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.
Introduction
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.
Three Considerations Introduced
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.
The Rebellion of Moab (vv. 1–10)
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.
Moab Withholds Tribute
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
The Coalition of Three Kings
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.
The Prophetic Word of Elisha (vv. 11–19)
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,
The Musician and the Oracle
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.
Promise of Water and Victory
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.
Victory Over Moab (vv. 20–27)
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.
The Moabites Deceived
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.
Futility of Pagan Religion
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.
Application and Conclusion
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.
Closing Prayer
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.