Isaiah · chapter 16 of 66
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Isaiah 16 continues the oracle against Moab. Its fugitives ask Zion for refuge and protection, and a throne is promised that is established in steadfast love, where a judge who seeks justice will sit. But Moab is proud, and so its vines wither and the prophet weeps. The chapter ends with a deadline: within three years Moab's glory will be brought low.
Chapter 15 described Moab's ruin. In chapter 16, Isaiah offers a way out: Moabite refugees can seek protection in Judah and in David's throne. Moab's pride, however, keeps it from accepting that help, and the oracle concludes with a fixed deadline for the judgment.
The prophet tells them to send lambs to the ruler of the land, from Sela, by way of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Zion. The daughters of Moab, like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, are at the fords of the Arnon. They ask Judah for counsel and a decision, that their shade be like night at the height of noon, that they hide the outcasts and not betray the fugitive, that the outcasts of Moab dwell among them and that they be a shelter from the destroyer.
When the oppressor is no more and destruction has ceased, a throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness, in the tent of David, a judge who seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness.
But they have heard of Moab's pride: very proud, arrogant and haughty, with empty boasts. So Moab wails for Moab, all of them wail. The vineyards of Heshbon and of Sibmah, which gladdened the lords of the nations, have withered and reach as far as Jazer. So the prophet will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah and drench with tears Heshbon and Elealeh. The joy of the harvest has ceased, and no one treads the winepresses with gladness. The prophet's heart moans like a lyre for Moab. Though Moab presents itself at the high place and prays at its sanctuary, it will not prevail.
This is the word the Lord spoke concerning Moab in the past. Now he adds that within three years, as the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be brought into contempt together with all its great multitude, and the remnant will be very small and feeble.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Moab asks Judah to hide the outcasts and be a shelter from the destroyer. The request shows that Israel was called to be a place of protection for peoples fleeing evil.
A throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness a judge who seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness. The image points to an ideal Davidic king, and Christians see Jesus in it.
We have heard of the pride of Moab, very proud, of its arrogance, its pride and its insolence. Its great sin is the self-sufficiency that makes it reject the refuge the Lord offers.
The Lord sets a deadline of three years, as the years of a hired worker, for Moab's glory to be brought low. The exact time shows that the judgment is not arbitrary but follows his word.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Counsel, a decision, a place to hide and shelter from the destroyer. — Isaiah 16:3-4
Answer: A throne established in steadfast love, occupied in faithfulness by a judge who seeks justice and does righteousness. — Isaiah 16:5
Answer: Its pride: it is very proud, arrogant and haughty. — Isaiah 16:6
Answer: They withered, and the joy of the harvest ceased. — Isaiah 16:8-10
Answer: It does not prevail, because its prayer does not help. — Isaiah 16:12
Answer: Three years, as the years of a hired worker. — Isaiah 16:14
Isaiah 16 teaches that God offers refuge even to a proud people, and that the obstacle is not a lack of help but the refusal to accept it. In a small group, we can reflect on how pride keeps us from asking God and others for help when we need it.
It also calls us to be, like Judah, a place where the outcast find protection. The church can welcome migrants, refugees and the needy, and so reflect the throne of steadfast love that God promises.
Isaiah 16 shows an offer of refuge, a righteous king on the horizon and a people who do not give up their pride. Chapter 17 turns to Damascus and Ephraim, the northern kingdom, with an oracle announcing their fall.
The text speaks of a king in David's tent who rules with steadfast love, faithfulness and justice. Many Christians see in this portrait the Messiah, Jesus, a descendant of David. In its original context it also refers to a ruler of the Davidic line, in contrast with Moab's pride.
The phrase as the years of a hired worker indicates an exact, strict term with no extension, like that of a worker hired for a fixed time. It shows that the judgment would arrive at a precise time.
The Moabites ask Judah for protection, which shows they knew David's throne was a place of justice. Yet their pride keeps them from accepting the humility needed to receive that help.