Year 3, Day 1: Isaiah 16

Destruction Is Assured

Isaiah 16 continues the indictment against Moab.  In the opening verses, we see God’s advice to Moab against the coming onslaught at the hands of Assyria.  There is no way that Moab is going to be able to escape the coming turmoil.  Assyria will overrun Moab, of that there can be no doubt.

Salvation Is Found Among The Hebrews

So what is Moab to do?  The advice is quite simple.  They need to come to the Hebrew people – specifically to the place of the king of the Hebrew people.  God tells the people of Moab to turn to the “mount of the daughter of Zion.”  God tells the Moabites to turn to His people for safety.

The question is, why would God do this?  Is this a sign that God’s chosen people actually are better than the rest of the world?  Is it God’s people who will save them?

No.  Think back to what we learned yesterday.  The Moabites are kin to the Hebrew people.  They are the descendants of Lot.  God doesn’t really want these people to turn back to the Hebrew people; God actually wants the Moabites to turn back to Him.  How will they accomplish that feat?  How will they come back to God?  Again the answer is simple.  They should be able to learn about God from the people of God. 

It is not the Hebrew people that are great.  God wants the people of Moab to turn to the mount of the daughter of Zion because He is great.  It isn’t about the Hebrew people saving them, it is about relationship with God who can save them.

From a historical perspective this makes sense.  We know that Jerusalem would resist the Assyrians.  Actually, we know that God takes care of the Assyrians so that Jerusalem can resist them.  Since God knows he will enable Jerusalem to resist the Assyrians, it makes sense for God to call the people of Moab to Jerusalem.  If they want to survive the Assyrian onslaught, they need to humble themselves and come to Jerusalem.

Directive To The Hebrew People

In fact, to make his point, God then interrupts His message about Moab with a specific sub-message to His own Hebrew people.  He tells them to welcome the outcasts of Moab.  God tells His people to be a shelter to Moab.  God promises that if they obey His calling they will see a king on David’s throne who rules righteously.

The question is: what will Moab do?  Will Moab be able to humble themselves?  Will Moab be able to turn to God?

The Moabite Response

Verse 6 does not give us much hope at all.  In verse 6 we hear about the pride of the Moabites.  We hear about arrogance.  We hear about insolence.  None of these attributes gives us any kind of hope that the Moabites will listen to God’s advice.  Salvation from the Assyrian onslaught can be found, but it can only be found by humbleness and turning to God while confessing that they cannot solve their own problems.

Perhaps we’ve found another reason for Isaiah to be in such mourning in yesterday’s reading.  Unlike the three oracles that came before this one, with Moab there is an offer of salvation.  But Isaiah knows it will not be heeded.  Isaiah knows that there will be no repentance.

So what is the end result?  God tells of their destruction at the hands of the Assyrians.  Joy will be taken from their fields.  The land won’t fruit.  The people won’t be able to make the products from the land that they need.  In less than three years’ time their numbers will be cut down so that only a few remain in their once proud land.

After reading this passage, I can’t help but wonder something very real.  What is it that leads to the downfall of Moab?  Pride.  Insolence.  Arrogance.  They refuse to seek help from God.  But are those not some of the main traits of humanity?  Do we not brandish our arrogance, pride, and insolence towards God on a reasonably regular basis?  As I’ve passed through two years of reading God’s Word on a daily basis, time and time again I’ve heard our human pride and arrogance lifted up as that which keeps us from God more than anything else.  Since we are entering the year where we hear regularly from the Old Testament prophets, I fully expect to hear over and over about the dangers of human pride.  We should heed these words that Isaiah gives to Moab.  The world will devour us if we are unwilling to humble ourselves and turn to the salvation that God provides.

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