The Prophecy of Isaiah - Lesson 14: “Judgment on Assyria, Philistia, and Moab” (Isaiah 14:24-16:14)

The Prophecy of Isaiah
Lesson 14: “Judgment on Assyria, Philistia, and Moab” (Isaiah 14:24-16:14)

Outline1
• Judgment on Assyria (14:24-27)
• Judgment on Philistia (14:28-32)
• Judgment on Moab (15:1-16:14)

Judgment on Assyria (14:24-27)

Isaiah 14:24–27 (NIV)

24 The Lord Almighty has sworn,

“Surely, as I have planned, so it will be,

and as I have purposed, so it will happen.

25 I will crush the Assyrian in my land;

on my mountains I will trample him down.

His yoke will be taken from my people,

and his burden removed from their shoulders.”

26 This is the plan determined for the whole world;

this is the hand stretched out over all nations.

27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?

His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?

Judgment on Philistia (14:28-32)

Isaiah 14:28–32 (NIV)

28 This prophecy came in the year King Ahaz died:

29 Do not rejoice, all you Philistines,

that the rod that struck you is broken;

from the root of that snake will spring up a viper,

its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.

30 The poorest of the poor will find pasture,

and the needy will lie down in safety.

But your root I will destroy by famine;

it will slay your survivors.

31 Wail, you gate! Howl, you city!

Melt away, all you Philistines!

A cloud of smoke comes from the north,

and there is not a straggler in its ranks.

32 What answer shall be given

to the envoys of that nation?

“The Lord has established Zion,

and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.”

Judgment on Moab (15:1-16:14)

• Lament over Moab’s Condition (15:1-9)

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!

2 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 cut off.

3 In the streets they wear sackcloth;

on the roofs and in the public squares

they all wail,

prostrate with weeping.

4 Heshbon and Elealeh cry out,

their voices are heard all the way to Jahaz.

Therefore the armed men of Moab cry out,

and their hearts are faint.

5 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.

6 The waters of Nimrim are dried up

and the grass is withered;

the vegetation is gone

and nothing green is left.

7 So the wealth they have acquired and stored up

they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.

8 Their outcry echoes along the border of Moab;

their wailing reaches as far as Eglaim,

their lamentation as far as Beer Elim.

9 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.

• Moab’s Coming Judgment (16:1-14)
  
  
  • Moab’s Desperate Plea for Help (16:1-5)

Isaiah 16:1–5 (NIV)

Send lambs as tribute

to the ruler of the land,

from Sela, across the desert,

to the mount of Daughter Zion.

2 Like fluttering birds

pushed from the nest,

so are the women of Moab

at the fords of the Arnon.

3 “Make up your mind,” Moab says.

“Render a decision.

Make your shadow like night—

at high noon.

Hide the fugitives,

do not betray the refugees.

4 Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you;

be their shelter from the destroyer.”

The oppressor will come to an end,

and destruction will cease;

the aggressor will vanish from the land.

5 In love a throne will be established;

in faithfulness a man will sit on it—

one from the house of David—

one who in judging seeks justice

and speeds the cause of righteousness.

• • A Lament for Moab (16:6-14)

Isaiah 16:6–14 (NIV)

6 We have heard of Moab’s pride—

how great is her arrogance!—

of her conceit, her pride and her insolence;

but her boasts are empty.

7 Therefore the Moabites wail,

they wail together for Moab.

Lament and grieve

for the raisin cakes of Kir Hareseth.

8 The fields of Heshbon wither,

the vines of Sibmah also.

The rulers of the nations

have trampled down the choicest vines,

which once reached Jazer

and spread toward the desert.

Their shoots spread out

and went as far as the sea. 

9 So I weep, as Jazer weeps,

for the vines of Sibmah.

Heshbon and Elealeh,

I drench you with tears!

The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit

and over your harvests have been stilled.

10 Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards;

no one sings or shouts in the vineyards;

no one treads out wine at the presses,

for I have put an end to the shouting.

11 My heart laments for Moab like a harp,

my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.

12 When Moab appears at her high place,

she only wears herself out;

when she goes to her shrine to pray,

it is to no avail.

13 This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. 14 But now the Lord says: “Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.”

 1 The outline for this lesson was adapted from Bryan E. Beyer, Encountering the Book of Isaiah: A Historical and Theological Study, Encountering Biblical Studies (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007).