#977 Isaiah 15 Another Neighbor

 

An oracle concerning Moab.

Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night,

Moab is undone;

because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night,

Moab is undone.

2 He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon,

to the high places to weep;

over Nebo and over Medeba

Moab wails.

On every head is baldness;

every beard is shorn;

3 in the streets they wear sackcloth;

on the housetops and in the squares

everyone wails and melts in tears.

4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out;

their voice is heard as far as Jahaz;

therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud;

his soul trembles.

5 My heart cries out for Moab;

her fugitives flee to Zoar,

to Eglath-shelishiyah.

For at the ascent of Luhith

they go up weeping;

on the road to Horonaim

they raise a cry of destruction;

6 the waters of Nimrim

are a desolation;

the grass is withered, the vegetation fails,

the greenery is no more.

7 Therefore the abundance they have gained

and what they have laid up

they carry away

over the Brook of the Willows.

8 For a cry has gone

around the land of Moab;

her wailing reaches to Eglaim;

her wailing reaches to Beer-elim.

9 For the waters of Dibon[c] are full of blood;

for I will bring upon Dibon even more,

a lion for those of Moab who escape,

for the remnant of the land. Isaiah 15 ESV

Isaiah 15 The burden of Moab

Moab is a relative of Abraham by Lot. When Lot and his daughters fled Sodom, they got him drunk and he fathered the Moabites and Ammonites through an incestuous relationship. Taboo

Ar is laid waste in a night, Kir is laid waste in a night - Ar was a prominent city in the region and Kir is described as a city 15 mile north of Arnon River, 11 miles east of the Dead Sea, and a fortified city at 3, 370 feet in elevation.

He has gone up to the temple - The temple was in another Moabite city, and the man described here is going up to weep over the destruction. They are going to the gods of their high places, gods that cannot help them, and that are no gods at all. 

Over Nebo - This was the mountain where God took Moses to look down upon the Holy land, but also a name of a Moabite god. 

Every beard is shorn - They are shamed.

In the streets they wear sackcloth - Mourning.

5. My heart cries out for Moab - Israel has had a long and strained relationship with Moab, but they are relatives. Isaiah cries for them probably in memory of Ruth, a Moabite, who married Boaz and was a grandmother to their beloved king, David. David sent his parents to the Moabite king while he was being chased by Saul. Moab was not kind to Moses when the children came out of Egypt though, and when their king could not get Balaam to curse Israel, well, then Moab came to destroy Israel from within. Moabite Women

Regardless of past and present relationships, whether enemies or friends, we should weep over our fellow human beings, for what passes quickly here cannot compare to an eternity of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Zoar - This is the place Lot fled to with his daughters.

6-9. Nimrim - a place at the southern end of this little country. Approximately 10 miles south of the Dead Sea. It appears that the water failed, and so follows the grass withering and the land becoming a desert.

They carry away - Whatever they had in their prosperity is being taken across the Brook of the Willows, which some think to be the dividing line between there and Edom. The prophet Jeremiah writes of this as well.

For, because you trusted in your works and your treasures,

you also shall be taken;

and Chemosh shall go into exile

with his priests and his officials.

8 The destroyer shall come upon every city,

and no city shall escape;

the valley shall perish,

and the plain shall be destroyed,

as the Lord has spoken.

9 “Give wings to Moab,

for she would fly away;

her cities shall become a desolation,

with no inhabitant in them.

10 “Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed.

11 “Moab has been at ease from his youth

and has settled on his dregs;

he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,

nor has he gone into exile;

so his taste remains in him,

and his scent is not changed.

12 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his[c] jars in pieces. 13 Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. Jeremiah 48: 7-13