ISAIAH - Chapters 15; 16 & 14: 24-32 - MOAB/ JORDAN
MOAB (Now Jordan) – ISAIAH 15-16
Tuesday, October 30, 2013, the Year of Our Lord
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
This teaching is not presented as a “Thus saith the Lord”, but as “A burden which came”.
As I was teaching Isaiah, Chapters 14: 24-32; 15; & 16; the Holy Spirit gave a powerful witness to the Word. After research, it is clear that Jordan’s King Abdullah is currently under great pressure from Abbas who is demanding that Israel remove their military presence from the Jordan Valley. Further there is increased pressure to give East Jerusalem to Palestine. Inaddition there is increased pressure from Abbas for a Hamas presence in Jordan. If King Abdullah gives in to this pressure, it would be a partial, latter-day fulfillment of this prophecy; as well as another “strange altar” in Jerusalem.
According to this prophecy, if Jordan gives into Hamas and/or the Muslim Brotherhood, they will take over and destroy Jordan just as the Assyrian’s destroyed Moab.
Isa. 14:24: “The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed so shall it stand.”
The prophecy against Moab has been historically fulfilled. (15; 16:1-12). This is the 17th prophecy in Isaiah. These chapters are important present truth because events in the Day of the Lord are foreshadowed.
The spiritual application of the spirit of Moab is the principle of pride, laziness, idleness, lies and the sacrifice of babies. Also, the daughters who prostitute their fathers--- (take advantage of ministry). Moab showed no honor or respect.
Moab was pitilessly desolated. So dire was her destruction and the helpless state of her condition, the prophet laments that “Within three years…the glory of Moab shall be contemned.”
Moab is broken by the Lord because of her pride. The destruction of Moab is prophetic of the destiny of those who profess to be friends of God’s people, but are simultaneously consorting with the godless.
I am sad to say that state of affairs is occurring today in the foreign policy of the United States of America under the current administration in 2013, the Year of Our Lord.
Jer. 48:10: “Cursed be he that does the work of the Lord deceitfully, and cursed be he that keeps back his sword from blood.”
Moab was a land of rolling plateaus of rich pasture lying east of the Dead Sea and the river Jordan. Moab was the son of Lot through incest with his daughter. They are mentioned in prophecies of the latter days along with Israel in Isaiah 11:14; 16: 1-5; Jer. 48:47; Daniel 11:41. Other than the references to Moab in the Bible, there is scarcely a trace of this nation. All of the territory once known as Moab is now part of Jordan. Therefore, all of the latter day prophecies concerning Moab either refer to Jordan or to the spirit of Moab.
15: 1-9: The opening section of this poem is descriptive of the suffering of the Moabites. The burden of Moab is that both of her chief cites are laid waste and brought to silence (in total ruins). While panic reigns throughout the land, the citizens endeavor to escape from the country with such belongings as they can carry; desolation in their rear.
So great is their distress that the seer of the vision (Isaiah) is moved to pity.
15:5: “My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, a heifer of three years old; for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go up; for in the way of Horoniam they shall raise up a cry of destruction.”
They shall flee like a 3-year old heifer. Luhith was a height one miles west of mount Nebo where sacrifices were offered to idol gods. Horoniam is an unidentified place in Moab but the name means “double caves”.
But God’s own comment on the situation predicts even more suffering to follow. The lion may be understood literally, or figuratively of human attackers.
- The hay is withered away.
- The waters of Nimrim (clear waters) shall be desolate.
- The grass fails.
- There is no green thing.
- The abundance of Moab in storehouses will be carried away to the brook of willows (valley of the Arabians).
The cities named were pillaged by Tiglath-Pileser (734 B.C.); by Sargon (713 B.C.) and by Sennecherib (701 B.C.).
Chapter 16 continues the prophecy concerning Moab. The prophet proceeds to describe how in her distress she will appeal to Judah for sanctuary. Isaiah advised Moab that it would be to their advantage to renew their allegiance to the House of David. There comes into the vision the image of the future Messiah, a successor of David who will rule once more in Moab.
The Moabites had a heritage in the founding of the House of David in the person of Ruth.
16:1: “Send the lamb to the ruler of the land from Sela (large rock or cliff) to the wilderness, unto the mount of the daughter of Zion (Jerusalem). (Vs5) “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.
Three Offices of Messiah here:
- Judging ---giving justice to all men.
- Seeking judgment---anxious to do.
- Hasting righteousness---quick in equity.
The prophet gave good counsel to the Moabites, to reform, and particularly to be kind to God’s people, to prevent the judgments before threatened. God has made it clear that he does not delight in the ruin of sinners by telling them what they may do to prevent their ruin. He advises them to be just to the house of David, and pay the tribute they had formerly covenanted to pay.
“Send the lamb to the ruler of the land.”
Let the tribute be levied from all parts of the country, from Selah, a frontier city of Moab on one side, to the wilderness on the other side and let it be sent to the mount of the daughter of Zion, the city of David.
The Moabites had sufficient lambs to send as a gift and bribe to Jerusalem. A Moabite embassy goes to Jerusalem and begs for asylum for all the Moabite fugitives.
This will be refused by King Hezekiah pointing out the past insolence of Moab towards Judah, and also the fact that their words can never be believed. The boastings of Moab are not true. Perhaps there are more precious souls ruined by pride than by any one lust. They think themselves too wise to be advised.
Isa. 16: “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. Therefore shall Moab howl for Moab, every one shall howl for the foundations of Kir shall you mourn; surely they are stricken.”
(This week Israel National News.com wrote, “Over the years PA security forces have proven they cannot be trusted and have been behind many terror attacks, thus making the presence of Israel security forces along the Jordan valley a necessity.”)
The plea rejected, nothing remains for Moab but such misery as again moves the prophet to pity. The prophet breaks out into lamentation at the sight of it.
Isa. 16: 9-11: “I will bewail with the weeping of Jazer the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, O Hesh’bon, and Elealeh; for the shouting for your summer fruits and for your harvest is fallen. 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 treader shall tread out no wine in their presses; I have made their vintage shouting to cease. Wherefore My bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and My inward parts for Kir.”
Hebrews were especially joyful at the grape harvests; and the treading of grapes was usually done while there was music and singing with joyous shouts.
The prophet was moved to deep compassion and weeping in such an uncontrollable way that he compared his inward feelings or bowels to the playing of a harp. The saddest picture of all is that of a people weary of life in destruction, praying and seeking help from dead, lifeless, and helpless idols.
16:12: “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.”
The national god of Moab was Chemosh (“destroyer”, “subduer” “fish god”). This was cursed by the Hebrews as “the abomination of Moab”. Chemosh is possibly the same as Moloch. King Solomon brought the cult into Israel by building a high place on the hill before Jerusalem. The altar and cult worship were destroyed by King Josiah.
And to think that at one time all men knew the living and true God; but they did not appreciate this knowledge and therefore went into idolatry. (Rom 1: 18-32).
16: 13-14 is an example of a time-element prophecy---one limiting the time of fulfillment. One like this made it easy to determine whether the prophecy was true or false.
“This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning Moab since that time. But now the Lord has spoken, saying, within three years, as the years of a hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.”
This is the 18th prophecy in Isaiah and has been fulfilled. About three years after this prophecy the Assyrians took the 10 tribes of Israel captive and defeated the Moabites as well as other nations.
If they had repented of their sins as Nineveh did, we have reason to believe the judgments threatened would have been prevented. As it was, the Moabite race no longer exists and history has almost no record of Moab except for what is written in the Holy Bible.
Though the throne of the ten tribes is overturned, yet the throne of David shall be established in mercy and shall never be overturned. Yet a promise is made that in a future time, a King from the lineage of David will rule Moab.
He declares that this visitation of Moab is in fulfillment of an ancient prophecy or one that he gave at an earlier time. The time limit is actually set.
“The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed so shall it stand.”
Isa. 14: 28-32
A Fiery Flying Serpent
I am attaching an addendum to the teaching on chapters 15 and 16 from the teaching of Isa. 14: 28-32.
Isaiah was prophesying from Southern Israel which at the time was Judah and part of what is now Jordan. Northern Israel at that time is now Lebanon and Syria as well as part of present Jordan.
Tuesday as I was preaching this section of Isaiah 14, the Lord gave a prophetic witness to the reading of the Word of God. It was very powerful and I believe very significant to the present truth of these scriptures applicable to the political theater in the Middle East.
I do not pretend to have the “understanding” or even the “revelation” of this present truth, but have done some research beginning with a prophetic word I delivered on August 13, 2000. At which time, the Lord spoke to me: “Write it down. Put it in a book.” The original exhortation is an 8-page document. However, only three pages apply to the scripture in view in chapter 14.
Isa. 14:24: “The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand…For the Lord of hosts has purposed and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back.
Isa. 14: 28-32: “In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote you is broken; for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. The firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety; and I will kill the root in famine, and he shall slay your remnant. Howl, O gate; cry, O city; you, whole Palestina, art dissolved; for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times. What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord has founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.”
(The witness of the Spirit began with verses 21-23 which verses are a tenfold desolation of literal Babylon, but it can also be applied to spiritual Babylon (Mystery Babylon). Extermination of the godless enemy is foretold, as God will again lead captivity, captive, and the people of God will tell of the downfall.)
Isa. 14: 28: In the year that king Ahaz died was this burden. Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote you is broken; for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
Historically and at the time of King Ahaz’s death, the Philistines were triumphing in the death of King Uzziah. He had been as a serpent to them and had brought them very low. But when Uzziah abdicated, it was told with joy in Gath and published in the streets of Ashkelon. Yet out of the root of Uzziah would come a cockatrice, a more formidable enemy than Uzziah, even Hezekiah, the fruit of whose government should be to them a fiery flying serpent. Hezekiah became a Godly king.
Isa. 30: 6-7: “Through a land of trouble and anguish, from which came the lioness an lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to a people who shall not profit; for the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. Therefore I have called her Rehab-Hem Shebeth. (They are sitting still.)”
Here in chapter 30, the prophet is warning against an alliance with Egypt. For the 21st Century this would imply the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. The Christians have now taken over the government of Egypt. Egypt at the time of this prophecy fostered a foolish cause. They resisted God’s word, and calamity was to result from following their advice.
Fast forward to the year 2000---While I was teaching this word, a prophetic word came forth that I should “keep my eye on King Abdullah, II and watch and pray over the political situation surrounding him.”
King Abdullah of Jordan ascended the throne of Jordon on Feb. 7, 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hussein.
On March 31. 2013, King Abdullah and President Abbas signed an agreement to defend Jerusalem and its holy sites---both Christian and Muslim. The agreement, he said, confirmed both Jordan’s role as protector of the city’s holy sites and Palestinian sovereignty over all of Palestine, including its claim to East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Palestinians still have no official say on Jerusalem. The fate of the city and its shrines is to be determined in final status talks with Israel which broke down two years ago.
One week prior to this agreement, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh -alThani proposed creating a 1 billion dollar fund for the defense of Jerusalem’s Arab identity. He said Qatar would contribute $250 million to the fund, adding that he expected other Arab nations to come up with the rest.
Fast forward to September 13, 2013, the Year of Our Lord---Qatar offered hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Jordan in return for allowing Hamas to open offices in the kingdom. By rejecting their requests, King Abdullah has shown that he has no intention to serve as a lifesaver for failed Islamists who are facing growing opposition from their own people on the Gaza Strip.
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifi Al Thini of Qatar is the founder of Al Jezeera. His support of Al Jazeera has played an integral role in sparking the Arab Spring and creating uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and Syria.
The Jordanians banned Hamas in 1999. Last year, however, relations between Jordan and Hamas seemed to be warming up as Mashal was permitted to visit Amman and hold talks with King Abdullah.
King Abdullah turned down the Qatari offer of hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Jordan. Jordan’s policy toward Hamas remains unchanged. The short-lived rapprochement between Hamas and Jordan was apparently linked to the king’s fear of the Arab Spring, which was the rise of Islamists in a number of Arab countries and emboldened the Muslim Brotherhood.
It is to the shame of the United States that our government has supported the Muslim Brotherhood.
Hamas has not only lost their patrons in Egypt, but also their political allies in Jordan.
Hamas once had hopes that the Jordanian monarch would be foolish enough to allow the “wolves in sheep’s clothing” to set foot in his country.
The plot for the Muslim’s to take over Jerusalem continues to be thwarted. I contend that it is the power of the thoughts and purposes of God for the region whose word has not lost its power.
As I was teaching Chapters 15 and 16, I felt that just as the Prophet Isaiah prophesied to Moab to pay the tribute they had covenanted to pay to the house of David, Jordan today is being charged to the duty of the gospel of Christ. When you come to God, the great ruler, come in the name of the Lamb, the Lamb of God.
Jordanian Christians are well integrated in the Jordan society and have a high level of protection and freedom.
I believe Kingdom Abdullah and the nation of Jordan’s are key in the Lord’s redemptive plan for the nations. Just as Moab was given a choice to honor its covenants with God, Abdullah is being pressured by the Muslims to honor a false Islamic altar in East Jerusalem.
In 2000, I did some research on Abdullah and found an article where the new young leaders of Syria and Jordan agreed to boost relations which were strained during the rule of their late fathers.
This alignment has not come to fruition. In 2011, King Abdullah of Jordan and King Abdullah of Saudia Arabia in league with the Arab League of Nations suspended Syria’s membership in the Arab League of Nations due to the current civil war in Syria.
It is not my intent to give a lecture on the Middle Eastern political theater. Most of Isaiah’s prophecies relate to the military and political dangers that his country faced from Assyria, Egypt, and neighboring countries. However, Isaiah saw it all. His prophecies are just as applicable today as when they were written. In the New Testament in John 13:41, Jesus said, “Isaiah saw the glory of Christ and spoke of him.” In 734 B.C., Syria and northern Israel (now Lebanon and Syria) planned to capture Jerusalem. Against Isaiah’s prophetic word, Ahaz asked Assyria for help. Isaiah warned against any alliance in his Emmanuel prophecy (7:14). He told Ahaz that the king had nothing to fear and to not make the alliance. Ahaz ignored him and asked for help. Twelve years later the Assyrians conquered Israel.
In this passage, the Prophet warns that future Assyrian kings and armies will be even harsher in their treatment of Judah. The prophet Isaiah prophesied from the southern Kingdom of Judah (now Israel and Jordan). This prophecy resounds through the last 2700 years like the daily newspaper.
Isaiah is counseling faith in God and expressing his distrust of political alliances.
“The Lord of Hosts has sworn…it will come to pass…as I have purposed so it shall stand…I will break the Assyrian in my land…on my mountains tread him under foot…This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth…this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the Lord of Hosts has purposed. Who will annul it? Who will turn it back? (Isa. 14: 24-27)
King Ahaz brought this doom upon the southern Kingdom (now Jordan and Israel) because he refused to listen to Isaiah’s counsel. He robbed the temple to purchase aid from the King of Assyria (2 Ki. 16: 7-9). He perverts worship when he visited Damascus, obtains a unique pattern of an altar, and substitutes it for the altar in the temple in Jerusalem.
Because of the anointing that was on these passages of scripture, I believe these scriptures are applicable to the present Middle East political theater.
The Lord spoke to Isaiah, “now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever.’
Philistia is doomed for its Assyrian policy; but Judah must rest content, as a God ordained refuge. From 2011 – 2013, the arrival of nearly 600,000 Syrian refuges in to Jordan is weighing heavily on their infrastructure. Jordan has a population of 6 million; which is about the same as Houston, Texas. Jordan over the decades has experienced large-scale migrations of refuges among them Iraqis and Palestinians.
Isa. 14:30: “The firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety; and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay your remnant.”
Jordan has said the cost of hosting the refugees is $1 billion a year. “If the Syrians stay, we will be destroyed,” said Raad al-Nisah, 30, who owns a small coffee stand in Marka. “We will become minorities and guests in our own nation.”
Isa. 14:30: “The firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety; and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay your remnant. Howl, O gate; cry, O city; you, whole Palestina, are dissolved, for there shall come from the north a smoke, and none shall be alone in his appointed times.”
Syria is to the north and from the smoke of her civil war, the poor and needy are seeking safety in Jordan. According to God’s redemptive plan for the nations, this is Jordan’s prophetic purpose and destiny. “Who will annul it? Who will turn it back?”
“What shall one then answer the messengers of the nation? That the Lord has founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall trust in it.”
Zion is the church. Zion is the Judah and the Jacob Company. Zion is a governmental company of full-grown sons who have been apprehended unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Those in Zion are under the full and complete Lordship of Jesus Christ! Zion is where God reigns in the now. Zion is a place of being in God. Zion is the perfection of beauty out from which the Light of God shines.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries, Inc.
www.eastgateministries.com
Scripture from K.J.V.
My sources on this teaching are multiple and date back over the past 15 years. Recent sources are Wikipedia; The Times of Israel; the New York Times; Israel National News.com; Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible. The comments and conclusions presented here do not reflect the views of my sources, but was revealed to me as I studied and prayed. This is not presented as a “Thus saith the Lord”, but as “A burden which came”.