OUR FATHER WHOSE PEOPLE ARE TO BE A PLACE OF REFUGE FOR THE OPPRESSED

The book of Isaiah chapter 16 verses 2 - 3 says this;

Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon.

“Make up your mind,” Moab says. “Render a decision.

Make your shadow like night—at high noon.

Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees.

The kingdom of Moab, whose territory was adjacent to the east side of the Dead Sea, was judged severely and widespread destruction swept across the land.

Their cities were violently ruined overnight and suddenly, the people of Moab were displaced from their homes and convoys of refugees were moving along the roadways seeking shelter.

The Arnon river which flows into the Dead Sea, forms a barrier to north/south travel and our passage captures the desperate scene when the fleeing women of Moab reach the river and try to cross it. 

Like panicky birds prematurely pushed from their nests, the women of Moab, completely out of their element, scramble to get across the river to find a place of safety.

Moab sent envoys to the kingdom of Israel pressing them to make a decision to grant emergency asylum for their people. They ask Israel to conceal the Moabites from the destroyer who is seeking them. As verse 4 says;

Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.”

The oppressor will come to an end, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.

The envoys assure Israel that the refugees will  return home when the season of destruction is brought to a close.

Amen.