2 Kings 3:6-27

Cross-references For Better Understanding a Related Topics b Additional Materials c

Summary

• God destroys the Moabites. He uses the Israelites and their allies to do it, but only after they are too weak to accomplish it themselves. (In fact, Israel and their allies were close to perishing, when God intervened and delivered them out of disaster.)

Details and/or Comments

• The Moabites were an idolatrous nation. All the way back to the earliest days of Israel's history, the Moabites had been trying to destroy Israel - Numbers 22(+). More recently, they had been brought under subjugation by Israel; but now they were in rebellion. (Rebelling wasn't their only sin; and ultimately, it is God who arranged their defeat - v. 18.)

Scripture

2 Kings 3:6-27 – Miracle of water and providential victory over the enemy.

Scripture Passage	Comments and Links
2Ki 3:6 King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel. 2Ki 3:7 He went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab has rebelled against me: will you go with me against Moab to battle? He said, I will go up: I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. 2Ki 3:8 He said, Which way shall we go up? He answered, The way of the wilderness of Edom. 2Ki 3:9 So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days' journey: ...	Three kings join to fight Moab. The king of Judah, who still worshiped Yahweh, should not have made an alliance with the others, who were idolaters. The king of Northern Israel had stopped worshiping Baal (v. 2), which is related to the First Command. But he followed the ways of Jereboam, and worshiped the golden calves (supposedly representing Yahweh), which is a violation of the Second Command. "Unequally Yoked"
... and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. 2Ki 3:10 The king of Israel said, Alas! for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.	No water. The weather conditions were probably a lot worse than they had anticipated. The King of Israel (northern kingdom) blames God (who he doesn't serve - though he may think he does)! Blaming God
2Ki 3:11 But Jehoshaphat said, Isn't there here a prophet of Yahweh, that we may inquire of Yahweh by him? One of the king of Israel's servants answered, Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. 2Ki 3:12 Jehoshaphat said, The word of Yahweh is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. 2Ki 3:13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, "What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother." The king of Israel said to him, "No; for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab." 2Ki 3:14 Elisha said, "As Yahweh of Armies 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. 2Ki 3:15 But now bring me a minstrel." It happened, when the minstrel played, that the hand of Yahweh came on him.	A deserved rebuke for the king of Israel. He may use the name "Yahweh," but he is an apostate, at best. Yahweh is ruler over all, even those who don't recognize his rule. This is the God that Elisha served. Even though Jehoshaphat (the king of Judah) should not have become allied with the idolatrous kings, his presence was the only reason Elisha was willing to help them!
2Ki 3:16 He said, Thus says Yahweh, Make this valley full of trenches. 2Ki 3:17 For thus says Yahweh, You shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, and you shall drink, both you and your livestock and your animals.	They must dig trenches; God will fill them. This would accomplish two things: 1) it would sustain these three armies; 2) it would devastate the Moabite army!
2Ki 3:18 This is but a light thing in the sight of Yahweh: he will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. 2Ki 3:19 You shall strike every fortified city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.	God will deliver the Moabites into their hands; but they (the three armies) must destroy the Moabites. This did not mean that the Moabites would be utterly annihilated; but it would prevent any further rebellion for quite some time. The land (trees, crops) could be restored, but it would take time. (This was not the same as the action described in modern times as the Scorched Earth Policy.) The Effects of Judgment on Land, Plants and Animals - God's instructions about sparing the fruit trees in Canaan (Deuteronomy 20:19-20) did not apply here. This judgment against Moab is initiated by God, after the three armies had become helpless and unable to fight (until God delivered them from their own impending doom). How God Wages War Destruction of Wicked Nations - Though this was not a total destruction of the nation of Moab, some of the principles still applied.
2Ki 3:20 It happened in the morning, about the time of offering the offering, that behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.	God sent water. Torrential rains in the mountains could result in flash floods in the valley. Providence
2Ki 3:21 Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all who were able to put on armor, and upward, and stood on the border. 2Ki 3:22 They rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water over against them as red as blood: 2Ki 3:23 and they said, This is blood; the kings are surely destroyed, and they have struck each man his fellow: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. 2Ki 3:24 When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land smiting the Moabites.	The Moabites mistake the sun's reflection off the water for blood, and unsuspectingly walk into an ambush! Since there had been no rain, and it was a dry wilderness, the thought that it might be water never occurred to them. Providence
2Ki 3:25 They beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land they cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the springs of water, and felled all the good trees, until in Kir Hareseth only they left its stones; however the men armed with slings went about it, and struck it.	Total destruction (except for one city - see below), in obedience to Yahweh.
2Ki 3:26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not. 2Ki 3:27 Then he took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall.	They probably wanted the Edomites to turn against Judah and Israel; but it didn't work. Human sacrifice is an evil that was practiced by some of the wicked nations surrounding Israel and Judah. It was also one of the reasons that God ultimately destroyed Israel (2 Kings 17:17) and Judah (Jeremiah 7:31, etc.). The wicked may think that such sacrifices would result God's favor; but Scripture reveals that it ultimately is a reason for God's judgment! Human Sacrifice
There was great wrath against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.	The significance of the word “wrath” is uncertain. (This Hebrew word, translated as "wrath," is normally used in reference to God's wrath.) Some suggest that, because of Israel's own sins, God prevented them from having a total victory over Moab.

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—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——

The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.

Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.