Fear No Fear

(All scripture from Lexham English Bible, Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software)

Jehoram, son of Ahab, became king of Israel in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah (and the second year of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, who was co-regent with his father – 2 Kings 8:16). He reigned twelve years and did NOT sin like Ahab and Jezebel, but DID sin like Jeroboam – which means he was only idolatrous in the matter of the golden calves they claimed were manifestations of Yahweh (1 Kings 12:28-33), not in the idols of his parents. He was still an idolater though and doing something God said was an abomination.

Moab had been under the thumb of Ahab for years, but once Ahab died they rebelled. The previous king (Ahaziah, son of Ahab) had done nothing about it. Jehoram had no choice but to do something or they’d lose Moab. So he went to his daddy’s friend Jehoshaphat and asked him to help. In spite of having been rebuked by a prophet for helping Ahab (2 Chronicles 19:2), Jehoshaphat agreed. They linked up with the king of Edom and travelled through the desert for seven days – because who would expect a desert attack? No one, because it was a REALLY bad idea. They were out of water. Had no food. And were wailing wondering why God had brought them so low (God hadn’t been consulted at all). Jehoshaphat asked if anyone knew a prophet? A servant suggested Elisha and so the kings went to see him.

Elisha had NO use for his king or the king of Edom, but because Jehoshaphat was with them, he sought the Lord. First, he praised God to get in line with the Lord (a good lesson for us all), and then asked what to do. Here were God’s instructions: dig holes. Seriously. They were to dig ditches all throughout the valley. Rain was coming and it would fill them up. Then the people and their animals could drink. And God would deliver Moab to them. They were to attack every fortified city, every decent city, every tree, stop up every spring, and ruin every good piece of land with stones. Moab would be brought to its knees and be unable to be a thorn to them. They obeyed and dig the trenches.

In the morning, they were filled with water. The Moabites heard about it. Now this was actually the SECOND conflict with Moab. Moab had been defeated previously (2 Chronicles 20:1) and lost their army. Here they grabbed every male who could hold a weapon, young and old, and outfitted them. When they got to the valley, the men of Israel were lying by the pools drinking (presumably) and the sunlight off the water made the water look crimson, like blood. Now in the previous battle, the three kings had turned on each other and the armies destroyed each other (2 Chronicles 20:22-24). Seeing the valley like this, they must have assumed the same thing. They charged down the hill looking to loot. But the Israelites stood up and attacked. They defeated the men and destroyed the country as ordered. When they were done, they went home.

“Now, please run to meet her and ask her, ‘Is it peace for you? Is it peace for your husband? Is it peace for the boy?’” She said, “Peace.”” (2 Kings 4:26).

There was a widow of one of the prophets – Jewish tradition says Obadiah (who saved the priests in 1 Kings 18:4 and wrote the book of Obadiah), but the Word does not mention his name. He had died and left a lot of debt. As per the practise of the ancient world, the creditors were going to take the sons as payment (Matthew 18:25). She came to Elisha begging for help. Elisha wanted to know what she wanted. He wasn’t going to take responsibility for her problems, but was willing to help if she was trusting God and had a vision. He asked what she had to work with. She said oil. He told her to borrow empty vessels from everyone she knew. A lot of them, not just a few. She was to shut the door and pour out oil from her jar into all the other jars. So she did. When she was done, she came back and told him. He told her to sell the oil, pay the debt, and live off the remainder.

Elisha, like many of the prophets, travelled in a circuit. A wealthy woman who lived in Shunem persuaded him to come eat with her family. He did. Every time he came past. She asked her husband to build a room for Elisha. Something private where he could rest. So they did. Elisha was so appreciative, he asked what he could do for her. She wasn’t looking for a reward. His servant, Gehazi, mentioned she had no son and her husband was old. Elisha prophesied she would have a son. And she did. When the son was older – old enough to work in the fields – he collapsed complaining of head paid. He was taken home and he died. She put him in the prophet’s room and went to find Elisha at Gilgal. She did and she begged for help for her son (didn’t say what had happened). Elisha sent his servant with his staff to lay it on the young man. Nothing happened. Now, staves aren’t special. It takes trust in God to wield his anointing – no matter what it’s on. Gehazi doesn’t seem to have much trust in this. He reported back that the boy didn’t rise (first time Elisha knew death was involved). She went home, but took Elisha with her. Elisha went into the room and shut the door. He did the same thing Elijah had done (1 Kings 17:17-23). Through all of this the woman never said the boy was dead. Never said it was going to go anyway but the way she said: well (a good ending). She had trust. So did Elisha. The boy woke up and lived. Jewish tradition says the boy was Jonah (yes, THAT Jonah), but again the Word says nothing about his identity.

Elisha returned to Gilgal. Sometime after, there was a famine. He and the prophets were together and they were foraging for something to eat. It all went into the pot – including a gourd that REALLY shouldn’t have. When they went to taste it, someone recognized it was deadly. Normally, they probably would have tossed it, but this was a famine. They called on Elisha to do something. He threw in flour and said it’s fine now. Serve it. Everyone there had to have trust in God that the flour had done something. It had through God’s intervention. The soup was fine. No one got sick.

Later, a man came and brought his firstfruits offering – Israel didn’t go to the temple in Judah, so the man brought his to the prophet. It was twenty loaves of bread and some grain. Elisha instructed Gehazi to feed the prophets with it. Gehazi challenged him much as Phillip did Jesus (John 6:4-7). But Elisha said God said that they’d eat and have some left over. And they did.

Summary

Key Players: God, Elisha, Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, Gehazi, Shunammite Woman

Key Themes: Grace, Anointing, Trust

Key Verse(s): 2 Kings 3:1-7, 16-19; 4:1-2, 6-7, 14-17, 36-37, 41, 43-44