QUESTION: How can the Moabites become a concealment place for the dispersed ones of Gods people in the time of the end? Isn’t that saying somehow Babylon or Christendom will somehow help us…perhaps….just individuals? But how can they do this when we are being disciplined by Jah as his people? I’m not sure I understand this point.
ANSWER: Here is a passage in the 16th chapter of Isaiah upon which the questioners query is based: “Bring in counsel, you men, execute the decision. Make your shadow just like the night in the midst of noontime. Conceal the dispersed ones; do not betray anyone fleeing. May my dispersed ones reside as aliens even in you, O Moab. Become a place of concealment to them because of the despoiler. For the oppressor has reached his end; the despoiling has terminated; those trampling down others have been finished off the earth. And in loving-kindness a throne will certainly be firmly established; and one must sit down upon it in trueness in the tent of David, judging and seeking justice and being prompt in righteousness.”
The Moabites as well as the Ammonites were brothers to Israel, being the descendants of Abraham’s nephew, Lot. The Edomites were also related to the Israelites – Esau, the father of Edom – being the grandson of Abraham. But when God determined that Judah ought to be punished for the reproach they had brought upon his name the Moabites revealed their deep-seated animosity and were gleeful and in support of the Chaldean killers. For that reason God also determined to destroy Moab.
To be sure, when Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews rebuilt it the throne of David was not re-established. So, the prophecy in Isaiah really speaks to the establishment of the kingdom of Christ, referred to in the verse above as “the tent of David.”
The same issue was put upon Edom in the little book of Obadiah, and as presented in Jehovah Himself Has Become King in the chapter Amos and Obadiah, the prophecy is earmarked for the day of Jehovah. Here is the relevant passage:
“And I shall certainly destroy the wise ones out of Edom, and discernment out of the mountainous region of Esau. And your mighty men must become terrified, O Teman, for the reason that each one will be cut off from the mountainous region of Esau, because of a killing. Because of the violence to your brother Jacob, shame will cover you, and you will have to be cut off to time indefinite. In the day when you stood off on the side, in the day when strangers took his military force into captivity and when outright foreigners entered his gate and over Jerusalem they cast lots, you also were like one of them. And you ought not to watch the sight in the day of your brother, in the day of his misfortune; and you ought not to rejoice at the sons of Judah in the day of their perishing; and you ought not to maintain a big mouth in the day of their distress. You ought not to come into the gate of my people in the day of their disaster. You, even you, ought not to peer at his calamity in the day of his disaster; and you ought not to thrust out a hand upon his wealth in the day of his disaster.
And you ought not to stand at the parting of the ways, in order to cut off his escapees; and you ought not to hand over his survivors in the day of distress. For the day of Jehovah against all the nations is near. In the way that you have done, it will be done to you. Your sort of treatment will return upon your own head. For in the way that you people have drunk upon my holy mountain, all the nations will keep drinking constantly. And they will certainly drink and gulp down and become as though they had never happened to be.”
So, the chastisement of God’s people was also a time of judgment for the nations round-about. And particularly, for the above-mentioned peoples who were related to the Jews and who shared common borders and similar languages and customs, God judged them based upon their attitude towards the hardship that was inflicted upon God’s covenanted people. This establishes a pattern for Jehovah’s future judgments in keeping with the principle that judgment starts first with the house of God.
The point is, just because God found it necessary to severely discipline his nation did not mean that they were no longer his people. The same principle applies in the Christian era. Jesus foretold that a place holy to God would be desolated by a disgusting thing. But during that same period people would be judged and
separated, just like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, based upon how people treat the afflicted brothers of Christ.
Interestingly, although Moab, Ammon and Edom were obliterated by the Chaldeans and lost their national identity those three nations are mentioned in relation to the king of the north during the time of the end – that is to say, during the conclusion of the system of things. Obviously, then, they have prophetic significance.
Please note that when the king of the north floods over many lands it includes the land belonging to God, known as “the land of the Decoration.” Daniel 11:41 states: “He will also actually enter into the land of the Decoration, and there will be many lands that will be made to stumble. But these are the ones that will escape out of his hand, Edom and Moab and the main part of the sons of Ammon.”
Initially the land of decoration was the promised land and specifically Jerusalem was the place where Jehovah had caused his name to reside. So, it was decorated with God’s glory and grace. During the time of the end the decorated land relates to the Watchtower Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses – it being the place where Jehovah has caused his name to reside – a place of spiritual beauty.
Even in their blind state the Watchtower Society has recognized that Edom, Moab and Ammon represent Christendom. For example, here is what the Society states and their Isaiah commentary regarding Moab:
Today there is a worldwide organization similar to ancient Moab. It is Christendom, the principal part of “Babylon the Great.” Both Moab and Israel descended from Abraham’s father, Terah. Similarly, Christendom, like the congregation of anointed Christians today, claims to have roots in the
first-century Christian congregation. However, Christendom—like Moab—is corrupt, promoting spiritual immorality and the worship of gods other than the one true God, Jehovah. As a class, Christendom’s leaders oppose those who preach the good news of the Kingdom.
Contradictorily, although stating that Moab represents Christendom, as regards the “Edom and Moab and the main part of the sons of Ammon,” which are clearly prophetic in nature due to the fact that they are spoken of as existing during the “time of the end,” the Society states:
In ancient times, Edom, Moab, and Ammon were situated between the domains of the Egyptian king of the south and the Syrian king of the north. In modern times they represent nations and organizations that the king of the north targeted but was unable to bring under his influence.
But since Edom, Moab and Ammon appear in relation to the land of the Decoration it is significant. Just as Jehovah’s Witnesses and the International Bible students before them have been targets of persecution in modern times – always fomented by the clergy – during the critical time of the end the organization is going to come under severe persecution.
During a time of international war quite likely Jehovah’s Witnesses will come under the spotlight because of their neutrality. Whatever the case, we may be certain that the clergy and their parishioners will be an agreement and rejoice over the demise of the Watchtower Society. Did not Jesus forewarn that a time of great persecution would come upon the sons of the kingdom and even brothers would betray one another and family members would have their own fathers and sons handed over to death?
In the 11th chapter of Revelation God’s two witnesses are killed by the beast and the people of the world rejoice over their deaths. So, because all of the sons of the kingdom are destined to be put to death God will bring himself into judgment with the world and specifically with the religionists who rejoice at the calamity that is due to fall upon Jehovah’s Witnesses in the near future.So, by that means Jehovah will hold all accountable.
To be clear, Edom, Moab and Ammon represent the three main branches of Christendom – Catholicism, Protestantism and Orthodoxy respectively.
