The Bible is full of lessons for God’s people on how He calls us to be, and examples of what we are not supposed to be. This section of Isaiah is particularly rich, because God addresses different nations.
This study talks about pride, and it is going to be uncomfortable for us as we consider how we have been prideful. It talks about how God hates pride, how He deals with pride, how He metes out judgement for pride. So if we walk away from tonight with anything — it’s the two lessons that we see in the headers — and these will form the scaffold for our study tonight.
(A) Lessons from Moab: God is just and exhaustive in His judgement, yet also tender (Isa 15)
Before we look at the oracle to Moab, we need to understand who the Moabites are and their connection to Israel. Moab is the son of Lot and his daughter, the son of an incestuous relationship, after they escaped from Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:30-38). Later on, the Moabites become the enemies of Israel. Balak the king of Moab tried three times to curse Israel through Balaam, because Israel was numerous and he was afraid (Num 22:1-6). Israel was also commanded not to mix with Moab, for they caused God’s people to turn away from God and to idols (Num 25:1-5). In 2 Kings 1:1, 3:1-5, we read of how Moab rebelled against Israel after king Ahab died
Yet, though they were deemed as enemies of Israel, God also used Moab for His purposes (Judg 3:12-30). In Deuteronomy 2:9, we read that God also gave them land for possession, indicating some form of a relationship with God. In 1 Samuel 22, the king of Moab had kept David’s parents safe when he had to flee from Saul and this indicated that there was a certain level of trust.
What is the significance of Moab? We see much overlap in the history and relationships of these two nations. The relationship between Israel and Moab varied, and at times it was good, while at other times, it was bad. As we read Isaiah 15, it is clear that Isaiah and God Himself mourn as they pronounce destruction and judgement on Moab. There is an emotional response, with weeping, and sorrow directed against them, even as this oracle is being delivered.
Is this your picture of the God in the Old Testament? Do you assume that He is angry and gave an unattainable standard in the 10 Commandments? The God that we worship desires and loves people, even as He metes out and pronounces judgment. God also mourns for them.
As God’s people, do we mourn and weep for the lost? Where is our heart for the people who are disobedient, whom we know are headed towards disaster? Do we weep for them, like God? Do we have the same heart as God? Do we even care, or are we more worried about how we look? Are you more comfortable dealing with the Christians in your church than in trying to reach the lost? Not just more comfortable — would you rather talk to Christians than non-Christians, and why? Is it because we all speak the same lingo, or is it because we can’t get over ourselves and how people will view us as “that Christian person”?
Isaiah fleshes out a picture of destruction, death and mourning in Isaiah 15:1-4. The verses mention places that can be easily identifiable on the map and when we read it, we can trace the destruction that God promises is coming. God announces swift and immediate destruction and judgement on two cities of Moab. Overnight, this nation is undone (Isa 15:1). Isaiah 15:2 gives us a picture of a Moabite running to his pagan gods for protection and weeping — a picture of futility, especially as we read on. On every head is baldness, every beard is shorn — these are images of mourning death and weeping, of pure devastation and the effects it has.
Isaiah 15:4 adds another dimension to the picture being painted for us here. Entire villages and cities cry out, so loud that cries are heard in other cities, up in the mountains. The line, “armed men cry aloud, his soul trembles” is a picture of great fear from within. These are warriors, men of war, men hardened by death and destruction and yet, the level of destruction here brings them to their knees, causes them to cry, causes their very souls - their inner being - to tremble with fear. This is the picture of distress, of destruction that we see, and is promised will befall Moab.
This is a frightening picture of God’s judgment. It is swift, decisive and complete. It strikes fear in the souls of men. This is the God that judges and is also the God we worship. This is the same God we read of, pray to everyday and sometimes find hard to slip into our schedules. He gets the leftover of our energies. This is the God that causes the men to fear. This is the God that we approach carelessly, flippantly today. Who is the God you are coming before tonight? Yes, He is gracious, loving and merciful but is also the God of Isaiah 15, who lays waste to entire cities overnight and strikes fear in the soul of men. How do you approach Him on Sundays? Or in our daily Bible reading? How do we worship Him?
We see the destruction further detailed in Isaiah 15:5-9. In the previous verses, we read of the widespread destruction. Yet in Isaiah 15:5, we read, “My heart cries out for Moab…”. We see God’s tenderness here, which we alluded to earlier. Despite His judgement, He weeps for Moab. This is almost like a parent disciplining a child — my mom used to tell me it hurt her every time she caned me, and I never believed her until I was older. And as a father I now know that disciplining my child hurts me as I hear her cry, but I know that it needs to be done for her own good. This is the sense that this verse conveys.
There is a picture of complete desolation, death, withering, wasting away in Isaiah 15:6-7. The judgement extends beyond human life to all of nature, with this picture of mountains of dead grass and rivers dried up. There is no sign of life and no potential even for growth. Everything that has life has been taken away and anything that remotely reminds us of life has been taken away. This picture reminds me of God’s curse in Gen 3 at the fall of man — cursed is the ground because of you, thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. This provides a very real, tangible, visible consequences of sin, that extends beyond relationships and human life.
Isaiah 15:8-9 also shows us a very public destruction as well — all the nations around know of their plight, from city to city. The exhaustive nature of the destruction is further emphasised in Isaiah 15:9. Jeremiah 48:44 tells us that there will be no remnant for God sends a lion for those of Moab who escape. Destruction is complete, exhaustive and utter. This is the nature of His judgment. He does not show partiality.
We get a little glimpse of why this is happening in Jeremiah 48:7, but we’ll look a bit more at that in the next section. As we consider the picture painted for us in Is 15, what we must see is clear and simple — that God is a righteous God that must judge a sinful people. And as He judges, it is exhaustive and complete, it has effects on nature as well, and the only rightful response is mourning and weeping.
God himself weeps as he does this — we see how he is not a cruel or unloving God who’s out to get you — as is the “god of the Old Testament” is usually depicted. Just as He metes out judgement because He is a just God, He weeps too, because He is a loving and tender God. That’s our header for this section — that God is just and exhaustive in His judgement, yet also tender.
At the end of this section, the questions we should have in our head are these —
God is judging Moab, why? What did they do that was so horrible?
If God’s so loving and tender, why can’t God just let things slide? Close one eye?
How can a good God bring about such desolation?
Isaiah 16 helps us answer those questions, and also helps us unpack what exactly the Moabites did that was so wrong.
(B) Lessons from Moab: God hates pride because it is idolatry — magnifying self and diminishing Him (IsA 16)
To understand Isaiah 16:1, we need to read 2 Kings 3:4-5. Moab used to give lambs and rams to Israel, but King Mesha stopped doing so after King Ahab died. God calls them basically to repent, to turn away from what you’re doing now, and turn back to worshipping God. Now is the time for them to be humble and turn back to Israel for protection.
Otherwise, Isaiah 16:2 show us what will happen — “like fleeing birds, like a scattered nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon". The people of Moab are helpless and confused, vulnerable, without a home, scattered and on the run. God’s counsel to them is clear — turn and repent and submit to Jerusalem and its King!
What does God call Judah to do in Isaiah 16:5-8? God tells them to give counsel, grant justice, protect the Moabites as they come to you. Judah was to welcome them, shelter them. It doesn’t matter what they did to you before — receive them. This hits especially hard as we hear about the situation in Europe doesn’t it? God’s call to his people is to be gracious, just and loving. We are to extend the same grace and mercy to people around us, just as how God has given to us.
Do we also see how tender and merciful God is to Moab? He offers them a clear fix to this — repent, turn, come back, worship me. Even in His judgement, God is merciful to provide a way out of this. And what is it? Repent!
Isaiah 16:3 also has a call to “shelter the outcasts” and “do not reveal the fugitive” (or, it reads as do not betray him who escapes in another version). We see that God’s desire for His people is ultimately to protect even the outcasts from Moab (i.e. Rahab). He desires to protect even the weakest and most vulnerable from the oppressor. What would this look like for us? What happened if we protected the weak and vulnerable and poor around us? What would it look like to do that in our local church bodies? To welcome those who do not look and sound or even smell like us with open arms, treating them with dignity and respect. To make your shade like night at the height of noon — what a beautiful picture of love and protection that would be!
But, didn’t God say his destruction is complete? Then how does Isaiah 16:4b-5 fit in? What are we to make of it? Isaiah 16:4, when it speaks of the the outcasts of Moab, also points us to 1 Samuel 22, where David asks the king of Moab to protect his parents. So perhaps these outcasts don’t refer to Moabites who escaped per se, but others who lived among them.
We read on that out of this situation — Judah protecting the Moabite outcasts - something amazing happens. Isaiah 16:5 tells us — a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness. Out of destruction and pain and exile, out of this mess, the promised Davidic king who is righteous and just and faithful and steadfast and loving will come. With the backdrop of such destruction of Isaiah 15, God promises hope and salvation. What mercy!
We read in Ruth of the Moabite widow Ruth, and we find out that from Ruth came Obed who fathered Jesse who fathered David the king. The two references in Isaiah32 and Daniel 7 read:
“Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice. Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.” (Isaiah 32:1–2)
“And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” (Daniel 7:27)
Through all of this, God brings the destruction and aggression and weeping to a close, and promises a righteous king. This points us to David the king, and further to an even greater, more righteous King. God promises and provides hope, out of the destruction. He provides a perfect King who will rule with faithfulness, judges and seeks justice and swift to do righteousness. There is wonder and hope and mercy, even in this verse right here.
Isaiah also details for us why Moab was being judged. Isaiah 16:6-8 calls out Moab’s pride and it this results in judgement. They trusted in their works and treasures (Jer 48:7). They were always at ease, settled, never tested and perhaps that is where their arrogance comes from (Jer 48:11-12). Jeremiah 48:26-27 shows us a bit more — he magnified himself against the LORD. He held Israel in derision. Their hearts were haughty (Jer 48:29), insolent, boastful, and their deeds are false. This idea of magnifying themselves against the LORD is also repeated in Jeremiah 48:42. It is a picture of self-reliance, where we think of ourselves as bigger than we are, but making God smaller than He is! Out of that flows a rejection of God’s laws and us putting our own moral compass in place. We judge everything and live according to our desires.
God hates pride because it is idolatry — magnifying self and diminishing Him. This gives us a clear picture of not just why Moab was being judged, but also a clear definition of what pride is. The exact words in Jeremiah are that he magnified himself against the LORD. What does this mean? Minimally it means we have too big a view of ourselves, and too small a view of God.
Pride is when we become king of our lives and judge of all things, even of God. This is at the root of all of our sin and our pride in life. Think of any sin you struggle with. At its root sits a magnification of self and a demagnification of God. We think our needs are greater and our desires more important. Think about our conflicts. We want to have the last say and to be right. Think about what you struggle with — contempt, lust, desiring things that are not yours. Peel back those layers and think about what it means for your self to be diminished instead. What does it mean to magnify God instead? What does it look like to see God for who He, to see Him as the Big God that He is?
Even as God executes His judgement, we see again that His heart is tender. We see that God has a deep sorry for a people destroyed (Isa 16:9-14). How can a good God act in this way? Ezekiel 33:11 shows us that God is not out to get us. In fact, He desires for us to live and flourish, that our lives would like as He has intended for it and designed for it to be.
In Matthew 23:37-39, Jesus, the righteous King, says these words! He desires for the people to turn and repent. Romans 3:21-26 describe for us the great exchange, as Christ died for our sins and we obtain His righteousness. We have a God who is loving, merciful and also just and righteous. Because He is just, He cannot let sin go unpunished.
The promise in Isaiah 16 of a king is finally fulfilled in Jesus. Do you hear and see His tender mercies to us? We have basically been like Moab. Maybe our lives have been great and we’ve been taught to be self-reliant. Despite that, God promises mercy and salvation from judgment through Christ alone. He is the God who is just and the justifier. We all struggle with pride, with the desire to diminish God and magnify ourselves. And the only right response is to repent and rejoice that God has sent His Son for us.
What are some ways you struggle with pride? How has today’s study challenged your ideas of pride and idolatry, and what would repentance look like specifically? What would a pattern of dying to sin and yourself look like in your everyday life? How would that change your relationships at home, at work, in church and anywhere else?