Scripture reading – 2 Kings 3; 2 Kings 4

Our study of the second book of the Kings continues with the prophet Elisha taking a prominent place in Israel as the man of God. The death of King Ahab, and the ascension of his son Jehoram to the throne of Israel, gave opportunity for the king of Moab to challenge Israel’s demand for tribute (3:4-5).

2 Kings 3

Facing his first challenge as king of Israel, Jehoram numbered his soldiers, and solicited the help of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle?” (3:7a). Remembering the family ties the king of Judah had with the king of Israel (for Jehoshaphat had taken a daughter of Ahab to be the wife of his son), the kings agreed to go to war, saying, “I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses” (3:7).

Agreeing to attack Moab by going south to Edom, and then northward on the westside of the Dead Sea through Edom, the king of Edom joined the kings of Israel and Judah to war against his northern neighbor (3:8). Seven days into their journey, “there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them” (3:9). Three armies and no water was a crisis only God could resolve, and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah asked, “Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?” (3:10)

A sad irony at this point, it appears none of the kings had sought the LORD’S blessing, and even the godly king of Judah had failed to call a prophet for counsel until the extremity of his need. A servant of Israel’s king answered the king of Judah, and said, “Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah” (3:11).

Elisha, though he had been known as Elijah’s servant, was providentially the counsel of not one king, but three kings who sought his wisdom: “So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him” (3:12).

Evidencing the faith and spirit of Elijah, Elisha rebuked Jehoram, the king of Israel, saying, “What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother [i.e. false prophets of Baal]. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab” (3:13). Elisha asserted, he would give the word of the LORD, not for Jehoram, but because he had respect for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah (3:14).

Sending for a musician, the prophet apparently delivered the word from the LORD with a song, and instructed the kings, “Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches” (3:16). Though the kings would see no wind or sign of rain, they were to prepare reservoirs to contain the waters the LORD promised He would send for the men and their animals (3:17). Elisha promised their obedience and step of faith would be rewarded, and the LORD would deliver the Moabites into the hands of the kings (3:18-21).

When the Moabites heard the kings had come to war against them, they prepared for war and rose up early in the morning. Looking over the desert, “the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood” (3:22). Because the red of the waters looked like blood, the Moabites mistakenly believed the armies had turned on one another (3:23). When they came upon the encampment, the Israelites rose against the Moabites, and drove them back through their own cities (3:24-25).

When the king of Moab realized the battle was lost, he sought to break through a line of Edomite soldiers (3:26). In desperation, and apparently to appease his false gods, the king of Moab sacrificed his eldest son, and the heir to his throne, “and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall” (3:27). Such an act was abhorrent to God’s people, but stirred the Moabites to a “great indignation against Israel,” and the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom “returned to their own land” (3:27)

2 Kings 4

Briefly, notice in 2 Kings 4 that Elisha’s ministry as the prophet of God to Israel was validated by four miracles. The first was multiplying a widow’s oil to pay her debts and save her sons from becoming bond slaves (4:1-7).   The second miracle brought blessing to a childless woman and her elderly husband with a son as a reward for their household serving as Elisha’s benefactors (4:8-17).  A third miracle raised that same couples’ son from the dead (4:18-37).  Finally, Elisha turned a pot of poison pottage into one that nourished the “sons of the prophets” (4:38-44).

Closing thoughts – While the miracles performed by Elisha gained him standing in Israel and before the people, they nevertheless had no lasting effect on moving the nation to turn to the LORD.

Repentance and revival come through brokenness, humility, prayer, surrender, and obedience.

2 Chronicles 7:14 14If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Copyright © 2021 – Travis D. Smith