Commentary - 2 Kings 3:13-20

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we are dropped into the middle of a military crisis. Three kings, Jehoram of Israel, Jehoshaphat of Judah, and the king of Edom, are allied against Moab. But their campaign has stalled out in the desert, and they are dying of thirst. In desperation, the apostate king of Israel is forced to seek a word from the prophet of Yahweh, Elisha. What follows is a stark confrontation that reveals the absolute antithesis between the world and the church, the holy and the profane. Elisha, a man who stands in the presence of God, has no time for the syncretistic idolatry of Jehoram. Only for the sake of the godly Jehoshaphat does he even agree to inquire of the Lord. The scene then shifts to the means of revelation, where music prepares the prophet's heart, and then to the prophecy itself. God promises a salvation that is both bizarre and total. He will provide water supernaturally, without any of the ordinary signs, and then He will give them a complete and crushing victory over their enemies. This is a story about how God saves, not according to our plans or expectations, but according to His sovereign good pleasure, and how He honors those who honor Him, even when they are found in compromised company.

Outline

Context In 2 Kings

This chapter follows the transition of prophetic ministry from Elijah to Elisha. Elisha has received a double portion of Elijah's spirit and has already performed several miracles, establishing his authority. The political landscape is defined by the divided kingdom. Jehoram, son of Ahab and Jezebel, is king of the northern kingdom of Israel. He is a syncretist, having put away the Baal pillar of his father, but still clinging to the calf-worship of Jeroboam. Jehoshaphat is the king of Judah, a generally righteous king, but one whose great weakness is his tendency to make compromising alliances with the wicked kings of Israel. This is the second time he has yoked himself to the house of Ahab in a military campaign, the first having nearly cost him his life (1 Kings 22). The Moabites, who had been vassals to Israel, rebelled after Ahab's death, and this expedition is Jehoram's attempt to bring them back under his thumb. The crisis of having no water sets the stage for a confrontation, not just with Moab, but with the false gods of Israel and the true God, Yahweh of hosts.

Key Issues

Commentary

13 Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do I have to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” And the king of Israel said to him, “No, for Yahweh has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab.”

Elisha begins with a blast of holy contempt. "What do I have to do with you?" This is the language of the antithesis. It is the same thing our Lord said to the demon at Capernaum, and to His own mother at Cana. There is a great gulf fixed between the man of God and the man of the world, and Elisha is not about to let Jehoram forget it. Jehoram is the son of Ahab and Jezebel, the chief patrons of Baal worship in Israel. Elisha tells him to go consult with his own kind, the prophets of Baal and Asherah. This is not just a personal insult; it is a spiritual challenge. Elisha is forcing the king to confront the utter bankruptcy of his idolatrous system. When the chips are down, when the army is about to die of thirst, the court prophets are useless. Jehoram’s response is telling. He doesn't defend his prophets. Instead, he uses the Lord's name, Yahweh, but he uses it with the voice of a fatalist. He sees the hand of God in this disaster, but it is the hand of a capricious deity who has lured them into a trap. This is the piety of the desperate, not the faith of the righteous. He acknowledges Yahweh's power, but only as a power to destroy.

14 And Elisha said, “As Yahweh of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you.”

Elisha responds with a solemn oath. "As Yahweh of hosts lives, before whom I stand." This is the foundation of the prophet's authority. He is not just a religious functionary; he stands in the heavenly court, in the very presence of the living God. From that vantage point, a pagan king like Jehoram is less than nothing. Elisha makes it clear that he will not deal with Jehoram on his own merits. He wouldn't even give him the time of day. The only reason he will entertain this request is because of Jehoshaphat. Here we see the principle of covenantal blessing. God shows favor to the unworthy for the sake of the righteous. Jehoshaphat, for all his faults in making this alliance, is still a man who fears God, and God honors that. This is a hard lesson. Jehoram is saved, not because of his own pathetic repentance, but because he happens to be standing next to a better man. Grace is not fair, and God is not obligated to treat everyone the same.

15 So now bring me a musician.” And it came about, when the musician played, that the hand of Yahweh came upon him.

Having established the terms of the engagement, Elisha prepares to seek the Lord. And how does he do it? He calls for a musician. This is not for entertainment. This is not mood music. This is spiritual warfare. The prophet's soul needed to be settled, ordered, and attuned to the voice of God. The rage and holy indignation he felt toward Jehoram had to be channeled and subdued, replaced by a holy receptivity. Music has the power to do this. It can calm the spirit, focus the mind, and prepare the heart for divine revelation. As the musician played, the hand of Yahweh came upon Elisha. This is the language of prophetic inspiration. The Spirit of God descends, takes hold of the prophet, and speaks through him. We should not miss the connection here. A well-ordered soul, cultivated through well-ordered music, becomes a fit instrument for the hand of God.

16 And he said, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’ 17 For thus says Yahweh, ‘You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, both you and your livestock and your cattle.’”

The word from the Lord comes, and it is a peculiar one. It begins with a command that requires faith. "Make this valley full of trenches." They are dying of thirst, their energy is gone, and God tells them to start a massive earth-moving project. This is a test. Will they obey a command that seems absurd? This is the nature of faith. It acts on the bare word of God, even when circumstances scream that it is foolish. Then comes the promise, which is just as strange as the command. God says He will fill the valley with water, but not in the usual way. There will be no wind, no clouds, no rain. The water will simply appear. God is showing them that He is not bound by the processes of nature. He is the Lord of nature, and He can accomplish His purposes however He pleases. He is going to save them, but He is going to do it in a way that leaves no doubt as to who gets the credit.

18 “And this is but a light thing in the sight of Yahweh; He will also give the Moabites into your hand.”

Just so they don't think that providing water in a desert is the extent of God's power, Elisha adds this remarkable statement. Saving an entire army from dehydration by supernatural means is a "light thing" for God. It is a trifle, a small matter. This is to teach them the scale of God's majesty. We are constantly tempted to think our problems are immense and God's power is limited. God's perspective is precisely the opposite. The real goal here is not just refreshment, but victory. God is not just going to save them from their predicament; He is going to accomplish the original purpose of their campaign. He will give the Moabites into their hand. God's grace is never merely sufficient; it is super-abundant.

19 “Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and fell every good tree and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.”

The prophecy now turns to the specifics of the victory, and it is a vision of total war. They are to destroy the infrastructure of Moab completely. This command seems harsh to our modern, sentimental ears. But this is a holy war. Moab was a nation given over to idolatry and rebellion against God's ordained authorities. This is not just a border dispute; it is the execution of divine judgment. The destruction of the land was a sign that the curse of God had fallen upon it. God is the one who gives good land, and He is the one who can take it away. This kind of warfare was not the norm for Israel, but it was commanded in specific instances to demonstrate the totality of God's wrath against covenant-breaking and idolatry.

20 Then it happened in the morning about the time of offering the sacrifice, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

The fulfillment of the promise comes, and the timing is significant. It happened in the morning, at the time of the daily sacrifice in Jerusalem. God coordinates His miraculous work in the desert with the ordinary means of grace being practiced by His people at the temple. This ties the extraordinary event to the covenant life of Israel. God is not a random miracle-worker; His actions flow from His covenant faithfulness. The water came from the direction of Edom, a flash flood from mountains far away, unseen by the army. They had done the work of digging the trenches in faith, and God filled them. They obeyed, and God provided. And with the water came the assurance that God would also fulfill the rest of His promise. The light thing was done, and the greater thing, the victory over Moab, was now certain.