Isaiah 16

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Isaiah 16:1-14 (KJV) 

1 Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, 

unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. 

  God wanted Moab. God also wanted Moab to give.   Giving is an attribute of royalty.   When we realize we are in a position to give, it is a different level of being.  The lesson I have learned here is to be cheerful and give at the same time.  I want to work at being a better giver.  

God is not asking Moab to give to Him, He is asking Moab to position themselves so that He can fill the spot of any empty spaces after they made a deposit in good ground (Jerusalem).  Moab became distant from God.   He had to show that even the desert or the wilderness was not too far to travel to bring an offering. 

 2 For it shall be,

 [that], 

as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, 

[so] the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. 

Moab is discouraged.  Moab seemed to be flying in a circle with little water nearby.   Moab is used to living the good life but now Moab is confused and hurting.

3 Take counsel, 

execute judgment; 

make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; 

hide the outcasts;

bewray not him that wandereth. 

God knew how Moab was feeling.  Even though Moab is living in a rebellious state of mind, God wants Moab to know that He does not operate on our emotions.  We may feel discouraged but we cannot let life's problems lead us off course.  Moab did not serve God.  Moab did not seek God.  Moab lived by their own set of rules and it caused them to get into some deep dark situations with the larger enemies of God who were fighting against Moab.

 

4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee,

 Moab;

 be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: 

for the extortioner is at an end, 

the spoiler ceaseth, 

the oppressors are consumed out of the land. 

God told Israel if Moab needed a hand, lend them one discreetly.  When we obey God, we are vessels God uses to carry out His desires.  Moab is defiant against God's Word, but God knows that Moab needs help and if they would ask, God will pardon their sins and put him back on track.  Moab still did not listen to God's instructions.

5 And in mercy shall the throne be established:

 and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, 

judging, 

and seeking judgment,

 and hasting righteousness. 

God wants us to imitate His heart.  When we do as He tells us, we are demonstrating how He being God, does what He does.  We obey God, God establishes our goings and we show the world what it is like to live as Christ on the earth. When God's judgment is being utilized, when we seek His Word for guidance and when we hurry to do what is right, we look like God.

6 We have heard of the pride of Moab;

 [he is] very proud: 

[even] of his haughtiness,

 and his pride, 

and his wrath:

 [but] his lies [shall] not [be] so. 

Moab behaves like a religious person.  A person who is religious shows he is self righteous and he creates His on path in life.  Religeous people tell lies, they are stuborn, they want what they want  when they want it, and their ways do not please God.

7 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab,

 every one shall howl:

 for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; 

surely [they are] stricken. 

Moab hurts up and down, rich and poor, and the heads of Moab cries when he sees the tail of Moab and the tail cries when he views the head.  There is crying from all of Moab.  When we build our own way without God's instructions,we will cry.

8 For the fields of Heshbon languish, 

[and] the vine of Sibmah: 

the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, 

they are come [even] unto Jazer, 

they wandered [through] the wilderness:

 her branches are stretched out, 

they are gone over the sea. 

Everywhere Moab goes, he brings or is destroyed.  This is the life a person or persons who refuses to take heed to the Word of the Lord who made instructions.

9 Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah:

 I will water thee with my tears, 

O Heshbon, and Elealeh: 

for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. 

God responds by telling Moab how he weeps for them.  God weeps because he sees us wasting time.

10 And gladness is taken away, 

and joy out of the plentiful field; 

and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, 

neither shall there be shouting: 

the treaders shall tread out no wine in [their] presses;

 I have made [their vintage] shouting to cease. 

Jesus said he came so that we could have a good time living.  Without God guiding us, we live in constant confusion.

11 Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, 

and mine inward parts for Kirharesh. 

God's heart aches for Moab.  God has been dealing with Moab from the time of Lot, Abraham's nephew.  God will deal with us for many years and he does this so that we will change.  Moab like many of us, refuse to comply to God Word or we do not even know God's Word because we have our own religious agendas and that agenda is already full and have no need for God.

12 And it shall come to pass,

 when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, 

that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray;

 but he shall not prevail. 

Moab goes to pray to his god.  God sees Moab and knows his god cannot answer his prayers.  When we pray without the Word of God we are wasting time.

13 This [is] the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. 

God spoke about Moab's behavior many years ago.

14 But now the LORD hath spoken,

 saying, 

Within three years, as the years of an hireling, 

and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, 

with all that great multitude; 

and the remnant [shall be] very small [and] feeble.

But today Isaiah is giving Moab a deadline.  Within the next three years Moab will be destroyed and anyone who survives what God is going to do to Moab or what God will allow Moab to do as he please without Him, will be left weak and few in number.