Isaiah 16
Isaiah 16’s verse on righteousness is pretty standard, talking of Jesus’ future reign on earth:
 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.
It adds a few details that we haven’t seen covered in other “righteousness” verses however. For example, one of God’s motivations in establishing Christ’s throne is love. But then, that’s of no surprise, as scripture is filled with talk of God’s love of the righteous.
However, something about this scripture is a complete and utter surprise to me… its context. Isaiah is not talking about Israel or the future church, but a Biblical people living in the mountain areas that separate Israel from modern day Jordan. Back in Isaiah’s time, that region was referred to as Moab, and Isaiah 15 and 16 is recorded in scripture as an Oracle concerning Moab at that time.
Who was Moab?
Well, if you Google on Moab, you will find that it’s an American city in Utah. Wait, that can’t be right. Well, there is such a city, but it isn’t the Moab that Isaiah is writing about! Okay, false start. Let’s try something a little more useful… a word search in the Bible! (tap-tap-tap) Ah… much more useful!
If you aren’t familiar with Lot, he was Abraham’s nephew. When Abraham was called to find the land God promised, he brought his nephew with him. Consequently, we read of Lot and his decisions, which are in stark contrast to Abraham’s. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah? Lot had to be rescued from that city of sin before it was destroyed. In the process of escape, Lot’s wife looked back on the city as it burned to the ground and she was turned to pillar of salt. Lot was left with no wife and no son… but he had two daughters. Well, they had no prospects for a husband, and in a twisted sense of family-something-or-other (I can’t find the word… it was just twisted), they got their father drunk and became pregnant by him (told you it was twisted).
 36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today.
The city of Moab was established to the East, “in the desert that faces Moab toward the sunrise.” (Numbers 21:11) Moab’s eastern border is “in the desert extending into Amorite territory. The Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites,” (Numbers 21:13b) by “the slopes of the ravines that lead to the site of Ar and lie along the border of Moab.” (Numbers 21:15) This places Moab’s western border at the river running down the western side of the mountains separating Israel from modern day Jordan. It is in the mountains and along this river where Lot’s son Moab settled, and his descendants (for a time) dwelled, in Kir Moab. And it is these people whom Isaiah wrote of in the Oracle of the Moabites in Isaiah 15 and 16.
Were they Jewish?
Technically, the Moabites were not Jewish. They were not descended from Abraham, but from his nephew. Therefore, they were not technically legal recipients of God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and were required to live under the Law of Moses. Still, their land was conquered by David, and so became subject to David’s rule hundreds of years after Moab himself lived.
What did Isaiah write in Isaiah 15 and 16 about them?
I haven’t studied these chapters in enough detail to really do them justice, but here is what a casual reading suggests to me.
It would appear that the cities of Moab were going to be destroyed, but some amount of the people would not, for Isaiah prophesied their mourning… you can’t mourn if you’re dead.
 15:5 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.
But similar to the Jews, as God spares those who escape, He does not spare those who remain…
 9 Dimon’s waters 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.
Isaiah 16 then appears to me to discuss the aftermath, and what will come of Moab’s remnant in the future…
 2 Like fluttering birds
      pushed from the nest,
      so are the women of Moab
      at the fords of the Arnon. 3 “Give us counsel,
      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.
And so, though their city is destroyed, God has included their remnant in the promise of a messiah ruling. But why include the descendants of Lot in promises made his uncle Abraham? Out of love, according to 16:5 above! But notice what kind of king will be sitting there… not a Moabite one! But a kind from the house of David… a Jew. And that king, obviously Jesus (well, in my opinion for sure), will rule in justice and righteousness.
NOTE: Good notes on this here: http://www.momsbiblejournal.com/Media2/Isaiah/Isaiah%2016.htm
I find several things interesting here. One is that the Jews would eventually be decimated and scattered themselves. I find it highly unlikely that the Moabites would be able to remain distinct within them, and so were probably completely assimilated into the Jewish population. Surely, any person today with Moabite blood has also Jewish and Israelite blood as well. Therefore, this Messianic promise appears to be a subtle prophecy of the Moabites’ eventual assimilation into the Jewish body within whom they were to scatter.
I also am interested that God said this would occur out of love, but I don’t think the assimilation was allowed out of love per se. I believe this part of the promise was a simple description of how Christ’s throne would be established, and that its mere inclusion was the prophecy of the Moabite assimilation. That said, few other prophecies mention the establishment of Christ’s throne being in love. Therefore, I do see a message of love to the Moabites of that time included here.
Finally, I see a subtle message of justice for the Moabites of Isaiah’s day. While having their destruction and scattering foretold, with their assimilation being beyond their comprehension at this point, they are also being told that Christ would come out of love for them, and to establish justice for them. It is we who know that it is the same king as that promised to the Jews… the Jews of the day probably saw that, too, though I have no idea what they would have thought at the time. This is where deeper research would do me some good.
And why?
Finally, after foretelling their destruction, subtly their assimilation, and finally their King, Isaiah drops on them the reason for their destruction in the first place… and it doesn’t make God happy…
 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.
Yet, God promised to include Moab in His Messianic kingdom. Despite their origins, despite their pointless prayers, God included them in His promises to Abraham, and He did it out of love.