Son/Savior/King, their judgment would be complete. Moab would be completely devastated, but God would mourn over their destruction. The people of Moab mourn over the things they have lost, from the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth and the terraced vineyards of Heshbon, to the lush grapevines of Sibmah. They are now all ruined and withered. God’s judgment upon the nation has left it devastated. But God mourns over their destruction, He weeps for their devastation.
”Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe His discipline; for the Lord disciplines the one He loves, just as a father, the son he delights in.“ (Proverbs 3:11-12 HCSB)
While judgment may be just, it is not without its pain and tears. I well remember my own father lamenting the punishment he must give me. I can hear him telling me: “Son, this hurts me more than it does you.” I never believed or understood his words until I became a father and had to discipline and punish my children. Real parental discipline never flows from hatred or anger but from a deep sense of love and a desire for what is good, right and best in our children’s lives. If we seek to lovingly discipline our children in our limited human knowledge and understanding, how much greater is our Heavenly Father’s loving discipline.
”Therefore I moan like the sound of a lyre for Moab, as does my innermost being for Kir-heres.“ (Isaiah 16:11 HCSB)
Finally, the last verse of Isaiah 16 reads: ”And now the Lord says, ‘In three years, as a hired worker counts years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, in spite of a very large population. And those who are left will be few and weak.’“ (Isaiah 16:14 HCSB) In essence, God tells Moab that His judgment is just and sure – as the hired worker who counts the days until his work contract is fulfilled, so God is counting down the days until His judgment falls upon Moab. This is a word of warning and a call to repentance to the people of Moab.
This is also a word of warning and a call to repentance for us. If we, like Moab, refuse God’s offer of shelter from His judgment in His Son/Savior/King then we will also face His tear-filled discipline and if His discipline is rejected, then we will face His tearful but just judgment of our sin. Like Moab, many today refuse to see that the only offer of shelter from sin’s judgment is found in the Son He sent to suffer sin’s wrath on the cross. He died so we could live. The rejection, the beating and the death He suffered was intended for us.
”He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; you have been healed by His wounds.“ (1 Peter 2:24 HCSB)
”So what fruit was produced then from the things you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in sanctification — and the end is eternal life! For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.“ (Romans 6:21-23 HCSB)
Will you stand in prideful defiance before Him rejecting His loving tearful discipline and only offer of safety, shelter and salvation in Jesus? Or will you humbly bow before Him as you submit to His discipline and discover the joy of His salvation? Don’t wait, the opportunity is passing with sunrise and sunset…
Hilltop Baptist Church - Shawnee, OK 
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