CHAPTER 15
(726 B.C.)
MOABS DESTRUCTION DESCRIBED
1The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence; because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste, and brought to silence (this Prophecy was uttered in the year that king Ahaz died [14:28] and had a primary fulfillment three years later; however, its exhaustive fulfillment awaits the future.
Moab, Ammon, and Edom are part of present-day Jordan, which means that these Prophecies not only pertain to Isaiahs day, but also have a future fulfillment, even as we shall see);
2He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off. (These high places were centers of idolatrous worship; the two most important were upon Nebo and Medeba. The Prophet, in Vision, sees the terror-stricken Moabites hastening up these mountains to seek help from their god, Chemosh, but in vain.
The baldness of the heads consisted of the practice of cutting off the hair because of mourning.)
3In their streets they shall gird themselves with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets, every one shall howl, weeping abundantly. (This Prophecy speaks of the coming invasion by Assyria of Moab, which would take place about three years from this time.
Through the Prophecies of Isaiah, the Lord gave them ample time for Repentance, but to no avail. They continued to appeal to their idol gods.)
4And Heshbon shall cry, and Elealeh: their voices shall be heard even unto Jahaz: therefore the armed soldiers of Moab shall cry out; his life shall be grievous unto him. (The last statement, his life shall be grievous, personifies the Moabite people and the terrible judgment that was coming.)
5My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction. (Isaiah, upon seeing the terrible judgment in his Vision that was coming upon idol-worshipping Moab, cried out for them. He sympathizes with the sufferings of Moab as a kindred people [Gen. 19:37], and perhaps as having, in the person of Ruth, furnished an ancestress to the Messiah [Mat. 1:5].)
6For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass fails, there is no green thing. (This Verse speaks of the desolation that is coming to this land.)
7Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. (The abundance speaks of the property that the people will endeavor to carry with them when they flee the enemy.)
8For the cry is gone round about the borders of Moab; the howling thereof unto Eglaim, and the howling thereof unto Beer-elim. (A hope had been entertained of the pursuit slackening, but it is disappointed.)
9For the waters of Dimon shall be full of blood: for I will bring more upon Dimon, lions upon him who escapes of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land. (The Prophecy is that so many people will die that the waters of Dimon will run red with blood. Of those who escape the enemies lance, lions and wild animals will help destroy the majority of the remnant of Moab.)