Three kings were in sore trouble; two of them ungodly men, the other a backsliding servant of Jehovah (2 Ki. 3). Jehoram, King of Israel, was at least a religious professor. On occasion he could wear sackcloth upon his flesh, and make use of Jehovah’s name (2 Ki. 6:27-3027And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? 28And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him to day, and we will eat my son to morrow. 29So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. 30And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh. (2 Kings 6:27‑30)), and he could even purge away some of the grosser evils introduced by his parents (2 Ki. 3:22And he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made. (2 Kings 3:2)). The King of Edom was just a man of the world, with no pretension whatever to relationship with God. How could Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, associate himself with such a pair, with any expectation of aid or blessing from Jehovah! This was neither the first nor the second time that he had weakly allied himself with evil men. When he returned from helping Ahab at Ramoth-Gilead, the prophet remonstrated with him thus: “Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate Jehovah!” (2 Chr. 19:22And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. (2 Chronicles 19:2)). When he joined himself with Ahaziah in a commercial enterprise, he was divinely informed that Jehovah would break his ships, a catastrophe which really happened (2 Chr. 20:35-3735And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: 36And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. 37Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the Lord hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish. (2 Chronicles 20:35‑37)). What is sorely needed amongst God’s saints is the spiritual energy to say “No” (at whatever cost) when invited by the world to cooperate with it in its schemes, of whatever character the schemes may be.
The three kings sought to subjugate Mesha, King of Moab, who had repudiated the suzerainty of the King of Israel after the death of Ahab. Instead of exercising his conscience before God as to why this had been permitted, Jehoram had recourse to arms. This is the only remedy known to men who are destitute of the knowledge of God. When Jehoshaphat was invited to help, he replied, “I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.” Oh, the shame of it! Should he not rather have replied, “By the grace of God, I am the opposite of what thou art!”
The allied sovereigns took a circuitous route in order to avoid Moab’s fortified cities, and presently they found themselves with no water for their host. Jehoram cried out in despair, “Alas! that Jehovah hath called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab!” Jehoshaphat asked if there was available a prophet of Jehovah by whose means they might inquire of Him. One of the King of Israel’s servants remarking that Elisha was within reach, the three kings went down to him, Jehoshaphat saying, “the Word of Jehovah is with him.” If the King of Judah had sought the Word of God before venturing forth, he would not have found himself in such a strait. Elisha at first bade Jehoram go to the prophets of his father and mother, knowing well that he sought water, not God; but presently he said, “As Jehovah 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.” Elisha thus distinguished between God’s saint (even though in a backsliding condition) and the evil men with whom he was associated.
His next words are remarkable: “But now bring me a minstrel.” Why was this! The fact is, his spirit was checked while the ungodly were before him, and he felt it imperative to abstract himself in order to get into proper touch with God. What a lesson is here! Oh, that we all understood it! How different would Jehoshaphat’s course have been had he understood it! While the minstrel played, the hand of Jehovah came upon Elisha, and he said, “Thus saith Jehovah, make this valley full of ditches,” etc. This being done, the valley should be filled with water, an ample supply for both men and beasts. Moreover, victory should follow over rebellious Moab. How good of our God! What an appeal to the consciences of all the confederate kings!
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. Ditches must be dug in order to receive and hold what God had to give. The deeper the ditches, the more energy thus displayed, the more water they got, the greater the blessing from God. There is tremendous need of spade and shovel work today. Brethren, there is a vast amount of earth to be got rid of ere the blessing of God can really fill our souls. Dare we deny that earth has taken large possession of us! Has not the extraordinary prosperity of recent years affected even God’s saints adversely? It may be that now God is withdrawing it from us in order to uplift our souls. Christ is the Christian’s only true object. Not to this world of sin and death, but to the other world of life and glory, where Christ is, does the Christian really belong. By the Spirit’s power we are enabled to enter even into the enjoyment of things invisible and eternal. But earthly-mindedness is grave hindrance to this. The blessing came “in the morning, the meal offering was offered” (9:00 a.m.). Frequently in Scripture do we find the blessing vouchsafed at the hour of offering (cf. 1 Ki. 18:3636And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. (1 Kings 18:36); Ezra 9:55And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the Lord my God, (Ezra 9:5); Dan. 9:2121Yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. (Daniel 9:21); Acts 2:1515For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. (Acts 2:15); Acts 3:11Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. (Acts 3:1); Acts 10:33He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. (Acts 10:3)). God has no good thing for man apart from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The work of God for the kings was in parts: (1) water for themselves and their hosts, and (2) victory over the enemy. “This is but a light thing in the sight of Jehovah: He will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.” The refreshment of the army was thus only a means to an end. In like manner today the work of the Spirit goes far beyond getting Christians right. He does indeed meet our need most blessedly, 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, that we may be enabled to war successfully against His foes and ours. The life of the believer should be characterized by victory from first to last.
The victory being gained over Moab, the kings were told, “Ye shall smite every fenced 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.” An unsparing judgement assuredly. 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.