Isaiah 2.2

Isaiah 15-18

Last week we finished up through chapter 14, today we will continue in this section that is often referred to as the Woes to the nations. Remember in chapters 13-14 we saw oracles concerning Babylon, Assyria, and Philistia.

Today we’ll continue—and I want to say a few things before we get into it. Each of these sections begin in a similar way “An oracle concerning…so and so.” What do we mean by “an oracle.” The Hebrew word here is massa, which can refer to simply a “pronouncement.” I worry that in our shared imagination, the word oracle conjures up images of soothsayers and fortune tellers on some high and faraway place. No, this is merely Isaiah’s pronouncement of God’s word concerning these different nations.

The next I want to say it this: this is a reminder of something we’ve talked about a great deal through this study already. When we read this section, Woes to the Nations, it is easy to get lost in teh geo-political situation of the day, to get lost in the details, the names, the places, etc. We ought to remember that indeed, these pronouncements were made concerning a particular people at a particular time and place. BUT, we should not then let these things make us lose sight of the wisdom this text has for us today. There are broad themes that apply to us today, let us just be discerning and careful with how we apply these passages to our lives.

Ok. Chapter 15-16 is the Oracle Concerning Moab

Let’s read all of Isaiah 15 “1 An oracle concerning Moab. Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone; because Kir of Moab is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone. 2 He has gone up to the temple, and to Dibon, to the high places to weep; over Nebo and over Medeba Moab wails. On every head is baldness; every beard is shorn; 3 in the streets they wear sackcloth; on the housetops and in the squares everyone wails and melts in tears. 4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out; their voice is heard as far as Jahaz; therefore the armed men of Moab cry aloud; his soul trembles. 5 My heart cries out for Moab; her fugitives flee to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishiyah. For at the ascent of Luhith they go up weeping; on the road to Horonaim they raise a cry of destruction; 6 the waters of Nimrim are a desolation; the grass is withered, the vegetation fails, the greenery is no more. 7 Therefore the abundance they have gained and what they have laid up they carry away over the Brook of the Willows. 8 For a cry has gone around the land of Moab; her wailing reaches to Eglaim; her wailing reaches to Beer-elim. 9 For the waters of Dibon are full of blood; for I will bring upon Dibon even more, a lion for those of Moab who escape, for the remnant of the land.”

This is an oracle concerning Moab, yet another nation involved in the ever-growing crisis of Isaiah’s day. The nature of their crisis is not entirely clear, but what do know is this: invasion has broken within their land and destruction is quick to follow. Moab is undone, the prophet proclaims! There is destruction, weeping, great lament throughout this nation!

Look at v. 5: the prophet grieves for Moab and sees that many are fleeing their country, looking for refuge, looking for safety. But then look at v.9 and we see that even for those who escape, destruction is coming. This is bad news for Moab all around.

Now let’s look at the response. Isaiah 16:1–5 “1 Send the lamb to the ruler of the land, from Sela, by way of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Zion. 2 Like fleeing birds, like a scattered nest, so are the daughters of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. 3 “Give counsel; grant justice; make your shade like night at the height of noon; shelter the outcasts; do not reveal the fugitive; 4 let the outcasts of Moab sojourn among you; be a shelter to them from the destroyer. When the oppressor is no more, and destruction has ceased, and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land, 5 then 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.””

What’s going on here? It’s Moab’s “response” to the oracle. Let us send a tribute, a lamb, as a plea for mercy and safety and refuge. “Give counsel, grant justice, do not reveal the fugitive, let the outcasts sojourn with you.” It is a plea: we are on the run, we are refugees, trying to get out of the destruction of our country. Can we find rest and safety and refuge in Jerusalem? Can we find safety in Judah?

And verse 5 is this great little prophetic commentary on the whole scene. The prophet looks ahead to the day that the perfect hesed, steadfast love of God will reign on the throne of David and all of the injustice of the world will come to an end. It is clearly a messianic moment in the middle of this oracle to Moab and here’s what I love about this so much:

It is not that Judah is Moab’s last great hope. No, Isaiah recognizes that Moab’s hope is identical to with Judah’s hope, they both wait for King of Israel who will perfectly embody the traits of the perfect character of God. Moab represents the nations that will come to the mountain of God, learn his ways, and find refuge in his shade.

But, as chapter 16 continues, this may not be the case for Moab. Let’s continue on.

Isaiah 16:6-7 and then v. 11-12“6 We have heard of the pride of Moab— how proud he is!— of his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence; in his idle boasting he is not right. 7 Therefore let Moab wail for Moab, let everyone wail. Mourn, utterly stricken, for the raisin cakes of Kir-hareseth….11 Therefore my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab, and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth. 12 And when Moab presents himself, when he wearies himself on the high place, when he comes to his sanctuary to pray, he will not prevail.”

Moab is filled with pride and arrogance? Though there seemed to be some supplication, some humility in their plea for refuge, we see this report of their pride, their boasting in themselves. It’s a tragedy, this is a people facing destruction and instead of those dire circumstances moving them into humility, they continued on in their pride.

And not only pride, but look at v. 12: this is a statement about Moab and it’s pagan worship. Moab is committed to it’s worship of pagan gods who cannot save. There is no hope.

And here’s the lesson and application for us: let us put away our pride and arrogance. Let us put away our hope in ourselves or our works or our great deeds, and instead let us always and only find rest and refuge in the Lord. We’re invited, again and again and again to trust in the Lord. It seems to intuitive for us, when life is crumbling, when there’s no where else to turn, trust in the Lord! But Moab couldn’t even do that. It seems as though refuge in Israel was an option, but they wouldn’t take it.

And so it is for us. Though the world may not be literaly crumbling around us, we were dead in our sin. Sin is the world crumbling around us and the free gift of salvation is right in front of us for those who would trust in the Lord.

Amen.

Now let us move on to this next oracle. Chapter 17, an oracle concerning Damascus. This one is interesting because Damascus here is the capital city of Syria. If you remember from chapter 7-8, Syria is one of the nations involved in that earlier crisis, Ahaz was worried about Ephraim and Syria and therefore he made an alliance with Assyria. And what did God promise through Isaiah back then?

He promised that those nations he was so worried about would be nothing, in just a few years they’d be destroyed.

Here that vision is affirmed:

Isaiah 17:1–3 “1 An oracle concerning Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. 2 The cities of Aroer are deserted; they will be for flocks, which will lie down, and none will make them afraid. 3 The fortress will disappear from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the Lord of hosts.”

The pronouncement is essentially what was promised in chapters 7-8, that Ephraim and Syria would be laid waste, the extent of this destruction will be great as YHWH delivers on what He has promised.

And look at v. 7-8

Isaiah 17:7–8 ESV

7 In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. 8 He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.

Isaiah seems to have more than just Judah on his mind when he says this. In that day, that day of destruction, humankind will look to his maker. It places The Holy One of Israel, YHWH, at the center of history and at the center of all people, all tribes, all nations. And in that day, what will humankind do?

They will not look to their pagan altars, to the works of their hand, the Asherah, the places of worship of their false gods, they will not glory in their work or their accomplishments. In that they could do no such thing, none of this would help them. The worship of the false gods will not help them stand in the day of judgement. Where should they look? In whom should they trust?

Isaiah 17:9–10 “9 In that day their strong cities will be like the deserted places of the wooded heights and the hilltops, which they deserted because of the children of Israel, and there will be desolation. 10 For you have forgotten the God of your salvation and have not remembered the Rock of your refuge; therefore, though you plant pleasant plants and sow the vine-branch of a stranger,”

They look at the Rock of their God for refuge. Look at the interplay in 9-10, in that day cities will be laid waste and deserted. Cities are a stand in there for human power and accomplishment, for all that our hands have wrought.

The “strong” cities are nothing and the warning is that we not forget the God of our salvation who is the strong Rock of our refuge. This passage will go on to use this extended metaphor of a harvest at one’s own hands and accomplishment. No matter how well you plant, no matter how well you sow, if anything you do causes you to avoid dependence on the Lord, you will be bitterly disappointed.

Let’s read the rest of the chapter.

Isaiah 17:12–14 ESV

12 Ah, the thunder of many peoples; they thunder like the thundering of the sea! Ah, the roar of nations; they roar like the roaring of mighty waters! 13 The nations roar like the roaring of many waters, but he will rebuke them, and they will flee far away, chased like chaff on the mountains before the wind and whirling dust before the storm. 14 At evening time, behold, terror! Before morning, they are no more! This is the portion of those who loot us, and the lot of those who plunder us.

The thunder of many people, the roar of nations; these are as nothing compared to the Lord. Find your refuge in Him, it is the only thing that will stand. I think about our own world and the insistence of humans to seek their own solutions to the world, and what inevitably happens? At best, futility, at worst, war, destruction, death, oppression.

We’re looking for salvation in all the wrong places. We look for it in politics, we look for it in military might, we look for it in our innovations, we look for it in technology, we look for it in our work, our accomplishments.

Let’s finish out tie today with chapter 18, I would make the case that this belongs with 17 as part of the ongoing oracle. Notice the heading in your ESV, yet the chapter doesn’t begin with the typical “an oracle concerning…”

But it’s a culmination of what’s come before. Isaiah 18

Isaiah 18 ESV

1 Ah, land of whirring wings that is beyond the rivers of Cush, 2 which sends ambassadors by the sea, in vessels of papyrus on the waters! Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide.

So it’s talking about the nations, mighty, political powers.

Isaiah 18 ESV

3 All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, look! When a trumpet is blown, hear! 4 For thus the Lord said to me: “I will quietly look from my dwelling like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” 5 For before the harvest, when the blossom is over, and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he cuts off the shoots with pruning hooks, and the spreading branches he lops off and clears away. 6 They shall all of them be left to the birds of prey of the mountains and to the beasts of the earth. And the birds of prey will summer on them, and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them. 7 At that time tribute will be brought to the Lord of hosts from a people tall and smooth, from a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide, to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord of hosts.

What a reversal! It is the nations, the mighty powers of politics and great cities that are bringing tribute to the Lord at Zion.

Psalm 2 ESV

1 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, 3 “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.