Introduction
Last week we read about the time when Elijah the prophet was taken up alive into heaven; and Elisha succeeded him as the Lord’s prophet. From that time on, Elisha would proclaim the word of the Lord to the Lord’s people.
That chapter was, in a sense, an interlude, because none of the kings of Israel or Judah appeared in it. But we’re back on track today, because today’s chapter tells us about Joram, who was the new king of Israel, having succeeded his brother, Ahaziah, whose death was recorded in chapter 1. And so, Joram was another of Ahab’s sons. If you’re looking at the NIV, you’ll see the footnote beside the name Joram, which tells us that he was also known as Jehoram. It gets a little confusing for us, because Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, also had a son named Jehoram who will succeed him as king. And so, for a time, there were two king Jehorams: one in the northern kingdom of Israel and one in the southern kingdom of Judah. Our focus now is on the northern kingdom and this king named Jehoram who, fortunately, is also known as Joram.
Verses 1 to 3
Our narrator follows his ususal pattern in verses 1 to 3 by beginning with a few facts about the king and by giving a brief assessment of his reign. And so, he tells us that Joram became king in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat’s reign; and that he reigned for 12 years. And here’s his assessment of his reign: he did evil in the eyes of the Lord. Some of the kings did what was right in the eyes of the Lord; and some of them did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. Joram was one of the ones who did evil. And so, instead of walking in the ways of the Lord, he went astray. However, the narrator adds that, though he did evil in the sight of the Lord, he was not as bad as his parents, the wicked King Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel. Ahab — probably through his wife’s influence — began to worship and serve the false god, Baal. And Jezebel, you might recall, tried to wipe out all of the Lord’s prophets. They were thoroughly wicked. And fortunately, Joram wasn’t as wicked as them. For instance, we’re told that he got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made. However, our narrator also tells us that he clung to the sins of Jeroboam. He’s the king who succeeded Solomon in the north and he set up his own man-made religion. So, Joram wasn’t as bad as his parents, but he was as bad as Jeroboam, who turned the nation away from the Lord.
Verses 4 and 5
After giving us a brief introduction to the king, the narrator’s normal practice is to describe one incident from the king’s reign. And the incident he chooses to tell us is the time when the people of Moab rebelled against Israel.
You’ll see in verse 4 that our narrator provides a little of the background. The king of Moab had to supply the king of Israel with a hundred thousand lambs and with the wool of a hundred thousand rams. This arrangement may have gone back to the days of King David, because Moab is included in the list of David’s victories in 2 Samuel 8. But, according to verse 5, after King Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against Israel. He would no longer supply Israel with lambs and wool. This would obviously have been a blow to Israel’s economy, but it was also a sign that the glory days of Israel were over and its influence over the surrounding nations had waned.
Verses 6 to 12
And we have Israel’s response in verse 6 and onwards. Joram set out from Samaria, his capital city, and mobilised all Israel. That is, all the northern kingdom of Israel. But he also sent word to Jehoshaphat, the king of the southern kingdom of Judah. Will he come with Joram to fight against Moab? And Jehoshaphat agreed. He replied: ‘I am as you are, my people are as your people, my horses as as your horses.’ So, that’s a positive and encouraging response. Help you? Of course, I’ll help you. What’s mine is your’s.
Next they have to decide on the best route to take. Moab was on the eastern side of the Dead Sea and it was possible to get there by going around the northern end of the sea or by going around the southern end of the sea. The northern route was shorter. However, the north of Moab was apparently well fortified and it would be harder for Israel and Judah to attack Moab from that side. And so, although the southern route was longer, Joram advised them to go that way, which took them through the Desert of Edom.
You’d think the name ‘Desert of Edom’ would have put them off. Who in their right mind wants to travel through a desert where there’s no water and where there aren’t many landmarks and the possibility of getting lost is high? But that’s the route they chose. And we’re told in verse 9 that the king of Israel set out with the king of Judah. And the king of Edom is also there. It’s likely that he was a vassal of Judah and had to do what he was told. So, the king of Edom and his men were there, because Jehoshaphat told them to be there.
And after a roundabout march of seven days, the army had no more water for themselves or for their animals. Joram the king of Israel responded to the news that there was no more water with one word: ‘What!’ It’s an exclamation of despair and pity. The ESV translates it, ‘Alas!’ Alas! What will become of us? Alas! Disaster has come upon us! Alas! It’s hopeless! And then he went on to wonder whether the Lord has called these three kings together only to hand them over to Moab. He thinks they’re done for.
And it’s interesting that he says that it was the Lord who called them together. And he says the same thing a little later in verse 13 when he’s talking to Elisha. This sounds as if they asked the Lord’s permission before undertaking this journey. And that fits with what we know about Jehoshaphat, who was a good king who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. And back in 1 Kings 22, when King Ahab asked him to join Ahab in a battle against Ramoth Gilead, Jehoshaphat said that they must first seek the counsel of the Lord. So, at that time, he would not go with Ahab unless the Lord gave his approval. And it sounds as if something similar happened this time too. Before setting off together, they sought the Lord’s counsel.
But it now seems to Joram that the Lord led them into the desert only to hand them over to Moab. And so, Joram is in despair. But Jehoshaphat is not so sure. And he wonders whether there’s a prophet of the Lord so that they can ask him whether the Lord is for them or against them.
And fortunately Elisha is nearby. One of Joram’s officers knows this and tells the kings. And, in case they don’t know who Elisha is, he tells them that Elisha used to pour water on the hands of Elijah. In other words, he used to serve Elijah and therefore they can count on him to tell them the word of the Lord. And so, the three kings went down to see Elisha.
Verses 13 to 20
We come now to verses 13 to 20 where the narrator tells us what Elisha said to the three kings. At first, he asked: ‘What have we to do with each other?’ That is to say, ‘What are you doing here?’ And he goes on to say to Joram: ‘Shouldn’t you have gone to the prophets of your father and mother?’ His parents served Baal. So, why haven’t you gone to the prophets of Baal? And Joram explains that they have come to Elisha, because it was the Lord who had called them together like this. Since the Lord had called them together, then they want to know what the Lord has in store for them. And presumably they also want the Lord to help them, so that they won’t be handed over to Moab.
Before letting the kings know their fate, Elisha makes clear to Joram that the only reason Elisha is willing to see Joram at all is because of Jehoshaphat. If he had come alone, Elisha wouldn’t have agreed to see him. But since he’s come with Jehoshaphat, then Elisha is prepared to see him. He said in verse 14: ‘I would not look at you or even notice you.’ Maybe put your finger there, because we’ll come back to that at the end.
But Elisha then asked for a harpist to come and play for him. This recalls the time in 1 Samuel 10, when Saul met some prophets at Gibeah, and there were musicians, playing different instruments. And while they were playing, the Holy Spirit came on Saul and he too began to prophesy. And here now, in 2 Kings 3, the harpist played and the Holy Spirit came on Elisha and he began to prophesy. And the message he brought was exactly what the three kings needed to hear. And it was in two parts. Firstly — and with regard to their need for water — he tells them that even though there will be neither wind nor rain, the valley will be filled with water. By mentioning wind and rain, he’s referring to a storm. So, even though they won’t be a storm nearby, the valley will be filled with water. And therefore you and your animals wil drink. Right now, they’re dying of thirst; but very soon they’ll have all the water they need. That’s the first part of the answer.
The second part is in verse 18: the Lord will also hand over Moab to you. So, you think God has called you together to hand you over to Moab. But on the contrary, God will hand them over to you. And, as a result, you will overthrow every fortified city and every major town; and you’ll cut down every good tree; and you’ll stop up all the springs; and you’ll ruin every good field with stones — stones will prevent them from ploughing the land and preparing it for planting. Elisha, of course, is not telling them to do this, but he’s saying that this is what they will do. They will destroy the Moabites and devastate the land.
Before meeting Elisha, Joram was in despair, because they had no water; and he was worried that God had brought them there to destroy them. But Elisha re-assures him that they will have water and that they will have victory.
Verses 20 to 25
And the very next morning, there it was, says our narrator. What was there? The water was there! There hadn’t been any wind in the valley. There hadn’t been any rain in the valley. God didn’t send a storm over the valley. But there it was: all this water, filling the valley.
The water didn’t come from thin air. The narrator tells us that it came flowing down from the direction of Edom. So, perhaps it rained far away over the mountains of Edom. And the water streamed down the mountains and flowed into the valley where the kings and their men had gathered.
And then, when all the Moabites gathered early in the morning to fight against the Israelites, they looked across the valley. And they saw what appeared to them to be a field of blood. And when they saw what appeared to them to be a field of blood, they concluded that the Israelites had fallen out with one another and had killed each other in the night. And we can perhaps understand why they reached this conclusion, because the Israelite army was made up of men from Israel and Judah and Edom. And who knows? Perhaps the Edomites would see this as their chance to liberate themselves from Judah. Or perhaps the people of Judah would see this as their chance to destroy the Israelites. It makes some sense that they might turn on one another.
But the Moabites were wrong about the field of blood. It wasn’t a field of blood. The light from the early morning sun made the water in the valley appear red like blood. They were looking at water, not blood.
But since they thought that the Israelites had killed one another, they were unprepared for what happened next. And what happened next is that the Israelites rose up and fought them until they fled the battlefield. And the Israelites invaded the land and slaughtered the Moabites. And they destroyed the towns and threw stones into the fields and they stopped up the springs of water and they cut down every good tree. And so, they devastated the land, just as Elisha said they would. Only one city was left intact.
Verses 26 and 27
And in the final two verses, we’re told that the king of Moab attempted to attack the king of Edom. But he failed. And then he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king one day, and the king offered his son as a sacrifice on the city wall so that everyone could see. That is to say, he offered his son as a sacrifice to their god, who was called Chemosh. And the narrator says that the fury against Israel was great; and they withdrew and returned to their own land.
Unfortunately we’re not sure how to interpret that last sentence. Whose fury was very great? Some say it was the fury of the Moabites against the Israelites. So, when the king sacrificed his son, his men were stirred up to fight against them. And the Israelites were forced to retreat. However, some say it was the fury of the Lord against the Israelites. So, God was angry with the Israelites for provoking the king of Moab to do such a wicked thing. And then some say it was the fury of the Israelites. The Hebrew can be translated, ‘The fury against Israel’; but it can also be translated, ‘The fury upon Israel’. That is, fury or horror came upon them. They were so horrified by what the king of Moab had done, that they left the battlefield in horror.
Application 1
And so, that’s our chapter. That today’s story. What are we to make of this? What can we learn about faith in Christ from a passage like this one, which tells us about a war between the nations?
There are three things for me to say. The first is this. Given what’s happening these days in the Middle East, with the conflict between Israel and Hamas, I need to say that in Old Testament times the Lord often sent the people of Israel to attack the nations around them. And the Lord sent the people of Israel against the nations to punish the nations for their wickedness. The other nations were a pagan people; and they did terrible things to one another. For instance, as we’ve just read, they would even sacrifice their children to their gods. Though they had God’s law written on their hearts, and though they had a conscience to show them the difference between right and wrong, the people of the other nations chose to do what’s wrong. And so, the Lord used the people of Israel as his rod to punish them.
And just as the Lord used the Israelites to punish the nations, so from time to time he used the nations to punish the Israelites. For instance, because of their persistent rebellion, God sent first the Assyrians and then the Babylonians to capture his people and to take them into exile.
So, God would use the Israelites to punish the nations; and he would use the nations to punish the Israelites. And every time God used one nation to punish another nation, it was a foretaste of the great and terrible day of judgment to come, when God will judge the living and the dead and when he will condemn and punish everyone for what they have done, unless they trust in his Son for forgiveness.
However, lest we think that God still uses his people today to punish the nations for their sins, we need to remember that after the Lord Jesus died and was raised, and before he ascended to heaven, he told the apostles to go into all the world. And he told them to go into all the world, not to kill and to destroy, but to preach the good news of forgiveness and eternal life and to make disciples of all nations. The only sword which God’s people carry now is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, the Bible. And the Lord commands his people throughout the world to love their enemies and to do good to those who persecute them.
In the past, in Old Testament times, the Lord used his people to punish the nations. But now he sends his people to preach to the nations and to call on people everywhere to turn from their sins and to turn to Christ for forgiveness and eternal life.
Application 2
Now let me turn your attention to verse 14 where Elisha said to Joram that if he did not have respect for Jehoshaphat, then he wouldn’t have looked at Joram or noticed him. If it were not for Jehoshaphat, he would have sent Joram away. And so, the only reason Joram was able to approach Elisha is because of Jehoshaphat, who was a good king, who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.
And I’m pointing this verse out to you because this verse is a picture of the gospel. All of us are sinners who sin against the Lord continually. Every day we do what is wrong and we break God’s laws in thought and word and deed. And so, we’re lawbreakers who deserve to be condemned and punished; and none of us — by ourselves — could ever hope to come before God — who is holy — and live. But the wonder of the gospel is that God is prepared to accept us because of Christ. Elisha accepted Joram because of Jehoshaphat; and God accepts us because of Christ. Jehoshaphat was a good king, who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. And Christ is an even better king than Jehoshaphat ever was; and he did everything that was right in the eyes of the Lord; and he did everything necessary to make peace between God and us. He lived the life we should have lived: a life of perfect obedience to God. And he died the death we deserve to die: as the penalty for our sins. He therefore took the blame for us when he died on the cross; and he now shares his perfect obedience with everyone who trusts in him for salvation.
If it were not for Christ, we would be sent away by God to be punished forever. But because of Christ, we can come before God in worship; and we can pray for God’s help; and we can look forward to eternal life in his presence in the new and better world to come, where we will see him and where we’ll be like him and where we’ll be happy forever. If it were not for Jehoshaphat, Elisha would have sent Joram away. And if it were not for Christ, God would send us away forever. But because of Christ, we can look forward to eternal life with God.
Application 3
And finally, the king of Moab offered his firstborn son as a sacrifice to his god. It was a terrible thing to do. And while people today may not trust in Chemosh, nevertheless people today still trust in idols, because an idol is anything which is more important to us than God is and it’s what we rely on for happiness. And that means people can turn their family into an idol, or their career, or their money, or their health, or their nation.
And people will do anything for the sake of their idol; and they will give up anything for it. For instance, think of those people who live for their career. And so, they’ll sacrifice time with their family and their health and their days off for the sake of their career. And they’re prepared to give up all kinds of things for their career, because they think that if they lose their career, life will not be worthy living.
But the Christian message is about the one true God who sacrificed himself for his people. Jesus Christ is God. He is God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity. And he willingly and freely came to earth as one of us, so that he could sacrifice himself on the cross to make up for what we have done wrong and to give us eternal life. That’s the God of Christianity.
The king of Moab wanted to win his god’s favour by sacrificing his firstborn son. But the God of Christianity sacrificed himself so that his people could be with him forever. That’s the God we worship. And yes, God’s people will make sacrifices for him. They will give up things for him. But we don’t make sacrifices to win his favour or to earn his salvation, but to express our gratitude for what he has already done for us when he sacrificed himself for us and for our salvation. This is our God and he’s worthy of all our worship, both now and forevermore.
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