And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs and a hundred thousand rams, with the wool.
Behind a single line about lambs and wool lies a two-hundred-year-old arrangement that was about to collapse into war. Mesha, king of Moab, was a rich herdsman, and he paid Israel a huge price every year — so why did God let that payment stop?
The description given to Mesha marks the kind of wealth he held. A Bible dictionary entry sums up the man behind the tribute:
King of Moab, described as a sheep-master: a shepherd prince rich in flocks and herds. He paid tribute to Ahab, but he rebelled, and Jehoram, Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom defeated him completely.
The payment was not new. It started when David conquered Moab, and Israel collected it because Israel's land east of the Jordan reached Moab's border:
Moab had paid tribute to Israel ever since David conquered them, more than two hundred years before (see 2 Sam. 8:2). When the kingdom divided, they seem to have paid their usual tribute to Jeroboam, since his kingdom included the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan, whose land reached to the kingdom of Moab. Israel must have felt the loss of this enormous yearly income sharply, and the effort to get it back brought on this unhappy war.
A prophet later speaks of a lamb, and some take that lamb as a picture of the Messiah. One writer rejects that reading and ties the words back to this tribute:
I see no reason at all for the idea that this points to the lamb as the well-known type of the Messiah... It seems to be a reference to their ancient tribute to Israel. Later in the history we find that the king of Moab was a sheep-master, and used to pay the king of Israel a tribute of 100,000 lambs, and as many rams with the wool (2 Kings 3:4-5). The prophet seems here to remind Moab of what it owed.
Moab's grudge against Israel was old, and the size of the payment kept it fresh:
Had not Moab hated the people of God from ancient times, and tried to curse them (Num. 22)? Its tribute of 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams with their wool was enormous for such a small country. It must have weighed on Moab heavily, and the humiliation galled this proud and arrogant nation. So it is no surprise that Moab seized the first chance to free itself.
Moab's revolt looks like ordinary politics. One writer says that is only half of what happened:
Moab had rebelled against Israel. This was the result of Ahab's unfaithfulness (2 Kings 1:1), but it fell heavily, as a judgment from God, on Ahaziah, his unworthy successor. Conquered kings usually threw off the yoke of their oppressors as soon as a new king came to the throne (vv. 4, 5). A man who thinks only in political terms sees nothing more than that in Moab's rebellion. The believer sees God's hand in it, chastening or judging.
Mesha left a record of these events in his own words, which still exists:
In 1868 the German missionary Klein found a stone in Dibon, a town in Moab east of the Jordan. It carries an inscription by Mesha, king of Moab (compare 2 Kings 3). On this stone Mesha recorded his disputes with King Jehoram of Israel in ancient Hebrew letters. The stone dates to about 840 BC. It is probably the oldest written witness outside the Bible to the complete accuracy of the Old Testament's record of historical facts. The stone can now be seen in the Louvre in Paris.
Jehoram had to get the income back, and he knew only one way to do it:
The three kings set out to bring Mesha, king of Moab, back under their control. He had thrown off the rule of the king of Israel after Ahab died. Jehoram never searched his conscience before God to ask why God had allowed this. He took up arms instead. This is the only remedy men know when they do not know God.
- Tribute. Moab paid lambs, rams and wool every year. The debt went back to David's conquest two centuries earlier, and Israel collected it because Moab lay on its border.
- Burden. The amount was huge for so small a country, and the humiliation stung a proud nation into waiting for its chance.
- Chance. Ahab's death gave Moab its opening. Conquered kings threw off the yoke whenever a new king took the throne.
- Cause. The real reason lay further back. One writer reads the revolt as the fruit of Ahab's unfaithfulness, and a judgment resting on his successor.
- Response. Jehoram never asked why God had allowed the loss. He went to war instead — the only answer men have when they do not know God.
And it came to pass when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
Moab was a small kingdom that David had conquered. It paid Israel a huge yearly tribute in lambs and wool, and the moment Ahab died that payment stopped. On the surface this is a political revolt. Commentators ask a deeper question: why did God allow the loss, and what did Israel's king do next?
Moab's payments went back a long way. One writer traces the arrangement and what the break cost Israel:
Mesha's timing was not random. A conquered nation watched for the change of reign. The size of the payment explains why Moab was so eager:
The change of reign gave Moab a good chance to throw off this hated yoke. Had Moab not hated the people of God from ancient times, and tried to curse them (Num. 22)? In those days, nations that had been forced into servitude were used to such revolts. They always waited for their tyrants to die. Then they could shake off the yoke and escape the heavy taxes he had loaded on them… Its tribute was 100,000 lambs and 100,000 rams with their wool. That was enormous for so small a country, and it must have been a heavy burden — not to mention the humiliation this proud, arrogant nation suffered so impatiently.
You can read the revolt as ordinary regional politics. You can also read it as something God was doing. The same writer draws the line between the two:
Conquered kings normally threw off the yoke of their oppressors as soon as a new king came to the throne (vv. 4, 5). The man who thinks politically sees nothing more than that in Moab's rebellion. The believer sees God's hand in it, chastening or judging.
Another writer sees the same hand at work, then follows what the rebellion drew Judah's king into:
The whole scene is a vivid picture of how low and humiliating the condition of God's professing people had become… Under God's government, Moab is allowed to rebel. To crush this rebellion, Jehoram asks the king of Judah for help. Jehoshaphat, a God-fearing man himself, falls into the trap. He gives up godly separation, joins Jehoram in an ungodly alliance, and so sinks to the level of this wicked king.
An ancient stone monument carries Moab's own account of these events. It lines up with the Bible — and one writer is careful about which way the confirmation runs:
The ancient monument called the Moabite stone carries a very interesting record of this revolt and of the oppression by Omri and his son Ahab. The record reads: "Omri was King of Israel, and he oppressed Moab many days, for Chemosh (Moab's idol-god) was angry with his land. His son (Ahab) followed him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab."… Yet if it were not for the Bible, no one would know that the words on the Moabite stone are true. The Bible proves the stone genuine; the stone does not prove the Bible genuine. The Bible does not need such confirmation.
Three kings marched out together to put the rebellion down. One name was missing from their planning:
These three kings make their plans without a thought of God, and never once turn to Him. Then they set out to carry the plans through. All looks promising until, after seven days, they meet circumstances that threaten to destroy them — not at the hand of the enemy, but for lack of water.
- Debt. Moab had owed Israel tribute since David conquered them, more than two hundred years earlier. The revolt cancelled a huge yearly payment of lambs, rams and wool.
- Death. A king's death was the standard moment for a subject nation to break free, and Ahab's death gave Mesha his opening.
- Discipline. God allowed Moab to rebel. The political mind sees only a revolt. The believer sees God's hand.
- Drift. To win the tribute back, Jehoram asked Judah for help. Jehoshaphat, a God-fearing king, gave up separation and sank to the level of a wicked king.
- Drought. The three allied kings planned without God. Thirst, not Moab, brought them to the edge of ruin.
And at that time king Jehoram went out of Samaria and inspected all Israel.
Moab had rebelled, and Israel's king answered with a full call-up of his fighting men. He marched out of Samaria with a huge army — and the question is whether anyone in it counted on God.
Why did Moab break away at all? One writer says the answer depends on who is reading the news.
Moab had rebelled against Israel. This was the result of Ahab's unfaithfulness (2 Kings 1:1), but it fell heavily on Ahaziah, his unworthy successor, as a judgment from God. Conquered kings usually threw off the rule of their oppressors as soon as a new king came to the throne. The man who thinks politically sees nothing more than that in Moab's rebellion. The believer sees God's hand in it, chastening or judging.
The man marching out of Samaria was not the worst of his line. He had made a visible reform — and left the real problem untouched.
In one sense Jehoram, the son of Ahab, was less ungodly than his father. He had removed the idol of Baal that his father set up, but he did not destroy its prophets. We can gather this from Elisha's reply in verse 13. On the surface he gave up this disgusting worship, but it troubled him very little to leave its spirit in place. What he did not give up at all was the national religion set up by Jeroboam the son of Nebat. It hid crude idolatry behind the name of the true God.
On paper the numbers guaranteed victory. One name was left out of the sum.
Humanly speaking, everything was worked out to guarantee success. Little warlike Moab, for all its courage, could not stand against this powerful alliance. But God is there. He is the only One Jehoram should have taken into account, and the One he had shamelessly pushed aside.
He had counted all Israel, and still he sent for more.
So Jehoram got ready to attack Moab. But he felt he was not strong enough, so he wanted help from Judah, a stronger force. Just as Ahab had asked Jehoshaphat to help him in battle, so Jehoram asked him the same (v.7).
The coalition did not stop with Judah. The road to Moab ran through Edom, and Jehoram folded that nation into the plan too.
He had to pass through Edom's territory to reach Moab (v. 8), so he brought this idolatrous nation into his alliance. Edom was well known for its relentless hatred of the Lord's people. What a picture of the world whose politics do not take God into account at all!
Jehoshaphat, the godly king of Judah, agreed. One writer weighs the damage that alliance did to his witness.
This was certainly a painful state of things, and it deeply offended God. The king of Judah was godly, but his alliance with the kingdom of Israel ruined his testimony. So we find great weakness here, though God deals with them in nothing but tender mercy and goodness.
Seven days later the whole army was helpless — and the enemy was not the reason.
These three kings make their plans without a thought of God, and they go ahead and carry them out. Everything looks promising until, after seven days, they face circumstances that threaten to destroy them. The danger comes not from the enemy's hand, but from lack of water.
- Revolt. Moab's break from Israel looks like ordinary politics after a change of reign. A believer sees God's hand of chastening in it.
- Reformer. Jehoram pulled down his father's Baal idol. He kept Jeroboam's religion — idolatry wearing the name of the true God.
- Reckoning. Every number in the plan added up to certain success, except the one Jehoram left out: God Himself.
- Reinforcements. All Israel was still not enough. Jehoram sent for Judah and pulled idolatrous Edom in too — and saying yes ruined Jehoshaphat's testimony.
- Run dry. After seven days the danger came from empty water skins, not the enemy's sword. Plans made without God collapse before the battle even starts.
And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up I am as thou, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.
Jehoram of Israel asks Jehoshaphat of Judah for military help against Moab. The godly king of Judah answers by erasing every difference between himself and the man who asked. Why would a king who sought the Lord say such a thing, and what did it cost him?
Moab's revolt was something to weigh before God. Jehoram's first thought was the army. One writer contrasts what Jehoshaphat said with what he could have said.
Instead of examining his conscience before God as to why this had been allowed, Jehoram turned to weapons. This is the only remedy known to men who have no knowledge of God. When Jehoshaphat was invited to help, he replied: "I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses." Oh, the shame of it! Should he not rather have replied: "By the grace of God, I am the opposite of what you are!"
Jehoshaphat's history with Ahab's family explains the reply.
How very sad it is, then, to find the good king Jehoshaphat once more getting entangled with the house of Ahab. When Jehoram asked him to go against Moab in battle, he replied, "I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses" (verse 7). Jehoshaphat uses exactly the same words he had spoken to Ahab when Ahab asked him to go with him to Ramoth-gilead (1 Kings 22:4). Does this not show that this good man had never got to the bottom of his failure in associating with Ahab and his house?
With Ahab he had at least asked for a prophet before setting out. This time he does not. One writer sees a deadened conscience behind that silence.
Ahab, before going to war, had gathered the prophets to ask whether he should go (1 Kings 22:6). Jehoram does not even seem to think of it; Jehoshaphat, sadly, no more than he. He had been more faithful in the matter of Ahab (1 Kings 22:5). When a believer slips back into evil instead of keeping clear of it, his conscience becomes deadened. He ends up no longer feeling the need for direction from the Word — a need he had once felt.
One writer weighs these same words where Jehoshaphat first spoke them, to Ahab. The reply sounds generous. What it gave away was a boundary.
This alliance leads Jehoshaphat to declare that he, the godly king of Judah, is just like wicked Ahab. It makes him throw down the barrier separating the man of God from the world. Is there any great difference between this word and Ahab's word to Ben-Hadad, "You are my brother"? Alliance with the world, we cannot say too often, makes us liable for its wrongdoing. A believer does not stay in any system because he can find some good there, but because God approves of it.
Behind the reply lay a family tie.
It is a sadly compromising declaration to come from the lips of a king of the house and line of David. But it came from the tie he had made with the house of Ahab, when his son Jehoram married the infamous Athaliah.
The route chosen next turned out to match the choice already made. Seven days in, the coalition had no water.
While Jehoshaphat's agreement to go with the king of Israel to fight against Moab was a serious compromise of any devotion to God, the Lord bears with much that is not according to His will. The question is asked, "Which way shall we go up," and the answer was "By way of the wilderness of Edom" (v.8). Edom is a picture of the flesh, so they go up by way of the barrenness of the flesh — the opposite of being led by the Spirit of God. No wonder that after a seven days' march they found no water, either for themselves or their animals. The flesh can give no real refreshment.
God did not treat the two kings alike. The prophet drew the line that Jehoshaphat had refused to draw.
At first Elisha told Jehoram to go to the prophets of his father and mother. He knew well that Jehoram was after water, not God. But then he said, "As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you." So Elisha distinguished between God's saint — even though in a backsliding condition — and the evil men he was with.
- Invitation. Jehoram met a rebellion with weapons, not with self-examination before God. Weapons are the only answer men have when they do not know Him.
- Echo. Jehoshaphat's reply repeats word for word what he had already said to Ahab. He had never got to the bottom of that first failure.
- Levelling. The words pull down the barrier between the man of God and the world. They leave him liable for the world's wrongdoing.
- Refusal. What was missing was the spiritual energy to say "No" to the world's invitations, at whatever cost.
- Regard. God still made a difference between His servant and his company. Elisha would not have looked at Jehoram at all, except for the presence of Jehoshaphat.
And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he said, By way of the wilderness of Edom.
Jehoshaphat has already agreed to join Jehoram's campaign against Moab. One question is left: which road? The answer sends the armies round through Edom's desert, and that choice shapes the rest of the chapter.
The route runs through the land of a third king, who joins the march. One writer explains who he was:
This "king of Edom" was not a native Edomite. He was a deputy (1 Kings 22:47), probably appointed by Jehoshaphat (2 Kings 8:20). He joined the expedition as a vassal, not as an independent prince.
What binds these men together is not shared faith:
What is more, both of these kings profess the worship of Jehovah. Yet they stand in alliance with the heathen king of Edom, an enemy of God. So we have the strange alliance of a wicked king, a God-fearing king, and a heathen king.
The kings put the question about the route to men, not to God. That flaw runs through the whole venture. It shows up seven days later:
Without any thought of God or reference to God, these three kings make their plans and proceed to put them into practice. Everything seems to promise well. Then, at the end of seven days, they face circumstances that threaten their destruction — not by the hand of the enemy, but from lack of water.
Jehoram names the route, and the march pays for it:
These kings took the roundabout route through the Wilderness of Edom. They ran into a serious problem: no water. Jehoram's response is typical of him. We shall see it again on later occasions too: blame Jehovah!
Edom is more than a place on the map. Commentators read the road chosen as a picture of the men who chose it:
The question is asked, "Which way shall we go up," and the answer was "By way of the wilderness of Edom" (v.8). Edom is a type of the flesh, so they go up by way of the barrenness of the flesh, a contrast to being led by the Spirit of God. No wonder that after seven days' march they found no water, either for themselves or their animals. The flesh can provide no true refreshment. Having not been led by God, what else could they expect?
Israel had been thirsty in this same region before. That time the result was different, because God Himself was leading them:
The wilderness of Edom and the desert of Zin were not far apart. They served as a border for Edom. Long before this, on the way to the promised land, Israel had no water to drink. "The people became impatient on the way" (Num. 20; Num. 21:4). But God had the people in His charge, and He was in no difficulty. He led His people out in triumph, supplying all their need... Here the king of Judah is guilty and careless about the will of God. He is in a sinful alliance with Edom as well as with Israel. But God was the same, and He knew how to help His people without approving their wrongdoing.
One writer turns the picture into a lesson for Christians today:
There are thousands of Christians who complain about the lack of blessing. Despite what looks like diligent searching, they do not find the waters of refreshment. Their spiritual life is a desert, like "the wilderness of Edom." Their service and religious activity have become routine, and in some cases a burden — and they wonder why!
- Company — a wicked king, a God-fearing king, and a heathen vassal king set off together. Two of the three profess to worship the Lord.
- Consultation — the kings ask each other about the route, not God. They make their plans "without any thought of God or reference to God."
- Course — they take the long way round through Edom's desert. Commentators read Edom as a picture of the flesh, which "can provide no true refreshment."
- Consequence — after seven days there is no water. The danger comes not from Moab, but from the road they picked themselves.
- Compassion — God once led thirsty Israel through that same region in triumph. He still knows "how to help His people without approving their wrongdoing."
And the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom, and they made a circuit of seven days' journey. And there was no water for the army, and for the cattle that followed them.
Three armies set out together: Israel, Judah, and Edom. Seven days of marching in a circle leave them with no water at all, and one question hangs over the rest of the chapter — how did a God-fearing king get here?
The three kings on this march have nothing in common in their faith. One writer sets them side by side:
Both these kings claim to worship Jehovah, yet both stand in alliance with the heathen king of Edom, an enemy of God. So we have the strange alliance of a wicked king, a God-fearing king, and a heathen king.
One writer lines up the warnings Jehoshaphat had already received:
This was neither the first nor the second time that he had weakly allied himself with evil men. He had helped Ahab at Ramoth-Gilead. When he came home, the prophet challenged him: "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD?" (2 Chron. 19:2). When he joined with Ahaziah in a business venture, God warned him that the LORD would break his ships, and that is what happened (2 Chron. 20:35-37). God's people sorely need the spiritual energy to say "No" when the world invites them to share in its schemes. That holds whatever the cost, and whatever the schemes are.
Notice what is missing from the plan: no prayer, and no asking God.
Without a thought of God or any reference to God, these three kings make their plans and put them into practice. At first everything looks promising. Then, at the end of seven days, they meet circumstances that threaten to destroy them — not by the hand of the enemy, but from lack of water.
One commentator reads the road they picked as a picture:
They ask, "By which way shall we march?" and the answer comes, "By the way of the wilderness of Edom" (v.8). Edom is a type of the flesh, so they go up by way of the barrenness of the flesh, a contrast to being led by the Spirit of God. No wonder that, after seven days' march, they found no water either for themselves or their animals. The flesh can provide no true refreshment. Having not been led by God, what else could they expect?
The same dryness shows up in Christian lives today, and the cause is named plainly:
There are thousands of Christians grieving over the lack of blessing. Their search looks diligent, yet they do not find the waters of refreshment. Their spiritual life is a desert, like "the wilderness of Edom." Their service and religious exercises have become routine, and in some cases a burden — and they wonder why! In most cases the reason is not hard to find. It is association with the world — an unholy alliance with the godless, chasing things that satisfy ungodly desires. In every case it is because the life is out of harmony with God.
Who was this third king? And why did trouble have to come? One writer answers both:
This "king of Edom" was not a native Edomite. He was a deputy (1 Kings 22:47), probably appointed by Jehoshaphat, and he joined the expedition as a vassal rather than as an independent prince... When a man of God like Jehoshaphat ties himself to a man like the king of Israel, distress is bound to come upon them. The purpose is that the victory may be seen as an act of God's sovereign grace, with not a spark of honour left for the follower of Jeroboam's calves.
God's people had gone thirsty in this same desert once before, and the difference matters:
Six hundred years earlier, before Israel entered the promised land, there had been no water for the people to drink in this same region (Num. 20; 21:4). But God had the people under His charge, and He was in no difficulty. He led them out in triumph and supplied all their need... Now the king of Judah shows guilty indifference to the will of God. He is seen in unholy alliance with Edom as well as with Israel. But God was the same, and He knew how to help His people without approving their wrongdoing.
- Company — Jehoshaphat's faith did not make his partners holy. He marched with a wicked king and a heathen king, and the road became theirs, not God's.
- Counsel — The kings made their plans and picked their road without one word to God. The first seven days still looked like success.
- Cost — Moab's sword did not stop the armies. An empty water supply did, because the wilderness of Edom had nothing to give.
- Cause — When a believer's life runs dry and service turns into routine, the reason is rarely a mystery. Look first at the company kept.
- Care — God still knew how to help His people without approving what they had done. The victory would leave all the glory with Him.
And the king of Israel said, Alas! that Jehovah has called these three kings together, to give them into the hand of Moab!
Seven days into a campaign against Moab, three kings and their armies run out of water in the wilderness. The king of Israel's first move is to blame the Lord for the disaster. Two questions follow. How did a march begun without God end in a charge against God? And what does trouble show about the men caught in it?
The expedition looked sound. Nothing exposed its weakness until the water ran out.
These three kings make their plans and carry them out without a thought of God and without once consulting Him. Everything looks promising until, at the end of seven days, they face circumstances that threaten to destroy them. The danger is not the enemy's hand, but the lack of water.
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, had joined this march with the king of Israel. It was not the first time he had chosen such company.
How sad for Jehoshaphat! He was a true servant of God, yet for the third time he let ungodly men draw him into partnership.
The armies went up by way of the wilderness of Edom. One commentator sees meaning in the route they chose.
Edom is a picture of the flesh, so they go up through the barren ground of the flesh, instead of being led by the Spirit of God. No wonder that after a seven-day march they found no water for themselves or their animals. The flesh can provide no true refreshment. God had not led them, so what else could they expect? Fear gripped Jehoram. How could he say that the Lord had called these kings together? He had not consulted the Lord, nor had Jehoshaphat.
Here Jehoram mentions the Lord for the first time — and it is an accusation.
Until now he had followed only his own will. When he does remember the Lord, he accuses Him of leading him and his two companions to ruin. The man rebels against his fate — that is, against God who governs it — instead of admitting that he brought it on himself.
The pattern did not die with Jehoram. Another writer hears the same complaint today, and points to how God answered it.
Isn't this a typical reaction of unsaved men and women when they face problems? They get themselves into trouble, and then blame God for the trouble. They even blame God for troubles they have no part in. The protest comes out like this: if God is a God of love, why does He do this, or allow so-and-so? God is holy and righteous, yet He is also a God of love. The next morning He miraculously provided water for the three armies in their distress, and then gave them a great victory over the Moabites.
A guilty conscience speaks first. Then the same dry valley draws opposite responses from the two kings.
An uneasy conscience stirs the king of Israel. He sees the hand of the Lord in these circumstances, and assumes that the Lord has called these three kings together to hand them over to Moab. The trial wakes the guilty fears of the king who had turned away from God, but it also brings out the God-fearing character of the king of Judah. Both kings think of the Lord. One can only see in the trial that the Lord is against them in judgment. The other sees in the trial a chance to turn to the Lord as their only resource. Jehoshaphat asks if there is a prophet of the Lord there, so that they may inquire of the Lord through him. Far better if he had inquired of the Lord before setting out on this expedition with the king of Israel. But the terrible circumstances bring him back to the Lord.
The story does not end in the dry riverbed. One commentator explains why the distress had to come first.
Jehoshaphat was a man of God, yet he tied himself to a man like the king of Israel. Distress had to come upon them both. Only so would everyone recognize the victory as an act of God's sovereign grace, with not a spark of honour left for the king who followed Jeroboam's golden calves.
- Alliance. Jehoshaphat feared God, yet for the third time he let ungodly company draw him in.
- Route. The road ran through the wilderness of Edom, a picture of the flesh. The flesh "can provide no true refreshment," so the water ran out.
- Accusation. Jehoram's first mention of the Lord is a complaint. He blames God for a march God was never asked about, instead of admitting that he caused the trouble himself.
- Division. The same trial reveals opposite hearts. One man sees only judgment against him. The other sees his one remaining resource, and asks for a prophet.
- Grace. The water had to fail first. Then the rescue could only be called what it was: God's sovereign grace, with no credit left for the men who caused the crisis.
And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of Jehovah that we may inquire of Jehovah by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.
Three allied kings ran into disaster on their campaign. Only then does the king of Judah ask whether a prophet of the LORD is nearby. The answer comes from an unnamed servant. He names Elisha not by any title, but by the water he once poured over another man's hands.
Jehoshaphat had done this before. He had gone to war beside Ahab and asked for a prophet only after he was committed. Here he repeats the pattern with Ahab's son.
Jehoram formed an alliance with Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and the king of Edom. Jehoshaphat had been in league with Ahab (1 Kings 22) and now we see him in a similar alliance with Ahab's second son. The alliance displeased the LORD, and it troubled Jehoshaphat's conscience. He now puts to Ahab's son the same question he had put to Ahab: "Is there no prophet of the LORD here, through whom we may inquire of the LORD?" (compare 1 Kings 22:7). Jehoshaphat knew the LORD, but was in evil company.
The trouble is not only a setback. One writer sees God's kindness in it, drawing out the faith still alive in a man who had drifted.
Trouble takes him by surprise. Then the better side of him speaks up: "Is there no prophet of the LORD here, through whom we may inquire of the LORD?" This shows how uneasy Jehoshaphat's renewed mind was in a scene like this, though he had agreed to it in an unguarded moment. And it was in the Lord's goodness to send the trouble, so that the life which was really in him might appear.
Elisha already had the prophet's cloak. Yet the only thing anyone can say about him is what he did for his master. That silence was deliberate.
Elijah met Elisha and threw his prophet's cloak over him. From that day the newcomer followed and served his master faithfully. People knew him only as the one who "poured water on the hands of Elijah" (1 Kings 19:21; 2 Kings 3:11). A true servant keeps himself in the background, and that is what Elisha does until his public ministry begins. Until then we hear nothing more of him.
The phrase describes plain personal care. A younger man looked after an older one.
Elijah had the comfort of godly companionship. His sense of loneliness had been too much for him, and had bred unbecoming thoughts in his mind. It is written of Elisha that "he poured water on the hands of Elijah" (2 Kings 3:11). Simple imagery, telling us how the younger man refreshed the elder. Paul experienced something of this in the loving care of his son Timothy (Phil. 2:19-22).
The king of Israel commanded the army, but he could not name a single prophet. One of his staff could.
Jehoram does not even know that Elisha, the prophet in Israel, exists. Disaster is on him, yet he feels no more need to ask the man who brings the Word of God than he did when he set out on his campaign. As it happened, one of his servants knew Elisha. The little ones of this earth are aware of divine resources when the great ones are not even asking about them. They also see more of the worth of this prophet. He forgot himself so fully in serving Elijah that no one mentioned his name from his first call until the day he was called to take his master's place. No doubt the name was a hateful reminder to Jehoram, for it brought back Elijah and his judgment on his father, his mother, and his brother.
Elisha says nothing here. Other people describe him: the man who poured water, and the man who speaks for God.
People remember his willing, humble service to his master, and they describe him by it. Those in trouble, needing guidance about what to do, also recognise that he speaks for God. That is practical testimony, given without his knowing it, to a man who had learned the true secret of loyal, loving, purposeful discipleship.
- Alliance. Jehoshaphat knew the Lord but kept choosing bad company. Each time he asked for God's word only after he was already committed.
- Trouble. The trouble was God's goodness to him. It brought the real life in him to the surface.
- Water. Elisha's public name rested on private service. He refreshed a lonely older man, and that is how people knew him.
- Background. From his call until his master was taken, he stayed out of sight. The man who forgets himself in service is the one called forward when the time comes.
- Word. The great men did not know where help was, but a servant did. The lowly man in the room, not the king, pointed the army to the one who brings the Word of God.
And Jehoshaphat said, The word of Jehovah is with him. And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And Elisha said to the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? go to the prophets of thy father and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said to him, Not so, for Jehovah has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And Elisha said, As Jehovah of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee nor see thee.
Three kings — Jehoram of Israel, Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of Edom — marched together against Moab. When they came to Elisha, his answer split the company in two. One king he regarded. The other he would not even look at.
Elisha's opening words to Jehoram are not a greeting but a dismissal. One writer reads them as a double stroke, landing on both kings at once.
The prophet's first words are a bold witness against the wicked king of Israel. Elisha refuses to be linked with him, and asks, "What have I to do with you?" The question does two things. It exposes how far the king of Israel had turned from God. It also rebukes the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat. He was a real believer, but he was walking according to the flesh. He had formed an unholy alliance with Jehoram, and had said, "I am as you are, and my people as your people."
The refusal is not personal temper. It follows from where Israel stood with God at that moment.
Remember that this applies to Israel. The people were counted as rejected the moment Elijah was caught up to heaven. God has stopped keeping up His relationship with them. In His sovereign purposes God never takes His love away from Israel. But on the ground of the people's responsibility, God has judged them. So Elisha says to the king of Israel, "Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother... were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you."
Jehoshaphat is the good man in the wrong company, and it was not a first slip.
The king of Israel asked Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to join him. Jehoshaphat agreed to go to the war, and brought the king of Edom, who served under him. Sad for Jehoshaphat! He was a true servant of God, yet this was the third time he had let himself be trapped into fellowship with the ungodly (1 Kings 22:10; 2 Chron. 20:35-37). As once before, his conscience troubled him about what he had taken on. So he suggested asking the Lord's mind through one of His prophets.
Elisha's answer turns on one word: regard.
Elisha told Jehoram that if Jehoshaphat had not been there, Elisha would have no regard whatever for him (v.14). God does make a difference between believers and unbelievers. At this time Elisha did not rebuke Jehoshaphat for his friendliness with Jehoram. Yet Jehoshaphat surely ought to have felt serious twinges of conscience when he heard Elisha's words.
Commentators differ here. Some hear an indirect rebuke to Jehoshaphat in these words. Others stress that Elisha never rebuked him openly.
Elisha's refusal is not a blanket withdrawal. He says no to one man and yes to another in the same sentence.
Elisha refuses all association with Jehoram, and he rebukes Jehoshaphat indirectly. Even so, he does not hesitate to link himself with what is of God, and with the man who is standing for God in any little measure. So he regards the presence of Jehoshaphat. Otherwise he would not have looked toward the king of Israel, or seen him.
The same trap still catches people today. One writer's test is simple: would you worship with this person?
No doubt the king of Judah would never have agreed to bow down with Jehoram before the golden calves. Yet he is trapped into fighting the Lord's enemies alongside a man he cannot worship with. How often this scene has been repeated in Christian times! Under the excuse of love, and of helping in the service of the Lord, a believer has been drawn into partnership with people he could not join in worship before the Lord. Such alliances set the blessing of men above the honour of the Lord... It is good that we turn to God when a false step has landed us in trouble. But it is far better to walk in the spirit of prayer and dependence, and so escape every crooked path.
- Cause. A true servant of God joined himself to an ungodly king. It was the third time he had been trapped that way, and his conscience was uneasy again.
- Rebuke. "What have I to do with you?" exposes how far Jehoram had turned from God. It also rebukes Jehoshaphat for saying "I am as you are."
- Regard. God makes a difference between believers and unbelievers. Elisha will not look at Jehoram. But he will not overlook the one man there who belongs to the Lord.
- Reach. The prophet refuses what is false, yet he links himself with anyone standing for God "in any little measure." He separates and attaches in one breath.
- Result. God still owns a failing believer. But it is far better to walk in prayer and dependence, and never take the crooked path at all.
And now fetch me a minstrel. And it came to pass when the minstrel played, that the hand of Jehovah was upon him.
Three kings — Israel, Judah, and Edom — march against Moab, run out of water, and come to Elisha for help. Before he will speak for God, the prophet asks for a musician — why should a man of God need music to hear from heaven?
The rebuke was stern. Yet Elisha still acted in grace, and the reason he asked for a musician lay in himself.
There is a rebuke here, and a stern one. But we will find that what the prophet does is full of grace. "But now bring me a musician." He felt that he was out of tune with his own ministry. The presence of the wicked king had disturbed the heavenly tone of his soul.
The company he was in spoiled the calm in which he usually heard from God.
The presence of Israel's godless king offended Elisha's spirit. It held him back and hindered him. The prophet was used to breathing the holy air of communion with God, and having Jehoram in front of him polluted it. The "still small voice" was the clear symbol of Elisha's ministry of grace, and the noise of the wicked drowned it out (1 Kings 19:12). So he felt he had to withdraw. Before he could learn the mind of the LORD, he had to get in spirit outside his surroundings, so that he could pass it on to the one truly godly man who would value it.
Notice what Elisha did not need help with. Rebuking the two kings took no music at all.
Elisha needed no musician to condemn the king of Israel, who had turned away from God, or to rebuke the folly and weakness of the king of Judah. But when it is a question of discerning the mind of heaven, then at once the musician is needed. The man of God must have his mind turned away from the utter confusion around him, from the destruction facing God's people, and from the distress into which it plunges them. He cannot learn the mind of the Lord by dwelling on the sorrowful circumstances. He is not indifferent to them and does not ignore them. But to learn how the Lord wants him to act, he must be lifted above the distressing circumstances of earth into the calm of the heavenly scene.
The word behind "musician" points to one instrument in particular. Elsewhere the same English word covers a different kind of player.
The word nagan means a player on a stringed instrument, a harpist, though it is used of players of any musical instrument. When Elisha was once asked for advice, he asked for a musician to be brought, and "when the musician played, the hand of the LORD came upon him." 2 Kings 3:15. The musicians mentioned in Matthew 9:23 were pipers or flute players hired to help with mourning.
Commentators differ on what the music pictures. Some see the strings as the language of a heart lifted up to God. Others see in them a picture of God's Word steadying a troubled heart.
How could he withdraw himself better than by lifting up his soul to God? It was on stringed instruments that the heart of the believer poured out to the LORD his praise, his desires, his needs, or his complaints.
Because the whole situation was a compromise, Elisha asked for a musician. A troubled spirit needs the calming ministry of the Word of God — which is what the music pictures — to find the quiet of the Lord's presence.
The alliance had earned judgment. What came instead was mercy.
So an answer of mercy comes instead of judgment.
And that mercy gave the men something to do.
The remedy worked: "the hand of the LORD came upon him." Then he could reveal the miracle by which the LORD would bring deliverance. They had to prepare ditches to receive water, and the Lord would fill them. He does not work any miracle of grace which does not at the same time aim to put faith into action.
The same need meets us today.
It is easy to expose the evils that trouble the people of God, but hard to find the remedy. That only proves how much we need the musician — that is, a spirit withdrawn from the confused issues among God's people. Nothing else will let us learn the mind of the Lord.
- Out of tune — Elisha lacked quietness, not power. The wicked king's presence had disturbed the heavenly tone of his soul.
- No music for rebuke — condemning open evil took no music. Discerning God's mind did.
- The harp — nagan means a player on strings. On those strings a heart lifts its praise, needs and complaints to God.
- The hand of the LORD — once his spirit was calm, mercy came instead of the judgment they deserved.
- Dig the ditches — grace still called for faith to act. We need the same withdrawn spirit when the remedy is hard to find.
And he said, Thus saith Jehovah Make this valley full of ditches.
Three kings — Israel, Judah, and Edom — marched against rebel Moab. In the wilderness their armies ran out of water, and they sent for Elisha. His answer is not a sermon on their failure but an order to start digging.
A note on wording: the writers quoted here use an older translation, "Make this valley full of ditches." The ESV reads, "I will make this dry streambed full of pools." One wording puts the water in God's hands, the other puts a spade in theirs. Both sides are true here, as the comments below show.
Elisha has just rebuked the king of Israel to his face. What follows is not more rebuke.
There is no doubt in this a rebuke, and a stern one, but we will find that the prophet's action is full of grace... "Thus says Jehovah, Make this valley full of ditches... And this is but a light thing in the sight of Jehovah; He will deliver the Moabites also into your hand." So an answer of mercy comes instead of judgment.
The army receiving this mercy had done nothing to deserve it:
He would show His faithful care for Israel, His people, in spite of their low and disobedient condition.
They had to dig before any water arrived.
They must prepare ditches to receive water, and the Lord would fill them. He never works a miracle of grace without at the same time aiming to put faith into action. We will see more than one example of this in the story of the prophet Elisha.
One writer applies the two sides to the reader:
God alone could send the water, but they had to make room for it. They had to dig channels for it, and remove everything that would keep it from flowing into the valley. And here is your side of the question. Some of you have longed for a deeper knowledge of the fullness of Christ, but you have not longed enough to dig the ditches.
Water was coming, but nothing in the sky would announce it:
Here Jehovah does not intervene, as He does on other occasions, through natural means — wind or rain. He cuts short all the unbelieving reasoning of the confederated kings.
Where they dug matters as much as that they dug. The size of the trench set the limit on what it could hold.
Note, the scene of it was a valley. The low place is the place of repentance and self-judgement. When God's people get down low enough before God, the blessing is never lacking. They had to dig ditches to receive and hold what God had to give. The deeper the ditches and the more energy they showed, the more water they got, and the greater the blessing from God. There is tremendous need of spade and shovel work today.
Another writer names exactly what has to be cleared out of the way:
God does not withhold the blessing. The hindrance is not on His side, but on ours. We are so slow to make room for it. We cling so much to our thoughts and ways and importance, to self and self interests, and these are the hindrances. Let us make the valley full of ditches. In the Name of our Lord arise and dig!
The water came in the morning, at the hour of sacrifice. Israel had a national religion of its king Jeroboam's making. Which altar did God honour?
Jeroboam's national idol worship had nothing to do with this hour, and God does not recognize it at all. His intervention is tied to the altar of the temple at Jerusalem. That altar, so to speak, opens the wonderful floodgates that give a whole army water to drink. So it is with the cross of Christ. However far away it may seem, it is at the hour of that offering that God acts to save all who trust in His Word. The water of life originates in the death of a victim.
The same writer adds that Moab, misled by appearances, rushed to its ruin at the very moment God was delivering those who trusted His message.
- Grace first. Elisha rebukes the king, then answers with mercy. Rescue comes to people in a "low and disobedient condition," not to people who earned it.
- Grace digs. God never works a miracle of grace without also putting faith into action. He sends the water; they cut the channels that hold it.
- Grace without signs. No wind and no rain meant no sign in the sky. The promise alone cut short every unbelieving calculation.
- Grace measured by the ditch. The valley is the low place of self-judgement. The deeper the trench, the more water. The hindrance is never on God's side.
- Grace priced at an altar. The water came at the hour of the offering. Life for the thirsty flowed from the death of a victim. The same water that saved Israel drew Moab to its ruin.
For thus saith Jehovah Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet this valley shall be filled with water, and ye shall drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.
Three allied kings and their armies were dying of thirst in the wilderness of Edom. The prophet Elisha answers with a promise that sounds impossible: water is coming, but no storm will bring it. Stranger still is the command that goes with it — dig ditches in a dry valley. So what does God simply give, and what does He ask His people to prepare for?
Elisha had good reason to send these kings away with a verdict. One writer draws out what he did instead.
Yet Elisha is a prophet of grace. He is not blind to the evil. But instead of pronouncing judgment, he points out a wonderful resource for these three kings in their trouble... They must prepare ditches to receive water, and the Lord would fill them. He does not work any miracle of grace which does not at the same time have the goal of putting faith into action... Here the Lord does not intervene, as He does on other occasions, through natural means — wind or rain. He cuts short all the unbelieving reasoning of the allied kings.
The armies would see water without ever seeing the weather that made it. One writer suggests rain fell on far-off mountains, out of sight. Faith does not wait for an explanation.
This sudden, plentiful water supply was probably caused, as others have suggested, by heavy rain on the eastern mountains of Edom. The storm was so far away that the invaders saw no sign of it. In any case it was God's doing, whatever the physical forces used by Him to bring it about. Faith is never anxious about the scientific explanation of such events. God could have created the water, if He had chosen to. He gives no account of what He does, either to adoring, wondering faith or to questioning unbelief. A starving man need not worry about how or where his benefactor got the food set before him. It is his to eat, and to be thankful.
The writers quote an older translation, which calls the streambed of this verse a valley. The place mattered as much as the work, and the digging set the measure of what they got.
God's way of blessing on this occasion contains some very important principles. Note, the scene of it was a valley. The low place is the place of repentance and self-judgement. When God's people get down low enough before God, the blessing is never lacking. They had to dig ditches to receive and hold what God had to give. The deeper the ditches, and the more energy they showed, the more water they got and the greater the blessing from God. There is tremendous need of spade and shovel work today.
Applied to the Christian, the digging is not what produces the water. It clears away whatever stands in its path.
"Make this valley full of ditches." It is clear that that meant make room for the water... No man would be idle. Every pick and spade would be busy. They would clear away everything that would block the flow of the water they longed for. That is the secret... He is glorified now. God has given the highest place in Heaven to Him Who died for us and rose again. So on His side nothing hinders the flowing of these waters. The hindrance is on your side.
Drink for the men, their livestock and their animals was only the first half of what God promised. The second half was victory over their enemy.
The work of God for the kings was in parts: (1) water for themselves and their hosts; and (2) victory over the enemy... So the refreshment of the army was only a means to an end. In like manner today the work of the Spirit goes far beyond getting Christians right. He does meet our need wonderfully. He ministers Christ to our souls, and He rebukes and restores us whenever we go astray. But He does more than this. He strengthens us for God, so that we can fight successfully against His enemies and ours.
The water came the next morning, at the hour of the sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem. That altar stood far from the valley, and far from the worship Israel's own king Jeroboam had set up.
Jeroboam's national idol worship had nothing to do with this hour, and God does not recognize it at all. His intervention is tied to the altar of the temple at Jerusalem. That altar, so to speak, opens the wonderful floodgates that give a whole army its drink. So it is with the cross of Christ. However far away it may seem, it is at the hour of that offering that God acts to save all who trust in His Word. The water of life originates in the death of a victim.
- Valley — the low place is where God works. Blessing came to men who had come down, not to men standing tall.
- Ditches — the digging never makes water. It only makes room for it, by clearing away what would block the flow.
- Depth — the more they dug, the more they held. The measure of the blessing followed the measure of the effort.
- Drink — water for men, livestock and animals was only the start. The larger purpose was strength for the battle ahead.
- Dawn — it all came at the hour of the offering. The water of life comes through the death of a sacrifice.
And this is a light thing in the sight of Jehovah he will give the Moabites also into your hand.
Three kings — Israel, Judah, and Edom — marched against Moab and ran out of water on a seven-day detour. Elisha promised the valley would fill with water anyway, then called that the smaller part of what God would do.
The promise comes in two parts, and the second is the bigger one:
God's work for the kings came in two parts: (1) water for themselves and their armies; and (2) victory over the enemy. "This is a light thing in the sight of the LORD. He will also give the Moabites into your hand." So the water for the army was only a means to an end. In like manner today the work of the Spirit goes far beyond getting Christians right. He does meet our need, and He meets it wonderfully. He ministers Christ to our souls. He rebukes us and restores us whenever we go astray. But He does more than this. He strengthens us for God, so that we can fight and win against His enemies and ours. Victory should mark the believer's life from first to last.
Elisha met the king of Israel with a sharp rebuke. What comes next is not the judgment the king had earned:
There is no doubt a rebuke here, and a stern one. But we will find that the prophet's action is full of grace… "This is a light thing in the sight of the LORD. He will also give the Moabites into your hand." So an answer of mercy comes instead of judgment.
Another writer traces the trouble back to the partnership between the two kings:
When a man of God like Jehoshaphat ties himself to a man like the king of Israel, distress must come upon them. Then the victory can only be an act of God's sovereign grace, with not a spark of honour left to the follower of Jeroboam's calves.
God promised the water and the victory outright, yet Elisha told the army to dig. That order matters:
They must prepare ditches to receive water, and the Lord would fill them. Every miracle of grace He works also aims at putting faith into action. Here Jehovah does not act, as He does at other times, through natural means — wind or rain. He cuts short all the unbelieving reasoning of the allied kings.
One writer notes where this happened, and what decided how much water they got:
Note that the scene of it was a valley. The low place is the place of repentance and self-judgement. When God's people get down low enough before God, the blessing is never lacking. They had to dig ditches to receive and hold what God had to give. The deeper the ditches, and the more energy they showed, the more water they got and the greater the blessing from God. There is a tremendous need of spade and shovel work today. There is a vast amount of earth to clear away before the blessing of God can fill our souls.
One writer reads the thirsty army as a picture of professing Christians today, and Moab as a picture of the flesh:
That waterless army is a vivid picture of a vast number of people who profess to be God's people today — of Christendom. In fact they have no water. Without water — the living water in this case — they are a defeated people. No waterless Christian ever overcame the Moabite. Moab is the outstanding figure in the Old Testament of the evil flesh, with its self-pleasing and godless desires.
The water came at the hour of the morning sacrifice. One writer ties that hour to the cross:
It is the altar of the temple at Jerusalem which, so to speak, opens those marvellous floodgates that will give a whole army a drink. So it is with the cross of Christ. However far away that offering may seem, it is at its hour that God acts to save all who trust in His Word. The water of life originates in the death of a victim. But that which is life for some is death for others.
- Small to God. The kings thought water in a dry valley was impossible. God calls it a light thing, and adds the defeat of Moab to the same promise.
- Grace, not merit. The rebuke to the king stands. What follows it is mercy instead of judgment, and the distress left the kings no claim to the credit.
- Room for the gift. God fills what faith digs — the deeper the ditches, the more water; the promise is free, but it still puts faith to work.
- Drink, then fight. Water is a means to an end. A people without water never overcome Moab, the picture of self-pleasing flesh.
- At the offering. The waters came at the hour of sacrifice — life to those who trusted His Word, death to those who did not.
And ye shall smite every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.
Elisha has just promised water in a dry valley, and then adds that the Lord will also hand Moab over. Verse 19 spells out that victory: cities struck, good trees felled, springs stopped, fields ruined. It raises two questions. Why so thorough? And why promise this to kings who had no right to ask?
You would expect these kings to reap what they had sown. Commentators note that the prophet's answer runs in the opposite direction.
The musician lifts Elisha above the circumstances of God's people on earth into the calm of the Lord's presence in heaven. There he learns that the mind of the Lord is very different from what the mind of nature might expect. Elisha discovers that the Lord was going to use the occasion of His people's failure and distress to vindicate His own glory and magnify His grace. He would not only keep His people from the destruction that their own folly deserved. He would also give them a great victory over their enemies.
Elisha calls the water "a light thing." Saving a thirsty army was not the goal. It was the first stage of something larger.
God's work for the kings came in two parts: (1) water for themselves and their armies; and (2) victory over the enemy. "This is a light thing in the sight of the LORD. He will also give the Moabites into your hand." So the refreshing of the army was only a means to an end. In the same way today, the work of the Spirit goes far beyond getting Christians right. He does meet our need richly, ministering Christ to our souls, and rebuking and restoring us whenever we go astray. But He does more than this. He strengthens us for God, so that we can fight and win against His foes and ours.
Verse 19 gives the kings the verbs: you attack, you fell, you stop up, you ruin. God guarantees the outcome and still hands them the work. That matches how He had just dealt with them over the water.
They must prepare ditches to receive water, and the Lord would fill them. He does not work any miracle of grace which does not at the same time have the goal of putting faith into action. We shall see more than one example of this in the history of the prophet Elisha.
The command reaches past Moab's armies to Moab's land. Commentators tie that to what Moab stands for.
Moab stands for what is opposed to the character of the God of Israel. So Israel is told to attack every city of Moab, cut down every good tree, stop up every spring of water and ruin every good piece of land with stones. Moab is a picture of the principle of religious self-indulgence. "Moab has been at ease from his youth; he has settled on his dregs, and has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into captivity. Therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent is not changed" (Jer. 48:11). Israel must destroy this principle with zeal.
Commentators do not soften this order. They turn it into a demand on the believer.
This was, without doubt, an unsparing judgment. The lesson for us is plain. Our only safeguard is to overthrow for ourselves all that in which flesh might trust or delight itself, for God would have us find our all in Christ. We dare not give quarter to anything that might draw our hearts away from Him.
Others face the moral objection head on. They note that the nations of that age all fought this way, and that Moab's strongest city survived:
Kir-hareseth alone survived. The armies razed every other city, stopped up every well and cut down every good tree. (Kir-hareseth is mentioned again and again as the stronghold of Moab. See Isaiah 16:7.) On the destruction of Moab, one commentator remarks that we must take the spirit of the times into account, and that all the half-barbaric nations of that day did this.
- Grace first. The kings deserved defeat. God answered their failure with water, then with victory, and used their distress to magnify His grace.
- Then more grace. The water was "a light thing" — a means, not the end. God's aim was never only to refresh His people but to make them victorious.
- Grace that works. They had to dig the ditches and then strike the cities. God performs no miracle of grace that does not put faith into action.
- Grace that spares nothing. Moab pictures self-indulgent, at-ease religion. Israel does not trim that principle back. Israel destroys it — tree, well and field.
- Grace applied. Do to the flesh what Israel did to Moab's land. Give no quarter to anything that draws the heart from Christ.
And it came to pass in the morning, when the oblation was offered up, that behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, and they were called together, all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood by the border.
Moab hears that three kings are marching against it. Every man old enough to carry weapons takes his place along the border. It looks like the decisive moment of the war. Yet water, not soldiers, would settle the battle overnight.
Moab was answering an invasion that no king had brought to God first. Moab threw off Israel's rule after Ahab died. The king of Israel reached for the obvious answer.
Jehoram never searched his conscience before God about why God had allowed this. He took up arms instead. That is the only remedy known to men who have no knowledge of God.
The alliance behind the invasion was just as thoughtless. Elisha refused to stand with the king of Israel, and his words struck the king of Judah too.
Elisha asks the king of Israel, "What have I to do with you?" The question exposes how far the king of Israel had fallen away from God. It is also a rebuke to the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat. He was a true believer, but he walked by his own nature. He had formed an unholy alliance with Jehoram and had said, "I am as you are, my people as your people."
Moab is more than a hostile neighbour. Commentators see the nation as a picture of comfortable, self-pleasing religion. Israel had to root that principle out.
Moab pictures the principle of religious self-indulgence. "Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his dregs; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile" (Jeremiah 48:11). Israel must destroy this principle with zeal.
The men at the border rose early. They saw the flooded valley catching the sunrise, and drew the wrong conclusion.
When morning came, the sun shone on the water in the ditches, and to their eyes it looked red as blood. They said, "This is blood; the kings have surely fought together and struck one another down. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!" Their guess was that the Edomites had turned on their allies at the last moment. In trying to throw off Hebrew rule, they thought, the Edomites had made the allied armies destroy each other. But that over-confident conclusion cost them dearly. When they came near the Israelite camp, "the Israelites rose and struck the Moabites, till they fled before them." Their defeat was thorough and crushing, and it took them completely by surprise.
One morning's water had two opposite effects.
The deliverance comes in the morning, at the same hour when the sacrifice was being offered on the altar... The water of life comes from the death of a victim. But what is life for some is death for others. Moab is fooled by appearances and rushes to its doom. It happens at the very moment when the Lord is delivering those who had received His message. Moab never recognised or accepted the deliverance God had sent, and so Moab is destroyed. The victory belongs to those who have drunk the waters that grace prepared.
So why did God act at all? Commentators find the answer in God Himself, not in the armies.
Nothing in the state of the people called for a display of power on their behalf. But God is gracious and full of compassion. "For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed." When man can bring nothing to God, God finds the reasons for merciful intervention in His own loving-kindness.
What Elisha learned went beyond the crisis in front of him.
Elisha discovers that the mind of the Lord is very different from what human nature might expect. The Lord was going to use His people's failure and distress to vindicate His own glory and magnify His grace. He would keep His people from the destruction their own folly deserved. He would also give them a striking victory over their enemies.
- Failure — a king reached for weapons instead of asking why God had allowed the revolt. A godly king joined him in an alliance he should never have entered.
- Grace — nothing in these armies called for God's help. He found His reasons in His own loving-kindness.
- Reversal — God turned their folly and distress into a display of His glory. He gave them a victory they had no claim to.
- Blindness — Moab called up every fighting man and read the morning sunlight as proof of easy plunder. The same water that saved one camp drew the other to destruction.
- Warning — Moab pictures a comfortable, self-indulgent religion that has never been emptied from vessel to vessel. That ease is what leaves a man unable to recognise God at work.
And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun rose upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side red as blood.
Three kings marched against Moab and ran out of water, until God filled the valley overnight without wind or rain. At dawn the same water became a trap: Moab looked across, saw red, and drew the wrong conclusion — exactly as God intended.
The gift that saved Israel's army did double duty. One writer sets out plainly how the misreading happened.
As the Moabites came to fight against Israel, the early morning sun shining on the water made it appear as red as blood (v.22). The Moabites knew that this area did not normally have water. So they concluded they were looking at blood — the blood of their enemies, shed, it seemed, in fighting one another (v.23). Expecting no opposition, they came forward to take the spoil.
The look of the water was no accident. One writer notes that God meant it to appear that way.
This very thing misleads the Moabites, for they imagine it is blood — for God was pleased that it should appear so. And they said, "This is blood; the kings have surely fought together and struck one another down. Now then, Moab, to the spoil!" They were caught in their own trap.
The water saved one army and doomed the other. One writer explains where that power came from.
The water of life originates in the death of a victim. But that which is life for some is death for others. Moab is deceived by what it sees and rushes to its doom. At that very moment the LORD is delivering those who had received His message. Moab never discerned or acknowledged the deliverance God sent, and so Moab perishes. The victory goes to those who drank the waters that grace provided.
The same writer ties the hour of the water to the cross:
The deliverance takes place in the morning, at the same hour the sacrifice was being offered on the altar. God's action is tied to the altar of the temple in Jerusalem. That altar, so to speak, opens the floodgates that give a whole army water to drink. So it is with the cross of Christ. However far away it may seem, it is at the hour of that offering that God turns to save all those who trust in His Word.
Nothing in Israel's state called for God's help. One writer traces the rescue to the sacrifice and to God's own heart.
This connection with the sacrifice matters. In some way it runs through all Elisha's miracles. The state of the people gave no ground for any display of power on their behalf. But God is gracious and full of compassion. "I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed." When man can bring nothing to God, God draws His reasons for stepping in with mercy from His own loving-kindness.
The crisis was their own fault. God still had a use for it.
Elisha discovers that the Lord was going to use His people's failure and distress to uphold His own glory and magnify His grace. He would not only save His people from the destruction their own folly deserved. He would also give them a striking victory over their enemies.
Victory came. One writer marks what did not come with it.
Still, it is worth noting this. God's grace saved His people from destruction and gave them victory over their enemies, yet there is no revival toward God. In Judah there are real revivals toward God, as well as victories over men. But in all the sad history of Israel, God may come to help them in their distress, and no revival toward God is ever recorded.
- Water — God filled a dry valley without wind or rain. The rising sun made the pools look red, so Moab assumed the allied kings had killed each other and came to take the spoil.
- Timing — The water came at the hour of the morning offering. Commentators press the point: the water of life has its origin in the death of a victim.
- Grace — Israel's condition earned nothing. When people can bring God nothing, He draws His reason to act from His own loving-kindness.
- Division — The same water meant drink for those who received God's message and ruin for those who misread it. What is life to one side is death to the other.
- Warning — Moab perished for not recognising God's deliverance. Israel received it and still had no revival. Rescue alone does not change a heart.
And they said, This is blood the kings are entirely destroyed, and have smitten one another; and now, Moab, to the spoil!
Moab woke to a sunrise that turned the new water blood-red. They read the sight backwards. What God had sent to save a dying army looked to them like three armies that had destroyed each other. Their conclusion sounded reasonable. It sent them running to their own ruin.
Water filled the valley overnight, in a place where no one looked for it. One writer traces how the same gift met two very different sets of eyes:
As the Lord had promised, water filled the land the next morning (v.20). It came at the time the meal offering was offered. So the men and the animals also had their thirst relieved. But the water served two purposes. As the Moabites came to fight against Israel, the early morning sun shone on the water and made it look as red as blood (v.22). The Moabites knew that water was not usually found in this area. So they concluded that they were looking at blood. They took it to be the blood of their enemies, shed, they thought, in fighting one another (v.23). So, expecting no opposition, they came forward to take the spoil.
Three kings had marched against Moab together, and one of them, Edom, was under Israel's rule. So a revolt in the ranks looked like the obvious explanation:
They likely supposed that the Edomites had revolted at the last moment. In trying to throw off Hebrew rule, the Edomites had made the allied armies destroy each other. But sadly for Moab, their conclusion was far too confident. When they approached the Israelite camp, "the Israelites rose and struck the Moabites, till they fled before them." Their defeat was as thorough and crushing as it was unexpected.
The red colour was not an accident of weather and light that God merely used afterwards. It was part of the deliverance from the start:
This very thing misleads the Moabites, for they imagine it is blood. "And when they rose early in the morning and the sun shone on the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood" — for God was pleased that it should look that way. They were caught in their own trap.
The water came at the hour of the morning offering. That timing carries the lesson of the verse:
So it is with the cross of Christ. However distant it may seem, it is at the hour of that offering that God acts to save all who trust in His Word. The water of life comes from the death of a victim. But that which is life for some is death for others. Moab is fooled by appearances. It rushes headlong to its ruin at the very moment when the Lord is saving those who had received His message. Moab did not see or accept the deliverance God had sent, and so Moab is destroyed. The victory belongs to those who have drunk the water that grace prepared.
The cry is a shout of certainty. Writers observe elsewhere in Scripture that loud confidence is often the last sound an enemy makes:
The enemy is never so sure of himself as when his hour has come. So men will cry, "Peace and safety," when sudden destruction comes upon them.
Israel had no claim on this rescue. Their own folly had brought the trouble on them. Yet the prophet learns what God plans to do:
Elisha discovers that the Lord would use this hour of His people's failure and distress to uphold His own glory and magnify His grace. He would not only keep His people from the destruction their own folly deserved. He would also give them a striking victory over their enemies.
- Gift — Water came where none should be, at the hour of the morning offering, and a thirsty army drank.
- Glare — The rising sun turned that same water blood-red, and God was pleased for Moab to see it that way.
- Guess — Moab read the scene as the allies killing each other. The guess fitted what they saw, and it was wrong.
- Greed — Their shout for the spoil was the confidence of men whose hour had come. The defeat that followed was as crushing as it was unexpected.
- Grace — The same water was life to those who drank it and death to those who misread it. One writer sees the cross in that morning.
And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, and they fled before them; and they entered in and smote Moab.
Three kings — Israel, Judah and Edom — marched against Moab and ran out of water, and God filled the valley at Elisha's word. At sunrise the water looked like blood to Moab, so they ran for plunder and met a living army.
Moab did not guess. They reasoned from what they knew about that dry ground. One writer traces how they reached the wrong conclusion:
The Moabites knew that this area had no water of its own. So they concluded that they were looking at blood — the blood of their enemies, shed, as they thought, in fighting against one another. Expecting no opposition, they came to take the spoil.
They came as looters and met soldiers. Another writer says God meant the water to look that way:
The Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood — for God was pleased that so it should appear... They were caught in their own trap.
The defeat in this verse had already been promised, and the promise said how easy it was for God:
"This is a light thing in the sight of the LORD. He will also give the Moabites into your hand." So an answer of mercy comes instead of judgment.
The armies asked for water to drink. They got far more than that. It came at the hour of the meal offering, the daily gift of flour and oil given to God:
It was the supernatural gift of water "when the meal offering was offered" which led to the defeat of the enemy and the victory for Israel. And God has supplied the water of life through Him who is the true meal offering.
Israel had no claim on God. That is why the timing of the miracle matters:
This connection with the sacrifice is important. You can trace it in some way in all Elisha's miracles. The state of the people gave no ground for any display of power on their behalf. But God is gracious, and full of compassion... When man can bring nothing to God, God finds in His own loving-kindness the reasons to step in with mercy.
The alliance itself was wrong. The king of Judah had tied himself to Israel and to Edom:
Here we see the king of Judah in guilty indifference to the will of God. He is in an unholy alliance with Edom as well as with Israel. But God was the same, and He knew how to help His people without approving their sin.
The blow did not stop at the border. Israel pushed on into Moab's own land. Writers read Moab as a picture of something God will not tolerate:
Moab stands for what is opposed to the character of the God of Israel. So Israel is told to attack every city of Moab, cut down every good tree, stop up every spring of water and ruin every good piece of land with stones. Moab pictures the principle of religious self-indulgence... Israel must destroy this principle with zeal.
Commentators differ on how far Israel should have gone. One writer sees the pursuit going beyond what was right:
Their defeat was as thorough and crushing as it was unexpected. Israel now seems to have gone too far in merciless pursuit and pressure on the king of Moab. In desperation he "took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall."
- Gift. God gave water to thirsty armies at Elisha's word, and called the coming victory a light thing.
- Trap. The same water looked like blood to Moab. Greed drove them at an army they thought was dead, and they were caught in their own trap.
- Ground. The water came at the hour of the meal offering. The people deserved nothing, so God found His reasons in His own loving-kindness.
- Alliance. God helped kings who should never have marched together. He can rescue His people without approving their sin.
- Moab. Moab pictures religious self-indulgence, and Israel was told to root it out of every city, tree and spring.
And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone and filled it, and they stopped every well of water, and felled every good tree, until they left [only] the stones at Kirhareseth; and the slingers went about it, and smote it.
Moab's army has broken and run, and the fighting has moved into Moab's own land. Israel wrecks fields, springs, trees and towns, and only the fortress of Kir-hareseth still stands — so why so much ruin, and why stop there?
Every act listed here matches what Elisha had announced before a single blow was struck. One writer draws out how the ruin was aimed not just at Moab's army but at Moab's comfort:
Moab fled before Israel, who killed many of their troops. Israel entered the land of Moab and destroyed their cities. They covered every good piece of land with stones, stopped up the springs of water and cut down all the good trees (v.25). Moab had "been at ease from his youth." How well this would shake that smug self-satisfaction! Moab would now face hard work instead of ease.
The name of the one city left standing is itself a description. One writer unpacks the words behind it:
The Moabites were a pastoral people but dwelling on high ground east of the Dead Sea and strongly fortified. In Isaiah 15:1, Ar is the city and Kir the fortress. All of it would be laid waste.
The destruction sounds excessive today. One writer answers that objection by pointing at wars much closer to our own time:
Kir-hareseth alone was left standing. Israel razed all the other cities, stopped up all the wells and cut down every good tree. (Kir-hareseth is repeatedly mentioned as the stronghold of Moab. See Isaiah 16:7.) On the devastation of Moab, one commentator says we must take the spirit of the times into account. The half-barbaric nations of that day all did this. But was the ruin of Moab, hundreds of years before Christ, any worse than the ruin of Belgium, Poland and Galicia in the twentieth century after Christ?
Writers consistently read Moab as a picture of the flesh — the settled, self-pleasing life that has never been disturbed. That reading turns the scorched fields into a personal lesson:
The victory over Moab was gained. Then the kings were told: "You shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop up all springs of water and ruin every good piece of land with stones." This was certainly an unsparing judgement. The lesson for us is plain. Our only safeguard is to overthrow for ourselves all that in which flesh might trust or delight itself, for God would have us find our all in Christ. We dare not give quarter to anything that might draw our hearts away from Him.
The kings who won this day had brought the crisis on themselves. So the victory says more about God than about them:
Elisha discovers what the Lord was going to do. He would use His people's failure and distress to vindicate His own glory and magnify His grace. He would not only keep His people from the destruction their own folly deserved. He would also give them a remarkable victory over their enemies. And so it happened: God's gracious and miraculous intervention saved the kings and their armies, and they won a great victory over their enemies.
Moab was crushed, but Israel came home unchanged. One writer marks the gap:
Still, it is worth noting this. God's grace saved His people from destruction and gave them a victory over their enemies, yet there is no revival toward God. In Judah there are indeed revivals toward God, as well as victories over enemies. But in all the sad history of Israel, though God may come to help them in their distress, there are no recorded revivals toward God.
- Ordered — The kings were not improvising. They carried out an order already given: take every city, fell every good tree, stop every spring, ruin every good field.
- Targeted — The blow fell on Moab's comfort. A people "at ease from his youth" now faced hard work instead of ease.
- Personal — Overthrow whatever the flesh trusts or enjoys. Give no ground to anything that pulls the heart away from Christ.
- Undeserved — Their own folly deserved destruction. God used their failure as the occasion to magnify His grace.
- Incomplete — Kir-hareseth, Moab's stronghold, still stood, and so did Israel's heart. They won a great victory and still did not turn back to God. Outward success is not revival.
And the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, and he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not.
Israel, Judah, and Edom had gone to war against Moab, and the war was going badly for Moab. Now Moab's king, cornered in his last stronghold, makes one final armed gamble, and the verse ends with three flat words: they could not.
The defeat took Moab completely by surprise. One writer thinks Israel then pushed the beaten king too hard:
Their defeat was thorough and crushing, as it was unexpected. Israel now seems to have gone too far in merciless pursuit and pressure on the king of Moab.
Moab's king did not charge at random. He picked one part of the enemy line, and one writer gives the likely reason:
The account mentions only Israel as striking the enemy and destroying them, just as Elisha had predicted. The king of Moab takes seven hundred men and tries to break through to the king of Edom. He no doubt wants to take refuge with him, but he does not succeed.
The charge failed. What a man does next, when every human resource is gone, shows where his trust really lies:
Frustrated in the attempt to break through, the king of Moab took his oldest son and offered him as a burnt offering to his idolatrous god. He acted as though this foolish step would turn the tide of the war! But such is the folly of unbelief.
Most take the next verse to mean that Moab's king killed his own son and heir. One writer links it instead to a later charge against Moab — that Moab burned the bones of Edom's king into lime:
It would seem that 2 Kings 3:26-27 contains the fact referred to, which most, like Josephus, have misinterpreted. "His eldest son" means the eldest son of the king of Edom. He was the heir to the throne, and probably joint king. The king of Moab threatened to burn him, and did burn his bones, when Israel refused to lift the siege.
Either way, the failed charge at Edom's line led straight to it.
The alliance that won the war did not survive it. Israel's king Jehoram is left to face the result:
This horrible sacrifice calls out the indignation of Israel's allies. Their vengeance has driven Moab to this extreme. They withdraw from the victor and return home. What a useless victory! Moab may believe that this appalling offering to its god has saved it. It may remain unconquered among its ruins, ready for worse reprisals. Such will always be the result of human victories, when it is not God who leads His people to victory. Edom was Israel's ally for a day, and Israel had counted on him. He abandons her and is angry with her from the moment she goes into battle with the name of the Lord as her banner... Jehoram must learn that a religion that only looks true will find no lasting support. It gets none from open unbelievers, and none from those who keep the testimony of God.
Israel had no claim on this victory. The prophet Elisha learned why God gave it anyway:
Elisha discovers that the Lord was going to use the occasion of His people's failure and distress to vindicate His own glory and magnify His grace. Not only would He keep His people from the destruction their own folly deserved, but He would grant them a striking victory over their enemies.
- Cornered. Moab's king expected an easy win. The defeat that hit him instead is what verse 26 opens with.
- Could not. Seven hundred swordsmen drove at the part of the line held by Edom, most likely hoping for shelter there, and failed.
- Cruelty. When his strength failed, he turned to his god with a human sacrifice. Commentators differ on who the victim was, and one writer calls the act the folly of unbelief.
- Cost. The allies broke up in anger and went home. A victory won without God leaves the enemy unbroken among his ruins, ready for worse.
- Cause. Grace was the only reason Israel won anything. God used His people's failure to display His own glory, instead of letting them reap the destruction their folly deserved.
And he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him up for a burnt-offering upon the wall. And there was great wrath against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to [their own] land.
The war against Moab does not end with a treaty. It ends with a father burning his own heir on the city wall, in full view of the armies below. Then the winning side goes home. Commentators read the scene as a window into what false worship demands. They also show how an army can win a war and waste it in the same hour.
The king of Moab did not do this in private. He made his offering where Israel could watch:
Then in despair the King of Moab did the horrible thing of sacrificing his eldest son, the one to reign after him. He offered him upon the wall, in plain sight of Israel, as a burnt offering, to win the favour of his god Chemosh.
Kelly refuses to soften what happened, and then sets God's altar against the idol's:
Some have argued from the words "passing through the fire," here and elsewhere, that the children were not really burned. But this seems a kind attempt to soften how evil the thing was. It was the fullest, though not the only, profanation of the name of Israel's God. Jehovah accepted a sheep or an ox, or even a much smaller sacrifice; Satan under these names demanded their sons.
Kelly also traces where Moab's god came from, and how little human progress does to stop such worship:
Molech was the god of the Ammonites, and Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, differed little from it. One scholar makes the name Chemosh mean "fire," as Molech and names like it mean "King." ... The greatest science and learning, the highest civilization and luxury, can in no way stop this, if they do not help it on.
One writer traces the steps that led to the offering, and names what was behind it:
The king of Moab was desperate. He took 700 swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they failed to get through. Blocked, he took his oldest son and offered him as a burnt offering to his idolatrous god. He did it as though this foolish act would change the tide of war! But such is the folly of unbelief.
Another writer hears an echo of this act in what God says about Moab long afterwards:
Then he offers up his firstborn son for a burnt offering upon the wall. Does this not bring to mind what Jehovah says much later about this same Moab: "Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul" (Micah 6:7)?
Commentators differ over whose child died. Most take the plain reading of the verse: the king of Moab killed his own heir. Kelly reads it differently, and ties the verse to a charge that Amos brings against Moab:
Amos brings this charge against Moab: he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime. It would seem that 2 Kings 3:26-27 contains the fact referred to, which most writers, like Josephus, have misinterpreted. "His eldest son" means the eldest son of the king of Edom. He was the heir to the throne, and probably joint king. The king of Moab threatened to burn him, and did burn his bones, when Israel refused to lift the siege.
The wrath that "came against Israel" broke the coalition. The armies that had just won walked away and left Moab standing in its own ruins.
This horrible sacrifice stirs up the anger of Israel's allies. Their own thirst for revenge had driven Moab to this extreme. So they leave the victor and go home. What a useless victory! Moab may think that this appalling offering to its god has saved it. It stays unbeaten among its own ruins, ready to strike back harder later. This will always be the result of human victories, when it is not God who leads His people to victory.
One writer draws a lesson from Jehoshaphat, the godly king who joined this war:
This was Jehoshaphat's second alliance with ungodly men, and like the first, it ended in failure and produced nothing. Even sinners who want their plans to succeed should be careful not to take God's children into partnership. God's hand may be on His own people for discipline, and trouble will follow them.
- Desperate — His breakout failed, so the king of Moab burned his heir on the wall for Israel to see. He hoped to buy Chemosh's help.
- Deceived — The move changed nothing about the battle. It was the folly of unbelief, acting as though a horror could turn the tide.
- Demanded — God's altar asked for a sheep or an ox. Behind the idol's name, Satan asked for sons, and no level of civilisation has ever stopped it.
- Disputed — Most read the victim as Moab's own crown prince. Kelly reads him as Edom's heir, and points to Amos, who charges Moab with burning the bones of Edom's king.
- Dissolved — The allies broke up and went home, leaving a won war unfinished. That is what human victories come to when God is not the one leading.