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Chapter 3, I always feel constrained 
to apologize to the Wednesday night group when I repeat some 
of these messages, but it's tough to jump back into James when 
I know that Mike is going to be still doing a lot of preaching 
in the Sunday evening services, and as well convinced that the 
message of 2 Kings, at least to this point, has been very 
practical and hopefully repetition We'll drive these lessons home, 
and if you're hearing it for the first time, may God indeed 
show Himself through His Word to each of you. So let us begin 
reading in 2 Kings 3 at 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 Mesha, 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 up 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 
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. 
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 stomp 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 Hereseth 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, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for the written Word. We thank You for the Old 
Testament Scriptures, God. We know there is so much practical 
Christianity in the pages therein. God, help us to learn concerning 
the religion or the religious approach of Jehoram. Help us 
to learn something of the nature of the prophetic ministry. And 
Father, most of all, help us to learn of God, for You reveal 
Yourself here in an amazing manner. You are a God of miracle, a God 
of glory, a God of wonder and power, a God of majesty and great 
grace. We so often think of the text 
in Ephesians 3.20 that you're able to do exceedingly abundantly 
above all that we ask or think, yet so often we forget how many 
times this concept comes up in the pages of the Old Testament. 
May your Holy Spirit guide us now, may He instruct us, may 
You forgive us for all of our sins and our unrighteousness. 
And we ask these things through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Well, as we see in this particular 
chapter, the specific thing going on is the rebellion of Moab. 
If you go back to chapter 1 in 2 Kings, you'll see that Moab 
rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. So after the 
death of Ahab, his son Ahaziah took the throne. Ahaziah had 
no concern to quell or quash this Moabite rebellion. And so ultimately, he passes 
from the scene. That's not the only reason. And 
now we have this situation facing Jehoram. So we'll look at the 
rebellion of Moab in verses 1 to 10. Secondly, the prophetic word 
of Elisha in verses 11 to 19. And then the victory over Moab 
in verses 20 to 27. But in the first place, note 
the king that's in charge at this particular time. This is 
in the northern kingdom, the northern tribes of Israel. It 
says, Jehoram, the son of Ahab, became king over Israel. at Samaria 
in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and he reigned 
12 years. Now the reason for this is that Ahaziah, according 
to chapter 1, did not have a son. And so Jehoram, the other son 
of Ahab, now occupies the throne. So he is reigning over the northern 
kingdom. Jehoshaphat is the king in the 
southern kingdom. And if you do the math, you'll 
see a bit of a discrepancy in terms of the numbers involved. 
But you need to remember that oftentimes there is a co-regency 
between the king and between his son, and such was the case 
with reference to Jehoshaphat. But then notice, it tells us 
something about his religious commitments in verses 2 and 3. It says, "...he did evil in the 
sight of the Lord, but not like his father and mother." So on 
the one hand, we see that he continues to perpetuate wickedness. He continues to perpetuate evil. He's not as bad as were his father 
and his mother, but he's not what he ought to be. And that 
will certainly reflect itself in the narrative as we follow 
along tonight. But he did evil in the sight 
of the Lord, but not like his father and his mother. Notice 
what it goes on to say with reference to this. It says he put away 
the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. Now, you've 
got to remember, when it says that he wasn't as bad as his 
father and mother, remember that his father and mother were Ahab 
and Jezebel. I think, humanly speaking, it'd 
be hard to be worse than them. So this isn't a glowing report 
by any stretch of the imagination. We ought not to conclude from 
this that Jehoram is a wonderful specimen of religious life. No, 
not to be as bad as Ahab and Jezebel is probably something 
very achievable for the garden variety center in this world. But he does put away this pillar 
of Baal, this sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. 
But then go on to verse 3. So on the one hand, he gets rid 
of the sacred pillar of Baal, but on the other hand, he continues 
according to the sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. Now, the sin 
of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, was calf worship. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, erected 
two places in Israel, according to 1 Kings chapter 2, which were 
calf cults. They were places where these 
calves were worshipped and glorified and honored. So that Jehoram 
continues down this path, shows us that he doesn't put away the 
sacred pillar of Baal based on conscience. If it was conscience, 
if it was religious conviction, he would get rid of the calves 
as well. I submit, and I think the rest 
of the narrative bears this forth, that Jehoram has what's called 
a utilitarian approach to religion. Now many of you have probably 
heard of utilitarianism when it comes to ethics. If you haven't, 
It's very simple. Utilitarian ethics simply say 
that the most happiness promotes, or the most that something promotes 
in terms of happiness, that's the right position. In other 
words, if 51% of the people in a population are happy with a 
given decision, well then, that makes it right. In other words, 
the majority is right. Now, certainly that would be 
good if 51% agreed that abortion was wicked, and sodomy was wicked, 
and euthanasia was wicked. But when 51% agree that those 
things are righteous, when 51% agree that those things are good, 
based on utilitarian ethics, it now becomes the good. And 
that's a wretched approach to ethics, isn't it? It ought never 
to be a majority vote. It ought never to be a democracy 
in terms of what is right and what isn't. As Christians, we 
subscribe to the God of the Bible. We have a law code. We have ethics. We have a revelation of who God 
is, and that dictates for us what that ultimate standard of 
ethics are. But when I say utilitarian religion, 
this simply means he uses religion for his own ends. And I think 
there's a bit of Jehoram in all of us. I don't want to get too 
psychoanalytical, but Jehoram probably has a bit of an identity 
in our own hearts. I submit that he doesn't put 
away the sacred pillar of Baal, or he does, rather, put away 
the sacred pillar of Baal, because he knows a couple of things. 
If he is going to march against this Moabite rebellion, he's 
going to need help. He's at least smart enough to 
know that he's going to need some assistance. So perhaps he 
puts away this sacred pillar of Baal that Ahab had built in 
order to court the favor of Yahweh. In other words, I can't go into 
battle successfully against these Moabites if Yahweh doesn't aid 
me and he doesn't assist me. So what Jehoram does is he employs 
a little bit of religion to try and secure his ends. As well, 
he's going to need the favor and the help and the assistance 
of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat, barring some foolish 
decisions in terms of alliances with Ahab and Jehoram, is nevertheless 
a godly king. He did what was right in the 
eyes of the Lord. He was a faithful man. So when Jehoram has to ask 
Jehoshaphat if he'll go with him into battle so that they 
can suppress this Moabite rebellion, he knows that it will look good, 
it will look favorable if he has put away the sacred pillar 
of Baal. You see, the idea is that I'll 
use religion insofar as religion is useful to me. That's what 
I mean by utilitarianism with reference to religion. And I 
submit that this is probably something that you and I fall 
prey to. As long as God's blessing are flowing, we're the vibrant, 
faithful, healthy Christians. But as long as trials come or 
sorrows come or difficulties come, we're ready to jump ship. 
It's kind of like being a Canucks fan or some sort of a team's 
fan. As long as they're winning, we're 
a good fan, but as long as they're losing, we don't like them so 
much. Well, religion is a bit like 
this. We tried to pray, but it didn't bring any help, so we 
don't pray anymore. I went to church but I really 
didn't get anything out of it. Can you search the scriptures 
and tell me that the purpose for church is for you to get 
something out of it? Now certainly you should get 
something out of it if the Bible is preached and the God of heaven 
and earth is worshipped and glorified. That has a correlative effect 
upon the worshipper. But brethren, we come here to 
worship God. We don't come here for ourselves. It's not about 
seek first your kingdom, your priority, your blessing, your 
privilege, your happiness, and your joy. No, there's a bit of 
Jehoram in all of us. We'll use religion in order to 
get what it is that we are really after. when in reality we ought 
to be about the religion of Christ because it presents us with the 
God of heaven and earth. It presents us with the glory 
of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It presents us with communion 
with the living and the true God. So Jehoram's religion is 
better than Ahab and Jezebel, but that's not saying a whole 
lot. He is still an evil man. Now notice, quickly in verses 
4 and 5, just to set the stage for you, this Meshach rebels 
against Israel. Back in 2 Samuel chapter 8, David 
had subdued the Moabites. David had brought them to a place 
where they were now a vassal state and they had to pay taxes. 
They had to pay tribute. They had to pay basically in 
order to make it such that Israel would not invade them or Israel 
would not take them captive. You see that reference here in 
verses four and five. Masha 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. Again, he's doing that not out 
of the goodness of his, you know, ram and lamb heart. He's doing 
it because Israel has this relationship. They had subdued, they had conquered 
under King David this particular nation. They're a vassal state, 
they owe this tribute to the king of Israel. But at this particular 
time, notice in verse 5, it happened when Ahab died that the king 
of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. He didn't wanna 
pay anymore. He didn't wanna keep giving up 
those precious commodities of the Moabite state to these Israelites. The whole situation wasn't favorable 
to him, and so he wants to stop. Now notice this coalition of 
kings that is founded. Verse six, Israel gathers together 
under King Jehoram. And then in verse seven, he went 
and sent to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, saying, the king of 
Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go out 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. So he makes this alliance with 
Jehoshaphat. I've already said Jehoshaphat's 
done this one other time. In 1 Kings chapter 22, Ahab is 
going into battle and he enlists the assistance of Jehoshaphat. 
Jehoshaphat says the same thing to Ahab. I will go up. I am as 
you are and my people as your people, my horses as your horses. Now in that battle, it almost 
cost Jehoshaphat his life. Because what Ahab does is he 
takes off his royal robes when he gets wind of the fact that 
those want to kill him. And so what happens is that Jehoshaphat 
is basically a sitting duck because he enters into this alliance. 
And we learn back there, and we learn here, because this isn't 
a good alliance as well until, of course, Elisha and God get 
involved in the situation. But we learn here, brethren, 
that godliness does not always translate into good common sense. You need to work on that. Not 
you specifically, we all need to work on good horse sense. You know, there's not a Romans 
17 that tells us, thou shalt have no alliances with Jehoram, 
king of Israel. There's no Romans 18 that says, 
thou shalt not have alliances with Ahab, king of Israel. God 
saved us, God's renewed us, God has blessed us, God has given 
us the Spirit, God has given us the Word, and God has given 
us minds so that we search the Word for the wisdom necessary 
so that we don't enter into ungodly or unholy or unwise alliances 
with other persons. You see, brethren, this is Jehoshaphat's 
fault. Perhaps he's just a nice guy. Perhaps he just finds it hard 
to say no. Perhaps the inner peace or the 
inner desire to have peace with both Israel and Judah, to have 
one unified kingdom again, is what drives him. And that's a 
good thing. I mean, the fact that there's 
civil war in Israel ought to be troubling to every Israelite 
in that in that time frame. So maybe what's driving Jehoshaphat 
is this zeal to bring the two kingdoms back together. But all 
of his good intentions, all of his good zeal, all of his good 
ideas are undone by these foolish alliances. You see, brethren, 
we're not always to act upon the best of intentions if the 
way that we're going to pursue it is not the best way in view. So godliness does not always 
result in good sense, and we see that with reference to Jehoshaphat. Now note their journey to Moab 
in verses 8 to 10. Now they could have gone from 
Samaria above the Dead Sea right down into Moab. But there's a 
man, well this man, Mesha, the king of the Moabites, there's 
actually a stone found, it's called the Moabite stone, and 
it dates back to the time of this Mesha. It's presently in 
the Louvre Museum. I think I'm pronouncing that 
right. It looks like Louvre to me, but that's kind of like a 
Texan you know, pronouncing anything. It's in that museum presently. 
It was found in the 1800s and it's there. Well, basically what 
this Moabite stone contains is the boasting of Mesha. The boasting 
and the glorying of Mesha in his military conquests. And he 
had secured that northern route there. So Israel is smart not 
to go above the Red Sea and approach Moab by the north. What they 
do rather is go way south, underneath the Red Sea, go east, and then 
come up from the south into Moab. They make sure they have what's 
called the King of Edom in this particular chapter. He's not 
a king, he's a deputy. He's a deputy under Jehoshaphat. Because back in 2 Samuel 8, when 
David subdued Moab, he also subdued Edom. And so why they have Jehoram, 
Jehoshaphat, and this king of Edom. And this king of Edom is 
probably a good choice for that. It probably bolsters their army 
or military power, but it also keeps from the king of Edom, 
which is just south of Moab, from joining Mesha and the Moabite 
rebellion. So, is everybody with me? You've 
got to kind of picture that. Instead of dropping over like 
that, which would be a relatively short trip, they're going to 
go down and over, actually do it the other way for the way 
you're looking, and then come up. So it's going to be a long 
trip and that's what sets the stage for the problem that they 
encounter. Now notice this lack of water. This is the first problem. So 
verse 8, then he said, which way shall we go up? 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. Now notice, 
this is the issue. This is the problem. They're 
on a long journey. They no longer have any water. 
Without water, you're going to die. Without water, your animals 
are going to die. Without water, everything dies. 
And they realize this and they reckon this. Note the two responses 
from the two kings. In the first place, notice Jehoram, 
verse 10. The king of Israel said, Alas, 
for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver 
them into the hand of Moab. That's that utilitarian religion, 
isn't it? Isn't it? What's he doing? He 
is blaming God. He is blaming the sovereignty 
of God. He says that the Lord has orchestrated 
it thus so that he can deliver us into the hands of Moab in 
order that we might die. That's utilitarian religion. 
When things go our way, we want God's help. When things don't 
go our way, we blame God. It's akin to September 10th. 
It's akin to September 12th. Nobody cared where God was then, 
but in September 11th, everybody cared because they needed someone 
to blame. And verse 10 is Jehoram blaming 
God. We don't have water. We're going 
to ultimately end up being delivered into the hands of the Moabites. Now note the response of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat wants to inquire 
of the Lord. Again, not good sense in the 
sense that he waited too long. In other words, brethren, inquire 
of the Lord prior to setting out for battle. He did this with 
Ahab, and that was a blessed thing to be sure. Not so here. 
He does this after they've been in the desert, after they have 
known something of drought conditions. He does it after the fact, but 
nevertheless, he gets props for doing it. So Jehoram whines, 
he grumbles, he complains about the sovereignty of God. Jehoshaphat 
says, get us a prophet so that we can hear from God. Let us 
inquire from the Lord. Again, he doesn't have the best 
sense, but he's a godly man and he knows from whence his help 
comes. That is precisely what is happening here in verses 10 
and 11. Jehoshaphat said, verse 11, 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. Now that brings us to consider 
the prophetic word of Elisha in 11 to 19. Notice how Elisha 
is identified here. I think this is quite beautiful. Notice in verse 11, Elisha, the 
son of Shaphat is here who poured water on the hands of Elijah. That was his job prior to taking 
the mantle in chapter 2. What do you do for a living, 
Elisha? I pour water on the hands of my master. Is that rich and 
fulfilling work? Is there a 401k plan associated 
with that? What kind of benefits do you 
have? Do you get two weeks off in the summer? You see, Elisha's 
not concerned with any of that. Elisha is concerned with serving 
God's prophet. This is the identifying mark 
of Elisha. This is why he is, in many respects, 
the natural successor to Elijah back in 2 Kings 2. He poured 
water on the hands of Elisha. That's how he's known to the 
servant of the king of Israel. And isn't it intriguing? So one 
of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, it 
wasn't Jehoram who ponied up this information to Jehoshaphat. It wasn't Jehoram who said, well, 
there is a prophet. It wasn't Jehoram who said, there 
is an Elisha. No, it's one of the servants. 
And the way that one of the servants knew this prophet was because 
he poured water on the hands of Elijah. Now, notice in verse 
12, they go to meet with Elisha. 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 the response 
by Elisha in verse 13. So you got the scene. And I think 
it's very important that everybody visualize, not in some mystical 
weird sense, but in terms of geography. They're traveling. 
They've got to get to Moab. They've hit this problem where 
there is no water. So they need a prophet. They 
need the prophet of God. One of the servants says, hey, 
there is a guy, his name is Elisha. Jehoshaphat says, he is indeed 
a man of God, so let's meet with him, let's find instruction by 
him, let's get guidance from Yahweh through the prophet Elisha. 
So now we have Jehoram and Jehoshaphat coming to Elisha. Now, the text 
doesn't answer why Elisha's there, but, you know, God doesn't have 
to answer everything to us or for us. Elisha happens to be 
there. Notice, in verse 13, 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. One of the other 
evidences as to why I suggest that Jehoram's religion is utilitarian, 
I think that's what Elisha thinks it is. Why are you coming to 
me? You have never had time for Yahweh 
before. You have never sought God through 
the prophet before. You have never met me. You've 
never talked to me. You've never asked me anything 
concerning anything. You didn't ask me about going 
in and seeking to suppress the Moabite rebellion. You didn't 
ask for anything. until you don't have water. So 
he says, go talk to the prophets of your father, or go talk to 
the prophets of your mother. In other words, if you are a 
Baalist, if indeed you are an idolater, then seek your help 
in them. He doesn't even want to answer 
him. Davis explains why this sudden interest, Elisha seems 
to say in Yahweh's word, go to the Baal prophets your mother 
fed. Remember in 1 Kings chapter 18, there were a whole host of 
prophets, 400, that fed at Jezebel's table. That means they were state 
sponsored. You know how sometimes we get 
bothered when tax dollars go for things that we don't like? 
We do, don't we? You're looking at me like I'm 
nuts here. You don't, because I do. Oh, 
we're going to spend this amount of money on this sort of a thing. 
Do we all just say, yay? No, typically we don't like that. 
We leave nasty comments on Facebook or blog posts or whatever it 
is. We like to express our disillusionment with government waste. Imagine 
living in Israel under Ahab and seeing the prophets of Asherah 
state subsidized. Imagine that. You're perhaps 
hungry because your fields aren't producing as they once did. You're 
going through difficulty because you've been laid off from the 
plant. But these 400 prophets of Asherah are patting their 
bellies because they're getting free food from Jezebel. And you 
know that your taxes are going to support those particular prophets. It's a terrible thing. And so 
what Elisha says in the language of Davis is that, go to the bail 
prophets your mother fed or to the bootlickers your father kept 
at court. Remember in 1 Kings chapter 22, 
led by Zedekiah, the guy with the iron horns? What did they 
do? They told the king what he wanted 
to hear. Davis again, 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 God. Notice 
in verse 10, for the Lord has called these three kings together 
to deliver them into the hand of Moab. That is a belief in 
the sovereignty of God, thinking that God has the ability and 
the power and the comprehensive sovereignty to deliver these 
three kings into the hands of Moab. That is a recognition of 
God's sovereignty. He uses it in a weaselly way. 
He uses it in a blameful way or a way to blame God Almighty. But he nevertheless somehow has 
recognized this. Davis again says, always beware 
of folks who can cite the sovereignty of God in order to excuse or 
accuse, but not to worship and adore. Let me just read that 
again because as Calvinism is quite popular today and persons 
all think about and revel in the fact that God is sovereign, 
oftentimes it goes astray, it goes awry, and persons deduce 
from this doctrine of God's sovereignty they can now excuse their godlessness 
or they can accuse God because where was he on September 11th? 
Always beware of folks who cite the sovereignty of God in order 
to excuse or accuse but not to worship and adore. That's an 
important point. A recognition of God's sovereignty 
ought to produce worship and adoration. A recognition of who 
God is ought to yield praise. Notice, Jehoram responds in verse 
13b, No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to 
deliver them into the hand of Moab. There's his parroting of 
what he says in verse 10. God's sovereign, he's going to 
deliver us into the hand of the king of Moab. Now notice this 
A statement by Elisha in verse 14, 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.'" That's frightening, isn't it? It should 
be frightening because it indicates there is a point and a time at 
which God will no longer hear you. God will no longer look 
at you. Now, of course, God hears all 
things. God sees all things. This is indeed an improper predication. It's spoken in the manner of 
man, but it highlights the justice of God. Now, obviously, Elisha 
is not God, but he is the prophet of God. But that is some powerful 
statement. He says, as Yahweh lives, before 
whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, 
king of Judah. In other words, if it wasn't 
for him, I wouldn't look at you, I wouldn't hear you. Think about that, brethren. And then in verse 15, but now 
bring me a musician. really shifts the focus of the 
narrative. Were it not for Jehoshaphat, 
I wouldn't look at you, I wouldn't listen to you. I would have no 
consciousness of you whatsoever. Now bring me a musician. Musical 
instruments seen in conjunction with prophetic ministry is, you 
can see it in 1 Samuel chapter 10. And particularly, what we 
see here is when the musician plays, the hand of God comes 
upon Elisha. And Elisha now gets the prophetic 
word. Notice, specifically. The making 
of ditches in verse 16, 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. It's probably not a 
command to Israel to take their shovels and to go out and make 
ditches. It's probably a statement of what God is going to do. In 
other words, when I bring this water to bear upon Edom, There 
is going to be ditches, or there are going to be ditches in the 
ground. Notice as well the miraculous supply of water that God will 
give them. Verse 17, 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 drain. Isn't that an amazing thing? God says you're 
not going to see wind, you're not going to see rain, you're 
not going to see the normal delivery systems for water. You know, 
we know when it's gonna rain. Many are praying for rain here 
in B.C. so that we can see some help 
with reference to these forest fires. Well, we wouldn't think 
that it's gonna rain on a day like today because there's no 
clouds in the sky. And this is essentially what 
the prophet is saying with reference to God. You're not gonna see 
wind, you're not gonna see rain, yet that valley shall be filled 
with water so that you, your cattle, and your animals may 
drink. Now notice in verse 18, we have the amazing grace of 
God and what I'll call an Ephesians 3.20 moment. He is able to do 
exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Verse 
18, and this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord. He 
will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. You see, they 
cry out to God through Elisha for water. Don't we do that? God, we just pray that you'd 
bring us this particular blessing. And what happens? It's exceedingly, 
abundantly above all that we can ask or think. We've all had 
those moments before, haven't we? We've cited Ephesians 3.20 
before, haven't we? We say, I prayed for this, and 
God gave me this. on some Benny Hinn sort of way, 
not that weird health, wealth, and prosperity sort of way. But 
you've all tried and proven your God this way. We went to the 
throne of grace. We sought to lay our petitions 
before the Lord. He not only gave me this job, but he also 
gave me a promotion. He gave me all this stuff. It 
was just fantastic. It was wonderful. This is an 
Ephesians 3.20 moment. It's chump change, essentially, 
is what Elisha is saying, for God to fill this valley with 
water. He's going to give you victory over the Moabites, too. 
You see this convention utilized by the prophet Isaiah in one 
of the servant songs in Isaiah 49. God says, concerning Messiah, 
it's too small a thing for you to rescue the tribes of Jacob. 
I'm going to give you as a light unto the Gentiles. In other words, 
you are too glorious to confine your saving efforts to one small 
people group. I'm going to give you to every 
tribe, every tongue, every people, every nation. Brethren, in your 
Bible reading, you've got to stumble upon those Ephesian 320 
moments when you find them. It just so happens that 2 Kings 
is packed with them, absolutely chock-full packed, at least up 
until where we are in 2 Kings. We finished chapter 4 the other 
night. That's what God says through 
the prophet. This is a simple matter in the 
sight of the Lord. He will also deliver the Moabites 
into your hand. Now, the description of the attack 
is severe. very severe according to verse 
19, and this is probably owing to what Mesha boasted about and 
specifically with reference to his previous dealings with Israel. 
Notice in verse 19, you shall attack every fortified city, 
every choice city, you shall cut down every good tree, stop 
up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land 
with stones. Now, some would say that this 
is a violation of Deuteronomy chapter 20, verses 19 and 20, 
where you're told not to, in the battle time, cut down trees. Davis points out the text there 
only forbids whacking down food-producing trees as lumber for siege work. So in other words, verse 19 is 
the instruction in terms of how they're going to go to battle 
against Moab. Now let's look finally and quickly 
at verses 20 to 27. We see the fulfillment of Elisha's 
word in verses 20 to 25 and the futility of pagan religion in 
verses 26 and 27. Notice in 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. 
This would sure put a bit of wind in your sails to go to battle 
in Moab, wouldn't it? You get it? Now that the water's 
here, that means God really is Going to answer our prayer? God's 
really going to answer, as he specifies in verse 18? The water's 
a down payment for the victory over Moab. I mean, the water 
in and of itself was probably delightful. I can only imagine 
being out there for that long, watching your animals dying, 
watching yourselves dying, and then suddenly this great torrent 
comes, and the valley is filled with water. They probably splashed, 
they probably frolicked, they probably delighted in that wonderful 
liquid from God. Then they came to their senses 
and realized, we're going to win the Moabites. We're going 
to beat them. Because God, who said the small 
thing was the water, is also able to deliver on the big thing, 
which was the victory over Moab. It's a beautiful thing. Now notice 
how God does this. It's in His sovereignty. He confuses 
the Moabites. Now, those who have trouble with 
the sovereignty of God ought not just to be troubled with 
Romans 9 or John 6 or Ephesians 1. I don't know how they can 
read through the Old Testament without going nuts. How do you 
read through the Old Testament without a belief in the sovereignty 
of God and not go nuts? Thankfully, you all believe in 
the sovereignty of God, so you shouldn't go nuts. But notice 
in verse 21, when all the Moabites heard the kings, or heard that 
the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able 
to bear arms and order were gathered, and they stood at the border. 
Then they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining 
on the water. Now, this was not a common thing 
for them, to see this amount of water at this particular time 
of the year. Notice, they saw the sun shining 
on the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side 
as red as blood. When they see the water on the 
other side as red as blood, they make this conclusion, they make 
this inference. Oh, the coalition of kings has 
turned one against the other. They're slaughtering themselves 
over on the other side. We can now go in and mop up. 
You see, God produces confusion in the minds and in the hearts 
of these Moabites. Matthew Poole says they were 
so highly confident that they send no scouts. They 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." Again, that would bother an Arminian 
or a Pelagian, but you ought to stand in awe at your great 
and glorious God. He will send confusion upon an 
enemy army so that He can secure victory for His people. He will 
send, if he needs to, a lying spirit according to 1 Kings chapter 
22. Again, another passage that trouble people that don't see 
the comprehensive sovereignty of God. Here he'll cause Moabites 
to look across to see this water, to see the sun shining on it, 
to see that it's red, and then wrongly conclude that Jehoram, 
Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom have taken up swords against 
one another. So what do they do? They say, 
to the spoil, Moab. Notice, verse 24, 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 slinger surrounded 
and attacked it. In other words, they rush the 
coalition, they defeat, the Moabites rush the coalition, and then 
this coalition of kings turns on them, rushes them, and does 
precisely what Elisha had prophesied. Now let's just quickly look at 
this futility of pagan religion. Notice what Mesha does in verses 
26 and 27. 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. So he first tries to flee, tries to escape, 
probably chooses the king of Edom or this deputy because his 
forces aren't as strong. Masha is a lot of things, but 
he's not a fool. He's going to rush the king of 
Edom, but he couldn't do that. Then verse 27 tells us, he took 
his eldest son who would have reigned in his place and offered 
him as a burnt offering. Now, some suggest he took the 
king of Edom's eldest son, but that makes no sense. Masha took 
Masha's oldest son. This is the futility of pagan 
religion. If I sacrifice my son, then the 
gods will be favorable to me and we will win this battle. It's a pathetic view, isn't it? 
It's a sad and distressing thing to see. It's kind of like when 
you see those prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18, they're cutting 
themselves and they're dancing around in a frenzy. I mean, it's 
a pathetic sight. Kind of like what we saw this 
morning. What is the consequences of sin? It's a man like Judas 
who ends up hanging himself. Sin never produces good things. 
Pagan religion never produces good things. You're never a winner 
or a benefactor by sin or by pagan religion. And you see that 
here with Meshach. He took his eldest son, who would 
have reigned in his place, he 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 
admittedly, verse 27 is a bit ambiguous. It's a bit difficult 
to get one's mind wrapped around. There are several things that 
commentators suggest. They would suggest, first of 
all, that the wrath in view is the wrath of Yahweh. There was 
great indignation or a great wrath against Israel. They would 
teach that this wrath was from God upon Israel because they 
cut down trees in violation of Deuteronomy 20. That makes no 
sense. They didn't violate Deuteronomy 
20, but God wouldn't tell them, I'm giving you the Moabites and 
then not give them the Moabites. Some suggest that this is the 
wrath of Chemosh. That's the god of these Moabites. Now, no biblical author would 
ascribe this to Chemosh. Some commentators in the liberal 
field would say, oh yeah, it's Chemosh. His wrath was turned 
against Israel and so they flee and they don't win the battle 
wholesale. No biblical author would do that. 
We wouldn't even entertain that. Others suggest it's the wrath 
of Moab. In other words, when Mesha sacrifices 
his son, all of Moab sees it. Now they're fired up and they 
turn their wrath against Israel. The tables turn against Israel. 
Again, it doesn't make sense that Yahweh would promise them 
victory and then would not deliver. The way that we ought to interpret 
it is that it's the wrath of Israel. Davis says, this view 
takes the preposition as upon rather than against. 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 Masha's act. Hence, they 
quit the field without total victory. In other words, it was 
probably something akin to this, that this man goes to this length, 
shows the utter bankruptcy of that society. They're already 
defeated, and Israel leaves. I think that makes the most sense 
in the context, but I would submit that to you. That'll prove to 
be some good Monday afternoon reading. But just by way of conclusion, 
a couple of thoughts and then we'll move upstairs and thank 
the Lord for the time that John and Jeannie have been with us 
and hopefully see them off with some encouragement and some blessing. First, we see the inconsistency 
of Jehoshaphat. We dealt with this a little bit, 
but I want to deal with it a little bit more. Brethren, God calls 
us to exercise good sense. I think so many of our problems 
and so many of the issues we find ourselves in, so many of 
the things that we do that are foolish are due to foolishness. 
For the most part, as God's people, we seek to honor the Lord, we 
have good intentions, we want to fear God, we want to keep 
His commandments, we want to benefit others, we want to be 
a help and a blessing and an encouragement to the church, 
but we cannot do this if we suspend common sense. We as God's people 
need to be in God's word and forming our minds with reference 
to Christian living. We need to pursue wisdom. It's 
not just, you know, indwelt. It's not that we get converted, 
come out of the womb of conversion, and we're as wise as Solomon. 
It simply doesn't happen that way. The wisest men and women 
in the church are those most filled with God's holy word. The wisest men and women in the 
church that don't engage in foolish alliances with ungodly persons 
are those most filled with God's Word. You see, at times I think 
we have this defeatist mentality. Well, you know, I'm just a simple 
fellow. I could hardly do, you know, my basic math in school, 
and I, you know, barely clawed my way out of school. Perhaps 
I didn't even finish school. I'm just not that bright of a 
bulb. But brethren, we ought to remember the psalmist. He 
says the law of Yahweh makes wise who? The simple. It's attainable. Good sense is 
contained in this book. Study it. Learn it. Understand 
it. And by the grace of God, may 
it lead you along, I mean, obviously the Spirit, but may the Spirit 
lead you with this good dose of common sense that may be your 
friend and your guide. With reference to Jehoram's religion, 
The putting away of the pillar of Baal was utilitarian, either 
to pacify God or to pacify Jehoshaphat. The recognition of the sovereignty 
of God was only when it suited him, only when he needed a scapegoat, 
only when he needed someone to blame. The seeking of the prophet 
of Yahweh when he needed help in battle. Listen to Davis again 
here. Go back to 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. 
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're 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. I don't think this is illegitimate. I think this is precisely what 
the author is showing us. You see, part of Kings is not 
just to tell us the history of Israel, but it's to do theology. 
And what we learn of Jehoram's religion is something that lives 
on today in the Christian church. What we learn of Ahaziah's religion 
in chapter one is something that lives on in the Christian church. 
When Ahaziah falls through the lattice of his roof onto the 
ground, does he call upon Yahweh? No, he calls upon Beelzebub. for assistance. In other words, 
what you worship is who you call upon in times of distress. There's a bit of Ahaziah in the 
Christian Church today, isn't there? Those who abuse drugs 
or alcohol, when there is trouble, when there is difficulty. Instead 
of bringing it to Yahweh, they take another drink, or they smoke 
another whatever. So, this whole idea is a reality. 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. Now, I know it's late, and I 
know the smell of coffee will be wafting through here soon, 
and there's cake. I don't know if it's chocolate 
or vanilla. Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be delightful. But 
you need to feel the import of this. I wouldn't preach this 
again if I didn't think it was applicable, but I think it's 
very applicable. I think this Jehoramite approach to religion 
is alive and well, not just in the Arminian churches, not just 
in the Pelagian churches, not just in Benny Hinn's palace, 
but it's alive and well among us. We use God as a means to 
an end. That's wrong. We use God as a 
technique for our satisfaction. We use God to get what we want 
instead of seeing that God is what we should want. Brethren, 
Jehoram lives in the church today. And finally, we ought to appreciate 
the glory of God. First, His miraculous power in 
the water and the victory. His miraculous power in the water 
and the victory. But secondly, His amazing grace 
in the water and in the victory. I wanna close again on a Davis 
quote because I think he nails this. Does Jehoram deserve what 
he gets? Be honest. Does Joharam deserve 
what he gets here? No. Not at all. He's not as bad as Ahab and Jezebel, 
but as I pointed out, that's not saying much. I mean, Judas 
might have been able to fit that category at some point in his 
life. Not as bad as Ahab and Jezebel. I mean, Ahab and Jezebel 
were, you know, wicked people of the year recipients for as 
long as they lived. I mean, they had coffee cups 
that said, wicked people of the year. You know, the best mom 
in the world, she had, you know, worst mom. Best dad, no, he had 
worst dad. I mean, these were miserable 
people. Terrible people. So the fact that he is not as 
bad as them does not indicate that he's a good guy. He put 
away the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made, but 
he continued in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. He himself 
continued to bow to calves. So when God hears this man cry 
out for first water, which he doesn't even cry out for it, 
but water and then victory over the Moabites, why in the world 
would God bless Jehoram? because it's his immediate proximity 
to Jehoshaphat. Isn't that what verse 14 says? If it were not for Jehoshaphat, 
I wouldn't hear you, I wouldn't see you, I'd have nothing to 
do with you. Brethren, all in all, Jehoram 
didn't deserve anything, but neither do we. We don't deserve 
water. We don't deserve victory. We 
don't deserve any Ephesians 3.20 moments. We don't deserve anything 
that we ever ask for, but it's by our immediate proximity to 
a son of Jehoshaphat that we benefit tremendously. Listen 
to Davis. 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. See how practical 
2 Kings chapter 3 is for Christians in the 21st century. It's because 
we stand with Jesus. We are recipients of God's amazing 
grace. If you are not a believer tonight, 
let that serve as a grand invitation to you. Stand next to Jesus. Be a Jehoram who finds a Jehoshaphat 
and stand there alongside of him. Because God blessed even 
undeserving Jehoram because of Jehoshaphat, his beloved. The 
same is the case with reference to the gospel. Flee to Jesus. He is the one in whom all the 
blessings of God flow to and through. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the practicality 
of these Old Testament books. May we reflect upon Jehoram and 
Jehoshaphat and Elisha, but most of all, may we reflect upon your 
amazing grace. You not only give, but you give 
exceedingly, abundantly, above all they could have asked or 
thought. The same is the case in our own 
lives, how we praise you for amazing grace, how we praise 
you for the son of David, the son of Jehoshaphat, ultimately 
the Son of God, even our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we have 
been richly blessed. We ask now that you would go 
with us. We do pray for John and Jeannie that as they move 
to Creston, your smile would be upon them, that their family 
would rejoice, God, that you would just give them grace to 
grow in their new church, to be a blessing in that new church, 
and may they grow in their love and appreciation for the Christian 
gospel each and every day. We ask these things in the name 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. We'll close with a brief 
time of meditation and then as I said we can move upstairs.