0:01 Second Kings chapter three. In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, that's how you would see it in the Hebrew, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Jehoram or Jehoram, the son of Ahab, became king over Israel and 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.
0:45 Lord, we ask that you bless the reading, the proclamation, the hearing, and the application of your word. Give us great help, unction, excitement, clarity of thought so that we can leave here equipped, furnished, washed by your word. We ask these things trusting in the help and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So before we advance, I think it's important to retrace our steps because this will unclutter our thinking, and it will give us greater clarity of the setting of this passage that is before us today.
1:27 At the end of the book of first Kings, the holy spirit focuses on the reign of one particular king of the Northern Kingdom Of Israel. Who was he? His name starts with the letter a. Oh, no. What happened?
1:45 Ahab. Remember Ahab? We focused on Ahab. And after Ahab had died, his son, Ahaziah, succeeded him. That's what we see in the final verses of the book of first Kings, and we study the brief reign of Ahaziah in the beginning of the book of second Kings.
2:06 And after Ahaziah died, we read in these verses that Ahaziah's brother, Jehoram, became king over Israel. Now here's my first question. Why didn't any of Ahaziah's sons succeed him? Why was it that his brother sees the throne instead? Any idea?
2:32 He did not have any sons. And that's not speculation. That's what you find in verse 17 of second Kings chapter one. We read that Ahaziah, he had no sons. Now, during the administration of these three kings, right?
2:49 Remember, we have the Northern Kingdom Of Israel, we have the Kingdom Of Judah. During the administration of these three kings, you had Ahab, Ahaziah, Jehoram, there was one king, a primary king at least, I don't wanna make it too confusing, but there was one primary ruler governing the Southern Kingdom. What was his name? Oh, no. We just read it.
3:16 Say it. Yes. Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat. So Jehoshaphat was the one who was ruling and reigning during the administration of these three kings.
3:26 And we remember him, I hope. We remember that Jehoshaphat made a marriage alliance with who? Ahab. He made a marriage alliance with Ahab. And did that bless him or did that get him into a lot of trouble?
3:40 A lot of trouble. Moreover, he partnered with Ahaziah, the son of Ahab. Did that get him in trouble as well? It did get him in trouble. And the trouble is only going to continue as he converges with Jehoram.
3:57 We're gonna see that in a moment here. And I hope our vision is clarified a little bit more to give us enough confidence now to understanding the context of what is taking place here. Now there is more to know about Jehoram other than the fact that he was the brother of Ahaziah and the son of Ahab. We read here that he was, unsurprising to us, an evil man. But he was not as evil as we might think because the author tells us that.
4:26 Look at verse two. 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. Now, who would who would the father of Jerram be? Remind me. Ahab.
4:42 Right? So if Ahab is Jerram's father, who would his mother be? Good. Good. Good.
4:48 Good. Jezebel. That's right. Now underscore this, that he was not like his father or mother for one main reason. It says here that he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
5:07 Evidently, there was some sort of monument that was dedicated, a significant one that was placed in public view, and Jehoram moved it. He hid it because we're not exactly told why, but we can assume that he witnessing his father's life and the outcome of Baalism, how Baal failed his father, was probably the greatest motivation for him to disassociate himself with this particular idol. And if that is the case, if that's the reason why he does this, then we can applaud him for having wisdom. Wisdom and learning of the faults and the sins of others and applying it to your own life. But it's a limited wisdom.
5:56 It's not complete wisdom. Why? Because although he removes himself and separates himself from one idol, we learn what? He clings to other idols. What are the other idols?
6:06 Verse three, nevertheless he clung to the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebath, which he made Israel to sin. He did not depart from it. What were the idols that Jeroboam created that caused Israel to stumble? There were No. Two what?
6:29 Two golden calves. You remember that. Right? Two golden calves. One he set up in Dan and the other place he set up where?
6:40 Bethel. Right? This is why we're doing this because I don't wanna move on and and things evaporate every chapter. I want us to be able to have these things concrete. So you had Dan and Bethel, two golden calves.
6:52 These are the idols that Jeroboam chose to keep and to protect. Why would he do that? Well, he's a reminder to us that forsaking some sin, removing some idols from our lives does not ultimately make us righteous. We must abandon all known sin if we want to truly be pleasing to God. And his choice of idols shows us why there are people who cling to certain sins over others.
7:29 Think about it. He saw what Baalism did to his father, to his kingdom, and so it was easy for him to say, no thanks. But the reason why Jeroboam created those idols was because he did not want the people from the Northern Kingdom to unite themselves to the Southern Kingdom because they would have to go to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. And so Jeroboam thinks of this genius but wicked idea. Let me create idols within the boundaries of my domain and keep the people to myself.
8:02 And I believe Jeroham is the one who is understanding this and following in that pattern, seeing that there is an advantage to him in keeping these idols. And people today are no different. They are selective with their repentance. So they give up certain sins but they hold on to others. They give up certain patterns while holding on to others.
8:25 God wants complete surrender. Total devotion. And if you wanna be able to identify what idols in your life, if there are any hope there are not, but what idols in your life are the ones that are most difficult to get rid of, I want you to just sit back and imagine the Lord asking of you, not just of everything. That that in theory is very easy to to agree with. I give up everything to you, Lord.
8:49 No. Think of particular things in your life and ask yourself, am I willing to let go of this if the Lord were to ask me to give it up? In this particular case, he was selective. That's not going to be good for him, as we're about to discover. He's still deemed as evil.
9:09 Now we read in verse four. 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. Now we study this in-depth. Remember in the opening study of the book of second Kings?
9:32 How Moab was subservient to Israel since the days of David. Remember David captured Moab and they were slaves to Israel and they had to pay a tax, and this is the tax. But it wasn't until Ahab was defeated by Syria where Moab saw an opportunity to free themselves from the clutches of Israel and they did so. And we understood that when Moab, which is which is east to Israel. Right?
9:59 It's modern day Jordan. When Moab freed themselves from Israel, we determined that that was a providential thing to cause Ahaziah, who took Ahab's place, to to call out to God, to see this disturbance and for him to self examine and to ultimately seek the Lord, which he failed to do. But Ahaziah's brother, Jehoram, will not be will not be like that. He will not accept this. He will not even be slothful in dealing with it.
10:33 Almost right away, he makes this top priority emergency protocol. He comes up with a plan to try to regain what his brother had lost. We're gonna see what's gonna happen now following that. Let's read verse six. So king Joram 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.
11:03 Will you go with me to battle against Moab? And he said, I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. Then he said, by which way shall we march? Joram answered, by the way of the wilderness of Edom.
11:21 Does Joram's invitation and Jehoshaphat's response sound familiar? It does. Right? Because it is almost identical to the interaction that we studied between Ahab and Jehoshaphat. Remember, Ahab is Jeram's father.
11:39 Let's revisit it. Go to first Kings with me, chapter 22. First Kings 22. Look with me at verse four. This is when Ahab wanted to go to war with Syria, and he wants Jehoshaphat to join him.
11:59 And he says here, and he said to Jehoshaphat, will you go with me to battle at Ramoth Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. Is it surprising that Jehoram asked Jehoshaphat to join him in battle? It's not surprising. Why?
12:22 Because there was a marriage alliance between these two families. What might be and should be shocking to us is Jehoshaphat's relapse into the tendency of what? Being unequally yoked. Did this guy not learn his lesson from working with Ahab? He almost died when he yoked himself to a wicked man.
12:48 And for a brief moment there, it looked like that he did in fact learn his lesson, but now we come to this point and we realize that he actually didn't. Is there any indication to why this man is willing to put himself at risk of doing something that he knows God told him not to do beforehand? There is explanation. There is a complimentary story in the bible. It's not found in first Kings.
13:20 It's not found in second Kings. But something happens pay pay attention to this. Something happens after Jehoshaphat's fallout with Ahab and before his treaty with Joram. Something happens in between, after his fallout with Ahab and before he goes to war in this chapter. And we find that incident in the book of second Chronicles.
13:47 So you have to turn there. It's found in chapter 20. There is a war that takes place in that interval period of time. And the reason why first and second Kings doesn't mention it, the reason why the chronicler includes it in his writings is because the chronicler is more interested in depicting and revealing the history of the Southern Kingdom, And that's why we find this story here. But look at verse one of second Chronicles chapter 20.
14:18 After this those two words are important. You know why? Because when you read the previous chapters, you will learn of Ahab's partnership with Jehoshaphat when they went to war together. That's also found in Kings. It's also found in Chronicles.
14:31 So after this, the Moabites and Ammonites, and with them some of the Meunite, came against Jehoshaphat for battle. Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea, and behold, they are in Hazazon Tamar. That is in Gedi. Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah and Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord. From all the cities of Judah, they came to seek the Lord.
15:08 So here we have a coalition that arose against the kingdom of Judah. Jehoshaphat responds in fear. He is absolutely terrified, but he does the right thing. He seeks the Lord. And what you have in here is one of the most outstanding testimonies of prayer in all of the Bible.
15:26 It's an incredible chapter. And the reason why victory will come is because of that. There was a simple yet desperate faith that Jehoshaphat had and he led the people to have as well, the people under his care. We don't have time to read obviously the entire chapter but victory comes against this coalition. And we read it look down at verse 23.
15:52 For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another. So something weird happens that these armies that were working together at one point now stop and begin to kill each other. When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde and behold there were dead bodies lying on the ground. None had escaped.
16:23 It's marvelous. It's a supernatural account. And this victory provides more explanation as to why Jehoram wanted Jehoshaphat to go to war with him. Right? But it also provides explanation, makes sense of Jehoshaphat's eagerness to agree with it.
16:44 In this coalition, did you notice who was mentioned? The Moabites. The same people who rebelled against the people of Israel. The same people that Jehoram wants to go to war against. Perhaps Jehoshaphat saw Jehoram's invitation to go to war with Moab as an opportunity to put a final end to a potentially recurring threat, namely the Moabites.
17:15 And he was so fixated on defeating the Moabites, I'm sure, that he did not even regard the consequences of being unequally yoked with with evil people, even though he almost died in a similar situation. I believe that Jehoshaphat, in agreeing to go to war with Jo Aram against the Moabites, is encouraged by fear. And you have to learn from Jehoshaphat, please, that you and I are more prone to compromise our convictions and even overlook the potential consequences of our compromise when you make your decisions out of fear, when you allow your decision making to be influenced by alarm or agitation. I'm currently reading the book of Jeremiah. I'm almost done in my personal devotions.
18:09 And separate from this, I was just overwhelmed by the different characters in that story that made very foolish decisions because of fear. They even outright rebelled against some of the clear commands of the Lord because they were so overcome by dread. Fear is possessive. Fear is intoxicating. Fear has a way of blurring your judgment and rewiring the way you understand things and events.
18:46 It's very powerful. Some people are willing to, again, overlook the consequences of what that fear is leading to do because it is so persuasive. And and one of the consequences of revisiting sin, any sin, when you find yourself in a cycle of compromise, it will eventually change you. We don't often think about that. When we think about unequally yoked relationships, among other things, we think about the physical, relational, financial harm that we might place ourselves in.
19:25 But rarely do people talk about this outcome of sin that when you sit in it long enough, it alters you. It mutates you. It has the ability of changing you. And here you have Jehoshaphat now who's compromising yet again. This is his third time out of three kings that he chooses to work with when he shouldn't have.
19:55 And you'll notice a change in Jehoshaphat very early on in this chapter. He's saying, what do you mean? Look at verse eight again. So after he told Jehoram, my horses are as your horses, my people are as your people. It says here in the ESV, then he said, by which way shall we march?
20:11 Jehoram answered, by the way of the wilderness of Edom. Compare that to how he responded to Ahab. Remember, with Ahab, he said, my people are as your people, my horses, your horses. But what does he say right after that? Go to first Kings 22.
20:29 Look at verse four again and look at verse five. And he said to Jehoshaphat, will you go with me to battle at Ramoth Gilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses. And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, inquire first for the word of the Lord. Did he say that?
20:54 Did he ask for that with Joram? No. What did he say? Alright. What's the plan?
21:04 How do we get this thing going? I'm ready. Let's go. He does not inquire of the Lord. There's no impulse to pray.
21:12 There's no mindfulness of God. Instead, there is this hurriedness to move along with the project. Do you know what this means? It means that the longer we compromise, the more you are likely to change. I see it all the time.
21:32 Things that used to prick your conscience no longer bother you. Words and profanities that you would never have used are starting to become part of your vocabulary. Emotions that you were able to have control over by the power of the Holy Spirit now overtake you with ease. Matters that you would once pray about, you no longer seek the Lord for. And the dreadful possibilities go on and on and on when you and I repeatedly revisit the same compromise.
22:14 But, you know, you can praise God for something in light of that. Saying, what do you mean? If you truly belong to the Lord, he will not allow you to remain in such a condition without his intervention. And that's exactly what's gonna happen here. We're about to read something that we've seen in so many bible studies in the past.
22:34 Look at verse nine. 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. We always pay a price when we fail to put God first. Always. The price might look different every time, but there is always a cost.
23:06 They failed to acknowledge the Lord. And even though earlier, Jehoshaphat shouldn't have worked with Ahab, he He at least had a spiritual sensitivity to say, can we first seek a word from a prophet? He doesn't do that here, and guess what? They're gonna pay for it. They wander in the wilderness for days, and they put themselves in a very dangerous predicament.
23:27 They they have no water left. And I look at this and I think to myself, if it was God's will for them to go to battle with Moab to begin with, surely if they sought the Lord, he would have given them instructions to maximize their efficiency and minimize their distress. You know this very well. You probably have this verse somewhere on a coffee cup in your house. Proverbs three six.
23:56 In all your ways, do what? Acknowledge him. And what's the promise? He will make straight your path. In some of your ways, in all of your ways.
24:11 All means all. It's not cryptic. All means all. In all your ways, acknowledge him. And the promise is he'll make straight your path.
24:22 I hope you develop that habit. I hope you develop the habit of inviting the Lord in all your affairs. Now, when you want to move somewhere, you invite the Lord. When you wanna purchase something, you ask the Lord. Now I'm not talking about being overly spiritual and crippling where you become legalistic.
24:43 That's not what I'm saying. But with a joyful heart, when when you are aware that you can make a blunder here, that you would call the Lord to deposit his wisdom and his leading. He's faithful to do that. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make straight your path. But what does that mean?
25:02 That seems so general. He will make straight your path. But you have to look at the context. There are blessings around that in the same chapter of Proverbs that give us an indication of what we inherit when you make it a discipline to say, lord, I'm I'm putting you before me now. I'm putting you before me in these plans.
25:19 I'm putting you before me in these desires. I'm putting you before me. Is this what you want? Here here it is. Look at Proverbs three four.
25:27 Proverbs three six was acknowledge him in all your ways. Proverbs three four. Listen to this. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. You will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man.
25:43 Look at Proverbs three two. For length of days and years of life and peace, they will add to you. What what is he talking about here? He's talking about the commands of the Lord. This is what the father is saying to his son.
25:56 And one of those commands are what? Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways. That's the context. So look at these blessings that are attached to an individual who makes it a practice to say, Lord, I'm acknowledging you. I'm inviting you into this.
26:13 Length of days and years of life, that's wonderful. But it's actually a curse if you don't have peace with it. Right? Peace. We're talking about peace.
26:23 We're talking about favor. We're talking about good success. And it's exclusive to those who make it their heart desire to say, Lord, I want your will, please. I put this before you. May it become our reflex as we advance in this life.
26:38 Now, it doesn't mean that if you pray about certain things that it guarantees a trial free journey. Actually, if you ask the Lord for his will, sometimes you'll be led into greater turmoil. But at least you will have this peace in knowing that whatever problems might arise, they carry purpose because you have done your part to commit that cause to the Lord. So what praying and inviting the Lord does, it doesn't eliminate challenges or trials, but it does give you the rest knowing that whatever might come your way, you are shielded by this tranquility because before anything even began, you said this is yours. So you don't have to second guess or wonder what this is all about.
27:26 You can look back and realize I've prayed about it. I've been praying about it. So whatever this is is in accordance with God's plan. I am at rest. Does that make sense?
27:37 I hope it does. And one might say, well, couldn't have the Lord just provided for them anyway? Couldn't he have made water come into the wilderness even though they hadn't prayed? He could've. But God is not interested in dishing out his mercies from a distance.
27:56 One of his primary designs in distress is that you would be drawn to him, That you would allow calamities of any size to cause you even if you need to crawl to him, especially if you've wandered away. Jehoshaphat wandered away. And so there is no doubt in my mind that this is the Lord bringing them to a point of such despair that they would actually now inquire of the Lord. And they're going to do that in a moment. But the king of Israel, Jehoram, doesn't interpret this in the same way you and I do.
28:33 Notice what he says in verse 10. Then the king of Israel said, alas, the Lord has called these three kings to give them to the hand of Moab. Can I translate that for you? This is God's fault. That's what he's saying.
28:54 So he's acknowledging providence here. Right? What does he say? That the Lord has brought these three kings together? He's acknowledging providence but in an accusatory way.
29:04 He's blaming God for their troubles here. Can we blame God for any of this mess? No. Not one thing. There's no indication that it was the Lord's will for Joram to go to war with Moab.
29:23 Jehoshaphat and him collaborating together was wrong in itself, and there is no partnership in seeking the will of the Lord moving forward. So God wasn't included in any of this. And guess who guess who gets all the blame? God. And before you think that this is a unique attitude attributed to Joram, the bible tells us that many people have the habit of doing this.
29:51 You want another proverb? Here's a good one. Proverbs 19 verse three. It says there that when a fool brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord. Have you ever read that proverb?
30:07 I remember the first time I saw it, I laughed because I've seen it all my life. So people don't honor God's word when it comes to who to find in a spouse. They go ahead and they just work with their passion and they make decisions based on their emotions, and then they realize what a disaster it is, and then guess who they blame? God. There are people who, in any sphere of life, they trust in their wisdom.
30:39 They have enough Christian background to include God in their thinking to some degree, but they don't they're not they don't acknowledge the Lord in all their ways, just some other ways. Just like Joram, I like this one, I'll get rid of that one. I'll acknowledge God here but not here. And then problems ensue and get guess who gets the blame? God.
31:03 So the king of Israel represents what's a what a fool does when their sin causes them trouble. On the other hand, Jehoshaphat is about to demonstrate to us what we must do if we have gone astray. What happens here? Look at verse 11. And Jehoshaphat said, is there no prophet of the Lord here through whom we may inquire of the Lord?
31:29 Then one of the king's rather, the one one of the king of Israel's servants answered, Elisha the son of Shephat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. Joash about his history with God. He understands what God has done in the past. And so he pauses in this moment as people are frantic, and the king of Israel is raising his fist to the heavens. And he says, is there any prophet that we can inquire of?
31:58 Is there anybody who is in tune with God that can give us some direction here? You know what I thought when I meditated on this today? I thought to myself, why didn't you do this before? Why are you doing this now? In many instances, we wouldn't need to pray as much in difficult times if we knew how to pray when things were going well.
32:23 And at the same time, if you and I have failed to seek God in the past, then we must make it our priority to seek him while he may be found and trust that he will welcome us. I believe the reason why Jehoshaphat is able to do this is because he's done it before. I wasn't planning to do this, but let's go there anyway. Remember, when he was with Ahab, he inquires a word from the Lord. The prophet Micaiah comes and tells him exactly what God's will is, and Jehoshaphat doesn't listen anyway.
32:54 He goes into battle with Ahab against Syria. And what happens? They think that Jehoshaphat is the king of Israel, and they're ready to kill him. And does anybody remember what this man does for his life to be spared? Very good.
33:12 Very good. He cries out to the Lord. Let me read this to you. This is in second Chronicles 18 verse 31. Second Chronicles eighteen thirty one.
33:22 As soon as the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, they said, it is the king of Israel. So they turned to fight against him, and Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord helped him. God drew them away from him. Jehoshaphat knew despite his frustrating thinking and his relapse, he understood it's never too late to cry out to God. Please believe that.
33:55 Please believe that. No matter where you are, no matter how far you've gone, no matter what you've repeated, it is never too late to seek the Lord. And so he initiates this. He says, let's look for a prophet. Does anybody know of a prophet?
34:13 And here's what's so amazing. They get an answer, but the answer doesn't come from the king of Israel. The answer doesn't come from the king of Edom. Now remember, there's three kings here. Right?
34:24 So at some point, they recruited the king of Edom, and it doesn't come from Jehoshaphat himself. Who's the one who found an answer? If you don't know, you're right. He is unknown. All we know about him look back at verse 11.
34:47 Then one of the king of Israel's servants answered. Unknown, unnamed, a servant. It was this servant who was aware of the whereabouts of Elisha. While the kings were completely oblivious to it. Is this detail random?
35:10 You've been at this bible study long enough to know that this detail is not random. It provides a wonderful contrast. Here's what I thought. I I read this last night before I close my bible and resume this morning. Better to be a servant who has knowledge of God than to be a king who is oblivious to the things of God.
35:39 Better to be a servant and in tune with the things of God than a king who is absent minded of them. Think about it. Who who is more powerful and efficient in what matters most here? It's not the commander of the armies. It's this poor fellow who has a right understanding of God, the things of God, the people of God.
36:08 And I remember that we study this with another servant. You remember when Saul, before he became king, was looking for his on his, father's donkeys? You remember that? And they were lost, and they couldn't find it. And so at one point, they arrive at a certain place, and it was his servant who said to him, Samuel the prophet, he he's here.
36:31 Let's go inquire of him. And we we learned there that a servant was more sensitive, more in tune with the things of God than Saul, who would be the first king of Israel. Position doesn't matter. Status doesn't matter. What matters the most is what matters the most.
36:53 Knowing God. Knowing the truth. Possessing that information that sets people free. Remember what Jeremiah said? Let not the man who is mighty boast in his might.
37:05 Let not the man who has riches boast in his riches. Let not the man who is wise boast in his wisdom, but let him who boasts boast in this that he understands and knows me. I don't covet anything in this life. If there's one thing that my heart has a holy jealousy for is a person who has the word of God richly abiding and dwelling in them, who has a close and intimate walk with God. This servant shows something very special, and we can even apply it to Elisha himself.
37:44 Do Do you remember what was said of Elisha before he died? Go to second Kings 13. You'll see it with me. Second Kings 13. Look at verse 14.
38:05 Now when Elisha had fallen sick with the illness of which he was to die, Joash king of Israel went down to him and wept before him crying, my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen. What is he saying there? In a symbolic way, he's saying, you're really the strength, the power of this nation. It's not the armies. It's not the commanders.
38:30 It's not the generals. You are what has been the protective force for this people. And he was mourning because he saw Elisha now leaving, being taken away from the scene. You know what that reminds me of? People should be able to say the same about the church of Jesus Christ.
38:52 People should be able to say that about the church when she is walking strong and holy in accordance to God's will empowered by the Holy Spirit, communities should feel it. Families should feel it. It should be recognizable. Even these kings recognized something about these men of God. When they were there, there was wonderful things, blessings that would flow.
39:21 When they were not there, it was a mournful thing. So Elisha here, as a man of God, is of greater importance than these armies who are stranded in the wilderness and are about to die because they don't have water. And so we come back to our text and we realize that as much as he was indeed the chariots of Israel and its horsemen, he's referred to differently in verse 11. You know verse 11 of second Kings chapter three can be a bible study in itself? Just verse 11.
39:57 There's so much to say in this one verse. 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. Why is he saying that? Well, Elijah, not too long ago, graduated into heaven. Elisha just took his place.
40:23 And so the servant wants to provide credentials to these kings of the newly installed prophet. And so he says, look, Elisha was a close associate to Elijah. He assisted him. He walked with him. Him.
40:35 He indeed succeeded him. But this means more to us than just that. It says something about the beginnings of Elisha, does it not? It says something about his humility. It says something about his servant heart.
40:49 What did he do? What was he known for? Pouring water on the hands of his tutor. That doesn't sound very glamorous, does it? But here's the image that came to mind because we studied second Kings chapter two last week, did we not?
41:06 And one of the miracles that Elisha performed is that he took salt in a clean bowl and he poured it in the waters of Jericho. But before he poured salt in the waters of Jericho, Elisha poured water on the hands of Elijah. Before God can promote anybody, he first must find humility. He first must find somebody who is dedicated, committed to the most menial tasks. Elisha went from washing the hands of a man to healing the waters of a city.
41:55 I'm moved by this man. Verse 12. Here's where we're ending tonight. 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.
42:21 So once they were granted information about the whereabouts of Elisha and that's that's that's an extension of God's grace in itself. Right? We don't know exactly how it is that Elisha was in the same area as these armies. Makes you wonder if the Lord instructed Elisha to go there and to wait for this moment. Makes you wonder if Elisha was following them.
42:47 That's concealed to us. But what's important is that once they learned where Elisha was, they made their way to him. And these three kings give us a model of how no matter what your foolishness has led you to, of what you should do in order to receive the greatest help you can receive, and that is help from God. They do two things. The first thing that they do is that they humble themselves.
43:17 These are kings. What would be the temptation of any king if they want somebody to be in their presence? Servants, go find Elisha and bring him here. Is that what they do? No.
43:37 They said, let's go find Elisha. That's a humbling thing for kings to do. If you're a king, you summon people. You don't go out of your way and spend your energy and time to look for them. So if you are in a place where you're not supposed to be, you have to humble yourself.
43:59 I've sat I've sat enough with people who are in very dire circumstances because of their own sins. And when they're presented the prescription according to the word of God of what they need to do to get out of that pit, some people refuse to humble themselves. You will never know an inch of victory if you're not willing to do exactly what the Lord calls you to do. I love that miracle in John two. Jesus performs a miracle at a wedding.
44:31 Jesus was invited to weddings. And when they ran out of wine, Mary approaches Jesus, brings the predicament to his attention. And when Mary walks away, she says, whatever he tells you to do, do it. And it's no different for you and I. That when sin or any circumstances causes us to be dried up in one way or another, we must be willing to do what the Lord tells us to do.
45:06 So if you have to if you have to seek people for forgiveness, you do that. If you have to gain more accountability, you need to whatever it is that he presents to you, you have to humble yourself. It starts there. And very close to it, as I already mentioned, is that they they didn't just go anywhere. They went where?
45:29 What did Jehoshaphat say? The word of the Lord is with him. There are many prophets in the land, false prophets, but this is what qualified Elisha. God's word was with Elisha. You want real help out of the rut of rebellion, out of the sickness of sin, the fractures that come from folly go where God's word is.
45:58 And in this case, it was a prophetic word of Elisha. But in our context, it's the written word of God that we all have access to. This encouraged me. You know why? Because Elisha had a reputation.
46:11 Yeah. He he washed the hands of Elijah, and he would gain a reputation of performing wonderful miracles. But this one moves me incredibly. People knew him, at least Jehoshaphat did at this time, as the one whose God's word was with. And this is my prayer for this church, that if this church would be recognized for anything, it'd be for people to say the word of the Lord is there.
46:38 If this church would be made up of anybody, it would be made up of people who live in such a way. Their reverence for the word, their their subjection to the word, their adoration of the word would cause others to see the blessings that come from such a relationship with the word of God that they would say, there's something. These are real people of the book. Elisha was that man. They recognized him, and they would go to him.
47:11 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. I believe this is a good place to pause before we finish this chapter. Much has been said, much deserves meditation, so let's stop here and thank God for it. Lord, we ask you tonight that you would help these truths become real to us. Please, Lord, bring them to remembrance.
48:02 Lord, if we are in a place where we feel as though we're doing nothing of significance, we're just washing, we're just supervising, We're just taking care of simple things. Lord, help us believe that you are pleased by that, and when it's done well, it moves others as well. Lord, help us learn from Jehoshaphat to never allow compromise in our lives to go unchallenged, but to realize that one of the greatest, greatest ramifications of it is that it can begin to change us. Blunt our spirituality, dull our conscience, Lord. Sin is vicious with us.
48:43 May we be vicious with sin. And, Lord, we thank you for the threads of mercy and grace in this chapter that even when these men walked their own way, ignored you, despised you, when they called upon you, you answered. Help us never abuse that. But we pray, Lord, that we would learn ahead, and we would know how to acknowledge you in all our ways, and not only acknowledging you when our ways mess up. So, Lord, tonight, we just pause and we afresh dedicate every aspect of our lives.
49:24 Like the burnt offering that was cut into pieces, every part must be put on. We pray for every part of our lives to be consecrated to your will. From our finances, Lord, to our relationships, to our desires, to our ministries, our plans, to our abode. Lord, we just lay it all at your feet, and we say, please, Lord, have your way. Take it where you want it to go.
49:51 And we trust, lord, that you will make straight our paths. So, lord, we rejoice in you that in your love, you warn us, you give us clear, stark examples to keep us from making the same foolish mistakes. And for this, we give you thanks. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
50:07 Amen. Let's stand. Let's sing to him. Honor him. Praise him.
50:10 Worship him. Love him. For his word was rich tonight.
