Commentaries:
God's Word here reveals that there will be some outcasts—we would call them refugees today—whom God claims specifically as His Own: "My outcasts." His use of the term suggests that at that time there will be other outcasts, other refugees, who are not under His direct protection. These various refugee groups may be peoples cast out of America (and other Israelite nations as well) by Southern Christians in a misguided attempt to cleanse the land of what it considers false religions. It would be difficult to imagine such purging taking place at the hand of today's liberals, who trumpet diversity, the coexistence of different cultures and religions. However, under the hand of conservative Southern Christians turned bigots, such a forced ejection of God's people (along with Jews and others) is quite within the realm of possibility.
Charles Whitaker
Today's Christianity (Part Three): Southern Christianity's Impact on America
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These displaced persons are heading generally south, but they are milling around in confusion—they are terrified, frightened and do not know what to do. This is what they are doing at the fords of Arnon, saying, "What should we do? Where should we go? Maybe we ought to go to Zoar? It's a little place, you see. Nobody will pay any attention to us if we're there." But God admonishes them to make an offering—thus the mention of the word "lamb"—to the ruler of the land.
Who is the ruler of the land? It has to be Christ, because that is where His church is. He is governing His church, and He is admonishing the Moabites to make an offering. He is saying, "Pray, cry out for mercy to the ruler of the land, to Jesus Christ." The offering is to go through Selah: "From Selah to the wilderness," because that is where God's outcasts are. But He tells them, "Be sure nobody sees you. Hide them, hide My people. Don't betray where My people are," Then he encourages them, "Hang on! It's almost over. Christ is coming, and it's but a short time to when that will take place."
John W. Ritenbaugh
A Place of Safety? (Part 2)
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