For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Isaiah 15:1-9

1 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.

A. Find Out:

1. What does Isaiah see happening where? v.1
2. What does he then see happening? v.2,3,8
3. Who does this even include? v.4
4. What signs are there of a nation devastated by war? v.5,6,9a
5. So what is happening to the wealth of the nation? v.7
6. What yet will happen? v.9b,c

B. Think:

1. If you have a map, look up and find Moab.
2. What would have made this so vivid for the readers/listeners?
3. What is the overall message conveyed?

C. Comment:

This is a chapter laden with geographical detail. It is a word against Moab which was a county to the east of the Dead Sea, an enemy of Israel. It is made so vivid by the reference to so many towns of Moab, some of which are unknown today, some of which can be identified.

The Arnon river (not mentioned) runs into the Dead Sea about half way down it from the east. Kir (v.1) was probably Kir Hareseth, which is about 15 miles south of the Arnon and was perhaps the capital of Moab. Dibon (v.2) is about 4 miles north of the Arnon. Mount Nebo (v.2) is about 8 miles east of the northern tip of the Dead Sea and Heshbon (v.4) is about a further 120 miles east.

Without working our way through the rest of the names, let’s simply note what was happening. A destruction is coming to Moab very rapidly (v.1 in a night). The waters of the rivers are filled with blood, the towns are wasted and the countryside is flattened (v.6) by the invading army (implied). Their wealth has been taken (v.7), there are fugitives on the road, fleeing the country, and there is mourning by the survivors left (v.2,3,8). It is a picture of complete devastation, but this is not the end of it for the Lord warns (v.9) that He is yet going to bring more on this nation. The reason is not yet given, that will follow, just an awful picture of devastation at the Lord’s hand.

D. Application:

1. There is nothing romantic about the judgement of the Lord.
2. When judgement comes it brings total destruction.