Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 16:1
Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
1. Send ye the lamb ] R.V. the lambs. The imper. expresses dramatically the result of the deliberations of the Moabites. The word “lamb” is to be taken collectively; it denotes the tribute in kind which the Moabites had been accustomed to pay to the kings of Israel (2Ki 3:4), but which they now propose to send to the king of Judah, the “ruler of the land” (of Edom).
from Sela to the wilderness ] R.V. less appropriately “which is toward the wilderness.” The wilderness is the desert tract between Sela and Jerusalem which would have to be traversed by the messengers of Moab. Sela (“rock”), a city of Edom (2Ki 14:7), is commonly supposed from the identity of the designations to be the later Petra. There is, however, no positive evidence in support of the identification; and Jdg 1:36 seems to point to a locality near the southern end of the Dead Sea (See Moore, Commentary on Judges, pp. 56 f.).
the mount Zion ] ch. Isa 10:32.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1 6. Arrived in Edom, the Moabitish refugees are within the sphere of Judah’s political influence (see Introd. Note). Their first anxiety, therefore, is to secure protection and the right of asylum by sending an embassy to Jerusalem.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Send ye the lamb – Lowth renders this, I will send forth the son from the ruler of the land; meaning, as he supposes, that under the Assyrian invasion, even the young prince of Moab would be obliged to flee for his life through the desert, that he might escape to Judea; and that thus God says that he would send him. The only authority for this, however, is, that the Septuagint reads the word send in the future tense ( apostelo) instead of the imperative; and that the Syraic reads bar instead of kar, a lamb. But assuredly this is too slight an authority for making an alteration in the Hebrew text. This is one of the many instances in which Lowth has ventured to suggest a change in the text of Isaiah without sufficient authority. The Septuagint reads this: I will send reptiles ( herpeta) upon the land. Is not the mountain of the daughter of Zion a desolate rock? The Chaldee renders it, Bear ye tribute to the Messiah, the anointed of Israel, who is powerful over you who were in the desert, to Mount Zion. And this, understanding by the Messiah the anointed king of Israel, is probably the true rendering.
The word lamb ( kar) denotes, properly, a pasture lamb, a fat lamb, and is usually applied to the lamb which was slain in sacrifice. Here it probably means a lamb, or lambs collectively, as a tribute, or acknowledgment of subjection to Judah. Lambs were used in the daily sacrifice in the temple, and in the other sacrifices of the Jews. Large numbers of them would, therefore, be needed, and it is not improbable that the tribute of the nations subject to them was often required to be paid in animals for burnt-offering. Perhaps there might have been this additional reason for that – that the sending of such animals would be a sort of incidental acknowledgment of the truth of the Jewish religion, and an offering to the God of the Hebrews. At all events, the word here seems to be one that designates tribute; and the counsel of the prophet is, that they should send their tribute to the Jews.
To the ruler of the land – To the king of Judah. This is proved by the addition at the close of the verse, unto the mount of the daughter o Zion. It is evident from 2Sa 8:2, that David subdued the Moabites, and laid them under tribute, so that the Moabites became Davids servants, and brought gifts. That lambs were the specific kind of tribute which the Moabites were to render to the Jews as a token of their subjection, is clearly proved in 2Ki 3:4 : And Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheep-master, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand rams, with the wool. This was in the time of Ahab. But the Moabites after his death revolted from them, and rebelled 2Ki 4:5. It is probable that as this tribute was laid by David before the separation of the kingdoms of Judah and Israel, and as the kings of Judah claimed to be the true successors of David and Solomon, they demanded that the tribute should be rendered to them, and not to the kings of Israel, and this is the claim which Isaiah enforces in the passage before us. The command of the prophet is to regain the lost favor of Israel by the payment of the tribute that was due. The territory of Moab was in early times, and is still, rich in flocks of sheep. Seetzen made his journey with some inhabitants of Hebron and Jerusalem who had purchased sheep in that region. Lambs and sheep were often demanded in tribute. The Persians received fifty thousand sheep as a tribute annually from the Cappadocians, and one hundred thousand from the Medes (Strabo, ii. 362).
From Sela in the wilderness – The word Sela ( sela’) means a rock; and by it here there can be no doubt that there is intended the city of that name which was the capital of Arabia Petrea. The city was situated within the bounds of Arabia or Idumea, but was probably at this time in the possession of the Moabites. It was, therefore, the remotest part of their territory, and the sense may be, Send tribute even from the remotest pat of your land; or it may be, that the region around that city was particularly favorable to pasturage, and for keeping flocks. To this place they had fled with their flocks on the invasion from the north (see the note at Isa 15:7). Vitringa says that that desert around Petra was regarded as a vast common, on which the Moabites and Arabians promiscuously fed their flocks. The situation of the city of Sela, or ( petra) Petra, meaning the same as Sela, a rock, was for a long time unknown, but it has lately been discovered.
It lies about a journey of a day and a ball southeast of the southern extremity of the Dead Sea. It derived its name from the fact that it was situated in a vast hollow in a rocky mountain, and consisted almost entirely of dwellings hewn out of the rock. It was the capital of the Edomites 2Ki 19:7; but might have been at this time in the possession of the Moabites. Strabo describes it as the capital of the Nabatheans, and as situated in a vale well watered, but encompassed by insurmountable rocks (xvi. 4), at a distance of three or four days journey from Jericho. Diodorus (19, 55) mentions it as a place of trade, with caves for dwellings, and strongly fortified by nature. Pliny, in the first century, says, The Nabatheans inhabit the city called Petra, in a valley less than two (Roman) miles in amplitude, surrounded by inaccessible mountains, with a stream flowing through it (Nat. Hist. vi. 28).
Adrian, the successor of Trajan, granted important privileges to that city, which led the inhabitants to give his name to it upon coins. Several of these are still extant. In the fourth century, Petra is several times mentioned by Eusebius and Jerome, and in the fifth and sixth centuries appears as the metropolitan see of the Third Palestine (see the article Petra in Relands Palestine). From that time, Petra disappeared from the pages of history, and the metropolitan see was transferred to Rabbah. In what way Petra was destroyed is unknown. Whether it was by the Mahometan conquerors, or whether by the incursions of the hordes of the desert, it is impossible now to ascertain. All Arabian writers of that period are silent as to Petra. The name became changed to that which it bears at present – Wady Musa, and it was not until the travels of Seetzen, in 1807, that it attracted the attention of the world. During his excursion from Hebron to the hill Madurah, his Arab guide described the place, exclaiming, Ah! how I weep when I behold the ruins of Wady Musa. Seetzen did not visit it, but Burckhardt passed a short time there, and described it. Since his time it has been repeatedly visited (see Robinsons Bib. Researches, vol. ii. pp. 573-580).
This city was formerly celebrated as a place of great commercial importance, from its central position and its being so securely defended. Dr. Vincent (in his Commerce of the Ancients, vol. xi. p. 263, quoted in Labordes Journey to Arabia Petrea, p. 17) describes Petra as the capital of Edom or Sin, the Idumea or Arabia Petrea of the Greeks, the Nabatea considered both by geographers, historians, and poets, as the source of all the precious commodities of the East. The caravans in all ages, from Minea in the interior of Arabia, and from Gerka on the gulf of Persia, from Hadramont on the ocean, and some even from Sabea in Yemen, appear to have pointed to Petra as a common center; and from Petra the trade seems to have branched out into every direction – to Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, through Arsinoe, Gaza, Tyre, Jerusalem, Damascus, and a variety of intermediate roads that all terminated on the Mediterranean. Strabo relates, that the merchandise of India and Arabia was transported on camels from Leuke Kome to Petra, and thence, to Rhinocolura and other places (xvi. 4, 18, 23, 24).
Under the Romans the trade was still more prosperous. The country was rendered more accessible, and the passage of merchants facilitated by military ways, and by the establishment of military posts to keep in check the predatory hordes of the neighboring deserts. One great road, of which traces still remain, went from Petra to Damascus; another went off from this road west of the Dead Sea to Jerusalem, Askelon, and other parts of the Mediterranean (Laborde, p. 213; Burckhardt, 374, 419). At a period subsequent to the Christian era there always reigned at Petra, according to Strabo, a king of the royal lineage, with whom a prince was associated in the government (Strabo, p. 779). The very situation of this city, once so celebrated, as has been remarked above, was long unknown. Burckhardt, under the assumed name of Sheikh Ibrahim, in the year 1811, made an attempt to reach Petra under the pretext that he had made a vow to sacrifice a goat in honor of Aaron on the summit of Mount Hor near to Petra. He was permitted to enter the city, and to remain there a short time, and to look upon the wonders of that remarkable place, but was permitted to make no notes or drawings on the spot.
His object was supposed to be to obtain treasures, which the Arabs believe to have been deposited there in great abundance, as all who visit the ruins of ancient cities and towns in that region are regarded as having come there solely for that purpose. If assured that they have no such design, and if the Arabs are reminded that they have no means to remove them, it is replied that, although they may not remove them in their presence, yet when they return to their own land, they will have the power of commanding the treasures to be conveyed to them, and it will be done by magic. (Burckhardts Travels in Syria, pp. 428, 429.)
Burckhardts description of this city, as it is brief, may be here given verbatim: Two long days journey northeast from Akaba (a town at the extremity of the Elanitic branch of the Red Sea, near the site of the ancient Ezion-geber), is a brook called Wady Musa, and a valley of the same name. This place is very remarkable for its antiquities, and the remains of an ancient city, which I take to be Petra, the capital of Arabia Petrea, a place which, so far as I know, no European traveler has ever explored. In the red sandstone of which the vale consists, there are found more than two hundred and fifty sepulchres, which are entirely hewn out of the rock, generally with architectural ornaments in the Grecian style. There is found there a mausoleum in the form of a temple (obviously the same which Legh and Laborde call the temple of victory) on a colossal scale, which is likewise hewn out of the rock, with all its apartments, portico, peristylum, etc. It is an extremely fine monument of Grecian architecture, and in a fine state of preservation. In the same place there are yet other mausoleums with obelisks, apparently in the Egyptian style; a whole amphitheater hewn out of the solid rock, and the remains of a palace and many temples.
Mr. Bankes, in company of Mr. Legh, and Captains Irby and Mangles, have the merit of being the first persons who, as Europeans, succeeded to any extent in making researches in Petra. Captains Irby and Mangles spent two days among its temples, tombs, and ruins, and have furnished a description of what they saw. But the most full and satisfactory investigation which has been made of these ruins, was made by M. de Laborde, who visited the city in 1829, and was permitted to remain there eight days, and to examine it at leisure. An account of his journey, with splendid plates, was published in Paris in 1830, and a translation in London 1836. To this interesting account the reader must be referred. It can only be remarked here, that Petra, or Sela, was a city entirely encompassed with lofty rocks, except in a single place, where was a deep ravine between the rocks which constituted the principal entrance.
On the east and west it was enclosed with lofty rocks, of from three to five hundred feet in height; on the north and south the ascent was gradual from the city to the adjacent hills. The ordinary entrance was through a deep ravine, which has been, until lately, supposed to have been the only way of access to the city. This ravine approaches it from the east, and is about a mile in length. In the narrowest part it is twelve feet in width, and the rocks are on each side about three hundred feet in height. On the northern side, there are tombs excavated in the rocks nearly the entire distance. The stream which watered Petra runs along in the bottom of the ravine, going through the city, and descending through a ravine to the west (see Robinsons Bib. Researches, vol. ii. 514, 538.) The city is wholly uninhabited, except when the wandering Arab makes use of an excavated tomb or palace in which to pass the night, or a caravan pauses there.
The rock which encompasses it is a soft freestone. The tombs, with which almost the entire city was encompassed, are cut in the solid rock, and are adorned in the various modes of Grecian and Egyptian architecture. The surface of the solid rock was first made smooth, and then a plan of the tomb or temple was drawn on the smoothed surface, and the workmen began at the top and cut the various pillars, entablatures, and capitals. The tomb was then excavated from the rock, and was usually entered by a single door. Burckhardt counted two hundred and fifty of these tombs, and Laborde has described minutely a large number of them. For a description of these splendid monuments, the reader must be referred to the work of Laborde, pp. 152-193. Lend. Ed.
That this is the Sela referred to here there can be no doubt; and the discovery of this place is only one of the instances out of many, in which the researches of oriental travelers contribute to throw light on the geography of the Scriptures, or otherwise illustrate them. For a description of this city, see Stephens Incidents of Travel in Egypt, Arabia Petrea, and the Holy land, vol. ii. ch. iv. p. 65ff; the work of Laborde referred to above; and Robinsons Bib. Researches, vol. ii. pp. 573-580, 653-659.
To the mount of the daughter of Zion – To Mount Zion; that is, to Jerusalem (note, Isa 1:8). The meaning of this verse, therefore, is, Pay the accustomed tribute to the Jews. Continue to seek their protection, and acknowledge your subjection to them, and you shall be safe. They will yield you protection, and these threatened judgments will not come upon you. But refuse, or withhold this, and you will be overthrown.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Isa 16:1
Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land
A message to Moab
The fugitives are supposed to have found a temporary home in Edom.
The verse may be spoken by the prophet, or (as Prof. Cheyne suggests) it may proceed from the Moabite chiefs themselves, exhorting one another to take this step. (Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D.)
Tribute demanded of Moab
A very terrible humiliation had already been inflicted on Moab in the reign of Jehoram, King of Israel (2Ki 3:4; 2Ki 3:25). During Ahabs reign, Moab had been compelled to pay a very heavy annual tribute, even 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams. Refusal to pay led to war from time to time; war resulting, however, invariably in the defeat of the Moabites. In such circumstances the prophet urges upon Moab the wisdom of paying this tribute without trouble or demur. (Buchanan Blake, B. D.)
Gospel submission
It is applicable to the great Gospel duty of submission to Christ, as the Ruler of the land and our Ruler.
1. Send Him the lamb, the best you have, yourselves a living sacrifice.
2. When you come to God, the great Ruler, come in the name of the Lamb, the Lamb of God.
3. Those that will not submit to Christ, nor be gathered unto the shadow of His wings, shall be as a bird that wanders from her nest (Isa 16:2), that shall either be snatched up by the next bird of prey, or shall wander endlessly in continual frights. Those that will not yield to the fear of God shall be made to yield to the fear of everything else. (M. Henry.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XVI
The distress of Moab pathetically described by the son of the
prince, or ruler of the land, being forced to flee for his
life through the desert, that he may escape to Judea; and the
young women, like young birds scared from their nest, wade
helpless through the fords of Arnon, the boundary of their
country, to seek protection in some foreign land, 1, 2.
The prophet addresses Sion, exhorting her to show mercy to her
enemies in their distress, that her throne may be established
in righteousness, 3-5.
Exceeding great pride of Moab, 6.
The terrible calamities about to fall upon Moab farther
described by the languishing of the vine, the ceasing of the
vintage, the sound of the prophet’s bowels quivering like a
harp, c., 7-13.
Awful nearness of the full accomplishment of the prophecy, 14.
NOTES ON CHAP. XVI
Verse 1. Send ye the lamb, c. – “I will send forth the son, &c.”] Both the reading and meaning of this verse are still more doubtful than those of the preceding. The Septuagint and Syriac read eshlach, I will send, in the first person singular, future tense: the Vulgate and Talmud Babylon, read shelach, send, singular imperative: some read shilchu, send ye forth, or shalechu, they send forth. The Syriac, for car, a lamb, reads bar, a son, which is confirmed by five MSS. of Kennicott and De Rossi. The two first verses describe the distress of Moab on the Assyrian invasion in which even the son of the prince of the country is represented as forced to flee for his life through the desert, that he may escape to Judea and the young women are driven forth like young birds cast out of the nest, and endeavouring to wade through the fords of the river Arnon. Perhaps there is not so much difficulty in this verse as appears at first view. “Send the lamb to the ruler of the land,” may receive light from 2Kg 3:4-5: “And Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs with their wool, and one hundred thousand rams: but when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab rebelled against Israel.” Now the prophet exhorts them to begin paying the tribute as formerly, that their punishment might be averted or mitigated.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The prophet continues his prophecy against Moab in this chapter, and here turneth his speech to them, and gives them counsel what to do, to prevent, if possible, the threatened desolation. In these first words he adviseth them to the practice either,
1. Of justice; Pay that tribute of lambs and goats which you obliged yourselves to pay unto David, and to his posterity, 2Sa 8:2, and pay it not unto Israel, as you have done, 2Ki 3:4, but unto the king of Judah, who is the rightful heir of David, and king of the land. Or,
2. Of piety; Send a lamb, for a sacrifice, unto God, who is
Ruler of the land, to wit, of your land, no less than of ours; or, of the earth, as the word is commonly rendered, who is the God of the whole earth, as he is called, Isa 54:5, the God of all the kingdoms of the earth, Isa 37:16. Make your peace with God, by sacrifice, for all your injuries done to him, and to his people. These words may be understood ironically, and the design of them may be to represent their miserable and desperate condition; as if he had said, You have tried all other ways, and sought to your idols, Isa 16:2, and all in vain; now seek to the God of Israel, who alone can help you. But, alas! he is highly incensed against you, and coming to destroy you. But this seems rather to be a serious advice, by comparing these words with Isa 16:3,4. Sela; an eminent city of Moab, seated upon a rock, which is here named, either because the king and his court at this time resided there, or for some other reason then evident, though now unknown.
To the wilderness; to the wilderness of Moab, of which we read Num 21:11; Dent. ii. 8, and so onward to Zion, as it follows. Or this may be added as a description of the place called Sela. Hence some render the words, Sela of the wilderness; and others, Sela which lieth or looketh towards the wilderness. And this limitation might be the more necessary, to distinguish this from other places of Moab called by the same name, which, signifying a rock, might be common to several places in that rocky country.
Unto the mount of the daughter of Zion; unto the temple upon Mount Zion.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. lambadvice of the prophetto the Moabites who had fled southwards to Idumea, to send to theking of Judah the tribute of lambs, which they had formerly paid toIsrael, but which they had given up (2Ki 3:4;2Ki 3:5). David probably imposedthis tribute before the severance of Judah and Israel (2Sa8:2). Therefore Moab is recommended to gain the favor andprotection of Judah, by paying it to the Jewish king. Type ofthe need of submitting to Messiah (Psa 2:10-12;Rom 12:1).
from Sela torather,”from Petra through (literally, ‘towards’) thewilderness” [MAURER].”Sela” means “a rock,” Petra in Greek;the capital of Idumea and Arabia-Petra; the dwellings are mostlyhewn out of the rock. The country around was a vast common(“wilderness”) or open pasturage, to which the Moabites hadfled on the invasion from the west (Isa15:7).
ruler of the landnamely,of Idumea, that is, the king of Judah; Amaziah had becomemaster of Idumea and Sela (2Ki14:7).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land,…. Or tribute, as the Targum rightly interprets it. The Moabites, being conquered by David, paid tribute to him, 2Sa 8:2 and when the kingdom was divided in Rehoboam’s time, the tribute was paid to the kings of Israel, which continued till the times of Ahab, when the Moabites rebelled, and refused to pay it, 2Ki 3:4 and this tribute, as appears from the passage now referred to, was paid in lambs and rams; which now they are bid to pay to the king of Judah, David’s lawful heir and successor in his kingdom; who is supposed to be meant by the ruler of the land, that is, of the land of Judah, whose reigning king at this time was Hezekiah; but rather by “the ruler of the land” is meant the king of Moab, for the words may be rendered, more agreeably to the language and the accents, “send ye the lamb” (or lambs, the singular for the plural), “O ruler of the land” t; though others, “send ye the lamb of the ruler of the land” u; that is either, O king of Moab send the tribute that is due; or ye people of the land send the tribute which your ruler owes to the king of Judah; so Jarchi understands it of the king of Moab: some indeed expound the ruler of the land of God himself, who is the Governor of the world; and take the sense to be, that the Moabites are bid to send a lamb, or lambs, for sacrifice, to the God of the whole earth, in order to appease him, and atone for their sins; which is said either seriously, as some think, this being to answer a good purpose, or ironically, as other’s, it being now too late; but the sense given is the best: in the Talmud w it is applied to Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of the land, who came to the mount of the daughter of Zion, by the way of rocks and mountains. The Targum applies it to the Messiah, paraphrasing it thus,
“they shall be bringing tributes to the Christ of Israel, who is strong over them.”
Jerom interprets it of Christ, the Lamb of God, the ruler of the world, or who was to be sacrificed to the ruler of the world; who descended from Ruth, the Moabitess, who he supposes is meant by the rock of the wilderness, as he renders the next clause:
from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount the daughter of Zion: according to Kimchi, and others, Sela was the chief city of the kingdom of Moab. The word signifies a rock; it is the same with Petra x, the chief city of Arabia, and from whence Arabia Petraea had its name. Some take it to be Selah, the chief city of Edom, afterwards called Joktheel, 2Ki 14:7 it was a frontier city, and lay upon the borders of Moab and Edom to the south; as the wilderness of Jordan was on the border of Moab to the north, and is thought to be here meant; or, according to Vitringa, the plains of Jericho, the same with the wilderness of Judea, where John the Baptist came preaching; which lay in the way from Sela or Petra, the chief city in Moab, unto Jerusalem. Strabo y says of Petra, the metropolis of the Nabataeans, that it lies in a plain, surrounded with rocks and precipices, and within it fountains and gardens, and without it a large country, for the most part desert, especially towards Judea, and from hence it is a journey of three or four days to Jericho; and so the sense is, send the lambs, or the tribute, from Sela or Petra, the chief city of Moab; send them, I say, to the wilderness of Judea, or by the way of that, even to Mount Zion or Jerusalem, the metropolis of Judea, and the seat of the king of it.
t “mittite agnum, dominator terrae”, Montanus; so Luther; which is approved by Reinbeck de Accent. Heb. p. 395. u “Mittite agnum dominatoris terrae”, Pagninus, Vatablus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. w T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 96. 2. & Gloss. in ib. x Joseph. Antiqu. l. 4. c. 4. sect. 7. Ptolem. Geogr. l. 5. c. 17. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28. y Geograph. l. 16. p. 536. Ed. Casaub.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But just because this lion is Judah and its government, the summons goes forth to the Moabites, who have fled to Edom, and even to Sela, i.e., Petra ( Wady Musa), near Mount Hor in Arabia Petraea, to which it gave its name, to turn for protection to Jerusalem. “Send a land-ruler’s tribute of lambs from Sela desert-wards to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.” This v. is like a long-drawn trumpet-blast. The prophecy against Moab takes the same turn here as in Isa 14:32; Isa 18:7; Isa 19:16., Isa 23:18. The judgment first of all produces slavish fear; and this is afterwards refined into loving attachment. Submission to the house of David is Moab’s only deliverance. This is what the prophet, weeping with those that weep, calls out to them in such long-drawn, vehement, and urgent tones, even into the farthest hiding-place in which they have concealed themselves, viz., the rocky city of the Edomites. The tribute of lambs which was due to the ruling prince is called briefly car moshel – ‘eretz . This tribute, which the holders of the pasture-land so rich in flocks have hitherto sent to Samaria (2Ki 3:4), they are now to send to Jerusalem, the “mountain of the daughter of Zion” (as in Isa 10:32, compared with Isa 18:7), the way to which lay through “ the desert,” i.e., first of all in a diagonal direction through the Arabah, which stretched downwards to Aelath.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| Exhortations to Moab. | B. C. 725. |
1 Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. 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. 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. 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. 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 has made it to appear that he delights not in the ruin of sinners by telling them what they may do to prevent the ruin; so he does here to Moab.
I. He advises them to be just to the house of David, and to pay the tribute they had formerly covenanted to pay to the kings of his line (v. 1): Send you the lamb to the ruler of the land. David made the Moabites tributaries to him, 2 Sam. viii. 2. They became his servants, and brought gifts. Afterwards they paid their tribute to the kings of Israel (2 Kings iii. 4), and paid it in lambs. Now the prophet requires them to pay it to Hezekiah. Let it be raised and levied from all parts of the country, from Selah, a frontier city of Moab on the one side, to the wilderness, a boundary of the kingdom on the other side: and let it be sent, where it should be sent, to the mount of the daughter of Zion, the city of David. Some take it as an advice to send a lamb for a sacrifice to God, the ruler of the earth (so it may be read), the Lord of the whole earth, ruler of all lands, the land of Moab as well as the land of Israel, “Send it to the temple built on Mount Zion.” And some think it is in this sense spoken ironically, upbraiding the Moabites with their folly in delaying to repent and make their peace with God. “Now you would be glad to send a lamb to Mount Zion, to make the God of Israel your friend; but it is too late: the decree has gone forth, the consumption is determined, and the daughters of Moab shall be cast out as a wandering bird,” v. 2. I rather take it as good advice seriously given, like that of Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar when he was reading him his doom, Dan. iv. 27. Break off thy sins by righteousness, if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. And it is applicable to the great gospel duty of submission to Christ, as the ruler of the land, and our ruler: “Send him the lamb, the best you have, yourselves a living sacrifice. When you come to God, the great ruler, come in the name of the Lamb, the Lamb of God. For else it shall be” (so we may read it) “that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be. If you will not pay your quit-rent, your just tribute to the king of Judah, you shall be turned out of your houses: The daughters of Moab (the country villages, or the women of your country) shall flutter about the fords of Arnon, attempting that way to make their escape to some other land, like a wandering bird thrown out of the nest half-fledged.” Those that will not submit to Christ, nor be gathered under the shadow of his wings, shall be as a bird that wanders from her nest, that shall either be snatched up by the next bird of prey or shall wander endlessly in continual frights. Those that will not yield to the fear of God shall be made to yield to the fear of every thing else.
II. He advises them to be kind to the seed of Israel (v. 3): “Take counsel, call a convention, and consult among yourselves what is fit to be done in the present critical juncture; and you will find it your best way to execute judgment, to reverse all the unrighteous decrees you have made, by which you have put hardships upon the people of God, and, in token of your repentance for them, study now how to oblige them, and this shall be accepted of God more than all burnt-offering and sacrifice.”
1. The prophet foresaw some storm coming upon the people of God, perhaps the good people of the ten tribes, or of the two and a half on the other side Jordan, whose country joined to that of Moab, and who, by the merciful providence of God, escaped the fury of the Assyrian army, had their lives given them for a prey, and were reserved for better times, but were put to the utmost extremity to shift for their own safety. The danger and trouble they were in were like the scorching heat at noon; the face of the spoiler was very fierce upon them and the oppressor and extortioner were ready to swallow them up after stripping them of what they had.
2. He bespeaks a shelter for them in the land of Moab, when their own land was made too hot for them. This judgment they must execute; thus wisely must they do for themselves, and thus kindly must they deal with the people of God. If they would themselves continue in their habitations, let them now open their doors to the distressed dispersed members of God’s church, and be to them like a cool shade to those that bear the burden and heat of the day. Let them not discover those that absconded among them, nor deliver them up to the pursuers that made search for them: “Betray not him that wandereth, nor deliver him up” (as the Edomites did, Oba 1:13; Oba 1:14), “but hide the outcasts.” This was that good work by which Rahab’s faith was justified, and proved to be sincere, Heb. xi. 31. “Nay, do not only hide them for a time, but, if there be occasion, let them be naturalized: Let my outcasts dwell with thee, Moab (v. 4); find a lodging for them and be thou a covert to them. Let them be taken under the protection of the government, though they are but poor, and likely to be a charge to thee.” Note, (1.) It is often the lot even of those who are Israelites indeed to be outcasts, driven out of house and harbour by persecution or war, Heb. xi. 37. (2.) God owns them when men reject and disown them. They are outcasts, but they are my outcasts. The Lord knows those that are his wherever he finds them, even where no one else knows them. (3.) God will find a rest and shelter for his outcasts; for, though they are persecuted, they are not forsaken. He will himself be their dwelling-place if they have no other, and in him they shall be at home. (4.) God can, when he pleases, raise up friends for his people even among Moabites, when they can find none in all the land of Israel that can and dare shelter them. The earth often helps the woman, Rev. xii. 16. (5.) Those that expect to find favour when they are in trouble themselves must show favour to those that are in trouble; and what service is done to God’s outcasts shall no doubt be recompensed one way or other.
3. He assures them of the mercy God had in store for his people. (1.) That they should not long need their kindness, or be troublesome to them: For the extortioner is almost at an end already, and the spoiler ceases. God’s people shall not be long outcasts; they shall have tribulation ten days (Rev. ii. 10), and that is all. The spoiler would never cease spoiling if he might have his will; but God has him in a chain. Hitherto he shall go, but no further. (2.) That they should, ere long, be in a capacity to return their kindness (v. 5): “Though the throne of the ten tribes be sunk and overturned, yet the throne of David shall be established in mercy, by the mercy they receive from God and the mercy they show to others; and by the same methods may your throne be established if you please.” It would engage great men to be kind to the people of God if they would but observe, as they easily might, how often such conduct brings the blessing of God upon kingdoms and families. “Make Hezekiah your friend, for you will find it your interest to do so upon the account both of the grace of God in him and the presence of God with him. He shall sit upon the throne in truth, and then he does indeed sit in honour and sit firmly. Then he shall sit judging, and will then be a protector to those that have been a shelter to the people of God.” And see in him the character of a good magistrate. [1.] He shall seek judgment; that is, he shall seek occasions of doing right to those that are wronged, and shall punish the injurious even before they are complained of: or he shall diligently search into every cause brought before him, that he may find where the right lies. [2.] He shall hasten righteousness, and not delay to do justice, nor keep those long waiting that make application to him for the redress of their grievances. Though he seeks judgment, and deliberates upon it, yet he does not, under pretence of deliberation, stay the progress of the streams of justice. Let the Moabites take example by this, and then assure themselves that their state shall be established.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
ISAIAH – CHAPTER 16
ORACLE CONCERNING MOAB – Continued
Verse 1-5: MOAB TO SUBMIT TO THE THRONE OF DAVID
1. Seiss renders verse 1 far differently than most commentators: “Send ye (or, I will send) the Lamb, the Ruler of the land, from Sela of the wilderness unto the mount of the daughter of Zion” – making the passage allude to Messiah, the anointed king of Israel, (Seiss, Apoc. sec. 10; p. 282 footnote).
a. This surely harmonizes with numerous other passages which indicate an appearance of the Messiah “in the wilderness” where He deals “face to face” with a remnant of His people whom He gathers there – protecting them from the fierceness and wrath of the Man of Sin, (Eze 20:33-39; Rev 12:13-17).
b. Here Messiah will also lay the foundation (assigning roles of authority and responsibility) for the righteous rule to be established when, with His saints, He marches toward Jerusalem (resisted by Anti-christ and his forces), stands on the Mt of Olives, vanquishes His foes and raises up the fallen throne of His father, David, to rule thereon for 1,000 glorious years! (Isa 63:1-6; Zec 14:3-4; Amo 9:11; Act 15:15-17).
2. Moab is commanded to hide the “outcasts” of Israel, believed to be in Petra, who have taken refuge among them, until the time arrives for the destruction of the Man of Sin, (comp. Isa 25:4; Isa 32:2).
3. As Moab provides a sanctuary for His people in Petra, so, the Lord will protect Moab from the destroyer in the last days.
4. Verse 5 clearly refers to the coming kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ to reign over all; His throne is established:
a. In loving-kindness (“hesed”, fidelity to His covenant promise) – one of the highest and greatest concepts set forth in the Old Testament, (Isa 54:8; Jer 9:23-24; Hos 6:6; comp. Mat 9:10-13; Mat 12:7; Hos 2:20).
b. In justice and righteousness, (Psa 103:6; Pro 21:3; Isa 32:1; Isa 9:6-7; Isa 11:5).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. Send ye a lamb. Here the Prophet scoffs at the Moabites for not acknowledging God at the proper time, but recklessly waiting for the stroke of his hand, till they were completely destroyed. It is, therefore, a condemnation of late repentance, when men cannot be brought to obedience by any warnings, and continue in obstinate opposition to God. Where the disease is incurable, an exhortation of this kind is appropriate; and this ought to be carefully observed, for both Jews and Christians misinterpret this passage.
Jerome explains it as referring to Christ, because he drew his birth from the Moabites, (Rut 1:4; Mat 1:5,) from whom Ruth was descended; and that opinion has been adopted by almost all Christians; as if the Prophet had said, “O Lord, though a judgment so severe as this awaits the Moabites, still thou wilt not utterly destroy them; for they will send thee a Lamb, the ruler of the world.” But that interpretation, being destitute of plausibility, need not be refuted.
On the other hand, the Jews think that these words were spoken because, while the Jews were in a depressed condition, the Moabites ceased to pay the tribute which they owed them, but that, after having prophesied about the restoration of the kingdom of Judah, Isaiah likewise added an exhortation to remind them to acknowledge their king. They even go so far as to say that it serves the purpose of a royal edict, taking them to task for their disloyalty, “Send the tribute which you owe.” But we nowhere read that the Moabites were subjects or tributaries to the Jews, and there is no probability in the conjecture. Nor does the passage which they quote (2Kg 3:5) give them any support; for that passage relates to the king of Israel, and expressly mentions Ahab and Samaria, who cherished, as we are aware, the utmost hatred against the Jews.
I therefore adhere to the interpretation which I first noticed, as the true and natural interpretation; for the design of the Prophet is to condemn the Moabites for not having repented in due season, and to tell them that they will now in vain do what they might easily have done formerly, and with great advantage to themselves. We ought, therefore, to view it as spoken ironically, ( εἰρωνικῶς,) Send; as if he had said that there is no hope of pardon, that they will send in vain. When the wicked are warned, they indolently disregard all exhortation; when they are punished, they gaze around them with distressful looks, seeking assistance in every direction, and trying every method of relief, but unsuccessfully, for they gain no advantage. Isaiah, therefore, reproaches them for obstinacy and rebellion, and shows that there will be no time for repentance, when they meet with the destruction which they deserve.
To the ruler of the world. The opinion of the Jews, that this denotes Hezekiah, is at variance with all reason; for ארץ ( eretz) does not here denote a particular country, but rather the whole world, of which he speaks in general terms. The appellation Ruler must therefore be viewed as referring to God himself. By a lamb, he means what was to be offered in sacrifice; for even the Gentiles acknowledged that they worshipped God when they offered sacrifices.
From the rock (249) of the desert. He gives the name of the rock of the desert to the city, which is supposed to have been the chief city of the Moabites; (250) though it is possible that he intended to include the whole of the country, and thus a part will be taken for the whole.
To the mountain of the daughter of Zion; that is, to God’s authorized temple, in which sacrifices were offered according to the injunction of the Law. (Deu 12:5; 2Ch 7:12.) This is a remarkable passage against obstinate men, who set aside all instruction, and fearlessly despise God, till they are visited by his judgments.
(249) From Sela, (or, Petra.) — Eng. Ver.
FT241 “Petra, Rock, also called Sela, (Isa 16:1,) and Joktheel, (2Kg 14:7.) The capital of Idumea, and one of the most remarkable cities of the ancient world. For more than a thousand years this city remained unknown and unvisited, till Burckhardt discovered it in 1812. It was afterwards visited, with some difficulty, by Messrs. Legh, Banks, Captains Irby and Mangles, as well as by M. Linant and M. Laborde.” Those who have not access to the details of those enterprizing researches, or who wish to see it ably stated and argued, that “the present condition of Petra furnishes a remarkable fulfillment of Scripture prophecy,” will do well to read the article Petra in Dr. Eadie’s Biblical Cyclopaedia, from which the above extracts are taken; an article which draws largely both from the narratives of travelers and from the inspired writers, and compresses within moderate limits a large amount of information. — Ed
FT242 As a wandering bird. — Eng. Ver.
FT243 Take (Heb. Bring) counsel. — Eng. Ver.
FT244 “Make a shadow for thee at noon, to throw darkness over thee, as in the night, that by means of it thou mayest be concealed from the face of thy enemies.” — Jarchi
FT245 For the extortioner (Heb. wringer) is at an end. — Eng. Ver.
FT246 Until the extortioner כי ( ki) answers here to the Latin adverb, usquedum . — Tayl. Concord. quoted by Stock.
FT247 And in mercy shall the throne be established, (or, prepared.) — Eng. Ver.
FT248 His wrath. — Eng. Ver. In the author’s version of this chapter, the rendering is, his insolence; but in his margin he puts indignation. Lowth and Stock make it his anger. — Ed
FT249 The rendering of the Septuagint is, οὐχ οὕτως ἡ μαντεία σου, οὐχ οὕτως Not so thy divination, not so. — Ed
FT250 לא כן ( lo ken,) non rectum , the frivolous predictions of his diviners, on which no wise man would place dependence. — Rosenmuller
FT251 Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab. — Eng. Ver.
FT252 Shall ye mourn, (or, mutter,) surely they are stricken — Eng. Ver. Moan even ye who yourselves are smitten. — Stock
FT253 For the fields of Heshbon languish. — Eng. Ver.
FT254 “It ought to be known that Heshbon was a place of fields, and Sibmah was a place of vineyards. If you object, that all these cities were on the other side of Jordan, and at what time therefore did they fall under the hand (or power) of the Moabites? we reply. When Sennacherib carried the Reubenites and Gadites into captivity, the Moabites, who were their neighbors, came and dwelt in those cities.” — Jarchi
FT255 The lords of the heathen have trodden down the principal plants thereof. — Eng. Ver.
FT256 They are come even unto Jazer. — Eng. Ver.
FT257 “ The lake of Jazer, as Jeremiah explains it, Jer 48:32. The plantations of this vine spread onward to the banks, and seemed to overhang the whole breadth of the lake.” — Rosenmuller
FT258 For the shouting for thy summer-fruits and for thy harvest is fallen. (Or, the alarm is fallen upon thy summer-fruits and upon thy harvest. — Eng. Ver.
FT259 Jam canit extremos effoetus vinitor antes. — Virg. Georg. 2:417.
FT260 But he shall not prevail. — Eng. Ver.
(250) Bogus footnote
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
1.
MOAB (Continued)
b. INVITATION
TEXT: Isa. 16:1-5
1
Send ye the lambs for the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2
For it shall be that, as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the Arnon.
3
Give counsel, execute justice; make thy shade as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; betray not the fugitive.
4
Let mine outcasts dwell with thee; as for Moab, be thou a covert to him from the face of the destroyer. For the extortioner is brought to nought, destruction ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.
5
And a throne shall be established in lovingkindness; and one shall sit thereon in truth, in the tent of David, judging, and seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.
QUERIES
a.
Why send lambs unto the mount of Zion?
b.
Who is to sit upon the throne in the tent of David?
PARAPHRASE
I counsel you Moab to send to Judah, the daughter of Zion, for help. Send a token of submission, a tribute of lambs, to the ruler of Judah. Unless you get help from Judah your panic and confusion will increase until you are absolutely helpless. You must say to Judah, Give counsel; grant that justice shall be done for us; give us such protection that it will be like a night-shade in the midst of the noonday; hide our outcasts and do not betray our fugitives. You must say, Let my neglected ones sojourn among you. Be a hidingplace for them from before the face of the destroyer. The oppressor and extortioner of Judah has been vanquished out of Judahs land and there is peace there now. And a throne will be established in steadfast love; and a man shall sit on it in truth and faithfulness from the family of David, ruling and judging in justice and eager to do righteousness.
COMMENTS
Isa. 16:1-2 PREDICAMENT: Moabs predicament is such that she is in a state of panic (Cf. Isa. 15:4), Confusion reigns. Isaiahs compassion for suffering humanity moves him to counsel Moab to plead with Judah for help. When Moab was formerly under the rule of Judah (2Ki. 3:4 ff) Moab paid tribute to Judah in the form of sheep and lambs. Judah protected Moab as long as this arrangement continued. But Moab revolted from the rule of Judah. Now Moab has suffered invasion and enemies are despoiling its people. Isaiahs advice is for Moab to turn in a submissive attitude, sending a tribute of lambs, to Judah and plead for Judahs help and protection. If Moab does not, her panic and confusion will increase until she is homeless like a bird whose nest is scattered!
Isa. 16:3-4 PLEA: Isaiahs advice continues. The prophet suggests even the words Moab is to use in its plea to Judah. Moab should ask Judah to do a risky thing. Moab is to plead with Judah to give asylum to the displaced refugees; hide them; protect them. Moab is to plead with Judah to act toward them as they never acted toward Judah. Moab is to ask for mercy, justice, compassion and sacrificial goodness.
In the middle of Isa. 16:4, Isaiah appears to redirect his dialogue from advising Moab to relating a new historical situation that prevails in Judahs case. Something had apparently occurred to relieve Judah (temporarily) of the oppression of the forces of Assyria so that Judah would be well able to give aid to the refugees of Moab. What caused this present availability of Judah is not recorded but the prophet assures Moab it is present.
Isa. 16:5 PROMISE: This is a very intriguing verse. It has been considered as a Messianic passage as far back as the time of the Targum (Aramaic translations and interpretations of the Hebrew texts which date in oral form back to the Persian captivities). Isaiah indicates it was taken for granted that the Moabites had some knowledge of the divine purpose in the nation of Judah. The account of Ruth, Naomi and Boaz confirms this. The Moabites were idolaters but they knew the nature of Davids throne. When a disaster faces men they are able to recall a much more complete knowledge of Gods truth than at any other time. Isaiah seems to say, If you come to seek refuge under the wings of Judah we will give you a share even of the best that our heritage has to offersour Messianic hope. Here is one of the many passages in the prophets where the truth concerning the Christ of the Jews is offered to those of other nations. Israel has a throne with a future, not like the unstable thrones of the most powerful nations round about. This one will be established by virtue of the steadfast love of Jehovah. The throne involves the tabernacle (house) of David (Cf. Amo. 9:11)the lineage of David. It involves the rule of One who will judge justly and righteously to a degree never displayed in any earthly ruler (Cf. Isa. 9:6 ff; Isa. 11:1-10; Mic. 5:2 ff). The very fact that this Messianic hope was offered to Moab (a nation outside the Hebrew covenant) proves once and for all that the Messianic expectations as expressed by the O.T. prophets were not tenuous and vaguethey were specific and clear!
QUIZ
1.
Why does Isaiah intercede and direct Moab to seek help from Judah?
2.
What are Isaiahs directions to Moab?
3.
How is it possible for Judah, at this time, to give help to Moab?
4.
What is so intriguing about Isa. 16:5?
5.
Were the Moabites expected to understand the divine destiny of Israel?
6.
How could Isaiah offer Messianic hope to Moab?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XVI.
(1) Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land.In the days of Ahab, Mesha, the then king of Moab, had paid a tribute of sheep and lambs to the king of Israel (2Ki. 3:4). On his revolt (as recorded in the Moabite Inscription) that tribute had ceased. The prophet now calls on the Moabites to renew it, not to the northern kingdom, which was on the point of extinction, but to the king of Judah as the true ruler of the land. The name Sela (a rock) may refer either to the city so-called (better known by its Greek name of Petra), 2Ki. 14:7, or to the rock-district of Edom and the confines of Moab generally. In either case the special direction implies that the presence of the invaders described in Isaiah 15 would make it impossible to send the tribute across the fords of the Jordan, and that it must accordingly be sent by the southern route, which passed through Sela and the desert country to the south of the Dead Sea (Cheyne). Possibly the words are a summons to Edom, which had attacked Judah in the reign of Ahaz (2Ch. 28:17), to join in a like submission.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. Send ye the lamb Collective for lambs, the traditional yearly tribute due to Judah. It appears from 2 Kings 3:41, that when Moab was tributary to Jehoram, king of Israel, this tribute amounted to “a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool.”
From Sela to the wilderness That is, from along all the foraging region for Moab’s flocks. Sela means rock, a city built into an amphitheatre of rocky hills. It was the capital of Edom, and was afterward, under Roman rule, named Petra. It lies about a journey of a day and a half southeast from the southern end of the Dead Sea. The ruins of the city are frequently visited, and its dwellings, tombs, and temples are found to be cut out of the soft red sandstone. Its ingress and egress is by a two-mile valley, very narrow, called Wady Mousa. This Petra seems to have been in the hands of Moab at the time of this prophecy by Isaiah. Underneath the outward expression in the text is doubtless a reference to true relief and salvation through offerings of the sacrificial lambs. Jehovah is the speaker through his prophet, who here appears to sympathize and mourn with Moab.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Moab’s Consideration of An Appeal to the King of Judah ( Isa 16:1-5 ).
Analysis of Isa 16:1-5.
a Send the lambs, for the ruler of the land, from Sela which is towards the wilderness, to the mount of the daughter of Zion (Isa 16:1).
b For it will be that, as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so will the daughters of Moab be, at the fords of Arnon (Isa 16:2).
c Give counsel, exercise justice (make a just decision), make your shadow as the night, in the midst of the noonday (Isa 16:3 a).
d Hide the outcasts, do not betray the wanderer (Isa 16:3 b).
d Let my outcasts dwell with you (Isa 16:4 a).
c As for Moab, be a covert to him, from the face of the spoiler
b For the extortioner is brought to nothing, spoiling ceases, those who tread down, are consumed out of the land (Isa 16:4 b).
a And a throne will be established in covenant love, and one will sit (or ‘one sits’) on it in truth, in the tent of David, judging and seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness (Isa 16:5).
In ‘a’ gifts are to be sent to the ruler who rules over the land of Judah and over mount Zion, and in the parallel the just and righteous ruler is described in glowing terms. In ‘b’ the daughters of Moab are in a hapless state, defenceless and hopeless, while in Judah righteousness rules, none are ‘spoiled’ or tread down the weak. In ‘c’ a plea is made to Judah for their shadow to cover the fleeing Moabites, and in the parallel the request is made for them to be a covert to him from the face of the spoiler. In ‘d’ the request is that their outcasts may be hidden in Judah and not betrayed, and in the parallel that they may dwell with them (in safety).
Isa 16:1-2
‘Send the lambs,
For the ruler of the land
From Sela which is towards the wilderness,
To the mount of the daughter of Zion.
For it will be that, as wandering birds,
As a scattered nest,
So will the daughters of Moab be,
At the fords of Arnon.’
Having fled into Edom (Sela is in Edom) for refuge the decision is taken to appeal to Judah for help, to ‘the mount of the daughter of Zion’, sending a gift of lambs, a payment for the privilege asked for (compare 2Ki 3:4). Alternately it may indicate submission to the Davidic kingship. They had been subdued and rendered tributary by David (2Sa 8:2), and when the kingdom was divided, they continued in subjection to the ten tribes till the death of Ahab, paying yearly, or perhaps at the accession of every new king, a tribute of a hundred thousand lambs and as many rams with the wool (2Ki 3:4-5). Thus the point here may be the renewal of tribute in return for protection. Alternatively the gift might have been seen as necessary so that national pride could be maintained at all costs. The appeal will go to the ruler of the land. In mind especially is the hapless state of the young women of Moab still seeking to cross the fords of Arnon in numbers, looking back in fear at the advancing Assyrian soldiery. Whereas the daughter of Zion prospers, the daughters of Moab are in a hapless state.
The young women are always the ones who suffer most in such circumstances. They are a prey to the enemy and unable to defend themselves. They are like birds that have become separated from the flock, like helpless nestlings when the nest has been destroyed.
Note the vague ‘ruler of the land’ and the way Jerusalem is described. Both avoid specifics. They do not speak of the anointed Davidic king, or refer to the Mount of Yahweh. They do not want to be seen as submitting to the son of David or to the God of Judah. They prefer to put themselves at the mercy of the people without wanting any deep involvement.
Isa 16:3-4
‘Give counsel,
Exercise justice (make a just decision),
Make your shadow as the night,
In the midst of the noonday,
Hide the outcasts,
Do not betray the wanderer.
Let my outcasts dwell with you.
As for Moab, be a covert to him,
From the face of the spoiler.’
The appeal to Judah is put into words. Let the leaders of Judah discuss the matter and come to a conclusion, let them make a just decision. Let the daughter of Zion act as a shadow to Moab from the heat of the Assyrian sun, let them shelter the outcasts and not hand back the refugees to the advancing Assyrians. Let them give them a place where they can settle as resident aliens for a time until the crisis is past. Let them be a place of refuge from the spoiler.
Isa 16:4-5
‘For the extortioner is brought to nothing,
Spoiling ceases,
Those who tread down,
Are consumed out of the land,
And a throne will be established in covenant love,
And one will sit (or ‘one sits’) on it in truth,
In the tent of David, judging and seeking justice,
And swift to do righteousness.’
Some see this as Zion’s conditional acceptance speech, a declaration that Moab must recognise the terms on which they can come. They must recognise that Judah is a well ruled land, ruled by one who sits on a throne established in covenant love and truth, sitting in the tent of David and ruling justly. Therefore there must be no misbehaviour, for all who misbehave will be severely dealt with. They must be willing to obey the Law of righteousness as expressed in the covenant. (‘Will be’ and ‘will sit’ then simply refer to what they will find when they come. Hebrew verb tenses must not be pressed timewise. They refer rather to completed or incompleted action).
Others see this as the flattery that follows the appeal. The Moabite leaders know about the hopes of Israel and define the ruler of the land to whom they are appealing in those terms. They know that he is a just king, they say, whose righteous reign has rid Judah of extortioners, of spoilers, of oppressors, who sits on a throne of mercy, who deals honestly, who is of the Davidic house, honourable like David was, judging fairly, seeking justice, quick to do what is right. The implication therefore is that he will not refuse their request.
Even others, however, see Isa 16:5 as spoken by Isaiah or God, and therefore a glimpse into the future Messianic reign, but as a direct reference this sits ill with what follows and seems out of context, although they would argue that Isaiah is deliberately seeking to bring in a reference to Immanuel as a reminder of what will be. What,. however, would seem more acceptable is the idea that this a description of an idealistic king which was applied rather hopefully to the house of David, and thus in that sense foreshadows the Messiah.
This stability and security of Judah is seen to be in direct contrast with the sad state of the daughters of Moab, and the description of the king ruling in strength and justice thus provides hope for the refugees.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Chapter 16 Moab, Her Refugees In Desperate Straits, Seek Refuge in Edom And Consider Refuge in Judah, But Decide Against It.
God was ready to provide Moab with a safe shelter in Judah, but they preferred remaining in Edom rather than having to submit to the requirements of Yahweh.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Isa 16:2 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.
Isa 16:2
Illustration I have seen a baby dove fell out of a nest and waited for its mother all day long by instinct. She was the baby bird’s only hope of survival.
Isa 16:5 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.
Isa 16:5
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Prophecies Against the Nations Isa 13:1 to Isa 27:13 records prophecies against twelve nations, culminating with praise unto the Lord. God planted the nation of Israel in the midst of the nations as a witness of God’s plan of redemption for mankind. Instead of embracing God’s promises and commandments to mankind, the nations rejected Israel and their God, then they participated in Israel’s destruction. Although God judges His people, He also judged these nations, the difference being God promised to restore and redeem Israel, while the nations received no future hope of restoration in their prophecies; yet, their opportunity for restoration is found in Israel’s rejection when God grafts the Church into the vine of Israel (Rom 11:11-32). The more distant nations played little or no role in Israel’s idolatry, demise, and divine judgment, so they are not listed in this passage of Scripture.
It is important to note in prophetic history that Israel’s judgment is followed by judgment upon the nations; and Israel’s final restoration is followed by the restoration of the nations and the earth. Thus, some end time scholars believe that the events that take place in Israel predict parallel events that are destined to take place among the nations.
Here is a proposed outline:
1. Judgment upon Babylon Isa 13:1 to Isa 14:27
2. Judgment upon Philistia Isa 14:28-32
3. Judgment upon Moab Isa 15:1 to Isa 16:14
4. Judgment upon Damascus Isa 17:1-14
5. Judgment upon Ethiopia Isa 18:1-7
6. Judgment upon Egypt Isa 19:1-25
7. Prophecy Against Ethiopia & Egypt Isa 20:1-6
8. Judgment upon the Wilderness of the Sea Isa 21:1-10
9. Judgment upon Dumah Isa 21:11-12
10. Judgment upon Arabia Isa 21:13-17
11. Judgment upon Judah Isa 22:1-25
12. Judgment upon Tyre Isa 23:1-18
13. Judgment upon the Earth Isa 24:1-23
14. Praise to God for Israel’s Restoration Isa 25:1 to Isa 27:13
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Judgment Upon Moab Isa 15:1 to Isa 16:14 record’s Isaiah’s prophecy against Moab.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Conditions of Deliverance
v. 1. Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion, v. 2. For it shall be that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, v. 3. Take counsel, execute judgment, v. 4. Let Mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler, v. 5. And in mercy shall the throne,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Isa 16:1-14
THE BURDEN OF MOAB (CONTINUED). This portion of the “burden” is divided into three sections. In section 1 (from Isa 16:1 to the end of Isa 16:5) an offer of mercy is made to Moab on certain conditions, viz. that she return to her allegiance to the house of David, and show kindness to fugitive Israelites. In section 2 (Isa 16:6-12) she is supposed to have rejected this offer, and is threatened (as in Isa 15:1-9.) with severe punishment. In section 3 (which consists of Isa 16:13 and Isa 16:14) the time is fixed for the main visitation to fall upon her.
Isa 16:1
Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land; rather, the lamb of the ruler of the landthe lamb (or lambs, kar being used collectively) due to the ruler as a mark of subjection. In the time of Ahab Mesha had paid a tribute to Israel of a hundred thousand lambs and a hundred thousand rams annually (2Ki 3:4). The prophet recommends that this, or some similar, tribute should now be paid to the King of Judah instead. Israel having been absorbed into Assyria. From Sela. Either Moab is regarded as having taken refuge in Edom, and is therefore bidden to send her tribute from the Edomite capital, Sela (equivalent to “Petra”), or “Sela,” here is not a proper name, but a collective used to designate the rocky parts of Moab, to which she had betaken herself (as in Jer 48:28). The latter supposition is, on the whole, the more probable. To the wilderness; literally, wildernesswards; i.e. by the way of the wilderness. The enemy being regarded as in possession of the northern end of the Dead Sea, Moab is recommended to send her tribute round the southern end, and so by way of “the wilderness of Judah,” to Jerusalem.
Isa 16:2
For it shall be; rather, and it shall be. The tribute having been paid, Moab will regain some confidence. Her fluttered population will return, and collect at the fords of the Amen, ready to recross it. As a wandering bird cast out of the nest; rather, as a wandering bird (or, wandering birds)“as a scattered nest” (or, “brood of nestlings”). The daughters of Moab. The population of Moab generally, as “the daughter of Zion” (Isa 16:1) is the population of Jerusalem generally.
Isa 16:3
Take counsel, execute judgment, etc. According to most critics, these are the words of the Moabites, or of a Moabite ambassador at Jerusalem, and are a call on Judaea to give shelter to the fugitives from Moab. Some, however, as Dr. Kay, maintain that the words are the prophet’s, addressed to Moab, calling on her to treat kindly fugitives from Judaea. Make thy shadow as the night (comp. Isa 4:6). In the hot land of Moab the sun is an enemy, and “the shadow of a great rock” a welcome refuge.
Isa 16:4
Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab. The change of one accent will allow of this passage being translated, Let the outcasts of Moab dwell with thee; and so it is rendered by the LXX; the Syriac, by Lowth, Gesenius, Hitzig, Ewald, and Mr. Cheyne. Delitzsch and Dr. Kay agree with the Authorized Version. For the extortioner is at an end. This seems to be urged as a reason why the protection asked should be given: it will not be for longthe oppressor is about to receive chastisement. He is called “the extortioner,” as exacting the utmost possible tribute from conquered lands. Such exaction was characteristic of Assyria (2Ki 15:19; 2Ki 18:14; ‘Assyrian Inscriptions,’ passim). The spoiler ceaseth; literally, devastation ceaseth.
Isa 16:5
And in mercy shall the throne be established; rather, and there shall be a throne established in mercy. A Messianic vision comes upon the prophet in connection with the disappearance of the oppressor. There shall be one dayhe knows not how soon or how latea throne established in mercy, and “One shall be seated upon it in truth, who. shall occupy the tent [or, ‘house’] of David, as one who judges, and seeks justice, and hastens on [the reign of] righteousness.”
Isa 16:6
We have heard of the pride of Moab. A new section commences. Moab has not accepted the offer of mercy made in Isa 16:1-5, and is therefore denounced afresh. Her “pride” prevented her from renewing her subjection to the house of David, and therefore it is her pride which is specially condemned. His lies shall not be so; rather, of no worth are his boast-tags. The result will not correspond with them.
Isa 16:7
Every one shall howl; rather, the whole of it shall howl; i.e. the entire nation collectively (comp. Herod; 8:99; 9:24). For the foundations of Kir-Hareseth shall ye mourn. The word here translated “foundations” is elsewhere always rendered “flagons” or “flagons of wine” (2Sa 6:19; So 2Sa 2:5; Hos 3:1). And this rendering is more agreeable to the context than “foundations,” since it is the loss of the products of the soil which is threatened in the next three verses. “Kir-Hareseth” is probably the same place as the “Kir-Moab” of Isa 15:1. It was one of the principal cities of Moab (see 2Ki 2:25).
Isa 16:8
The fields of Heshbon (see the comment on Isa 15:4). The whole of the Mishor, or Belka, on the edge of which Hesbdn stands, is cultivable and capable of producing good crops. The Moabites stored water in reservoirs (Son 7:4), and made their country a garden. The vine of Sib-mah. “Sibmah” is mentioned in Num 32:8 and Jos 13:19 among the towns of the Reubenites. According to Jerome (‘Comment. in Esaiam’), it was less than half a mile distant from Heshbon. Jeremiah follows Isaiah in lamenting the destruction of its vines (Jer 48:32). The lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof. “The lords of the heathen” are probably the Assyrians, who made a practice of destroying the fruit trees in an enemy’s country, for the mere purpose of doing mischief. It is wanton to discard this very satisfactory sense for the strange one that “the choice plants have broken downi.e; made drunkthe lords of the heathen” (Cheyne). The rendering of the Authorized Version is supported by Gesenius, Ewald, Rosenmller, Meier, dud Dr. Kay. They are come even unto Jazer; rather, they (the vines)reached to Jazer; i.e. the vine of Sibmah was cultivated as far as Jazer. Jazer lay about twelve miles north of Heshben, in the territory of Gad (Num 32:35). It is probably identified with Es Szir, which is in the required position, and retains a trace of the name. They wandered through the wilderness; rather, they strayed into the wilderness; i.e. the cultivation was pushed eastward into the actual midbar, or desert. Her branches are stretched out; or, her offshoots are spread abroad; i.e. the young shoots or slips are taken by the cultivators and spread further and further. They are even carried across the Dead Sea, and planted on its western shore. Mr. Cheyne supposes the prophet to refer to the “vineyards of En-gedi” (song of Solomon Isa 1:14).
Isa 16:9
Therefore I will bewail (comp. Isa 15:5, and see the Homiletics on that verse). With the weeping of Jazer. “With tears as genuine as Jazer’s own” (Kay). O Heshbon and Elealeh (on the close connection of these two cities, see the comment on Isa 15:4). For the shouting, etc.; rather, for on thy summer fruits and on thy harvest a shouting is fallen. The “shouting” intended is that of the invading enemy, which replaces the ordinary joy-song of the vintagers (see Isa 16:10).
Isa 16:10
The plentiful field; Hebrew, Carmel. The word carmel seems to designate “garden,” or “orchard ground” generally, without reference to the degree of fertility. It is generally rendered by our translators “fruitful field,” which is right, if we regard “fruitful” as equivalent to “fruit-producing.” No singing no shouting. Those who have heard the vintage-songs in the north of Italy and elsewhere will appreciate the sadness of this silence. The treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses. Wine-presses were in or near the vineyards. They consisted of two vats, or two reservoirs cut in the rock, one above the other, with a passage of communication between them. The grapes were placed in the upper vat or reservoir, and were crushed by the naked feet of the vintagers. Sometimes as many as seven persons “trod the wine-press” together. It was usual for them to sing as they trod (Jer 25:30; Jer 48:33). I have made their vintage shouting to cease. The prophet is the mouthpiece of God. Accidentally, as it were, he here betrays the personality which is behind him. It is not he, but God, who has caused the invasion which has reduced the vintagers to silence.
Isa 16:11
My bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab; i.e. they shall vibrate with thrills of grief (Kay).
Isa 16:12
When it is seen that Moab is weary; rather, when Moab shows himself, and has wearied himself. The heathen “thought to be heard for their much speaking” (Mat 6:7). They endeavored to weary their gods into granting their prayers (1Ki 18:26), and frequently sue-ceeded in wearying themselves. On the high place. “High places” (bamoth) were common to the Moabites, with the other nations of Syria and Palestine. Mesha, in his inscription, speaks of having rebuilt a city called “Beth-Bamoth” (Isa 1:27), which must have been a “city of high places;” and he even calls the stele which he dedicates to Chemosh, whereon his inscription is written, a bamah, or “high place.” That he shall come to his sanctuary but he shall not, etc.; rather, and has come into his sanctuary, that he shall not prevail.
Isa 16:13
This is the word, etc. The third and concluding section begins here. This prophecy, Isaiah says, is one, not now delivered for the first time, but existent previously. How long previously, he leaves quite vague.
Isa 16:14
But now. “Now”an addition has been made to the prophecy. Isaiah is authorized to announce that in three years’ time, counted as strictly as possible, the judgment pronounced shall fall on Moab; her “glory” shall be turned into shame, her “multitude” shall be cut off, and only a “remnant” shall be left, weak, small, and powerless. As the years of an hireling. Counted with the utmost exactness. A hireling would not consent to serve a day longer than his contract bound him, nor would his master consent that he should serve a day short of it. With all that great multitude. We have no means of accurately estimating the population of Moab. The entire area of the region which the Moabites inhabited seems to have been not more than fifteen hundred square miles. The greater part of it was, however, exceedingly fertile; and we are, perhaps, justified in allowing it a population of two hundred to the square mile, which is about that of Germany. This would give three hundred thousand inhabitants, of whom the adult males would be seventy-five thousand. Feeble; literally, not powerful; i.e. very much the contrary, very weak. Moab seems to have offered a very slight resistance to Asshur-bani-pal.
HOMILETICS
Isa 16:1-5
God’s offer of mercy to the sinner.
Scarcely ever does God punish sin by a sudden unannounced visitation, or without previous warning to the sinner of what is coming upon him. And this warning is almost always accompanied by an offer of mercy. God has “no pleasure in the death of him that dieth” (Eze 18:32); he “would not that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2Pe 3:9). And therefore he warns men. He warned even the ungodly world before the Flood by the preaching of Noah; he warned the Ninevites by Jonah; he now warned the Moabites by Isaiah; he warned the Jews of later times by John the Baptist, by his Son, by the apostles. And all equally in vain. How often do we not see in cases of this kind
I. THE OFFER MADE. Sometimes by an inward awakening of the conscience, more often by preaching or teaching from without, the sinner is startled, alarmed, made to see his sin and feel his danger. Mercy is offered to him, if he will repent and amend; a course of conduct is placed before him by which he may recover himself. But the course is unpleasing; it involves pain and trouble. Pride has to be humbled in the dust, confession and restitution have to be made, pet sins have to be surrendered, self-denial has to be attempted, often the whole course of the life hitherto lived has to be altered, and a new departure made from a new beginning. To the natural man this seems hard, as to Moab the resumption of a tributary position; it seems intolerable, impossible, not to be thought of. And, after a longer or a shorter struggle, the second stage is reached
II. THE OFFER SPURNED. The sinner desires mercy and forgiveness, but he will not consent to pay the price. Immediate suffering, though not of any great severity, seems harder to beat’ than the prospect of future intense suffering. Or perhaps he flatters himself that the future suffering may be escaped. He thinks that he may repent later; or he doubts whether God will punish so severely as he has threatened; or he even doubts whether there is any God at all. On one ground or another he spurns the offer made himputs it aside, ceases to think of it, practically rejects it. And then comes the final result
III. THE SPURNING OF THE OFFER PUNISHED. Punishment may be in this life or in the next. That of nations must be in this life; that of individuals may be in either, or in both. Usuallyit is in both. Our sin finds us out. Unpleasant physical consequences follow upon most sinful indulgences. Others bring loss of character and of men’s respect. Others, again, lead to poverty and earthly ruin. All are liable to be followed by never-ending regret and remorse, feelings as painful as any known to man. Further, the consciousness of ill desert cannot but arouse a fear of judgment to comea fear which, as death approaches, becomes often a constant agonizing dread. To all this has to be added the punishment that in another world awaits those who have spurned God’s offers in thispunishment shadowed out to us in Scripture under the images of the “undying worm,” and the “fire that never shall be quenched.” It is surely worth while for sinners to ask themselves whether the enjoyment which they derive from their sins is really of sufficient value to them to compensate for all this weight of after suffering. Would they not act more prudently, as welt as more virtuously, if they accepted God’s offer of mercy as soon as it is placed before them, and forsook their sins at once, and repented and turned to God?
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON
Isa 16:1-6
The King in Zion.
“I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion” (Psa 2:1-12.). The destined Ruler of the world, he shall spread the wing of his mild government and protection over the nations in their harassment and despair, as now over Moab.
1. THE CALL TO THE FUGITIVES. They have fled into Edom, as far as to Petra, near Mount Hor. It was a region surrounded by rocky cliffs. Sela itself means rock or cliff. Between Petrawhose ruins the Arab guide of Seetzen said he must weep over every time he saw themand Jerusalem lies a desert, through which the tribute flocks must pass.
1. Demand of tribute. “Send ye the lambs of the prince of the land from Sela desert-wards to the mount of the daughter of Zion.” In former days Mesha, the King of Moab, was said to be a “sheep-master,” and he rendered a yearly tribute of a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool, to the King of Israel till the death of Ahab (2Ki 3:4). What was then sent to Samaria must now be sent to Jerusalem. Under the form of this demand is signified an appeal to the people of Moab to submit to the house of David as their Girly hope of safety. Spiritually, the appeal may be construed as the call to nations and to men to submit to the spiritual rule of the Messiah, as anointed King and Savior of the world.
2. Effect of the summons. The “daughters” of Moab, i.e. its cities and villages, are seen in commotion. They flutter about, like birds driven from their nests, at the fords of the Arnon, Moab’s chief river. The first effect of the “long-drawn trumpet blast” is fear and agitation. The name of Judah is a spell of terror; the hand of Jehovah is felt to be held out and to be shaken in menace over the nations, and they become like women (cf. Isa 19:16). He demands of their flocks and their merchandise. Will they obey? In obedience only will be their salvation. Will these trembling fugitives, seeking escape on the banks of Arnon, hear the timely voice of counsel? How readily do these historical pictures suggest a spiritual application! The first impression of the Divine voice is that of fear; next there is hesitation; next the critical choice, acceptance of the Divine offers, or recalcitration and refusal. The merciful God, the Savior of men, would gather us fugitives from the world’s troubles to his arms. Shall we run to him as a strong Tower and be safe, or seek by perilous paths another course, only to rush upon fresh woes? “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
II. THE REPLY OF MOAB.
1. They appeal to Zion for counsel and arbitrament. The powerful neighbor and suzerain is asked to intervene between the contending parties as an umpire, so that the unjustly oppressed may be succored. And here is a sublime image of the Judge and Protector. May he be “a shadow like night at high moon.” In our cold northern clime our poets chiefly borrow images from the wintry season to represent distress. We speak of the wintry frost of calamity, the cruel wind, the snows of adversity, etc. Not so the Hebrew; to him the hot season is typical of all that is most cruel in physical or mental suffering. Hence, by opposition, the shadow of the great rock, or the shadow deep as night, remind of all that is most grateful in deliverance and repose. Of a great man it is proverbially said, in the East, “Like the sun, he warmed in the cold, and when Sirius shone, then was he coolness and shade.” And in the Sunna seven classes of good men are enumerated, whom “the Lord will overshadow with his shade, when no shade will be like his” (cf. Isa 30:2, Isa 30:3; Isa 32:2). So may the outcasts be hidden, the wanderers faithfully protected, and Zion throw her regis over the land of Moab, and guard it from the spoiler.
2. They extol the government of Judah. “Oppression has ceased, the spoiling is at end, the tormentors have vanished from the land.” We see what good administration is in the light of the bitter experience of tyranny and its attendant evils. Notice the strong images of harsh rule: pressure, applied so as to press out the marrow from the bones of the people, as it were; preying and spoiling (cf. Isa 10:6); trampling and treading down of the multitude of the poor. These tyrants exhibit all “the proud man’s scorn, the oppressor’s contumely.” Iniquity is their pastime, their game. They “watch for it, they lay snares and gins for good men, as the hunter does for wild beasts. The liberty of speech is denied, and men are made offenders for a word” (Isa 29:20, Isa 29:21). They are faithless to the faithful, they break treaties, they despise cities, they regard no man (Isa 31:1, Isa 31:8). Nature seems to mourn beneath the infliction, and society and commerce languish. The highways are deserted of the merchant and the traveler. The glories of Lebanon, the loveliness of Sharon, the fruitful glades of Bashan and Carmel, are dishonored, and seen to weep in sympathy with man. Is there a more odious offence on God’s earth than the tyrantthan despotism and all its horrible selfishness? “Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless myriads mourn.” But these things have passed, are passing, or shall pass away. A new era dawns with the establishment of the throne of David. This throne is symbolic of:
(1) Grace, or graciousness. The word stands for all that is good in principle, benevolent in purpose, benign and healing in administrative effort. No king truly rules except Dei gratis, by the favor of God, nor is kingly unless he illustrates the benignant spirit of the Divine rule.
(2) Faithfulness, or truth. He is the extreme opposite to those treacherous covenant-breakers, who have made tyranny odious and contemptible. His words are kingly because true, and the expression of a truthful character. The character of the liar and the hypocrite sullies the crown more than any blot.
(3) Justice. “A judge both seeking right and expert in justice.” A burning zeal in his temper for the right, and the habit of making it prevail. Such are the signs of Messianic timesthe dawn of God’s kingdom upon earth. The tent of David which had fallen and been ruined is indeed raised up again, and built as in the days of old (Amo 9:11). And it shelters a king in whom the ideal of Jehovah is realized.
III. REBUKE OF MOAB. It seems best to take what follows as the utterance of the prophet, pursuing the thread of meditation. We have heard what Moab might have said, and should have said; but alas! her accustomed pride and haughtiness will be her bane. Her insolence and insincerity are also stigmatized, as in Jer 48:30, Jer 48:31, “I know his wrath, saith the Lord; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not effect it. Therefore I will howl for Moab, and will cry out for all Moab; my heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-Heres.” Some take the words as given from the throne in reply. “If Moab continues to show so little penitence, it cannot be assisted; and therefore the prophet, however it grieves him, must leave Moab to her further chastisements” (Ewald). It seems intended that we should look upon Moab’s language here as insincere, and therefore unacceptable. We may remind ourselves of the spiritual lesson, “God draws near to the lowly, but recognizes the proud afar off.” It is pride which keeps us aloof from blessings that might be had by stooping; it is pride which makes us blind to opportunity, insensible to the bitter lessons of experience, and lays us open to further chastisements.J.
Isa 16:7-14
Lament over Moab.
I. MOAB‘S SELF–LAMENTATION. “Moab will wail for Moab; everything will wail.” In her misery and distress, she reflects on her beauty. A fair land is like a fair maiden, and her desolation excites the like poignant self-pity. “I know not a greater grief,” said Dante, “than to recall the happy time in the midst of distress.” The picture of Moab‘s former happiness. The vineyard and all its gladdening associations represent the endearing charms of the land. These are no more to be enjoyed in the smitten and drooping fields of Kir-Hareseth and Heshbon. Once a splendid vine threw its noble branches and its trailing shoots far over the borders of the land to the north, to Jazer, near the Dead Sea. The lords of the heathen have beaten it down.
II. THE PROPHET‘S SYMPATHY WITH THE LAMENT. He, too, will bewail the noble vine of Sibmah; he will water Heshbon and Elealeh with his tears, as he thinks of the wild uproar that fell upon the midst of the harvest of fruit and corn. In the irony of grief he uses a figure of speech very expressive. The hedad was the shout raised by the treaders of the grapes. It was a mighty heaven-rending cry, giving forth in full volume the joy and thankfulness of the rustic heart of the tillers (cf. Jer 25:30). There was another shout of different import, one that fell like a knell upon the earthe yell of a swarming host of invaders, of Jer 51:14, bursting in upon the summer fruits and the vintage (Jer 48:32). Then, instead of the rich flow of the trodden grape, there will be “the red rain that makes the battle-harvest grow.” The silence of desolation succeeds to the sounds of rejoicing. There is a silence “more dreadful than severest sounds.” It is the silence of scenes once thronged with life, and resounding with cheerful songs and cries. The prophet, as he muses, finds
“Remembrance wake with all her busy train,
Swell at his heart and turn the past to pain.”
Joy and exultation is withdrawn from the fruit-fields, and in the vineyards there is no jubilation or shouting; no treader treads wine in the presses, and the shout of the vintagers is at end.
“The sounds of population fail;
No cheerful murmurs fluctuate in the gale .
Thy sports are fled, and all thy charms withdrawn;
Amidst thy bowers the tyrant’s hand is seen,
And desolation saddens all thy green.”
The prophet’s inmost heart is touched, his feelings vibrate like the strings of a harp at the sound of Moab’s woes. In like manner Jeremiah compares his heart to the flute. The poet and the prophet are indeed organs of the world’s sorrows. And indeed these sorrows turn to music even at the worst, when interpreted by the heart of him who is in sympathy with the universal and eternal love. They are “tears most sacred” which are “shed for others’ pain,” and athwart them the rainbow of hope seldom fails to glimmer. So here.
III. A GLIMPSE OF HOPE. He sorrows over Moab, because Moab does not know the living God. But “when Moab, in the pressure of the further calamities of the future, again appears, as now in his idol-temple, or wearies himself, vainly wringing his hands, and in utter despair, then he wilt be ashamed of his god Chemosh, and learn true humility in Jehovah.” So Ewald, who thinks that the last words, necessary to complete the sense, have been lost. Like the priests of Baal calling upon their god from morning to noon, and saying, “O Baal, hear us!” and when there was no voice, nor any that answered, leaping upon the altar, crying and gashing themselves with knives, so will the Moabites, in the extremity of their despair, appeal to Chemosh. What is more sad in the life of superstition than this passionate resort to any means, however irrational, to wring a favor from the deities of special shrines and sanctuaries? As if the true help were not ever near; as if, that being neglected, there could be hope elsewhere! Calvin observes, “While idolaters have their ordinary temples and places of worship, if any uncommon calamity befalls them, they go to another temple more sacred than the rest, expecting that there they will be more abundantly favored with the presence of their god. In like manner, the Papists of the present day, when they are reduced to any uncommon danger (for this fault has existed in all ages), think that they will more readily obtain their wish by running to St. Claude, or to Mary of Loretto, or to any other celebrated idol, than if they assembled in some neighboring church. They resolve that their extraordinary prayers shall be offered up in a church at a great distance. It is in this sense that the prophet applies the term sanctuary to that most highly celebrated among the Moabites, and says they will go to it without any advantage.” One cannot help thinking of those melancholy pilgrimages to Lourdes, that focus of superstition in our own times. So do men continue to hew out to themselves cisterns that hold no water; and so necessary still is the living word of prophecy, to remind the world that only in a genuine spiritual relation to the Eternal, only in a faith and worship which is independent of place, because ever fixed in the heart, can true comfort and help be found.
IV. RATIFICATION OF THE PROPHECY. It is the word spoken long ago by Jehovah concerning Moab. And now he speaks to solemn effect, that in three years, like the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab will be disgraced, together with all the multitude of the great; only a very small remnant will be left. The days or years of the day-laborer or hireling, are those strictly measured, neither more nor less (so in Isa 21:16; cf. Isa 20:3). “Of working time the hirer remits nothing, and the laborer gives nothing in.” The statement is to be taken in its exactness. As the laborer knows that his time is appointed, and may look for an end of his toil when the shadow comes (Job 7:1, Job 7:2), as life itself must surely come to its close (Job 14:6), so with the long-suffering of God, so with the iniquity of nations and men, so with every abuse and oppression; nay, so with every nation and institution.
“They have their day and cease to be;
But thou, O Lord, art more than they.”
“After the lapse of almost three thousand years,” says Barnes, “every successive traveler who visits Moab, Idumaea, or Palestine, does something to confirm the accuracy of Isaiah. Towns bearing the same name, or the ruins of towns, are located in the same relative position he said they were; and the ruins of once splendid cities, broken columns, dilapidated walls, trodden-down vineyards, half-demolished temples, and fragments broken and consumed by time, proclaim to the world that those cities are what he said they would be, and that he was under the inspiration of God.” And how powerfully come back to us from such scenes those “truths which wake, to perish never!” Amidst the gloom the word of prophecy shines as a light in a dark place. Its voice prevails overtime; imparts warmth to the heart amidst the rigors of Providence; calls to mind with its persuasive strain long-slighted truths; teaches that while
“Trade’s proud empire hastes to swift decay,
As oceans sweep the labor’d mole away,”
the state or the individual that is possessed of moral strength may be blessed in poverty; that there is a good which is not dependent on the fertility of a land, or the strength of its fortresseswhich will survive the desolation of its fields, the downfall of its kings, the overthrow of its idols.J.
HOMILIES BY W.M. STATHAM
Isa 16:10
A harvest failure.
“I have made their vintage shouting to cease.” Why? Because the harvest is fallen. In the vineyards there is no shouting, for all the fruits are blighted and withered. Thus is it with every harvest which is evil. Men expect much, and lo! it often comes to nothing. The glory departs if God is forgotten.
I. WE LIVE FOR THE FUTURE. Few live in the present hour alone. Some amass property, looking forward to days of retirement and ease; some go to far-away fields of war to gather the laurels of victory, and to win what the world calls fame; and some seek stores of intellectual wealth, so as to secure the far-off coronet of scholarship and learned renown. But the harvest fails. Jealousy and envy do their work; and the ambassador is recalled, or the mind becomes feeble; through weariness or weakness the anticipated victory becomes a defeat. Somehow or other, either through events without or experience within, when God does not live in the heart and his glory is forgotten, the vintage fails.
II. WE LOOK FOR JOY IN HARVEST. That is the time for music and joy, or, as the prophet says, for singing and shouting. It is a time of stretched-out branches and purple groves. And God intended us to have joy in harvest. All innocent pursuits end in blessing, if we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. But if not, then there is dullness and gloom and failure; for the Lord of harvest is not there. The vintage fails, because he is the true Vine, and we are the branches, and every branch separated from him is cut down and withered.
III. WE LOOK FOR FRUIT AS WELL AS LEAFAGE. That is a remarkable sentence, “The treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses.” Nothing but leaves! What a significant sentence! Everything seemed to promise well. There was the tender green of spring and the rich foliage of summer, but no blossoms hide under the luxuriant foliage. So it is with all mere convictions and resolves, with all passing sensations and excited feelings. We need ever to remember that the end of religion is fruit. Fruitful service, fruitful sacrifice. And without these, whatever else there be, the vintage fails.W.M.S.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Isa 16:1-4
The wisdom of the weaker.
The prophet counsels Moab to “make submission meet” to Judah (Isa 16:1), and to show her such kindness in the day of her distress (Isa 16:3, Isa 16:4) as will be remembered in the day when prosperity and power will be again her portion.
I. THE WISDOM OF THE WEAKER COMMUNITY.
1. Submission to the greater power under its lawful claim. “Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land”pay the tribute which is due, and which will be accepted as an offering appropriate for the weaker to present and for the stronger to claim. In those days it was generally acknowledged that “might was right, “and that the stronger potentate might properly exact tribute from the weaker, rendering a certain protectorate in return. Even in these days, when there have been happily established some ideas of international righteousness, it is generally acknowledged that a strong nation cannot afford to have a small province in its immediate neighborhood in a condition of absolute independence of it. It considers that it has a right to claim its submission, receiving protection in return. It is undoubtedly the wisdom of the weaker community, in every realm, to submit itself to the stronger, to make terms with it, to give what it demands and accept what it offers.
2. Kindness to the greater power in the day of its trial. (Isa 16:3, Isa 16:4.) A shortsighted policy would advise rebellion, would recommend that the hour of its neighbor’s depression should be used to strike a mortal blow and throw off the yoke; but very often a deeper wisdom and a truer sagacity will perceive that the strong power will bend, but cannot be brokenthat the day will come (Isa 16:4) when it will shake off its oppressors and regain its supremacy, and that, therefore, the right course to pursue is to render every possible kindness in its dark and distressing hour, being a shadow from the heat, a refuge for the outcast, a home for the exile. Be quite sure that your rival or your enemy is attacked with a mortal sickness before you defy him, even on the low ground of policy; on the higher ground of rectitude, render aid to the nobler power when it is stricken down, and your magnanimity shall not be forgotten in the day of its revival.
II. THE WISDOM OF THE WEAKER MAN. This corresponds closely with that of the community.
1. Meet at once every claim that is honestly preferred. It is, no doubt, right to resist claims that are unjustly made. The judge, the magistrate, is an authority ordained of God, and to his tribunal we may appeal. But if we cannot dispute a claim that is made, we do well to “send the lamb,” to pay the tribute at once. Otherwise we open the sluices through which many waters of suffering will flow in upon us (see Mat 5:25).
2. Gain the favor of the stroker in the day of her distress. A foolish man will rejoice over the great when he failswill say, “He is become one of ourselves,” and will treat him with indignity. A wise man will only welcome such a day of discomfiture because it enables him to offer succor to the unfortunate, to open wide the door of his hospitality, to be a shadow from the heat to him on whom the scorching rays are falling; and the time will come when he who is thus helped will be able to offer welcome recompense, and in return for the temporary shelter will “receive to everlasting habitations” (Luk 16:9).
III. THE WISDOM OF THE HUMAN SOUL IN ITS RELATION TO CHRIST. This is:
1. To meet his righteous claim; not, indeed, to send a lamb to Zion, as in ancient days, for such offerings he asks not of us. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.” Humility of heart; faith in the Son of God, the Divine Redeemer; the presentation of our heart and life to his holy service; the offering of the obedient and submissive spirit;this is the tribute to bring to his feet. And also:
2. To show kindness to his people. Our Lord is urgent with us that we should show kindness to all them that bear his Name, especially to the weak, the poor, and the despised, the downcast and the outcast, the “little ones” of his flock. Any deed of love we may do for any one of them will be accounted as an act of kindness shown direct to the Lord himself (Mat 25:34-40).C.
Isa 16:5
The foundations of power.
On what foundation does power rest? What will secure it to those who have gained it, or into whose hands it falls? We look at the foundations of
I. HUMAN SOVEREIGNTY. The throne of Judah was to be restored, and it should be “established in mercy” or benignity. He that sat upon it should “sit in truth,” “judging and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness;” i.e. engaged in the administration of justice, endeavoring to act justly, and acting, not with a troublesome delay, but with an appreciable promptitude. These are the two foundations on which sovereignty rests everywhere and alwaysbenignity and justice. The throne may rely on centuries of unchallenged rule, may be fortified by venerable tradition and ancient laws, may be guarded by many thousands of muskets; but it does not stand on any secure basis, it is certain to be ultimately overthrown, if it is unjust in enactment or harsh in execution. Righteousness, justice between man and man, between class and class, between sect and secta broad and unbroken impartiality; this great virtue, and its most excellent handmaid, benignitykindness in manner, sympathy shown to the unfortunate, consideration for the poor and unbefriended;these are the pillars on which alone human sovereignty will be secure. It has been well said by an English statesman that “justice and mercy are the supreme attributes of Deity, but all men everywhere comprehend them; there is no speech nor language in which their voice is not heard, and they cannot be vainly exercised” with the millions of mankind.
II. THE RULE OF CHRIST. Jesus Christ claims to be Sovereign of the world. “Thou art a King, then?” said the astonished procurator. “Thou sayest that I am a King,” replied the Son of man. And his word has been justified by the event, for he is ruling now over vast multitudes of human souls. On what does his power rest? On these foundationsrighteousness and mercy.
1. He, the Lord of truth, of holiness, of love, has a right to the homage of our minds, to the assent of our conscience, to the unmeasured gratitude and devoted love of our hearts.
2. He, who is full of kindness, of forbearance, of tenderness, of beneficent bestowal and gracious purpose,he will continue to reign over those who have willingly bowed beneath his spiritual sway. “In mercy shall” his “throne be established.”
III. INDIVIDUAL INFLUENCE. Men covet power; they do well to do so. If they seek it in order that they may exert a precious and helpful influence on the minds and on the lives of others, their ambition is no other than an honorable and laudable aspiration. Its possession by any man must be according to “the ability which God giveth” (the original faculty with which his Creator has endowed him), and according to the favoring circumstances which God has thrown around him. But, these being taken into thought, the power which a man will wield and the duration of its exercise must depend on the measure of these two great moral qualities, benignity and righteousness. In mercyin kindness, in breadth of beneficence, in readiness and reality of sympathy, in genuineness and greatness of self-forgetting loveshall every man’s throne be established. But he that would sit long on the throne, he that would continue to exercise power with men, he that would retain his influence over men, must be a righteous as well as a genial and gracious man; he must “seek judgment,’ must “haste to righteousness;” he must obviously endeavor to do that which is right between man and man; he must eagerly embrace the opportunity of making the crooked things straight, of restoring that which is wrong, of lifting up that which should no longer be abased.C.
Isa 16:6-11
Guilty arrogance and commendable compassion.
I. THE GUILT OF ARROGANCE. (Isa 16:6.) Moab was proud, haughty, insolent, boastful; she lifted up herself in contemptuous defiance of Judah, of the city of God; and the prophet of Jehovah speaks of her arrogance as a very great offence in ‘the eyes of the supreme Disposer. There is nothing which is more emphatically, or more repeatedly condemned in Scripture than haughtiness of heart or spiritual pride; it is a very rank offence in the estimation of the Holy One. And well may it be so; for what can be more pitifully wrong, more utterly unbecoming, than that such puny, ignorant, dependent creatures as we are should assert ourselves against the God from whom we came and in whom we live? It should be remembered that there is not only the arrogance of an idolatrous defiance, like that of Moab, but also, as too often found amongst ourselves,
(1) the arrogance of unbeliefthe product of intellectual pride;
(2) the arrogance of impietythe daring determination of the soul to live without God, to delay all attention to his sovereign claims until a late hour of life;
(3) the arrogance of vicethe reckless resolution to snatch forbidden and unholy pleasure, whatever Divine laws may be broken, whatever human hearts may be embittered and human lives despoiled, whatever penal consequences may be entailed.
II. THE DEPTH OF ITS DISCOMFITURE.
1. This is seen in the sadness of the circumstances of Moab. Its inhabitants were “stricken“ (Isa 16:7) with a crushing blow (see Isa 5:1-30.; also Isa 5:8). Perhaps the culminating feature is seen in the shouting of the harvest home being exchanged for the shouting of the enemy’s soldiery taking possession of the spoil (Isa 16:9).
2. It is also seen in, the signs of prevailing misery. “Moab shall howl for Moab; every one shall howl (Isa 16:7). Each one for himself and all for one another; “the people to the city, the city to the provinces.” The land should be full of weeping. “Pride cometh before a fall; ‘”He that exalteth himself shall be abased.” These are specimen-passages, representing a large number and a great variety of Divine declarations that arrogance will have a disastrous end. Of course, the special form which the sin takes will usually determine the particular punishment which will ensue. But there will surely come defeat, humiliation, distress; and of this distress the most intolerable element will probably be a lacerating remorse, in which the soul will smite itself because it yielded not, as it might have done, in the day of opportunity.
III. THE COMPASSION OF THE RIGHTEOUS. (Isa 16:9-11.) The prophet is so impressed with the deplorableness of Moab’s condition that his heart is powerfully touched on its behalf. He “bewails” for it; his heart “sounds like an harp” for it. Human indignation against sin does well to pass into pity for the sorrow and the ruin which sin entails. This is truly God-like, Christian. “God so loved,” with the love of an infinite compassion, this sin-ruined world, “that he gave his only begotten Son.” Jesus Christ, when lie beheld the doomed city of David, moved with a tender compassion for its coming woes, “wept over it.” Let the holy grace of indignation have its due share in the Christian character; the soul that has it not is seriously wanting: but let it by no means exclude from the chambers of the heart that heavenly guestChrist-like compassion. Let us have a large and generous pity for the fallen, for the guilty, for those who are suffering the bitter pangs of self-reproach; and let sympathetic sorrow pass speedily into a wise and kind helpfulness, which will lead back from the “far country” of sin and shame to the Father’s home of righteousness and joy.C.
Isa 16:12
Unavailing prayer.
Moab “will come to his sanctuary to pray, but he shall not prevail.” There are two kinds of unavailing prayer
I. THE PRAYER WHICH IS ADDRESSED TO NON–EXISTENT BEINGS. How pitiable that, as the consequence of the blinding influence of sin, men should have spent so much thought and effort in devotion that must have been absolutely barren of all good result! It is painful to think of the multitude of sacrificeseven human sacrificesthat have been offered up beneath every sky, of the labors that have been undergone, of the pilgrimages that have been made, of the tortures that have been inflicted, of the privations that have been endured, of the observances that have been gone through, and, if last not least, of the prayers that have been presented from full and burdened hearts, that have all been wasted, inasmuch as the devotees have all been making their appeal to an ear that could not hear, to a hand that could not help.
II. THE PRAYER WHICH IS UNAVAILINGLY ADDRESSED TO GOD. It is almost equally sad to think that there must have been, and must be, a vast amount of devotion vainly and fruitlessly directed to the living God. There is
(1) the format prayerthe prayer which goeth forth from feigned lips, in which men “honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far removed from him” (Isa 29:13);
(2) the prayer of pride (see Luk 18:9-14);
(3) the prayer of impenitence (Psa 66:18; Pro 15:29; Pro 28:9; Isa 1:15);
(4) the prayer of unbelief (Heb 11:6);
(5) the prayer of irreverence (Heb 5:7);
(6) the prayer which is unacceptable by reason of the nature of the request. If we ask God for his interposition in the spirit of vindictiveness rather than of generosity, or if we ask for material enrichment or earthly honors rather than the Divine favor and spiritual progress, we may be asking for that which our heavenly Father will deny in mercy to ourselves. For he may know that the very thing we crave would prove to be the most mischievous thing we could possibly possess. It may be worth our while to look also at
III. THE PRAYER WHICH DOES NOT SEEM TO PREVAIL, BUT WHICH IS NOT INEFFECTUAL. There are many acts of devotion which do not bring any immediate, desired result, but they are far from being vain and fruitless. Such are:
1. The prayers which are not supplicatory at allthose which begin and end in communion; those in which the reverent and loving heart of the human child finds a holy and satisfying joy in holding fellowship with the heavenly Father, the redeemed spirit with its gracious Savior, its unchanging Friend.
2. The prayers which are not answered at the time, but after some patient waiting.
3. The prayers which are answered in a way altogether different from that expected by the soul. As the prophet of the Lord met Naaman’s request in a way which surprised and even angered him, so the Lord himself often meets our requests in a way which surprises and even “offends” us. We should prefer the immediate touch of his mighty hand, renewing, cleansing, enlarging, enlightening. But instead of this, he employs some simple and common instrumentality, or some unpleasant discipline, which brings about the change that ‘is to be desired. Thus in Newton’s hymn
“I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and every grace.”
But instead of “his love’s constraining power” subduing sin and giving rest, come assaults from without and wrestlings within; and when the disturbed and questioning spirit asks, “Why is this?” the answer comes
These inward trials I employ
From self and pride to set thee free,
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st seek thine all in me.”
C.
HOMILIES BY R. TUCK
Isa 16:1
Recovering false steps.
The word “lamb” in this verse should be rendered “lambs.” From 2Ki 3:4 we learn that the tribute rendered to the King of Israel by Mesha, King of Moab, was a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool. At the death of Ahab Mesha refused to pay this tribute, and asserted his independence. In view of the exposure of Moab to attacks from Assyria, this was a false step, and Mesha is here urged to retrace that step, and at once send the tribute as a sign of renewed allegiance. The urgency of the case is shown in the advice to send the tribute round the southern part of the Dead Sea, because the northern end was already blocked by the Assyrians. This introduces the subject of retracing our false steps in undoing the wrongs we have done; stepping back from our willful paths, and beginning once more in the right way.
I. THIS IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY WORK. Its necessity may be argued from these points of view:
1. It is due to God that we should prove our sincerity by reparation as a sign of repentance.
2. It is due to those whom we have wronged that when we are brought to a right mind we should remove and undo the wrong.
3. It is due to ourselves that we should clear away from memory and conscience the bad past, as far as its evil consequences can be cleared. It is never enough for a man to “cease to do evil;” he is hound to remove, as far as possible, the issues of his past evil; and the intensest bitterness a good man can ever know arises from the fact that he cannot heal the wounds he has made, or check the evil working of the influences he has exerted, or example he has shown. When pleaded with in respect of his intense religious earnestness, John Newton is said to have replied, “How can the old blasphemer be silent?” He felt that life was not long enough, or powers large enough, for the undoing of the wrong wrought by a godless, vicious youth. And, further, if in life we swerve from the paths of rectitude, we shall find there is no going on round into those paths again; we must do one thingwe must go back the bad road we have chosen.
II. BUT THIS IS MOST DIFFICULT WORK. In either the larger or smaller senses to which reference has been made. And that because:
1. It involves serious self-humiliations. None of us can easily say, “I was wrong.”
2. Because it exposes us to the scorn of the unprincipled, who regard all retracing of steps as a sign of weakness, and cannot understand the heroism of conquering the baser self. In the sense of undoing wrong that has been done it is most difficult, because the issues of our words and deeds go on out of our reach. It is as if we dropped poison into the fountainhead of a river, and then in remorse tried to cleanse that fount. It can be done, but away down the valley the poison has been carried, and none can bring back to life the poor dead fish that are borne on the current out to sea. The Apostle Paul never could undo the wrongs of that time when he so bitterly persecuted the disciples of the Nazarene.
III. YET THIS IS ALWAYS HOPEFULLY REMUNERATIVE WORK. It has its special rewards.
1. It satisfies our sense of duty.
2. It rests a conscience which otherwise would ceaselessly reproach.
3. It makes us clean-handed to appear before God.
4. It enables us to receive the assurance of Divine acceptance.
5. It becomes our witness to righteousness. Restitution, reparation, humbly going back the willful way we may have taken, meet gracious Divine response. God surely smiles on the man who is brave enough to set wrongs right, and acknowledge the foolishness of his self-willed way.R.T.
Isa 16:3
Practical righteousness.
It does not seem certain whether this counsel is addressed to Moab in relation to the people fleeing for shelter from the invasion of Sennacherib, or to Israel in relation to the outcasts from Moab. Whichever it be, the point of the counsel is that they should act kindly, considerately, charitably. Righteousness is like “pure religion and undefiled;” it is doing something“visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction.” “He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous;” “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” Absolute righteousness, as before the all-searching God, is not a human possibility; but Scripture uses the term in reference to men. The psalmist says, “Judge me according to mine integrity, and according to my righteousness which is in me.” And our Lord pleaded thus, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
I. RIGHTEOUSNESS MAY BE MERE SENTIMENT. A delusion of excited feeling, as it too often is with persons who take up with “holiness theories.” The danger of sentiment is that too often it satisfies, and in the pleasant enjoyment of it a man has no care about giving righteousness its due expression. No fruits ever grew on the tree of sentimentality, and its leaves have no virtue for the healing of the nations.
II. RIGHTEOUSNESS MAY BE A PROFESSION. It is assumed in our being Christians. It is the state into which we are called. It is guaranteed in our regeneration. Why, then, may we not be satisfied with this profession? Because such righteousness is, at the best, something belonging to a class, and not to the individual; and the only righteousness worth having is something which the individual has for himself alone.
III. RIGHTEOUSNESS MUST BE A PRACTICE. “Even as he [Christ] is righteous;” and his righteousness was distinctly conduct, and the spirit of conduct. Righteousness is truth, brotherliness, service, charity, self-denial, purity; it is God-likeness, and God is righteous in all his works. It is well for us to have and to cherish right feelings and good resolves, but the question to ask ourselves is thisIf we have the opportunity, do we give these good resolves, do we find for these good thoughts and feelings practical expression? The message sent to David has often been misunderstood and misused. In connection with building the temple God said, “Thou didst well that it was in thine heart.” But we forget that David went as far as he was allowed, in giving practical expression to what was in his heart; he made preparations for what he might not himself accomplish.R.T.
Isa 16:5
Righteousness hindered or hastened.
There is a possible reference here to King Hezekiah, and of him it is said that “seeking judgment and hasting righteousness” should be characteristics. The expression, “hasting righteousness,” is a very suggestive one. Cheyne translates, “is prompt in righteousness.” The following thought may be worked out and illustrated: Establishing righteousness in the earth is God’s purpose, and towards the accomplishing of that purposethe speedy accomplishment of itevery good man should work. But what are the facts of life, which we cannot fail to observe?
I. RIGHTEOUSNESS HAS ACTIVE OPPONENTS. They who would dethrone God attack righteousness, which is the spirit and the demand of his rule.
II. RIGHTEOUSNESS IS HINDERED BY STOLID RESISTERS. With whom it is much more difficult to deal than with active opponents. They simply block the way of God’s chariot-wheels.
III. RIGHTEOUSNESS IS DELAYED BY THE WEAKLY INDIFFERENT. Who put no strength into either good or evil.
IV. RIGHTEOUSNESS HAS EARNEST HASTENERS. Men and women who strive for it, witness for it, suffer for it. Whose whole lives do but repeat the great cry with which the Book of God closes: “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly;” “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”R.T.
Isa 16:9, Isa 16:10
The sadness of a silent land.
These verses bring before us the picture of a country from which, at the proper seasons, there rises no harvest and no vintage song. “Gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in its vineyard there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting.” In every age and every land the gladness of the people has found expression in the joy of harvest, and no picture of woe, want, and desolation could be so effective as this simple one of the harvest-fields from which arise no song. Meditatively treated, we consider
I. A LAND WITH NO JOY IN IT. That must be a land on which rests no Divine benedictions; and it must be the picture of
II. A LIFE WITH NO JOY IN IT. That must be a life on which rests no Divine smile. We are like the birds, we can only sing in God’s sunshine. Inexpressibly sad is human life without God. “The joy of the Lord is our strength;” but the sadness of agnosticism, atheism, Comtism, secularism, is the all-sufficing proof that these can never take the place of religion for man, who fain would sing for joy. Let such systems prevail, and the song of earth would cease. From the silent, songless land a heart-cry to the great heavens would go, saying
“Oh for a vision! Oh for the face!”
R.T.
Isa 16:12
Prayer that may not prevail.
The immediate reference of this verse is to the vain and hopeless prayers of Moab, offered in his time of distress to his idol-god Chemosh. Idols are only gods for sunshiny days, when their worshippers want nothing. There is no prevailing to secure help from them when life is full of calamities, and when hearts ache. But the expression reminds us that prayer offered to the true God does not always prevailat least, prevail to the securing of the precise thing asked for; though this comes about, not by reason of the Divine inability, but by reason of the Divine wisdom and love. Our prayer may not always prevail with Jehovah, for such reasons as the following
I. BECAUSE THE ATTITUDE OF HIM WHO OFFERS IT IS WRONG.
1. He may demand, and that God can never allow.
2. He may not have clean hands; and man must put away his evil doings before he seeks God.
3. He may be unforgiving towards his brother; and if we forgive not our brother his trespass, God will heed no prayer from us for the forgiveness of ours.
4. He may fail in that importunity which is before God the sign of earnestness.
5. He may ask with purely selfish intentionsto consume the blessing sought upon his lusts.
II. BECAUSE THE PRAYER IS ONLY A CRY OF DESPAIR. Not a quiet, thoughtful turning to God, but only a feeling, “Nobody can help melet us see if even God can.” There is nothing in such a cry to which God can hopefully respond. For prayer to prevail with God there must be some trust in it.
III. BECAUSE GOD‘S GOOD TIME FOR BLESSING MAY NOT HAVE COME. Prayer often only seems not to prevail, because the answer is held over until God’s best time has come. And Divine delayings are tests of sincerity and inspirations to importunity. “Though it tarry, wait fur it; it will surely come, it will not tarry.”
IV. BECAUSE OTHER PRAYERS MAY BE PRAYING AGAINST OUR PRAYERS. Other people’s prayers, and the voice of some things in ourselves. Sodom’s iniquity was crying hard against Abraham’s prayer, and Abraham could not prevail. Jerusalem was crying hard against the Lord Jesus, and his prayer could not prevail. St. Paul’s infirmities of temper were crying hard against his prayer that the thorn in the flesh should be removed; and they prevailed, not Paul, and the thorn stayed piercing on. Here is a hidden secret unfolded. Why have we so often seemed to pray only to feel the heavens like brass above us? We should know if we could hear all the prayers that rise to God, and know how many and how loud are the prayers that plead against us. God weighs them all, and the answer to us is always that which is best, on the whole.R.T.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Isa 16:1-2. Send ye the lamb After Isaiah, in the former part of this prophesy, had described the calamity and the lamentation of the Moabites, he here stands still, as on a sudden; then addresses the Moabites, and informs them as well of the causes of this judgment, as of the means which, if properly applied, might at least mitigate, if not wholly avert it. The prophet does not set forth these causes directly, but obliquely, by the way of prudent counsel; wherein they are admonished of their duty towards the king and people of the Jews, which they had shamefully and proudly neglected; but, foreseeing that the Moabites would not hearken to this counsel, he goes on to describe more fully their calamity. This part of the prophesy therefore is three-fold; first, we have the counsel given to the Moabites by the prophet, or the Jewish church, Isa 16:1-5 wherein a two-fold duty is recommended; the one to obtain the friendship of the Jews, which in their calamity would be of great use to them, by paying them their tribute, Isa 16:1. 2 the other to treat with clemency and kindness the Jewish outcasts and exiles among them, for the sake of the great benefit which would redound to them from the Jews in its proper time. Secondly, the success or event of this counsel, that is to say, the contempt of it, whereof the pride and arrogance of the Moabites are shewn to be the cause. Thirdly, a repeated description of the calamity to be indited upon them for this and the preceding reasons, Isa 16:7-12. The meaning of the first and second verses is this: “Ye Moabites, who, subdued by David, and by him made tributary to his house and kingdom, have with pride and arrogance shaken off his yoke; placate in time, and render propitious to you the Jews and their king, by sending those lambs which you owe to them as a tribute, (2Ki 3:4. 2Sa 8:2.) Send them from Sela, or Petra, [which was most celebrated for its flocks; 2Ki 14:7.] towards the desart, the desart near Jericho, a medium place between Sela and mount Sion.” Jos 5:10. Some think that the passage might be rendered, from Sela, or Petra in the wilderness; but Vitringa strongly defends the former interpretation. He goes on: “Pay this tribute; for it shall most certainly come to pass, that the daughters of the Moabites, like a wandering bird, and a deserted nest, driven from their seats, must somewhere seek a place of safety in the great calamity which shall befal their nation: it is therefore now time to solicit the friendship of the Jews, and to remember the duty owing to them, but so long neglected; that, when expelled from your own habitations, you may be received kindly by them, and dwell hospitably in their land, and under the shadow of their kings.” It is almost the same advice which is given upon another occasion, only in an infinitely more sublime sense, by our Lord. See Luk 16:9. The verses might be read thus: Send ye the lamb of the ruler of the land [the tribute of the king of Moab] from Petra towards the desart, to the mountain of the daughter of Sion; Isa 16:2. Because it shall come to pass, that as a wandering bird and a forsaken nest, shall the daughters of Moab be, &c. See Vitringa.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
) THE CONDITIONS OF DELIVERANCE
Isa 16:1-5
1Send ye 1the lamb to the ruler of the land
From2 3Sela to the wilderness,
Unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
2For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird
4Cast out of the nest,
So the daughters of Moab shall be
At 5the fords of Arnon.
36Take counsel, execute judgment;
Make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noon day;
Hide the outcasts;
Bewray not him that wandereth.
4Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab;
Be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler;
For the 7extortioner is at an end,
8The spoiler ceaseth,
9The oppressors are consumed out of the land.
5And in mercy shall bthe throne be 10established:
And 11he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David,
Judging, and seeking judgment, and 12hasting righteousness.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 16:1. is the fat lamb. It never occurs in the stat. absol. sing.; it is found only here in the stat. constr. sing.; and occurs again in Isaiah in the plural only Isa 34:6. Comp. Deu 32:14.The expression occurs again only Isa 10:32 Kri.
Isa 16:2. On comp. Isa 10:14; Pro 27:8. comp. Isa 27:10., wherever the word occurs (Jos 2:7; 1Sa 14:4; Jdg 3:28; Jdg 12:5 sq.; Jer 51:32) are the fords. The word stands here as the accus. localis. Moreover, according to rule the expression means fords of the Arnon, not, the fords of the Arnon.
Isa 16:3-4 a. The expression occurs only here. It reminds one of 2Sa 16:20. The alteration of and to and which the Kri offers for the sake of conformity with the following verbal forms, is unnecessary. , judicium, occurs only here: Isa 28:7. (Isa 27:13), (Isa 10:14; Isa 21:14), (Isa 11:6; Isa 23:7; Isa 33:14), (Isa 21:2; Isa 33:1), (Isa 28:17; Isa 32:2) are Isaianic expressions., Isa 16:4 a, ought, according to the accents, to be connected with what follows. And nothing stands in the way of this. Delitzsch, who construes Isa 16:3 sq. as the language of Moab to Israel must take Isa 16:4 as casus absolutus, which is harsh. The form (comp. Gen 24:60) occurs only here. It, too, is perhaps Moabitic. But the inscription of Mesa offers no analogy for it. the presser (from like , ,; comp. Pro 30:33, the pressing out) is . . is an Isaianic word, as the entire thought is also Isaianic. comp. Isa 29:20 : comp. on Isa 13:6. only here; but other forms of the verb are frequent in Isa 1:12; Isa 26:6; Isa 28:3; Isa 41:25; Isa 63:3.
Isa 16:5. to make firm, stabihre, 1Sa 13:13; 2Sa 5:12; Isa 30:33. is not grace, which is not the opposite of , and (Isa 10:6) but gentleness, clementia. Comp. 1Ki 20:31, and Pro 20:28. , comp. Amo 9:11, and as contrast Psa 78:67.It is an expression of modesty, comp. the contrast between and 2Sa 7:6.The expression is wholly Isaianic. It occurs only Isa 1:17 and here. (comp. Psa 45:2; Pro 22:29) occurs only here.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. These words connect closely with what precedes, in that they assume that the fugitives of Moab that fled over the border (Isa 15:7) have arrived in Sela, the chief city of Edom (from Sela, Isa 16:1). The chief thought is that Moab is counselled to seek help and protection from Judah (Isa 16:1-2), and therefore eventually itself to afford protection and help to Judah (Isa 16:3-4 a). When then the time comes wherein all unrighteousness on earth shall have an end (Isa 16:4 b), and the righteous ruler shall sit on the throne of David (Isa 16:5), thenthis is the necessary consequenceMoab, too, shall share this salvation.
2. Send yeArnon.
Isa 16:1-2. No one but the Prophet can speak these words, as well as all that follows, because he only was able to give the prophecy contained in Isa 16:4 b, 5. In the summons to send lambs to Jerusalem there is evidently an allusion to the fact that the Moabite king Mesa, according to 2Ki 3:4, was obliged to send the wool of 100,000 lambs () and of 100,000 rams () as tribute to the king of Israel. The lambs of the ruler is evidently the tribute of lambs that belongs to the ruler of the land. But the king of Judah is called ruler of the land, in distinction from the , the king of Moab, who was tributary to the former. They are to send the tribute to Jerusalem from Sela, the capital city of Edom (called Petra by the Romans; its ruins were discovered by Burkhardt in Wadi Musa, comp. Isa 42:11). We account for this by representing to ourselves that according to Isa 15:7 the Moabites have arrived in Sela as fugitives. Unto the wildernesswhich is more exactly defined by unto the mount of the daughter of Zioncorresponds exactly to the description that Strabo gives of the region of Petra. He says: (Knobel). On the subject matter comp. Isa 18:7. But the fugitives are not in Sela only. According to Isa 15:8, they dispersed on every side. Therefore fleeing crowds appear also at Arnon, the northern border river of Moab. These are called daughters of Moab. Does not the feminine stamp the timid fugitives as those that have turned into women and lost all masculine courage? Comp. e.g. Isa 3:1.
3. Take counselthe spoiler.
Isa 16:3-4 a. These are not the words of the Moabites, but of the Prophet, who directs this petition to the Moabites in the name of his people. They are not only to put themselves in subjection to Judah, and purchase protection for themselves by tribute, but they are also on their part to afford protection. By the likeness of their contents, Isa 16:3-4 a belong together. The Prophet hereby assumes that there shall come upon Judah also such a visitation as 15, 16. he proclaims to Moab. This was fulfilled by Nebuchadnezzar, and in Jer 40:11 Moab is expressly named among the lands into which scattered Judah (, Jer 40:12) had fled.The Prophet cannot mean that the Moabites shall bring about justice between the Israelites and their oppressors, for they lack power and force to do this. But they are to do what is right in that they receive to their protection those oppressed and driven out. This demand for protecting shelter is expressed by means of an admirable figure of speech. Moab shall make its shadow at clear midday dark as at midnight, so that he who is concealed in this shadow shall be hid as completely as if the darkness of night enclosed him.
4. For the extortionerrighteousness.
Isa 16:4 b, 5. The Prophet now gives the reasons why Moab should seek shelter from Judah and likewise afford shelter to the fugitives of Judea. This reason is one eminently prophetic. That is to say, Isaiah sees in spirit the end of the world-power, therefore the cessation of all violent oppression and the dominion of the kingdom of God under a great one of the line of David. Would Moab share in this glory of the people of God, then it must now display such conduct as the Prophet imputes to it, Isa 16:1-4 a. This is the same thought, the correlative of which is expressed Isa 60:12 (comp. Zec 14:16 sqq.) in the words: For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish., the land, according to the context, signifies the whole earth. For the world-power that is characterized in the preceding words dominates not a single land, but the whole earth. In contrast with the violent, unjust world-power another throne shall be set up by mildness (, see Text and Gram.). On this throne, which stands in the tabernacle of David (an expression of modesty, see Text and Gram.), shall one sit in truth, i.e., one who is truthful and reliable, and he will do nothing arbitrarily; but he will keep to the forms of law (). But not only thishe will also interest himself to find out the (substantial) right ( )and when he has found it, he will promptly execute it ( ). That the Prophet has in mind here the great Son of David, whose friendliness and righteousness he had already celebrated, Isa 9:5 sq.; Isa 11:1 sq., cannot be doubted. Where ceasing from violence and injustice and a kingdom of righteousness and of loving mildness are spoken of, the Messianic kingdom is meant.
Footnotes:
[1]tribute lamb.
[2]Or, Petra.
[3]Heb. a rock.
[4]Or, a nest forsaken.
[5]omit the.
[6]Heb. Bring.
[7]Heb. wringer.
[8]Oppression.
[9]Heb. the treaders down.
[10]Or, prepared.
[11]one sits.
[12]prompt in equity.
) MOABS PRIDE AND RUIN
Isa 16:6-12
6We have heard of the pride of Moab; 13he is very proud:
14Even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath;
15But his lies shall not be so.
7Therefore shall Moab howl 16for Moab,
Every one shall howl;
For the 17foundations of Kir-hareseth shall ye 1819mourn;
20Surely they are stricken.
8For the fields of Heshbon 21languish,
And the vine of Sibmah: 22the lords of the heathen have broken down the 23principal plants thereof,
They 24are come even unto Jazer, they wandered 25through the wilderness:
Her branches are 26stretched out, they are gone over the sea.
9Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah:
I will 27water thee with my tears, O, Heshbon, and Elealeh:
For 28the 29shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen.
10And 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 30shall tread out no wine in their presses;
I have made their vintage shouting to cease.
11Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab,
And mine inward parts for Kir-haresh.
12And it shall come to pass, when 31it is seen
That Moab is weary on the high place,
That he shall come to his sanctuary to pray;
32But he shall not prevail.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 16:6. The plural intimates that this haughtiness of Moab is generally known., contracted from (Isa 2:12) occurs only here; (comp. Ew. 155 e). Regarding the construction, it belongs to and not to , for the Prophet had not experienced that the very proud Moab is proud, but that the pride of Moab is very intense, or that his pride mounts up very high. (comp. Isa 2:10; Isa 4:2; Isa 13:11; Isa 13:19; and often) and (Isa 9:8; Isa 13:3; Isa 13:11; Isa 25:11) are Isaianic words. is excess, and in this sense is more frequently used of wrath, but is used also of overweening pride (comp. Pro 21:24). In Isaiah the word occurs in the latter sense only here; in the former he uses it often: Isa 9:18; Isa 10:6; Isa 13:9; Isa 13:13; Isa 14:6In the expression = the not right, incorrect, wrong, the two elements are fused into a unity of notion (comp. Isa 10:15). It is used adverbially (2Sa 18:14) as well as substantively (2Ki 7:9; 2Ki 17:9; Pro 15:7; Jer 8:6; Jer 23:10; Jer 48:30, bis). from = (comp. and inconsiderate speaking, Lev 5:4; Num 30:7; Num 30:9) to invent, think out = commenticia, ficticia, conceited, vain babbling (Job 11:3; Jer 48:30); personally a braggart, fop (Isa 44:25; Jer 50:36).
Isa 16:7. , cakes, 2Sa 6:19; 1Ch 16:3; plural Son 2:5, and Hos 3:1, where it speaks of is in apposition with the subject of = only; who is only troubled, nothing but troubled. is . .; comp. Isa 66:2 and Pro 15:13.
Isa 16:8. Isa 37:27, plural Hab 3:17, st. constr., Deu 32:32; 2Ki 23:4.Isaiah uses not unfrequently forms of , Isa 19:8; Isa 24:4; Isa 24:7; Isa 33:9. is tundere, percutere, to smite. It occurs again Isa 28:1, where, to be sure, it speaks of .The plural of , meaning the same as , Isa 5:2, occurs only here. Niph. Isa 33:23, spread themselves. . ., the sprouts of the vine.
Isa 16:9. Piel of , with the second and third radicals transposed, Isa 34:5; Isa 34:7. is the shout with which the torcularii cheered their labor, and probably beat time, Isa 16:10; Jer 25:30; Jer 51:14; Jer 48:33.It is certain that the Prophet for the sake of similarity in sound wrote instead of , the latter means the grape harvest. But must not be taken as = . For why should not the grain harvest also have suffered under the trampling feet of the warrior wine treaders?
Isa 16:10. from Joe 1:16. a very frequent word with Isa 10:18; Isa 29:17; Isa 32:15 sq.; Isa 35:2; Isa 37:24. Here, too, and are distinguished, a proof that we may take in its proper sense. and are also associated on account of the similarity of sound. The former occurs, beside passages like Isa 24:14; Isa 26:19; Isa 35:2; Isa 42:11, etc., also in Isa 12:6; the latter Isa 15:4. Neither occurs again in the Passive conjugation used here.
Isa 16:11. Mark the assonance in and . Likely it is purely out of regard for such assonance that the name of this single city is here repeated. This passage generally, especially from Isa 16:6 on, is extraordinarily rich in such assonances.
Isa 16:12. On comp. on Isa 15:2, and Jer 48:35. Isa 1:14; Isa 47:13. occurs not seldom in Isa 37:15; Isa 37:21; Isa 38:2; Isa 44:17; Isa 45:14; Isa 45:20. without expressed object, with the meaning to put through, accomplish, occurs only here in Isaiah. Of another sort are the instances Isa 1:13; Isa 7:1; Isa 29:11, and often. On the contrary this usage is frequent in Jer 3:5; Jer 5:22; Jer 20:7. Comp. 1Ki 22:22.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. By the words Isa 16:1-5 the Prophet had indicated to Moab the way by which it might escape destruction. Unhappily he must verify that Moab has no mind to follow this way of deliverance. It is much too proud for that: its old haughtiness is exhibited in a ruinous manner (Isa 16:6). Therefore the judgments run their course: lamentation fills the whole land. But three localities become especially prominent in the general chorus of those that lament, which hitherto had been just the places of most joyous pleasure: Kir-hareseth with its grape confections (Isa 16:7), Heshbon with its fruitful meadows, Sib-ma with its vine culture (Isa 16:8). The misery is so great that the Prophet, as feeling the contagion, must not only outwardly join in the lament of the places named (Isa 16:9-10), but also feels himself moved in his inmost by the universal distress (Isa 16:11). And though now Moab turns to his idols with fervent entreaty, yet, of course, that is of no avail (Isa 16:12).
2. We have heardnot be so.
Isa 16:6. What the Prophet urged Isa 16:1-5, is made nugatory by the pride of Moab. Jer 48:11 compares Moab to wine not drawn off from vessel to vessel, but ever settled on its lees. That means: Moab has always remained in his land: never gone into exile. Thereby has been developed in him a strong sense of strength and security (comp. Isa 25:11; Jer 48:14; Jer 48:17-18; Jer 48:25-26; Jer 48:29; Zep 2:8; Zep 2:10).
3. Thereforethe sea.
Isa 16:7-8. The Prophet now describes the consequences of this haughtiness. Moab must then howl for it. Moab howls to Moab, i.e. as the Prophet (Isa 15:3, all of it shall howl,) himself declares every thing howls, and thus the cry of lament from one locality meets that of the next. For not for its neighbor does each locality lament, but for itself; but this howling is heard from one place to the other. [It is better to adhere to the common interpretation of as denoting the subject or occasion of the lamentation:the simplest supposition is that Moab for Moab means Moab for itself.J. A. A.].
In what follows, several localities present themselves to the view of the Prophet elevated above the general level of universal lament, and these are such localities that hitherto had produced the most precious gifts of field or vineyard, and thus had been the places of most joyous pleasures. Kir-hareseth, (comp. Isa 16:11, Jer 48:11; Jer 48:31; Jer 48:36; 2Ki 3:25), since Vitringa, has been recognized as identical with Kir-Moab Isa 16:1, and perhaps so named on account of its brick walls. It sighs for its grape cakes; and as a further reason for the mourning it is said that the meadows of Heshbon (Isa 15:4) are withered and dry. The Essebonitis (Josephus Antiq. xii, 4, 11) was very fruitful. Thence came the celebrated grain of Minnith, Eze 27:17. The traveller Legh brought so-called Heshbon wheat to England with stalks 5 1 long and having 84 grains in the ear, which weighed four times as much as an English ear of wheat (Leyrer in Herz. R. Encycl. VI., p. 21).Sibmah (Num 32:3 , comp. Num 16:38; Jos 13:19) according to Jerome on Jer 48:32, say only 500 paces from Heshbon. The vines of Sibmah are cut down by the lords of the nations, i.e. the leaders of the heathen host. If these words were understood to mean that the vines by the power of their wine overcame the lords of the nations, then nothing would be said of the calamity that overtook the vines themselves. [Of the exposition here objected to, J. A. A. says: This ingenious exposition (scil. of Cocceius) is adopted by Vitringa, Lowth, Hitzig, Maurer, Hendewerk, De Wette, Knobel, on the ground of its agreement with the subsequent praises of the vine of Sibmah. Gesenius objects that there is then no mention of the wasting of the vineyards by the enemy unless this can be supposed to be included in languish. Besides Gesenius, Rosenmueller, Ewald, Umbreit, and most of the older writers make the object of the verb instead of its subject. See Text. and Gram.]. In order to make a due impression of the damage done by cutting down the vines of Sibmah, the Prophet presents a picture of the extent of their culture. It reached to Jazer northward, and eastward to the desert they wandered, i.e. the vines extended in wild growth. Jazer (Num 32:1; Num 32:3; Num 32:35; Jos 13:25, and often) now a cluster of ruins of Siev, according to the Onomasticon, lay 15 Roman miles north of Heshbon. The vigorous growth of the vine is, even in our colder climate, something extraordinary. It is quite possible that in that warm and fruitful land the vine, by root-sprouts, spread itself, extending beyond the limits of cultivation, till it was stopped by the sand of the desert. But to the sea also it spread. What sea is this? Jer. (Jer 48:32) understands thereby the sea of Jazer. That can be nothing but a pool or basin (comp. the sea, in the temple, 1Ki 7:23 sqq.). But our context demands that we look rather for a sea lying to the south or west; for the extension of the vines northward and eastward has already been mentioned. If it is to be described as an extension on every side, there is only wanting the southern and western direction, or, as combining both, the south-western. Southwest of Sibmah lay the Dead Sea. This the Prophet means (comp. 2Ch 20:2). But I would not, with Delitzsch, take , they passed over, as a hyperbolical expression for extended close to it. We may without ado understand the expression in its full and proper sense. Did not Engedi, celebrated for its vine culture (Son 1:14), lie on the west shore of the Dead Sea in a corner, splendidly watered by a spring? And there, only a few hours further westward, lay Hebron, also renowned for its wine (Num 13:24, Herz. R. Encycl. XVII., p. 611). It is only a bold poetic view when the Prophet treats the vines that grow on the western shore of the Dead Sea as runners from those that grow so gloriously on the east shore in Moab.
4. Therefore I willshouting to cease.
Isa 16:9-10. The Prophet cannot restrain himself from joining in the heart-rending lament that he hears proceeding from Moab. One may know by that how fearful it must be. For if even the enemy feels compassion the misery must have reached the acme. [The emphasis does not lie merely in the Prophets feeling for a foreign nation, but in his feeling for a guilty race, on whom he was inspired to denounce the wrath of God.J. A. A.]. is not = ; and therefore the Prophet does not say that he weeps as bitterly as Jazer, but that among the voices of the people of Jazer, his too is to be heard. He mingles with those who are most troubled about the ruin of the vines of Sibmah because they are most particularly affected by it. For neither the desert, whither the vines wander, nor the region west of the Dead Sea can be so concerned about the destruction of the grape culture in the central point Sibmah, as the neighboring Jazer. The Prophet will moisten with his tears the fields of Heshbon and Elealeh (Isa 15:4). These withered fields (Isa 16:8) may well stand in need of such moistening, for on the fruit and grain harvests there has fallen the shout (see Text and Gram.) of the harvesters or rather of the wine-treaders, an expression that can only be chosen in bitter irony. For it is the devastating feet of the enemy that have so trampled the fruitful meadows and pressed the sap out of every living plant, so that they now lie there withered. In consequence of this wine treading, joy and jubilee are (thus and together) wrested away from the cultivated fields.
5. Whereforenot prevail.
Isa 16:11-12. The therefore of Isa 16:11, stands parallel with the therefore of Isa 16:9. Moabs misery described Isa 16:7-8, has a double effect on the Prophet: first it constrains him to outward expression of sympathy, to weep along with them: he feels, so to speak, the contagion of the universal weeping: second, he feels himself really moved inwardly. He feels this emotion in his bowels, for the motions of the affection find their echo in the noble organs of the body. The expression to sound, is often used of the bowels; indeed in relation to God Himself: Isa 63:15; Jer 31:20; comp. Lam 1:20; Lam 2:11; Jer 4:19. But the greatest misfortune of all in the whole affair is that Moab does not know the true source of all consolation. Would it only know that, then would its sorrow and the sorrow on account of Moab not be so great. But Moab appears on the high place consecrated to his god Chemosh, and torments himself to weariness. Examples of such self-tormenting, and sore sacrifices for the sake of obtaining what is prayed for, are presented by every sort of false religion, comp. 1Ki 18:28, and by Moabite history itself in the offering of his own son by Mesa (Mesha) 2Ki 3:27.But all that shall be of no avail.
Footnotes:
[13]as very proud.
[14]omit even of.
[15]the vanity of his pretension.
[16]to.
[17]grape cakes.
[18]Or, mutter.
[19]sigh.
[20]wholly stricken.
[21]are withered.
[22]Omit the.
[23]choice.
[24]reached.
[25]to.
[26]Or, plucked up.
[27]vintage shout is fallen on, etc.
[28]Or, the alarm is fallen upon, etc.
[29]moisten.
[30]shall not tread wine.
[31]when Moab appears, when it afflicts itself on, etc., when it come to, etc:
[32]so he shall not.
b) The later prophecy: more exact determination of the period of its fulfilment
Isa 16:13-14
13This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab 33since that time.
1434But 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 35feeble.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa 16:14. before is construed by some as designative of the part in which Moab suffers diminution, by others as the of association. The former construction does not answer because it restricts the diminution of Moab to a falling off of the dense population solely. Therefore I prefer with Delitzsch the second explanation according to which it is affirmed that Moabs glory, i.e., power and riches together with the crowded population shall be destroyed., comp. Isa 13:4; Isa 17:12; Isa 29:5, and often. stand together as in Isa 10:25. The expression occurs only in Job and Isaiah, comp. Isa 10:13; Isa 17:12; Isa 28:2. It seems as if in this place the Prophet has in mind Job 36:5, where it reads: .
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
1. Isaiah felt himself moved to repeat a prophecy against Moab, which was imparted to him at an earlier period, and to fix accurately the term of its fulfilment. For in precisely three years it will be all over with the glory of Moab, and only an inferior remnant of it will be left.
2. This is the wordfeeble.
Isa 16:13-14. There are instances elsewhere of a Prophet, receiving command not to publish a prophecy at once, but to treasure it up with a view to later publication (comp. Jer 8:1 sqq., Jer 30:8; Jer 51:60 sqq.) Here we have the reverse of this procedure. Isa., receives command now to publish a revelation that was imparted to him at an earlier date, with more particular designation of the term of its fulfilment that was before left undetermined. If the prophecy was not imparted to him but to another, why should he not name this other? Would Isaiah deck himself in the plumage of another? No one needed this less than he. Nor was it unnecessary to mention the name. For a nameless prophecy lacks all authority. At most it could be said Isaiah recognized the word as genuine word of prophecy, and published it under the seal of his name and authority, like Isa 2:2-4, he takes a prophecy of Micah for a foundation. But against this is the fact that this passage bears on the face of it too undeniably the stamp of the spirit, and language of Isaiah. Therefore, , aforetime, must only mean that some time before he had received this revelation. By is not indicated a definite measure of time. It is also elsewhere found opposed to the , now, Isa 48:7.Why the Prophet chose just that season for publishing designated by now, and what season this might be, we have not the means of knowing. In no case was the prophecy fulfilled in one act. Here too, as so often, the fulfilment is dispersed through many stages, which the Prophet himself does not distinguish. The end of the three years needed only to coincide with a fact which bore with it in principle the fall of Moab, to assure the relative fulfilment of the prophecy, for to the absolute fulfilment belongs of course the entire time following. It is quite possible that the Prophet received the prompting to the first prophecy against Moab (Isa 15:1 to Isa 16:12) from the event of the Moabites occupying the east Jordan territory of Gad and Reuben which was depopulated by Pul and Tiglath-Pileser (1Ch 5:6; 1Ch 5:26; 2Ki 15:29), although in our chapters there occurs no express reference to such an act of enmity against Israel (comp. VaihingerinHerz.R. Encycl. IX. p. 662). Isaiah published this prophecy later when the first act of the judgment was in prospect, that was to make a definitive end of the state of Moab. But we are not able to say wherein this first act consisted. Yet that it was only a first act, appears from the fact that more than a hundred years later, Jeremiah once again prophesied the judgment of destruction against Moab (Jeremiah 48).In three years, that should be reckoned like the years of an hireling, i.e., close, without abbreviation to his advantage, and without extension to his hurt (the expression occurs again Isa 21:16), in three years, therefore, Moabs glory was to be made insignificant (Isa 3:5).
Footnotes:
[33]at one time.
[34]Ana.
[35]Or, not many.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa 15:1. Although the Prophets belonged to the Jewish people, and were sent especially for the sake of the Jewish people, yet as God would that all men should come to repentance and the knowledge of the truth, therefore at times also the Prophets were called on to go out of these limits, and preach to other nations for a sign against them, that they might have nothing whereby to excuse themselves.Cramer.
2. On Isa 15:2 sqq. Against the wrath of God, neither much money and land, nor a well equipped nation, nor great and strong cities, nor flight from one place to another avail anything, but true repentance (Psa 33:16 sq.). Whoever forsakes God in good days, He will forsake again in misfortune, and then they can find nowhere rest or refuge (Pro 1:24 sqq.).Starke.
3. On Isa 15:7. What a man unjustly makes, that another unjustly takes.Starke.
4. On Isa 15:8 sq. God is wont, in His judgments, to proceed by degrees, to begin with lesser punishments, and proceed to the sorer (Lev 26:18; Lev 26:21; Lev 26:24; Lev 26:28). Although the godless escape one misfortune yet they soon fall into another.Starke.
5. On Isa 16:1 sqq. God can quickly bring it about that the people that once gave us sheltering entertainment must in turn, look to us for entertainment and a lurking place. For in the famine, Naomi and her husband and sons were pilgrims in the land of Moab (Rth 1:1). David procured a refuge for his parents among the Moabites (1Sa 22:3). Now their affairs are in so bad a case that they, who were able to afford shelter to others, must themselves go wandering among others; for human fortune is unstable.Cramer.
6. On Isa 16:4. God therefore threatens the Moabites, at the same time winning them to repentance, for He seeks not the death of the sinner (Eze 18:32). Thus it was still a season for repentance. For had the Moabites once again used hospitality, then again had mercy been extended to them.Cramer.
7. On Isa 16:5. Light arises to the pious in the darkness from the Gracious, Merciful and Just One. His heart is of good courage and fears not, till he sees his desire on his enemies (Psa 112:4; Psa 112:8). And as it went well with Jerusalem, while it went ill with the Moabites, thus shall Christs kingdom stand, and the enemies go down. For it is an everlasting kingdom, and the set up tabernacle of David shall surely remain (Amo 9:11)Cramer.
8. On Isa 16:6 sqq. Moab was a haughty nation, for it was rich and had everything abundant. For it commonly goes thus, that where one is full, there the heart is lifted up, and the legs must be strong that can bear good days.Cramer.
9. On Isa 16:9 sqq. Such must be the disposition of teachers and preachers, that for the sake of their office, they should and must castigate injustice for Gods sake, but with those that suffer the punishment they must be pitiful in heart. And therefore they must be the sins enemy, and the persons friend. Example: Micah announces the punishment to Jerusalem yet howls over it, testifies also his innermost condolence by change of clothing (Mic 1:8). Samuel announces destruction to Saul and has sorrow for him (1Sa 15:26; 1Sa 16:1). Likewise Christ announces every sort of evil to the Jews, and yet weeps bitterly (Luk 19:41). Paul preaches the frightful rejection of the Jews, and yet wishes it were possible to purchase their salvation by His eternal hurt (Rom 9:3).Cramer.
10. On Isa 16:14. Exceeding, and very great is the grace and friendliness of God, that in the midst of the punishments that He directs against the Moabites, He yet thinks on His mercy. For the Lord is good unto all and has compulsion on all His works (Psa 145:9).Cramer.
11. On Isa 16:12. Hypocritae, ubi, etc. Hypocrites, whose souls are filled with impious notions of God, are much more vehement in their exercises than the truly pious in the true worship of God. And this is the first retribution of the impious, that they are wasted by their own labor which they undertake of their own accord. Another is that those exercises are vain in time of need and profit nothing. Therefore their evils are born with the greatest uneasiness, nor do they see any hope of aid. On the contrary true piety, because it knows that it is the servant of Christ, suffers indeed externally, yet conquers the cross by the confidence which it has in Christ.Luther.
12. On Isaiah 16. Genuineness. [Barnes in loc. forcibly presents the argument for the gennineness of these prophecies afforded by the numerous mention of localities and the prediction of the desolations that would overtake them. In doing so he quotes also the language of Prof. Shedd. (Bib. Repos. Vol. VII., pp. 108 sq.). Barnes says: That evidence is found in the particularity with which places are mentioned; and in the fact that impostors would not specify places, any further than was unavoidable. Mistakes, we all know, are liable to be made by those who attempt to describe the geography of places which they have not seen. Yet here is a description of a land and its numerous towns, made nearly three thousand years ago, and in its particulars it is sustained by all the travellers of modern times. The ruins of the same towns are still seen; their places in general can be designated; and there is a moral certainty, therefore, that this prophecy was made by one who knew the locality of those places, and that, therefore, the prophecy is ancient and genuine.Every successive traveller who visits Moab, Idumea or Palestine, does something to confirm the accuracy of Isaiah. Towns bearing the same name, or the ruins of towns, are located in the same relative position in which he said they were and the ruins of once splendid cities, broken columns, dilapidated walls, trodden down vineyards, and half demolished temples proclaim to the world that those cities are what he said they would be, and that he was under the inspiration of God. See Keith on Prophecy, whose whole book is but the amplification of this argument. The modern traveller, who explores those regions with Isaiah in one hand and Robinsons Researches or Murrays Guide in the other, has a demonstration that Isaiah was as surely written with the accurate knowledge of those regions in their day of prosperity and populous cities, as that the accounts of Robinson, Tristram or Murrays Guide were written by those who only had a knowledge of their ruins and desolations.Tr.].
HOMILETICAL HINTS
1. On Isa 16:5. This text can be used on the Reformation Feast, at Synods, Missionary Anniversaries and similar occasions. The Throne of the Lord Jesus Christ. I. Its Foundation: Grace. II. The Substance of which it is made: Truth. III. The Place where it stands: The Tabernacle of David. IV. The Object, for whose attainment it is set up: Justice and Righteousness.
2. On Isa 16:6-14. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is the peoples destruction (Pro 14:34). Therefore the salvation of a people, rests on their knowing and serving the Lord. The example of Moab proves this. We learn from it: What a People must shun and do that salvation may be its portion. I. It must shun, a) pride (Isa 16:6); b) false and external worship (Isa 16:12). II. It must serve the Lord, who is a) a true, b) an almighty, c) a holy and just God.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
This chapter is a continuation of the burden of Moab. The prophet calls upon Moab, in her distresses, to be looking unto Him, who alone could save her, that should sit upon the throne of David, which is Christ; and in the neglect of this predicts her total ruin.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
It appears, that in the days of David, Moab was under tribute to Israel, and paid gifts 2Sa 8:2 . And it should seem, that Moab had at the time of the Prophet’s ministry, withdrawn her allegiance. Hence the Prophet admonisheth Moab to revive this payment. And as in the days of Mesha, king of Moab, this tribute was paid in lambs, the Prophet recommends Moab to do so now; 2Ki 3:4 , But is there not a spiritual lesson, of a much higher nature, intended by the Prophet’s direction to Moab? Israel was about to go into captivity, and Moab was under the heavy displeasure of the Lord: Now, said the prophet to Moab, offer up the lamb for an offering in sacrifice, with an eye to Christ. Seek pardon and peace through his blood; and in token of your sense of sin before God, be kind and affectionate to the Lord’s people; hide the outcasts of the Lord’s heritage, and look unto mount Zion: otherwise, Moab will be utterly spoiled, and scattered, and driven away, as a wandering bird.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Core of Prophecy
Isaiah 15-16
The fifteenth and sixteenth chapters give “the burden of Moab;” then follow the burdens, or oracles, of Damascus, Ethiopia, and Egypt. We have thus to deal with a vision which looks out upon all directions with a judgment which permits nothing to escape its scrutiny and verdict. The principle of prophecy is the same throughout; for want of applying this doctrine many men have become lost in prophetic detail and colour which really have next to nothing to do with the very core of the prophecy. All prophecy must be reduced to the action of a common principle, namely, that “righteousness exalteth a nation,” and that sin is a disgrace to any people. This message will of course be delivered by the various prophets with such illustrations as express individuality of genius, culture, and situation. We are apt, however, to be lost in the midst of the illustrations, and to forget that every one of the prophets has but a single message to deliver. It is the same also with all theological discourses and exhortations. All the sermons that have ever been preached are reducible to a few pages of written matter. The preacher really has nothing to say except that God wishes men to return to him, and that men, having returned to him, will be cultivated and strengthened in all righteousness and beneficence of disposition. We thus understand the meaning of the statement, “What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” That is to say, all criticism, all experience, all religious reflection may be summed up in this practical discipline. The same principle may be discovered in the economy of nature. We look out upon the landscape and see trees and flowers and meadows in a thousand various colours and forms, yet the whole of that abundance is reducible to a handful of seeds. It is important to remember all this, because we may actually miss the very point of the prophecy in the act of looking too closely into it. As we have often seen, this is the continual temptation, namely, that men are drawn away to the study of phenomena, illustration, or outward adornment, and thus are likely to neglect the inner and central meaning of the very things on which they are expending so much care. Take the parable of the Prodigal Son: we do not find the meaning of that parable in the fatted calf, the best robe, the ring for the hands or the shoes for the feet, or in the music and dancing; behind all these things lies the real meaning of the parable, namely, that a heart has accused itself of sin, and has come back to make its supplication to the offended father. That is all. That, indeed, is enough. It admits of amplification as an acorn does, but the amplification is not the parable in its kernel or essence; and it is perfectly possible to be looking at all the decoration, and admiring it from a merely literary aspect, and yet wholly to overlook the evangelical purport of the portrayal. When all prophecy is stripped of its accessories it simply comes to this: Say ye unto the righteous, It shall be well with him; and say unto the wicked, It shall be ill with him. God charges every prophet and apostle to deliver this message, but he allows prophet and apostle to choose their own way of doing so: they may amplify, or colour, or enlarge, or assert themselves in any legitimate way, so as to increase their emphasis; but they are never to forget that they have only one thing to say, and that is that God approves righteousness, and regards sin as an abominable thing. Thus the subject divides itself into two parts, first, the thing that is said, which is all-important; and, secondly, the manner in which it is said, which is secondary, though most useful. The prophets sought to impress the people through the medium of the imagination; the apostles sought to turn conscience into an instrument by which they could most effectively deliver the divine message, or discharge themselves of their holy responsibilities. Memory may be worked upon; all the images and interests of childhood may be summoned to the prophet’s aid; imagination may be so fired as to see ruin upon ruin coming swiftly in the track of sin; or persuasion may be employed for the purpose of luring the mind and heart back again to forsaken ways. In the choice of instruments, in the method of working, God allows the largest liberty to his prophets and apostles; but they are never to forget that they have only one thing to say, and that is, with the righteous it shall be well, and though hand join in hand the wicked shall not prosper. Looked at in the light of this principle, all these burdens or oracles are greatly simplified. We have next to nothing to do with the mere detail, yet even that detail may in some instances be useful for illustrative or confirmatory purposes. When we have read the pompous rhetoric, we have to ask ourselves the question, What does it all come to? and the answer to that enquiry is direct and simple, namely, it comes to this, that he who honours God shall be honoured, and whoso despises God shall be lightly esteemed, that is to say, shall be cut off, and driven away as with a whirlwind of contempt.
Let us now turn to the words of the prophet, and see how God acts in the matter of judgment and doom, so far as his method is revealed, or is illustrated by these most striking instances.
“The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence” ( Isa 15:1 ).
Here we see what havoc is wrought in the night-time. In the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; Mesha, king of Moab, boasted that he had taken Nebo by a night attack. The prophet refers to a castle on a hill which rises a thousand feet above the Dead Sea, and which was recognised as the strongest of the Moabite fortresses, and that castle is represented as having been attacked at night when resistance was most hopeless. We have seen again and again how God works in the night-time. Man has but a little day to work in, but God’s working hours never cease; man becomes weary with his day’s work, and lies down to rest, and whilst he is in slumber destruction swiftly overtakes him, so that the morning looks out upon a branch cut off, a city laid to waste and brought to silence. These are the perplexing events of life. What we can see and measure and understand may afford us an opportunity of treating with some measure of success; but when the darkness closes upon us, and we are imprisoned within its boundless walls, we know not from what quarter the enemy may come, or at what rate the dart is flying. Men should diligently consider this in musing upon the judgments of providence. They cannot always be awake, they cannot always be upon the walls defending the fortress; they must retire for a time to renew their strength, and whilst they are resting the enemy acquires additional power, and comes down upon their boasted masonry, and hurls it to the dust. Only the Christian man has confidence in the night-time. He says, He that keepeth me will not slumber nor sleep. God is against evil-workers, and it delights him to trouble them by nightly visits, so that in the morning they cannot recall their own plans and purposes, or give an account of that which has happened whilst their eyes have been closed in sleep. Are we only safe so long as we can use our own eyes and hands? Have we any safety in the darkness? Have we made no provision for the night-time? If not, then woe will fall upon us, and when the morning comes it will rise upon a scene of desolation. Remember what God said to the fool in the parable who was counting his riches, and forecasting the happy years which his soul was to enjoy “Thou fool! this night thy soul shall be required of thee.” Ponder deeply upon the moral of Night; the darkness should instruct us, remind us of our exhaustion, helplessness, and dependence upon others for security and rest, and should above all things lead us to put our confidence in him to whom the darkness and the light are both alike.
“He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off. In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly” ( Isa 15:2-3 ).
We have a picture of men going to old altars, and finding there nothing but silence. Bajith may be regarded as the temple of the Moabite god. The prophet sees men terror-stricken joining in solemn procession, and going up to the temples of their gods that they may seek relief for their heartache and bewilderment The Nebo which is mentioned in the text is not the mountain which bore that name, but a city named after the same deity. Mesha boasted of having taken Nebo, and slain there some seven thousand men. The point, however, with which we have to deal is that men go up to temples and altars, and where they expected companionship and music they find desertion and silence. The sorrow of those who mourn is represented by a very graphic figure “on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off.” The primary reference is probably to some sacrificial ceremony. At a very early period baldness was regarded as a symbol of intensest sorrow amongst Eastern nations. Baldness was forbidden to Israel, for the probable reason that it was identified with the sacrificial worship of heathen deities. The picture of lamentation is continued in the third verse. In Eastern countries, when men were afflicted with great sorrow, they betook themselves to the flat roofs of their houses, and there publicly and loudly wailed on account of their agony. So they were reduced to a state of helplessness; their very gods had forsaken them, and had thus revealed their own character as deities. It is under such circumstances namely, of desertion and sorrow that men find out what their religion is really worth. The Lord taunts all the heathen nations because their gods forsook them in the hour of calamity. One prophet exclaims, “Thy calf hath cast thee off, O Samaria.” The Lord himself is represented as going up and down throughout the temples of heathenism, mocking and taunting the gods with which they were filled, because they were merely ornamental or decorative gods, and were utterly without power to assuage the sorrow of the human heart. Whilst, however, all this is true of heathenism, there is a sense in which even Christian men may go back to old altars and find them forsaken. The Lord, the living One, the Father of the universe, is not pledged to abide at the altar for ever to await the return of the prodigal. In the very first book of the Bible we read, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man.” There is a day of grace, so measurement can be determined with sufficient nearness to excite alarm, lest its golden hours should be lost. When the door is once shut it will not be opened again. Men may so live that when they go to the sanctuary itself, where the sweetest gospel is preached in all its purity and nobleness, they find no comfort in the place that is devoted to consolation. The fault is to be found in themselves; they have sinned away their opportunities, they have enclosed themselves within walls of adamant, they have betaken themselves to the worship of their own vanity and the pursuit of their own selfish purposes, so that when they return to the house of God they find that the Lord has abandoned his temple. A graphic and humiliating picture is this, that men shall go up and down the church, and it shall be unto them as common ground; they shall call unto God out of their distress, and shall be answered only as with a burden of silence; they shall cry for light, and in reply to their invocation the darkness shall become sevenfold. None can withdraw so far as God. When he goes no one can cause him to return; the soul is, so to say, afflicted with a sense of vacancy, and the very emptiness into which it pours its prayer becomes an aggravation of its mockery and distress: “They shall call upon me, and I will not answer.” This is more than silence; it is silence aggravated, silence intensified, silence increased into burdensomeness. Preachers have no pleasure in dwelling upon these most distressing judgments; they only use them as the terrors of the Lord ought always to be used, as the basis of persuasive exhortation: Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?
“Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beerelim” ( Isa 15:7-8 ).
The picture is one of increasing distress. Abundance itself is made into a sign of poverty. The picture is that of men who are flying for their lives, and the fugitives take with them all they can gather together of household goods and other property, and bear it away in their trembling hands. This they were to carry away to the brooks of the valleys, to the torrent of the poplars some say, to the Arabians others, and to the wilderness others again. This was the point at which the fugitives passed the boundary of their own lines. Certain critics have said that the allusion to the Euphrates, which some have supposed to find here, is merely poetical. Whatever the particular local interpretation may be, we have to deal with the fact that God causes sorrow upon sorrow to fall upon those who have broken his covenant and neglected his altar. The prophet represents the cry as having gone round about, reaching on the one side to Eglaim (two pools), and on the other to Beerelim (the well of the Terebinths). The meaning would seem to be that the cry filled the whole circuit, and was indeed a wail of utterest distress and loneliness. The cry of the heart in its bitterest hours may be said to reveal an aspect of religious instinct which is characteristic of human nature. A sense of orphanage afflicts the soul, and overwhelms it: the universe seems to be empty: the very largeness of the liberty which is thus given to the creature to roam through an empty universe distresses him beyond endurance; could he but find a companion, could he overtake a friend, could he awaken an echo; but on he goes through world after world, and finds nothing but forsakenness, silence, desolation!
“Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion” ( Isa 16:1 ).
The peculiar expression of this verse has been regarded as referring to the practice of the Moabites in the days of Mesha, their king. This king of Moab had paid a tribute of sheep and lambs to the king of Israel, of which we read in 2Ki 3:4 ; when Mesha revolted the tribute ceased. The prophet is here regarded as calling on the Moabites to renew their tribute, but not to the northern kingdom, which was on the point of extinction, but to the king of Judah, as the true ruler of the land: “Send ye the lamb” send ye the tribute restore the custom of ancient times. The word “Sela” means rock, and may refer either to the city called Petra, or generally to the rock district of Edom and the confines of Moab. One critic has said, “In either case the special direction implies that the presence of the invaders described in chapter xv. would make it impossible to send the tribute across the fords of the Jordan, and that it must accordingly be sent by the southern route, which passes through Sela and the desert country to the south of the Dead Sea.”
“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” ( Isa 16:2 ).
The margin renders the expression, “as a wandering bird cast out of the nest” “the forsaken nest.” “The daughters of Moab” may either mean the women who were driven from their homes, or the whole population of towns and villages fluttering like birds in terror because their nests are spoiled, or like fledglings, not knowing, when their nest has been disturbed, whether to attempt to return to it or seek for themselves a new home. The picture represents the distress and bewilderment of the wrong-doer. He does not know whether to go back to the old door and knock at it in the hope that it may be opened to him again by some kindly hand, or to flee away into the land of darkness and silence: “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” When the wicked man sits down, he fears that he may fall into perdition; when he goes abroad, he is alarmed lest a lion should confront him; when he speaks, he is afraid that he should awaken a foe; when he holds his tongue, he is sure that his silence will be interpreted as a token of guilt: he lives a troubled life: all nature is against him, in its countless ministries and criticisms and judgments; and this is because the man is against himself, not having a friend in his own heart or a sympathiser in his own memory.
“Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. 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. 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” ( Isa 16:3-5 ).
The moral purpose of judgment is never concealed in the divine writings. God is always seeking to bring about the time when in mercy his throne shall be established, and when there shall sit upon it in truth one who will represent the ideal judgment and blessing of God. The fifth verse might be rendered, “In mercy shall a throne be established, and one shall sit upon it in truth.” The prophet has constantly kept before his mind the image of an ideal king. The ideal was partially fulfilled in Hezekiah, yet only partially; the prophet was sure one was coming who would fulfil it in its utmost meaning, and he steadfastly kept his eye on the bright day when God’s throne should be established among the nations, and his sceptre should be extended over all. God does not exist merely to destroy, nor does he rule only in order that he may humble and crush; his purpose is one of equity, righteousness, blessing, cultivation; he seems to edify the universe, to build it up, and make it stronger and stronger, and not to exercise his almightiness in merely changing its relations and humbling its ambitions. God may be said to be presiding over a complicated process of evolution, the purpose of that evolution being not to destroy, but to complete, to bring to maturity, and ripeness, and fruition, although in the process there must be a good deal of loss and off-shedding; but the great object of even that aspect of the divine economy is that that which remains shall be purer and stronger. Let us take this view of revolutions, tumults, wars, and all manner of national and international uproar and dislocation. When we count the killed and the wounded, when we estimate the cost of the battle, and the losses of all kinds which it inflicts, never let us withdraw our vision from the sublime purpose which providence is assuredly bringing about; the process is indeed disastrous in many instances, indeed, it is simply diabolical; in nearly all its aspects it ought to awaken horror and shame, and indeed it would be intolerable but for the assured confidence that the end will show that God has been in the matter establishing a kingdom of righteousness, and destroying an empire of darkness. It is long to wait for the issue; the night always seems longer than the day when men are in trouble and perplexity; if we lose our religious faith under such circumstances, then we shall never see the morning of explanation and peacefulness, but shall go down amid the darkness and thunders of the night My soul, hope thou continually in God: clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne: in all things he is making a way for himself; terrible, indeed, are the disasters which follow upon wickedness, yet if they could be lessened by one, or could be mitigated by any consolation that impaired the righteousness of God, they would be increased sevenfold.
“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. 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. Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh” ( Isa 16:9-11 ).
All gladness is stopped. The prophet himself begins to weep “with the weeping of Jazer” that is, with tears as genuine as Jazer itself. There is to be a “shouting for thy summer fruits” better rendered, “on thy summer fruits and on thy harvest a shout is fallen”; that is to say, not the shout of those who gather the vintage, and delight in the abundance of the wheatfields, but the malignant shout of the foe as he rushes upon the property of those against whom he is fighting, and rejoices to have captured their bread and their wine from them. The word “harvest” may be regarded as used comprehensively as including the vintage. Note the disastrous picture “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.” The work of desolation, though carried out by human hands, is represented as having been accomplished by God himself. The prophet is given to understand, and indeed he himself avows the fact, that whilst he cries over the desolation of others with true human sympathy and pity, the divine righteousness is revealed in that very desolation. We cannot even accept the terrible judgments of God without evincing human emotion. We are nowhere called upon so to exhibit religion as to rejoice in the judgments of others, and withhold our tears from their sufferings.
We have all this vividly and pathetically set forth in the case of Jesus Christ in his relation to Jerusalem: “When he came near the city he wept over it.” His tears did not interfere with the issue and consummation of judgment, yet the man could not look upon the scene without a sense of heartbreak, for Jerusalem had killed the prophets, and stoned them that were sent unto her, and she knew not the day of her visitation. When we see men taken away by the hand of the law, sentenced to lifelong imprisonment or sentenced to death, we may know that the sentence is just, and that no other sentence could have been equitably pronounced; and yet we follow them with unutterable painfulness of heart, because of what they might have been had they known the day of their visitation, had they seen the door of their opportunity, and had they been faithful to their divine stewardship. Thus God himself may be said to be weeping over those upon whom he has pronounced the sentence of eternal punishment. These are great mysteries, and are not to be explained adequately in words; we can only see somewhat of their meaning in the deepest experiences of our own life.
How awfully the judgments of God fall upon one another! Even whilst God’s heart sounds like a harp, because of his pity for those who suffer, still the judgment is not withheld, for it is due to the rest of the universe as well as to Jehovah himself that righteousness should be vindicated. The glory of Moab was contemned. History is silent as to the manner of the fulfilment of the prophecy. We know that the armies of Shalmaneser, or Sargon, swept as those of Pul and Tiglath-pileser had done over the region east of the Jordan, and so invaded Moab. The remnant was to be very small and feeble. It was not to be like the remnant of Israel which was the pledge of renewed strength; it was to be rather a symbol of utterest destruction and contempt; a reduction which meant a humiliation, a bringing-down to the extremest point of depletion, and leaving it there as a continual type of divine indignation. In the case of Damascus ( Isa 17:6 ), gleaning grapes were to be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches. The glory of Jacob was to be made thin, that is to say, was to be impoverished. The conqueror was to plunder the cities of Israel, after the manner in which the reaper cuts off the ears of corn. The prophet had probably often looked upon the reapers’ work in the valley of Rephaim or the valley of the Giants, a valley famous for its fertility, and therefore often attacked by the Philistines, and as he looked upon the Philistines cutting down the ample harvest, he found in their action a type of the way in which the Assyrian invader would accomplish his unholy purposes. Yet the prophet cannot give up the idea of a remnant. Something was to be left out of which a renewal was surely to come. First there was a beating, and then there was a shaking; but even after that he saw a few berries on the topmost bough. Then come words which are at once pregnant with warning as well as promise “At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel. And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.” The prophet prophesied their return to the true faith of Israel, but that was to be brought about by a bitter experience of the results of idolatry; men were to see how helpless were the idols they had worshipped, and yet how exacting, and in their distress and confusion were to cry out for the living God. The people were reminded in words full of pathos of their unfaithfulness “Because thou hast forgotten the God of thy salvation, and hast not been mindful of the rock of thy strength, therefore shalt thou plant pleasant plants, and shalt set it with strange slips…. But the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.” Thus God mocks the labours of those who imagine that nature is on their side, and that nature will after all supply them with a bountiful harvest God allows men to toil in the seedtime, to plough the land and sow the seed, and make all preparations for a rich return; and for a time it seems as if nature would be genial and kindly, and reward the toil of their hands; but in the day when there should be a harvest they find grief, and in the time when there should be shouting because of the vintage they find desperate sorrow. Thus we come upon fundamental principles once more: say ye to the righteous, It shall be well with him; say ye to the wicked, It shall be ill with him: though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not prosper: there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked: the way of transgressors is hard; these are the simple sententious truths which are amplified by poetic genius, and which are enforced by many a noble appeal. It does us good to revel in the sublime rhetoric of prophetic imagery and expostulation, and it also does us good to come back from all the thunder of eloquence, and to listen to the judgments of God in their simplest and sternest tones.
Prayer
Almighty God, we are all thine, for thou didst make us, and not we ourselves. We are the work of thy hands, we embody the thought of thy wisdom and love: are we not all made in the image and likeness of God? Thou knowest us altogether, and thou hast made replies to our need, for thou didst first create the hunger: blessed are they who hunger and thirst after the right things, after God, after rest; for they shall be filled; thou hast so made thy universe as to fill those who love thy law. Oh that we had hearkened to thy commandments! oh that we had walked in thy precepts, and made thy statutes our songs in the house of our pilgrimage! for then had our peace flowed like a river, and our righteousness had been as the waves of the sea. We bless thee that we know our shortcomings; thus we begin our penitence. Shame us into contrition; show us, thou Holy Spirit, what we might have been if we had followed in obedience and trust all the way of the living God; break us into utterest humiliation, and when thou hast thus subdued us and overwhelmed us and made us feel the agony of shame, then begin to comfort us with the Cross, with the gospel, with the agony of Christ, with the triumph and majesty of God the Son. Work in us all the good pleasure of thy will; give us to feel the thong of discipline, the laceration of judgment, and then leave us to healing and recovery and redemption, and all that is meant by motherliness and new birth and growth in life and love. Thou knowest us altogether, our need, our ambition, our desire, our hope; thou knowest the roots of our prayer, thou understandest the motive of our worship; yea, before our thought is shaped into speech, thou knowest it altogether. Then dwell with us according to thine own knowledge; judge us not with great rebukes, for who can stand before frowning heaven? but draw us near to the Cross, near to thyself, thou ever-healing Christ, and speak comfortably to us that we may become young and glad again. Make us all like little children; may we look wonderingly up into heaven until the star guides us to Bethlehem; when we are there we shall not stop short of Calvary. Let the Lord hear our prayer, and send us great answers of peace. Amen.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XXVII
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST IN ISAIAH
The relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy is that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. To him give all the prophets witness. All the scriptures, the law, the prophets, and the psalms, testify of him. And we are fools, and slow of heart to credit adequate testimony when we distrust any part of the inspired evidence.
Of the ancient prophets Isaiah was perhaps the most notable witness of the coming Messiah. An orderly combination of his many messianic utterances amounts to more than a mere sketch, indeed, rather to a series of almost life-sized portraits. As a striking background for these successive portraits the prophet discloses the world’s need of a Saviour, and across this horrible background of gloom the prophet sketches in startling strokes of light the image of a coming Redeemer.
In Isa 2:2-4 we have the first picture of him in Isaiah, that of the effect of his work, rather than of the Messiah himself. This is the establishment of the mountain of the Lord’s house on the top of the mountains, the coming of the nations to it and the resultant millennial glory.
In Isa 4:2-6 is another gleam from the messianic age in which the person of the Messiah comes more into view in the figure of a branch of Jehovah, beautiful and glorious. In sketching the effects of his work here the prophet adds a few strokes of millennial glory as a consummation of his ministry.
In Isa 7:14 he delineates him as a little child born of a virgin, whose coming is the light of the world. He is outlined on the canvas in lowest humanity and highest divinity, “God with us.” In this incarnation he is the seed of the woman and not of the man.
The prophet sees him as a child upon whom the government shall rest and whose name is “Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6 ). This passage shows the divinity of Christ and the universal peace he is to bring to the world. In these names we have the divine wisdom, the divine power, the divine fatherhood, and the divine peace.
In Isa 11:1-9 the prophet sees the Messiah as a shoot out of the stock of Jesse, i.e., of lowly origin, but possessing the Holy Spirit without measure who equips him for his work, and his administration wrought with skill and justice, the result of which is the introduction of universal and perfect peace. Here the child is presented as a teacher. And such a teacher! On him rests the seven spirits of God. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. He judges not according to appearances and reproves not according to rumors. With righteousness he judges the poor and reproves with equality in behalf of the meek. His words smite a guilty world like thunderbolts and his very breath slays iniquity. Righteousness and faithfulness are his girdle. He uplifts an infallible standard of morals.
In Isa 40:3-8 appears John the Baptist, whom Isaiah saw as a voice crying in the wilderness, preparing the way for the coming King.
In Isa 11:2 ; Isa 42:1 ; Isa 61:1-3 the prophet saw the Messiah as a worker in the power of the Spirit, in whom he was anointed at his baptism. This was the beginning of his ministry which was wrought through the power of the Holy Spirit. At no time in his ministry did our Lord claim that he wrought except in the power of the Holy Spirit who was given to him without measure.
In Isa 35:1-10 the Messiah is described as a miracle worker. In his presence the desert blossoms as a rose and springs burst out of dry ground. The banks of the Jordan rejoice. The lame man leaps like a hart, the dumb sing and the blind behold visions. The New Testament abounds in illustrations of fulfilment. These signs Christ presented to John the Baptist as his messianic credentials (Mat 11:1-4 ).
The passage (Isa 42:1-4 ) gives us a flashlight on the character of the Messiah. In the New Testament it is expressly applied to Christ whom the prophet sees as the meek and lowly Saviour, dealing gently with the blacksliding child of his grace. In Isa 22:22 we have him presented as bearing the key of the house of David, with full power to open and shut. This refers to his authority over all things in heaven and upon earth. By this authority he gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter one for the Jews and the other for the Gentiles who used one on the day of Pentecost and the other at the house of Cornelius, declaring in each case the terms of entrance into the kingdom of God. This authority of the Messiah is referred to again in Revelation:
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying. Fear not: I am the first and the last, and the Living one; and I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Rev 7:17
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphis write: These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and shutteth and none openeth. Rev 3:7
In Isa 32:1-8 we have a great messianic passage portraying the work of Christ as a king ruling in righteousness, in whom men find a hiding place from the wind and the tempest. He is a stream in a dry place and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
In Isa 28:14-18 the Messiah is presented to w as a foundation stone in a threefold idea:
1. A tried foundation stone. This is the work of the master mason and indicates the preparation of the atone for its particular function.
2. An elect or precious foundation stone. This indicates that the stone was selected and appointed. It was not self-appointed but divinely appointed and is therefore safe.
3. A cornerstone, or sure foundation stone. Here it is a foundation of salvation, as presented in Mat 16:18 . It is Christ the Rock, and not Peter. See Paul’s foundation in 1 Corinthians:
According to the grace of God which was given unto me; as a wise masterbuilder I laid a foundation; and another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1Co 3:10-11 .
In Isa 49:1-6 he is presented as a polished shaft, kept close in the quiver. The idea is that he is a mighty sword. In Revelation, Christ is presented to John as having a sharp, twoedged sword proceeding out of his mouth.
In Isa 50:2 ; Isa 52:9 f.; Isa 59:16-21 ; Isa 62:11 we have the idea of the salvation of Jehovah. The idea is that salvation originated with God and that man in his impotency could neither devise the plan of salvation nor aid in securing it. These passages are expressions of the pity with which God looks down on a lost world. The redemption, or salvation, here means both temporal and spiritual salvation salvation from enemies and salvation from sin.
In Isa 9:1 f. we have him presented as a great light to the people of Zebulun and Naphtali. In Isa 49:6 we have him presented as a light to the Gentiles and salvation to the end of the earth: “Yea, he saith, It is too light a thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.”
In Isa 8:14-15 Isaiah presents him as a stone of stumbling: “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many shall stumble thereon, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.”
The prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection are found in Isa 50:4-9 ; Isa 52:13-53:12 . In this we have the vision of him giving his “back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair.” We see a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His visage is so marred it startled all nations. He is a vicarious sacrifice. The chastisement of the peace of others is on him. The iniquity of others is put on him. It pleases the Father to bruise him until he has poured out his soul unto death as an offering for sin.
The teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews is his teaching concerning the “holy remnant,” a favorite expression of the prophet. See Isa 1:9 ; Isa 10:20-22 ; Isa 11:11 ; Isa 11:16 ; Isa 37:4 ; Isa 37:31-32 ; Isa 46:3 . This coincides with Paul’s teaching in Romans 9-11.
In Isa 32:15 we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit: “Until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness become a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest,” and in Isa 44:3 : “For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and streams upon the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring.”
In Isa 11:10 he is said to be the ensign of the nations: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, that standeth for an ensign of the peoples unto him shall the nations seek; and his resting place shall be glorious.”
Isa 19:18-25 ; Isa 54:1-3 ; Isa 60:1-22 teach the enlargement of the church. The great invitation and promise are found in Isa 55 .
The Messiah in judgments is found in Isa 63:1-6 . Here we behold an avenger. He comes up out of Edom with dyed garments from Bozra. All his raiment is stained with the blood of his enemies whom he has trampled in his vengeance as grapes are crushed in the winevat and the restoration of the Jews is set forth in Isa 11:11-12 ; Isa 60:9-15 ; Isa 66:20 . Under the prophet’s graphic pencil or glowing brush we behold the establishment and growth of his kingdom unlike all other kingdoms, a kingdom within men, a kingdom whose principles are justice, righteousness, and equity and whose graces are faith, hope, love, and joy, an undying and ever-growing kingdom. Its prevalence is like the rising waters of Noah’s flood; “And the waters prevailed and increased mightily upon the earth. And the water prevailed mightily, mightily upon the earth; and all the high mountains, that are under the whole heavens, were covered.”
So this kingdom grows under the brush of the prophetic limner until its shores are illimitable. War ceases. Gannenta rolled in the blood of battle become fuel for fire. Conflagration is quenched. Famine outlawed. Pestilence banished. None are left to molest or make afraid. Peace flows like a river. The wolf dwells with the lamb. The leopard lies down with the kid. The calf and the young lion walk forth together and a little child is leading them. The cow and the bear feed in one pasture and their young ones are bedfellows. The sucking child safely plays over the hole of the asp, and weaned children put their hands in the adder’s den. In all the holy realms none hurt nor destroy, because the earth is as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the fathomless ocean is full of water. Rapturous vision! Sublime and ineffable consummation! Was it only a dream?
In many passages the prophet turns in the gleams from the millennial age, but one of the clearest and best on the millennium, which is in line with the preceding paragraph, Isa 11:6-9 : “And the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together: and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.”
The prophet’s vision of the destruction of death is given in Isa 25:8 : “He hath swallowed up death for ever; and the Lord Jehovah will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the reproach of his people will he take away from all the earth: for Jehovah hath spoken it,” and in Isa 26:19 : “Thy dead shall live; my dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead.”
The clearest outlines of the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained” are to be found in Isa 25:8 , and in two passages in chapter Isa 66 : Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn over her; that ye may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream: and ye shall suck thereof; ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees, as one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And ye shall see it, and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like the tender grass: and the hands of Jehovah shall be known toward his servants ; and he will have indignation against his enemies. Isa 66:10-14
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah. Isa 66:22-23
QUESTIONS
1. What is the relation between the New Testament Christ and prophecy?
2. What can you say of Isaiah as a witness of the Messiah?
3. What can you say of Isaiah’s pictures of the Messiah and their background?
4. Following in the order of Christ’s manifestation, what is the first picture of him in Isaiah?
5. What is the second messianic glimpse in Isaiah?
6. What is Isaiah’s picture of the incarnation?
7. What is Isaiah’s picture of the divine child?
8. What is Isaiah’s vision of his descent, his relation to the Holy Spirit, his administration of justice, and the results of his reign?
9. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah’s herald?
10. What is the prophet’s vision of his anointing?
11. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a miracle worker?
12. What is the prophet’s vision of the character of the Messiah?
13. What is the prophet’s vision of him as the key bearer?
14. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a king and a hiding place?
15. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah as a foundation stone?
16. What is the prophet’s vision of him as a polished shaft?
17. In what passages do we find the idea of the salvation of Jehovah, and what the significance of the idea?
18. What is Isaiah’s vision of the Messiah as a light?
19. Where does Isaiah present him as a stone of stumbling?
20. What is the prophet’s vision of his maltreatment and rejection?
21. What is the teaching of Isaiah on the election of the Jews?
22. Where do we find Isaiah’s teaching on the pouring out of the Holy Spirit?
23. Where is he said to be the ensign of the nations?
24. What passages teach the enlargement of the church?
25. Where is the great invitation and promise?
26. Where is the Messiah in judgment?
27. What passages show the restoration of the Jews?
28. What is the prophet’s vision of the Messiah’s kingdom?
29. What is the prophet’s vision of the millennium?
30. What is the prophet’s vision of the destruction of death?
31. What is the prophet’s vision of “Paradise Regained?”
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
XIV
THE BOOK OF ISAIAH PART 6
Isaiah 13-23
This section is called “The Book of Foreign Prophecies,'” because it treats of the foreign nations in their relation to Judah and Israel.
There are ten foreign nations here mentioned, as follows: Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Ethiopia, Egypt, Dumah, Arabia, and Tyre, with second prophecies against Egypt, Ethiopia, and Babylon, and one thrown in against Israel, Judah) Jerusalem, and Shebna, each. This Shebna was probably a foreigner. He was to be degraded from his high office and Eliakim was to take his place.
The radical critics assign to this section a much later date because of the distinctly predictive prophecies contained in it. There is no question that it reflects the condition of Babylon long after the time of Isaiah, and unless one believes heartily in supernatural revelations, the conclusion that it was written much later than the time of Isaiah, is unavoidable. The author accepts it as a prophecy of Isaiah and holds tenaciously to the theory of the unity of the book.
In Isaiah 13-23 the prophet gives us a series of judicial acts on various surrounding peoples, each of whom embodied some special form of worldly pride or ungodly self-will. But Asshur-Babel was conspicuous above all the rest. After fourteen centuries of comparative quiet, she was now reviving the idea of universal empire, notwithstanding the fact that Nimrod’s ruined tower stood as a perpetual warning against any such attempt. This was the divine purpose, that God might use it for his own instrument to chastise, both the various Gentile races, and especially his own people, Israel. This was the “hand that is stretched out upon all the nations” (Isa 14:26 ), to break up the fallow ground of the world’s surface, and prepare it for the good seed of the kingdom of God. Not only are these chapters (Isaiah 13-23) thus bound together inwardly, but they are also bound together outwardly by a similarity of title. We cannot detach Isaiah 13-14 from what has gone before without injury to the whole series, because
1. It is only in these chapters that we have the full antithesis to the mighty overflowing of the Assyrian deluge in Isaiah 7-8, and Isa 10 .
2.Isa 12 is a fit introduction to Isaiah 13-14, in that the deliverance of Zion, so briefly alluded to in Isa 12 , requires a further view of the enemies’ prostration, which these chapters supply. In Isa 14:2-27 we find the song of triumph analogous to Exo 15 , rather than in Isa 12 .
3.Isa 14:27 seems to be a fit termination of the section which began with Isa 7:1 .
4. There are many verbal links that connect these chapters with the preceding chapters. For example, take Isa 10:25 and Isa 13:3 ; Isa 10:27 and Isa 13:5 ; Isa 9:18 and Isa 13:13 , et multa al.
5. The complete cutting off of Ephraim foretold in Isa 7 requires a fuller revelation of the divine purpose concerning Asshur-Babylon, as its counterpoise and this is found in Isaiah 13-14.
From Isa 14:28 we infer that this prophecy was written toward the end of Ahaz’s reign. At that time spiritual darkness had won the conquest of the whole world. The “lamp of God” was now dark in his tabernacle. Hoshea, king of Israel, was the vassal of Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, and Ahaz had long ago surrendered himself to Tiglath-pileser. So the light of prophecy, with such a background, was very luminous now. Assyria was at this time at the height of her power, but Isaiah tells with distinctness that Assyria shall be broken in pieces in the Holy Land, and it is certain that Assyria received just such a blow in the defeat of Sennacherib’s army.
The prophet also saw the doom of Babylon, the city which was at this time the real center of the empire. He even mentions the instruments of the destruction, commencing with the Medes, who were not at this time an independent nation. Nothing can be more definite than Isaiah’s statements as to the absolute ruin of the “Golden City,” which prediction at the time must have seemed to violate all probability. Yet we have abundant evidence that it was all fulfilled, both regarding the nearer event of its capture by the Medes and also the ultimate desolation of its site.
The significant word with which each of these prophecies opens is the word “burden” which has here its original and ordinary meaning. This original meaning of the word seems to be supplied from 2Ki 9:25 , where it is used to mean the divine sentence on Ahab: “Jehovah laid this burden upon him.” The appropriateness of its use here is in the fact that the prophecy to which it is prefixed is usually denunciatory in character, and always so in Isaiah. It is easy to see that it here means a grievous threatening oracle. It is claimed by some that this word is used elsewhere in a good sense, as in Zec 12:1 and Mal 1:1 , but upon close examination of these passages in their connection it will be seen that they are denunciatory and that the word has its primary meaning in these instances also.
The reason that Babylon was given first consideration among the enemies of God’s people seems to be the fact that a divine revelation came to Isaiah at this early date (725 B.C.) showing that Babylon was to be the great enemy to be feared, as the ultimate destroyer of Judah and Jerusalem, the power that would carry the Jewish people into captivity. The main points of the denunciation against her are as follows:
1. The instruments of God’s destruction of Babylon are the far-away nations, which God himself will assemble for this work of destruction (Isa 13:2-5 ).
2. The vivid description of the sweeping devastation, which is all inclusive in the objects of its vengeance (Isa 13:6-16 ).
3. The Medes are named as the instruments to begin this work, and the permanent effects of the desolation to follow (Isa 13:17-22 ).
4. The reason for all this is God’s favor to Jacob who had been oppressed by these foreigners (Isa 14:1-2 ).
5. Israel’s parable of exaltation over Babylon reciting their oppressive work and God’s intervention which humbled Babylon and exalted Israel (Isa 14:3-20 ).
6. The final announcement of Babylon’s doom and the permanency of its desolation (Isa 14:21-23 ).
The prophecy against Assyria under this first burden consists of God’s oath of assurance to his people that his purpose already foretold concerning Assyria should stand. Babylon in the first part of the prophecy is presented as the most formidable enemy of God’s people, but it had not yet become so fearful then. But Assyria was their dread at this time. So Isaiah comes nearer home to meet their present need and assures them that they need not fear the Assyrian for God’s purpose concerning him should stand.
There are several things in this burden that call for special consideration:
1. In Isa 13:2-5 the prophet speaks of the mustering of the host to battle as if it were then in the process of assembling, indicating the vividness of it all to the prophet’s mind as present, though it was only a vision of the future.
2. In Isa 13:3 Jehovah speaks of his “consecrated ones,” clearly referring to the Medes and Persians. Now in what sense were they “consecrated ones”? It means that they were the instruments of his purpose, set apart for the specific work of executing his judgment. They were consecrated, or set apart, by the Lord for this work though they themselves were ungongcious of the function they performed. There are many illustrations of such use of men by the Lord recorded in the Scriptures, two notable examples of which are Cyrua and Caesar Augustus.
3. In Isa 13:10 there is a reference to the darkening of the heavenly luminaries. This is an expression of Nature’s sympathy with the Lord. When he is angry, the lights of the heavens grow dark, as at the crucifixion of our Lord, and as it will be at the end of the world. So it is often the case in the time of great judgments. There seems also to be a special fitness in the expression here in view of the importance attached to the signs of the heavenly bodies by the Chaldeans at this time.
4. The desolation described in Isa 13:20-22 is witnessed by every traveler of today who passes the site of this once glorious and proud Babylon.
5. In Isa 14:9-11 we have the glad welcome given to these Babylonians in their entrance into the lower spirit world. The inhabitants of this region are represented as rising up to greet and welcome these unfortunate Babylonians. The idea of personal identity and continued consciousness after death is here assumed by the prophet.
6. In Isa 14:12 there is a back reference to the fall of Satan who, before his fall, was called Lucifer. Here Babylon in her fall is represented as Lucifer) the bright star of the morning from heaven. Our Saviour refers to the incident of Satan’s falling also in Luk 10:18 , and we have a like picture of him in Rev 12:7-9 , all of which must be considered in the light of the analogue of Satan’s fall when he sinned and was cast out of heaven.
7. In Isa 14:25 Jehovah says he will “break the Assyrian in his land,” which refers to the destruction of Sennacherib’s host from which Assyria never recovered. In Isa 14:26 the Lord explains that Assyria was the hand that he had stretched out for chastisements upon the nations of the world as they were related to Judah and Israel.
The series of burdens from Isa 14:28-23:18 may be viewed as an unrolling of the “purpose concerning the whole earth,” just mentioned in Isa 14:26 . Though the prophet stands on his watchtower and turns his eye around to the different points of the horizon and surveys the relation in which each nation stands to the advancing judgment, his addresses to the nations must be thought of as chiefly meant for the warning and comfort of Israel, which had too often adopted the sins of those whom she was meant to sanctify.
The burden of prophecy against Philistia is a warning to Philistia, following closely upon the death of Tiglath-pileser which brought great rejoicing to Philistia, because they thought the rod that smote them was broken. The prophet here reminds them that out of the serpent’s root there would come forth the adder. In other words, there would arise from Assyria an enemy far more deadly than the one who had been cut off, and instead of being a mere serpent he would be a fiery flying serpent. The reference is, probably, to Sargon who took Ashdod, made the king of Gaza prisoner and reduced Philistia generally to subjection. At this time the poor of Israel would feed safely, but Philistia was to be reduced by famine and the remnant slain by the Assyrians who are here referred to as “a smoke out of the north.” Then God’s people will answer Philistia’s messengers that Jehovah had founded Zion and in her the afflicted would take refuge.
Some critics say that the bulk of the prophecy against Moab (Isa 15:1-16:12 ) is quoted by Isaiah from an earlier writer, and that he merely modified the wording and added a few touches here and there. To this we answer that speculations of this kind are in the highest degree uncertain and lead to no results of any importance whatever. What matters it whether Isaiah quoted or not? There is no proof that he did and it makes no difference if be did. The author will contend that Isaiah was the original author of these two chapters until the critics produce at least some proof that he quoted from an earlier author.
A brief outline of these two chapters is as follows:
1. A vivid picture of Moab’s overthrow (Isa 15 ).
2. Moab exhorted to flee to the house of David for shelter, but refuses to make the right use of his affliction (Isa 16:1-12 ).
3. A confirmation of the prophecy and its speedy fulfilment (Isa 16:13-14 ).
For the picture of Moab’s overthrow the reader may read Isa 15 . It is a vivid account of this overthrow and cannot be well improved upon.
In Isa 16:1-5 we have an exhortation to Moab to take refuge with the house of David. Perhaps there is here an implication that Moab is not safe in his relation to Israel but that there would be safety for him if he would take shelter under the wings of Judah. Anyhow, there is a promise to Moab that he might find shelter and security, if only he would comply with the conditions herein set forth. But the pride of Moab was the cause of his downfall, which was utterly complete and accompanied by great wailing (Isa 16:6-8 ).
The prophet was moved to pity and tears for Moab upon witnessing such desolation and sadness as should come to this people. No gladness, no joy, no singing, and no joyful noise was to be found in his borders (Isa 16:9-12 ). Such a prophetic sight of Jerusalem made Jeremiah the weeping prophet and moved the blessed Son of God to tears. “Your house is left unto you desolate” is the weeping wail of our Lord as he saw the sad fate of the Holy City.
The time set here by the prophet for the humiliation of Moab is exactly three years, strictly measured, as a hireling would measure the time for which he would receive his pay, the fulfilment of which cannot be determined with certainty because we do not have the exact date of the prophecy, nor do we know which one of the different invasions that would fulfil the conditions is really meant. Considering the date given in Isa 14:28 we may reasonably conclude that the date of this prophecy was in the first or second year of Hezekiah’s reign, and may have had its fulfilment by Shalmaneser, who besieged Samaria in the fourth year of the reign of Hezekiah, sending a detachment to these eastern parts of the country.
It is said that Damascus has been destroyed and rebuilt oftener than any other Eastern city. This may account for the fact that Damascus, treated so severely by Tiglath-pileser, was again in a position to attract the attention of Shalmaneser when he advanced against Samaria. In the time of Jeremiah the city had been rebuilt, but we do not hear of any more kings of Damascus.
The burden of prophecy against Damascus includes two prophecies concerning Israel and Judah and one concerning Ethiopia, and the main points of this prophecy are the ruin of Damascus (Isa 17:1-3 ) ; only a remnant left to Jacob who would look to Jehovah, because he had forgotten the God of his salvation (Isa 17:4-11 ) ; the multitude of the heathen invaders suddenly destroyed (Isa 17:12-14 ) ; Ethiopia’s interest in these movements, and her homage to Jehovah according to which she sends a present to him (Isa 18:1-7 ).
There are several things in this burden that need special attention:
1. The language referring to the overthrow of Damascus is not to be pressed too far. Damascus was besieged and temporarily destroyed, but it revived. See Jer 49:23-27 ; Eze 27:18 ; and the New Testament references. Damascus is still a city of importance.
2. In Isa 17:12-14 we have an account of the sudden destruction of the Assyrian army which was literally fulfilled in the destruction of Sennacherib’s host (2Ki 19:35-37 ).
3. There is some controversy as to what nation is referred to in Isa 18:2 ; Isa 18:7 , but it is surprising that there should be such controversy, since the evidence is overwhelming that the nation here mentioned was Ethiopia. This is a region south of Egypt and far up the Nile. The inhabitants, though black, were not ignorant and weak, but a nation of vigor and influence in the days of Isaiah. Cf. the Abyssinians.
4. The act of homage to Jehovah by Ethiopia as mentioned in Isa 18:7 is not given and therefore not easily determined and can be ascertained only with some probability. There is evidence that Ethiopia was intensely interested in the downfall of Sennacherib which is prophesied in this connection, therefore, it is probable that the present was sent to Jehovah in connection with Ethiopia’s alliance with Israel which existed at this time. It is true that the conditions in Egypt at the time Isaiah gave his prophecy against it were not favorable. The government and idolatry were most securely established and the things predicted seemed most improbable, from the human point of view.
Then what the reason for a prophecy against Egypt at such a time as this? The men of Ephraim and some in Judah were at this time bent on throwing themselves upon Egypt for protection against Assyria. This was both wrong in itself and impolitic. So Isaiah was hedging against such alliance by showing the coming humiliation of the power to which they were looking for aid.
There was an element of hope in this prophecy for the Israelites. The tender sympathy expressed for penitent Egypt in Isa 19:20-23 must have assured the Israelites that if they would return to their God, he would be entreated of them and heal them.
The prophecy against Egypt in Isa 19:1-4 is a prophecy relating to the political condition of Egypt, in which Jehovah will cause civil strife and confusion, destroying the power of their idols and the wisdom of their wise, and will place over them one who is a “cruel Lord” and a “fierce king.”
The fulfilment of this prophecy is found in the internal strife in Egypt during the days of Tirhakah and Psammetichus iii the early part of the seventh century B.C. and the conquering of Egypt by Esar-haddon, who was decidedly a “cruel prince” and treated Egypt with severity, splitting it up into a number of governments, yet this prophecy has been referred to Sargon, to Cambyses, and to Darius Ochus, and some think it is applicable to the successive rulers of Egypt, generally, viz: Chaldean, Persian, Greek, Roman, Saracen, and Turkish. But this is not probable.
The picture in Isa 19:5-10 is a picture of the distressful condition of Egypt while passing through the trying ordeal just prophesied. Then follows (Isa 19:11-15 ) a picture of the confusion of the wise men of Egypt as their wisdom is turned into folly.
There are five happy effects of this judgment on Egypt, in stages which reach a happy climax:
1. The Egyptians are stricken with fear because of Jehovah and because of the land of Judah, similar to the fear that came upon them when they were visited with the ten plagues (Isa 19:16-17 ).
2. Egypt shall learn the language of Canaan and swear unto Jehovah. The language here referred to is the Hebrew which was spoken largely in the country after the introduction of so many Jews there. The “five cities” represents, perhaps, the low and weakened condition of Egypt after the judgment is visited upon it (Isa 19:18 ).
3. The worship of Jehovah is established in Egypt (Isa 19:19-22 ). This was literally fulfilled in the building of the temple at Leontopolis by Onias IV, with special license from Ptolemy Philometor, to whom he is said to have quoted this passage from Isaiah. Here was offered sacrifice to Jehovah and the oblation, according to this prophecy. Through the Jewish law and influence the idolatry of Egypt was overthrown and they were prepared for the coming Saviour, whom they received through the evangelization of the missionaries in the early centuries of the Christian era.
4. The consequent union of Egypt and Assyria in worship (Isa 19:23 ).
5. The unity and equality of the nations in blessing. This and the preceding stage of this happy effect finds a primary fulfilment in the wide-spread influence of the Jews over Syria and the adjacent countries under the Syro-Macedonian kings, as well as over Egypt under the Ptolemies. But a larger fulfilment is to be found in the events at Pentecost, which sent devout men back from Jerusalem into Egypt and Libya on one side, and into Parthis, Media, Elam, and Mesopotamia, on the other, to tell how God, having raised up his Son Jesus (the Prince and Saviour), had sent him to bless the Jews first, and in them all nations.
The prophecy of Isa 20 is a prophecy against Egypt and Ethiopia, who were the hope of Israel in alliance, to be delivered from Assyria, which the prophet labored to prevent. It consists, (1) of the historical circumstance. This is related in Isa 20:1 which gives the date at the year in which Tartan came to Ashdod, etc. (2) Isaiah’s symbolical action and its meaning (Isa 20:2-4 ). This was a common occurrence with the prophets. Here the action symbolized the humiliating captivity of Egypt and Ethiopia which was fulfilled either by Sennacherib or by Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal. (3) The reason for this visitation upon Egypt and Ethiopia, viz: Israel looked to these powers instead of Jehovah and they could not be blessed while they were in alliance with backslidden Israel. So the Lord was taking care of Israel in his dealings with Egypt and Ethiopia.
“The burden of the wilderness of the sea” (Isa 21:1-10 ), is a prophecy against Babylon and contains a vivid description of the marshalling of forces against Babylon for her destruction, the overwhelming sympathy of the prophets, the expelling of sensual security, instructions to the Lord’s watchman, the fulfilment, and the final declaration. The forces marshalled for her destruction are the Medes and Elamites under Cyrus and the prophet leaves us not in doubt that the reference here is to Babylon. There can be no mistake that this prophecy has its fulfilment in the capture of Babylon by Cyrus. All this is because of her relation to Israel and therefore the encouragement of God’s people and the glory of the one eternal Jehovah.
“The burden of Dumah” is generally conceded to be a prophecy against Edom, because the word “Seir” occurs in it as the place from which the one is represented as calling to the prophet. The word “Dumah” means silence and is used allegorically, “of the Silent Land” of the dead (Psa 94:17 ), and refers here, perhaps, to the silent or low state of Edom at this time. In this burden someone is represented as calling to the prophet out of Seir, “Watchman, what of the night?” To which the watchman replied, “There is a brighter day ahead, but it is to be followed by a period of darkness for you; if you will repent, you may do so.”
The prophecy against Arabia is a prophecy of the desolation to come upon Arabia and her borders, deranging their commerce and causing flight and privation, which would be accomplished in one year. The date of the prophecy is not very well determined but the fulfilment is found in Sargon’s expedition into Arabia during which the caravans had to leave their regular routes and “take to the woods.”
“The burden of the valley of vision” (Isa 22:1-25 ) is a prophecy against Jerusalem in which we have set forth a vivid picture of the revellings of the city (Isa 22:1-4 ) ; then a description of an outside foreign army threatening the city, causing surprise, and a hasty preparation for the siege (Isa 22:5-11 ); instead of humbling themselves, putting on sackcloth and weeping, and appealing to God’s mercy, they try to drown care in drink and sensual enjoyment (Isa 22:12-14 ) ; then follows the degrading of Shebna from his high office and the placing of Eliakim in his position (Isa 22:15-25 ). The events herein described were fulfilled either in Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem or in that of Nebuchadnezzar. There are some difficulties in fitting this prophecy to either siege and in matters where we have such limited knowledge it does not become us to be dogmatic. Some parts fit one better, and other parts fit the other better, but all things considered, the author is inclined to believe that this prophecy refers to the Assyrian invasion.
There are three distinct paragraphs given to the burden of Tyre (Isa 22:13 ): (1) The greatness of Tyre as a city of commerce and the wail of distress for the fate of the city; (2) Jehovah’s purpose to cause this destruction and stain the pride of all her glory; (3) Babylon, an example of what will come to Tyre and the promise of Tyre’s returned prosperity after seventy years. After this period Tyre will revive and be of service to Jehovah’s people. The first part of the prophecy fits into the history which shows the many reverses of this city and may refer to the Babylonian siege specifically. The last part of the prophecy may have its fulfilment in the orders of Cyrus to the Tyrians to rebuild the Temple, and the Tyrian ships were of incalculable aid in disseminating Judaism before Christ and Christianity since Christ.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the section (Isaiah 13-23) called and what the appropriateness of the title?
2. What the foreign nations mentioned in this book of prophecies and what additional prophecies thrown in?
3. What the position of the radical critics relative to this section?
4. What the connection between the parts of this section?
5. What the special connection between Isaiah 13-14 and the preceding section?
6. What the date of the prophecy in Isaiah 13-14, what the conditions both in Israel and Judah, and also in the other nations, at this time, and what the sure light of prophecy in this dark hour?
7. What the significant word with which each of these prophecies opens, what its meaning, and what its appropriateness in this connection?
8. Why was Babylon given by the prophet first consideration among the enemies of God’s peoples and what the main points in this denunciation against her?
9. What the prophecy against Assyria under this first burden and why put in here?
10. What the special things to be noted in this burden?
11. How may the series of burdens from Isa 14:28 and Isa 23:18 be viewed and what the object of the warnings?
12. What the burden of prophecy against Philistia and how is the destructive work upon the country here described?
13. What say the critics of this prophecy against Moab (Isa 15:1-16:12 ) and what the reply?
14. Give a brief outline of these two chapters.
15. Give the picture of Moab’s overthrow?
16. What the exhortation and promise to Moab in. Isa 16:1-5 ?
17. What the cause of the downfall that was to follow?
18. How did this sight of the future destruction of Moab affect the prophet and what examples of other such sympathy in the Bible?
19. What the time fixed for the humiliation of Moab and when its fulfilment?
20. What is a remarkable characteristic of Damascus, and for what does it account?
21. What does this burden against Damascus include and what the main points in it?
22. What are the things in this burden that need special attention?
23. What the conditions in Egypt at the time Isaiah gave his prophecy against it?
24. What is the reason for a prophecy against Egypt at such a time as this?
25. What element of hope in this prophecy for the Israelites?
26. What the prophecy against Egypt in Isa 19:1-4 and when was it fulfilled?
27. What the picture in Isa 19:5-10 ?
28. What is set forth in Isa 19:11-15 ?
29. What the important and happy effects of this judgment on Egypt?
30. What the prophecy of Isa 20 and what its contents?
31. What “The burden of the wilderness of the sea” (Isa 21:1-10 ), and what its striking points?
32. What is “The burden of Dumah” and what its interpretation?
33. What the prophecy against Arabia and when the fulfilment?
34. What “The burden of the valley of vision” (Isa 22:1-25 ), and what the salient points in the prophecy?
35. What the outline of the burden of Tyre and what the salient points of the interpretation?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Isa 16:1 Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
Ver. 1. Send ye the lamb. ] For prevention of those lions, Isa 15:9 submit to Hezekiah, your right liege lord, a lamb, i.e., your appointed number of tribute lambs, in token of homage. 2Sa 8:2 2Ki 3:4 But especially make your peace with God, the Ruler of the whole world, 1Ch 29:12 by paying him homage and fealty, that there may be a lengthening of your tranquillity.
From Selo in the wilderness.
a Strabo, lib. xvi.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Isaiah Chapter 16
Our chapter opens with a call to Moab to send the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela in the wilderness unto the mount of the daughter of Zion: “Send the lamb to the ruler of the land from the rock in (or, to) the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. And it shall be, as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, the daughter of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon” (vv. 1, 2). I see not the smallest reason to justify the notion of an allusion to the lamb as the well-known type of the Messiah, still less that He is here spoken of as the Lamb, the Ruler of the earth, as if we were reading the Revelation. This appears to be a reference to their ancient tribute to Israel. They were subdued by David of old, and they sent him gifts. “And he smote Moab and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive; and [so] the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts” (2Sa 8:2 ). Later on in the history, we find that the king of Moab was a sheep-master, and used to render to the king of Israel the tribute of 100,000 lambs, and as many rams with the wool (2Ki 3:4 , 2Ki 3:5 ). The prophet seems here to remind Moab of its obligation; otherwise their daughters must prepare for still greater calamities to come.
“Take counsel, execute judgement; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts, discover not him that wandereth. 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 oppressor is consumed out of the land. And in mercy shall the throne be established; and one shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgement, and hasting righteousness” (vv.3-5). The prophet, in his second counsel, touches on the dire offence of Moab in Jehovah’s eyes. Had he sheltered the outcasts of Israel? or had he taken advantage of their distressful flight to smite and betray them? The prophetic Spirit looks through Hezekiah to the true Son of David, Who shall reign in righteousness when the last oppressive spoiler has come to his end. For who can have overlooked that in the vast theatre of judgement we see in Isaiah 24, 25, etc., that Moab has a conspicuously affecting place? (Isa 25:10-12 ). To confine it to the past is far from spiritual intelligence.
The verses that follow (6-12) detail once more the pride of Moab and his most humiliating downfall, when, spite of his arrogance, “Moab shall howl for Moab; every one shall howl,” and the country shall vie with the towns in extent of devastation; and the prophet weeps afresh at the sight of the wretchedness of the once lofty foe, who prays in his sanctuary; “but he shall not prevail.” “We have heard of the arrogance of Moab – [the] very proud – of his pride, and his arrogance, and his wrath: his pratings [are] vain. Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one of them shall howl. For the foundations of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn, verily afflicted. For the fields of Heshbon languish, the vine of Sibmah; the lords of the nations have broken down its choice plants: they reached unto Jaazer; they wandered [through] the wilderness; its shoots stretched out, they went beyond the sea. Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jaazer for the vine of Sibmah; with my tears will I water thee, Heshbon, and Elealeh, for a cry is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon thy harvest. And taken away is joy and gladness out of the fruitful field; and in the vineyard there is no singing, neither is there shouting: the treaders tread out no wine in the presses; I have made the cry to cease. Therefore my bowels sound like a harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirhares. And it shall come to pass, when Moab shall appear, shall weary himself on the high place, and enter into his sanctuary to pray, that he shall not prevail” (vv. 6-12).
It is remarkably added, “This [is] the word which Jehovah hath spoken from of old concerning Moab. And now Jehovah speaketh, saying, Within three years . . .” (vv. 13, 14). It seems to be a supplement added to the former strain after an interval. The last verse shows that, whatever may be the full bearing of this “burden” on Moab, “within three years, as the years of a hireling [i.e., I suppose, exactly measured out, as would be the fact in such a case], and the glory of Moab shall be brought to naught, with all that great multitude, and the remnant shall be small, few, of no account.” That this was accomplished to the letter, there can be no doubt to the believing mind, though we know not the instrumentality, whether the king of Judah or the Assyrian.
But as little need one question that the fulfilment of all the unaccomplished terms of the prophecy will be in the grand future crisis; for it is certain that the final king of the north will fail to reach Moab, and that the children of Israel under the Messiah are to lay their hands upon him. Compare Isa 11:14 with Dan 11:41 . Nothing more clearly proves that, if unknown or little known now, there will remain representatives of that nation in the end of the age to take their part in that catastrophe, humiliating to man but to the glory of God, when the chosen people, in their totality, shall be saved, and restored by divine mercy to the land of their inheritance and their promised dominion. It is certain, from a later strain of our prophet (Isa 25:10-12 ), the epoch of which is the day of Jehovah, that the final ruin of Moab will only be at the time when He exalts Israel to their promised place of everlasting supremacy on the earth.
We may notice that if Micah was led to use a prediction of Isaiah in Isa 2:2 , Jeremiah was inspired to borrow from this strain of Isaiah. Compare Jer. 10: 58. Was this poverty in the resources of any one of them? No inference can be more shallow and unjust, even if we only regard them as writers; but if we believe in plenary inspiration, it is baser and more evil still. It was the Spirit of God only the more firmly welding the divine together in that grace which honours every true testimony from God and the vessels of it.
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Isa 16:1-5
1Send the tribute lamb to the ruler of the land,
From Sela by way of the wilderness to the mountain of the daughter of Zion.
2Then, like fleeing birds or scattered nestlings,
The daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon.
3Give us advice, make a decision;
Cast your shadow like night at high noon;
Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive.
4Let the outcasts of Moab stay with you;
Be a hiding place to them from the destroyer.
For the extortioner has come to an end, destruction has ceased,
Oppressors have completely disappeared from the land.
5A throne will even be established in lovingkindness,
And a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David;
Moreover, he will seek justice
And be prompt in righteousness.
Isa 16:1 To whom and from whom and why are the contextual questions.
1. the fleeing Moabites send a sacrificial gift to the Davidic ruler in Jerusalem to secure his aid, TEV, NRSV
2. a reference to Messiah, cf. Isa 16:5; Peshitta, Vulgate
3. a message of continuing judgment and destruction even to the survivors of Moab, cf. Isa 16:12
Send The VERB (BDB 1018, KB 1511) is a Qal IMPERATIVE. It denotes a desperate, frantic action.
the tribute lamb The MT has only lambs (BDB 503 III, PLURAL, and mentions as tribute). Only NASB adds this ADJECTIVE to its translation. As for the PLURAL vs. SINGULAR:
1. PLURAL, NRSV, REB, JB
2. SINGULAR, MT, NJB, NASB, NKJV, TEV
Moab was known for its sheep (cf. 2Ki 3:4).
The ancient versions have very different translations.
1. LXX, I will send as it were creeping animals on the land!
2. Peshitta, I will send the son of the ruler of the land.
3. JPSOA, Dispatch a messenger to the ruler of the land.
From Sela The basic meaning of the term (BDB 700) is crag, cliff (cf. Jer 51:25), but it came to designate a city in Edom, Sela, or Petra (BDB 701 II, cf. 2Ki 14:7; Isa 42:11). However, Sela does not fit the context exactly so maybe another rock feature close to the border with Judea. It possibly simply denotes a southern route.
Where is not as important as from whom, to whom, and why.
to the mountain of the daughter of Zion This is a figurative way of referring to YHWH’s temple in Jerusalem. This means that the lambs were given to be sacrificed to YHWH (cf. Ezr 7:17).
Isa 16:2 Moab is described as
1. fleeing/fluttering birds, BDB 622 I, KB 672, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE
2. scattered nestlings, BDB 1018, KB 1511, Pual PARTICIPLE
She is further identified as the daughters of Moab, but this, like Isa 16:14, refers to all the inhabitants of the land that remained alive.
at the fords of the Arnon The Arnon River (wadi El-Mujib) flows into the middle of the Dead Sea on the eastern side. It was the geographical boundary between Ammon on the north and Moab on the south (extending to the Zered Brook [possible wadi El-Hesa]).
It is surprising that these fords (low water crossings) are not close to Judah’s borders, but across the Dead Sea. Possibly a Judean military force had marched through Ammon to these fords. It is also possible that the phrase denotes a southern exodus from a northern invader.
Isa 16:3-4 These verses give (1) the message (IMPERATIVES used as requests) which accompanied the lambs or (2) Isaiah’s admonition for the Judeans to accept the Moabites. I think option #1 is best.
1. give advice, BDB 97, KB 112, Hiphil IMPERATIVE, written MASCULINE PLURAL, but to be read as FEMININE SINGULAR to agree with advice (BDB 420), which is FEMININE
2. make a decision, BDB 793, KB 889, Qal IMPERATIVE
3. cast your shadow, BDB 1011, KB 1483, Qal IMPERATIVE(cf. Isa 25:4; Isa 32:2; Psa 91:1)
4. hide the outcasts, BDB 711, KB 771, Piel IMPERATIVE
5. do not betray the fugitive, BDB 162, KB 191, Piel IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
6. let the outcasts of Moab stay with you, BDB 157, KB 184, Qal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
7. be a hiding place to them, BDB 217, KB 241, Qal IMPERATIVE
Although Moab was a traditional enemy, there were close connections to the Davidic house (i.e., Ruth; 1Sa 22:3-5).
Isa 16:3 Cast your shadow like night at high noon This is metaphorical language for protection. It may be a specific reference to the Shekinah cloud of glory that followed the Israelites through this very land during the Wilderness Wandering Period. It was a cloud cover (shade and cool) in the daytime and pillar of fire at night. It symbolized YHWH’s personal presence, provision, and protection.
Isa 16:4 There is a series of time conditions related to Moab’s invasion after which the governmental authority of Judea will be extended to the whole area (cf. Isa 16:5).
Here are the conditions.
1. the extortioner (BDB 568) has come to an end (BDB 67, KB 79, Qal PERFECT)
2. destruction (BDB 994, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) has ceased (BDB 477 I, KB 476, Qal PERFECT
3. oppressors (BDB 942, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE) have completely disappeared from the land (BDB 1070, KB 1752, Qal PERFECT)
Isa 16:5 This verse describes the coming government from Judea (cf. Isa 9:6-7; Isa 11:3-5).
1. a throne will be established (PERFECT) in lovingkindness (BDB 338, see Special Topic following)
2. a judge will sit (PERFECT) on it in faithfulness (BDB 54) in the tent of David
3. he will seek justice (BDB 1048, cf. Isa 11:3-4)
4. he will be prompt in righteousness (righteousness, BDB 841, cf. Isa 11:4-5, see Special Topic at Isa 1:4; prompt, BDB 555, usually means skilled in something, therefore, able to do it rapidly. Here it denotes a Davidic ruler who quickly acts in righteousness)
This verse is why the Peshitta and Vulgate view this context as Messianic.
SPECIAL TOPIC: LOVINGKINDNESS (HESED)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
lamb = tribute lamb.
to the ruler = of the ruler: i.e. Judah, as Mesha king of Moab had done (2Ki 3:4).
Sela. Now Petra (so called by the Romans) in Mount Seir, near Mount Hor (2Ki 14:7).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Let’s turn to Isaiah chapter 16 as we continue our study through the prophecy of Isaiah.
Now, in these next few chapters that we are covering here in Isaiah, behind the scenes Assyria is arising as a strong powerful military force. Assyria with its capital city of Nineveh is becoming extremely powerful and beginning to develop a tremendous army that will soon be on a campaign of subjugating the world. And so the prophet Isaiah begins to address himself to some of the various countries roundabout-to Moab, to Syria, to Ephraim, and all because these nations, Egypt, Ethiopia, are to be in conflict and in battle with the Assyrians. And so behind these next chapters you have to see the clouds of war rising from Assyria as they are going to soon begin their sweep down into this area of the world. And Isaiah is addressing now the nations concerning the destruction that is sure to come during this Assyrian invasion.
And the first nation that he addresses himself to is the nation of Moab, which is the present-day Jordan. It lies on the east of the Jordan River from Mount Gilead actually on south to Mount Seir.
Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela ( Isa 16:1 )
Now Sela is the word rock and from it the word petra and the city of Petra which happens to be in the area of Moab.
to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. 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. Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. 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. 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 ( Isa 16:1-5 ).
And then he begins his lament over Moab because of their great pride. Now, as we mentioned earlier as we were studying the prophecies of Isaiah, there’s a unique characteristic in… well, it isn’t unique because it is in many of the prophets, where they will be talking about a situation that is close at hand, but there seems to be a dual fulfillment of the prophecy and it reaches on out to another era and it spans into another time. And so, there is often what we call the near fulfillment and the far fulfillment of this prophecy.
Now many Bible scholars in the far fulfillment of this prophecy, as God is commanding Moab to “meet the wandering bird that is cast out of the nest, at the fords of Arnon and to hide the outcast and betray not him that wanders. And let the outcast dwell with thee, Moab,” there are many Bible scholars who see this in its fulfillment as yet to come when in the midst of the seven-year period that God has yet to reckon to the nation Israel. For in Daniel the ninth chapter, the angel said unto Daniel, “There are seventy sevens determined upon the nation Israel, to finish the transgressions, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy One” ( Dan 9:24 ).
No one understands from the time the commandment goes forth to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of the Messiah the Prince will be seven sevens and sixty-two sevens and the walls will be built again in troublous times. But the Messiah will be cut off without receiving the kingdom. And the people will end up by being dispersed. Now Daniel said, “The prince of the people that shall come will make a covenant with Israel for the seventieth week.” Or for this last week, this last period of seven years, but in the midst of the seven years, he will break the covenant and set up an abomination which causes desolation.
The disciples came to Jesus one day and they said, “Lord, what will be the sign of Your coming and the end of the age?” And Jesus began to tell them the signs that they should watch for, the things that would be transpiring in the earth which would be a warning to them that they were approaching the end of the age. And as Jesus is talking to them about the various signs, He does speak to them, talking again to the Jews, “When you see the abomination of desolation, that was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, then flee to the wilderness. And if you happen to be on the roof of your house, don’t even bother grabbing a coat as you’re going through. Just get out of there as quickly as you can. And if you are out in the field working, don’t even return to your house, but get down to the wilderness just as quickly as possible.”
So the Lord is warning them that the sign of the abomination of desolation. Now He said, “He that has wisdom understand.” Because He said, “There is going to be a time of Great Tribulation such as the world has never seen before or will ever see again.” Now, we are told in the book of Revelation, chapter 12, that John saw these various characters, or these various symbolisms. He saw a woman clothed with the moon and the stars. Twelve stars and the moon. And she was travailing, ready to bring forth a child. And he saw this great dragon that was seeking to devour the child as soon as it was born. And he speaks of how the woman brought forth the child which was caught on up into heaven to his throne. And so the dragon sought to make war against the remnant of the woman’s seed, but God gave to her the wings of an eagle to bear her to the wilderness place where she is to be nourished for three-and-a-half years.
From a prophetic standpoint, what this is all talking about is that God has one more seven-year cycle to fulfill in the history of the nation of Israel. The sixty-nine seven-year cycles were fulfilled from the time of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the coming of Jesus Christ. The sixty-nine seven-year cycles were fulfilled actually to the day. For in March 14, 445 B.C. Artaxerxes gave the commandment to Nehemiah to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and 173,880 days later, 483 years on the Babylonian calendar, 360 days in the year, Jesus on April the sixth, 32 A.D. made His triumphant entry in Jerusalem. Fulfilled right on the letter.
But the angel said,” There are seventy sevens.” Now Jesus in being cut off, the Messiah will be cut off. Jesus was cut off. But in being cut off, in His being cut off, He made, through His death upon the cross, He made reconciliation for iniquity. He made an end of our sins. But He did not set up the everlasting kingdom, nor was the most holy place anointed, nor were the prophecies all fulfilled. So a part of those prophecies are yet remaining and they will take place at the end of the seventieth seven-year cycle. So there is one missing seven-year cycle that Jesus, when He was talking with His disciples, declared that it was a yet future thing.
When the church is taken out of the earth, it will then immediately give rise to the antichrist. Sometime after the church is removed, I believe that it will pretty much coincide with the removal of the church, for “that which hinders shall hinder until it is taken out of the way” ( 2Th 2:7 ); and then shall that “man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” ( 2Th 2:3 ) who comes forth with all kinds of lies and deceit and guile. In Revelation chapter 4 you see the church taken up into heaven. “I saw a door open in heaven: and the first voice was as of a trumpet saying, ‘Come up hither, and I will show things which will be after’ [the church thing]. And immediately I was caught away by the Spirit into heaven; and there I saw the throne of God and the emerald type of rainbow about the throne of God. The twenty-four lesser thrones of the elders and the cherubim as they were worshipping God and the elders as they join in the worship, falling on their faces and casting their crowns on the glassy sea” ( Rev 4:1-4 , Rev 4:10 ). Declaring the worthiness of God to receive the praise and the worship.
And then in chapter 5 he saw the scroll with seven seals in the right hand of Him that was sitting upon the throne. Heard the angel say, “Who’s worthy to take the scroll and loose the seal? The title deed to the earth. Who’s worthy to take this title deed? To reclaim the earth. The day of redemption has come. Who is worthy?” And John began to sob because no man was worthy in heaven, in earth, under the sea to take the scroll or even to look thereon. And the elders said, “Don’t weep, John. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to take the scroll, and loose the seal.” And John saw. Turned and he saw Him as a lamb that had been slaughtered. And he saw Him as He stepped forth and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne. And immediately the twenty-four elders took little golden bowls that were full of incense odors, the prayers of the saints. Offer them before God. And they sang a new song, saying, “Thou art worthy to take the scroll, and loose the seal thereof: for Thou was slain and You have redeemed us by Your blood out of all of the nations, tribe, kindred, tongues and people. And You have made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign with You upon the earth” ( Rev 5:9-10 ).
The song of the redeemed church in heaven. Only the redeemed church can sing that song. That is not the song of Israel; it’s out of all of the families of the people on the earth. That is not the song of angels; it’s only the song of the redeemed church. “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us by Thy blood.” Angels can’t sing that song, but they can sing the chorus, and so they join in. A hundred million strong plus millions and millions as they sing, “Worthy is the Lamb to receive glory and power and might and dominion and glories and thrones,” and so forth. But we sing the verse.
And so we get into chapter 6. “And he opened the first seal and the angel said, ‘Come.’ And I saw, and a white horse with his rider came forth conquering and to conquer” ( Rev 6:1-2 ). The antichrist, the revelation of the antichrist, it immediately follows the glorious acclamation of the worthiness of Christ to take the scroll and loose the seals. So the introduction of the antichrist upon the earth. And one of the first orders of business of the antichrist as he is putting together the earth once again that has been ravaged by war when Russia invades the Middle East. So now he’s starting to put the pieces together because Russia has been soundly and thoroughly defeated in her invasion of the Middle East. He starts to put the pieces together again and the first thing he does is make a covenant with the nation of Israel.
Now the Bible doesn’t say that the covenant includes the rebuilding of the temple, but that is my own personal feeling and opinion, and it’s very strong. That this covenant that he makes with the nation Israel includes their giving to them the privilege of the rebuilding of their temple. And when they rebuild their temple, they will not build it on the site of the Mosque of Omar, or that which is commonly called the Mosque of Omar, which in reality is the Dome of the Rock Mosque.
I believe that they’ll leave the Dome of the Rock Mosque intact. I believe that they will build a wall on the north side of the Dome of the Rock Mosque. And in that large area of some fifteen acres or so they will make provision for the Jews to build their temple, which many of their scientists now believe is above the site of Solomon’s temple. Just last June one of the archaeologists and scientists in Israel came out with a very interesting article that was published in the Jerusalem Post in which he declared and gave his findings for believing that the temple of Solomon actually was north of the Dome of the Rock Mosque. Which if they can prove and all, which they are seeking to do, it will be a tremendous kind of a boon for those Jews that are wanting to rebuild their temple, because it means they can build it without having a holy war. All the Moslems of the world marching against them. It would be very easy just to put a wall and there is a verse in Ezekiel that talks about putting a wall along to separate. And in the eleventh chapter of the book of Revelation where the Lord gave unto John a ruler and said, “Now go measure the new temple and the court.” He said, “Don’t measure the outer court because it’s been given to the heathens.” And the Dome of the Rock Mosque stands in what would have been the outer court of Solomon’s temple if Solomon’s temple was there on the north side.
So he’ll make a covenant with the nation Israel. But in the midst of the seven-year period, after three-and-a-half years, he will come to Jerusalem and according to what Paul tells us in Second Thessalonians, and Jesus spoke about in Mat 24:1-51 , and Daniel spoke about in chapter 9, he will stand in the rebuilt temple and declare himself to be God. And he will demand that they worship him as God. Now according to the scriptures, according to Jesus, this is the sign for the Jews to flee out of Jerusalem. Get out of there as quickly as you can, because the antichrist, the man of sin, is going to now demand that the Jews worship him as God. And though they had initially hailed him as the Messiah, at this point they’re going to realize that they were mistaken and deceived by this man. And Jesus said, “Get out of there as quickly as you can. Don’t bother taking anything with you.”
And according to Revelation, God will give to them wings of an eagle to bear them to a wilderness place where they will be nourished for three-and-a-half years. And the antichrist will send out an army after them, but the earth will open up and swallow his army. And so we begin to see the prophetic scene take place. Now where are they going to the wilderness and where will they be fleeing? Here’s where this prophecy of Isaiah begins to unfold.
Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Petra to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. 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. Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; betray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts [God says, “mine outcasts”] dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covering to them from the face of the spoiler [or from the antichrist]: for the extortioner [the antichrist] is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, and the oppressors are consumed out of the land. [And what will happen?] And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he [that is, Jesus] shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hastening righteousness ( Isa 16:1-5 ).
Now one further note should be made about this before we move on. And that is, the day that the antichrist comes, or the man of sin, the son of perdition, the beast, one of the many names that the scripture gives to him, the spoiler, the extortioner, the day that he comes and stands in the rebuilt temple and declares that he is God in the midst of the seven-year period, the day that that takes place, it will be from that day 1,290 days until Jesus comes again with His church to set up His kingdom upon the earth. So we’re moving down towards this final sequence of events. We are reading constantly of Russia’s threat to move into the Middle East because of her own oil needs. And that will be the event that will more or less trigger this final sequence of events. For as Russia moves in, God will soundly defeat Russia. It will give rise to the ten nations of Europe out of which will arise this man of sin who will make a covenant with the nation of Israel for seven years. But in the midst of the seven-year period, he’ll break the covenant by coming into the temple declaring that he is God, demanding that he is worshipped as God, stopping the daily sacrifices and prayers. And 1,290 days later, Jesus coming again with the church to establish God’s kingdom upon the earth.
So at this point the Jews are to flee to the wilderness. God is telling Moab, “Open up your arms. Receive them. Cover them. Keep them safe from the extortioner and from the spoiler and all. And hide them. Don’t betray them until this time of indignation is over passed.” Time of great tribulation. And of course, until the King comes to sit upon the throne of David and to establish it in righteousness.
Now he turns to Moab at the immediate condition. Moab has been filled with pride.
he is very proud: filled with haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath ( Isa 16:6 ):
Now notice: pride, very proud. Haughtiness, pride, these words in the Hebrew are all a little different, but they come from the same base or root word. It is like using the word boast, boastfulness, boasting, and the boaster, and so forth. It’s the same root word in the Hebrew as it speaks of the great pride of Moab.
Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken ( Isa 16:7 ).
And so it tells about how that this tremendous… the vineyard for which Moab was famous were going to be trampled under the soldiers that were to come. They would no longer be trampling… the people would no longer be trampling the grapes in the winepresses. Now there was a cry that the people used to sort of as they would stomp the grapes in the winepresses they would cry, “Haddad! Haddad! Haddad!” With every, you know, “Haddad! Haddad! Haddad!” as they were stepping down the grapes and crushing them. And so the prophet is saying this cry Haddad! will no longer be heard in the winepresses, but it will be heard by the marching of the soldiers that are trampling down the vineyards. They will be coming marching to the, “Haddad! Haddad! Haddad! Haddad!” and it will be a not a sign of, not a shout of rejoicing, but a sound of the conquering armies of the Assyrians who shall destroy the marvelous vineyards of Moab.
And in verses Isa 16:13 , and Isa 16:14 he declares that this judgment against Moab will actually come within a three-year span of time. And within three years, Assyria conquered over Moab. And as the result, Moab will become, though she was very proud and all, she’ll become very small and feeble. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Isa 16:1-5
Isa 16:1-5
THE BURDEN OF MOAB (continued)
“Send ye the lambs for the ruler of the land from Selah to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. For it shall be that, as wandering birds, as a scattered nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be at the fords of the Arnon. Give counsel, execute justice; make thy shade as the night in the midst of noonday; hide the outcasts; betray not the fugitive. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee; as for Moab, be thou a covert to him from the face of the destroyer. For the extortioner is brought to naught, destruction ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land. And a throne shall be established in lovingkindness; and one shall sit thereon in truth, in the tent of David, judging, and seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.”
This 16th chapter was divided as follows by Hailey: (1) Moab’s hope (Isa 16:1-5); (2) Moab’s rejection of this hope (Isa 16:6-12); (3) the appointed time for the execution of God’s judgment upon Moab (Isa 16:13-14).
As regards these first five verses, there is much uncertainty and disagreement. Who is speaking to whom? Why should Moab send tribute through the capital of Edom, Petra, where it appears that Moab had taken refuge? Rather than explore all of these questions and the various proposed answers, we shall follow the lead of Jamieson, Barnes, Leupold, Delitzsch, and Rawlinson and accept the view that the prophet Isaiah is advising the Moabites to send gifts or tribute of lambs to Jerusalem, thus aligning themselves with the “remnant” who will trust in the ultimate coming of the Messiah, the righteous king who would role in the tent of David, that is, upon the throne of David.
The basic idea of this whole paragraph is that the only hope for Moab (or for anyone else) is the establishment of the kingdom of heaven in Christ. Isaiah’s exhortations for Israel to show compassion and support for Moab in their manifold sorrow, that is, not to betray them, but to hide them, and counsel them, have overtones of the Messianic kingdom.
Note the tragic picture of the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon, where they appear as confused and helpless as a nest of baby birds, scattered and destroyed by a predator. What a pitiful contrast with the hundreds of “the daughters of Moab” who participated in the shameful orgy of Numbers 25! For every shameful and licentious orgy that human beings ever participated in, there must always be a counterpart to it somewhere in their subsequent history by the fords of some spiritual Arnon!
Note also that God referred to these pitiful refuges from destruction as “mine outcasts,” thus pinpointing God’s unchanging love of all men. Here is the germ of Joh 3:16; here is the equivalent of God’s revelation to Paul concerning the corrupt city of Corinth that God had “much people” in that city (Act 18:10).
“Selah …” mentioned in Isa 16:1 is the Semitic rendition of the Greek [@Petra], meaning, rocky ledge, as in Mat 16:18, where the word describes the mighty ledge-rock upon which Jesus promised to build his church; and this seems to say that Moab had taken refuge in that rocky fortress which was the capital of Edom.
Isa 16:1-2 PREDICAMENT: Moabs predicament is such that she is in a state of panic (Cf. Isa 15:4), Confusion reigns. Isaiahs compassion for suffering humanity moves him to counsel Moab to plead with Judah for help. When Moab was formerly under the rule of Judah (2Ki 3:4 ff) Moab paid tribute to Judah in the form of sheep and lambs. Judah protected Moab as long as this arrangement continued. But Moab revolted from the rule of Judah. Now Moab has suffered invasion and enemies are despoiling its people. Isaiahs advice is for Moab to turn in a submissive attitude, sending a tribute of lambs, to Judah and plead for Judahs help and protection. If Moab does not, her panic and confusion will increase until she is homeless like a bird whose nest is scattered!
Isa 16:3-4 PLEA: Isaiahs advice continues. The prophet suggests even the words Moab is to use in its plea to Judah. Moab should ask Judah to do a risky thing. Moab is to plead with Judah to give asylum to the displaced refugees; hide them; protect them. Moab is to plead with Judah to act toward them as they never acted toward Judah. Moab is to ask for mercy, justice, compassion and sacrificial goodness.
In the middle of Isa 16:4, Isaiah appears to redirect his dialogue from advising Moab to relating a new historical situation that prevails in Judahs case. Something had apparently occurred to relieve Judah (temporarily) of the oppression of the forces of Assyria so that Judah would be well able to give aid to the refugees of Moab. What caused this present availability of Judah is not recorded but the prophet assures Moab it is present.
Isa 16:5 PROMISE: This is a very intriguing verse. It has been considered as a Messianic passage as far back as the time of the Targum (Aramaic translations and interpretations of the Hebrew texts which date in oral form back to the Persian captivities). Isaiah indicates it was taken for granted that the Moabites had some knowledge of the divine purpose in the nation of Judah. The account of Ruth, Naomi and Boaz confirms this. The Moabites were idolaters but they knew the nature of Davids throne. When a disaster faces men they are able to recall a much more complete knowledge of Gods truth than at any other time. Isaiah seems to say, If you come to seek refuge under the wings of Judah we will give you a share even of the best that our heritage has to offers-our Messianic hope. Here is one of the many passages in the prophets where the truth concerning the Christ of the Jews is offered to those of other nations. Israel has a throne with a future, not like the unstable thrones of the most powerful nations round about. This one will be established by virtue of the steadfast love of Jehovah. The throne involves the tabernacle (house) of David (Cf. Amo 9:11)-the lineage of David. It involves the rule of One who will judge justly and righteously to a degree never displayed in any earthly ruler (Cf. Isa 9:6 ff; Isa 11:1-10; Mic 5:2 ff). The very fact that this Messianic hope was offered to Moab (a nation outside the Hebrew covenant) proves once and for all that the Messianic expectations as expressed by the O.T. prophets were not tenuous and vague-they were specific and clear!
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Continuing the prophecy concerning Moab, the prophet proceeds to describe how in her distress she will appeal to Judah for sanctuary (Isa 16:1-5). This will be refused, and so great will be the distress of Moab that even the prophet breaks out into lamentation at sight of it. He declares that this visitation of Moab is in fulfillment of an ancient prophecy, and at last the time limit is actually set (verses Isa 16:6-14).
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
EXPOSITORY NOTES ON
THE PROPHET ISAIAH
By
Harry A. Ironside, Litt.D.
Copyright @ 1952
edited for 3BSB by Baptist Bible Believer in the spirit of the Colportage ministry of a century ago
ISAIAH CHAPTERS FIFTEEN AND SIXTEEN
THE BURDEN OF MOAB
IN THE SHORT FIFTEENTH CHAPTER the prophet predicts the eventual destruction of Moab. The country bearing this name lay to the north of the land of Edom and was bounded on the west by the Dead Sea and on the east by the Arabian desert. The north boundary ordinarily was the River Arnon though, owing to frequent strife with the Ammonites, the border changed from time to time so that occasionally it extended some miles north of this river.
The Moabites were descended from the illegitimate son of Lot and his eldest daughter by incestuous relationship. Moab, therefore, might picture for us those who make a profession of being children of GOD while actually with no legitimate claim to that name. In other words, Moab may represent to us the easy-going religious profession with which many are contented who fail to recognize the importance of the new birth. Generally speaking, Moab was somewhat friendly toward Israel but when the nation was first passing through their borders on the way to their inheritance in the Promised Land, Balak was fearful of being destroyed by them and so hired Balaam, the son of Beor, to curse them, but as we know, GOD turned the curse into a blessing.
The book of Ruth tells us of the visit of Elimelech and his family to Moab in the time of famine and the unhappy results of that period of sojourn. When David was pursued by Saul he took his parents to the country of Moab and put them under the protection of its king, but as the years went on Moab, like Edom, became an enemy of Israel, for no matter how friendly religious professors may seem to be at times to the true children of GOD, the day always comes when they resent what seems to them to be the assumed superiority of those who really know the Lord. So from time to time we find Moab allied with the enemies of Israel and Judah.
Isaiah here depicts most graphically the day of their destruction.
“The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; he is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off. In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every
one shall howl, weeping abundantly. And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voice shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him. My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shallll.ee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up: for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction. For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing. Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beerelim. For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him that escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land” (chapter 16).
When or how all these predictions had their initial fulfillment in the past we may not be familiar enough with history to know, but the day came when Moab was utterly destroyed as a nation and for centuries their land has been inhabited by the Arabians of the desert. Their destruction evidently came about to a great extent through the armies of Assyria and, later, of Babylonia. Their doom may be looked upon as a solemn warning of the judgment that will fall at last upon those who have a name to live but are dead toward GOD and are content to go on with an empty profession instead of turning to GOD in repentance and finding new life in CHRIST.
The following chapter continues the subject, bringing before us first of all an earnest entreaty on the part of the Lord Himself for Moab to turn from its enmity against His people and meet their ambassadors In a spirit of friendliness.
“Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion. 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. Take counsel, execute Judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth. 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” (16:1-4).
Moab was devoted largely to the raising of sheep and cattle, and during the reigns of David and Solomon and even later, paid tribute to Israel and Judah by sending annually a specified number of their flocks and herds. In Isaiah’s day they had revolted and refused to continue to pay this tribute. The prophet, speaking by divine inspiration, pleads with them to send the lamb again to the ruler of the land, that is, the land of Israel, and to cease acting vindictively toward those who fled across the Jordan for refuge when in terror of invading armies.
By thus manifesting friendliness to the Lord’s people Moab might, at least for the time being, avert her judgment. To what extent the prophet’s words influenced this nation at that time, we do not have any way of knowing. The prophecy goes on to emphasize the authority given to the prince who sat upon David’s throne, but looks on to the coming of the Messiah, GOD’s anointed King, who was to sit upon this throne and rule the nations in righteousness.
“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” (verse 5).
It would seem, however, that there was no response to the plea made above. Instead, the Moabites met the pleadings of the prophet with coldness and arrogance, therefore judgment must take its course.
“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. Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kir-hareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken. 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. 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. 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. Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kir-haresh. 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” (verses 6-12).
Like many another people with whom GOD has pleaded earnestly through His prophets, beseeching them to turn from their evil ways and submit to His authority, the leaders of Moab met the prophet’s entreaties with defiance and refused to give heed to the call to be subject to the GOD of Israel. Therefore there was no hope of recovery but they were to be exposed to the ravages of the armies of Assyria; first of all under Sennacherib and then under other leaders, till their national existence was brought to an end.
The language used by the prophet is stirring indeed and indicates how deeply he, himself, yearned for the deliverance of Moab and longed to see them yield to the commands of the Lord.
A preliminary judgment is predicted in the last two verses of the chapter.
“This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning Moab since that time. 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” (verses 13, 14).
Just when or how these words were fulfilled we may not know because of lack of familiarity with the ancient records – records which have, to a great extent, now been destroyed – but we may be certain that the prophecy was fulfilled as predicted and Moab’s destruction began in Isaiah’s day.
~ end of chapter 15, 16 ~
http://www.baptistbiblebelievers.com/
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
CHAPTER 16
The Burden of Moab Continued
1. Gods call to Moab to repent (Isa 16:1-5) 2. Moabs pride and judgment (Isa 16:6-14)The fifteenth and sixteenth chapters form one prophecy. Moabs land bordered on the land of Israel. The historical facts concerning Moab may be studied and followed through the following passages: 1Sa 14:47; 2Sa 8:2; 2Ki 1:11; 2Ki 3:4;2Ch 20:1-37; 2Ki 8:20;2Ki 24:2. Moabs sin and judgment are frequently mentioned by the prophet. See Amo 2:1-3. A great past judgment of Moabs is described in 15:1-9. The call in chapter 16:1 to send a lamb has nothing to do with Him who is the lamb of God. The exhortation becomes clear by reading 2Sa 8:2 and 2Ki 3:4-5. Christ, however, is in view in verse 5, chapter 16(Isa 16:5). A remnant of Moab is to be left and in the time of the end we find Moab mentioned again. Read Isa 11:14 and Dan 11:41. The final ruin of Moab is described in Isa 25:10-12.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Sela
Or, Petra: Heb. a rock.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the lamb: 2Sa 8:2, 2Ki 3:4, Ezr 7:17
from: 2Ki 14:7
Sela: or, Petra, Heb. a rock
the mount: Isa 10:32, Mic 4:8
Reciprocal: 1Ch 18:2 – brought gifts Isa 18:7 – shall the Eze 45:16 – for
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Isa 16:1-2. Send ye the lamb, &c. The prophet continues his prophecy against Moab, and gives them counsel what to do to prevent, if possible, or at least to mitigate, the threatened judgment. First he advises them to be just to the house of David, and to pay the tribute they had formerly covenanted to pay to the kings of his line. David, it must be recollected, had subdued the Moabites, and made them tributaries to him, 2Sa 8:2. Afterward they paid their tribute to the kings of Israel, 2Ki 3:4; which, it appears, was not less than 100,000 lambs annually. This it is likely had been discontinued, and neither paid to the kings of Israel nor those of Judah. Now it is thought the prophet here requires them to pay this tribute, or, at least, what they had covenanted with David to pay, to the king of Judah, who was now Hezekiah, that thereby they might at once do an act of neglected justice, and make him and the Jews their friends, which would be of great use to them in their calamity. These verses therefore are thus paraphrased by Vitringa: Ye Moabites, who, subdued by David, and made tributary to his house and kingdom, have, with pride and arrogance, shaken off his yoke: placate in time, and render propitious to you, the Jews, and their king, by sending those lambs, which you owe to them as a tribute. Send them from Sela, or Petra, (which was most celebrated for its flocks, 2Ki 14:7,) toward the desert, the desert near Jericho, a medium place between Sela and mount Zion, Jos 5:10. Or, as the words may be rendered, from Sela, of, or, in the wilderness. Pay this tribute, for it shall most certainly come to pass, that the daughters of the Moabites, like a wandering bird from a deserted nest, driven from their seats, must somewhere seek a place of safety in the great calamity which shall befall their nation. It is therefore now time to solicit the friendship of the Jews, and to remember the duty owing to them, but so long omitted; that when expelled from your own habitations, you may be received kindly by them, and dwell hospitably in their land, and under the shadow of their kings. Some, however, understand the prophet as advising them to send a lamb for a sacrifice unto God, the ruler of the land of the Moabites, as well as of that of the Jews; or the ruler of the earth, as is commonly rendered: to him who is the God of the whole earth, as he is called, Isa 54:5. Of all the kingdoms of the earth, Isa 37:16. As if he had said, Make your peace with God, by sacrifice, for all your injuries done to him and to his people. The fords of Arnon was the border of the land of Moab, where their daughters are supposed to be with a design to flee out of their own land, though they knew not whither.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 16:1. Send ye the lambfrom Sela to the wilderness, to the mount of the daughter of Zion. Send the tribute of the lambs from all the towns of Moab, and seek alliance with the house of David, with whom God has now renewed his promises. This is your best wisdom, and first duty. So it is intimated in the fifth verse, for the king of Judah shall sit upon the throne in the tabernacle of David. This tribute is fully explained in 2Ki 3:4-5, where it is said that Mesha king of Moab refused to pay the tribute, and involved his country in great distress.
Isa 16:14. But now the Lord hath spoken, saying, Within three years the glory of Moab, so great in population, in fortresses, in flocks and herds, shall be contemned and debased in all its multitude of people and cattle. It appears that the prophets had warned Moab prior to this final denunciation by Isaiah. And it might be that the prophet visited Moab, and gave them the warning; but if otherwise, they had it in writing.
The remnant shall be very small and feeble. Moab recovered from this visitation, but not to her former glory. She continued to encrease for a hundred and twenty years, when, five years after the fall of Jerusalem, and the burning of the temple, (at which she could not conceal her joy, Psa 137:7) Nebuchadnezzar gave her a final overthrow, as the prophets had foretold. Amo 2:1-3. Jeremiah 48.
REFLECTIONS.CHAP. 15, 16.
We have in these two chapters the warning voice, and subsequent elegy of our princely prophet. Grieved for the sins of Moab, he satirized her pride, but seeks at the same time to save her from ruin. And what could do it but opening her eyes to the impending storm, and pouring contempt on the helpless character of her gods.
The prophet displayed to Moab the tremendous army of the Chaldeans, overspreading the country; an army whose character was to despise every strong hold. The strokes of heaven awaken the power of conscience. The spoilers were coming against a spoiler. Their staining the waters of Dimon with blood, was to visit for the abundance of blood which Moab had shed, when she, both vile and weak, had joined Philistia and Amalek in their wars. Her pride, the proverb of nations, should be brought low. Ah, in vain, oh Moab, shalt thou go up to the house of Bajith; thy long- boasted temple of Baal-Meon. Thy gods shall be blind to thy misery, and deaf to thy cries. Thy king shall fly to the desert, thy counsellors shall be confused, thy soldiers without strength. Alas, alas, the joy of harvest and the shouts of the vintage shall he heard no more. Profit therefore by these warnings; hide thyself under Jehovahs wings, and bow to the shadow of Davids throne.
But why does the illustrious prophet of the Hebrews talk in words so strange? Is there any thing in the tablets of universal history which can justify those sombrous discoveries? Nay; Is there any thing else in the tablets but slaughter, burning, and destruction? Are not all great conquerors like great rivers, which sometimes drown and ravage the country which they ought only to water and enrich.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Isa 16:1-12. The Moabites now in Sela, a city of Edom (2Ki 14:7*; cf. Jdg 1:36, mg.*), exhort each other to send the tribute of lambs once paid to Israel (2Ki 3:4) to Jerusalem to secure her protection and shelter, since Edom was under the suzerainty of Judah. Judah can protect the Moabites, for it is under a righteous government. But the prayer is rejected, for the arrogance of Moab (Isa 25:11) is such that its flattery of Judah must be insincere. So Moab must mourn still more, lamenting for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth (in Isa 16:11 Kir-heres, probably identical with Kir of Moab). The vineyards of Heshbon, the vines of Sibmah languish, whose vintage was so choice that it was drunk by monarchs, so strong that it overcame them, accustomed though they would be to powerful intoxicants. The poet shares the grief of Jazer (15 miles N. of Heshbon), for the vintage is all ruined. Though the poets compassion is moved at the desolation, the prayers of the doomed people cannot avert it.
Isa 16:2. Out of place. The Moabites are here back at the fords of Arnon (Num 21:13*), timid and irresolute. It breaks the connexion between Isa 16:1 and Isa 16:3.
Isa 16:7. raisin-cakes: grapes pressed together in the form of a cake used at religious festivals (p. 99, Hos 3:1*).
Isa 16:8. Poetically the author describes the vines under the figure of a single vine branching out to Jazer on the north, to the desert on the east, and the Dead Sea on the west.
Isa 16:9 f. The word rendered battle shout is the same as that rendered vintage shout. It is the technical name for the shout of the wine-treaders as they press the grapes. There will be a vintage shout, but it will be that of the soldiers as they trample the vineyards down; cf. Jer 48:33, the shouting shall be no shouting.
Isa 16:11. As the harp responds to the touch of the musician, so the poets heart is moved by the sorrows of Moab.
Isa 16:13 f. The preceding prophecy was spoken in time past, but now in three years precisely the glory of Moab shall be brought low, and only an insignificant remnant be spared.
Isa 16:14. The hired servant serves for the stipulated period exactly. The master sees to it that it shall be no less, the servant takes care that it shall be no more.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
16:1 Send {a} ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, to the mount of the daughter of Zion.
(a) That is, offer a sacrifice, by which he derides their long delay, who would not repent when the Lord called them, showing them that it is now too late seeing the vengeance of God is on them.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Moab would plead for shelter from her enemy. Her leaders would send a lamb as a tribute from their hiding place in some wilderness stronghold (possibly Sela in Edom) to the king of Judah requesting help. The Moabite refugees would be as frightened as birds while they hovered on their border. They would seek refuge in Judah. Young believed this refers to a spiritual conversion of the Moabites, but this may be reading too much into these cries for deliverance. [Note: Young, 1:463.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
2
CHAPTER XVII
ISAIAH TO THE FOREIGN NATIONS
736-702 B.C.
Isa 14:24-32; Isa 15:1-9; Isa 16:1-14; Isa 17:1-14; Isa 18:1-7; Isa 19:1-25; Isa 20:1-6; Isa 21:1-17; Isa 23:1-18
THE centre of the Book of Isaiah (chapters 13 to 23) is occupied by a number of long and short prophecies which are a fertile source of perplexity to the conscientious reader of the Bible. With the exhilaration of one who traverses plain roads and beholds vast prospects, he has passed through the opening chapters of the book as far as the end of the twelfth; and he may look forward to enjoying a similar experience when he reaches those other clear stretches of vision from the twenty-fourth to the twenty-seventh and from the thirtieth to the thirty-second. But here he loses himself among a series of prophecies obscure in themselves and without obvious relation to one another. The subjects of them are the nations, tribes, and cities with which in Isaiahs day, by war or treaty or common fear in face of the Assyrian conquest, Judah was being brought into contact. There are none of the familiar names of the land and tribes of Israel which meet the reader in other obscure prophecies and lighten their darkness with the face of a friend. The names and allusions are foreign, some of them the names of tribes long since extinct, and of places which it is no more possible to identify. It is a very jungle of prophecy, in which, without much Gospel or geographical light, we have to grope our way, thankful for an occasional gleam of the picturesque-a sandstorm in the desert, the forsaken ruins of Babylon haunted by wild beasts, a view of Egypts canals or Phoenicias harbours, a glimpse of an Arab raid or of a grave Ethiopian embassy.
But in order to understand the Book of Isaiah, in order to understand Isaiah himself in some of the largest of his activities and hopes; we must traverse this thicket. It would be tedious and unprofitable to search every corner of it. We propose, therefore, to give a list of the various oracles, with their dates and titles, for the guidance of Bible-readers, then to take three representative texts and gather the meaning of all the oracles round them.
First, however, two of the prophecies must be put aside. The twenty-second chapter does not refer to a foreign State, but to Jerusalem itself; and the large prophecy which opens the series (chapters 13-14:23) deals with the overthrow of Babylon in circumstances that did not arise till long after Isaiahs time, and so falls to be considered by us along with similar prophecies at the close of this volume. (See Book V)
All the rest of these chapters-14-21 and 23-refer to Isaiahs own day. They were delivered by the prophet at various times throughout his career; but the most of them evidently date from immediately after the year 705, when, on the death of Sargon, there was a general rebellion of the Assyrian vassals.
1. Isa 14:24-27 -OATH OF JEHOVAH that the Assyrian shall be broken. Probable date, towards 701.
2. Isa 14:28-32 -ORACLE FOR PHILISTIA. Warning to Philistia not to rejoice because one Assyrian king is dead, for a worse one shall arise: “Out of the serpents root shall come forth a basilisk. Philistia shall be melted away, but Zion shall stand.” The inscription to this oracle (Isa 14:28) is not genuine. The oracle plainly speaks of the death and accession of Assyrian, not Judaean, kings. It may be ascribed to 705, the date of the death of Sargon and accession of Sennacherib. But some hold that it refers to the previous change on the Assyrian throne-the death of Salmanassar and the accession of Sargon.
3 Isa 15:1-9 – Isa 16:12 -ORACLE FOR MOAB. A long prophecy against Moab. This oracle, whether originally by himself at an earlier period of his life, or more probably by an older prophet, Isaiah adopts and ratifies, and intimates its immediate fulfilment, in Isa 16:13-14 : “This is the word which Jehovah spake concerning Moab long ago. But now Jehovah hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of a hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be brought into contempt with all the great multitude, and the remnant shall be very small and of no account.” The dates both of the original publication of this prophecy and of its reissue with the appendix are quite uncertain. The latter may fall about 711, when Moab was threatened by Sargon for complicity in the Ashdod conspiracy or in 704, when, with other states, Moab came under the cloud of Sennacheribs invasion. The main prophecy is remarkable for its vivid picture of the disaster that has overtaken Moab and for the sympathy with her which the Jewish prophet expresses; for the mention of a “remnant” of Moab; for the exhortation to her to send tribute in her adversity “to the mount of the daughter of Zion”; {Isa 16:1} for an appeal to Zion to shelter the outcasts of Moab and to take up her cause: “Bring counsel, make a decision, make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts, bewray not the wanderer;” for a statement of the Messiah similar to those in chapters 9 and 11; and for the offer to the oppressed Moabites of the security of Judah in Messianic times (Isa 16:4-5). But there is one great obstacle to this prospect of Moab lying down in the shadow of Judah-Moabs arrogance. “We have heard of the pride of Moab, that he is very proud,” {Isa 16:6, cf. Jer 48:29; Jer 48:42; Zep 2:10} which pride shall not only keep this country in ruin, but prevent the Moabites prevailing in prayer at their own sanctuary (Isa 16:12)-a very remarkable admission about the worship of another god than Jehovah.
4. Isa 17:1-11 -ORACLE FOR DAMASCUS. One of the earliest and most crisp of Isaiahs prophecies. Of the time of Syrias and Ephraims league against Judah, somewhere between 736 and 732.
5. Isa 17:12-14 -UNTITLED. The crash of the peoples upon Jerusalem and their dispersion. This magnificent piece of sound, which we analyse below, is usually understood of Sennacheribs rush upon Jerusalem. Isa 17:14 is an accurate summary of the sudden break-up and “retreat from Moscow” of his army. The Assyrian hosts are described as “nations,” as they are elsewhere more than once by Isaiah. {Isa 22:6; Isa 29:7} But in all this there is no final reason for referring the oracle to Sennacheribs invasion, and it may just as well be interpreted of Isaiahs confidence of the defeat of Syria and Ephraim (734-723). Its proximity to the oracle against Damascus would then be very natural, and it would stand as a parallel prophecy to Isa 8:9 : “Make an uproar, O ye peoples, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of the distances of the earth: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces”-a prophecy which we know belongs to the period of the Syro-Ephraimitic league.
6. Isa 18:1-7 -UNTITLED. An address to Ethiopia, “land of a rustling of wings, land of many sails, whose messengers dart to and fro upon the rivers in their skiffs of reed.” The prophet tells Ethiopia, cast into excitement by the news of the Assyrian advance, how Jehovah is resting quietly till the Assyrian be ripe for destruction. When the Ethiopians shall see His sudden miracle they shall send their tribute to Jehovah, “to the place of the name of Jehovah of hosts, Mount Zion.” It is difficult to know to which southward march of Assyria to ascribe this prophecy-Sargons or Sennacheribs? For at the time of both of these an Ethiopian ruled Egypt.
7. Isa 19:1-25 -ORACLE FOR EGYPT. The first fifteen verses (Isa 19:1-15) describe judgment as ready to fall on the land of the Pharaohs. The last ten speak of the religious results to Egypt of that judgment, and they form the most universal and “missionary” of all Isaiahs prophecies. Although doubts have been expressed of the Isaiah authorship of the second half of this chapter on the score of its universalism, as well as of its literary style, which is judged to be “a pale reflection” of Isaiahs own, there is no final reason for declining the credit of it to Isaiah, while there are insuperable difficulties against relegating it to the late date which is sometimes demanded for it. On the date and authenticity of this prophecy, which are of great importance for the question of Isaiahs “missionary” opinions, see Cheynes introduction to the chapter and Robertson Smiths notes in “The Prophets of Israel” (p. 433). The latter puts it in 703, during Sennacheribs advance upon the south. The former suggests that the second half may have been written by the prophet much later than the first, and justly says, “We can hardly imagine a more swan-like end for the dying prophet.”
8. Isa 20:1-6 -UNTITLED. Also upon Egypt, but in narrative and of an earlier date than at least the latter half of chapter 19. Tells how Isaiah walked naked and barefoot in the streets of Jerusalem for a sign against Egypt and against the help Judah hoped to get from her in the years 711-709, when the Tartan, or Assyrian commander-in-chief, came south to subdue Ashdod.
9. Isa 21:1-10 -ORACLE FOR THE WILDERNESS OF THESEA, announcing but lamenting the fall of Babylon. Probably 709.
10. Isa 21:11-12 -ORACLE FOR DUMAH. Dumah, or Silence – Psa 94:17; Psa 115:17, “the land of the silence of death,” the grave – is probably used as an anagram for Edom and an enigmatic sign to the wise Edomites, in their own fashion, of the kind of silence their land is lying under-the silence of rapid decay. The prophet hears this silence at last broken by a cry. Edom cannot bear the darkness any more. “Unto me one is calling from Seir, Watchman, how much off the night? how much off the night? Said the watchman, Cometh the morning, and also the night: if ye will inquire, inquire, come back again.” What other answer is possible for a land on which the silence of decay seems to have settled down? He may, however, give them an answer later on, if they will come back. Date uncertain, perhaps between 704 and 701.
11. 21:13-17 -ORACLE FOR ARABIA. From Edom the prophet passes to their neighbours the Dedanites, travelling merchants. And as he saw night upon Edom, so, by a play upon words, he speaks of evening upon Arabia: “in the forest, in Arabia,” or with the same consonants, “in the evening.” In the time of the insecurity of the Assyrian invasion the travelling merchants have to go aside from their great trading roads “in the evening to lodge in the thickets.” There they entertain fugitives, or (for the sense is not quite clear) are themselves as fugitives entertained. It is a picture of the “grievousness of war,” which was now upon the world, flowing down even those distant, desert roads. But things have not yet reached the worst. The fugitives are but the heralds of armies, that “within a year” shall waste the “children of Kedar,” for Jehovah, the God of Israel, hath spoken it. So did the prophet of little Jerusalem take possession of even the far deserts in the name of his nations God.
12. Isa 23:1-18 -ORACLE FOR TYRE. Elegy over its fall, probably as Sennacherib came south upon it in 703 or 702. To be further considered by us.
These, then, are Isaiahs oracles for the Nations, who tremble, intrigue, and go down before the might of Assyria.
We have promised to gather the circumstances and meaning of these prophecies round three representative texts. These are-
1. “Ah! the booming of the peoples, the multitudes, like the booming of the seas they boom; and the rushing of the nations, like the rushing of mighty waters they rush; nations, like the rushing of many waters they rush. But He rebuketh it, and it fleeth afar off, and is chased like the chaff on the mountains before the wind and like whirling dust before the whirlwind.” {Isa 17:12-13}
2. “What then shall one answer the messengers of a nation? That Jehovah hath founded Zion, and in her shall find refuge the afflicted of His people.” {Isa 14:32}
3. “In that day shall Israel be a third to Egypt and to Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, for that Jehovah of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be My people Egypt, and the work of My hands Assyria, and Mine inheritance Israel”. {Isa 19:24-25}
I.
The first of these texts shows all the prophets prospect filled with storm, the second of them the solitary rock and lighthouse in the midst of the storm: Zion, His own watchtower and His peoples refuge; while the third of them, looking far into the future, tells us, as it were, of the firm continent which shall rise out of the waters-Israel no longer a solitary lighthouse, “but in that day shall Israel be a third to Egypt and to Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth.” These three texts give us a summary of the meaning of all Isaiahs obscure prophecies to the foreign nations-a stormy ocean, a solitary rock in the midst of it, and the new continent that shall rise out of the waters about the rock.
The restlessness of Western Asia beneath the Assyrian rule (from 719, when Sargons victory at Rafia extended that rule to the borders of Egypt) found vent, as we saw, in two great Explosions, for both of which the mine was laid by Egyptian intrigue. The first Explosion happened in 711, and was confined to Ashdod. The second took place on Sargons death in 705, and was universal. Till Sennacherib marched south on Palestine in 701, there were all over Western Asia hurryings to and fro, consultations and intrigues, embassies and engineerings from Babylon to Meroe in far Ethiopia, and from the tents of Kedar to the cities of the Philistines. For these Jerusalem, the one inviolate capital from the Euphrates to the river of Egypt, was the natural centre. And the one far-seeing, steady-hearted man in Jerusalem was Isaiah. We have already seen that there was enough within the city to occupy Isaiahs attention, especially from 705 onward; but for Isaiah the walls of Jerusalem, dear as they were and thronged with duty, neither limited his sympathies nor marked the scope of the gospel he had to preach. Jerusalem is simply his watchtower. His field-and this is the peculiar glory of the prophets later life-his field is the world.
How well fitted Jerusalem then was to be the worlds watchtower, the traveller may see to this day. The city lies upon the great central ridge of Palestine, at an elevation of two thousand five hundred feet above the level of the sea. If you ascend the hill behind the city, you stand upon one of the great view-points of the earth. It is a forepost of Asia. To the east rise the red hills of Moab and the uplands of Gilead and Bashan, on to which wandering tribes of the Arabian deserts beyond still push their foremost camps. Just beyond the horizon lie the immemorial paths from Northern Syria into Arabia. Within a few hours walk along the same central ridge, and still within the territory of Judah, you may see to the north, over a wilderness of blue hills, Hermons snowy crest; you know that Damascus is lying just beyond, and that through it and round the base of Hermon swings one of the longest of the old worlds highways-the main caravan road from the Euphrates to the Nile. Stand at gaze for a little, while down that road there sweep into your mind thoughts of the great empire whose troops and commerce it used to carry. Then, bearing these thoughts with you, follow the line of the road across the hills to the western coastland, and so out upon the great Egyptian desert, where you may wait till it has brought you imagination of the southern empire to which it travels. Then, lifting your eyes a little further, let them sweep back again from south to north, and you have the whole of the west, the new world, open to you, across the fringe of yellow haze that marks the sands of the Mediterranean. It is even now one of the most comprehensive prospects in the world. But in Isaiahs day, when the world was smaller, the high places of Judah either revealed or suggested the whole of it.
But Isaiah was more than a spectator of this vast theatre. He was an actor upon it. The court of Judah, of which during Hezekiahs reign he was the most prominent member, stood in more or less close connection with the courts of all the kingdoms of Western Asia; and in those days, when the nations were busy with intrigue against their common enemy, this little highland town and fortress became a gathering place of peoples. From Babylon, from far-off Ethiopia, from Edom, from Philistia, and no doubt from many other places also, embassies came to King Hezekiah, or to inquire of his prophet. The appearance of some of them lives for us still in Isaiahs descriptions: “tall and shiny” figures of Ethiopians {Isa 18:2}, with whom we are able to identify the lithe, silky-skinned, shining-black bodies of the present tribes of the Upper Nile. Now the prophet must have talked much with these strangers, for he displays a knowledge of their several countries and ways of life that is full and accurate. The agricultural conditions of Egypt; her social ranks and her industries (chapter 19); the harbours and markets of Tyre (chapter 23); the caravans of the Arab nomads, as in times of war they shun the open desert and seek the thickets {Isa 21:14} -Isaiah paints these for us with a vivid realism. We see how this statesman of the least of States, this prophet of a religion which was confessed over only a few square miles, was aware of the wide world, and how he loved the life that filled it. They are no mere geographical terms with which Isaiah thickly studs these prophecies. He looks out upon and paints for us, lands and cities surging with men-their trades, their castes, their religions, their besetting tempers and sins, their social structures and national policies, all quick and bending to the breeze and the shadow of the coming storm from the north.
We have said that in nothing is the legal power of our prophets style so manifest as in the vast horizons, which, by the use of a few words, he calls up before us. Some of the finest of these revelations are made in this part of his book, so obscure and unknown to most. Who can ever forget those descriptions-of Ethiopia in the eighteenth chapter?-“Ah! the land of the rustling of wings, which borders on the rivers of Cush, which sendeth heralds on the sea, and in vessels of reed on the face of the waters! Travel, fleet messengers, to a people lithe and shining, to a nation feared from ever it began to be, a people strong, strong and trampling, whose land the rivers divide”; or of Tyre in chapter 23?-“And on great waters the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the mart of nations.” What expanses of sea! what fleets of ships! what floating loads of grain! what concourse of merchants moving on stately wharves beneath high warehouses!
Yet these are only segments of horizons, and perhaps the prophet reaches the height of his power of expression in the first of the three texts, which we have given as representative of his prophecies on foreign nations. Here three or four lines of marvellous sound repeat the effect of the rage of the restless world as it rises, storms, and breaks upon the steadfast will of God. The phonetics of the passage are wonderful. The general impression is that of a stormy ocean booming in to the shore and then crashing itself out into one long hiss of spray and foam upon its barriers. The details are noteworthy. In Isa 17:12 we have thirteen heavy M-sounds, besides two heavy Bs, to five Ns, five Hs, and four sibilants. But in Isa 17:13 the sibilants predominate; and before the sharp rebuke of the Lord the great, booming sound of Isa 17:12 scatters out into a long yish-sha oon. The occasional use of a prolonged vowel amid so many hurrying consonants produces exactly the effect now of the lift of a storm swell out at sea and now of the pause of a great wave before it crashes on the shore. “Ah, the booming of the peoples, the multitudes, like the booming of the seas they boom; and the rushing of the nations, like the rushing of the mighty waters they rush: nations, like the rushing of many waters they rush. But He checketh it”-a short, sharp word with a choke and a snort in it-“and it fleeth far away, and is chased like chaff on mountains before wind, and like swirling dust before a whirlwind.”
So did the rage of the world sound to Isaiah as it crashed into pieces upon the steadfast providence of God. To those who can feel the force of such language nothing need be added upon the prophets view of the politics of the outside world these twenty years, whether portions of it threatened Judah in their own strength, or the whole power of storm that was in it rose with the Assyrian, as in all his flood he rushed upon Zion in the year 701.
II.
But amid this storm Zion stands immovable. It is upon Zion that the storm crashes itself into impotence. This becomes explicit in the second of our representative texts: “What then shall one answer the messengers of a nation? That Jehovah hath founded Zion, and in her shall find a refuge the afflicted of His people”. {Isa 14:32} This oracle was drawn from Isaiah by an embassy of the Philistines. Stricken with panic at the Assyrian advance, they had sent messengers to Jerusalem, as other tribes did, with questions and proposals of defences, escapes, and alliances. They got their answer, Alliances are useless. Everything human is going down. Here, here alone, is safety, because the Lord hath decreed it.
With what light and peace do Isaiahs words break out across that unquiet, hungry sea! How they tell the world for the first time, and have been telling it ever since, that, apart from all the struggle and strife of history, there is a refuge and security of men, which God Himself has assured. The troubled surface of life, nations heaving uneasily, kings of Assyria and their armies carrying the world before them-these are not all. The world and her powers are not all. Religion, in the very teeth of life, builds her a refuge for the afflicted.
The world seems wholly divided between force and fear. Isaiah says, It is not true. Faith has her abiding citadel in the midst, a house of God, which neither force can harm nor fear enter.
This then was Isaiahs Interim-Answer to the Nations-Zion at least is secure for the people of Jehovah.
III.
Isaiah could not remain content, however, with so narrow an interim-answer: Zion at least is secure, whatever happens to the rest of you. The world was there, and had to be dealt with and accounted for-had even to be saved. As we have already seen, this was the problem of Isaiahs generation; and to have shirked it would have meant the failure of his faith to rank as universal.
Isaiah did not shirk it. He said boldly to his people, and to the nations: “The faith we have covers this vaster life. Jehovah is not only God of Israel. He rules the world.” These prophecies to the foreign nations are full of revelations of the sovereignty and providence of God. The Assyrian may seem to be growing in glory; but Jehovah is watching from the heavens, till he be ripe for cutting down. {Isa 18:4} Egypts statesmen may be perverse and wilful; but Jehovah of hosts swingeth His hand against the land: “they shall tremble and shudder”. {Isa 19:16} Egypt shall obey His purposes (chapter 17). Confusion may reign for a time, but a signal and a centre shall be lifted up, and the world gather itself in order round the revealed will of God. The audacity of such a claim for his God becomes more striking when we remember that Isaiahs faith was not the faith of a majestic or a conquering people. When he made his claim, Judah was still tributary to Assyria, a petty highland principality, that could not hope to stand by material means against the forces which had thrown down her more powerful neighbours. It was. no experience of success, no mere instinct of being on the side of fate, which led Isaiah so resolutely to pronounce that not only should his people be secure, but that his God would vindicate His purposes upon empires like Egypt and Assyria. It was simply his sense that Jehovah was exalted in righteousness. Therefore, while inside Judah only the remnant that took the side of righteousness would be saved, outside Judah wherever there was unrighteousness, it would be rebuked, and wherever righteousness, it would be vindicated. This is the supremacy which Isaiah proclaimed for Jehovah over the whole world.
How spiritual this faith of Isaiah was, is seen from the next step the prophet took. Looking out on the troubled world, he did not merely assert that his God ruled it, but he emphatically said, what was a far more difficult thing to say, that it would all be consciously and willingly Gods. God rules this, not to restrain it only, but to make it His own. The knowledge of Him, which is today our privilege, shall be tomorrow the blessing of the whole world.
When we point to the Jewish desire, so often expressed in the Old Testament, of making the whole world subject to Jehovah, we are told that it is simply a proof of religious ambition and jealousy. We are told that this wish to convert the world no more stamps the Jewish religion as being a universal, and therefore presumably a Divine, religion than the Mohammedans zeal to force their tenets on men at the point of the sword is a proof of the truth of Islam.
Now we need not be concerned to defend the Jewish religion in its every particular, even as propounded by an Isaiah. It is an article of the Christian creed that Judaism was a minor and imperfect dispensation, where truth was only half revealed and virtue half developed. But at least let us do the Jewish religion justice; and we shall never do it justice till we pay attention to what its greatest prophets thought of the outside world, how they sympathised with this, and in what way they proposed to make it subject to their own faith.
Firstly then, there is something in the very manner of Isaiahs treatment of foreign nations, which causes the old charges of religious exclusiveness to sink in our throats. Isaiah treats these foreigners at least as men. Take his prophecies on Egypt or on Tyre or on Babylon-nations which were the hereditary enemies of his nation-and you find him speaking of their natural misfortunes, their social decays, their national follies and disasters, with the same pity and with the same purely moral considerations with which he has treated his own land. When news of those far-away sorrows comes to Jerusalem, it moves this large-hearted prophet to mourning and tears. He breathes out to distant lands elegies as beautiful as he has poured upon Jerusalem. He shows as intelligent an interest in their social evolutions as he does in those of the Jewish State. He gives a picture of the industry and politics of Egypt as careful as his pictures of the fashions and statecraft of Judah. In short, as you read his prophecies upon foreign nations, you perceive that before the eyes of this man humanity, broken and scattered in his days as it was, rose up one great whole, every part of which was subject to the same laws of righteousness, and deserved from the prophet of God the same love and pity. To some few tribes he says decisively that they shall certainly be wiped out, but even them he does not address in contempt or in hatred. The large empire of Egypt, the great commercial power of Tyre, he speaks of in language of respect and admiration; but that does not prevent him from putting the plain issue to them which he put to his own countrymen: If you are unrighteous, intemperate, impure-lying diplomats and dishonest rulers-you shall certainly perish before Assyria. If you are righteous, temperate, pure, if you do trust in truth and God, nothing can move you.
But, secondly, he, who thus treated all nations with the same strict measures of justice and the same fulness of pity with which he treated his own, was surely not far from extending to the world the religious privileges which he has so frequently identified with Jerusalem. In his old age, at least, Isaiah looked forward to the time when the particular religious opportunities of the Jew should be the inheritance of humanity. For their old oppressor Egypt, for their new enemy Assyria, he anticipates the same experience and education which have made Israel the firstborn of God. Speaking to Egypt, Isaiah concludes a missionary sermon, fit to take its place beside that which Paul uttered on the Areopagus to the younger Greek civilisation, with the words, “In that day shall Israel be a third to Egypt and to Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, for that Jehovah of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands and Israel Mine inheritance.”