Untitled Sermon (2)

2 Kings 3:1–27 ESV

In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twelve years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it. Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he had to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. And he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to battle against Moab?” And he said, “I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” Then he said, “By which way shall we march?” Jehoram answered, “By the way of the wilderness of Edom.” So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! The Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?” Then one of the king of Israel’s servants answered, “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. And Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No; it is the Lord who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” And Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you. But now bring me a musician.” And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him. And he said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘I will make this dry streambed full of pools.’ For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind or rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals.’ This is a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will also give the Moabites into your hand, and you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop up all springs of water and ruin every good piece of land with stones.” The next morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came from the direction of Edom, till the country was filled with water. When all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, from the youngest to the oldest, were called out and were drawn up at the border. And when they rose early in the morning and the sun shone on the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely fought together and struck one another down. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!” But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose and struck the Moabites, till they fled before them. And they went forward, striking the Moabites as they went. And they overthrew the cities, and on every good piece of land every man threw a stone until it was covered. They stopped every spring of water and felled all the good trees, till only its stones were left in Kir-hareseth, and the slingers surrounded and attacked it. When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.

King Jehoram Idolatry (Israel’s 9th Ruler)

Big Idea

The big idea is that seeking God brings hope and deliverance

OR

The big idea is not to rely on human power and wisdom, but rely on God who provides generously, who empowers and leads them to victory by rewarding the righteous who seek Him.

“Provides generously” indicates God’s provision for them was more than their stated request.

“Empowers” indicates God’s power is the true might of the army.

“Leads” indicates God’s wisdom as their guide to secure their victory over Moab.

God’s Compassion

The failed provision: Their lack of water was delivered by God’s provision to the righteous who seek Him. God was their source of provision if only they relied on Him.

God’s power

The weakened army : Their seemingly powerful army was defeated by a lack of water. God was the true might of the army if only they had relied on Him.

God’s wisdom

The poor strategy: Their lack of wisdom which almost led to their defeat was delivered through God’s wisdom on how to attack Moab. God was their true guide and strategist if only King Jeroham relied on God’s wisdom by seeking God before attacking Moab. **Notice the emphasis on the plans made by King Jeroham and God Himself and the stark difference of their plans.

The author paints a seemingly good start for King Jeroham. Jeroham forms allegiance with Judah and Edom to defeat Moab.

Jeroham is probably confident of their:

strategy (going by the wilderness of Edom)

size of the army

The story up to here seems like Jeroham is about to win the victory with all things planned out exactly as he had wanted. Thus, he did not see the need to rely on God since he relied on his own wisdom, provision and power.

Everything starts to crumble when their plans did not go the way they thought it would. Jeroham realize:

Their big army has become a defeated and weakened army due to a lack of water.

They needed God to intervene and secure the victory for them. And God did so only for Jehoshaphat’s sake which the blessing then flowed to king Jeroham also.

Side points

God have no intention of helping Jeroham because of his wickedness

God answers their request generously, immeasurably more than they have asked for (water + victory)

God’s love for Jehoshaphat lead to their victory.

Background info

As we learn from the Moabite Stone (see the Introduction), Moab had become Israel’s vassal in Omri’s time.

Vassal: A king or ruler who owes loyalty to a suzerain or more powerful high king

Elisha’s use of a musician:

Putting into a trance like state

to aid his prophesying (15) recalls the use of musical instruments by the ecstatic prophets in 1 Sa. 10:5–13. He prophesied both water and military success, and the first part of the prophecy was fulfilled the very next day. Elisha plays no further part in the story.

Calm the prophet’s mind

The music was used to accompany praise and prayer, which calmed the mind of the prophet that he might clearly hear the word of the Lord. Music often accompanied prophecies in the OT. Harp music helped put Elisha into a frame of mind in which he could readily discern the Lord’s direction.

The human sacrifice of the crown-prince publicly on the wall of the capital was a rare practice (Judg. 11:31, 39) used to appease the national god Chemosh ‘who was angry with his land’ (Moabite Inscrip. 5) and had showed his displeasure in their calamitous defeat

The mode of washing hands denoted one of servant and master

It is probable that eating utensils such as knives and spoons were not used to eat with, and so it was necessary the hands be washed at the end of each meal. Usually a pitcher and basin were used for this. The hands were held over the basin while a servant poured water on them. The water was caught so that it could be used for other purposes rather than being lost into the ground. The expression in the text-verse, “used to pour water on the hands” shows that Elisha performed the work of a servant for Elijah. He was Elijah’s assistant as well as his disciple

The idiom meant that Elisha had personally served Elijah. Jehoshaphat recognized that Elisha was a true prophet of the Lord

2 Kings 3:1-3

Partial Obedience is disobedience. God does not accept any thing less than total submission.

Still practices idolatry even though he removes a sacred pillar of Baal.

Participated in the sins of Jeroboam cult (1 Kings 12:25-33)

One may relinquish greater evils yet cling to evil nonetheless

Because we have given up other forms of idolatry does not mean that we are free from idolatry

2 Kings 9-13

Why did Jeroham say that? “The Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab”

v9 - Ascribes blame to God even though from the very start, he did not seek God for wisdom and direction and now wants to shift the blame to God.

v10 Joram’s expression of dismay indicates that he considered the Lord responsible for their predicament

A sign of the impending judgment of Yahweh on the coalition

Elisha calls Jehoram to seek His father’s and mother’s prophets. (Prophets of Baal and Asherah)

v13 Jeroham has the audacity to ascribe blame to God and demands that God does something about the mess Jeroham had created himself. He replies to Elisha no as he thinks God is to be blame and is asking God to take responsibility for His actions.

It was Jeroham’s folly who allowed their army to be without water.

2 Kings 14-21

For the sake of King Jehoshaphat, God brings deliverance as he sought after God’s guidance through the prophets

Throughout 2 Kings 3, God was:

1) Dealt disrespectfully

2) Blasphemed

3) wrongly accused

4) displeased by Jeroham’s evil actions

Yet the stunning part of this whole story is in His patience and abundant grace, not only did not strike King Jeroham down for ascribing blame to God, but instead showed compassion and generosity to their requests.

Jeroham has placed himself in a position where he will not receive help/blessings from God.

God’s compassion

v14 - It was for King Jehoshaphat that God would allow them to defeat Moab’s army and not for King Jeroham.

v17 - He says that He will provide water for them.

God’s generosity

God does far more than what they have requested

v 18 He not only grants their request to have water to drink

He also grants them something that they did not ask for which is that the Moabs will be defeated by them.

King Jehoshaphat -> Jeroham || King Jesus -> Sinners

King Jeroham received the benefits because of King Jehoshaphat and likewise linking it to Christ, I am reminded that apart from Christ atoning work and imputed righteousness to us, we stand condemned and have no share in God’s blessings. If we receive any benefit from God, it is because of our Davidic king, Jesus. We don't deserve heaven’s crumbs but have receive mercy and grace because of what Jesus has done for us.

Take note (Speculation):

v19 The Lord may have known at the end of 2 Kings 3 that Israelites would have retreated and they would not have besieged the city thus by destroying the fertility of their land and wiping out most of the Moab people, God has fulfilled His promise to have victory against Moab.

There was no mention of God promising that they would take hold of the city. Only to have victory over it and to attack its cities and its supply of food and water which will have proven Moab’s defeat.

Deuteronomy 20:19 (cross-reference)

19“When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you?

God knew that Israel was not going to take hold of Moab’s land but only to win the victory, that is why the destroying of trees was allowed as compared to Deuteronomy 20:19. The reasons are stated below.

Cutting down all the good trees would make it difficult for the Moabites to have fruit to eat and would mean they would have little shade.

Stopping up all the springs would limit the Moabites’ water supply

Putting large stones in the fields would retard cultivation and lessen their productivity.

The brilliant plan of God to defeat Moab

v22 The Moabs were very experienced with the weather at that time and knew that there would not have been rain at that time. So water was not possible to flow to them and as the sun had shown on the water which made it look like blood, the Moabs assumed that if it cant be water that flowed, and that it looks red, the only option left is that it is blood!

Desperation of King Mesha

v27 Defeat in battle was regarded by pagan Near Eastern warriors as a sign that their gods were angry with them. In desperate hope for intervention by his idol god, Mesha sacrificed his oldest son to the Moabite god Chemosh. This was done in plain view of everyone inside and outside the city in an attempt to induce Chemosh to deliver the Moabites from disastrous defeat by appeasing Chemosh wrath through human sacrifice.

Comparison of God and Chemosh (god of the moabs)

Chemosh, the god of the moabs needed to appease his wrath which required child sacrifice in order to stop the attack made by the Israelites.

For Chemosh to answer, they require child sacrifice to do that.

Yahweh on the other hand, even when injustice and disrespect was brought by Jeroham to Him, yet God was compassionate and generous. He also showed.

God is more than willing to answer his people to those who ask of Him, they need only to asking