Isaiah 16:1

Send ye the lamb to the ruler of the land

A message to Moab

The fugitives are supposed to have found a temporary home in Edom.

The verse may be spoken by the prophet, or (as Prof. Cheyne suggests) it may proceed from the Moabite chiefs themselves, exhorting one another to take this step. (Prof. S. R. Driver, D. D.)

Tribute demanded of Moab

A very terrible humiliation had already been inflicted on Moab in the reign of Jehoram, King of Israel (2 Kings 3:4; 2 Kings 3:25). During Ahab’s reign, Moab had been compelled to pay a very heavy annual tribute, even 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams. Refusal to pay led to war from time to time; war resulting, however, invariably in the defeat of the Moabites. In such circumstances the prophet urges upon Moab the wisdom of paying this tribute without trouble or demur. (Buchanan Blake, B. D.)

Gospel submission

It is applicable to the great Gospel duty of submission to Christ, as the Ruler of the land and our Ruler.

1. Send Him the lamb, the best you have, yourselves a living sacrifice.

2. When you come to God, the great Ruler, come in the name of the Lamb, the Lamb of God.

3. Those that will not submit to Christ, nor be gathered unto the shadow of His wings, shall be as a bird that wanders from her nest (Isaiah 16:2), that shall either be snatched up by the next bird of prey, or shall wander endlessly in continual frights. Those that will not yield to the fear of God shall be made to yield to the fear of everything else. (M. Henry.)