Weep and Wail for the Proud (Isaiah 15-16)

God's Plan for Proud Moab (ch.15-16) [Gary Smith]

1. A lament over the ruin of Moab (15:1-9).
• Laments over the ruined northern Moabite cities (1b-4).
• Laments over fugities who flee south (5-7).
• The inevitability of Moab's dire situation (8-9).
2. A Moabite request for shelter in Judah (16:1-5).
3. A lament: pride will cause the devastation of Moab (16:6-12).
• Moab is proud (6).
• Moab will wail, its field ruined (7-8).
• Prophet laments; there is no joy in Moab (9-10).
• Prophet weeps; Moab's prayer is useless (11-12).
4. An announcement: Moab's end within three years (16:13-14).

Genesis: A Few Key Doctrines

Consider the following statements below and what they mean to you, your life and your community.

The Creation (Genesis 1-2): Do you honor God as your Creator (Ps 33:6)?

• God is the Creator (Gen 1:1).
• God created man in his image (Gen 1:27).
• God planted a paradise for man (Gen 2:8-9).
• God gave man work to do (Gen 1:28; 2:15).
• God gave man freedom and a command (Gen 2:16-27).
• God saw that being alone is not good and gave the man a family (Gen 2:18ff).

The Fall (Genesis 3): Do you understand what it means that human beings are fallen creatures (Jer 17:9)?

God's Plans for Babylon and Assyria (Isaiah 13-14)

Read Isaiah 13-14

1. God summons his troops (13:1-5): God musters an army for war (Isa 13:4b).
2. God destroys the proud (13:6-16): God puts an end to all who are arrogant (Isa 13:11).
3. God desolates Babylon (17-22): God overthrows Babylon (Isa 13:19).
4. God restores his people (14:1-2): God has compassion on Jacob (Isa 14:1).
5. God humiliates/humbles the proud king of Babylon (14:3-23): "How you have fallen" (Isa 14:12).
6. God's sovereign plan and purpose WILL prevail (14:24-27): Who can thwart God's purpose out turn back his out-stretched hand? (Isa 14:27)
7. God warns those who gloat (14:28-32): Do not rejoice that your enemy is struck and broken (Isa 14:29a).

Don't Trust The Nations (Isaiah 13-23)

Isaiah 13-23, the next major section of Isaiah after 1-12, teach a primary and central truth (that are announced as prophecy or oracles): God's kingdom is the world. God's sovereignty is not something that is nebulous but actual and real. Together these chapters form a prelude to the world visions of ch. 24-27. It is also an interlude between the prediction of the Assyrian crisis in ch. 1-12 and its onset in ch. 28-39.

Focus on Babylon. Isa 13:1 begins a new section of Isaiah. The oracles in ch. 13-23 focus on the destruction of several nations (mostly foreign nations; all the nations surrounding and including Judah), and is thus set apart from ch. 1-12, which primarily addresses Judah. The judgment focuses on Babylon more than the other nations mentioned. (There are 55 verses dealing with the judgment of Babylon, but not more than 38 for any other nation.) Though other views are possible, it appears that ch.13-23 forms a unit devoted to prophecies against specific nations.

A message for God's people. Given that Israel's leadership exhibited a tendency to cast their lot with the nations, it may be that these oracles were designed to remind Israel's leaders that partnering with foreign powers was futile. The oracles would also encourage the remnant, those within Israel who trusted the Lord. No nation, regardless of its perceived power, can stand against God.

Cycle of Hope and Judgment (Isaiah 7-12)

7:1-16	7:17-8:22	9:1-7	9:8-10:34	11:1-16	12:1-6
Hope	Judgment	Hope	Judgment	Hope	Conclusion
His birth	Judah/Aram/Samaria	His nature	Israel /Assyria	His reign	Song of Praise