But now the LORD hath spoken, saying, Within three years, as the years of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all that great multitude; and the remnant shall be very small and feeble.
Within three years, as the years of an hireling. Just as a hireling has his fixed term of engagement, which neither he nor his master will allow to be added to or taken from, so the limit within which Moab is to fall is unalterably fixed (Isaiah 21:16). Fulfilled about the time when the Assyrian led Israel into captivity. The ruins of Elealeh, Heshbon, Medeba, Dibon, etc., still exist to confirm the inspiration of Scripture. The accurate particularity of specification of the places 3,000 years ago, confirmed by modern research, is a strong testimony to the truth of prophecy.
Remarks: How wise it is to submit with tokens of heartfelt allegiance to the Divine Son of David, who sits enthroned in the heavenly Zion; that so we may, while yet the day of grace lasts, avert His wrath and escape condemnation in the judgment! We need not, as Moab, procure and "send a lamb;" for the Lamb of God, Messiah Himself, has been sent; and all that we have to do is by faith to make Him ours, and through Him to find acceptance before God our Judge. They who refuse justice and mercy to others, as Moab once did to Israel, shall yet have to supplicate for justice and mercy to be shown to themselves. But they who would not afford 'a covert from the face of the spoiler' (Isaiah 16:4) to the people of God, as Moab, through pride and wrath, would not afford it to Israel, shall justly be given over to the enemy and the avenger.