Several days ago we learned that after King Ahab of Israel died the Moabites thought it was a good time to rebel against paying tribute to the kingdom of Israel. The Moabites were subject to Israel at that time and had been ever since King David won military victory over them in 2 Samuel 8. We weren't told much about the rebellion during the brief two-year reign of Ahab's son Ahaziah; the information regarding Ahaziah's reign mainly dealt with the serious fall he suffered in his home that led to his death. Ahaziah died without a son to succeed him so his younger brother, Joram, became king in his stead. This is where today's study begins.
"Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years." (2 Kings 3:1) We have already looked at the death of King Jehoshaphat but it's necessary for the author to take us back in time a few years in order to study the reign of Joram which began during Jehoshaphat's eighteenth year as king of Judah. We must keep in mind that these two kings have a family connection: Jehoshaphat's son Jehoram is married to Joram's sister Athaliah.
"He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them." (2 Kings 3:2-3) After King Ahab married Jezebel of Sidon he adopted her religion of Baal worship and made Baal worship the official state-sponsored religion of Israel. When we studied the book of 1 Kings we learned that Ahab's eldest son and successor, Ahaziah, "served and worshiped Baal". (1 Kings 22:53) But Joram rejects Baal, perhaps because he fears coming to a bad end as his brother and his father did, and he reverts back to the religious practices put in place by Jeroboam, the first man to be king over Israel after the ten northern tribes rebelled against Solomon's son Rehoboam. Jeroboam feared his people would go into the southern kingdom of Judah to worship the Lord at the temple and he thought they would be enticed to give their allegiance to Rehoboam, so he made two golden calves and set them up at Dan and at Bethel as centers of worship. He commanded the people to worship at these locations, presenting the golden calves as symbols of the Lord and presenting these two locations as acceptable substitutionary places of worship. (1 Kings 12:28-30)
Jeroboam's actions were in direct opposition to the Lord's command to worship only at the location He chose and to never to make an idol. The Lord had said, "You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them." (Exodus 20:4-5a) When King Joram rejected the Baal religion of his father and mother he reverted back to the golden calves of Jeroboam. Joram is not spiritually as bad of a man as his older brother and father were, but he is not truly devoted to the Lord either. In adopting the calves as symbols of the God of Israel, he is displaying a "form of godliness" (to use a phrase of the Apostle Paul's from 2 Timothy 3:5) but it is a form of godliness without any power. It is superficial and its true purpose may have been to continue maintaining friendly relations with King Jehoshaphat of Judah who faithfully served the Lord all his life. Joram is going to need Jehoshaphat's help to go to war against the Moabites and it was to Joram's advantage to give the appearance of serving the Lord, albeit in a way not prescribed by the Lord.
"Now Mesha king of Moab raised sheep, and he had to pay the king of Israel a tribute of a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams. But after Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. So at that time King Joram set out from Samaria and mobilized all Israel. He also sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: 'The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?'" (2 Kings 3:4-7a) Tribute in those days was often paid in the form of something other than in silver or gold. Taxation was frequently assessed in the form of valuable goods. The Moabites were required to pay their taxes in lambs and in wool. King Mesha of Moab refuses to continue paying these taxes and Joram readies his army to quell this rebellion but he needs more manpower for the fight.
Just as he agreed to go with King Ahab against the Arameans, Jehoshaphat agrees to go with King Joram against the Moabites. "'I will go with you,' he replied. 'I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.' 'By what route shall we attack?" he asked. 'Through the Desert of Edom,' he replied." (2 Kings 3:7b-8) You may have heard the expression, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Joram and Jehoshaphat have little in common spiritually but they have a common enemy and they are willing to put aside their spiritual differences to face this common enemy together. It is never wise for a believer to partner with an unbeliever, but for the sake of the godly King Jehoshaphat and for the sake of the Lord's people Israel as a whole, the Lord will give this combined army victory over the Moabites. But first a hardship occurs that causes all the men of both armies, plus the army of Edom, to have to depend on the Lord for help. The Edomites have not been kind to the tribes of Israel in the past but I think this is yet another example of men putting aside their differences to fight a common enemy. If the Moabites get the upper hand over Israel, this will only encourage them to rise up against other neighboring kingdoms such as Edom and Judah.
"So the king of Israel set out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. After a roundabout march of seven days, the army had no more water for themselves or for the animals with them. 'What!' exclaimed the king of Israel. 'Has the Lord called us three kings together only to deliver us into the hands of Moab?'" (2 Kings 3:9-10) Did the Lord indeed call these three kings together or was it solely at Joram's instigation that this endeavor was undertaken? He does not appear to be a man who is particularly sensitive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and I tend to think it was his own idea to quash the rebellion of Moab; he simply needed the help and military expertise of the other two kings. Whether or not the other two kings felt led by the Lord to join him, we do not know, but it's doubtful that the leader of Edom sought the Lord's advice on this matter since the Edomites fell into idolatry long ago. Jehoshaphat may have felt primarily called by a sense of national duty and a sense of familial duty to aid King Joram. Nevertheless, the Lord will come to the aid of all the people and animals involved. Jehoshaphat may not have asked the Lord's guidance before joining up with Joram but he wisely seeks His counsel now.
"But Jehoshaphat asked, 'Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?' An officer of the king answered, 'Elisha son of Shaphat is here.'" (2 Kings 3:11a) In our next study session we will find the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom going to see Elisha. Elisha will call upon the Lord and he will make it clear that he's doing it only for the sake of Jehoshaphat, a fellow believer. In spite of no rain falling from the skies, the Lord will produce a flowing stream of fresh water--- a great miracle about which the prophet Elisha will say, "This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord."
No comments:
Post a Comment