Isaiah, Chapters 15-16

Good morning. We had announced last week that this coming Sunday, this first Sunday in May, would be a service where we had some special considerations for those in attendance. And some of you may recall that, some not, so we'll be sure to make it clear. In spite of some very emotional appeals on some folks' part, to reconsider, we're still going to insist that those who come here this next Sunday be either male or female.

Okay? And so, anyway, just keep that in mind. Okay. Now, we're going to be studying here in the book of Isaiah 16, verse 5 will be our focal point verse. We're going to ask that you particularly pay attention, you'll need to keep our heads on for this study. There are some reasons why we're going to ask you to do that, and that's that this will be different today. Not that different, but anyway.

Today will be different because both chapters 15 and 16 are about the nation and people of Moab. They're both short chapters, so we'll be looking at both of those chapters together because of their short length and the common topic, the people of Moab. We'll be covering both of them.

The Fogel Point passage will be just the one verse that we'll look at in 615. We'll track through the nation of Moab, look at its history, and see how it got to be in the place that it holds in Scripture. And we'll look at what I'll call the Moabite surprise that led to your salvation and blessing in Christ. We'll see how that shows up.

The nation of Moab has some upside surprises, and it also has some downsides as well, some points of judgment. Moab also had some times of greater power. There was even a point in time, and we'll look at it briefly, where they actually had power over the Jews, even though a small nation in both population and area. But within Isaiah's lifetime, Moab, the nation and the people, was going to be going through some great distress.

And we'll see what that was. So, we want to start at the beginning. I want to make it clear, it's at the beginning, not the big inning. The beginning. Right about here, in this part of the world, the Middle East, Here is Abraham, he starts at Ur, which is there at the lower right part of this map. When our troops landed a few years back over in Kuwait, they went across the border and one of the first places that they encountered was Ur of the Chaldees where Abraham had started out.

He went farther to the north there and then traveled down into what we now call Israel, or at least in that vicinity. And his nephew Lot went with him as he traveled. Abraham came to a point where he recognized, okay, like I got this nephew with me and, you know, I need to have him kind of pick his own path. So Abraham said, you know, you choose which way you want to go. Lot looked down and he said, hey, this place down here where you got Sodom and Gomorrah, that looks pretty good to me. So he headed down there.

Sodom and Gomorrah, as it turned out, however, at that time, it was a very fertile place and yet very wicked. So Abraham settled in the higher lands in what was then called Hebron. And that's an area south of what's now Jerusalem. And Lot then settled in the city of Sodom, the southern end of what we now call the Dead Sea. It was a place that you could apply the sheep's opinion. Remember the sheep's opinion? It's very bad. Okay, bad place. All right. Lot. That's not right. It's not lot start. It's let's start at the beginning. Okay, here we go.

The Lord brought judgment, a fiery judgment against the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. And had warned through two angels, Lot and Lot's wife and daughters to leave. He said, don't look back. Lot's wife, however, looked back and there she stood, turned a pillar of salt. Lot and his daughters continued on their way and escaped. Lot's wife was lost.

Dr. Bryant Wood, who is an archaeologist, also happens to be a Christian, has made some identifications. His identifications are not shared by all archaeologists, I'll make that clear. But interestingly, he's pointed out the location of what he calls Sodom and Gomorrah and Zohar, which are identified in the biblical account there in Genesis.

Here is an excavation at Numera and this was done some years back, pictured here in black and white, but clear enough where they dug down into a portion of this area. By the way, starting with this slide and into several following slides, there's a special supplemental handout if you want to take advantage of that in the cabinet to the right as you exit the room. And it shows this map and it shows a picture of Numera here. So here's this area where they excavated. And there's a full page print out of this. Now take a look at this.

There's the excavation at Numera. And remember what happened at Sodom and Gomorrah, fire and brimstone came out of the sky. See the two skeletons? See the burned areas, okay? So this is why he makes the identification. It fits the biblical description very well. And so anyway, a full page print out of that if you'd like to take advantage of it.

Lot and his daughters, the scripture tell us, went up into a cave up into the hills there. Now a cave has been found and two lines of evidence point to, but don't conclusively say, this was the cave where they ended up. The one thing is the contents inside, archeologists have confirmed, make apparent that the cave was occupied during this time, the time of Lot and his daughters. And that secondly, it's been marked on the outside at an ancient, but not absolutely confirming demarcation, that it was considered the cave where Lot and his daughters were. Lot was there now with his two daughters and his daughters said, well, Lot must have offspring. So they strategized and came up with a solution.

We will get our father drunk and we'll each have a son by our father. These are the sons, Ammon and Moab. Here is a little closer up of Lot's cave and another shot, another part of the cave entrance there. So, the account of Lot as the father of Moab and Ammon is found in Genesis 19, 30 through 38.

If you want to pursue that on your own there. Now, the two names are curious and shocking. The name Moab means from father. Okay, so interesting name to have given him. The name given to Lot's other son was Ben Ammi, son of my kindred, or a nickname you would call it. Ammon, which means inbred. So very interesting.

The genealogy of these two is therefore no secret and apparently well-recorded and understood even by the descendants of these two men. So Ammon settled in this area, north and east of the Dead Sea region, and Moab just to the east, and they settled in those areas.

Now, how do the Jews come into this mix? First of all, you have the Jews for 430 years as slaves in Egypt. So here they are in Egypt. And at the time where the Lord has them exiting Egypt and leaving, Moses, at the direction of the Lord, holds his staff out, and the Lord parts the water so that the people of Israel can cross the waters, go across the sea there. They traveled down to what is Mount Sinai and Moses is there given the law.

So far so good, sort of. And then we get up to this place here. Now here is the donkey debacle, all right? It's the donkey debacle because they are going up right in the area where Moab, the nation now, Moab the nation is found. And what happens here is Moab's leader, Balak, hires a prophet, he figures can do them some damage, named Balaam.

He hires Balaam to curse the Israelites. Well, the Lord gives Balaam several warnings here. The Lord warned Balaam more than once, ultimately used an angel to block Balaam's way. And Balaam was riding a donkey. And finally, the Lord has the donkey speak in order to get Balaam to understand what's going on. And believe me, when I speak, I just always remember that the Lord can speak through a donkey if He needs to. Okay. Now, the next step is donkey to debauchery here.

The Moabites did cause Israel to fall, but not because Balaam directly put a curse upon them, but because Balaam keyed the leader, your women can entice them, and that will cause them to fall and God to curse them. The Moabites also enticed the people of Israel to worship their pagan gods, including one specifically mentioned. It's called Baal Peor. OK, it's not Baal Peor, it's Baal Peor.

OK, all right. Now you have, and this is still on page one of your handout, some Old Testament references to Balaam. The initial account that we summarize quickly for you here is in Numbers 22 through 24. Accounts after that in numbers again in Deuteronomy Joshua and then tracing all the way down to Micah Micah was remember a prophet who lived and ministered as a prophet at the same time as Isaiah So here's repeated reference to this account with Balaam the donkey debacle, okay?

The Lord, however, does not want us to leave it there. He wants to avoid having us take a spiritual curveball. And so, as a result, the Lord had Balaam's account mentioned three times in the New Testament, and interestingly enough, in the last three books of the New Testament. And it's a warning, but they're not cookie-cutter, copycat, identical. The first one is the way of Balaam.

It's the one who hires himself out to do religious work merely for personal gain. That's the first warning. Watch out for those who hire themselves out just for personal gain. They're not in it for your own spiritual benefit, but they're in it for their own benefit. What can I get out of it, they're asking. Of course, we don't have anybody that does that these days, right?

So, this is the first warning. It's against the way of Balaam. It is spiritual hucksterism. It's what sells. The next one is the error of Balaam. It refers to Balaam's error in thinking that he could get God to curse his people. Thinking, oh yeah, I'll go along with this as long as they'll pay me money. Yeah, I can go ahead and do that. And the Lord had to warn him several times, eventually speaking through the donkey to get the point across. God is not going to curse his people. except in the case of the Jews, in the instance that they disobey, but not because Balaam did or said anything. And finally, the doctrine of Balaam. Balaam taught or counseled Balak to tempt Israel in marrying the daughters of Moab.

The point there is to present the idea that the church can be compromised. The church The church, like Israel, can get intermixed with the world. The church is not Israel, but the same temptation is there. If there is a lack of understanding, God has got us on a different path.

We are a different people. From the point of belief, the believer is an entirely different creation from the rest of the world. It's amazing. We might walk the same streets, walk the same halls, drive the same highways, but the world is headed in an entirely different direction. The world is not saved and made a part of the new creation through Jesus Christ. An entirely different direction in spite of outward appearances. So the way, the error, and the doctrine of Balaam are three New Testament warnings that we're given.

Then the people of Israel leaving Moab went into the Promised Land. The land was assigned to the tribes of Israel. Here is Ammon right next to a few of the tribes there, and Moab here just to the south of Reuben on the east part of the Dead Sea. Now, the Israelites go into the Promised Land.

There's a period of time called the period of the Judges. Israel had no king per se, but they did fall into trouble. And so the Lord brought up judges to kind of bring them out of the trouble that they were in, but they kept going through this cycle.

Let's take a look at the cycle. This, by the way, is also in the special supplemental handout. First, Israel turns to other gods. Interesting how that was an automatic first step. The next part of the cycle, Israel is subject then to other nations. Other nations come in, including, in at least one instance, Moab. And then, Israel, feeling miserable after some period of years, turns to God for help. Finally realizes that, no, unless I turn to the Lord, I'm going to stay in this mess. And finally, God raises up a judge to deliver Israel.

And here's where we get the account of, for example, Gideon, Samson. And it seems like the motto, the slogan, everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 21 through 25. Now we've got the same slogan today. It has other forms. Do your own thing. It's true for you, but not for me. Whatever floats your boat. Heard that? We have all sorts of sayings, but the bottom line is the same message. Nothing's changed in the 3,000 plus years since these words were written. Now, how about right in your own eyes? Let's take a look at that.

Here's Deuteronomy 12, 18. Before they're going to go into the land, what does He do? You shall not do at all what you are doing here today. Don't do this anymore. Every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes. So before they go into the promised land, the warning, Don't do this where every man does what's right in his own eyes.

You know, the whatever floats your boat kind of statement. In those days, there was no king in Israel. Here now they are in the land. And so the statement in Judges 17.6, there was no king in Israel. Every man did what was right in his own eyes. And then the one we just looked at here, in those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

And finally, Proverbs 12, 15 gives a perspective on it. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes. That's the assessment. Whatever floats your boat, that's God's assessment of it. You have the judges of Israel after Joshua. You'll see a number of them. Again, this is in the supplemental handout if you want to take advantage of that.

The second one under Ehud included Moab. So Moab was a partner with Ammon, those two nations, in having power over the people of Israel. There was also Ammon, the brother of Moab, and the nation descended from him. who again had power later on under Jephthah. And there's also the possibility under Gideon because the Midianites had a sort of a partnership arrangement with Moab. So Moab may have had additional involvement in having power over Israel during those times. All right, so here are the places where Ammon and Moab had settled. Now comes what may be the Moabite surprise.

You have here the lineage 10 generations leading to David, David the King, David the one who's referenced here in this passage we're looking at here this morning. The names here given in Ruth 4.18-22, they are the lineage of King David. Luke 3 tells us that this is the same line from which Jesus Christ has descended. And up until about late New Testament times, anyone who cared to look could go into the temple in Jerusalem and check it out, all the way to Jesus Christ. But here's Boaz, who is married to Ruth, a Moabite woman. So here's King David's great-grandmother, is Moabite and in the lineage of Jesus Christ. It is because of that Moabite woman that we have our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I would certainly not say exclusively, but I understand she had a part in it. Now, is it just an accident that there are ten generations from Phares to David? Is that list there just sort of an accident? It just happens to be ten? I would say no, not even sort of. The law put it this way.

Once there was an illegitimate son, there was 10 generations where they could not enter the temple legitimately and their inheritance line was clouded. It was only after the 10th generation from that illegitimate son that the cloud was removed. So here is Jacob's son Judah fathering Phares and Zerah through his daughter-in-law. Okay, an illegitimate relationship. So here's Phares, who's at the top of this list. It wasn't until David that it could pass with no cloud over the inheritance and over the presence and the ability to enter the temple. So it's no accident. All right, now David's kingdom extended far and wide. And it included Moab here. So Moab was under King David.

Between the time of David, I want to use a round rule of thumb figure, about 1000 BC, between the time of David and the time of Isaiah, a few hundred years later, there was written about a century before Isaiah's time, this slab here, and you've got a slightly different copy where it just shows the text and the outline in your handout. This slab here is called the Moabite or Mesha stone. It does credit the Moabite's god, Chemosh, and it mentions the house of David, the very same David that we're looking at here. You can read about that in 2 Kings 3.

So by Isaiah's day, here we have the Moabite primary spiritual problem summed up. Isaiah 16, 6 and 7. We have heard of the pride of Moab, an excessive pride, even of its arrogance, pride, and fury. His idle boasts are false. Therefore, Moab will wail. Everyone of Moab will wail. Here is the singling out, the identifying of Moab's problem.

The Lord is going, and during Isaiah's time, does judge that pride. That's what the chapter basically is describing. The consequences of Moab's pride is described there in chapters 15 and 16, and the lamentable things that will come upon them. Now, a lot of chapters 15 and 16 is repeated or paralleled in Jeremiah 48, prophesied about 140 years later. So Jeremiah is saying much the same thing as Isaiah.

The Moabites ended up fading from the pages of anything other than just looking back in history. Before the Old Testament was completed, the Moabites had ceased as a nation. And by New Testament times, they were just a part of history. Nobody around was calling themselves a Moabite. They had faded. just as Ezekiel 25, eight through 11 says.

The Moabites land is now in our day, a part of the nation of Jordan, right about here, where you see it located. They were absorbed into various Arab populations. And now you don't find anyone who says, hey, I'm a Moabite. Are there those descended from Moab? Yes. They just, they don't know it. They don't have any separate identification.

So in the middle of the passage of this, to these people of Moab, along comes Isaiah 6.15. That's our focal point passage here.

A throne will be established, will even be established in loving kindness. A judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David. Moreover, he will seek justice and be prompt in righteousness. So why is this here? What does it mean? Why is that in the middle of the passage? What a place to put it. All right.

First of all, he says there that the Moabites be under the cruel suppression of the Assyrians. The Assyrians, remember, are people who are proud of their cruelty. They would put murals of their cruelty on the palace hallways for they to talk about and even show their kids. Very proud of their cruelty.

Many of the Moabites would retreat to Judah. during the time of Isaiah, because even though Judah had some tough times of its own, it was able to hold off the Assyrians from completely taking them captive. So many moved from Moab over to Judah. Then, while many of the Moabites would seek refuge in Judah, ultimately the ultimate fulfillment of that would be in the promised reign of Jesus Christ. This land that you're running to, Yeah, it'll be some refuge, but it'll be no refuge at all compared to the refuge in the future under Jesus Christ, under His reign. So here's this throne established in lovingkindness. I'm going to start looking at detail right in the middle, okay?

This tent of David. Now, in biblical times, the tents are not as informal a structure. as we typically see them as today. Now we think of a tent and we usually think of camping or something of that sort, and we think of it as an informal structure. Well, a lot of people in biblical times would look at a tent as a very formal structure, and some even lived in them continuously. So when Paul made tents, it wasn't always just for travel. It was a house for some people. That would be the place that you would live in for your whole life.

So the tent of David would be understood as equivalent to the house of David. Now, unless you think that I'm just making that up, you can take a look at it yourself. In Psalm 78, 67, it mentions the tent of Joseph, and then the same kind of ideas presented in Joshua 17, 17 is the house of Joseph. So when he says the tent of David, he's saying basically this is the house of David.

It's an equivalent statement. A tent could be a welcome refuge in a harsh environment, too. It could be a place where you could put it up in a harsh environment, and that would also be a good picture for the Moabites finding refuge from the difficult and oppressive times they were having under the Assyrians.

So, the question comes up, why are we so sure in the midst of this that this verse is pointing to the coming reign of Christ upon the earth? How do we know that Verne isn't just making this up? Now, in 1 Chronicles 17, 10-15, this is one we've presented before, and you have this version of it on your handout there. Notice some common words and phrases. This is a promise of the Lord through the prophet Nathan to David saying, I will make your throne and your house and your kingdom continue on. in the future, and there will be someone from your line who will sit on your throne." And notice the commonality of words. Establish his throne forever. My loving kindness I won't take away from him. The throne shall be established forever.

According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David. Alright, here's another one we just looked at a few weeks ago in Isaiah. In verse 7, there will be no end to the increase of his government or peace and on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. Or Isaiah 11, 1 through 5, he will not judge by what his eyes see. With righteousness, he will judge. And then finally, righteousness will be a belt upon his loins, and faithfulness, a belt upon his waist.

If we add some equivalent statements here about deciding, making a decision, as equivalent to judging, and his roots stem from Jesse referring to David. You also have some additional connection there to this passage. Notice what will characterize, and we've seen this all the way from the promise to David in through these passages, what will characterize Christ's reign upon the earth.

Loving kindness, faithfulness, justice. It is not because the Lord just says, hey, I think I'll be faithful. I think I'll be righteous when I reign on the earth. The Lord doesn't just kind of decide He's going to add that. It's because those are basic to His character. It's part of who He is. is the very definition of those words.

The other thing is these qualities were in sharp contrast to the reign of the Assyrians. The Assyrians, did they have loving kindness? No. Cruelty was their mark. Faithful? No way. We're faithful to Assyria, that's all. Justice? Forget it. Righteousness? Not a chance. The Assyrians, did not have any of these characteristics. The reign of Jesus Christ was to be entirely the opposite of that.

All right, so let's talk about throne. Throughout the scripture, what we see repeatedly in reference to the throne is it's not about the fancy physical chair. It's not about, boy, isn't that one gorgeous seat to sit in. Instead, the throne is about the position and the domain of authority of the one who has the right to sit on the throne. Scripture places a great emphasis on the moral and spiritual character of the one sitting on the throne. Repeatedly, and we see in this passage as well as the other ones in Isaiah, the repeated focus upon the moral and spiritual character of the one sitting on the throne.

The continuity of the authority on the throne was also a point of concern. David could take great comfort in the promise, there will be one seated on your throne that is from you, as opposed to the northern nation of Israel that continuously had changes and changes and changes and who was in charge.

Access to the one seated on the throne was entirely at the will and the mercy of the one sitting on the throne. You either had to have the one on the throne say, it's okay to come in, or you had to have a special introducer. Otherwise, what was the consequence? You come in without proper introduction, and the king does not accept you, you're dead. That was the standard. So, access to the throne is key here. The other thing is a king could invite someone else to reign with them. A king could invite someone else to reign alongside them and give them whatever privileges they wished.

Now, the three people groups that are revealed in God's Word each having a part in fulfilling God's eternal purpose, the Gentiles, Israel, and the Church. Gentiles are the first group in time, and they are a group that's based on an earthly distinction. The same can be said of Israel. The Church does not have ethnic distinction, as opposed to Gentiles and the Church. So there are those three groups going on into eternity.

Christ is the King of the Jews. He claims that for himself. He will be the fulfillment of this promise in 1 Chronicles 17 that we read for David, reigning from David's throne in Jerusalem. The Gentiles, including those descended from Moab, and they don't know who they are, including those descended from Moab, will have their access to Jesus Christ, who will be the King of kings and Lord of lords, through the Jews. That's something we saw earlier in our study of Isaiah.

For us in the Church, Christ is not our King now. Christ will not be our King. That's not our relationship with Him. Scripture repeatedly says of the relationship between the Church and Jesus Christ, He is our Lord, but He is also our brother. But He's not our King. We don't have that relationship with Him.

We are now seated in the heavenlies with Him as a king or ruler has the right to do, to invite someone else to reign with Him. We now have full and free access by privileged introduction into the throne room. We can come to the Father and say, Abba, which is the equivalent from biblical times of Papa. We have that access. We are of God's household. not subjects out in the kingdom. So Christ is not the church's king.

Revelation 3.21, Christ says to the church, He who overcomes, I will grant him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. The initial fulfillment of this is founded with the 24 elders on the heavenly scene. We saw this as we went through Revelation, chapter 4, first four verses. But we also see a reference to it in Ephesians chapter 1. When Christ comes to reign on David's throne, now that's the fulfillment now of the promise to David. When Christ comes to reign on David's throne, where are we going to fit in? Where are we going to fit in?

Christ will reign from Jerusalem over Israel and the nations. He will be the King of the Jews and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords over the earth. We will come with him in resurrected bodies and we will reign with him. He says, go ahead and sit with me up here. We will have privileged access. privileged access. We will not have a relationship to him, though he will be a king. He is a king now. Our relationship to him will not be one where we are his subjects and he is our king.

Though we're not given every detail, we're told that we will judge the world. And we're told that we'll also judge angels. How about that? The twelve apostles will judge the twelve tribes of Israel. You ready to judge? The Moabites, that are now scattered among the Arab populations and don't know if they're Moabite or not, will have access to the Lord through Israel.

They will find the refuge that they once sought. They once said, oh, that we might find refuge. Here they will find it. They will recognize at last, this is the one in whom we can find rest. This is the one who will keep us from all the agonies that we have come under.

The people of Moab will finally find the loving kindness and the faithfulness and the justice and righteousness as we read about here in Isaiah 16.5. The Moabites will find it in the reign of Jesus Christ. as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as King of the Jews. And we won't have a problem judging the Moabites.

You feel like you're ready now? Well, maybe not. You won't have a problem. It'll be alright. Don't need to worry about it. And the reason is, our daily condition, and frankly it's something we wrestle with from day to day, isn't it? Our daily condition will be conformed eternally to our eternal position. There will be no separation or variation between them from then on and forevermore.

And we will always, because remember, we're going to reign with Him, we will judge, we will always show the love and kindness, faithfulness, justice, and righteousness. Do you see that? Those things that you see in that verse, They will be characteristic of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, but they'll be characteristic of you too, because you will reign with Him by His life, not in variance, not varying from day to day, but unchangeably. You will reign with Him, showing His character permanently by His life in and through you. The Lord will show His character in and through us.

Remember this passage, Ephesians 2.7, "...so that in the ages to come, He might show the surpassing riches of His grace and kindness towards us in Jesus Christ." He will show His grace and kindness towards us in Jesus Christ. We will, in turn, show it to the world. In the ages to come, and this is one of those ages, We will both see the Lord's graciousness and we will live it. Invariably. Totally. Absolutely. And without end.

The Gentiles, including those of Moab, even though they don't know they're part of that nation, Israel and the Church, will each one have a different part, a different means of fulfilling God's eternal purpose. Isn't that interesting? that the nations will come through Israel, there will be Israel over which Christ will reign as King.

We will be there, but not with Christ as our King. Instead, we are invited to reign with Him as part of His household, as part of God's own household, to declare His glory, to reveal His glory, and to share His glory. Each of these groups, Gentiles, Israel, and the Church, will have a different kind of relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. All three of those groups will glorify God in their unique relationship with Him.

That relationship with Him, however, doesn't have to wait until then. It starts now. It's a relationship that the Lord has given us to have with Him now. You don't have to wait to be seated. You're seated now. You don't have to wait to have a relationship with Him. You have it now. You don't have to wait to walk by His life. You have it now.

Jesus is constantly giving us His life. Let's thank Him for that. Lord, we thank You. As we look at the qualities of Your reign here, we see that those are indeed qualities of You. Not supplemental or added on, but they are qualities that You have inherently in who You are. And Lord, because you are our life, and in eternity will be our life, fixed and irreversibly, we can look forward to these qualities being always and absolutely and totally presented and shown through us to the world. What a marvelous treasure we hold in these earthen vessels. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.