seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Isaiah 15:1 A prophecy against Moab:
Ar in Moab is ruined,
destroyed in a night!
Kir in Moab is ruined,
destroyed in a night!
2 Dibon goes up to its temple,
to its high places to weep;
Moab wails over Nebo and Medeba.
Every head is shaved
and every beard cut off.
3 In the streets they wear sackcloth;
on the roofs and in the public squares
they all wail,
prostrate with weeping.
4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,
their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.
Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,
and their hearts are faint.
5 My heart cries out over Moab;
her fugitives flee as far as Zoar,
as far as Eglath Shelishiyah.
They go up the hill to Luhith,
weeping as they go;
on the road to Horonaim
they lament their destruction.
6 The waters of Nimrim are dried up
and the grass is withered;
the vegetation is gone
and nothing green is left.
7 So the wealth they have acquired and stored up
they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.
8 Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;
their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,
their lamentation as far as Beer Elim.
9 The waters of Dimon[a] are full of blood,
but I will bring still more upon Dimon[b]—
a lion upon the fugitives of Moab
and upon those who remain in the land.
a. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
b. Isaiah 15:9 Dimon, a wordplay on Dibon (see verse 2), sounds like the Hebrew for blood.
So... what's the deal with Moab.... why did Moab have a bad prophecy? This is from enduringword.com.
Moab: The founder of the people of Moab was the son born of the incestuous relationship between Lot and one of his daughters, when his daughters made Lot drunk, after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:30-38). The Moabites settled in the plains to the south-east of Israel, in what is modern-day Jordan.
Moab: At times, the Moabites were great enemies of Israel. It was the Balak, king of Moab, who hired Balaam the prophet, hoping that he could curse Israel (Numbers 22-25). It was Eglon, king of Moab, who oppressed Israel in the days of the Judges (Judges 3:12-30). During the time of Saul and David, Israel established a firm control over Moab, but later kings of Israel were not always able to keep them under Israeli dominance.
Moab: At the same time, there was a Moabite connection with Israel. First, they were related to Israel because Lot was Abraham’s nephew. Because of this, God told Israel in Deuteronomy 2:9 that they were not to destroy Moab and take their land. As well, David, Israel’s greatest king, was one-quarter Moabite. His paternal grandmother Ruth was from Moab, and David entrusted his father and mother to the protection of the king of Moab when he was a fugitive from Saul (1 Samuel 22:3-4). For these reasons, there is a great deal of sadness and empathy on Isaiah’s part as he describes the coming judgment on Moab.
His fugitives shall flee to Zoar: The connection is interesting, because Zoar was the city Lot and his daughters escaped from, hiding in the mountains, before Lot’s daughters committed incest with their father, and brought forth the child Moab, the father of the Moabites.
Bultema on Zoar: “This town is called a heifer of three years old, apparently to indicate that it had never been under the yoke of strangers.”
The green grass has withered away: The beautiful plains of Moab were wonderful grazing land. But now, under the hand of God’s judgment, the green grass has withered away.
Therefore the abundance they have gained… they will carry away to the Brook of the Willows: The picture is of fleeing refugees, carrying with them all their possessions.
The cry has gone all around the borders of Moab: Their pain in the midst of judgment is evident to all. Everyone around the borders of Moab sees God’s judgment against them.
Lions upon him who escapes from Moab: If the judgment of the night attack did not complete the work of judgment, God would send lions upon him who escapes. God will finish His work of judgment!
I guess I could say.... He warned them.
My mom loved to have me clean house. As I've said, I'm the oldest of five kids... and she was abusive.... so cleaning house was something she loved to have us do.... it kept us out of trouble. I gotta say.... I've always thought it was harder on her.... to stand there holding that belt.... than it was on me... I was busy.... she was bored. Anyway... back to the Bible Story..... the reason I brought up cleaning.... it seems that God is cleaning Canaan.
God chose that spot to plunk his humans. They royally messed things up. They didn't follow the rules.... they totally depleted the land..... and they even allowed their "king" to raid the Temple and the allowed their "king" to plop a fake altar in God's Temple. The Moabites didn't like the people of Judah. The people of Moab worshiped a different God.....
This is from gotquestions.org.
Chemosh was the god of the Moabites (Numbers 21:29; Jeremiah 48:7, 13, 46). Scripture calls him “the abomination of Moab” (1 Kings 11:7). Unfortunately, Chemosh-worship was introduced into Israelite culture by King Solomon, who had wives from other cultures who turned his heart to other gods (1 Kings 11:4–7). Chemosh was one of those gods worshiped by Solomon’s wives. The cult of Chemosh was eventually destroyed in Judah by King Josiah (2 Kings 23).
The meaning of the name Chemosh is not understood, though some scholars believe it may have meant “destroyer” or “subduer.” Chemosh was also seen as a fish-god. He was the national deity of the Moabites and the Ammonites, and, according to the Moabite Stone (the Mesha Stele), Chemosh was associated with the goddess Ashteroth, another false god worshiped by wayward Israelites. Chemosh is thought to have been a deity similar to Baal, and there is also evidence, both from the Moabite Stone and from Scripture, that Chemosh may have been the same deity as the Ammonite Moloch (1 Kings 11:7, 33). At least, Chemosh and Moloch were two manifestations of the same false god. King Solomon built “high places” to both gods in the same location, the mountain east of Jerusalem. The worship of Chemosh was truly an abomination. One place in Scripture records Chemosh demanding human sacrifice: in the days of Judah’s King Jehoram, the king of Moab faced military defeat, and the Moabite ruler “took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall” (2 Kings 3:27).
I think it's interesting.... the number of nations that worship or worshiped gods that required sacrifice of children..... I also find it interesting that "wise" king Solomon introduced these baby killing gods to Judah because some hot chick worshiped them.... maybe that explains why he had 700 wives, 300 concubines and only four kids.
It occurs to me that I have been doing a lot of lopsided stuff since getting into Isaiah..... the problem is.... Isaiah is pointing out the people God is wiping out and the reasons for them being wiped out might step on some people's toes. I'm still not trying to be political or bigheaded..... but this is a book that points out this stuff.
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