More Than You Need - If That's What You Want (2 Kings 3)

INTRODUCTION

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1 NOT AS BAD; NOT AS GOOD, vv. 1-3

The year is about 850 BC, the people of God are divided into two nations and verse 1 tells us that Jehoshaphat is ruling the southern Kingdom of Judah (we’ve met him before - in the days of Ahab) and Jehoram is ruling the northern Kingdom of Israel.

Jehoram is Ahab’s son. His brother Ahaziah took the throne when Ahab was killed in battle … but Ahaziah had no kids, so when he dies - after falling through the window on the upper floor of the palace - who is going to take the throne of the nation? Well, his brother Jehoram is going to take it, that’s who.

Now if you have been with us along this journey through Kings - you know the story of the kings of the northern kingdom - not a single one of them gets a positive report card from God’s Word. And of these bad northern kings - the family of Ahab is the worst.

Every time the text gives us a verdict on one of these kings - the verdict is that they did ‘evil in the sight of the LORD.’

Ahab - “.... MORE EVIL THAN ALL WHO CAME BEFORE HIM.”

So, when we pick up chapter 3 and verse 2 tells us that Jehoram, ‘… did what was evil in the sight of the LORD ...’. Stop right there. We read these words and think to ourselves, “Oh - here we go again. Nothing changes.”

But the description of this king doesn’t stop there. Verse 2 goes on: “… though NOT like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.”

Well, that’s a little bit of encouragement in a dark dynasty, isn’t it? Why, that’s a commendation: It was Jehoram’s own mother, Jezebel, who came from her homeland to be queen of Israel and pushed Baal worship on the people. She’s the reason that his dad made the pillar of Baal. Now, Ahab is dead, but Jezebel is still very much alive and she has made it very clear what she thinks about anyone who threatens Baal religion in her kingdom. Remember the death threat against Elijah and the hundreds of the LORD’s priests she has already slaughtered?

The Baal pillar is stone, likely with the image of Baal carved into it - holding his lightning bolt - looking very fierce. And Jehoram has unceremoniously pulled it from its perch and stuck it in a storage locker somewhere. There’s no way his mom doesn’t know about this. This is a gutsy move for the new king.

BUT - before we get ready to break out the party favours and throw a celebration for this brave religious reformer … we better read on, because the description isn’t finished: verse 3 goes on: “Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it.”

That word ‘cling’ in verse 3 is an intense action - “A man shall leave his father and mother and ‘CLING’ to his wife and the two shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). It’s the same word.

In other words, Jehoram is double minded .... he pulls back on the Baal worship - that’s a good thing. BUT - he is still fully in love with the corruption that Jeroboam introduced into the worship of God - when he ignored God’s direction for worship in Jerusalem’s temple and built a couple of golden calves to the people could worship at home - in their own way. God makes it clear: “I want you to worship me in this way ...” - Jeroboam says, “I’m not listening”. And now, generations later, Jehoram says by his actions … “Ya - I’m with Jeroboam. I’ll worship the right God but I’ll do it as I please.”

Can you hear the frustration in the text with this king? It’s good that he’s not as bad as he could be … but it’s bad that he’s not as righteous as he ought to be.

Like when you are at a traffic light - You are in the left turn lane, waiting for the green arrow to appear so that you have a chance to make your turn, ahead of the backed up line of traffic that is ready to cut you off and carry on straight - leaving you to wait for another cycle of lights to give you a turn. There is one car ahead of you, you know the green arrow is only on for a short time - you have no time to waste, so you have your foot already on the accelerator and are ready to shoot around the corner, as soon as it’s your turn.

The only problem is that when the green arrow appears - and it’s time to go … the car ahead of you doesn’t move. You wait the polite two or three seconds … but there is no movement. The car ahead Doesn’t start more slowly than you would like … it plain doesn’t budge from it’s spot. And it’s not going to. You look through the window of the car and can see the drivers’ head bowed. He’s not praying (If he was, you would cut him a little slack). He’s not praying … his head is pointed downward, directed at his phone. The guy’s texting. not only is it illegal, but he’s not paying attention to the task at hand … and you know that there is a long line of cars counting on this person to keep his head in the game and go, as soon as the light turns - so they can go too and carry on with their day.

So you lay on the horn. Oh don’t think less of me - it’s not selfish - it’s not mean - it’s concern for the needs of all the people behind you.

It’s the same with Jehoram - His half-hearted obedience to God reminds me of the Israelites Elijah had confronted on top of Mount Carmel: “How long will you go limping between two different opinions?” (1 Kings 18:21).

God’s inspired author of this text is HONKING HIS HORN at Jehoram: “Get going - on the pathway of discipleship. Half-heartedness is NOT enough.”

Jesus made it very clear, as He walked the earth - ‘Don’t come to him

Matthew 22:37, “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

don’t you sense the impatience of the Bible’s ‘Nevertheless’ here? The Bible is never satisfied with anything less than total submission. It’s as if our writer throws his pen down in disgust and hollers, ‘That’s not enough! It won’t do to go around saying it’s not as bad as it could be. Anything less than thorough-going, faithful first-and-second-commandment worship just won’t cut it!’

I don’t say that as an arm-twisting guilt trip … I say that because there is no other way to have delight in the God of JOY … without single-hearted devotion.

SPURGEON - in the Treasury of David, is commenting on ..... Psalm 26:8, “LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where you glory dwells.” Gives this example:

I have in my congregation, said a venerable minister of the gospel, ‘ a worthy, aged woman, who has for many years "I have in my congregation, "said a venerable minister of the gospel, "a worthy, aged woman, who has for many years been so deaf as not to distinguish the loudest sound, and yet she is always one of the first in the meeting. On asking the reason of her constant attendance (as it was impossible for her to hear my voice), she answered, `Though I cannot hear you, I come to 850 God's house because I love it, and would be found in his ways; and he gives me many a sweet thought upon the text when it is pointed out to me: another reason is, because there I am in the best company, in the more immediate presence of God, and among his saints, the honourable of the earth. I am not satisfied with serving God in private; it is my duty and privilege to honour him regularly in public.'" What a reproof this is to those who have their hearing, and yet always come to a place of worship late, or not at all! K. Arvine

I wonder - do you have a passion like THIS for the LORD - to be with His people in worship - because you can’t be satisfied with anything less?

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2 WERE IT NOT THAT I HAVE REGARD, vv. 4-14

Chapter 3 is more than a description of Jehoram - there’s action here. Verse 4 gets us into the story.

Mesha, who was the king of Moab - may have been the ultimate power in his own country .... but unfortunately for him, he didn’t have that kind of power on the international stage. Moab was under the thumb of Israel (which shows that even if the Northern kingdom was a spiritual disaster - if you judged the nation from a pure worldly perspective - things seemed to be going pretty well, actually).

Well Moab was known for it’s sheep rearing - and one of the responsibilities of the king was to supply lamb and wool to Israel’s king. LOTS of lambs and wool. Verse 4 tells us: 100 THOUSAND lambs and the wool of 100 THOUSAND rams. That’s pure taxation to a foreign overlord. It’s expensive and it’s humiliating.

So when Ahab dies and there is that transition period in Israel, when the new king doesn’t fully have his feet under him - that’s a perfect opportunity to

.... and Mesha does just that.

Jehoram may be new on the throne but he’s not an idiot - any imperial power worth its salt will stamp out rebellion. You have to - otherwise your power isn’t going to last.

Israel’s king gathers his army together, marches out of Samaria, sends messengers down south to Jehoshaphat, sitting on his own throne in Jerusalem - and says, “I’m heading to war - will you come with me?”

Jehoshaphat responds in v. 7, “I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

Now, hang on a minute. Does that response sound familiar to you, at all? If you’ve been with us on our journey through these books - this isn’t the first time you’ve heard a proposal like this, or a response - exactly like this.

Remember Jehoram’s dad, Ahab. He asked this very king, Jehoshaphat, to come with him into battle. Back in 1 Kings 22:4, Ahab wants to take on the king of Syria - he asks Jehoshaphat to come with him and Jehoshaphat says, “I am as you are, my people as your peopel, my horses as your horses.”

The exact same response.

If you remember - that battle didn’t turn out very well for Ahab - that was the battlefield where he lost his life. But one thing is for sure - Jehoshaphat is a faithful ally. For the second time he says, “I’ll help you fight - let’s go.”

READ vv. 9-12

The text describes the route the kings take to get to Moab. That’s because it isn’t the route you would expect. You see, Samaria is in the north. So Jehoram and his army come down south to meet up with Jehoshaphat’s army in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is to the west of the northern tip of the Dead Sea. Moab is on the eastern side, right around the middle of the length of the Dead Sea.

The fastest, most direct route to get to a place where they could engage Moab’s army - would be to cross the Jordan above the northern end of the Dead Sea and head directly south. Instead, when Jehoram is asked, ‘which way are we going?’ .... he says, in v. 8, “By the way of the wilderness of Edom.”

That means marching all the way down the western side of the Dead Sea, around the southern tip, which goes right through Edom’s territory - and then UP the eastern side of the sea.

It’s like being asked, which way are we going to go to Kelowna … and instead of saying - let’s get on the Coquihalla, so we can get there in 3 1/2 hours .... we make a plan to go down to Seattle and across Wenatchee, before heading North. It’s a long way out of the way.

Since they are making the journey on foot - with no air-conditioning and no 24 hour truck stops along the way to get supplies .... the journey is hot, the troops are thirsty … and they run out of water.

Wouldn’t you think of the need for water - AHEAD OF TIME?! A massive army with animals along for food and you are marching through hot, dry, wilderness terrain … you are going to need lots and lots of water! So, who’s to blame for this failure in planning?

Well, Jehoram blames God, 2 Kings 3:10, “Alas! The LORD has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab.”

Isn’t that so typical? The guy wants to worship God on his own terms - won’t obey the Sovereign King of the universe fully - but when he’s in a bad spot - He expects the LORD of Glory to be there in an instant at the snap of his puny fingers. Doesn’t he sound like so many people in our day?! “Don’t tell me what to do, God - you’re choking my freedom. Okay - now I’ve made my choices and I’m suffering - God don’t you see I’m in a bind here? Where are you when I need you?!”

Jehoshaphat has a different response. He doesn’t blame God … he wnats to hear from him. Verse 11, “And Jehoshaphat said, ‘Is there no prophet of the LORD here, through whom we may inquire of the LORD?’’”

Now, here’s another familiar sounding sentence comeing from the lips of this king of Judah. Remember back to when Ahab invited him to join in for a battle with Syria? Jehoshaphat asked for a word from the LORD … and when fake prophets came along to say exactly what they thought the kings wanted to hear - and you even had the one guy with the horns on his head as props - “Go ahead and fight - you’ll gore the enemy like a bull.”

And Jehoshaphat’s reponse was: “No, no, no. I want to hear a TRUE word from God … and then Micaiah came along ...”.

Well, here’s Jehoshaphat again - asking for a prophet to bring God’s Word. That’s a positive.

Oh, but there’s another problem: notice where we are in the process. In the earlier alliance, with Ahab - Jehoshaphat wouldn’t even put on his boots and grab his sword UNTIL he asked for God’s guidance. But here, with Jehoram - Jehoshaphat doesn’t think to stop for guidance - until the army is out of water and facing defeat - even death.

(Do you see how this story is full of twists and turns? Jehoram is bad … but he’s not as bad as he could have been. That’s good. He’s praiseworthy for removing the Baal stone. That’s good … but he still clings to false worship - so that’s bad. Jehoshaphat is a faithful king - and seeks God’s guidance … that’s good. But he doesn’t bother to ask fo it until he has followed the crowd and their plans have fallen apart. That’s NOT good. What a great reminder this is of life in the world we are in right now.)

Now - the army is on the verge of death - in no condition to fight anyone … and Jehoshaphat FINALLY asks, in v. 11, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here, through whom we may inquire of the LORD?”

And, it just so happens … not only IS there a TRUE prophet in the entourage … but that true prophet is non other than Elisha.

The three kings make their way down to Elisha to hear from God.

READ vv. 13-14

The kings show up at the entrance to Elisha’s tent - the bald prophet looks directly at Jehoram with daggers in his eyes and says, “You come from a family that has no shortage of yes-men prophets representing multiple gods … you yourself worship a God of your own imagination … you do not follow the word of the God of Israel .... so go and get answers from mom and dad’s prophets.”

Jehoram insists that he knows God is the One in heaven in control of their circumstances - but Elisha will have none of it.

His harsh answer to Israel’s king isn’t surprising. Jehoram is the classic convert in the trenches. It’s amazing how many people who have no use for God all of their lives - when life is in danger -

Jehoram doesn’t want a God He has to surrender to … He wants a God with a life-presever. As Dale Davis puts it, for Jehoram, God is okay as ‘an air bag for the accidents of life’ - but he doesn’t want him as a ‘compass to guide his way.’

Elisha sees right through him - so I’m not surprised by his harsh words.

What DOES surprise me, actually - is the way Elisha speaks about Jehoshaphat. Don’t miss the force of what he says about the king of the south, in v. 14, “As the LORD of hosts lives …were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you.”

In other words - I wouldn’t give you the time of day - I wouldn’t give you the honor of even looking at you, Jehoram .... EXCEPT that GOD HAS REGARD FOR Jehoshaphat.”

That’s grace. Why do I say that? Well, because Jehoshaphat is a true worshiper of God … but he sure seems to have a habit of making dumb alliances. His alliance with Ahab was a disaster - almost got himself killed and Ahab didn’t make it out alive.

Now, here he is with Ahab’s son - another dumb alliance. And what makes it even worse, is that he didn’t even think to pray for guidance until the drinking water is gone and the mission is on the brink of catastrophic failure.

Can you identify with Jehoshaphat? You’re no Jehoram - you do want to follow God’s Truth. You are a Christian - you trust in Jesus Christ. His finished, saving work is your only hope … and you want to please him. But, how often do you find yourself in a place of having failed the ‘God I love’?!

You know how it is - you find yourself in one of those moods … you are miserable. You are painfully aware of how much misery you are experiencing yourself - and how much you’ve brought to the people you care about.

When you look back, over the past few days - or weeks or months or years even … wondering ‘how did I descent into this abyss of pain?” … Your mind is flooded with your failures. “My devotional life stinks. I have been falling into the same old patterns of sin that I should have overcome years ago … I keep trying to start a new chapter in my life - but keep falling back into the old story.”

And you feel the hot breath of Satan on your neck, you hear the voice of the enemy in your ear, spewing his accusations:

“You are exactly where you deserve to be … you never learn … there is no more of God’s patience for you … do you think He’s foolish enough to welcome His prodigal son or daughter back again … for the 2 THOUSANDTH time?!”

Oh hear God speak through Elisha, to YOU, CHRISTIAN: “I have regard for ....” And insert your name here.

“I know exactly who you are and where you have failed .... but I have regard for you.”

And look at the word that God speaks to these kings for the sake of imperfect Jehoshaphat:

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3 EXTRAVAGANT GRACE, vv. 15-25

READ vv. 15-19

“I will supply you with the water you need to survive. But that’s not enough”, God says. Sure, in a barren wilderness, where the riverbeds show nothing but dust - providing enough water for an entire alliance of three armies to drink - that may be enough miracle for us to think to ask for.

.... But this is the Creator, Sustainer and Sovereign of the universe we are talking about here - water isn’t impossible enough for Him … That’s a ‘light thing’ He says in v. 18.

I’m going to give you victory in battle too.

First, comes the water: Verse 17 makes it clear that there’s going to be no doubt that this is miracle. The God who answered Elijah with Fire is going to answer Elisha with water. Verse 17, ‘You shall not see wind or rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that YOU shall drink, your, your LIVESTOCK … and your ANIMALS.”

All that the human eye can see is a dry gulch - When the spring rains come - and overwhelm the hills, the water rolls down into the wadis below. But this isn’t springtime and there is not a drop of water in them.

Sure enough. Let’s pick it up in v. 20. READ 2 Kings 3:20 “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.”

The kings wake up, clear the sleep from their eyes, pull open the tent flaps to look outside - hoping for answered prayer - DESPERATE for some sign that God’s promise of water will be fulfilled. But there’s nothing - no sound of raindrops falling, no clouds in the sky, no moisture on the dry ground. And hearts sink. Of course they do. But lo and behold, when they make their way to the streambed that yesterday was desert-dry ....

There it is - filled and flowing with water. God brought the rain somewhere else, but it has flowed right to where it was needed the most. The soldiers drink and splash and swim in the life-sustaining gift from the LORD. The animals drink and health returns.

But water alone is TOO LIGHT a thing for God to give His people. That’s what He said Himself. Notice how he uses the fulfillment of the FIRST promise to help fulfill the SECOND promise:

READ vv. 21-24.

The Moabites know that Israel’s armies are on the way - they send reconnaisance - they see the reflection of the water. The way the water reflects the sun makes it look as though it’s not water in the streambed - it looks to them like blood. Why there wasn’t any liquid there, just last night. So they jump to the conclusion: There’s been division in Israel’s ranks. They’ve obviously started fighting amongst themselves - this river of blood must mean that they’ve killed each other … which means that all of their stuff is ours for the taking. “Moab, to the spoil!”

The Moabites approach Israel’s camp, thinking that it is empty - filled only with corpses. No sooner do they set foot inside the camp - when the Israelites LEAP from their tents, sword-first, they pounce on an unsuspecting enemy and inflict a devastating blow. The push them back and chase them back and wreak havoc on the land as they go.

2 Kings 3:25 “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.”

Can you feel the joyous progress of the allied armies … as they go from almost dying of thirst - to being unstoppable as they march through Moab’s land … until the enemy king is contained inside the city walls of Kir-Hareseth. God has kept His word.

Read Verses 26-27

Now this is a strange ending to the story … another plot twist. Moab’s king is literally backed into a corner. So he reaches for the

God kept His promise - He did give Moab into Israel’s hand - for the sake of faithful king Jehoshaphat. But this is the Northern Kingdom’s fight - this is Jehoram’s war … and Jehoram, who refused to worship God in truth - didn’t get to enjoy the victory. He faced pushback and he turned around and walked home.

Earlier this month, there were a couple of deaths of well-known people, which particularly caught my attention. John Shelby Spong was one of them - he was a very well-known American bishop in the Episcopal Church … the other person was Norm MacDonald - A Canadian comedian who made it big in America. One of the men was a theologian and author who wrote books and taught about God for decades. I remember seeing him in person, in Vancouver, during my seminary days, in a debate he had with John Stott over homosexuality and the Christian faith. The other man, Norm MacDonald was never, as far as I know, consulted by the press to hear his teaching about God. So when they both died, within days of each other - - who died better?

Well, you would think the Bishop, of course, wouldn’t you? The progressive press sure thought so … He was lauded with award after award throughout his career, including ‘Humanitarian of the Year’ in 1999.

Just as you would think that the King with the most power in 2 Kings 3 was Jehoram of Israel - He was leading the battle, He was going to protect the taxation of his large empire … and, after all - He did take a step in the right spiritual direction with his getting rid of the Baal Stone. But God doesn’t judge the way humans do ...

Bishop Spong spent a lifetime inside the Christian Church, trying to argue away its every distinctive including the character of God Himself, scorning the dupes foolish enough to believe that this is God’s self-revelation to the human race and our only appropriate response is to humbly worship Him according to THIS WORD. He wrote books, entitled, “Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism”, “Why Christianity Must Change or Die” - by change, he meant - get rid of every teaching that makes the Christian faith ‘CHRISTIAN’.

Like Jehoram who thought he could get away with worshiping a God he made in his own image.

Norm MacDonald is one of the funniest comedians I’ve ever watched. He died at 61 after a private 10 year battle with cancer. He was no Bible teacher, didn’t claim to be a theologian … but in a podcast interview - this is what he had to say about God and his relationship to humanity:

“Some people believe that man is divine, like kind of a hippie idea. I can’t believe that because I know my own heart, and I know that’s not true. Other people believe that we’re wretched like the cynics or the atheists would believe - we’re all just wretched nothingness, just animals, just creatures. I can’t believe that. It doesn’t make any sense, that we’re just beasts. I will say that Christianity has this interesting compromise where we’re both divine and wretched, and there’ this Middle Man that’s the Savior, that through Him we can become divine, but we’re born wretched. I kind of like that one, because it sort of makes sense.

One Reformation Day, not too long ago, he tweeted out this message: “Scripture. Faith. Grace. Christ, Glory of God. Smart men say nothing is a miracle. I say everything is.” Norm MacDonald, comedian - listing the 5 Solas of the Reformation and declaring that it’s all miraculous. I don’t know that precise state of his heart. But I do know this - if he truly believed the words of his tweet - then like Jehoshaphat, the faithful, imperfect king of Judah … and like everyone here who knows their own inadequacies but clings to Christ as their only hope … then he will, right now in heaven - be tasting the goodness and extravagant grace of the God who is MORE than enough - more than you can ever ask for.