One lesson Israel learned from God is that when they honor God, God honors them. God takes care of them. God works with them and for them. Nevertheless, if they dishonor God, God judges them. God deals with Israel in the context of covenant faithfulness.
That is what we learn in this story of two kings and one prophet. The writer introduces Jehoram as king over the northern kingdom of Israel. His father was the wicked Ahab, who ruled with his more wicked wife, Jezebel, for twenty-two years. When Ahab died in battle, his son, Ahaziah, took his place. Ahaziah ruled for only two years. He died in a fall from the palace balcony in Samaria (2 Ki. 1:2-18). Jehoram took over power upon his brother’s death (2 Ki. 3:1).
We learn three spiritual lessons about one’s relationship with God in the actions of these three characters. We will look into the first two kinds of hearts in this chapter, and the third kind in the next.
A Divided Heart Draws the Condemnation of God
The writer of Kings is no smooth-talking journalist or politician. He writes it like it is. He condemns Jehoram with God-breathed words. Thus, God condemns Jehoram for his evil actions (2 Ki. 3:2).
The composer appears to employ a chiasm (X-shape literary structure) in vv. 2-3. Hebrew literary works often use chiastic parallelism, wherein the second line explains or expands on the first line.
A - He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD,
B - though not like his father and mother,
B1 - for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made (v. 2).
A1 - Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it (v. 3).
Notice that the writer tells about the evil of Jehoram in A, which he repeats in a parallel line in A1. Then he writes about the good of Jehoram in B, which he explains in B1.
How does he paint Jehoram? He paints Jehoram as neither good nor bad. Jehoram was bad, but not as worse as Ahab and Jezebel. He was good in putting away the pillar of Baal. Nevertheless, he was bad in clinging to the sin of Jeroboam. Jeroboam’s sin was calf-worship.
Jehoram clung to calf-worship probably because it served his political interests well, just as it did with Jeroboam. Does this not sound familiar? Many Christian businessmen resort to sinful transactions because it serves their business well.
Political power is more important to Jehoram than obedience to Yahweh. Jehoram therefore was neither godly nor godless. His heart was neither hot nor cold for God. His heart was not whole, but divided. He had a divided heart, a divided loyalty.
He is like some pastors who do not take a stand on certain critical issues. Confronted with controversial issues, they take neither side but opt for both sides.
Russell Dilday tells the story of such a man during the civil war between the States in America. The Northern army wore blue uniforms. The Southern army wore gray. He had many friends in the North and the South. He refused to take either side.
He came out one day wearing a uniform with a blue jacket and gray pants. Eventually, he was shot on the upper blue part and the lower gray part of his uniform! The blue army shot his gray pants. The gray army shot at his blue jacket.1
The sin of King Jeroboam was the establishment of calf-worship—one calf of gold in Dan and one in Bethel. Have you heard of the expression, “holy cow!”? That is what King Jeroboam did. He set up holy cow worship in two cities in Israel.
Jeroboam was the first king of the ten tribes of Israel. He did not want the people to go to Jerusalem in the southern kingdom of Judah, to worship in the temple there. He feared that the tribes might shift their allegiance to the house of David and put him out of the picture. So he set up calf-worship in the temples of Dan and Bethel. He also installed fake priests who were not Levites. He built temples on high places (1 Ki. 12:26-33). That was the sin of Jeroboam.
So why does God condemn King Jehoram? Because even though he put away the pillar of Baal in Israel, he still “clung” to the worship of false gods. He did not totally obey God’s command against idolatry. He had a divided heart and a double mind. With a divided heart, he was half-devoted to eradicating Baal worship. But he was half-devoted also to calf-worship.
God condemns half-heartedness. The people of Israel have long worshiped Yahweh but followed Baal also. On Mt. Carmel, Elijah challenged them with these words, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Ki. 18:21).
Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money" (Matt. 6:24).
Jesus warned the church at Laodicea, "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:15).
Moses said,
‘And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul’ (Deut. 10:12-13).
God seeks the wholehearted worship of His people. “I am the LORD your God . . . You shall have no other gods before me” (Deut. 5:6-7). God seeks an all-or-nothing worship. Either you worship Him with all your mind, heart, and soul, or you do not worship Him at all. To worship other gods is idolatry. To worship the one true God, while worshipping other gods, is still idolatry. Idolatry is the worship of the one true God, while worshipping other gods. Either you worship God totally, or you do not really worship Him at all.
God sees Jehoram’s heart and sends a divine trial. That divine test took the form of a serious rebellion from Mesha, king of Moab.
A Sensitive Heart Draws the Attention of God
Doubtless, Yahweh ordained the rebellion of the Moabites as part of the covenant curse. He also drew Jehoram and Jehoshaphat together. Jehoram was the godless king of the northern kingdom of Israel. Jehoshaphat was the godly king of the southern kingdom of Judah. These two were brought together for a divine reason.
Israel had long subjugated the Moabites since the time of David. The Moabites paid Israel an annual tax of 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams (2 Ki. 3:4). Now the Moabites under King Mesha rebelled and
reinforced their cities on her northern border with Israel (vv. 4-8). (If you look at the map at the back of your Bible, Moab is located just east of the Dead Sea.)
However, the rebellion of Moab was Yahweh’s way of bringing the godly Jehoshaphat and the lukewarm Jehoram together. The intent is for Jehoshaphat to influence Jehoram to seek the LORD. We may say that Jehoshaphat should not have cooperated with Jehoram. Yet how else can Jehoram come to Elisha and hear the word of the LORD? The writer of Kings does not condemn his actions. As we shall see later, God brought them to a point of helplessness. They will have no choice but to seek the word of the LORD from Elisha.
Jehoram sent word to Jehoshapat asking him for help in suppressing the rebellion. Jehoshaphat said yes. He asked Jehoram his battle plans. Jehoram replies that they will march through Edom (v. 8).
There are only two ways to invade Moab—from the north above the Dead Sea, which is shorter but harder, or from the south below the Dead Sea, which is longer but easier. Most of Mesha’s military forces are concentrated in the north.
In a spark of brilliance, Jehoram thought that they should launch a surprise attack at the Moabites from the south. This way, the Edomites from the south would be forced to march with them. If they attack from the north, the Edomites might be tempted to join the Moabites and fight against them.2 It seemed to be the right strategy from a military standpoint.
Man makes his plans. Yet God executes God’s plans. God planned to teach Jehoram and Jehoshaphat a hard lesson of faith through His prophet Elisha.
Sometimes, we do not understand why we have this disease or why our kids are problematic. We do not understand why there are problems in our marriage or work. But troubles are God’s way of teaching us something that we would not learn otherwise.
What happened next was that they marched in a circle. “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” (v. 9). The words “circuitous march” are just one word in the Hebrew—sabab—which means, “make a round, circuit”3 or “roam around; wander around.”4 They were practically marching around going nowhere. Worse, there was no more water for the army and animals. What was a brilliant military plan turned into a military disaster!
Isn’t this what happens when we go about our plans without consulting the Lord first? Jehoram and Jehoshaphat went ahead with their plans without asking guidance from the Lord. We also go ahead with our plans without consulting God. Then when all else fails, we remember God.
God is not your “heavenly waiter” when all else fails. God is God, creator of heaven and earth, and sovereign over the universe. You should fall down and worship Him than treat Him like some 911 operator. Do
not treat God like some waiter or some push-button God when all else fails. Rather, before you do something, call on God.
How did Jehoram react? “Then the king of Israel said, ‘Alas! The LORD has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab’” (v. 10). This is a pathetic reaction coming from a faithless person. He recognized the sovereignty of God. However, he makes a faithless conclusion—that God shall deliver them to the Moabites in defeat. He does not doubt God’s power, but only God’s good will.5 There are people who have no intention to know the will of God. They have no desire for the glory of God. These people will always find an excuse to blame God for their calamity.
At times, we do not consult God before we do something. When we fail, we remember God. We realize that God has ordained our point of helplessness, so that we will find our direction and strength in Him.
Jehoram feels hopeless. But Jehoshaphat puts his hope in God. So he asked the important question in v. 11, “‘Is there no prophet of the LORD here, through whom we may inquire of the LORD’” (v. 11)? Jehoram looks at the divine test as divine destruction. Jehoshaphat looks at the divine test as divine instruction. He considers the divine trial as an occasion of divine correction and divine intervention.
There is a good question for all of us today. “Is there no prophet of the Lord that we may ask a word from the Lord?” The prophet of the LORD carries the word of the LORD. Jehoshaphat is really asking for the word of the LORD through the prophet of the LORD. Jehoshaphat is asking for the word of the LORD that will guide them through their looming disaster. Oh, how we badly need the word of the LORD in everything!
But we have the complete word of the LORD in the Bible! The Bible is to us today what the prophet was to Israel then. We need the correction and instruction of God in the Bible!
Somebody answered King Jehoshaphat that Elisha was there. But Elisha was not there by accident. The LORD put him there at the right time and place. He is there for a divine purpose—to display God’s glorious grace to Israel. Now few people knew about Elisha, including the kings. But he was known as the servant of the prophet, Elijah. Jehoshaphat concluded that, “the word of the LORD is with him” (v. 12).
Jehoshaphat was sensitive to God. He wanted to meet the prophet of the Lord in order to know the word of the Lord. He wanted to see the intervention of the Lord. This is what I mean by a sensitive heart.
Is your heart sensitive to the Lord today? Is your heart seeking the wisdom of the Spirit? Are you hungry for the word of God? Do you seek the will of God? Do you expect the intervention of God in your situation?
If you seek God by faith, then God will satisfy your faith. “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’” (v. 14). Because Jehoshaphat sought the will of God, God answered his prayer.
Elisha detested the faithlessness of King Jehoram that he did not want to face him. Elisha seems to be saying, “King Jehoram, you don’t trust and obey Yahweh. You go about your plans and when all else fails, and you blame Yahweh for it? What then does Yahweh have to do with you? As Yahweh has nothing to do with you, I also have nothing to do with you.”
But Elisha appreciated the faith of Jehoshaphat. How did Jehoshaphat get God’s attention?
The LORD was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek the Baals, but sought the God of his father and walked in his commandments, and not according to the practices of Israel. Therefore the LORD established the kingdom in his hand (2 Chron. 17:3-5).
God rewards people who seek Him and trust Him! “He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Heb. 11:6, NKJV). God looks out for people who are sensitive to God. God looks for people who hunger for God and who seek His will. Then God satisfies their faith as mineral water satisfies a thirsty throat.
Conclusion
A divided heart draws the judgment of God. Yet a sensitive heart draws the answer of God. If you hunger for God and seek His word and will, God shall give Himself to you. God is your reward.
Ask God today to give you a heart that hungers for God. Then you will find God.
ENDNOTES
1 Russell Dilday, 1, 2 Kings (PCS 9; ed. Lloyd J. Ogilvie; Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1987), 260.
2 Dilday, 1, 2 Kings, 261.
3 Brown, Driver, and Briggs, ?????, BDB 6429.
4 Holladay, ?????, Holladay 5765.
5 Richard D. Nelson, First and Second Kings (Int; ed. James Luther Mays; Louisville: John Knox, 1987), 165.
