The Defeat of Moab

2 Kings Chapter 3


The Bible says in 2 Kings, 3:1, “Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.”
The Bible goes on to tell us that King Jehoram did evil in the sight of the Lord. He put away the image of baal that his father and mother had set up, but the Bible tells us that he hung onto the sins of Jeroboam.

What were the sins of Jeroboam? First of all, to learn about the sin of Jeroboam we must go back in time a little bit. The First king of Israel was King Saul. The second king was King David, who was called a man after God’s own heart. Next on the throne was King Solomon, the son of David. King Solomon was the wisest king to ever rule. After Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam began to reign as king. The children of Israel came to Rehoboam and asked if he could lighten the load which his father had put on them, and make their yoke a little easier. But Rehoboam refused. Not only did he refuse, but he made their yoke even heavier. This caused a division within the children of Israel, and they left Rehoboam, and made Jeroboam their king instead. All that remained with Rehoboam was the tribe of Judah, and Benjamin.

King Jeroboam thought if the people started going back to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices in the temple, that their hearts would turn once again to Rehoboam. So Jeroboam made two golden calves and set them up for all Israel to worship. He said to them in chapter 12, and verse 28, “ I know it’s too much for you to travel all the way to Jerusalem. So I thought I’d help you out and create for you some god’s right here in your own home town. Behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

Don’t you think that made God jealous? God was the one who brought them out of Egypt, not some golden cows that were made from the hands of a man. God was the one who loved them and cared for them. God was the one who gave them victories over their battles. Yet they wanted to worship a god who couldn’t feed them, who couldn’t care for them, and who couldn’t win battles for them. They would much rather worship a god who couldn’t see them or watch over them. They wanted to worship a god who couldn’t hear them when they cried for help. This hunk of gold had no eyes, ears, nor even a heart. But their God had a big heart that could be touched for them, if they would only have done right. So we learn that the sin of Jeroboam was a very hurtful sin to God.

Now, back to our story. After the death of wicked king Ahab, Mesha, the king of Moab, began to rebel against the king of Israel. So Jehoram, king of Israel, sent word to Jehoshephat, king of Judah, saying: “The king of Moab, has rebelled against me. Will you go to battle with me against Moab?”

And Jehoshaphat answered, “I will go with thee to battle against Moab.”

So the two kings got together to discuss which way they should go up to battle. They ended up getting together with the King of Edom, and he went with them to battle also. So the three kings took off on their seven-day journey to Moab. Along the way they ran out of water. The three kings, and the men that were with them were parched with thirst. They had no water for their horses nor for the cattle that followed them.

At last the King of Israel said,” I betcha this is God’s plan to get the three of us together, so that he can deliver us into the hands of the Moabites.”

But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a prophet of the Lord around here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?” King Jehoshaphat may have had a lot of faults, but he sure knew where to go when there was trouble.

One of the kings servants said, “Hey, Elisha is here, the one who poured water on the hands of Elijah.

Jehoshaphat said, “ Surely,the word of the Lord is with him.” So all three kings went to see Elisha.

When Elisha saw the king of Israel, he said, “What have I to do with thee. Why don’t you go to the prophets of your father and mother, and let them help you out.” For you see, their prophets were the prophets of Baal.

And the king of Israel said, “No way, I can’t go to them. But tell me this much. The Lord has brought us three kings together to deliver us into the hand of Moab, hasn’t he?”

Elisha said, “ As the Lord liveth, were it not that I regard the presence of King Jehoshsaphat, I wouldn’t even look at you, or give you the time of day.” Elisha respected Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, because Jehoshaphat had a continuous habit of wanting to inquire from the prophet of the Lord. He wanted to find out what the Lord had to say about things. That was a real good habit if you ask me. I’m also glad that out of respect for his Son, God looks upon me and hears my cry.
Elisha told the king of Israel to bring him a minstrel. A minstrel was a person who entertained in music. The Bible says in verse 15, that when the minstrel played his music, the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha, and Elisha said, “Thus saith the Lord, Make this valley full of ditches. Now, your not going to see any wind or rain, but guess what? This valley is going to be filled with water. There’s going to be plenty enough water for you, and your cattle, and your beast. But this is only a light thing in the sight of the Lord: he will also deliver the Moabites into your hands.”

Boy howdy! What a mighty God we serve. Can you imagine a dry valley being filled with water and the Lord doesn’t even use rain? There wasn’t even any wind, or clouds around either. It was just a dry, and dusty valley. The Lord didn’t tell them to dig wells. He just told them to dig some ditches. The Lord performed a miracle that day right in front of their eyes, and he called it just a small thing. Wow! What a God! I’m glad he’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. I’m so glad he doesn’t grow weak, or burn out through the ages. What a privilege to know him personally.

You know, God also used that water in the valley as a trap for the Moabites. The next morning the sun shone down upon the water in the valley, and to the Moabites it looked like puddles of blood. So they thought that there had already been a battle in the valley, and that the kings had slain each other. They were all excited, and said, “Lets go down there and gather all the spoil for ourselves.” But when they went into the valley, the kings were ready and waiting for them. They won the battle that day, just as Elisha told them they would.