Call to Moab

This chapter is a direct sequel to the previous one and forms a whole with it. In view of the coming tribulation Isaiah calls Moab to submit to Judah (Isa 16:1). In the past, Moab has been subject to Israel (2Sam 8:2) and has had to pay a tribute of lambs and wool, but has escaped from Israel’s power (2Kgs 3:4-5).

In fact, this means that Moab is asked to choose to stand on the side of the believing Israelites at the time of the great tribulation. In practical terms, this means that they are called upon to receive the fleeing believing remnant of Israel (Isa 16:4; Mt 24:16). Those who answer this call will be rewarded before the throne of Christ (Mt 25:31-40). Everything they have done to these believing Israelites, they have done to Christ Himself, without knowing it.

As a sign of their choice to stand at the side of Israel, Moab is said to send lambs again. He should not send them to Samaria now, but “to the mountain of the daughter of Zion”, which is the temple mountain in Jerusalem. This way of doing things will be an outcome for Moab. Moab’s need, just like other peoples in the area, is caused by the invasion of the king of the North. They will find protection and security in Jerusalem as compensation for the tribute paid.

Sela is Hebrew for the Greek Petra, which means rock. Petra is located in Edom, south of Moab. There the fugitives fled from the north of Moab. The escape route from north to south is described in the previous chapter.

On the Run to Jerusalem

Then the prophet sees how the Moabites flee, toward Jerusalem, chased by the enemy (Isa 16:2). The picture is that of birds chased from their nest, causing their young to fly around without a resting place. The time will come when the Moabites will be driven from their homes and will need protection. This is offered to them in Isa 16:1 with the associated condition.

In Isa 16:3 both Judah and Moab are addressed to take in each other’s fugitives. Judah has to flee at the time of the great tribulation because of the persecution by the antichrist, while Moab has to flee to Israel because of the invasion of the king of the North. They have to cast “at high noon” their “shadow like night”. They have to offer protection by hiding the fugitives from the enemy in the heat of the day, i.e. when the persecution is most intense, like a rock provides a cooling shadow in the middle of the day. Betrayal of the hiding place of the outcasts is forbidden.

Request for Protection

Here Moab is summoned to receive the outcasts of Judah [according to another translation: “My outcasts, as for Moab”, footnote NASB] (Isa 16:4). The mountains of which the Lord Jesus speaks in His end time speech (Mt 24:16) may be those of Moab. There the outcasts of Judah will be safe “from the destroyer”, the king of the North. No matter how much the destroyer will rage, he will eventually come to his end in Judah.

This means that Isaiah’s main concern here is the end time, a thought that is in line with what has already been mentioned in this book (Isa 14:32). Isa 16:5 confirms this. When the extortioner has been judged, the destruction is over and the oppressors have been wiped out (Isa 16:4b), the Messiah will sit on His throne. The “judge” who sits on the throne is none other than the Lord Jesus and it can be about nothing but His reign in the end time.

Just before He returns to judge the enemies of His people, many Judeans will flee and therewith fulfill His word. What David does with his father and mother while he is fleeing from Saul is a foreshadowing of this (1Sam 22:3-4; cf. Jer 40:11-12). God also calls Moab “My washbowl” (Psa 60:8a; Psa 108:9a), which indicates that Moab is the place where He will cleanse and purify the remnant as in a washbowl.

When that process is completed, they will return to Judah as God’s warriors to help with the deliverance of Judah and Jerusalem. When the anti-Christian powers have been defeated, the Son of David will sit on the throne. He will restore and maintain justice and righteousness.

Moab Destroyed

After advising Moab to submit to Zion and be a refuge for the outcasts of Judah, Isaiah returns to the characteristic attitude of Moab. That attitude is one of pride, arrogance, fury and idle boasts (Isa 16:6; Jer 48:29-30). This attitude causes the land to be destroyed and Moab to wail and moan about his fate (Isa 16:7-8; cf. Pro 16:18). Isaiah sees it before him. It seizes him.

Where there should be cheering for joy – the vine is the symbol of it – is bitterly weeping (Isa 16:9-10). At the end of Isa 16:10 we suddenly hear the LORD speaking in the speaking of Isaiah. He says that He has made the shouting of joy to cease. The LORD is at work in what happens to Moab.

This brings Isaiah to a new expression of grief over Moab (Isa 16:11). The tragedy of Moab is that he does not resort to God, but to his idols (Isa 16:12). He makes every effort to get any help in the house of his idol. Of course there is no salvation there. His going to the sanctuary of his god and the prayer to his god are totally useless.

Short-Term Judgment

What Isaiah prophesied about Moab (Isa 16:13) is in line with prophecies that were made about this people “earlier” (Num 24:17). It will all be fulfilled in the future.

Also for the short term Isaiah has a prophecy: a judgment will come within three years (Isa 16:14). That period is counted “as a hired man would count them”. This means that it will be after exactly three years, because a hired man will not work a day longer than the agreed period. Although we do not know very well how that judgment was carried out, it certainly happened, because God has declared it. In the end time after the invasion of Assyria Moab will be judged again by the hands of the then restored Israel (Isa 11:14).

However, it is clear that there is a significant difference between the fate of Philistia (Isaiah 14) and the fate of Moab (Isaiah 15-16). There will be no remnant of Philistia in the realm of peace, whereas there will be a remnant of Moab. This is because at the time of the great tribulation Moab took in fugitives from Israel, the believing remnant (cf. Mt 25:31-40).