Isa 16:1-7 Let Mine Outcasts Dwell With Thee, Moab

Isa 16:1  Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.
Isa 16:2  For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.
Isa 16:3  Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.
Isa 16:4  Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.
Isa 16:5  And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
Isa 16:6  We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.
Isa 16:7  Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.

As we saw last week, after Israel subdued the countries within the promised land, then and only then, did the Lord permit King David to subdue the nations which he had until now forbidden them from contending with in battle. On the way to the land of promise Israel was specifically forbidden to contend with Edom, Moab or Ammon because those countries were Israel’s own family via, Esau, Jacob’s twin brother, and Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Syria, the nation just north of Israel, was Abraham’s own people.

The lesson for us in the fact that we are not first permitted to battle against our own flesh is to show us that we come to see Babylon for what it is and we hate it, and we hate the doctrines of Babylon. We fight against those doctrines within the land and we subdue them. It is in our nature to then attempt to force our new found knowledge down the throats of our own flesh and blood, our own friends and families, and they refuse to acknowledge that God parted the Red Sea for our sakes. Instead our own families says to us, “Who do you think you are? Why should I listen to you instead of my own minister?” We simply are not yet given to contend with our own families because we are not yet equipped to do so.

But after the period of the judges and after the experience of King Saul the time finally arrives for Israel to contend with His own flesh, and this is what King David did:

2Sa 8:1  And after this it came to pass, that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
2Sa 8:2  And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts.
2Sa 8:3  David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates.

So the people in the land, the Philistines, as well as the Moabites and the Syrians, whose border is “the river Euphrates”, are all now able to be subdued under King David, who typifies Christ within us.

Here are the ‘gifts’ Moab brought to Israel in the days of Jehoram the son of Ahab.

2Ki 3:1  Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
2Ki 3:2  And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.
2Ki 3:3  Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
2Ki 3:4  And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.

When the northern ten tribes were taken away from Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, the dominion over Moab was assumed by the larger northern nation which reverted to the name ‘Israel’. So Isaiah admonishes Moab:

Isa 16:1  Send ye the lamb [the singular for the plural] to the ruler of the land from Sela to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion.

Isaiah warns that if Moab refuses to acknowledge the house of David, “the mount of the daughter of Zion”, as their  master then Moab is “as a wandering bird cast out of the nest”.

Isa 16:2  For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.

As we saw last week, all the nations around Israel were Israel’s own flesh, and therefore they represent our own flesh in which the Lord  has taken up residence as His temple. So Moab is presented to us as the place where God’s elect must dwell as peacefully as the Lord wills even in the face of severe persecution from Assyria and Babylon. Knowing that our flesh is but an “earthly tabernacle”, we are admonished:

Isa 16:3  Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hide the outcasts; bewray not him that wandereth.

“Make your shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday” because that is the very hottest time of the day, and it is the time of the worst persecutions of the Lord’s outcast wanderers, which is what “Christ in [us]” is.

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Moab had already been kind to King David’s great, great-grandmother Naomi who had gone to Moab fleeing a famine in Judah. Now King David’s father Jesse and his mother fled Israel before the face of King Saul:

1Sa 22:3  And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me.
1Sa 22:4  And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.

Long before King David’s persecution from King Saul, whom David acknowledged as “God’s anointed”, Moab had already become a place of refuge for King David’s father’s great-grandmother Naomi, who fled to Moab while a severe drought and famine ravished the country of Judah and Bethlehem.

Rth 1:1  Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
Rth 1:2  And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
Rth 1:3  And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.
Rth 1:4  And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
Rth 1:5  And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

Clearly Moab represents those in this world who are used by the Lord to shelter His kingdom during times of great stress, just as our own vessels of clay are used to house us as we go through the fiery trials which are used to birth Christ and His kingdom within us. However, those fiery trials, the famines and persecutions of this life, require that we have “friends of the mammon of this world” who will receive us into eonian tabernacles, until the storm is past. So the Lord has ordained Moab, the eldest son of the uncle of our father’s family, to be the type of “a covert to them… [a] shadow as the night in the midst of the noonday; hid[ing] the [Lord’s] outcasts;”

Luk 16:9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

Isa 16:4  Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.

“The extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceases” means the same inwardly as “the kingdom of God is at hand… the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ”.

Mar 1:14  Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Mar 1:15  And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

King David had indeed been anointed King of Israel, just as we are sealed with the holy spirit as a down-payment of the inheritance of the purchased possession. Yet King Saul was also “God’s anointed”, and we, just like King David, must with patience wait for our promised inheritance.

1Ch 16:20  And when they went [Abraham and Isaac and Jacob] from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people;
1Ch 16:21  He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,
1Ch 16:22  Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.

1Sa 24:6  And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.

King David knew that if He were ever to inherit the kingdom, he would first have to wait until the Lord Himself removed His own old man. What this tells us is that our own ‘old man’ is also “the Lord’s anointed” with whom we must live until the Lord sees fit to remove from the persecutions against us of Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, etc.

Jer 27:6  And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. 

2Ch 36:23  Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the LORD God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.

Our first “old man” was “made to be taken and destroyed”, but until he has served that purpose to its fullest, he is “the Lord’s anointed… first man Adam”, and we must live peaceably with him with all that is in us:

Jer 29:7  And seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the LORD for it: for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace.

Here is this same message for us in the New Testament:

1Ti 2:1  I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
1Ti 2:2  For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
1Ti 2:3  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4  Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

“Seek the peace of the city, [and] pray for kings and all in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life”. Nowhere are we ever told to pray for the salvation of our King Saul or our oppressors in this age. Never are we admonished to pray for the salvation of our old man. David knew there could be but one king on the throne, and yet he did all in His power to be a peaceable servant to King Saul:

1Sa 24:9  And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?
1Sa 24:10  Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’S anointed.
1Sa 24:11  Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.
1Sa 24:12  The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee.

1Sa 26:20  Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth before the face of the LORD: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth hunt a partridge in the mountains.
1Sa 26:21  Then said Saul, I have sinned: return, my son David: for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day: behold, I have played the fool, and have erred exceedingly.
1Sa 26:22  And David answered and said, Behold the king’s spear! and let one of the young men come over and fetch it.
1Sa 26:23  The LORD render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness: for the LORD delivered thee into my hand to day, but I would not stretch forth mine hand against the LORD’S anointed.
1Sa 26:24  And, behold, as thy life was much set by this day in mine eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the LORD, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.
1Sa 26:25  Then Saul said to David, Blessed be thou, my son David: thou shalt both do great things, and also shalt still prevail. So David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.

Whether it is King Saul, the king of Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus, we are forbidden to confront those whom the Lord sends to punish us for our sins. Instead He tells us they are His servants and even His anointed. Instead He provides us with a Moab, a covert, an earthen vessel, a place to patiently endure the storms of this life, until we have endured the trial to the point He has appointed. We must never lift our hand against the Lord’s anointed old man. Instead we must leave our family in Moab, accept with gratitude the Lord’s provision and patiently wait in His faith for Him to give us our promised inheritance. He has given us to know what we are to expect, and our faith in His words promising to keep us safely through those fiery trials is also a gift from Him.

Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

Eph 1:9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Eph 1:12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Eph 1:13  In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

If we are given His patience to endure to the end, we are promised the power to rule the nations with a rod of iron:

Rev 2:26  And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27  And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

If we are given to remain faithful to the Lord and His Word to the end, then Moab, the type of our own proud corruptible flesh, our own earthen vessel, our old man will have served his purpose, and we must then relinquish him back to the dust from whence he came.

1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

Only after we have given up our physical bodies will we be given to rule with our Lord in His kingdom which will rule all the kingdoms of this world:

Isa 16:5  And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.

Only those who “humble [themselves] and become as [a] little child” will enter into the kingdom of God:

Mat 18:4  Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

This is what Christ tells us concerning His throne and those who fill up what is behind of His afflictions in their flesh:

Luk 22:28  Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.
Luk 22:29  And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;
Luk 22:30  That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

It is this spirit of humility which is contrasted with the spirit of our doomed old man:

Isa 16:6  We have heard of the pride of Moab; he is very proud: even of his haughtiness, and his pride, and his wrath: but his lies shall not be so.

Our flesh is haughty, proud and full of wrath against the Lord and His ways, but none of that can substantiate any of His lies against the Lord’s truth and:

Isa 16:7  Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl: for the foundations of Kirhareseth shall ye mourn; surely they are stricken.

We are Abraham who, when he was informed that Ishmael, his own son of the bondwoman, was to be replaced by Isaac, the son of promise, the son of the freewoman cried out for his own flesh and blood:

Gen 17:18  And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

When the time comes within us for the great city wherein our Lord was crucified, Babylon the great harlot, to be “destroyed in one day”, there will be great weeping and wailing:

Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

This is the reaction of Moab within us when the time comes for us to begin to die daily and be crucified daily to Moab within us.

When that time of “the redemption of the purchased possession” does come upon us we are told of the glory of the Lord as our defense at that time:

Isa 4:4  When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
Isa 4:5  And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
Isa 4:6  And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

As the Lord permits in our next study, we will witness the similarities between the description of the destruction of Moab and the destruction of Babylon.

These verses are the last half of this chapter:

Isa 16:8  For the fields of Heshbon languish, and the vine of Sibmah: the lords of the heathen have broken down the principal plants thereof, they are come even unto Jazer, they wandered through the wilderness: her branches are stretched out, they are gone over the sea.
Isa 16:9  Therefore I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah: I will water thee with my tears, O Heshbon, and Elealeh: for the shouting for thy summer fruits and for thy harvest is fallen.
Isa 16:10  And gladness is taken away, and joy out of the plentiful field; and in the vineyards there shall be no singing, neither shall there be shouting: the treaders shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease.
Isa 16:11  Wherefore my bowels shall sound like an harp for Moab, and mine inward parts for Kirharesh.
Isa 16:12  And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is weary on the high place, that he shall come to his sanctuary to pray; but he shall not prevail.
Isa 16:13  This is the word that the LORD hath spoken concerning Moab since that time.
Isa 16:14  But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.