2 Kings 3: 1 – 27
More is caught than taught
3 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah and reigned twelve years. 2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3 Nevertheless he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not depart from them. 4 Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he regularly paid the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. 5 But it happened, when Ahab died, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 So King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. 7 Then he went and sent to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And he said, “I will go up; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.” 8 Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?” And he answered, “By way of the Wilderness of Edom.” 9 So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. 10 And the king of Israel said, “Alas! For the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” 11 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?” So, one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” 12 And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the LORD is with him.” So, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. 13 Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” 14 And Elisha said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you. 15 But now bring me a musician.” Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. 16 And he said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’ 17 For thus says the LORD: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ 18 And this is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. 19 Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.” 20 Now it happened in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water. 21 And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to bear arms and older were gathered; and they stood at the border. 22 Then they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining on the water; and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood. 23 And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely struck swords and have killed one another; now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!” 24 So when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they entered their land, killing the Moabites. 25 Then they destroyed the cities, and each man threw a stone on every good piece of land and filled it; and they stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees. But they left the stones of Kir Haraseth intact. However, the slingers surrounded and attacked it. 26 And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not. 27 Then he took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place and offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall; and there was great indignation against Israel. So, they departed from him and returned to their own land.
I tried to teach my kids table manners but no matter how much I tried, they still ate like me. The statement more is caught than taught directly applied to my life.
I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since then. I totally believe in that statement.
Sure, my parents discussed right and wrong with me. They were parents who tried to teach me to do the right things. I caught that. I caught a whole lot more from watching them live, too… mostly it was good.
Hearing the phrase served as a reminder of the kind of parent I wanted to be. I didn’t want to lecture, I wanted to lead by example.
I’ve been thinking of my hopes for who they and my grandkids will be. The words that come to mind are strong, confident, healthy, happy, grateful, kind, smart, giving, loving and self-reliant. These were ideals I strove for in my own life, but obviously I’m human and fall short. In fact, in retrospect, I do not possess these characteristics. Therefore, I hope that the good qualities I listed, our Merciful and Gracious God will intercede personally and help them achieve all for their benefit. I want them to catch His Characteristics and not mine. I want Him to give them hearts that will joyfully receive His teaching.
More is caught than taught. Think about it. Think about the way you treat yourself and the way you live. Would you be proud if a child grew up to be exactly like you? If not, what would you want to change for them? What’s stopping you from making that change for yourself? If you still have breath you have a chance to let the Lord be your Good Shepherd. Right now I encourage you to make that decision.
Today we are going to read a bizarre situation. The nation of Moab was a vassal nation that paid tribute to Israel. They decided to end this tribute, so the king of Israel asked the king of Judah to help him put these people back in their proper place of servitude.
With the Lord God Yahweh favorable to the king of Judah He made sure they were victorious over Moab. They ultimately drove this enemy back to their own country and to their capital city.
Here is when the bizarre incident occurred. The Israelites had replaced the worship of the only living Great God with Baal. Part of their worship of Baal included the burning alive of their children to this phony god. The Moabites did not worship Baal as their god. So, to appease the Israelites from laying waste to their city these people caught from the Israelites that this act was something that they welcomed, and they taught the Israelites to do so in their religious culture. So, the king of Moab took his eldest son to the top of the city wall and offered him up as a burnt sacrifice hoping that the Israelites would acknowledge their submission. The scripture reveals “there was great indignation against Israel.” The Israelites recognized that their compromise of their loyalty to the only True and Loving God caused others to catch their sinful ways and taught them how they behaved. Now these people copied the same horrible ways.
3 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah and reigned twelve years.
Jehoram of Israel was Ahaziah’s brother, and son to Ahab, and he began to reign ‘in Samaria’ in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, and in the second year of Jehoram of Judah’s co-regency with his father Jehoshaphat (1.17). Compare 8.16 where official co-regency is specifically implied. It would be five more years before Jehoshaphat died leaving Jehoram of Judah as sole king (8.16). Having two Jehorams reigning at the same time was confusing, and the confusion is added to by both also being called Joram, a diminutive of Jehoram (shortening the divine name Jeho- to Jo-). Jehoram of Israel reigned for twelve years
2 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.
What had happened to his brother had affected him, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
3 Nevertheless he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not depart from them.
He allowed that worship at Bethel and Dan to continue without any change or interuption.
4 Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he regularly paid the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams.
Mesha was king over Moab, a country prolific in the production of sheep. The large totals simply indicate that as far as he was concerned it was enough. When he looked back and considered how much Moab had paid to Israel through the years he felt that it was time it ceased.
5 But it happened, when Ahab died, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
He had already commenced his position in the time of Ahab, by retaking Moabite cities, and now he went the whole way of breaking off all the restraints. Recognizing that the death of Ahab and the injury to Azariah had weakened Israel he withheld tribute, feeling that he was now strong enough to do so with some safety.
6 So King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel.
Mesha’s other previous activities had been annoying, but this was the last straw, and once Jehoram was settled on his throne he determined to bring Mesha to heel. Consequently, he mustered the host of Israel (‘all Israel’).
7 Then he went and sent to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” And he said, “I will go up; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
Jehoram of Israel also appealed to Jehoshaphat, who had regularly been Israel’s ally during the reign of Ahab, for assistance, presumably based on their treaty. Jehoshaphat’s son (also Jehoram) was married to Jehoram of Israel’s sister. So Jehoram of Israel had no hesitation in asking him for assistance in subduing Moab. Jehoshaphat was very willing, and assured Jehoram of Israel that all his forces were at his disposal. He no doubt recognized that there would be good spoil to be had for all.
The alliance decided that they would invade Moab by going around the bottom of the Deed Sea and approaching Moab from the south, although even then avoiding the usual route. By this means they avoided the strings of forts that Moab had renewed and established. But the route that they took meant travelling through the wilderness of Edom, and this resulted in great hardship due to lack of water. This was something that affected both the army themselves, their chariot horses and the herds which provided food and milk to the army, and their resulting condition was such that as they approached Moab (and were unable to turn back to face the return journey through the same wilderness) they foresaw disaster and defeat staring them in the face.
This moved Jehoshaphat to request that they consult a prophet of YHWH, and the result was that Elisha was called on. This was interesting as it demonstrates that
1) Jehoshaphat expected Jehoram to have a prophet of YHWH available
2). that Elisha was somehow available, probably accompanying the troops with some of the sons of the prophets to use the opportunity to bring home the message of YHWH to the Israelite army.
War presented an evangelistic opportunity. It may, however, be that he had also tagged along because he had had an intimation from YHWH of what would happen.
8 Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?” And he answered, “By way of the Wilderness of Edom.”
These words summarize what was probably a lengthy process as different alternatives were discussed. The initial question was, ‘which way shall we go?’, and the final decision was to take ‘the way of the wilderness of Edom’.
9 So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them.
The ‘king of Edom’ is now seen as incorporated in the alliance. Edom was ruled by Jehoshaphat’s deputy (1 Kings 22.47), but Israel would be keen to demonstrate their gratitude for his support, and they demonstrated this by calling him by the courtesy title ‘king’. They made a wide circuit, coming at Moab from the south-east, in other words from an unexpected, and relatively undefended, angle. But it was a miscalculation because due to the weather, and the terrain, and the length of time taken, combined with the size of their forces, it meant that they had great difficulty in finding enough water, either for themselves or their horses and cattle. (That was partly why the approach was relatively undefended. Only desert tribes came from that angle).
10 And the king of Israel said, “Alas! For the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”
The situation became so desperate that the king of Israel foresaw disaster. He visualized a severely weakened army being at the mercy of the Moabites. Note his reference to YHWH. His destruction of the Baal pillar indicated that he gave at least some allegiance to YHWH, even though Elisha would not be impressed by it.
11 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?” So, one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.”
Jehoshaphat was, however, a man of stronger faith. And he asked whether there might be a prophet of YHWH present through whom they could make enquiries of YHWH. One of the courtiers of the king of Israel was aware that Elisha was with the troops. Elisha was at this stage clearly not well known, apart from in prophetic circles, and was described in terms of the relationship of a servant that he had had with Elijah. Everyone by now knew about Elijah!
12 And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the LORD is with him.” So, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
In Jehoshaphat’s mind the close connection with Elijah established the fact that ‘the word of YHWH is with him’. Elijah’s reputation was by now legendary, and any close servant of his must be a reliable prophet. So, the three kings went to seek out Elisha to consult with him.
13 Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”
When Elisha saw the king of Israel approaching and gathered that he wanted to consult with him, he demonstrated his opinion of him by wanting nothing to do with him. If he wanted prophetic help let him go to ‘the prophets of his father and mother’. This is the second time we have seen Jezebel especially mentioned (verse 2), indicating the importance of her influence on the kingdom. And she was still alive and consulting her prophets, while seemingly, to Elisha’s knowledge, Jehoram had also not disbanded his father’s prophets, even though he might not have used them. His excuse was probably loyalty to his mother’s wishes in this regard.
The king of Israel was determined not to take ‘no’ for an answer, and he rejected Elisha’s refusal on the grounds that there was no point in consulting the prophets of Baal and Asherah when it was clearly YHWH who had delivered Israel into the hand of Moab.
14 And Elisha said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you.
Elisha’s reply was to indicate that had it not been that the godly Jehoshaphat was involved with them, he would not have even deigned to notice them. But in the presence of Jehoshaphat, a faithful servant of YHWH, he would be willing to speak. The implication from this was that YHWH was willing to help because of His love for Jehoshaphat.
15 But now bring me a musician.” Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.
The call for a minstrel was probably to quieten Elisha’s spirit so that he could hear the voice of YHWH. And it was necessarily successful. For when the minstrel played the hand of YHWH came on Elisha, and he received YHWH’s instructions.
I would like to recommend to you to do similar in your personal walk or counsel to others. I advise mostly all that I speak to is to get alone and gather some worship music and listen and sing along before you study or pray. You will be amazed at what will happen.
16 And he said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’ 17 For thus says the LORD: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’
YHWH’s reply indicated that they had to dig trenches throughout the valley in a kind of irrigation system as though there was a likelihood of water coming down from the mountains of Edom. Then His promise was that, even though they experienced no signs of rain, the channels would become full of water. Thus, he required of the thirsty and exhausted soldiers a positive act of faith. And when they exercised that faith He responded.
18 And this is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. 19 Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.”
In obedience to this unique request Yahweh would deliver the forces of Moab into their hands, on which they were to (and would have anyway) carry out the usual method of punishment on a consistently rebel tributary, by felling the ‘good trees’ (fruit bearing and useful ones), clogging up the springs, and scattering stones over any good agricultural land. The trees would take years to replace, the springs would have to be cleared out again before they could be useful, and it was easier to sow stones than to remove them.
20 Now it happened in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water.
The soldiers responded willingly and dug their irrigation trenches, and it was as well that they did so, for that night rains poured down on the mountains of Edom, out of sight of the armies, and flowed down eastwards into the lower ground where they were encamped, and all their channels were filled with water.
The fact that this was seen to occur around the time of the morning offering in the Temple was a clear indication to them that this was from YHWH. He was responding to the faith and offerings of His people.
There is an important lesson in this for all of us who follow Christ, for we too are under God’s Kingly Rule, and are called on to endure through difficult times for the sake of His kingdom. But we learn here that if we trust in Him, then however difficult times may become, we can be sure that He will provide us with spiritual water and give us victory over the great Enemy.
What was more this provision of water would not only satisfy their needs but would also guarantee the defeat of the enemy, for therefore YHWH would deliver the Moabites into their hands.
21 And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to bear arms and older were gathered; and they stood at the border.
Meanwhile news of the advancing armies had reached Moab as at some time the armies were spotted either by travelers or shepherds, and the result was that they hurriedly mustered all their forces, down to the youngest who was able to put on armor, and came to the relatively unprotected border that they had thought safe from attack. They were ready to fight for their lives before this grim advancing foe.
22 Then they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining on the water; and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood. 23 And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely struck swords and have killed one another; now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!”
But when morning came they rose up early knowing well that the battle might commence at any time, but as they looked out over the wilderness of Edom the sun shone on the (unsuspected) water and it looked to them like pools of blood. What else could have covered the whole area in that ‘red liquid’, (made red by the red earth of Edom combined with the early morning sun)? In their view there could only be one conclusion, and that was that, driven mad by the desert heat and extreme thirst the enemy armies had quarreled with each other and were fighting and killing each other, covering the ground with blood. To them this was good news and they congratulated themselves on the fact that their god Chemosh had presumably caused the opposing armies to destroy each other. Now therefore it was time to arouse themselves and take the spoil.
24 So when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they entered their land, killing the Moabites.
So instead of remaining in their defensive positions, they swarmed out towards the camp of Israel, each wanting to get there first to gather the spoils. It was not the best way in which to approach the army that was waiting for them, also unable to believe their ‘good luck’ as they saw the disorganized army approaching in a disjointed manner. Forewarned by their sentries, they were able to gather themselves and meet the unsuspecting Moabites head on. There could only be one result. The astounded Moabites, not really prepared for a serious battle, were utterly defeated and fled before them, followed closely on their heels by the avenging enemy who thus easily entered their territory, smiting the Moabites as they went. Initial victory had been even easier than expected, thanks, as they were later to learn, probably from prisoners, to the misconception with which YHWH had filled their enemy.
25 Then they destroyed the cities, and each man threw a stone on every good piece of land and filled it; and they stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees. But they left the stones of Kir Haraseth intact. However, the slingers surrounded and attacked it.
Victory was total and complete, with the devastated Moabites not in a position to put up much further resistance, and they thus broke down their cities, scattered stones on their agricultural land, filling it with stones, (many obtained from the walls and buildings of the cities that they dismantled), stopped up their springs and felled all their useful trees. We may assume that Kir-hareseth (‘the city of the wall’) was the city in which the king of Moab holed himself up (verse 27), for that would explain why it was left alone, while having an abundance of sling stones poured into it.
26 And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not.
The king of Moab saw that his army had suffered total defeat, and still with seven hundred men, sought to break a way through the enemy to the king of Edom, who would in their view be in charge of the weakest section of the enemy front. This may have been with a view to capturing him to give them a parleying position from their refuge behind the walls of their capital city, or simply with the hope of breaking through and escaping the avenging armies (possibly by fleeing to Ammon) in order to fight again another day. But the effort failed. The Edomites were too strong for them.
27 Then he took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place and offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall; and there was great indignation against Israel. So, they departed from him and returned to their own land.
Holed up in Kir-haroseth Mesha saw only one desperate course open to him. Chemosh was not noted for accepting child-sacrifice. That was more the forte of Molech (Melech) the god of the neighboring fierce Ammonites. With the surrounding nations surround him he felt his god let him down so why not join in with the worship of these other nation’s gods. How these nations worshiped was to sacrifice their first -born children. So in capitulation he took his first son and on the wall offered him up as a burnt sacrifice in full view of his enemy.
It was at huge cost to himself. But it worked. For one reason or another Israel was having come under ‘great wrath’ (or ‘great dismay’) with the result that they abandoned the siege and returned to their own land.
It is not likely that the ‘great wrath’ refers to the wrath of the people of Moab, for they were totally defeated, and it is not likely that even when spurred on by such news they could gather a sufficient army to trouble the Israelites. The ‘great wrath’ was probably ‘experienced’ by the Israelites as they saw the extremes to which they had driven the king of Moab. This king was doing the same horrible act that they had lowered themselves to do. The horror of child sacrifice may have been so great to them that they could only see it as bringing down on them the wrath of YHWH if they remained. They saw themselves as responsible for the child-sacrifice having taken place.
We need to also take our own inventory. The laws on this country were changed to allow the murder of our babies in the famous Roe versus Wade court battle. It was started by a lie by evil people who lied about having been raped. Once the door was opened we have killed over 50 million of our babies. Please forgive and have Mercy on us Dear Lord for we really do not know what we are doing.
