Isaiah 15-18

Isaiah 15
1-9 An Oracle concerning Moab

• Ar and Kir (two of Moab's major cities) are laid waste in one night.
  
• Dibon (the capital of ancient Moab) weeps over the destruction of Nebo (See Deuteronomy 32:9) and Medeba (Joshua 13:9), shaving their heads (or tearing their hair) and faces, wearing sackcloth.
• Heshbon and Elealeh's (near Heshbon) weeping is heard as far as Jahaz.
• Moab quivers, trembles, weeps, is desolate, loses all they have produced.
  
• Its waters are full of blood; even its fugitives will be eaten by lions -- what men do not kill, lions will.

Note: Without going into further detail about the locations of all the cities and rivers mentioned, suffice it to say that God goes into great detail about the extent of Moab's destruction. According to commentaries, this prophecy refers to an Assyrian invasion (either Shalmanezer or Sennacherib) that was to happen about three years after this prophecy.


Isaiah 16
1-13 Oracle concerning Moab (continued)

• 1-4 Moab is instructed to send lambs (or tribute) to the king in Judah (See 2 Samuel 8:2), which they had discontinued, and to escape from Sela (Petra) in Moab by way of the desert to Jerusalem, where they could seek protection.
• 5-7 At this time in Judah, the oppressor (Assyria) would have left, and the throne (Hezekiah's) is steadfast in Jerusalem.
• 6-7 Moab is a proud, boastful country and will suffer for it.
• 8-11 The prophet mourns for Moab, for the loss of its grapevines, its grain harvest, for the loss of joy and gladness.
• 12 As long Moab goes to the high places to worship, it will lose.
• 13 In 3 years, "like the years of a hired worker," Moab will be brought low, "in spite of all its great multitude; and those who survive will be very few and feeble." Where God is involved, numbers do not indicate might, much less right.

Isaiah 17
1-14 An Oracle concerning Damascus
According to Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, "This prophecy was, doubtless, given previously in the first years of Hezekiah when the foreign nations came into nearer collision with Judah, owing to the threatening aspect of Assyria."

• 1-3 Damascus will no longer be a city, but will become a field where sheep graze unafraid of danger. They will meet the same fate as Israel.
  
• 4-6 Jacob (Israel) will be brought low, made lean, left with nothing but bare stalks of grain.
• 7-9 On that day they will look to the Creator and abandon their idols.
• 10-11 Now, you have forgotten the God of your salvation. Though you perceive you are successful without Him, that success is fleeting.
• 12-14 Though the Assyrian armies were overpowering in their destruction of Israel, so they too will be destroyed by God. "He will rebuke them, and they will flee far away....This is the fate of those who despoil us, and the lot of those who plunder us." God uses evil nations to chastise his people, but he also holds those nations accountable for being evil.

Isaiah 18
1-7 An Oracle concerning Ethiopia
Commentators are unsure of the object of this prophecy -- whether it's Ethiopia, Egypt, or Assyria. At the least, it's a call to be aware of the imminent destruction of a mighty power. In the end, this power will bring homage to the City of God.

• 1-3 To the "land of whirring wings beyond the rivers of Ethiopia...a nation tall and smooth (other translations: "scattered and peeled")...a people feared near and far...all you inhabitants of the world...when a trumpet is blown, listen!"
• 4-6 The LORD will look quietly from his dwelling, and before the harvest, he will destroy the crops, and they will be left to the wild birds and animals
• 7 And the "people tall and smooth" will bring gifts to Mount Zion, the "place of the name of the LORD of hosts."