Isaiah Chapter 16

As the Lord had declared in Malachi 3:18,

“Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked,
Between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him.”

The Lord’s message to the people of Moab resounded loudly and clearly.  

Will you still stubbornly place your trust and hope in high places (vain idols and false religions), and not on the Almighty True God who in His mercy and forbearance, provided a way out of the foretold calamities?

By heeding the voice of the Lord, to submit once again (sending the lamb to the rulers of the land – sending the tribute to Judah that they were formerly told to do, thus showing their obedience to God), seeking justice, hastening righteousness and to humble themselves (to abandon their proud and haughty ways).

Sadly, we know that the people of Moab chose rather not to heed, thereby resulting in the Lord, carrying out all the words of His warning.

The actions of the people of Moab is just like a man hanging for dear life at a ravine.  If he is to let go and fall, it will be certain death.  And so he was clutching at the grass that grows at the edge of the ravine, to try to pull himself up to safety.  This is however all in vain as the grass could not support his weight.  Next to him was a sturdy rope that he could rely on to pull himself to safety.  But he proudly refuses to use the rope, as he still ‘trust’ in his judgement in the grass instead.  As we watched the scene from afar, we are aghast and baffled by the foolishness of it all.  

What has befallen the Moabites is a thing of the past.  What is more disconcerting is whether the same parody is played today in our lives today.  Are there times that our pride and haughtiness blinded us from seeing and doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord?  

Let us not go away, thinking that these words spoken to Moab, has nothing to do with us.  Just as Paul recounted to the believers in Corinth (1 Cor 10:6) that the things that happened in the past as recorded in the Bible are meant as our examples, in like manner, the things that happened to Moab, serves also as examples for us to deeply think and reflect over. 

•