Be Like Isaiah

 

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Isa 15:1 The burden against Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste And destroyed, Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste And destroyed, 2 He has gone up to the temple and Dibon, To the high places to weep. Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba; On all their heads will be baldness, And every beard cut off. 3 In their streets they will clothe themselves with sackcloth; On the tops of their houses And in their streets Everyone will wail, weeping bitterly. 4 Heshbon and Elealeh will cry out, Their voice shall be heard as far as Jahaz; Therefore the armed soldiers of Moab will cry out; His life will be burdensome to him. 5 "My heart will cry out for Moab; His fugitives shall flee to Zoar, Like a three-year-old heifer. For by the Ascent of Luhith They will go up with weeping; For in the way of Horonaim They will raise up a cry of destruction,

 

These next two chapters of Isaiah deal with the prophecy against Moab. Within three years they would be overrun by the Assyrians. It won’t be pretty, God’s judgement never is. Two specific cities mentioned here that will be taken in a single night.

 

Note the despair of the Moabites well! Words like weep, wail, shaved heads (a sign of mourning) sackcloth, wail, weeping bitterly, crying out so loud, a neighboring city can hear it. Soldiers crying out, despairing of their very lives, and more weeping in verse 5!

 

And one more episode of crying that needs to be noted. That of the prophet Isaiah, “My heart will cry out for Moab!” (Verse 5)

 

The Moabites were heathen, praying to other gods, but that doesn’t stop Isaiah for wailing on their behalf. The lesson for us is never let your heart become hardened to human misery wherever and whenever it befalls. Wail for the victims, believers or not! Put yourself in their shoes, because there but by the grace of God go you and I!

 

There is no shortage of misery in our world today. Wars continue. Cities are destroyed. Lives are lost, and some left wounded. The threat of sudden violence and destruction is ever present. And when it happens, be like Isaiah and wail and mourn the victims. Seek to console and help as best you can.

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I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word.