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Isaiah Chapter 16 - Dubious Circumstances (part 2)
In yesterdays post (read it HERE) we looked at the burden against Moab, a nation birthed when Lot's daughters got him drunk and seduced him. We looked at how our decisions in life can have negative effects over the course of generations...
So… it that it? Are we to conclude that if our ancestors made bad decisions, we're done for? Are we doomed to pay for our fathers sins? Is the die cast, and there's no way out?
To answer that question, we look to verse 1 of chapter 16;
Send the lamb to the ruler of the land, from Sela to the wilderness, to the mount of the daughter of Zion. (Isaiah 16:1)
In other words God is imploring Moab to repent and submit herself to Judah, and to God!
Once agains God shows his mercy, and his willingness to forgive and restore! He does not demand retribution or fines. He does not require that we somehow "earn" our forgiveness. He simply says "come, and I will forgive." Let's look at the entire verse from Exodus 34:
"The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation." (Exodus 34:6-7)
This verse reminds us that regardless of what our circumstances were, or what our forefathers did, or even what we might have done, that God is always...
Merciful - When we come to the Lord, He will always forgive
Gracious - He will be kind to us
Longsuffering - He will be patient with us
Abounding in goodness and truth - There is no dark or sinister motive with God
Keeping mercy for thousands - literally "thousands of generations" (thats a lot of people!)
Forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin - By giving three descriptions for sin, God is saying that there is no sin that He will not forgive
Does that mean that when we repent, that we won't suffer any consequences from our previous sin? No. Sin has consequences, and even though we are forgiven, we still may have to live through some of the consequences of our choices.
If we've wrecked our finances; God will forgive, but we will have to discipline ourselves in order to put things right.
If we've wrecked our health; God will forgive, but we will have to discipline ourselves to be take better care of our body.
If we've wrecked relationships; God will forgive, but we will have to humble ourselves and seek to restore those relationships.
But… we aren't left alone in our restoration! When we begin to honor God in our finances, in our living, in our relationships, God will bless and multiply our efforts!
So, what happens with Moab?
Sadly, Moab will not repent, and thus Isaiah predicts that the people of Moab will become like a baby bird that falls out of the nest, and wanders around helplessly...
For it shall be as a wandering bird thrown out of the nest; so shall be the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. (Isaiah 16:2)
And God is not happy to see this happen:
Therefore I will bewail the vine of Sibmah, with the weeping of Jazer; I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Elealeh; for battle cries have fallen over your summer fruits and your harvest. Gladness is taken away, and joy from the plentiful field; in the vineyards there will be no singing, nor will there be shouting; no treaders will tread out wine in the presses; I have made their shouting cease. Therefore my heart shall resound like a harp for Moab, and my inner being for Kir Heres. And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he will come to his sanctuary to pray; but he will not prevail. (Isaiah 16:9-12)
This is the sadness that comes from watching someone you care deeply for make terrible decisions, suffer badly, and yet turn to the wrong places for help! Moab will go to her "high places," her idols and false gods, yet they will offer no comfort, nor can they provide any solutions.
But check it out, if we back up to verse 3, God calls on Judah to become a safe harbor for the refugees of Moab:
"Take counsel, execute judgment; make your shadow like the night in the middle of the day; hide the outcasts, do not betray him who escapes." (Isaiah 16:3)
This reminds me of what Jesus taught us in Luke 6:
"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you… (Luke 6:27)
Lastly, in an unexpected turn, Isaiah speaks into the future of Israel in the end times:
"Let My outcasts dwell with you, O Moab; be a shelter to them from the face of the spoiler. For the extortioner is at an end, devastation ceases, the oppressors are consumed out of the land." (Isaiah 16:4)
This is a sudden and curious change of focus. In verse 3, Judah was counseled to receive the outcasts of Moab. Now, Moab is asked to receive the outcasts of Judah.
Many scholars believe that Isaiah 16:4-5 is an end-times prophecy of how Moab will be a place of refuge for Jews escaping the fury of the Antichrist after the abomination of desolation. Israel, fleeing from the fury of the Antichrist, will find refuge in places like Moab (Revelation 12:6, 12:13-14). They will be protected from the face of the spoiler "until devastation ceases and the oppressors are consumed out of the land."
In those end times, the throne of the Messiah will be established, and the Messiah Himself will sit on the throne:
"In mercy the throne will be established; and One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness." (Isaiah 16:5)
Wow. Isaiah is a deep and complex book, but one thing is consistent throughout Isaiah:
God loves His people, He cares about them, and His desire is to draw those who are far from him to Himself!
Pastor Clay
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