The Battle of Moab- Understanding God's Judgment and Mercy: 2 Kings 3:4-27

You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a

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Guys. We're back.

We're back, better than ever. Oh man, we are better

than ever.

Can you imagine? Yeah, you imagine how much better we

would be than ever?

If what?

I don't know, Well, you know, I think I'm just hoping.

I think I told you this, be honest.

One of my favorite phrases of one of the trainers

at our church, because there's a gym there's an HFP

Heritage Fitness Project is as you're working out and you're

like sweating, and you're like and you're like, you know,

losing motivation, he goes, he goes one.

Percent better today.

Everybody's one percent better today, And so it's like, wow,

that's a great phrase.

You don't have to work out times. I know, I know,

and you are better than you will.

Yes, that's correct, which means you can triple yourself in

a year.

Or not, but yeah or not. I like that. I

like the sentiment.

Yeah, the sentiment's good.

So we don't know, we're better than ever today, but

we're going to give it our best shot.

We are, that's correct. So we're going to start.

With a yawn. Yeah, apparently so lighting. We just said

better than ever and he starts yawning like I couldn't.

Carry any load lighting if you know me, Yes, any

low lighting makes me on.

Yeah.

Okay, so this is who's most likely most likely?

And we love this segment.

Yes, So the goal is just to read the question.

We'll take turns of reading them, and.

Then we'll just have to decide who's most likely to

do this Jeff or Chris?

Yes, okay, I'll go the first. Go first.

Who's most likely to be the first one to sign

up to go skydiving?

We've already done this one like this about skydiving before,

so it has to be me. Yeah, Well, because you

went skydiving.

Well, I've gone three times and your insurance prevents you.

From Yeah, insurance won't let me do it. Yeah, we

have a key man policy and it specifically forbids me

from skydiving right now. Because I wanted to go with

my son when he turned eighteen, I couldn't go.

Yeah, and I've done it three times, and honestly, the

last time I went, the last.

Time I went crazy.

The last time I went, I remember literally jumping out,

and as I'm jumping out, I remember thinking to myself,

this would be the last time I do this. Yeah,

I've done this three times, two twice before. It was

almost like uh huh yeah, literally, I can't believe that

I felt that.

Way, Wow, but I did.

Yeah. There are times of chime. Okay, who's most likely

to go back to school and get their PhD in

something random?

That would definitely be you.

Yeah, you know what. I was accepted in a doctoral

program this year and then paused and decided not to do it.

Oh well yeah, yeah, So I went through the whole process,

and then the day I was supposed to register, yeah,

for classes, I decided not to. It's just my schedule

is so hard. I couldn't imagine adding yep, that extra

work to it.

Well, it's actually why I stopped my master's degree.

Yeah.

I was working for to get my master's when my

kids were young, and it was so unbelievably difficult that

I realized that my masters wouldn't at the church current

church I was at. It wouldn't pay me anymore, It's

not that type of church, and it would just be bragging. Right,

So I got my master's and it was like, it

was like, why am I doing this? I'm pretty sure? Like,

you know, knowledge is good obviously, Yeah, but I can

gain knowledge without working my tail off like this, right, I'd.

Have to think. So I like to think I's equivalent. Yeah,

well here thirty years later, right, So but yeah, so

I passed on one this year. But yeah, that's good.

Okay.

Number three, who's most likely to climb Mount Everest? I

already know immediately who this is. That's definitely you.

I think climbing Mount Everest is the dumbest thing I've

ever heard. It is so dumb.

Well, hey, a lot of people died doing it.

It's hence the dumb right. I told you I have

no compassion.

But you know, I saw the movies, you know, people

like they go up and then they freeze and then

they die, and are people.

Are like, oh, that's so sad. I'm like, that's what

they deserve.

That's what they deserve because because they have the courage

to try to do something nobody else can do.

Would you think was gonna happen?

Well, some people make it, some people do but guess what,

Oh did you hear about the tragy amount Everest, would

you think was going to happen?

Yeah, okay, and you signed up for it, so so

believe it or not. I'm not a big fan of

thin air. Yeah, right, So I don't like to do that.

Like we were in Chad night, were in the h

in right on the border of Tibet in China, and

the village that we were in, it was all Tibetans,

was at a little over eleven thousand feet it was

eleven or twelve thousand feet, and just walking around because

we were only there for two days and so you

don't really have much time to acclimatize at that at

that point, and so then there was a out of breath. Yeah,

so just kind of huffing and puffing a little bit.

And there was a fifteen hundred year old or older, yeah,

fifteen hundred year old temple at the top of this

hill in this village, and I'm looking at it, going

I want to go see it, right, right, And so

we get about a third of the way up on

the stairs and I'm like, ah, I don't want to

go see it that bad, right right right, And it

was just it was just the thin air. So I'm

not a big fan of thin air, but I do

have a desire to do the trek to base Camp Foreverest.

Oh. And that's like a.

Ten day hike from LASA and you go up over

eighteen thousand feet before you get to the end of it,

and it takes like ten days to do. And it's

bucket list before I turn fifty five, which means I

only have a year and a half left, two years.

I don't think you're going to do that.

I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna find a way. I

already I already have the sherpa. He's a friend of mine. Yeah,

and he told me he'd put it together if I

would go. So I got it. I got yeah. Yeah,

So twenty twenty five is the year I'm gonna get

to where I can do it. I have a bad knee,

so that's my one issue. But if I can get

that fixed, and I think I want to do it.

Yeah, I've done pair of sailing, I've done rock climbing,

I've been repelling.

Hire a helicopter and fly up there that I could

do that too.

There you go.

But yeah, I've done skydiving, I've done I've done some

crazy things for some reason. I do not want to

fight nature. Okay, that's that's what I don't want to do.

Don't want to fight.

Don't want to bend it to your will. Okay. Who's

most likely to start a petting zoo in their backyard?

You are? You are?

Be me?

You are.

Yeah.

And by the way, my wife would love it. And

I'm not just talking about love love. I mean love, love, love,

love love. She would love it.

Okay.

You know, we have deer in our backyard.

Our deer come and my wife puts together these little

bird feeders and they love the corn out of the

bird feeder, and then the squirrels do too. And at

one point in time she was spending like three hundred

dollars a month to feed the deer. And I said,

and I said, I said, have you totaled it up?

She's like, no, I didn't total it up.

I told her. And she's like, oh, I better stop that.

Yeah.

I'm like I think you better, yeah yeah.

And man, those deer were fat.

Yeah, we stopped because who can afford that? That's a

car payment?

Almost all right?

And then finally, how about this one?

Who's most likely to become a part time superhero.

You are, I am too.

You are. Yeah, that's me running around the Cape Crusader. Yeah,

running around your long John's with a towel around your neck.

I wonder if it's I wonder if it's implying superpowers,

because I don't think I would do it without superpowers, right, because.

I wouldn't do it like Batman style.

No, because I hate Batman. You know that, I hate

him so so the hates a strong word.

That's a strong word. You know what.

You know what I don't like about Batman.

He's the most believable of the superheroes.

Well, that's what my wife would say. Yeah, my wife

actually likes the non powered superheroes.

I like Batman, I know.

You do know the thing I don't like about Batman is.

That they make him do unrealistic things and he's only

a guy. Like did you see the the beginning of

the of what's the Justice League movie? When he's when

he's when he's dragging behind this car. He's just a guy, bro,

He's just a guy. There's no way he could possibly

do the things that they had him do.

Oh no, I saw it in the movie. He did it. Yeah,

it was crazy speaking of not being able to possibly

just being a guy could possibly do these things. Elisha

does a ton of miracles, and the people start recognizing this,

and even the kings start to pay attention to him.

So it's possible for just a guy, he's just right,

just a guy to do amazing things.

And so does he say, like I'm Batman, So does

he say.

I'm Elisha, I'm a prophet, I'm a profit. So in

Second King's chapter three, there's a war between Israel and Moab.

At this point, King Misha of Moab was a sheep breeder.

He used to pay the King of Israel an annual

tribute of one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of

one hundred thousand rams holy Cow. But after Ahab's death,

the King of Moab rebelled against the King of Israel.

So King Joram promptly mustered the army of Israel and

marchik from Samaria. On the way, he sent this message

to King Jehashaphat of Judah, the King of Moab has

rebelled against me. Will you join me in battle against him?

Jehosaphat replied, why, of course, you and I are as one.

My troops are your troops, and my horses are your horses.

And then Jehashuapad asked what route will we take? We

will attack from the wilderness of Edom Joram, who replied

the King of Edom and his troops joined them, and

all three armies traveled along a roundabout route through the

wilderness for seven days, but there was no water for

the men or the animals. What should we do? The

King of Israel cried out, The Lord has brought the

three of us here to let them King of Moab

defeat us. But King Jehoshaphah and to Judah asked, is

there no prophet of the Lord with us? If there is,

we can ask what the Lord what to do through him.

One of King Joram's officers replied, Elishah's son of Sefat

is here. He used to be elijah personal assistant. Jehashaphat said, yes,

the Lord speaks through him. So the kings of Israel,

Judah and Edom went to consult with Elisha. Why are

you coming to me, Elisha asked the King of Israel.

Go to the pagan prophets of your father and mother.

But King Joram of Israel said no, for it was

the Lord who called us three kings here, only to

be defeated by the King of Moab. Elisha applied, as

surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I

wouldn't even bother with you, except from my respect for

King Jehashapada Judah. Now bring me someone who can play

the harp. While the harp was being played, the power

of the Lord came upon Elisha, and he said, this

is what the Lord says. This dry valley will be

filled with pools of water. You will see neither wind

nor rain, says the Lord. But this valley will be

filled with water. You will have plenty for yourselves and

your cattle and other animals. But this was only a

simple thing for the Lord, for he will make you

victorious over the army of Moab. You will conquer the

best of their towns, even the fortified ones. You will

cut down all their good trees and stop all their springs,

and ruin all their good land with stones. The next day,

at about the time when the morning sacrifice was offered,

water suddenly appeared. It was the flowing It was flowing

from the direction of Edom, and soon there was water everywhere. Meanwhile,

when the people of Moab heard about the three armies

marching against them, they mobilized every man who was old

enough to strap on a sword, and they stationed themselves

along their border. But when they got up the next morning,

the sun was shining across the water, making a pier

red to the Moabites like blood. It's blood, the Mobites exclaimed,

the three armies must have attacked and killed each other.

Let's go, Madam Moab and collecked the plunder. But when

the Moabites arrived at the Israelite camp, the army of

Israel rushed out and attacked them until they turned and ran.

The army Israel chased them into the land of Moab,

destroying everything as they went. They destroyed the towns, covered

their good land with stones, stopped up all the springs,

and cut down all the good trees. Finally, only kure

Har Harrisath and its stone walls were left, but men

was slings surrounded and attacked it. When the king of

Moab saw that he was losing the battle, he led

seven hundred of his swordsmen in a desperate attempt to

break through the enemy lines. The king of Eden but

they failed. Then the king of Moab took his oldest son,

who would have been the next king, has sacrificed him

as a burnt offering on the wall. So there was

great anger against Israel, and the Israelites withdrew and returned

to their own land.

But I know, there you go, I know, so you know,

I love thee the note on the Life Application Study

Bible that talks about when it says I ruined they

ruined the land with stones, it meant that they scattered

stones across the land so that it wouldn't be fit

for plowing, because you can't plow with stones. So they

would have people just take all the fields that were

you know, valuable, a valuable commodity. It was, you know,

they were you know, plowed, they were fertile, they were

ready to grow crops.

And but that's what that means.

They would take stones and they would just mess up

all and again what it is is, you know, it

seems very harsh obviously, but Ahab would have been completely

powerful and because of his strong rule, he was actually

he had conquered Moab, and so they paid tribute to

Ahab because of his absolute strength and power.

But when ahab died.

We've seen this before, right, when when when a president

changes hands, he goes from a strong president to a

president that appears weak. Right, all of a sudden, we

we have war in Russia. So so anyway, the point

is is that that's that's what's happening. And so he's uh,

he's he's going against uh, you know, and he's rebelling,

and he's saying, I'm not going to pay this tribute.

I'm gonna in fact, I'm gonna go to war. I'm

going to break and gain our freedom again.

And uh.

And what Israel is doing and what God is helping

Israel do, is making a statement that says, you're not

going to defeat or rise up against the the nation

of the God of Israel. So this is a statement

about about the people who serve God. It's not just

a statement about kings and power. It's a statement about

don't mess with God is what it is right. And

so therefore they're like, Okay, if you want to rebel

against us, then you're.

Going to pay. So they filled all the wells.

They so they got shovels and and and or whatever

they were using, I suppose filled with rocks, and so

they're so they're filling the wells to where they basically.

Made the land not unusable. Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, and uh.

And by the way, another thing about the life application

study Bible is uh, as soon as you see one map,

you understand everything, right. So so this is as many

people understand, the Sea of Galilee's on the northern part

of Israel, the Dead Seas on the southern part of Israel,

and then the Jordan River sort of connects the two,

and so Moab is on the east side directly east

do east of the Dead Sea, and so and so

then the the wilderness of Edom is actually just south

of the Dead Sea, right, So they would have gone

from the from the west side of the Dead Sea

down underneath the Dead Sea and then up to Moab

on the other side.

That's right.

Is that cool?

Yeah? And so that would be in what is modern

day Jordan now.

Yeah, which which, by the way, you were there like

a couple months a.

Yeah, I'll be there again shortly. But yeah. So that's

as you're heading from Aman down towards Petra. Is that

this is on the way, although Petra didn't exist in

these days. This is eight hundred and fifty years before

Jesus and Petro was was going on in the time

of Jesus that those Navitaeans were about the same time

as Jesus. So but anyways, this is a pretty rugged

area and a rough area, and these Moabites are wicked people,

evil people. So a lot of times people ask man Alive,

it just seems unreasonable that, you know, God would would

fight all these tribes around Israel all the time, and

that God would would help Israel wipe them out, and

it just seems okay. So when this Moabite king, after

he's done fighting the Israelites and realizes we're probably going

to lose, he sacrifices the crown prince in a burnt

offering right on the wall in front of everybody. Right, so,

no wonder God goes after these people. I don't know

that the average reader, as you plow through the Old Testament,

a lot of times we miss those because that's one sentence, right, right,

That was one sentence. The king of Moab took his

oldest son who would have been the next king, and

sacrificed him as a burno offering on the wall, and

then just keep going one sentence. Right. So, every once

in a while you'll hear somebody go, you know, one

of the big arguments I listened to. I think it

was Christopher Hitchins, one of the main atheist you know, philosophers,

and he goes, you know, I don't like the God

of the Old Testament because he commitsed genocide right in

the Bible whatever. And I'm like, I don't know that.

You and I can comprehend how unbelievably and completely evil

these people were. Yeah, their culture was such that the

people after that, it says, so there was great anger

against Israel. Now look what you made me do. Look

what you made our king do. They were not horrified

at what their king did. They were horrified at what

Israel was doing. Right. So Israel comes in and goes, hey,

you're not paying your taxes anymore. The only reason why

we let you live is because you give us one

hundred thousand sheep and one hundred thousand coats of wool

from the rams, and you stopped paying. We're coming to collect. Right,

that's just a government thing. Those are two governments working

things out. You stop paying, there's consequences. That's that This king,

this evil king, gets up and sacrifices his son in

a burnt offering on the wall, the web, the city,

the would be king. He sacrificed the crown prince. That's

right in front of the people. And the people are

not mad at their king. They're mad at Israel.

Because they probably believe in that sacrifice.

They were totally saturated with evil in every way. Now

here's a king willing to sacrifice his son and the

burn offering in front of everybody. But what we know

about the worship this was Chimash was the god that

he would have been worshiping there, but the gods of

Bail and Molek and all these other gods Ashtereth. The

sex issues, the sexual issues in worship were as evil

as these human sacrifices were evil and the full on hedonism,

although hedonism was more of a Greek thing. But this

self indult legence was so incomprehensibly evil to us that

this is why God goes No, you have to get

rid of them. They're all completely permeated with this idea.

They will never change, their children will never change, their

great grandchildren will never change. Right, That's what God's because

God's not bound by time he's able to look into

time and go, it's never it's only going to get worse.

And God says the planet is better if we stop

it now, then to let it keep getting worse and

worse and worse and worse and worse. And so I

look at this and go, dude, anybody who who could

co sign what this king just did deserves what the

Mobiites get, right. We can't let that go unchecked. And

that's just from a regular citizen. But God in his

holiness looking at this and going, these people are only

evil continually. Everything they think to do is evil.

Yeah, And you know we have to understand as well.

In the Old Testament, even even back in David's time,

when David was given the assignment of going to war

in conquering countries, it.

Was the same thing.

It was the same Joshua, same thing.

Yeah, same thing.

So it's not just in this instance, it is it

is a theme throughout the Old Testament, right, And so yeah,

I think it's a great point.

Yeah. And so these people are mad at Israel, They're

not mad at their king. It just it blows my

mind here on these things. So anyways, the the issue

I think too and we kind of blew past. It

was Elisha's like, why are you coming to me? Right?

And it is interesting to me. You've got these. You've

got the wicked King of Israel, Joram, You've got the

wicked King of who's the other one that they went

to get help.

Joseph about the third king?

Yes, either there's a third third king, the king of

they're both god less, well they have gods, but they're

not following the true God. And Jehosaphat goes, well, we

need some help. Let's go find a prophet. You don't

have any prophets, and like, oh, yeah, there's that Elisha guy.

He's here.

Yeah.

Well, one of the notes just glanced down while you

were talking, and one of the notes says, you know,

why didn't Jehosaphat bring his own profit? Right? And so

it just goes to show you that, you know, there

there there was a decline towards the end of Johosaphat's

reign and so and so you know here he is

looking for one as opposed to bringing one into battle, right,

and yet yeah, yes, of course he's the one that

recognizes Elisha's authority. Elisha announces the only reason why he's

even entertaining this is because of his respect for Josphat.

So obviously he is a still godly king. But the

fact that that Jospat didn't have one ready, right, Like,

he didn't have one. He didn't he didn't say, Hey,

we're not going to go into battle without these fifty prophets,

right right, or this, you know, or these three prophets

or whatever. He has to go look for one, which

is pretty crazy.

Right.

And and by the way, Elisha says, who has a harp?

Yeah?

And so Elisha, oftentimes it was not uncommon for music

to be played behind a prophet, right, And so think

about this dramatic unveiling.

You know, God's gonna bring you water. There's gonna be

no wind or rain, but there's just gonna be water.

In the harp's playing, you know. And there's this dramatic,

you know, unveiling of what God is saying. I would

have liked to have been there for that.

Yeah, that's a regular occurrence where prophets in music are

going together, right in this throughout the Bible, I had

seen a note in there. First Chronicles twenty five to

one is another place where the prophets and music go together.

It happens many many times in the Bible, and this

is one of the reasons why I think it conditions

your heart to hear from God in a way that

you know, when when you and I just do everyday stuff,

there's the logical mental engagement with life and you're just

trying to make a decision whatever. But when when you

bring out the music you're in leaning into it, you

start thinking from the other side of your brain, right,

we know that scientifically, you start working on the on

the other side, and I think you tend to be

more emotionally open as well, and so you're completely open

to God. This is why we we lead in worship

and UH in our services before we declare the word

of God, because that's what prophets do. Prophets come and

bring God's word to God's people, right, That's that's their job,

that's right. And so before we do that, we always

UH spend time in worship, singing, and those two things

accompany each other. Hearing from God. And as a matter

of fact, you know, in what is it is it

Efesians when when God says and don't be drunk with wine,

but instead we're in his excess. But be filled with

the spirit. Right, And then he says a sign of

being filled with the spirit, which remember when when it

said earlier and the spirit of God came upon Elijah Elijha. Right,

be filled with the spirit. Singing to yourselves and psalms

and hymns and spiritual songs. You're singing and making melloy

to the Lord. You're giving thanks and making melley the Lord.

And so those tend to go together. This, this spirit,

the move the spirit of God in you, worship music,

declaration of God's word ath tend to be connected together.

Yeah, that's great, that's great, pretty incredible. Well, hey, that

is our time, so hopefully we will see you tomorrow

on the Bible Gus