You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
3 Take [bow'] counsel [`etsah], execute [`asah] judgment [paliylah]; make [shiyth] thy shadow [tsel] as the night [layil] in the
midst [tavek] of the noonday [tsohar]; hide [cathar] the outcasts
[nadach]; bewray [galah] not him that wandereth [nadad]. KJV-Interlinear
3
"Give us advice, make a decision; Cast your shadow like night at high
noon; Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive. NASB
Counsel, judgment, shadow, hide, and betray are all courses of action that are being requested for the people of God. When the Tribulation begins, Satan will unleash horrific evils against Gods people, Jews and Christians alike and will attempt to destroy Israel such that there will be no one and nothing for God to rescue as promised. At the mid-point of the Tribulation, the abomination of abominations will occur, setting off a horrific series of atrocities.
When this abomination in the newly dedicated Temple, occurs, wherein the anti-christ will set himself up to be greater than God, the people of Jerusalem and Israel are warned to run, to flee, to get out and go to the mountains immediately.
One of their destinations will be the region of Moab.
And so here we see the counsel of God to those who live in Moab, to take in, to hide, to protect the Jews that are fleeing from the wrath of the anti-christ.
For, the kindness and protection offered to the Jews, will be returned in kind by God to those who provide that protection.
And so we have here that counsel and request. That despite the horrific lives that have been led by those in Moab, they can still redeem themselves, by obeying Gods request and following through some very tough times that they will face as a result of their kindness.
But, in verse six we will see that those requests will be generally ignored and thus terrible judgment will ensue against the people of Moab.
Take counsel is a request and a warning. Listen and take heed. God is offering a way out if you will listen and do as asked.
Execute judgment, means to use common sense and do what is fair and right.
Make a night shadow as night in the middle of the noonday, is a phrase that describes the relief that one who is traveling in the desert, finds, when they come upon a huge rock or grove of trees that offer their shade for a cool relief from the heat of the desert sun.
A shadow as in the night, means a deep and dark shadow for maximum relief from the extreme pressures and burdens of the noon sun. This represents the protection of the fleeing Jews from the intense pursuit and searches of the forces of the anti-christ. Later these searches, having little or no effect will culminate in the Armageddon war, which is designed to exterminate all people, in order to insure that all Jews will be killed.
Hide the outcasts, is a request to hide those who are fleeing from persecution.
And finally, the bewray not him that wandereth, means do not reveal those who are in hiding, but keep them concealed and protected from their pursuers.
Moab is scheduled for destruction. They are scheduled for destruction because of their lifestyle pursuit of evil.
They have but one way out of this destruction, and that is to turn to the Lord. One way to accomplish that, is to begin their daily bible study, but obviously given the short time at hand, it may not be possible to accomplish anything spiritually. However, there is going to be a time when the Jewish people will need help, and if given that help, then that kindness will be returned by God.
Needless to say, God is well able to protect His own, but often times God gives us all the opportunity to participate in His plan, in order to prove our faithfulness and obedience and commitment to Him.
When the abomination occurs at the mid-point of the Tribulation, there will be only three-and-a-half years remaining in history. For those in hiding that will be like an eternity. But for those who are active in the evils of the world, that will be a very short time.
The end is certain, the last great battle is certain, the second-advent is certain, and these things will all culminate in the last year of the Tribulation. Therefore, people can turn to God through Christ, and receive deliverance at the hand of God, or they can ignore it all, and suffer the consequences that we studied in the last chapter.
One more final thought. Given this request, and the fact that there will be some who will actually hide and protect the Jewish refugees, then the anti-christ will likely take his revenge out on all of the people of Moab, thus the horrific destructions that have already been described in the previous chapter.
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