Moab is the name of an ancient kingdom in modern-day Jordan, east of the Dead Sea. It was founded by Moab, the son of Lot and his eldest daughter, who had an incestuous relationship after fleeing from Sodom and Gomorrah. The Moabites were related to the Israelites, but often in conflict with them. The prophecy of Isaiah against Moab is a prediction of the destruction and desolation of the Moabites, a neighboring nation of Israel that had often oppressed them. The burden of Moab; a prophecy of the destruction of the Moabites, the inveterate and implacable enemies of the Jews, begun by the Assyrians and finished by the Babylonians. The great world-drama which is brought before us in the “burden” of Babylon. This prophecy mentions the mourning and fleeing of the people, the drought and famine, and the bloodshed and violence. It also calls for Moab to repent and submit to the God of Israel, who will establish a throne from the house of David, Jesus the Messiah. We can learn several things from the judgment of Moab. God is the Lord over justice and judgment God does not turn His back on sin like humans do. God doesn’t even turn His back on the sin of pagan or idol gods worshiping. You see in the oracles against Moab an understood assumption that God is sovereign over all nations. He is not simply the God of Israel, but the God of Heaven and Earth. All humanly devised institutions, whether governments, businesses, churches, schools, colleges, sports teams, etc. are subject to God’s authority. There are many, many things we won’t fully understand during this lifetime. Surrendering to God’s will and control makes our path straight to eternal love, giving, living, and the inheritance of freedom in Christ.

It reads in Isaiah 15:1-9 NIV>
“A prophecy against Moab: Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! 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 is cut off. In the streets they wear sackcloth; on the roofs and in the public squares they all wail, prostrate with weeping. Heshbon and Elealeh cry out, and their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz. Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out, and their hearts are faint. 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. The waters of Nimrim are dried up and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone and nothing green is left. So the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars. Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab; their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim, their lamentation as far as Beer Elim. The waters of Dimon are full of blood, but I will bring still more upon Dimon a lion upon the fugitives of Moab, and upon those who remain in the land.