King James Version, with Nii Okai's journal notes · 10 notes
1Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
2And 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.
3Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom.
4And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool.
5But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel.
7And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses.
8And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom.
9So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days’ journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them.
10And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!
11But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may enquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah.
Jehoshaphat had this habit of enquiring of the Lord, even in times of difficulty or error, before he made any move.
For Jehoshaphat, everything was spiritual, and he enquired of the Lord often.
He was like David in this wise.
12And 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.
13And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab.
His brother Ahaziah had sent to enquire of Baal in the times of Elijah... They were just pagans.
14And Elisha said, As the LORD 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.
This tells us right there the real relationship that Elisha had with the Lord. It was a similar greeting that Gabriel gave unto Zechariah.
Hmm 🤔. For a man to make the same claim that spirits make. Wow.
15But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.
16And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches.
17For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts.
18And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand.
It seems the Lord is vulnerable when men align to do his will and work for him.
He is just vulnerable. So here these kings, though some hated him, yet because they were aligned with what he, God, wanted to do anyways, and he needed men to do it, he helped them.
Just as he had helped Ahab to overcome 32 kings.
19And 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.
I see the divine hand of God at work against Moab.
Their cup was full, and God intended to destroy them, and here he is using the kings of Israel and Edom as his tools for that purpose.
20And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
21And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood in the border.
I'm sure this would include men who had never been to battle.
But at this time all hands were needed.
22And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood:
23And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil.
Why would they think such, except that they had also consulted with their gods, who had promised them victory ✌️?
Indeed, this was not the first time in their history that armies who were confederates had destroyed each other before the enemy, and the enemy just came to loot the spoil.
Israel had experienced that many times.
But here Moab was deceived.
24And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country.
25And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kir-haraseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.
26And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not.
They planned to cut the head of the snake 🐍 — to kill the king and hence scatter his people.
27Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
What exactly happened here... Great indignation as in what?