After the death of Ahab, the King of Moab rebelled against Israel and became their enemy.
II Kings 3:5-7- But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel. And 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.
Now remember, King Jehoram was a wicked king who served false idols. And King Jehoshaphat was a good king who loved the Lord God Almighty. They weren't suppose to make alliances with each other, but this was one mistake that Jehoshaphat could over come.
II Kings 3:8-10- And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom. So 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. And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!
So, the kings of Israel and Judah, along with the king of Edom, went to war against Moab. After traveling for a week, they got to the place where they were in despair. There was no water, and they were so thirsty!
King Jehoram was sure that this was where they were going to die. But, King Jehoshaphat did what he always did during these times- he sought the Lord.
II Kings 3:11-12- But 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. 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.
There was a soldier who knew that Elisha lived near where the armies were. He informed the kings that this was the man who trained under Elijah. Everyone knew who Elijah was! So, they thought that this prophet, Elisha, would know what to do.
II Kings 3:13-14- And 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. And 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.
Elisha wasn't happy to see the wicked kings of Israel and Edom. He told them that if Jehoshaphat weren't with them he wouldn't help them. But, because the Lord loved Jehoshaphat he would ask God what they should do.
II Kings 3:15-19- But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches. For 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. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand. And 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.
God told Elisha what to do after there were songs of praise. This is very important! God wants to hear us sing when things are going well, but also when things are going badly. It pleases Him when we are willing to praise Him no matter what the circumstances are.
God told Elisha that He was going to work a miracle. God wanted the soldiers to dig ditches throughout the valley. There wasn't going to be any storms, or even any rain showers, yet God was going to make the ditches that were digged fill with water.
And, to prove that He was the Lord God Almighty, He also promised to help these three kings win the battle against the King of Moab.
II Kings 3:20-24- And 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. And 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. And 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: And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. And 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.
In the morning, the ditches were filled with water. The armies of the three kings drank and gave their animals drink.
But, when the enemy army of Moab looked down in the valley, they saw the ditches as if they were blood. They thought that the armies of the three kings had killed each other during the night. They went down not expecting to fight.
God delivered the Moabites into these three kings' hands. They did everything God told them to do. They threw stones in the wells, and pulled down the strong holds, and cut down all the good trees. In doing this, they crippled their enemy.
But, this was only one of the many miracles Elisha performed. There was another time when Elisha helped out a widow woman.
II Kings 4:1- Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
This poor woman was in debt. In so much, that she couldn't pay what was owed. During these times, a person who owed money could have their family put into slavery until the debt was paid. This woman was worried because the people she owed money to said they were going to make her sons slaves.
II Kings 4:2- And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
Elisha asked the woman what she had. She said that all she had was some oil. God can work with whatever we have if we are willing to obey His commands and surrender our will.
II Kings 4:3-4- Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.
Elisha told the widow to go borrow empty vessels from all her neighbors. He said to get a lot of empty vessels, as many as her neighbors would let her borrow. Then, he told her to fill the pots with the oil that she had in the house.
This woman had to do exactly as Elisha said. She had to go ask her neighbors to borrow their empty vessels- this was a very humbling experience. IF she had been prideful, God's grace wouldn't have worked this miracle for her.
II Kings 4:5-6- So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
The woman went into her house and took her small amount of oil and started to pour it into the empty vessels that she borrowed. To her amazement, the oil kept coming out and filling the vessels. She poured and poured, and it filled all the vessels that she had borrowed!
II Kings 4:7- Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.
God had provided this woman with enough oil to sell so that she could make the money to pay her debts. God didn't just miraculously make the money appear- the woman had to work for it. But, we see that when we do what God has asked, He blesses us!
