4 Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler: for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land.

Here Moab is addressed no longer as an enemy to Judah, but as a protector, defending Yahweh's outcasts by its power from the oppression of the spoiler. Who are these "outcasts;" and who is he that seeks to spoil them?

In a previous chapter the prophet styles them "the outcasts of Israel;" and in another place, "the outcasts in the land of Egypt"—Isai. 11:13; 27:13: these are they whom Yahweh cast out of his sight, when he delivered them into the hand of the Assyrian—2 Kings 17:18–20.

The Assyrian was then the spoiler, and the same territorial power under its latter day dynasty; that is, under Gog, the king of the north, will seek to spoil them, and again appropriate their land as a province of his dominions. For before he sets his myriads in motion, he is represented by the Spirit as saying,

"I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, to take a spoil and to take a prey"—Ezek. 38:11, 12.

This is the "spoiler," "extortioner," and "oppressor," of Yahweh's outcasts in the latter day; from whom Moab will afford them refuge and protection.

Now let us advance another step, and suppose that a multitude of Jewish refugees have escaped from Egypt, Judea, &c., to Moab; and, under the protection of that power, which is as "the shadow of night in the midst of noonday," they are waiting in hope, as the Hungarians, Poles, and Italians, are now doing in regard to the spoilers and oppressors of their respective countries.

What next? In this their extremity their cry is,

"Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off from our parts"—Ezek. 37:11.

But, while thus despairing, the glorious news arrives from the seat of war—

"The extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the oppressors are consumed out of the land"—Isai. 16:4.

This is consequent upon the "turning back" of Gog, or the breaking of the Assyrian Image upon the mountains of Israel by the Stone—the Bethlehem-born Judge of Israel.

Here, then, is Moab, the pre-adventual protector of the Jews: whence arises this new Moabitish power? We answer that, as

"her plants went over the sea, extending to the sea of Jazer,"

it is from thence Moab may be said to reappear in the land—from beyond sea; consequently a maritime power is Moab when revived. Now, let it be noted that the latter half of Isai. 16:4 is parallel with 17:14. Both these texts relate to the fate of the same spoiler.

Chap. 18:1, 2, 7, is a proclamation to the protecting Moab in its transmarine position.

"Ho! land shadowing wide with wings, extending from beyond to rivers of Khush: that sendeth by sea whirling things, even on vessels of fleetness upon the waters. Go ye swift messengers for a nation scattered and peeled, for a people terrible from this and onward; a nation meeted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled * * * And bring them as a present to Yahweh of armies, to the place of His Name, the Mount Zion."

Now, this maritime power can be no other than Tarshish; for its mission is the same.

"Surely, the coasts shall trust in me, and the ships of Tarshish foremost (in the front, before any other power) to bring thy sons from far, O Zion, their silver and their gold with them, unto the Name of Yahweh thine Elohim, even to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee"—Isai. 60:9

From these and other considerations we conclude that the power within the limits of the Holy Land, which in the latter days, and previous to the advent of the King of Israel, extends the shield of its protection over the Jews against their spoiler, is that of

"Sheba and Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and the young lions thereof;"

which, planting itself on Edom, Moab, and Ammon, is the latter day return of the last two from captivity, which are then prepared for the manifestation of all demanded by the burdens, and not anciently fulfilled.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, March 1856

[Tarshish] is styled Moab; because it will occupy that country in the crisis before us. In chapter 18:1, it is termed

"a land shadowing wide, with wings extending beyond to the rivers of Khush (Tigris and Euphrates,) that sendeth forth whirling things on vessels of fleetness upon the waters;"

and in chap. 34:7, it is symbolized by the Unicorn.

Ezekiel, in chapter 38:13, styles this maritime Moabitish Unicorn

"Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof."

So that he adds the Lion to the Unicorn and shows what other countries the Lion and Unicorn power should possess.

Daniel indicates the power in the words,

"but other (countries) shall escape out of his (the king of the north's) hand, Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon,"

and points out its position in saying that

"the king of the north shall be troubled by tidings out of the east, and out of the north, and which shall cause them to go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many".—(Dan. 11:44.)

Here, then, are Tarshish, Dedan, Sheba, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Egypt for a time but not permanently (Dan. 11:42, ) assigned to the Lion and Unicorn as the antagonists to the Babylonish confederacy.

These Scripture geographical names indicate the modern countries of British India, Arabia, bounded by the Euphrates, Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean, and the Red Sea, and Syria.

The dominion of the Lion and Unicorn will extend over these countries, in addition to those which are propper to it in the north.

These, then, are the belligerents—Babylon of the one part, and the Lion and Unicorn of the east and north, of the other—who, when they put their hosts in motion for the conflict that must inevitably ensue before the fall of Babylon the Great, will move the world to arms.

Armageddon (which see) is the crisis delineated for these. The Lion and Unicorn must fall back from Egypt, Ephraim, and Judea, upon Ammon, Moab, and Edom. Beyond these it will not retreat. But then, while these mighty hosts are contending for Israel's land,

"Behold, I come as a thief," saith Jesus, "and I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment; for the day of vengeance is in mine heart and the year of my redeemed is come."

This is

"Yahweh's sacrifice in Bozrah, and great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the Unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their lands shall be soaked with blood, and their dust be made fat with fatness. For it is the day of Yahweh's vengeance—the year of recompenses for the Controversy of Zion."—(Isa. 63:3, 4; 34:6–8; Rev. 16:15; 19:11–18.)

The Christadelphian, Dec 1872

The face of the spoiler

"Politicians speculate as though money were omnipotent; and we hear 'financial reformers' predicting the inactivity of Russia and Austria for want of funds! Where did the barbarians procure funds for the overthrow of the western empire in the fifth and sixth centuries? Did they not support themselves by the spoil?

Let the Russian treasury be as empty as it is said to be, and its expenditure exceed its revenue by double the alleged deficit, it will only operate as a pressure from within, causing her Autocrat to 'enter into the countries and to overflow and pass over,' and to enrich himself with the spoil of those he is destined to subdue"

 (Elpis Israel, p. 367/379).