Isaiah 16: Haughty Refuge Now Humbled Refugees, Moab -- 2019/10/04

Rev. Ken Wagener, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Indianapolis, Indiana, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 16. In the wake of the devastation, the Moabites flee south to Edom. From there they offer tribute and pleas for mercy that they might be granted asylum north in Judah. Isaiah 16 continues this poetic oracle from the previous chapter, offering once again sympathy in the midst of total devastation. This time however, Isaiah gives us his vision of a sad, languished vineyard, accompanied by Moab’s plea in their own words. The haughty have been humbled, and Moab recognizes that there is something unique about God’s people of Judah; only they can shelter from the blistering Assyrian onslaught. Their desire to sojourn under the shelter of “the tent of David” mirrors David’s own story, when his ancestors sojourned in Moab. This points ahead to how Jesus Christ, the true heir of David, sojourned with us when He was born of a virgin, that one day we would dwell with Him in the heavenly Jerusalem. Until then, we humbly seek refuge in the church, the unique sacramental shelter from sin, death, and Satan.