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Isaiah 15 verse 1. It begins by saying the burden of Moab. Now that should ring a bell for you. You know, the last two weeks we've been looking, well not last two weeks, I wasn't here last week, but you know the last two weeks that I was preaching, we're looking at the burden of Babylon, you may recall that. Well now God is turning His attention to Moab or the Moabites and that's the title for the sermon, The Burden of Moab. Now look, we've only got nine verses in this chapter, you know it's not a very long, not a very long chapter. And I don't know about all of you, I don't know how well or how much you know about the Moabites. So before we dig into this chapter, obviously the Lord's going to pronounce some, you know, a judgment upon Moab. But before we understand the judgment that God will put upon them, let's understand them as a nation or as a people and why it may very well be that God is pouring out His judgment upon them. So keep your finger there in Isaiah 15 and let's go back to the history of Moab. It begins in Genesis 19, come with me to Genesis 19 and verse number 30, Genesis 19, we'll go to verse number 30. Now you're all very familiar with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, how the Lord God destroyed them with fire and brimstone. And out of Sodom He delivered, you know, a righteous man out of that nation. The righteous man of course was Lot, Abraham's nephew. And not only was Lot delivered, obviously his wife came with him and then she turned her attention towards Sodom and she turned into a pillar of salt, but he also had two daughters that came along with him and the angels pulled them out of Sodom and then God rained down fire and brimstone and destroyed those wicked cities. And, you know, we have this strange story I guess in Genesis 19, verse number 30. So after God pulls them out of Sodom, in verse number 30 it says, and Lot went up out of Zo, sorry, and Lot went up out of Zoah. Now please remember Zoah, so, because we're going to touch upon this in Isaiah 15. But you see Lot goes to this place Zoah and then it says here, And dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him, for he feared to dwell in Zoah, and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. And the first bond said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. So, I mean, this is, these two sisters come up with this very wicked idea to sleep with their father, essentially, okay? And they say, well, where would they come up with such a crazy idea? Please don't forget they just came out of Sodom. You know, just a place of filthiness, of wickedness, and, I mean, they've seen the worst of the worst in Sodom. And, you know, please, you know, parents, please understand, you know, raising our children in this world, they're going to be influenced by the wickedness of this world. And the reason why, you know, we've chosen as a family, as a, you know, myself as a father and Kristina as a mother, to raise our children in church and homeschooling is because there is such a wicked influence in this world. You know, like, even I remember, like, as a first grader, you know, hearing about sex from my friends, the first time, I don't even know, like, it's the last thing in my mind, like, thinking about it as a little child, you know, these ideas, but, you know, as soon as you enter into the school system, essentially the worst kids are going to bring ideas and thoughts and wickedness into the ideas and minds of everybody else. I mean, that's just the world. Look, I mean, it's up to you what you want to do with your kids growing, you know, but I strongly suggest, please, minimise. You can't completely remove the influence of the world in their life. That's just, we live in a world, I mean, unless you want to live in the middle of nowhere and raise your family in, like, some cult system or something like that. I mean, there's wickedness in that, you know, of itself, so that's not the answer, really, but we need to understand the influence, the impact the world will have on our children and so these two sisters make this decision, let's make our father drunk and then we'll sleep with him so we can have children. And then it says in verse number 34, And it came to pass on the morrow, that the first one said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father. So I didn't, did I drink, did I finish, let me read verse number 33, I think I missed that one. And they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he perceived not that she lay down, nor when she arose. So Lot is so drunk, like, so off his face drunk, that doesn't even realise this happens, okay? And then it says in verse number 34, And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father, let us make him drink wine this night also, and go thou in and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. And they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him, and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. Now notice verse number 37, this is where we get the attention to Moab. It says, And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab. The same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. So this is the beginning of the nation of Moab, right? These are therefore known as Moabites, but also verse number 38, And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben Ammi, the same is the father of the children of Ammon, unto this day. So the Ammonites, or the people of Ammon, are from Ben Ammi, the younger sister. So out of these two men would come a nation, or two nations, the Moabites and the Ammonites. Now let's fast forward a little bit further into history. Come with me to Numbers 21. Numbers 21 please, Numbers 21. Numbers 21. So obviously the Moabites just had a very horrible start. Now look, at the end of the day you can't blame the children that have been born in this situation. Unfortunately they've been brought up in a crazy family dynamic. You know, it's not the child's fault. But you know, it's so sad how these nations came to be born, like through this situation. And then we come to Numbers 21, of course we're fast forwarding several hundred years. This is after the children of Israel have been in Egypt, they've come out of Egypt by the hand of Moses, and then they didn't go into the promised land, so they're wandering in the wilderness. And as they're passing through the wilderness, this is toward the end of their journey, we get to Numbers 21, 21. Numbers 21, 21, it says here, And so the Amorites, so Israel is passing through, they're making their way to the promised land, they go through the wilderness, and they say to the Amorites, because they're on the Amorite land, look, they're saying this, look, we're not trying to take over your land, we're not trying to cause any problems, we just want to pass through. We just want to pass through, we're coming in peace, you know, and obviously just trying to make sure there's no issues between the two nations. But when you look at verse 23 it says, So there's the Ammon again, like the brothers of the Moabites. We haven't touched upon the Moabites just yet, but then it says this, And in all the villages thereof, for Heshbon was the city of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. So I want you to remember that city Heshbon, because it gets brought up again in Isaiah 15. It says, So you learn here that Heshbon is a city that belonged to the Moabites, do you see that? But Sihon, the king of the Amorites, they ended up defeating the Moabites, and they took that city for themselves. But now Israel has passed it through, they wanted peace, but then the king of Sihon, Sihon the king, ends up making war against Israel, Israel defeats them, and now they take Heshbon for themselves. So Heshbon has changed hands, from the Moabites, to Sihon, to Israel. Just to give you a bit of history there. Now come with me to the next chapter, Numbers 22, Numbers 22 verse number 1. Now we get a little bit more into the Moabites. Numbers 22 and verse number 1, it says here, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side by Jericho. And Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel. Now again, the children of Israel, they weren't out to get the Amorites, they weren't out to get the Moabites, but as they're passing through, people think they're causing problems, okay, so they're making war, well now they're pitching their tents and they're looking toward Moab, the land of Moab, and the Moabites decided to get scared, and they think, man, these guys are coming to cause problems toward us. Now look at verse number 4. And Moab said unto the children of Midian, Now shall this company lick up all that are round about us, as the ox licketh up the grass of the field. So they're saying, look, Israel's coming to take over our land, right? Even though that's not what Israel's trying to do. They're trying to make their way to the Promised Land. But that's what they believe, okay? And it says, And Balak, the son of Zippor, the king of the Moabites at that time, he sent messengers, therefore, unto Balaam, you may recall the story of Balaam. Okay, so the king of the Moabites sends messengers unto Balaam, the son of Beor to Paithor, which is by the river of the land of the tuna of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt, that's the Israelites, behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me. Come now, therefore, I pray thee, curse me, these people. So he goes to Balaam and says, Look, Balaam, these guys are coming to cause problems, please, can you curse them? Okay, because Balaam is this false prophet, okay? And as a false prophet, he's had some level of success, because it keeps going here, it says here, for they are too mighty for me, peradventur I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land, for I want that he whom thou blessed is blessed, and he whom thou cursed is cursed. So Balaam has had some success, the people that he's prayed a blessing upon, they've been blessed, the people that he's cursed, they've been cursed. And the king of the Moabites has seen this work of the false prophet, and he goes, Look, can you please curse Israel, so that they curse, and now once they curse, now I can go make war against them, and I know I'll defeat them, okay? So one thing that we learn about the Moabites is, they're not friends with Israel, okay? They have a bad beginning, they're not friends with Israel, they're making war against God's people, and now they're employing a false prophet to curse the nation. Now, if you know the story, I haven't got time to go through all of the story, but if you know the story, he attempts, Balaam tries to curse Israel, but God would not allow him. In fact, he's kind of forced by God to bless Israel instead, okay? I mean, that's a story in of itself. But, if you can go to another passage, go to with me, sorry, you're in Numbers, aren't you? So come with me to Numbers 25, so he attempts to curse them, and he doesn't succeed in cursing them. Now, before we read Numbers 25, I'm going to quickly read to you from Revelation chapter 2, verse number 14, you say, why are we going to the book of Revelation? Well, you don't need to turn there, but very quickly, Revelation gives us an insight about what we're about to read in Numbers 25, okay? In Revelation chapter 2, verse number 14, these are the words of Jesus, he says, But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, that's the false prophet. Then it says this, So we see here that Balaam could not curse the Israelites, but according to Revelation, of course, Jesus Christ, these were his words, that he told the king of the Moabites, you know, to bring a stumbling block upon Israel to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols, okay? Then we get to Numbers 25, and we see why that took, what happened. Numbers 25, verse number 1, it says, So all of a sudden, Moabites send their whores, their prostitutes, what have you, right, into the camp of the Israelites, the men find them attractive, and they start committing fornication. They start committing whoredoms. Like, when you read the book of Numbers, it just comes out of nowhere. You don't know why that happened, but Jesus Christ tells the book of Revelation what happened. That was Balaam's idea. He's like, I can't curse them, I can't do anything against them, let them destroy themselves. Send them the women, okay? And the men of Israel ended up committing fornication, whoredoms, with those women. And look at verse number 2, And bow down to their gods. So what happens? These Israelite men, they fall in love with the women of Moab, and then the women are like, hey, let's spend our lives together, and I love you, come and worship this false god, and before you know it, they're worshiping false gods, and eating things sacrificed unto idols, okay? So I hope you're learning more about Moab, all right? They're a stumbling block to the people of God. They cause a lot of problems, a lot of heartache to the people of God. Now, how does God respond to this whoredom? Look at verse number 3. It says, That's basically a false god, that's the devil, essentially. Now, look how mad God is, verse number 4. That the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. So God says, you know what, you've got to kill them all. Hang them, hang them. And Moses gives instructions, look, whoever is part of your tribes or your families, whatever, whoever's gone and slept around, committed whoredom, and worshiped false gods, and ate these, you know, food from idols, go and kill them. And that's the anger of the Lord. I mean, that's how God's anger is appeased. When he sees them going and actually, you know, I mean, it seems extreme, okay? But I want to show you God's heart, you know, against the Moabites. Like, what would cause God to be so angered at this nation? And so when we get to Isaiah, the book of Isaiah, we can better understand why we have an entire chapter. In fact, it's two chapters. The next chapter is going to continue this thought. We go back to Isaiah 15, come back with me to Isaiah 15 now. Isaiah 15, verse number 1, the burden of Moab, the burden of Moab, okay? Now, so far in the book of Isaiah, you know, we've seen God speaking of the northern kingdom, of Israel, the southern kingdom of Judah. We've seen God speaking about Babylon and Assyria. And like, all of that makes sense to us because these are major players and of course, we're following the story of the nation of Israel and of Judah. I mean, that makes sense, but all of a sudden we get to the burden of Moab and it may not seem like that seems like a nation or a people that we're not so familiar with, even though we can read about certain things about them in the story. And what this brings to mind for me, brethren, is that even in the old covenant, even though he had a covenanted people, a covenanted nation of Israel, God's eyes were still upon all the nations of the earth, okay? Just because you didn't enter into the covenant, God was still looking at the wickedness of the other nations and at some point his judgment falls, okay? This tells me that his eyes are on Australia. His eyes are upon Australians. It was Brother Matthew that preached about the sins of Australia. I mean, it's a good sermon to preach because you can see how mad, how angry God can get, you know, with whoredoms, with worshiping false gods and of course, this is happening in our nation. So how long until God pulls out his wrath, his judgment upon Australia? I don't know. I don't know if God's going to do that at some point in our lifetime or whether it's going to be when God pulls out his wrath at the end of time. Maybe that's when God is withholding his wrath for Australia. I don't know. But I don't know about you, but I like, I've always liked the thought that God sees everything. Like, it's not the best for me because I'm a sinner. And it's embarrassing when I sin against the Lord and maybe, can I hide it? No, I can't hide it. God knows. God knows. But one thing that gave me a lot of hope and encouragement and strength as a child growing up as a believer in a wicked world was, well, God, you see it all. Like, if people want to laugh at me, if people want to mock me for my faith, if people just don't like me for whatever reason, if I get bullied, I don't know if you got bullied, but if someone just tried to hurt me or mock me, slander me, Lord, you see it and so you can take care of it. Like, it's something that gave me a lot of comfort as a believer. Like, God sees all, God sees my sins, but God also sees... I'm not tired of God, though. I can go to Him at any point and say, Lord, please forgive me and make me walk in your righteousness and He'll forgive me. And God will see, like, just, you know, as parents, if you see your children being mocked and persecuted and, you know, by some other kids, some bullies, don't you want to step in and just wipe them out or something like that? Like, that's God, you've got my back. I've always felt that way, like, God, you've got my back, no matter what happens. So, anyway, God's eyes are upon all the nations and even the Moabites, okay? So, let's read verse number one, Isaiah 15, verse number one, the burden of Moab, because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste and brought to silence, because in the night Ker of Moab is laid waste and brought to silence. Now, Ar there is also Aroah, you can read about it in other passages of the Bible, sometimes it's Aroah, A-R-O-E-R, and that's essentially the capital city, that's like one of the major, maybe not the capital city, but it's one of the major cities of Moab and so is Ker, Ker of Moab, or also in the Bible it's Ker hash, Ker hash sometimes in your Bible, it's the same Ker of Moab. And so these are two major cities that you can see that the Lord is saying, look, they're going to be wasted, there's going to be complete silence, there's going to be nobody in these cities, this is the judgment that God's going to bring upon the Moabites. Now, I'm not sure, you can tell me what you think if you want, okay? I'm not sure if this is the Assyrians doing this to the Moabites or the Babylonians, okay? Because both the Assyrians and the Babylonians did overrun the Moabites, both of them did, okay? Now, in the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah also preaches against the Moabites, but this time it's definitely about Babylon. The timing of this chapter seems to be about the Assyrians, but I don't think it matters too much. Like, I kind of believe, just by what I've read, I kind of believe this is both the judgment that came from Assyria and Babylon. I think it's a mixture of both. And it reminds me of the burden of Babylon, because when we saw Babylon being judged by God, we clearly saw aspects of current-day Babylon for Isaiah being judged, but then God would also turn his attention to end-times Babylon being judged, okay? So you could kind of see this dual application to that judgment, and so when it comes to the Moabites, there may very well be two applications, all right? The Assyrians coming through, running them over, and then the Babylonians coming through and essentially destroying them, okay? So it might very well be both of these great kingdoms that is the burden of Moab. Verse number two, it says, Now that he, I think, is the king of Moab. It's just, it's an individual, he. It might very well be the king of Moab. And then it says, Now, when the Bible says the high places, it's often referring to a place where they're worshipping false gods. They would go up to a mount, a high place, they'll set up their idols and their images, and so the king's gone to this place to weep. Like, you know, he's praying to his god, like we're being overrun, we're being overtaken by either Assyrian or Babylon, and he's going, and he's weeping, he's crying out. It says, So the people of Moab, as they're being overrun, as the judgment of God is falling upon them, they start shaving their head and they start cutting their beards, okay? Now, in old times it's not so much applicable today, like it's not really our custom today. That would be a show of shame, of sorrow, you know, of humility, but really it's the idea of shame, like shame has come upon our people and so they shave their heads and cut off their beards. So maybe it's a good idea not to be completely bold and completely shaven. I don't know what message you're sending there, like, oh, they have one over there, one or the other, you know? But I want to show you something, because we're up to Isaiah 15, and what's the 15th book of the Bible? Anyone know? What are we up to? Ezra, thank God, okay. So let's go to Ezra. Keep your finger there. Come with me to Ezra, chapter 9. Ezra, chapter 9. Ezra, chapter 9. Now, the book of Ezra is about the time when the Jews would return from Babylon or from the Persian empire, Persian kingdom, and they would come back into the land of Canaan and rebuild the temple. They started the process of rebuilding the new temple under Ezra. Then Nehemiah would come and join, and he would of course start building the walls, and they'd be working on the city of Jerusalem. So, as they're building the temple, the situation comes up in Ezra, chapter 9, and verse number 1. Ezra, chapter 9, verse number 1. It says, Now when these things were done, the princes came to me, saying, The people of Israel, and the priests, and the Levites. So not just the people, but even the ones that are meant to be the religious leaders, the priests and Levites, have not separated themselves from the people of the land, doing according to their abominations, look at this, even of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, we know that's one of the brothers that was born from the two sisters, or sorry, you know, from the two sisters, one of the sons, and then the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. So once again, the Moabites are brought up. So Ezra's been told, look, you know, our people and even our religious leaders, they've married all these other women from these other nations. Once again, with their false gods and their false religions, it's happening all over again. Like, I can understand the anguish of Ezra. Like, he comes, you know, he comes and checks out the work, and all of a sudden, the men and even religious leaders all married, you know, ungodly people. I get the sadness that we're going to see in his heart, look at verse number two. Like, the leaders, they're the ones that kind of start this thing, and now the whole nation is following this process, marrying ungodly women. Verse number three. I rent my garments and my mantle, look at this, and plucked off the hair of the head of my beard and sat down astonished. Okay, hair of my head and of my beard and sat down astonished. So we see Ezra doing the same thing. Right, he cuts his hair, he shaves his beard out of shame, anguish, and sorrow. That boy, like, we've just been released, we've just come out of captivity. Like, we've just come out of the judgment of God. You know, we're coming to start all over again, and here we are once again, God's people making the same mistakes all over again. And you can see, like, not only is this a custom of the ungodly, but it's a custom that you even see God's people, you know, do. And it's just interesting that, we can't just blame the Moabites, there's many other nations here involved, but it's just interesting that the Moabites are mentioned one more time, like, once again. Okay, I mean, they must have been attractive ladies or something like that, right? For Israel to just fall, you know, all over themselves for these women time and time again. And so we can kind of see a similarity there between Isaiah 15 and the Book of Ezra. We will come back to Ezra, if you want to keep a finger there, we will come back to it later on. But come back with me to Isaiah 15, Isaiah 15 and verse number 3. Isaiah 15, verse number 3. It says, Okay, so there's public mourning. Okay, so this is not just the king going to the high places and worshipping false gods and crying there. Everybody, you know, every Moabite is essentially either on the streets or they're on their rooftop. You know, like, you know, back in those days the houses had flat roofs so you could go on top like a balcony. And so just openly, like, if you were there living at that time, you know, you'd just be like every household, everybody's just this wailing, this weeping, this crying that this judgment of the Assyrian, I believe at this point at least, you know, has come upon them and their cities are all being destroyed and they're being taken over by a foreign power. Verse number 4. And then it was taken by the Amorites and then Israel defeated the Amorites and they get Heshbon for themselves. Well, at some point later on in history, Heshbon returns back to the Moabites. Okay, so that's why in verse number 4 it says, So not only is everybody, you know, weeping and the kings weeping and howling and all this, but the Bible says even the armed soldiers. Now normally, you know, if you're going to battle, if you're a soldier and you're defending your nation, you know, you're supposed to be hardened and normally, you know, the captains and, you know, and the leaders are trying to encourage and motivate, keep your head up, like, we're going to win, we can push back. That's normally the approach, but even here the soldiers, the army, they're just weeping and howling and they know they're defeated. Like, they know we can't defeat this powerful empire, this judgment of God that has come upon us. And what's interesting at the end of verse number 4, it says, His life shall be grievous unto him. Okay, so they hate their own lives. Like, it's almost like they just rather die. They just rather die. It's like even trying to live, even trying to be hopeful for tomorrow is grievous to him. You know, and I, as God's people, we should not have this attitude toward life. You know, I've taught this many times and I want to be careful what I say because I will definitely preach against sin. I've preached against sin many times, okay, but there's an issue in Christianity that I see amongst brethren sometimes. Not so much in my church because I feel like I've preached this enough, but I've seen this in other churches, other churches that I've been part of, where a believer has committed some weakness, has committed some sin, and they're so downcast. Like, they're so frustrated and they're so cast down and so demoted. You know, they lack motivation and, you know, and look, I understand. You know, when it comes to doing wickedness, we should have a broken and contrite heart. I understand that. I'm not trying to say that's wrong, okay? But when we have a broken and contrite heart, what should we do? We go to the Lord. God, I've messed up once again. I'm a sinner. Lord, you know. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Give me the strength not to do that again, Lord. Please help me. All right? And then we go to the Lord, what happens? He forgives us. All right? He forgives us and he forgets our sin. And in that process, he gives us the ability to push forward to, you know, the same day. Like, to keep moving forward. Not to just be down and out and there's something, I don't know what it is, that is seen amongst God's people. So downcast, so low, so frustrated. Oh, I've messed up again. I'm a sinner. Yeah, we all are sinners. We all are sinners. Like, who has not sinned? We've all sinned, which is why we needed a Savior. Like, God knows that we could not save ourselves. We could not cleanse ourselves. So God had to do something so extreme to send his only begotten Son to die in our place. That's pretty extreme. To take all of our sins upon Jesus Christ, to be paid for, to rise from the dead, to give us victory and salvation, a clean heart, so we can stand in the presence of God, and we can be used by God this very day. God does not want us to walk around, Oh, I've messed up again. Oh, I was ready. To the point where, just like this, his life shall be grievous unto him. I've seen Christians whose life is grievous to them. Christians would even say, it's better if just God will kill me. Lord, take my life. I don't want it. And life is such a precious thing. Like, life is so precious. You know, I'm 42. My wife's not here. I can't confirm. I think I'm 42. And like, that could be, like, if the Lord gives me a standard life, some 85 years, I've lived half of it. It's gone. It's not coming back. That half's gone. Like, it's precious. You know, you have little kids one day, you know all this about brother. All of a sudden your kids grow up and that time's gone so quickly, it's a blur. You know, God's given us a precious life. Don't let your life be grievous. Now, to the Moabites, I understand. They don't have the God of the Bible. They've got false gods. Those gods give them no hope. I understand that. But we have the God of heaven. We have forgiveness of sins. We're going home to heaven to be with him for all eternity. And God's given us a life. God's given us a day. If you wake up tomorrow, God's giving you tomorrow to live a life that is abundant and free. It's true. Like, we have everything to live for. But not the Moabites. You know, they're cast down. Can you please keep your finger there and come with me to... Have I got the right reference here? Yeah, come with me to Jeremiah 49, please. Come with me to Jeremiah 49. Jeremiah 49. Oh yeah, now I remember why I wanted to turn there. Sorry. Jeremiah 49. Because remember, with Jeremiah, he's preaching at a time where Babylon is not only going to destroy Jerusalem and Judah, but also the Syrianian nations. And in Jeremiah 49, he speaks of the Ammonites. Jeremiah 49, verse number 1. I just want to show you how similar the language is that Jeremiah speaks and that Isaiah speaks. Jeremiah 49, verse number 1. So the reason I wanted to show you that is to show you that even though from the time of Isaiah rhyme this, it appears to be the issue of the Assyrians, like it has been in the previous chapters, but now we see in Jeremiah 49 that it's the Babylonian empire that's going to overrun the Ammonites again. And you can see Heshbon being brought up again, the city's being brought up again, that God's going to sort of ultimately bring an ultimate damming and judgment upon the Moabites. Now again, you can keep a finger in Jeremiah, keep a finger in Ezra and keep a finger in Jeremiah. Come back with me to Isaiah 15. Isaiah 15, Isaiah 15, verse number 5. Now, we know how wicked this nation is. We know they worship false gods. We know they've been enemies to God's people. And when judgment is fallen upon them or judgment has been prophesied to fall upon them, what would be your natural reaction? You don't have to tell me. I'm just wondering. What kind of reaction would you have toward that? Look how Isaiah responds. I always find it fascinating how, like Jeremiah is very similar. It's fascinating because some of the preachers, the prophets that preached the greatest judgment and like hard preaching and negative things are Isaiah and Jeremiah. They're known for their hard preaching and their negative preaching. And even though, look, we need to hear negative preaching, we need to hear when God's bringing their hammer down. But I want you to see the heart of these godly men. Isaiah says in verse number 5, my heart shall cry out for Moab. How do you feel about that? Maybe some of you will be like, Lord, just destroy them. Wipe them out. Look, it shows you the humanity of Isaiah. Like he's a real human being. Like he's preaching. Like he's a faithful preacher. He's preaching what God says. It's not popular. It's not good. It brings sorrow. It brings anguish. It brings persecution. But his heart is soft even toward the wicked, even toward those of Moab. In fact, when we get to the next chapter, in his preaching, he's trying to give the Moabites some instruction, like some advice. Judgments come in and he tries to give them some level of help in his trial of judgment. So he goes, my heart shall cry out for Moab. His fugitives shall flee unto Zoah. That's interesting, isn't it? So where was the nation of Moab born? In the mountains of Zoah, remember? When Lot came out of Sodom, they went to the mountains of Zoah and there came, you know, the father of the Moabites. Well, it's quite interesting just the parallel that now, you know, as they escaped Sodom and Gomorrah, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, they went to Zoah and as the Moabites and the cities are being wiped out, the fugitives, you know, the – I guess I'll leave the fugitives, right? They're the ones also run into that same place, you know, where they were born as a nation. And then an interesting phrase comes up here, an heifer of three years old, just like randomly. Like a heifer is a young cow, a young female cow that has not yet reproduced, okay? It's not had children yet. So you're talking about Moab, the fugitives fleeing and heifer of three years old, like what does that mean? Like it's just a random statement. I'll show you what that means in a moment, okay? So it says here, for by the mountain up of Luchith with weeping shall they go eat up, for in the way of Horenim shall they raise up a cry of destruction. So as they're making their way to Zoah, not only are they mourning and weeping in the cities and the streets, but as they're making their way, they're making a sound, they're weeping, you know, all of this sound that they're making on their way to Zoah. Now, I told you to keep a finger in Jeremiah, so come back with me to Jeremiah. Jeremiah 48, Jeremiah 48 and verse number 1. Jeremiah 48 and verse number 1. So just like Lot fled to Zoah during the judgment of Sodom, so too are the fugitives fleeing to Zoah. But in Jeremiah 48 verse number 1, it says, against Moab, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, woe unto Nebo, for it is spoiled. It is spoiled. Kirithim, remember in verse number 1 it mentioned Kir, K-I-R, well that's the same thing. Kirithim is confounded and taken, Miscab is confounded and dismayed. Drop down to verse number 34 in the same chapter, verse 34. From the cry of Heshbon, even unto Elieliah, and even unto Jehaz, have they uttered their voice. So notice that, they cry, they've uttered their voice, look at this, from Zoah, even unto Horonaim, look at this, as an heifer of three years old. So as an heifer, okay, for the waters also of Nimrin shall be desolate. So Jeremiah kind of explains further why the heifer's just brought up suddenly. He makes it clear, as an heifer, okay, of three years old. I look this up and cows, somewhere between two to three years old, they fully mature. Like they have a, they mature already younger than that, like 18 months, and they can have children, but as far as a full growth of a cow, takes somewhere between two to three years. So when we talk about a three year old heifer, we're talking about a fully developed cow, okay. And the Moabites are being compared to this fully developed cow, which is a heifer, okay. And so, just like they're crying out and making this noise, you know, of weeping and sorrow, God uses the illustration of a cow that is mooing, it's bellowing out, they're making that kind of noise, as they're passing through. And I think also the heifer also points to the fact that Moab is probably at a point of success and prosperity and maturity as a nation, and now they've been wiped out by the hand of the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Come back with me to Isaiah 15 verse number 6, you can take, you can move away from Jeremiah now, but Isaiah 15 verse number 6. So not only do we see God's judgment upon the Moabites by the hand of an empire, but God also judges them in the natural world, verse number 6 it says, So another way that God judges them is by drought, okay. The waters dry up, the grass does die, I mean that's how bad the drought becomes, and that is God's judgment upon these people. Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, shall they carry away to the brook of the willows. Now, verse number 7 for me is a little bit unclear, again if you have your opinions let me know. Let's read it again. Therefore the abundance, so Moab does have abundance. Again, why the three road heifer is being described, it's reached a level of prosperity and abundance, like it's matured as a nation, okay. But their abundance they have gotten, like it's come out of Moab, that they which have laid up shall they carry away, so I don't know who's carrying away this abundance. I'm not sure if it's the Moabites as they're fleeing that's taking the possession and the wealth of the land with them, or if it's speaking of the Assyrians or the Babylonians taking the spoils of the land for themselves and carrying that away. Again, you tell me what you think, okay. But essentially, again the point is this, that the abundance, the prosperity, the wealth of the land is being stripped away from that area, okay. Verse number 8. Alright, so there's something I want to show you in comparison to the book of Ezra. So come with me to Ezra chapter 3 please, come with me to Ezra chapter 3. So they're crying, right, as they're leaving, they cry, it's round about the borders of Moab, the howling thereof of Eglaim, and the howling thereof of Antiberium. So this is talking about the border areas of the city, of the nation I should say. Now in Ezra chapter 3, there's also an event where there's a crying out, okay, and a loud voice is being made. But it's a little bit different, like the howling and the crying that we read about in Isaiah 15 of course, God is judging a wicked people, okay, of course, okay, God is judging a wicked people. And look, when judgment falls, of course there's going to be sorrow and sadness, okay. But there's also a time of sorrow in here in Ezra chapter 3, look at Ezra chapter 3 verse number 12. Ezra chapter 3 verse number 12, this is about, you know how they went back to rebuild a new temple? This is about the laying of the foundation for the new temple. In Ezra chapter 3 verse number 12 it says, So you can see this weeping is one of joy. Like, you know, have you ever wept out of joy? Like I have. You know, when my wife gives birth, for example, has given birth, I'm every single time, without fail, I'm there. But I'm not, it's not like I'm sad, I'm rejoicing, I'm so happy, right. Especially the few times, only twice, that my wife had had a cesarean, because I'm seeing my wife go under, and, you know, sometimes you wonder, I don't know, there's always risks with any kind of surgery, anything like that, right. And then see the child come and wife's okay, like, ahhh, crying, weeping. But they're tears of joy, right, they're tears of joy. But also you need to remember, part of the reason they have these tears of joy is because Judah, or the Jews, were judged by God. Right, they were judged by God with Babylon, the same way he would ultimately judge the Moabites, okay. But this time, they're weeping and the wailing is one of joy. They've come out of God's judgment, and they're rejoicing. Whereas the Moabites are going through God's judgment, and they're weeping from sorrow and sadness and shame and all of that, okay. Now, I'm going to end with that thought as a conclusion. Let's keep going there, let's go back to Isaiah 15, verse number 9. So not only does God judge them with a foreign power, not only does God judge them with droughts, but verse number 9. You know, as these fugitives, you know, as these, what's the word I'm looking for? Refugees. Refugees, thank you. As these refugees, you know, going from one place to the next, God judges them another way. It says, for the waters of diamonds shall be full of blood. Why should they be full of blood? For I will bring more upon diamond, like more judgment, lions upon him, the escapeth of Moab, and upon the remnants of the land. So they're fleeing. Oh, we finally got out, we made it. Lion comes out of it, you know, lions come and just tear them apart. And their blood's going into the waters of diamonds, okay. So judgment of foreign power, judgment of droughts, and a judgment of wild animals. I mean, that's a pretty bad way to go, like, you know. And so this is a great judgment, I can understand why it's a burden for Moab. I fully understand, you know, the judgment that's coming. This is our God. Do you like it? I mean, do you like this chapter? Do you like weeping and... It doesn't matter what you like. Like, even with Isaiah, he didn't fully like what he's hearing. Like his heart starts crying out for the people, like he starts feeling bad for the people. At the end of the day, you know, whatever way we feel, it doesn't matter. We need to preach God's word without compromise, and Isaiah was that kind of preacher. He's soft-hearted, he's tender-hearted. Like, he's a nice man. Like, if a man of Moab, a family, you know, went to Isaiah... I have no doubt that Isaiah would try to give him the gospel, getting saved, right? Try to get him right with the Lord, he's that kind of person. And just seeing the destructive power of God, you know, it should give us fear. Like, the fear of the Lord that we need. And I know you're tired of me saying this, but I have a fear of the Lord every time I get up to preach. Every time. I'm very uncomfortable getting up to preach. Because I don't want to do my Lord at this service. Like, he sees everything. That's the thing, right? He sees it all. He's got my back, but he also is paying attention to the words that I preach. Am I being faithful to my Lord or am I not? Am I going to tell you the truth? Am I going to try to sugarcoat God's word to you even if it's negative? I'm not going to do that. But that should drive a fear in our hearts when it comes to speaking of our Lord God. Look, he's an angry God. But he's long suffering. We've also seen how Moab, their weakness has gone generation after generation. Hundreds, literally hundreds of years. Eventually God says, alright, enough. We're finally destroying these people. Now, let's take a lesson out of this. Can we meet to 1 Peter 3? 1 Peter 3, please. 1 Peter 3. You know, when God judges a nation, let's take Judah for example. When God brought Babylon upon Judah, it was a wicked nation, no doubt. And the people deserved being taken into captivity by the Babylonians. But weren't there some righteous people as well that were affected by it? Jeremiah was arrested. Eventually he was let go but he was put in chains, Jeremiah. We know the story of Daniel and his three friends, right? It looks to me that they were made eunuchs. It looks to me like they were emasculated. It's pretty horrible when you think about it. And look, these are righteous, godly men. Now, here's the lesson. 1 Peter 3, verse 16. Before we read it, let me just say this. We are all going to suffer in this life, all of us. We may not be living in Australia when God finally destroys Australia. You know, if that's the end times, wrath of God, we're not going to be here anyway if we live that long because we're going to be raptured. We don't know when God's judgment is going to fall. But you can't live this life without suffering. I mean, I'm not going to ask for a show of hands but I think if anyone's lived on this earth long enough, you say to me, pastor, there's been the times, maybe right now I'm going through suffering. Maybe right now I'm going through difficulties and trials and, you know. And God judges nations. And, you know, unfortunately when God is judging nations, God's people are going to be affected. The righteous are still going to be affected in that judgment. Now, God's got his eyes upon us. Don't get me wrong, God's got his eyes upon us. God will make sure we're taken care of. But still, just like Daniel and his three friends, even they had to be in captivity for that length of time. And they're not the only ones. You know, Ezekiel's another great example of a godly man. And I'm sure there were many other righteous and godly, saved people that unfortunately, because they just lived in Judah, you know, they suffered the consequences of God's judgment upon the nation. But when we suffer, I want you to take this thought away. In 1 Peter 3, verse 16, it says, So, it's saying here that this will happen. People are going to speak evil of you. People are going to say, it doesn't matter how righteous your life is, people are going to say you're an evildoer. It says here, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. Your good conversation is your life, is your testimony. If you live a righteous and Christian life, if people mock you and accuse you and say you're doing evil, the Bible says let them be ashamed. But then look at verse 17, it says, It is better if the will of God be so that you suffer in well-doing than for evil-doing. Have you ever had the attitude where you've been accused of something, doing something wrong? I can use any example, let's say, I don't know, let's say in the workplace. Something failed and people blamed you, but it wasn't you. Have you ever had this attitude, that might be a bad example, where you ever actually go, you know what, I'm getting blamed for that evil, so I might as well just do it. Or I've heard husbands say things like, my wife accuses me of cheating, of sleeping around, of looking at other women. I feel like I've been accused that many times, I've never done it, been accused that many times, maybe I should just do it. Like if that's how my wife feels about me, I might as well just do it. Obviously, that is not how God wants us to react. We've seen God's judgement on whoredoms, God's anger against wickedness, things like that. I don't know, have you ever had that feeling? I'm not asking you to confess your sins to me. But sometimes when you get accused for something, you're like, I might as well just do it, if they think that's what I am. Accusations are going to come your way, you're going to go through suffering, you're going to go through false accusations. That's again, just the life that we live. But even though, you can see that it says in verse 17, verse 17, For it is better if the will of God be so. So sometimes it's God's will that we suffer, but that we suffer in well doing, then for evil doing. Look, the Moabites are suffering because of their evil doing. They deserve their suffering. Like everything that we read about them, their wickedness, yes we can understand God's anger falling upon them. But when you suffer, make sure you're suffering not because of wickedness. Like if you've done wrong, if you've done wickedness, what do you do? I've told you already, you go before God, you confess your sin, say God I messed up, please forgive me. And then you're walking in righteousness with him once again. God allows that, for us to do that. Use that time, so that way you're not living a constant life, a long life, where you're far from the Lord. Make sure you confess your sins before the Lord, but even as you walk in righteousness, guess what's going to happen? False accusations are going to be made about you. And some people are going to believe it. But if you suffer like that, that's better, to suffer that way. When Daniel and Jeremiah and these people suffered, when of course the nation of Judah was wicked, and the Babylonians came through and took so many of them into captivity, they suffered. But they had a good conscience, didn't they? They had a clear conscience before God. And even though they were tied up with Babylon, they weren't taken away from their families and taken away from their homes, taken away from their lands and their loved ones. Daniel and his three friends, people like that, they had a clear conscience. We're suffering, but we're suffering because it's God's will for us to suffer. God is teaching us something through this process. So if we're going to take any lesson out of the burden of Moab, let's not be like the Moabites that are suffering for their wickedness. Brethren, if you are suffering, please keep a clear conscience, a good conscience. Make sure you have a good testimony before the Lord. And even then, with a good testimony, you're going to suffer. But you'll be suffering for well-doing. And God's going to reward you for that suffering. Alright brethren, Isaiah 15, the burden of Moab, we'll learn more about the Moabites next week as well. Alright, let's pray.