Evening at the fords of the Arnon: a broad, shallow, stony crossing deep in the gorge, a few cloth bundles left on the bank, and a thorn tree above with an empty nest as small birds fly off.

The nations judged

Isaiah 16

Moab ran from refuge to refuge. Where do you run when everything shakes?

14 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

1–5Zion on trialJudah’s sin, the mountain raised, the vineyard’s song
6Holy, holy, holyIsaiah’s call, in the year King Uzziah died (about 740 BC)
7–12ImmanuelAhaz’s fear, the sign, the Child, the shoot of Jesse
13–23The nations judgedBabylon to Tyre: the LORD is Judge of all the earthChapter 16
24–27The whole earthThe earth laid waste, and death swallowed up
28–35Woe and a KingEgypt’s help or the LORD’s, and the King in His beauty
36–39Hezekiah’s crisisSennacherib, 701 BC: the prayer, the sickness, the envoys
40–48Comfort My peopleTo the exiles ahead: Cyrus, the idols, the Servant
49–55The Servant and ZionPierced for our transgressions; Zion restored
56–66New heavens and earthA house of prayer, the Anointed One, all things new

Moab’s Destruction

Isaiah

Isaiah

Send the tribute lambs

to the ruler of the land,

from Sela in the desert

to the mount of Daughter Zion.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Isaiah

Like fluttering birds

pushed out of the nest,

so are the daughters of Moab

at the fords of the Arnon:

Isaiah

“Give us counsel;

render a decision.

Shelter us at noonday

with shade as dark as night.

Hide the refugees;

do not betray the one who flees.

Isaiah

Let my fugitives stay with you;

be a refuge for Moab from the destroyer.”

Isaiah

When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ceased,

and the oppressors have vanished from the land,

in loving devotion a throne will be established

in the tent of David.

A judge seeking justice and hastening righteousness

will sit on it in faithfulness.

Isaiah 16:4–5

Question

Quick question

Moab begs for shelter, and the prophet answers with a promise. Read verse 5 again before you answer.

Where does verse 5 say a throne will be established?

Isaiah

We have heard of Moab’s pomposity,

his exceeding pride and conceit,

his overflowing arrogance.

But his boasting is empty.

Isaiah

Isaiah

Therefore let Moab wail;

let them wail together for Moab.

Moan for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth,

you who are utterly stricken.

Isaiah

Late summer on the Moabite tableland: terraces of a great vineyard trampled flat, vines torn from their stakes and broken clusters in the dust, the rows running off toward the desert’s edge.

For the fields of Heshbon have withered,

along with the grapevines of Sibmah.

The rulers of the nations

have trampled its choicest vines,

which had reached as far as Jazer

and spread toward the desert.

Their shoots had spread out

and passed over the sea.

Isaiah

So I weep with Jazer

for the vines of Sibmah;

I drench Heshbon and Elealeh

with my tears.

Triumphant shouts have fallen silent

over your summer fruit and your harvest.

God

God

Joy and gladness are removed from the orchard;

no one sings or shouts in the vineyards.

No one tramples the grapes in the winepresses;

I have put an end to the cheering.

Isaiah

When Moab appears on the high place,

when he wearies himself

and enters his sanctuary to pray,

it will do him no good.

Isaiah

This is the message that the LORD spoke earlier concerning Moab.

God

Dusk over a half-empty Moabite hill town: many flat-roofed houses dark and roofless, a few clay lamps lit in small windows, and one old man far off sitting by the gate.

And now the LORD says, “In three years, as a hired worker counts the years, Moab’s splendor will become an object of contempt, with all her many people. And those who are left will be few and feeble.”

0:14

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Pray

Lord Jesus, Son of David, Your throne is established in loving devotion. When I run from refuge to refuge, bring me to Yours. Amen.

You’ve experienced

Isaiah 16

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A verse to carry with you

When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ceased, and the oppressors have vanished from the land, in loving devotion a throne will be established in the tent of David. A judge seeking justice and hastening righteousness will sit on it in faithfulness.

Isaiah 16:4–5

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