06.15.09
Isaiah - Day 288
Scripture: Isaiah 15:5 (NIV): "My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction."
Thought: To me, if a person devotes himself to the wrong "god", all that remains to him is to lament his destruction.
Question: Does my heart cry out for those whose sins rule them?
"My heart cries out over Moab;" Whose heart is this? It is the LORD's!! God is not willing that any should perish. (II Peter 3:9: "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise [of the second coming of Christ], as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.") God is grieved at even Moab's misery. To see any nation driven out, assaulted, wandering and weeping, is not the plan God prefers. He would much rather see Moab repent of its abominable idolatries, (see blog on Isaiah 15:2), and turn to Him. Thus comes this prophetic warning!
"...her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah." Zoar is the city to which Lot fled when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. It is located on the south-easterly tip of The Dead Sea, possibly just south of the Brook Zared. This is approximately 11 or 12 miles south of Kir, (see blog in Isaiah 5:1). The Moabites are fugitives! Webster defines a fugitive as "one who runs away or tries to escape suddenly." Picture, therefore, Moab's citizens splintering off suddenly to the south to flee this Assyrian attack.
"...as far as Eglath Shelishiyah..." In the King James Version this is translated not as a geographical place but as a phrase descriptive of how they fled. KJV: "an heifer of three years old." In other words, they bawled like young mother heifers who have been separated from their calves, as they made their escape. Whether or not this is a name of a town near Zoar, or the description of sorrowful wailing, is not important. What is important is that those who choose to act out vile idolatry will not go unpunished by God. They are sorely saddened at their punishment. They must flee their homes and be fearful of remaining alive as they run to get away!
"They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go;" Luhith is supposedly, according to historian Eusebius, between Ar and Zoar, and atop a hill. Thus they climbed "up" to Luhith. Then "on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction." Coming down that same hill, they descend into Horonaim. Jeremiah 48: 3 - 5: "Listen to the cries from Horonaim, cries of great havoc and destruction. Moab will be broken; her little ones will cry out. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping bitterly as they go; on the road down to Horonaim anguished cries over the destruction are heard."
Away, away! They must try to escape this horror! All that is heard are their cries, their weeping and their lamenting! This is the cost of idolatry!
Prayer: Father, to any who read, and to myself, please impact Your Word upon our hearts that we may never become entangled in the worship of any other thing or any other person than You! May we not become fugitives of our own sins. Amen.
