Elijah and Elisha: Prophets of Hope 12/18/2016 for a Dark Generation

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1 Message #9 Pastor Kurt Hedlund Elijah and Elisha: Prophets of Hope 12/18/2016 for a Dark Generation LESSONS FOR A DARK GENERATION 2 KINGS 3 I. I have a slide here of bones of an animal that is believed to have died about 2500 years ago. Any guesses about what kind of animal this is? ---I don t claim that I would have recognized it except that I found a label on the picture.... They are pig bones. The fascinating thing is that they were found in the northern part of what we know today as the nation of Israel. What is unusual about that?... Good Jews were not supposed to eat pigs. According to the Old Testament law pigs are unclean and not to be eaten. In our study of Elijah and Elisha we have been looking at what was going on in the northern kingdom of Israel. For that was the primary object of ministry for these two prophets. These pig bones were found in Israel. Archaeologists have found remains of pig bones from this general time period in a number of places in Israel. But they have not been found from the same time period in Judah. We have seen that the Bible calls all of the rulers of this northern kingdom of Israel evil. This evil influence clearly affected the behavior of the Jewish people who lived in this kingdom. These archaeological discoveries provide one sign of the spiritual condition of the Israelites. In eating pigs these people were violating one of the fundamental Jewish laws regarding diet. It is no wonder that the prophets of God had a lot to say about the need of these people to turn back to the true God. There are those who have claimed that the United States is in some sense a Christian nation. If 2000 years from now archaeologists dig through the remains of our country, what things do you suppose that they could find that would cause doubt to be placed about that claim? Put on your thinking caps. What kind 1

2 of things do you suppose that they could find that would raise some question about our civilization in 2016 being Christian?... (abortion clinics, gambling halls, strip clubs...) Many of us have concerns about the moral and spiritual direction of our nation. We are going to look at our passage today to see if there are lessons here for us about how to live well in the midst of a generation that seems increasingly to be heading in the wrong direction morally and spiritually. We have seen that Elisha has taken over spiritual leadership in Israel after Elijah was taken up into heaven. Evil king Ahab has died. Now his son Jehoram is ruling over Israel. We shall see what happens in Elisha s dealings with this new king and the nation of Israel. II. In vv of 2 Kings #3, which is p. 308 in the black Bibles, we are going to find that IN THE MIDST OF A DARK GENERATION THE PEOPLE OF GOD NEED TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT COMPROMISE WITH EVIL. In vv. 1-3 we read, In the 18th year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twelve years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it. When Elijah was dealing with Ahab and Jezebel, the Israelite king and queen were promoting worship of the false god Baal. Jehoram does not do that. He goes back to the worship practices of Jeroboam. Jeroboam was the one who led the break away from Judah. He set up two worship centers in the northern kingdom of Israel to keep the Jews from going to the temple in Jerusalem, and he had them worship before a golden calf that was supposedly a representation of YHWH, the God of Israel. But this was still bad. This was a violation of the First and Second Commandments. Jehoram was just not as bad as his father Ahab. 2

3 Verses 4 & 5 tell us, Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he had to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. Moab is the country in the lower right part of this map. It had fallen under the control of the united kingdom of Israel way back in the time of King David. But now when Ahab dies, the Moabites sense an opportunity to break away. For some reason that is tough for us to understand they don t want to pay high taxes to another country. Back in 1868 explorers discovered a stone monument in what is now Jordan but was once Moab. Eventually they were able to decipher the words that were inscribed upon it. The Phoenician alphabet was used to write words from the Moabite language. This stone monument has become known as the Mesha Stone, or Moabite Stone. It goes back to the time period that we are studying. The inscription begins, I am Mesha, son of Chemosh, king of Mesha... Chemosh was the name of the chief Moabite god. Later the inscription says, [The king of Israel] oppressed Moab many days for Chemosh was angry with his land... It goes on to describe in general terms battles with Israel. It specifically mentions YHWH, the proper name of the God of Israel. So is this Bible history stuff that was all made up, as some more skeptical critics have once claimed? I don t think so. Verses 6 & 7 continue, So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. And he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to battle against Moab? Jehoshaphat had been ruling in Judah for eighteen years already when Jehoram showed up on the scene. Years earlier Jehoram s father Ahab had convinced Jehoshaphat to help him in fighting against Syria. The result of that battle was a bad defeat. Ahab was killed. A different prophet rebuked Jehoshaphat for becoming involved in this alliance. 3

4 In 2 Chronicles #19 v. 2 we are told, But Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the Lord. Jehoshaphat was a worshiper of the true God. But we might wonder about his involvement with Jehoram now. Has he not learned about the danger of compromise with evil? Jehoram is not as bad as his father was. Practical circumstances have perhaps also affected Jehoshaphat s judgment. The Moabites had attacked Judah in recent times. So the Moabites were a common enemy. But there is a danger about compromise with people whom the Lord regards as evil. The text says in vv. 8 & 9, Then he said, by which way shall we march? Jehoram answered, By the way of the wilderness of Edom. So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And when they had made a circuitous march of seven days, there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. In the original language it is not actually clear who suggests the route that should be taken to attack Moab. Many commentators think that it is Jehoshaphat who is suggesting the route to be taken, since the armies head east from his border to the south of the Dead Sea. So the coalition of armies does not make a direct attack on the north side of the Dead Sea, which would be closer to Israel. The suspicion is that the Moabites had a stronger defense in this northern area. So instead the armies of Israel and Judah go around on the south side of the Dead Sea. In this way they also get the Edomites to join with them. Edom at this time was under the dominance of Judah. This southern border of Moab was less well defended. It was more of a wilderness area. The hope probably was that this would be something of a surprise attack. But the problem was that there was not much water here. 4

5 Verses 10-12: Then the king of Israel said, Alas! The Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab. And Jehoshaphat said, Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord? Then one of the king of Israel s servants answered, Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. And Jehoshaphat said, The word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. King Jehoram claims to have some kind of belief in the God of Israel. But it is the kind of belief that many have in our culture who claim to be Christians. They may give lip service to the God who is there. In times of desperation they may turn to Him. But their behavior is far removed from the behavior that is prescribed in the Bible. In this case Jehoram and his parents have a record of resisting the calls of the true prophets to turn back to faith in the God of the Bible. It also turns out that Elisha is present with this military force that is out to attack Moab. No explanation is given for his presence. Maybe he is a soldier, still young in age, who has been called up to join in the battle. When their presence is requested by kings, subjects normally go up to see the king. The situation in our story is seemingly desperate. So the kings go down to see Elisha. So we find in this section of our passage a warning about compromise with evil. The fact that a king who is a believer in the true God joins with an evil king to embark on a joint mission leads all of them into a desperate situation. It is impossible in our world to function without having interactions with people who do not share our same Christian values and standards. So the line we are to draw to avoid unhealthy compromise is not always clear. In 2 Corinthians #6 the Apostle Paul warns about being unequally yoked with unbelievers. It would seem that this general standard would warn us about marrying unbelievers, about forming close business partnerships with 5

6 nonchristians and about letting unbelievers be official members of a local church. The warning about compromise with evil also includes accepting evil ideas promoted by culture. It would include not compromising when our culture says that gay marriage is fine, abortion of babies should be a constitutional right, ethics in business doesn t matter and the pursuit of wealth justifies bad behavior. We who claim to be followers of the true God need to be careful about compromise with evil. III. Then in vv we learn that IN THE MIDST OF A DARK GENERATION THE PEOPLE OF GOD NEED TO RESPOND IN FAITH TO THE PROMISES OF GOD. In v. 13 the author writes, And 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. But the king of Israel said to him, No; it is the Lord who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab. Jehoram s parents worshiped Baal. That did them no good. Jehoram had priests in Dan and Bethel who had a screwed up version of YHWH worship. But they violated many of the fundamental standards of worship described in the Hebrew Bible. Yet it seems that Jehoram has some kind of recognition the true God has been involved in bringing them into this current situation. We read in v. 14, And Elisha said, As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you. For Jehoram the true God and the true prophet of God are for emergency use only. That is the attitude that some in the world around us have. The Lord doesn t think very much of Jehoram. But notice that the mere presence of Jehoshaphat who does believe in the true God has a beneficial effect on the people around him. Perhaps we Christians have more beneficial effect on the world around us than we realize. Perhaps our presence somehow restrains the judgment of a holy God. 6

7 In v. 15 Elisha says, But now bring me a musician. And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him. The word of God came to prophets in different ways and in different circumstances. But here the playing of music has a beneficial effect. Verses 16 & 17: And he [Elisha] said, Thus says the Lord, I will make this dry streambed full of pools. For thus says the Lord, You shall not see wind or rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals. GIs have been known to be required by sergeants in the army to dig holes for no reasonable purpose. Grunts in the military are always required to obey orders. But consider the situation here. The army is in a wilderness area. Water is in short supply. There is apparently no sign of rain. Digging holes may seem to have no rational purpose. Some of the officers may have had awareness that some religious character had told the kings that holes needed to be dug. But what sense did digging holes make when what they all needed was water? The test of faith is believing the promises of God when there appears to be little visible hope that they will be fulfilled. The situation at hand seems to require the intervention of God. But there is a human responsibility involved. Water is going to show up on the scene suddenly. But unless provision is made to retain that water, it will quickly be gone. Elisha continues in vv. 18 & 19, This is a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will also give the Moabites into your hand, and 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 is a promise from the Lord that not only will their immediate need be met--- not only will they be kept from death and destruction--- but also they will defeat their enemies. How this will be accomplished is not clear. Their immediate danger is still that they will die of thirst. But the promise from God is that they will not only survive, they will also defeat their enemies. The specific direction in 7

8 regard to that is that they are to cut down orchards and stop up springs and mess up agricultural fields by filling them with stones. According to v. 20, The next morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came from the direction of Edom, till the country was filled with water. How did this come to pass? For us who live in southern Nevada this is not hard to understand. It can be sunny and pleasant around Lake Mead and along the Colorado River, and there can be a sudden downpour of rain in the hills and mountains miles away. The result is flash floods. The area of the border between Moab and Edom is like that. Thus the Lord provides water for the Jewish armies. But the lesson to see here is that the people of God had a responsibility to make preparation for this water. They had to dig trenches, even though there was no sign of rain. The people of God are responsible to respond in faith to the promises of God. One demonstration of faith is to continue in prayer. In the parable of the widow and the unjust judge Jesus described how a widow kept coming to an unjust judge to get help in her situation. She finally wore him out, and this judge provided justice. God is not like the unjust judge. He wants to provide justice to His people. But our responsibility is to pray. We are responsible to pray, especially in difficult situations where there is no obvious solution. We have lost Jeremy and Jessica, and there is a sudden, real need for help with our music leadership in the church. We must pray and trust God that the Lord will bring along the right person. But we are also responsible to look for that right person and make provision for him or her when that person comes along. We need to respond in faith to the promises of God. IV. In vv we learn that IN THE MIDST OF A DARK GENERATION THE PEOPLE OF GOD NEED TO EXPECT GOD TO MEET NEEDS IN WAYS WE CAN T IMAGINE. According to v. 21, When all the Moabites heard that the kings had 8

9 come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, from the youngest to the oldest, were called out and were drawn up at the border. The border on the south between Moab and Edom was the Zered River. In dry times of the year there was no water in it. Verses 22 & 23 add, 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. And they said, This is blood; the kings have surely fought together and struck one another down. Now then, Moab, to the spoil! Edom means red. There is much red sandstone in southern Jordan, in the area that was once Edom. So it is understandable that when there was a flash flood, the water would appear red in color. The Bible also tells us that in this time period there were a number of coalitions involving Israel and Judah and their allies and coalitions involving the enemies of Israel and Judah. Israel and Judah during this divided kingdom period sometimes fought against each other. In 2 Chronicles #20 we are told about an incident earlier in the rule of Jehoshaphat when Moab joined forces with the Ammonites and another country and attacked Judah. Before this enemy coalition could do any damage to Judah, they broke up into fighting against each other. So we can understand that when the Moabites come upon this scene and have not seen any sign of rain coming from the sky but see what looks like blood on the ground, they decide that Judah and Israel have started killing each other. Thus we read in vv. 24 & 25, But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose and struck the Moabites, till they fled before them. And they went forward, striking the Moabites as they went. And they overthrew the cities, and on every good piece of land every man threw a stone until it was covered. They stopped every spring of water and felled all the good trees, till only its stones were left in Kir-hareseth, and the slingers surrounded and attacked it. 9

10 So what looked like a situation of possible death for Judah and Israel a short time ago is now turned around to not only be salvation for Judah and Israel but also victory over the Moabites. For the Judah-Israel-Edom coalition proceeds to destroy the southern part of Moab. They end up surrounding the Moabite capital city of Kir-hareseth. One of the lessons that King Mesha learned from this battle was recorded on a recently discovered stone monument. Supposedly he wrote, We are going to build a wall on the southern border and Edom is going to pay for it. Perhaps you were wondering where that phrase originated. The story comes to a rather puzzling conclusion in vv. 26 & 27: When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land. We know that worship of the Moabite god Chemosh involved child sacrifice. It seems clear that Israel and Judah left the scene of battle with something less than complete victory, at least without conquering the Moabite capital. But it is not clear exactly why they left the scene. A key question here is: Who was wrathful and why? A number of suggestions have been made. One is that God is wrathful. Israel and Judah went too far in their attack on Moab. They should have stopped before this. But there is no indication in the text that they were supposed to stop before now. A second suggestion is that the Moabite god Chemosh was mad at Israel and Judah. But Chemosh is a made up God, and it seems doubtful that the Bible would give him any credit. 10

11 A third suggestion is that because of this great sacrifice that Mesha made of his son the Moabite army was inspired to great wrath and chased the armies facing them away. A fourth suggestion is that the Israelite and Jewish armies were so horrified and repulsed by this human sacrifice that they quit the field. They decided that it was time to go home. Among current commentators this seems to be the preferred view. I don t find it especially persuasive. It seems to me that if anything this child sacrifice would convince the Hebrews that these evil people should be wiped out. The alternative that makes the most sense to me is that Mesha was not able to break through the enemy lines in his attack on the forces of Edom. But he was able to capture the crown prince of the Edomites. So when he returns to the capital city he offers not his own son but the crown prince of the Edomites as a burnt offering. In Amos #2 v. 1 there is this interesting statement: Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because he burned to lime the bones of the king of Edom. Perhaps the prophet Amos is referring to this incident in our passage. So the coalition of Edom and Judah and Israel breaks up because the Edomites are angry with the others, especially Israel, for not withdrawing from the capital city and allowing their crown prince to be killed. The larger point here is that we need to expect God to meet needs in a way that we cannot always imagine. Israel and Judah were at a point of desperation. Their army was running out of water. Their survival was seemingly at stake. There was no obvious way out of their predicament. But God answered in an unexpected way. He provided water by means of a flash flood. But this water not only provided life to the Hebrews, but it also confused the enemy Moabites. They waltzed into this situation not expecting a fight, and they got beat up bad. The Moabites were defeated, though perhaps not completely 11

12 conquered. God met the needs of the people of God in a way that they could not have imagined. So it is sometimes with us. In our individual lives we encounter difficult circumstances, and there sometimes seems to be no way out. Yet God intervenes and meets our need in a way that we could not have anticipated. Some 2000 years ago the people of God were living in a dark time. They were dominated by the Gentile Romans. They labored under heavy taxes from this foreign oppressor. They longed for a messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures to come and free them from the Romans. They did not anticipate that God Himself would take on human flesh and be born in a manger in a little town to poor young parents. This Jesus grew up and went around the country announcing that the kingdom of God was at hand. He taught and performed miracles. Yet the religious leadership rejected Him. His own disciples were hoping that this Jesus was about to bring in the kingdom of God and introduce a time of great glory of which they would be a part. They did not imagine that this Jesus would be crucified by the Romans. Then when He was crucified and buried and sealed in a tomb, they did not imagine that He would physically rise from the dead. But on Easter morning He did. These people could not have imagined that as a result of this horrible death and glorious resurrection that Jesus Christ provided a way to meet their, and our, greatest need--- not a physical deliverance but a spiritual deliverance. For as a result of the death of the God-man Jesus the penalty was paid for the sins of the world. Now if we will accept Him as our Savior and believe in what He did in dying for us, we can have eternal life and forgiveness of sins. We can go to heaven someday. In the meantime, we can expect that God will meet our needs, at times in ways that we cannot imagine. 12