2024-11-05 “Moab shall be trodden down under him”

Isaiah 25:10  “For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill.  11  And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands.  12  And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.

Moab” was an old and seemingly perpetual enemy of Israel; that opposed Israel religiously and politically.  Moab’s aggression toward Israel was so frequent and vicious that they became synonymous with the words enemy and adversary.  In this passage, Isaiah refers to “Moab” as the universal enemy of “the LORD” and His people, even the Children of God in the New Testament, Christian Churches.  Just as “the LORD” had cyclically delivered Israel from the evil claws of “Moab” in the Old Testament, He will also deliver His people, in our day from similar enemies.  He uses graphic illustrations to assure us that “the LORD” is indeed our “Good Shepherd” (John 10:11) and He will watch over and protect us.  He tells us that He will defeat His enemies “as straw is trodden down for the dunghill”, He will efficiently defeat them as easily as a swimmer glides through the water, He “shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands”, and will utterly destroy “the high fort of” their “walls”.  That equals a total defeat.  And so, He has been with His Church and people ever since our Beloved Lord Jesus Christ declared “upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18); that is, upon the “rock” of truth that Peter had just spoken; he said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16).  As “the Christ, the Son of the living God”, He is “God”, having infinite power and authority to “build” and to sustain His “church”.  Although we are certain to have tribulations in this life (John 16:33), we have every reason to rejoice, for our “builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:10), and He will be “with” us, as our protector and provider, “alway, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20).