← Back to sermon library

2 Kings 3. Begin reading in verse 
1. Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became 
king over Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, 
king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. And he did evil in the 
sight of the Lord, but not like his father and mother, for he 
put away the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. 
Nevertheless, he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam, the son 
of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not depart from them. Now Meshach, king of Moab, was 
a sheep breeder, and he regularly paid the king of Israel 100,000 
lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. But it happened, when Ahab 
died, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. So 
King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all 
Israel. Then he went and sent to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, 
saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you 
go with me to fight against Moab? And he said, I will go up. I 
am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. Then he said, Which way shall 
we go up? And he answered, By way of the 
wilderness of Edom. So the king of Israel went with 
the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on 
that roundabout route seven days. And there was no water for the 
army, nor for the animals that followed them. And the king of 
Israel said, Alas, for the Lord has called these three kings 
together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. But Jehoshaphat 
said, Is there no prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire 
of the Lord by him? So one of the servants of the 
king of Israel answered and said, Elisha, the son of Shaphat, is 
here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. And Jehoshaphat 
said, the word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel 
went, and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. 
Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, what have I to do 
with you? Go to the prophets of your father 
and the prophets of your mother. But the king of Israel said to 
him, no, for the Lord has called these three kings together to 
deliver them into the hand of Moab. And Elisha said, as the 
Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand, surely were it not that 
I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look 
at you nor see you. But now bring me a musician. 
Then it happened when the musician played that the hand of the Lord 
came upon him. And he said, thus says the Lord. Make this valley full of ditches, 
for thus says the Lord, you shall not see wind, nor shall you see 
rain, yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, 
your cattle, and your animals may drink. And this is a simple 
matter in the sight of the Lord. He will also deliver the Moabites 
into your hand. Also you shall attack every fortified 
city and every choice city and shall cut down every good tree 
and stop up every spring of water and ruin every good piece of 
land with stones. Now it happened in the morning 
when the grain offering was offered that suddenly water came by way 
of Edom and the land was filled with water. And when all the 
Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against 
them, all who were able to bear arms and older were gathered, 
and they stood at the border. Then they rose up early in the 
morning, and the sun was shining on the water. And the Moabites 
saw the water on the other side as red as blood. And they said, 
This is blood. The kings have surely struck 
swords and have killed one another. Now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. So when they came to the camp 
of Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites, so that 
they fled before them. And they entered their land, 
killing the Moabites. Then they destroyed the cities, 
and each man threw a stone on every good piece of land and 
filled it. And they stopped up all the springs of water and 
cut down all the good trees. But they left the stones of Kir 
Haraseth intact. However, the slingers surrounded 
and attacked it. And when the king of Moab saw 
that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him 700 
men who drew swords to break through to the king of Edom, 
but they could not. Then he took his eldest son, 
who would have reigned in his place, and offered him as a burnt 
offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation 
against Israel, so they departed from him and returned to their 
own land." Amen. Well, as has been the case, specifically 
with Elijah the prophet, after engaging in sort of an introductory 
way, they then present themselves to the king and get confirmation 
in terms of politics. And that's what's going on here. 
It is validating Elijah the prophet in terms of his calling by God 
to speak to the political affairs of Israel at this particular 
time. Now, of course, the way that 
these things come about are very instructive for us. The way that 
Elisha deals with Jehoram, the way that we observe Jehoshaphat 
again entering into an alliance that is not wise holds forth 
lots of lessons. So we're going to look at this 
under three considerations tonight. First, the rebellion of Moab 
in verses 1 to 10. Secondly, the prophetic word 
of Elisha in verses 11 to 19. and then victory over Moab in 
verses 20 to 27. But in the first place, notice 
this introductory statement concerning Jehoram. Remember there's two 
Jehorams. There's a Jehoram in the northern 
kingdom and there's a Jehoram in the southern kingdom. And 
we're dealing with the northern kingdom Jehoram at this particular 
time. Notice in verse 1, now Jehoram, 
the son of Ahab. Remember that Ahaziah, who reigned 
prior to Jehoram, didn't have a son. So as a result, his brother 
Jehoram takes the throne at this particular time. So he's the 
son of Ahab. He's the king over Israel in 
Samaria in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat. king of Judah and he reigned 
12 years. Now when you do the math and 
you compare other statements you will notice a bit of a discrepancy 
in terms of the numbers. The discrepancy is solved by 
understanding that Jehoshaphat and his son Jehoram exercised 
a co-regency at least for a time. That's why the numbers don't 
always match in a particularly straightforward way. It was a 
very common thing for there to be co-regencies when there was 
a father and a son team. So we have this man Jehoram. Now some Bible translations, 
I think specifically the NIV, uses the term Joram here. Now there are There are instances 
where you see Jehoram or Joram, but it's wrong to always translate 
it as Joram in order to make a distinction between this man 
and the Jehoram of the southern kingdom. And Proven points this 
out. He says, this is to put asunder, 
however, what the Hebrew has deliberately joined together. 
It is no coincidence that it is precisely at this point when 
the southern monarchy has come to resemble the northern most 
closely in its worship that its kings are called by the same 
name, be it Jehoram or Ahaziah. There's going to be an Ahaziah 
in the southern kingdom as well. Now, that provides a bit of confusion 
for us as readers because we like a Jehoram in one place. 
and a Joram and another. We like an Ahaziah in one place 
and a not Ahaziah in another place. It makes it easier for 
interpretation, but I think that's a valid point. It's almost as 
if the southern kingdom is imbibing the same sort of ethics that 
the northern kingdom has displayed, and these kings bear that or 
demonstrate it even by Now, note the religion of Jehoram. The 
overarching term is in verse 2. He did evil in the sight of 
the Lord, but not like his father and mother, for he put away the 
sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. Davis says he 
was not as wicked as he could have been, yet he was not righteous 
as he should have been. He's not as bad as Ahab and Jezebel, 
but he's certainly still a godless man. In fact, verse 3 highlights 
that. Nevertheless, he persisted in 
the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who had made Israel 
sin. He did not depart from them. 
So the Bible recognizes that there are indeed degrees of evil. He's not as bad as Ahab and Jezebel, 
but he's nevertheless still evil in that he's engaged in the calf 
worship that was instituted by Jeroboam. Now if we ask the question, 
why does he put away the pillar of Baal? When Elisha meets Jehoram, 
Elisha indicates that he is still a Baal worshiper. So we must 
kind of observe that this putting away of this pillar of Baal may 
have been driven by a utilitarian idea in his head. In other words, 
I'll put away this pillar of Baal because I want to get something 
in particular. And I think as we move through 
this chapter, that will be on evident display that Jehoram's 
religion is a religion of utilitarianism. He will employ whatever works 
at the time to achieve his particular ends. And in this, Jehoram is 
very similar to a whole host of people in our own day. They 
may be outside of the church or they may be within the church. 
We will be on fire for the Lord insofar as it brings us particular 
results. We will engage in prayer so long 
as it yields the particular things that we are after. We can be 
utilitarian in our pursuit of religion just like Jehoram was 
in his pursuit of religion. And I think you'll see that as 
we move along. But if we ask the question, why does he put 
away the pillar of Baal? It could have been the case that 
he saw the great judgment of God upon Ahab and upon Ahaziah, 
and he perhaps wanted to avoid some sort of a nasty thing like 
that, a random arrow shot on the field of battle that took 
out Ahab, or that lattice that took out Ahaziah. As well, we 
need to understand that this putting away the sacred pillar 
of Baal did not come from conscience, because if it was from conscience, 
he wouldn't still bow to Jeroboam's calves. It could be the case 
that he knew that this deal with the Moabites was coming, because 
it's already been mentioned in chapter 1 verse 1, was already 
an extant problem when Jehoram took the throne. And so he knows 
this, so it perhaps is a means by which he will get Yahweh in 
his favor. He puts away the pillar of Baal 
and perhaps God may be favorable to him to help him rid himself 
of this Moabite problem. As well, it could be the case 
that he wanted to get Jehoshaphat on his side. He's certainly going 
to enter into or seek to enter into an alliance with Jehoshaphat. We know that Jehoshaphat is indeed 
a godly man. He's not always the brightest 
man, but he's a godly man and he certainly would not want to 
have truck with this man who was engaged in this worship of 
the pillar of Baal. But whatever the case is, the 
fact is it didn't come from a clear conscience, because if it had 
come from a clear conscience, he would no longer continue in 
the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. So we need to keep 
that in mind as we observe Jehoram all the way through this chapter. 
Now note the rebellion of Moab in verses 4 and 5. This is an 
unfortunate thing, because David had subjugated the Moabites back 
in 2 Samuel 8, verse 2. Now, what it says in verse 4 
is that Meshach, king of Moab, was a sheep breeder, and he regularly 
paid the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 
rams. So basically, he was a vassal. This was tribute. This was owing 
to Israel. Now when they rebel against Israel 
and refuse to pay this tribute, this is what probably is driving 
Jehoram. It is to maintain control so 
that these needed commodities can find their way into Israelite 
society and boost their own economy. It doesn't make any good business 
sense to lose your vassals. And so this poses a threat. Notice 
in verse 5, it happened when Ahab died that the king of Moab 
rebelled against the king of Israel. If you look back at chapter 
1, verse 1, it says Moab rebelled against Israel after the death 
of Ahab. So, that's already gone on with 
Ahaziah. Ahaziah didn't address it. Ahaziah 
didn't speak to it. Ahaziah did not deal with it. Matthew Henry says, as he, this 
is Jehoram, had something more of the religion of an Israelite 
than his father, so he had something more of the spirit of a king 
than his brother. He didn't like the thought that 
this Meshach was going to rebel and stop paying tribute. Ahaziah 
seemed to be okay with that, but here comes Jehoram and he 
wants to neutralize this threat. So this leads Jehoram to enter 
into a coalition of kings. Notice in verses 6 to 11. First, 
he gathers Israel. He gathers up the troops in verse 
6. And then, verse 7, he initiates 
this agreement or alliance with Then he went and sent to Jehoshaphat 
king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against 
me. Will you go up with me to fight against Moab? Now this 
reminds us of 1 Kings chapter 22. Remember Jehoshaphat there 
enters into an alliance with Ahab. And it's a very similar 
situation that we find there. Notice, very specifically, Jehoshaphat's 
response in verse 7. He says, I will go up, I am as 
you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. That 
is the same response that he gives in 1 Kings 22 verse 4 with 
reference to Ahab. Now that almost cost him his 
life in that exchange. When he says, I am as you are, 
it's as if Ahab took that literally because he had Jehoshaphat dress 
in his royal robes while Ahab dressed down. So that when these 
Syrians wanted to destroy Ahab, it would ultimately be Jehoshaphat. So this language, on a previous 
occasion, almost cost him his life. I don't know why he's thinking 
that this time will go any better. As well, we notice that he seeks 
prophetic guidance, as he did in the situation with Ahab. But 
a crucial distinction is here. He doesn't seek prophetic guidance 
before he enters into the alliance, or rather before he marches to 
battle. He only seeks prophetic guidance after they are dying 
of thirst on this journey to Moab. So Jehoshaphat, again, 
is a godly man. 1 Kings chapter 22 tells us that. But as we observed in 1 Kings 
chapter 22, we'll observe it again. Godliness does not always 
equal common sense. Godliness is not always mingled 
with sensibleness and with wisdom. We need, as God's people, to 
not only pursue holiness, but we need to pursue wisdom and 
righteousness with reference to life and making good decisions 
and not entering into foolish alliances. If we're going to 
hitch our horses to Ahab's cart, And we don't learn from that, 
and we do it again with reference to Jehoram, it would be well 
for us to ponder things like this and perhaps seek God for 
His intervention and guidance before we enter into these sorts 
of decisions. Now note with reference to the 
journey to Moab. They could have just cut across 
the Dead Sea and dropped right down into Moab. But they go south 
through Judah and then come up through Edom to the south side 
of Moab. And there's a reason for that. 
There was an interesting thing that was found. It's called the 
Moabite stone. It was found in 1868. It was 
broken by Arabs in 1873 and it's presently in the Louvre Museum 
in France. Now the Moabite stone has the 
words of Meshach, this particular king of Moab. And it wasn't written 
in 1873, it was written when Meshach lived and moved and had 
his being. And he boasts about the way that 
he was basically you know, beating people all throughout the region. 
And so he had secured Moab and the northern portion. So of course, 
when this Israelite coalition comes, they're gonna come around 
through Edom up into the south side of Moab. And it makes good 
sense as well, because if you remember back in first Kings, 
chapter 22 the king of Edom wasn't really a king he's referred to 
that as a king here but he was more he was a deputy perhaps 
to Jehoshaphat and so when Jehoram and Jehoshaphat travel they have 
this king of Edom or this this deputy who will certainly assist 
them in this incursion into Moab but it will also keep this king 
of Edom from joining with the Moabites against the Israelites 
so it's quite a a brilliant plan that they have given, but instead 
of being a short journey over into Moab, this makes it a longer 
journey, and we learn here that it's a seven-day journey. Notice 
in verse 8, which way shall we go up? He answered, by way of 
the wilderness of Edom. Now, just about every time there's 
directions given, it's always go up. Even if it's going down, 
it's going up. That's just the way things go. 
You go up to Jerusalem, you go up to Moab, even if you're going 
south and coming around and coming up that way. So you're going 
up, and then notice, so the king of Israel went with the king 
of Judah and the king of Edom. Again, he's probably recognized 
as a king by Edomites, but he's a deputy. This is told us in 
1 Kings chapter 22. He is subjugated power, so he 
is deputy to Jehoshaphat very specifically. And they marched 
on that roundabout route seven days, and there was no water 
for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. So we see 
the problem here. So the coalition forces, Jehoram, 
Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom, who would assist in taking 
Moab, they now come to this great difficulty, lack of water. And it's this that promotes this 
sort of searching after the true prophet of God. Notice. the response 
of the kings to this water problem. Notice in verse 10, Jehoram, 
guess what he does? He blames the sovereignty of 
God. You know what he does? He has 
no use for Yahweh until he has a need to blame somebody. Isn't 
this so typical of pagans? Isn't this typical? I mean, you 
remember 9-11? Where was God on 9-11? We don't want God on 
9-10. We don't want God on 9-12. But we want God to blame for 
9-11. We want God to blame when a tornado 
comes. We want God to blame when a hurricane 
comes. We want God to blame when a building 
collapses. We want to blame God and seek 
recourse into the sovereignty of God. That's what He does. 
The King of Israel said, Alas, for the Lord has called these 
three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. He's 
going to kill us. This is a death march. This isn't 
good. This is a bad thing. This is 
the response of unbelief, brethren. It is to blame God. Belief doesn't 
do that. Belief sees through the trials 
to a smiling God and realizes that behind a frowning providence, 
there is a smiling face. unbelief wants to castigate, 
wants to repudiate, and wants to reject the sovereignty of 
God, or embrace it insofar as it provides a foil for them to 
blame the God of heaven and earth. Now notice the response of faith 
in Jehoshaphat. Verse 11, Jehoshaphat said, Is 
there no prophet of Yahweh here that we may inquire of the Lord 
by him? You see, again, this is unfortunately 
a little bit late, But, nevertheless, Jehoshaphat relies upon the prophetic 
word. In other words, we don't blame 
God and His sovereignty for this current water crisis. We seek 
God for His mind on how we navigate through this crisis. Do you see 
the two different responses to trial? We whine, grumble, or 
complain, or we seek the Lord's face for the grace and the wisdom 
to deal with that. It absolutely amazes me as one 
himself that whines and complains about so many things. Have we 
forgot Philippians 2.14? Do all things without complaining 
and disputing. We hit trials, and what's the 
first thing that we do? We complain, we dispute, we grumble, 
we whine, and we moan. We reduce ourselves to a Jehoram. We take the beautiful and glorious 
doctrine of the sovereignty of God, and we somehow call Him 
to blame for our current situation. Let's be a Jehoshaphat and seek 
the prophetic word. Let's be a Jehoshaphat instead 
of whining about the water crisis, say, isn't there a word from 
God that we can gather so that we don't die of thirst out here 
on the way to Moab? This is the way we ought to respond, 
the way that Jehoshaphat does. Again, we can fault him for a 
lack of good sense, and we can fault him for being a little 
late to the game in terms of calling for the prophet of the 
Lord. But he does do it, brethren. He does come up to the plate. 
He does seek that prophetic guidance. He doesn't want to take one step 
further toward Moab until this crisis is averted. And that crisis 
is averted not through complaining against the sovereignty of God, 
but by submitting to the sovereignty of God vis-a-vis the Word of 
God, the prophetic mouth of Elisha. So notice then, that brings us 
to this prophetic word of Elisha in verses 11 and following. Notice, 
Jehoshaphat asks, is there no prophet of the Lord here that 
we may inquire of the Lord by him? So one of the servants of 
the king of Israel answered and said, Elisha the son of Shaphat 
is here who poured water on the hands of Elijah. That statement 
is telling for two reasons. First, it's a servant that knows 
where the true prophet of God is. Jehoram doesn't. Jehoshaphat 
even knows that this man, Elisha, is a true prophet. Jehoram doesn't. I mean, he's the king of the 
northern kingdom in Israel. He's got a prophet the caliber 
of Elisha operating in the countryside, and he doesn't know that he's 
available? He doesn't know that he's present? So the servant 
knows that this man Elisha exists and that he is the mouthpiece 
of God. But then notice how Elisha is described at the end of verse 
11. Elisha the son of Shaphat is 
here who poured water on the hands of Elijah. I think that 
would be a good passage for all of us to ponder. We all want 
to have prestige. We all want to be out in front. 
But Elisha, the prophet, poured water on the hands of Elijah, 
suggesting that he was a servant, suggesting that he was okay deferring 
to another, suggesting that he was all right to promote Elijah 
and to make sure that everything that Elijah needed was taken 
care of so that Elijah could fulfill his calling. Elisha didn't 
say, well, I want to have water poured on my hands. I want you 
to serve me, Elijah. I want to be out in front. No, 
your time will come. If it is ever going to come, 
Elisha, you just do the job you're supposed to do. And Elisha does 
that very thing. He's known as the man who poured 
water on the hands of Elijah. And then verse 12 tells us, Jehoshaphat 
said, the word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel 
and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. Now, note Elisha's response to 
Jehoram. I don't think up to this point, 
including this point, verse 13, anyone would accuse Elisha of 
being nice. I mean, he's not bad, he's not 
mean, he's not vicious, but up to this particular point, what 
have we learned of Elisha? We have learned that he has brought 
blessing to a particular village that stood in need of water, 
Jericho. But we've also learned that he 
looked at a group of youth and pronounced a curse on them, and 
subsequent, two she-bears came out and mauled 42 of them. And 
then we get to verse 13, and this is anything but nice. Let's 
just read it. Then Elisha said to the king 
of Israel, what am I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your 
father and the prophets of your mother. That's not really nice, 
is it? He would really be castigated 
today. The prophet spoke poorly or unkindly 
or his tone was off when he addressed the king. Now certainly the prophet 
should and did have respect for the king. But the prophet, as 
the mouthpiece of God, is over the king in this regard. He basically 
reproves him and rebukes him. The job of the prophet wasn't 
to promote niceness. It was to promote truthfulness. 
It was to call men to repentance and faith. It was to call men 
to obedience to the word of God. And he essentially says to you, 
why are you coming to me? You've never had use for me before. You've never had a desire for 
Yahweh before. You've always gone and sought 
your comfort in the prophets of Baal. You have gone to your 
father and your mother's prophet. Certainly he may have put away 
the pillar of Baal. But as I said, the way that Elisha 
addresses him here, he may have at least externally put away 
this pillar of Baal, but he didn't root out Baalism from his heart. 
There was no conversion. There was no heart change. So 
Elisha calls him on this. You want Yahweh, you want Yahweh's 
prophet when it is beneficial to you. When you got a water 
problem, when you're thirsty, or when you're facing pesky Moabites, 
then you want the Lord. This is the essence of Elisha's 
response. Listen to Davis. He says, why 
this sudden interest, Elisha seems to say, in Yahweh's word? Go to the Baal prophets your 
mother fed, 1 Kings 18, or to the bootleggers your father kept 
at court, 1 Kings 22. Apparently, there was no seeking 
of Yahweh's guidance before this military venture, but now that 
Jehoram is in a jam, he seeks Yahweh. And all of a sudden, 
Jehoram has this belief in the sovereignty of Yahweh. You see 
that? I think Davis is absolutely right, 
and I think this disposition of Jehoram is multiplied a million-fold 
outside the church and inside the church. We are fair weather 
fans at times, brethren. As long as things are going well, 
we love the Lord. As long as we've just gone to 
a conference, we'll pray at the flagpole. As long as something 
has benefited us, we will throw in our lot with the Lord Jesus 
Christ. But as soon as it seems as if 
the Lord has hid his face from us, we whine, grumble, and complain, 
and typically we complain about his sovereignty. In another connection, 
Davis mentions this. He says, always beware of folks 
who cite the sovereignty of God in order to excuse or accuse, 
but not to worship and adore. I think that's a great particular 
caution, especially in our day when there's pop Calvinism flourishing 
everywhere. Always beware of folks who cite 
the sovereignty of God in order to excuse or accuse, but not 
to worship and adore. What's Davis saying? The sovereignty 
of God is not a thing that we hold over God and we blame God 
as a result of, but we worship Him and adore Him for that wonderful 
truth that He is sovereign over all things. For that Psalm 115 
reality, our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He pleases. 
That's what causes the saint of Christ comfort and rejoicing. So Jehoram is rebuked by this 
man. Now note the response of Jehoram 
in 13b. But the king of Israel said to 
him, No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to 
deliver them into the hand of Moab. Again, he's going to highlight 
the sovereignty of God and that it's God's will to bring them 
to decimation. Note the concession by Elisha 
in verse 14. Elisha said, as the Lord of hosts 
lives before whom I stand. Who else said, before whom I 
stand? Elijah the prophet. You see, 
Elisha is cut from the same swath as Elijah. As the Lord of Hosts 
lives before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the 
presence of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, I would not look at 
you nor see you. Brethren, do you feel the power 
in this prophet's words? Again, I don't think you could 
accuse him up to this point of being nice, but he is the truth-telling 
seer of God Most High, and he is not going to play games with 
a king who is going to call into question the integrity of Yahweh 
of Israel. So he essentially says, if it 
were not for Jehoshaphat, I wouldn't look at you. I wouldn't hear 
you. I would have no dealings with you whatsoever, Jehoram. That's what I think of your idolatry. 
That's what I think of your commitment to Baal. That's what I think 
of the way that you conduct yourselves. And I believe that Elisha saw 
right through this man's technique and utilitarianism, trying to 
manipulate the scene so that God would bring blessing upon 
them. And it is intriguing, as a Baal 
worshiper, who better than Baal to provide help in a water crisis? So perhaps this is driving Elisha's 
statement. Why don't you go ask the prophets 
of your father or the prophets of your mother? Isn't that Baal's 
job? Isn't he supposed to bring rain 
upon the land and provide fertility and that sort of thing? Why are 
you barking up Yahweh's tree when you've got Baal in your 
corner? Perhaps there's a bit of that. You know, the passages 
are succinct and abbreviated and compacted. I don't believe 
that Elisha only said what's recorded here in verses 13 and 
14. He probably amplified, probably got fired up. He probably said 
to this man, well, I mean, what he says is pointed enough. I 
would not look at you nor see you, but now bring me a musician. Don't you love that? Bring me 
a musician. The old boy said he was so disturbed 
in his dealings with Jehoram, he needed to be calmed down by 
music. I kind of like that. That's kind 
of beautiful. But in 1st Samuel, we see that 
music is accompanying the school of the prophets there. It's a 
means by which God brings comfort, peace, encouragement to His prophet 
to prepare them for the prophetic words. Nothing odd or strange. 
I know pastors that listen to music while they're studying. 
I personally don't have that brain capacity. If I'm listening 
to music, I'm not going to be focusing on what I'm doing. But 
music calms and soothes and helps and enables some people to engage 
their task even more fully. So I think that's what's going 
on here, but I love the contrast. I would not look at you nor see 
you, but now bring me a musician. I wonder if he did that with 
his hand. Bring me a musician. It's just a beautiful thing. 
Then it happened when the musician played that the hand of the Lord 
came upon him and he said, thus says the Lord, make this valley 
full of ditches. Now, I don't know that this was 
a command to Israel, or as the ESV renders it, it is something 
that God is going to do. I think it's probably something 
that God is going to do. God is going to make ditches. For thus says the Lord, you shall 
not see wind, nor shall you see rain, yet that valley shall be 
filled with water so that you, your cattle, and your animals 
may drink. Notice the miraculous supply 
of water. No wind, no rain, but an abundance 
of water. God through the prophet is telling 
Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and this deputy king of Edah that he's 
going to bring a miraculous supply of water. And you need to appreciate 
through all of this that Jehoram benefits. How good is God? I mean, how good is God? We have 
some New Testament theology, or rather, we have stuff in this 
passage that the New Testament highlights that the people of 
God celebrate, but we don't always appreciate when we see it set 
forth in 2 Kings 3. You shall not see wind, nor shall 
you see rain, yet that valley shall be filled with water, so 
that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink. Now notice, 
here's where it gets even more glorious. Verse 18, and this 
is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord. It's kind of like 
that Isaiah 49 passage, it's a servant song of Yahweh, when 
God essentially says, it's too small of a thing, Messiah, for 
you simply to save the tribes of Jacob. I'm going to give you 
as a light unto the Gentiles. In other words, God says it's 
too small for me to demonstrate my glorious power by only saving 
Israel. I'm going to send you on a worldwide 
campaign to bring in multitudes from every tribe, tongue, people, 
and nation. It is the way that God displays 
His power and His majesty. It's too little of a thing, so 
I'm going to do this. Well, the same thing is here 
in verse 18. And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord. 
Filling these ditches with water without wind or without rain 
is like chump change for God. It's not hard. Look at the end 
of verse 18. He will also deliver the Moabites 
into your hand. This is an Ephesians 3.20 moment, 
isn't it? They want water to satiate their thirst in the midst 
of this current crisis. But God is able to do exceedingly 
abundantly above all that we ask or think. They want water 
for the journey. God says, I'm going to give you 
Moabites for the victory. It's a beautiful display of God's 
grace in this passage. Now note verse 19, also, you 
shall attack every fortified city and every choice city and 
shall cut down every good tree and stop up every spring of water 
and ruin every good piece of land with stones. You say, well, 
that seems a bit severe. Remember that Moabite stone I 
told you about? Meshach was a pretty severe fellow 
himself. You can Google it. You can find 
the Moabite stone. You'll see a picture online and 
then you'll see a transcription of what's written on there. He 
boasts about taking 7,000 Israelites, men, women, children, and killing 
them. He's not a nice fellow. And so God's demand here was 
that they go and utterly decimate the land of the Moabites. Now, 
with reference to this cut down every good tree, some suggest 
that this runs contrary to the Deuteronomy law. Deuteronomy 
20, 19, and 20 specifies when you could or could not cut down 
trees with reference to battle. Davis says that text, Deuteronomy 
20, 19, and 20, only forbids whacking down food-producing 
trees as lumber for siege work. So it's very particular, and 
that may not mean much now, but it's going to mean something 
in just a moment, so kind of keep that in mind. What we have 
here in this command in verse 19, or in this description rather, 
is not contrary to Deuteronomy 20, 19, and 20. That's very delimited, 
very particular, and what they're going to do here with reference 
to the Moabites does not violate that. So that's the prophetic 
word of Elisha. Let's look finally at the victory 
over Moab. Essentially, we have the fulfillment 
of Elisha's word in verses 20 to 25 and the futility of pagan 
religion in verses 26 and 27. Notice verse 20. Now it happened in the morning 
when the grain offering was offered that suddenly water came by way 
of Edom and the land was filled with water. Beautiful, right? He does what he says he's going 
to do. God says there will be ditches 
and they will be filled and you're going to have enough water for 
you and for your animals and for everything there. It's going 
to be a wonderful display of the sovereign power of God Most 
High in this water. But incidentally, it's also the 
means by which he's going to make good on the second aspect 
of his promise in verse 18. Not only will he supply water, 
he will supply victory over Moab. And the water provides the vehicle 
by which God will confound those wretched soldiers and bring destruction 
upon their heads. Notice verse 21 to 23. And when all the Moabites heard 
that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were 
able to bear arms and older were gathered, and they stood at the 
border. Then they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was 
shining on the water." This probably wasn't a common scene, right? I mean, this was a parched and 
dry and thirsty land, and now it's flooded with water. And 
so, how does God use that? The Moabites saw the water on 
the other side as red as blood. You see, God in verse 18 says, 
not only will you have water, but you're going to have victory 
over Moab. He didn't tell them in verse 18 it was going to be 
the water that would provide the means by which they'd get 
the victory over Moab. That's just another detail to 
show how great and glorious wonderful our God is. Not only am I going 
to give you water and victory, but it's going to be the water 
that provides the means by which you get the victory. Notice, 
they rose up early, they see the water on the other side as 
red as blood, verse 23, and they said, this is blood. The kings 
have surely struck swords and have killed one another. Now 
therefore, Moab to the spoil. You see what they conclude? They 
look across, they see the this blood, and they conclude that 
Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, and the deputy of Edom have gone to blows 
against each other. That coalition couldn't hold 
together. I mean, these guys don't like each other. Certainly, 
they have taken swords to one another, their troops are involved, 
and now the land is running with blood. And so they rush over 
there. They don't send scouts, they 
don't send a carrier pigeon, they just rush over there. I love the way Matthew Poole 
describes it. He says, they were so highly 
confident that they send no scouts but marched hither with their 
whole army. And that in great disorder, wherein 
there was also a divine hand. strengthening them in their mistakes, 
and hardening them to their destruction. You see, the sovereignty of God 
is behind the scenes, moving these men to engage in absolute 
madness in terms of military strategy. They say, go get the 
spoil, and they run into the end of the sword. I mean, God 
did this, and it ought not to surprise any of us that the Lord 
God Most High is sovereign, not only in blessing, but in cursing. Remember Micaiah the prophet, 
when he had that scene of the throne room and that lying spirit 
says that he will go and fill the mouth of Zedekiah and those 
false prophets so that Ahab will heed their counsel and go march 
to his death in battle. The Lord is sovereign behind 
every detail, brethren, and this is another display of that. This 
is blood. The kings have surely struck 
swords and have killed one another. Now, therefore, Moab to the spoil." 
Note the destruction of the Moabites. They rush the coalition. Davis 
says, jubilantly, they dash for the spoil and run into swords. And verse 25 indicates that they 
fulfill precisely what was spoken by Elisha the prophet. Then they 
destroyed the cities, and each man threw a stone on every good 
piece of land and filled it, and they stopped up all the springs 
of water and cut down all the good trees. But they left the 
stones of Kir Haraseth intact. However, the slingers surrounded 
and attacked it." So they fulfill what was spoken by Elisha the 
prophet. Better, God fulfills what was 
spoken by Elisha the prophet. both the provision of water and 
the provision of victory over the Moabites. Now let's look 
finally at the futility of pagan religion. First, Meshach tries 
to escape, according to verse 26. When the king of Moab saw 
that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him 700 
men who drew swords to break through to the king of Edom, 
but they could not. Perhaps thinking the king of 
Edom was the weakest link in this coalition, I will go there 
and I will get past his forces. But then notice, he took his 
eldest son who would have reigned in his place. Now some suggest 
that this is the eldest son of the king of Edom. I don't think 
that makes sense in the context. I think it's Meshach's oldest 
son. This is the futility of pagan 
religion. Why do you think he took his oldest son and sacrificed 
him? It was for Kimosh, his god. It was to placate the gods. It 
was to try to invoke the gods in order to bring victory to 
Moab. This is precisely what he does. 
He took his eldest son, who would have reigned in his place and 
offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was 
great indignation against Israel, so they departed from him and 
returned to their own land." Now, that last half is notoriously 
difficult. I'm just going to give you four 
views on this particular verse. Notice first, though, he took 
his eldest son, so this is Meshach, takes his oldest son, who would 
have reigned in his place, he offers him as a burnt offering, 
upon the wall. So persons see this. It's displayed. It's public. And again, he's 
an idolater. He's a pagan. He worships the 
god Chemosh. And he refers to Chemosh in this 
Moabite stone. Now notice, and there was great 
indignation against Israel, or great wrath against Israel. Now, there are four explanations 
of this wrath. Some suggest it's the wrath of 
Yahweh. Because if you look at the end, 
they departed from him and returned to their own land. It doesn't 
tell us, and Meshach then subjected himself to them, and paid tribute 
to them, and everything went back to status quo. It really 
doesn't do that. It just simply says they departed 
from him and returned to their own land. That's Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, 
and Edom. They all leave and go back to 
their particular places. So whose wrath is this and why? There was great wrath against 
Israel. Some suggest it was the wrath of Yahweh because they 
violated the mandate of Deuteronomy 20. They cut down trees they 
weren't supposed to cut down. That's why I mention. What was 
prescribed in Deuteronomy 20 was not violated here in Moab. So it's not the wrath of Yahweh, 
because it seems odd that Yahweh would promise, in verse 18, water 
and victory, and then get mad at Israel when they actually 
go in to clean house. Secondly, some suggest, and I 
must underscore this, some actually do suggest this, that it was 
the wrath of Chemosh. that some Bible commentators 
suggest that this was the wrath of Chemosh coming down upon the 
Israelites. As a result, Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, 
and the king of Edom all flee. Now, none of us would entertain 
the thought that the biblical author would ever ascribe the 
wrath of Chemosh in the narrative. That's just nonsensical, but 
it is a particular view out there. Some suggest it was the wrath 
of Moab. Okay, so there was great wrath 
against Israel on the part of the Moabites. In other words, 
when the Moabites saw what Mesha was going to do or did in terms 
of the sacrifice of his own son, it emboldened the Moabites now 
to charge against this coalition and to chase them back. Some 
suggest that's what happened. Others say, and I agree with 
this, it was the wrath of Israel. You see, the view, or this particular 
view, Davis explains. I don't just side with Davis 
because I think he's the best preacher on earth, but I think 
he's right. This view takes the particular 
preposition as upon rather than against. So we might read it, 
there was great wrath upon Israel. In other words, it was their 
wrath at this particular scene that caused them to depart. The older commentators take it 
this way, and I think it makes the most sense. Davis goes on. If the indignation is upon Israel, 
it can mean that Israel has or manifests indignation. The text refers to the indignation, 
horror, or repugnance Israel felt at Meshach's act. Hence, 
they quit the field without total victory. In other words, they 
see this and it's so reprehensible that they say no. They've already 
beaten themselves. I mean, if they're going to fall 
to this particular place and engage in that kind of activity, 
they depart from him and return to their own land. So, again, 
four different views. The text ends on a way that demands 
us to consider these things. I think this particular one makes 
the most sense. Well, in conclusion, don't want 
to parch us all and cause us to die of thirst on this hot 
and weary night in this dry and arid land. But in the first place, 
we ought to appreciate the inconsistency of Jehoshaphat. Without denigrating 
him as a man of God, because the Bible sets him forth as a 
man of God, The overarching report concerning his life is favorable 
in terms of godliness, but in terms of his alliances first 
with Ahab and then with Jehoram, we need to take heed to this, 
and we need to watch our own hearts, and we need to guard 
against unwise, nonsensical, or uncommonsensical pursuits 
in our Christian life. Godliness ought to be mingled 
with good horse sense, brethren. There is no substitute for good 
horse sense in the minds of God's people. We need it mingled with 
our godliness so that we do not walk down roads that will bring 
disaster in our lives. What does the proverb say? The 
prudent man foresees evil. And what does he do? Run headlong 
into it? No! He hides himself. He's smart enough to know that 
if I continue down this track, things are not going to go well 
for me. Secondly, we ought to appreciate, 
not in terms of imitate it, but the utilitarian religion of Jehoram. First, the putting away of the 
pillar of Baal was utilitarian. It was probably either to pacify 
Yahweh or to pacify Jehoshaphat or to pacify both of them so 
that he could lead this coalition of kings into battle against 
rebellious Moab. The recognition of the sovereignty 
of God, verses 10 and 13, when he needed someone to blame. That's 
utilitarian religion. We need somebody to blame. Let's 
blame it on God. And then the seeking of the prophet 
of God when he needed help in battle. Now, maybe this has never 
been a temptation for you. Maybe you don't know any Christians 
who operate like this, but it seems to me that there is this 
utilitarian spirit. It may be in here, but it's out 
there. And we need to guard against 
it. Are we in religion for what we get? Are we in? Because we 
love God most high and we want to worship Him and glorify Him 
and honor Him wherever He leads us, through dry, arid, dusty 
valleys or, you know, through lush, beautiful places. God is 
our God, in the good and in the bad. We're not to be utilitarian. Listen to what Davis says. Again, 
I think this is so practical. Just commenting here on verse 
14. Look at verse 14. Elisha says, were it not that 
I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, I would not look 
at you nor see you. Davis says, now chew a bit on 
Elisha's words. Do you hear him? He is saying 
that Jehoram is beyond the help of God's word. if it weren't 
for Jehoshaphat. It's a very scary position to 
be. So look where utilitarian religion may lead you. When you're 
only looking to use God, when you're only looking to manipulate 
God, when you're only looking to coerce God to deliver you, 
or deliver the things that you desperately desire, when things 
go awry, it may become the case that you are beyond God's word. He says, that is a frightening 
implication. You can place yourself beyond 
the point of receiving direction or help from God. How might you 
know if you are in danger of doing that? Well, if your pattern 
is to seek God, like Jehoram, only for your convenience so 
that you are trifling with God. You may be interested only in 
escape from trouble, not in the path of discipleship. That was 
Jehoram. He wanted to use the Word of 
God in the moment, but not to submit to it long term. Jehoramites 
view the Word of God as something for emergency only, but not for 
normal days. God is simply the airbag in the 
disasters of life, which you hope you never have to use. If 
that is your pattern, you may be placing yourself beyond the 
help of God's Word. I find that terrifying. I find 
that incredibly terrifying because I know human nature. I know my 
human nature, and I know the temptation to serve God for what 
we get. That's Jehoramite religion. And we need, by the grace of 
God, to resist that, to reject that, to flee from that into 
the arms of our beloved Savior. And finally, we ought to appreciate 
the glory of God. His miraculous power is displayed 
in the water and in the victory. And His amazing grace is displayed 
in the water and the victory. Now, one last quote from Davis 
here. Just commenting on the fact that 
godless Jehoram gets this double dose of grace, doesn't he? He 
gets water and he gets victory. He doesn't deserve it though, 
does he? Everybody shakes their head, right? He doesn't deserve 
it, does he? But we deserve grace, don't we? 
We're talking about grace. It's undeserved. I love this. Davis says, some have been muttering 
that this idolatrous rascal Jehoram doesn't deserve such benefits. Of course he doesn't. But notice 
why he received them. Because of Jehoshaphat, the king 
of David's line. Jehoram received these benefits 
because of another, and it is the same with you. If you receive 
any benefit from God, it is because you stand next to the Davidic 
king, Jesus, the descendant of David and Jehoshaphat. You are 
in exactly the same position as Jehoram. You don't deserve 
heaven's crumbs, but receive massive mercies only because 
Jesus. The Davidic king stands beside 
you. I think that's beautiful and 
I praise God that he showed grace even to a Jehoram because that 
means there's grace for the likes of you and I as well. Well, let 
us pray. Our father, we thank you for 
your word and we thank you for your amazing power, your miracles, 
your grace displayed in 2 Kings 3. Help us, God, to guard our 
hearts against a Jehoram-like approach to religion. Help us 
to guard against this utilitarianism that sees you as a means to our 
end. We ask, God, that you would keep 
us from such idolatry and cause us to serve you, to glorify you, 
to love and to honor you. Thank you for your word. And 
go with us now, we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.