The King in Zion.
"I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion" (Psalms 2:1-12.). The destined Ruler of the world, he shall spread the wing of his mild government and protection over the nations in their harassment and despair, as now over Moab.
1. THE CALL TO THE FUGITIVES. They have fled into Edom, as far as to Petra, near Mount Hor. It was a region surrounded by rocky cliffs. Sela itself means rock or cliff. Between Petra—whose ruins the Arab guide of Seetzen said he must weep over every time he saw them—and Jerusalem lies a desert, through which the tribute flocks must pass.
1. Demand of tribute. "Send ye the lambs of the prince of the land from Sela desert-wards to the mount of the daughter of Zion." In former days Mesha, the King of Moab, was said to be a "sheep-master," and he rendered a yearly tribute of a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool, to the King of Israel till the death of Ahab (2 Kings 3:4). What was then sent to Samaria must now be sent to Jerusalem. Under the form of this demand is signified an appeal to the people of Moab to submit to the house of David as their Girly hope of safety. Spiritually, the appeal may be construed as the call to nations and to men to submit to the spiritual rule of the Messiah, as anointed King and Savior of the world.
2. Effect of the summons. The "daughters" of Moab, i.e. its cities and villages, are seen in commotion. They flutter about, like birds driven from their nests, at the fords of the Arnon, Moab's chief river. The first effect of the "long-drawn trumpet blast" is fear and agitation. The name of Judah is a spell of terror; the hand of Jehovah is felt to be held out and to be shaken in menace over the nations, and they become like women (cf. Isaiah 19:16). He demands of their flocks and their merchandise. Will they obey? In obedience only will be their salvation. Will these trembling fugitives, seeking escape on the banks of Arnon, hear the timely voice of counsel? How readily do these historical pictures suggest a spiritual application! The first impression of the Divine voice is that of fear; next there is hesitation; next the critical choice, acceptance of the Divine offers, or recalcitration and refusal. The merciful God, the Savior of men, would gather us fugitives from the world's troubles to his arms. Shall we run to him as a strong Tower and be safe, or seek by perilous paths another course, only to rush upon fresh woes? "Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts."
II. THE REPLY OF MOAB.
1. They appeal to Zion for counsel and arbitrament. The powerful neighbor and suzerain is asked to intervene between the contending parties as an umpire, so that the unjustly oppressed may be succored. And here is a sublime image of the Judge and Protector. May he be "a shadow like night at high moon." In our cold northern clime our poets chiefly borrow images from the wintry season to represent distress. We speak of the wintry frost of calamity, the cruel wind, the snows of adversity, etc. Not so the Hebrew; to him the hot season is typical of all that is most cruel in physical or mental suffering. Hence, by opposition, the shadow of the great rock, or the shadow deep as night, remind of all that is most grateful in deliverance and repose. Of a great man it is proverbially said, in the East, "Like the sun, he warmed in the cold, and when Sirius shone, then was he coolness and shade." And in the Sunna seven classes of good men are enumerated, whom "the Lord will overshadow with his shade, when no shade will be like his" (cf. Isaiah 30:2, Isaiah 30:3; Isaiah 32:2). So may the outcasts be hidden, the wanderers faithfully protected, and Zion throw her regis over the land of Moab, and guard it from the spoiler.
2. They extol the government of Judah. "Oppression has ceased, the spoiling is at end, the tormentors have vanished from the land." We see what good administration is in the light of the bitter experience of tyranny and its attendant evils. Notice the strong images of harsh rule: pressure, applied so as to press out the marrow from the bones of the people, as it were; preying and spoiling (cf. Isaiah 10:6); trampling and treading down of the multitude of the poor. These tyrants exhibit all "the proud man's scorn, the oppressor's contumely." Iniquity is their pastime, their game. They "watch for it, they lay snares and gins for good men, as the hunter does for wild beasts. The liberty of speech is denied, and men are made offenders for a word" (Isaiah 29:20, Isaiah 29:21). They are faithless to the faithful, they break treaties, they despise cities, they regard no man (Isaiah 31:1, Isaiah 31:8). Nature seems to mourn beneath the infliction, and society and commerce languish. The highways are deserted of the merchant and the traveler. The glories of Lebanon, the loveliness of Sharon, the fruitful glades of Bashan and Carmel, are dishonored, and seen to weep in sympathy with man. Is there a more odious offence on God's earth than the tyrant—than despotism and all its horrible selfishness? "Man's inhumanity to man makes countless myriads mourn." But these things have passed, are passing, or shall pass away. A new era dawns with the establishment of the throne of David. This throne is symbolic of:
III. REBUKE OF MOAB. It seems best to take what follows as the utterance of the prophet, pursuing the thread of meditation. We have heard what Moab might have said, and should have said; but alas! her accustomed pride and haughtiness will be her bane. Her insolence and insincerity are also stigmatized, as in Jeremiah 48:30, Jeremiah 48:31, "I know his wrath, saith the Lord; but it shall not be so; his lies shall not effect it. Therefore I will howl for Moab, and will cry out for all Moab; my heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-Heres." Some take the words as given from the throne in reply. "If Moab continues to show so little penitence, it cannot be assisted; and therefore the prophet, however it grieves him, must leave Moab to her further chastisements" (Ewald). It seems intended that we should look upon Moab's language here as insincere, and therefore unacceptable. We may remind ourselves of the spiritual lesson, "God draws near to the lowly, but recognizes the proud afar off." It is pride which keeps us aloof from blessings that might be had by stooping; it is pride which makes us blind to opportunity, insensible to the bitter lessons of experience, and lays us open to further chastisements.—J.