3:1 In the eighteenth year of King Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Ahab’s son Jehoram became king over Israel in Samaria; he ruled for twelve years.
King Ahaziah of Israel was the son of the wicked King Ahab. and Queen Jezebel. Ahaziah fell from his roof and asked pagan gods to heal him. Since he did not ask Jehovah, God allowed him to die in his bed after only a two year reign. Since Ahaziah had no sons, then his brother Jehoram became the next king of Israel. Jehoram was also the son of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.
3:2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not to the same degree as his father and mother. He did remove the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made.
King Jehoram was another of Israel’s evil kings. He did remove the Baal worship that Ahab and Jezebel established.
3:3 Yet he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin; he did not turn from them.
King Jehoram did not remove the calf worship which was established by King Jeroboam. King Jeroboam was the first king of Israel. He was the most stupidest king of Israel. Jehovah offered King Jeroboam an eternal dynasty similar to that of David if Jeroboam would keep the Mosaic Law. Instead, Jeroboam eliminated the Levitical priesthood, established two heretical worship cities in Israel, and synchronized the worship of Jehovah with the calf worship of Egypt.
3:4 Now King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. He would send as tribute to the king of Israel 100,000 male lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams.
Kind David defeated the Moabites and forced them to become a tribute nation. King Mesha was a shepherd. His tribute was 100,000 lambs and rams per year, which was a very large amount which would effect a nation’s economy greatly.
3:5 When Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
King Mesha of Moab most likely sensed that King Jehoram was weak, so he rebelled. He was hoping to get rid of this large financial burden.
3:6 At that time King Jehoram left Samaria and assembled all Israel for war.
Samaria was the capital of Israel. King Jehoram left his capital city and assembled for war in order to force the Moabites to return underneath their tribute system.
3:7 He sent this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you fight with me against Moab?” Jehoshaphat replied, “I will join you in the campaign; my army and horses are at your disposal.”
King Jehoram of Israel asked King Jehoshaphat of Israel to combine with him to defeat Israel. King Jehoshaphat had already made two bad treaties with Israelite evil kings, one almost costing him his life. King Jehoshaphat’s son was married to King Ahab’s daughter, so this may be why he agreed to the treaty.
3:8 He then asked, “Which invasion route are we going to take?” Jehoram answered, “By the road through the Desert of Edom.”
The Moabite Stone was a secular stone written by the Moabite king. It confirmed many of the details of this battle. For example, this stone recorded that King Mesha’s Moabite army firmly controlled the northern approach into Moab. Therefore, an attack from the south had a much better chance of success.
3:9 So the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom set out together. They wandered around on the road for seven days and finally ran out of water for the men and animals they had with them.
The Edomites were descendants of Esau. Esau was the elder twin brother of Jacob who sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. Esau had become bitter enemies of Israel in the past, but David conquered them and placed them under tribute. At this time, they were still a tribute nation to Israel.
Running out of water was serious enough to cause these three nations to lose the battle to the Moabites. An army cannot win without food and water, especially the latter.
3:10 The king of Israel said, “Oh no! Certainly the Lord has summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to the king of Moab!”
King Jehoram of Israel saw this as possible divine judgment from Jehovah. It is possible for Moab to win the battle, but impossible for them to remove the line of David from the messianic line. Israel and Edom were in trouble, but Judah was not.
3:11 Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here that we might seek the Lord’s direction?” One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shapat is here; he used to be Elijah’s servant.”
Elisha was present in Israel near the battle. He would not attend a battle of apostate Israel unless either Jehovah commanded him to do so, or Judah was involved. At this time, he was in the proximity of the battle, so it could have been a combination of both.
3:12 Jehoshaphat said, “The Lord speaks through him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to visit him.
King Jehoshaphat was a good king of Judah who recognized that Elisha was the new prophet in town.
3:13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why are you here? Go to your father’s prophets or your mother’s prophets!” The king of Israel replied to him, “No, for the Lord is the one who summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to Moab.”
Elisha was not at all interested in assisting King Jehoram of Israel, because he was an evil king who worshiped the calf god. He told King Jehoram to go visit one of the Baal prophets of his father and mother. King Ahab and Queen Jezebel worshiped Baal. King Jehoram admitted that Jehovah was the only one who could help them.
3:14 Elisha said, “As certainly as the Lord who rules over all lives (whom I serve), if I did not respect King Jehoshaphat of Judah, I would not pay attention to you or acknowledge you.
Elisha would never appease an evil, idol-worshiping dictator like King Jehoram of Israel. However, he would listen to his request, since the good King Jehoshaphat of Judah was there with him in person.
3:15 But now, get me a musician.” When the musician played, the Lord energized him,
Many prophets were energized by musicians. David’s music drove demons away from King Saul.
3:16 and he said, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Make many cisterns in this valley,’
Jehovah ordered the confederate soldiers from Judah, Israel, and Edom to make a multitude of clay water pots and place them in the valley.
3:17 for this is what the Lord says, ‘You will not feel any wind or see any rain, but this valley will be full of water and you and your cattle and animals will drink.’
The Confederate army was out of water. They will not feel any wind or rain, but Jehovah will supernaturally fill the valley with water.
3:18 This is an easy task for the Lord; he will also hand Moab over to you.
It is easy for Jehovah to fill cisterns with water. This supernatural miracle will cause the defeat of Moab.
3:19 You will defeat every fortified city and every important city. You must chop down every productive tree, stop up all the springs, and cover all the cultivated land with stones.”
The Confederacy was to defeat every Moabite fortified city. They were to cut down the trees so that the Moabites would have no fruit to eat. They were to stop up their water supply. They were to cover all of the agricultural land with stones so that crops could not grow. This scorched earth policy was illegal according to the Mosaic Law, but God allowed the confederacy to execute this policy. The Moabites were not under the Mosaic Law.
3:20 Sure enough, the next morning, at the time of the morning sacrifice, water came flowing down from Edom and filled the land.
Judah performed a morning and evening sacrifice daily at 9 AM and 3 PM. Either it rained in Edom and the water flowed into the valleys, or the valleys and cisterns were supernaturally filled with water.
3:21 Now all Moab had heard that the kings were attacking, so everyone old enough to fight was mustered and placed at the border.
Moab mustered their armies for an early mourning attack.
3:22 When they got up early the next morning, the sun was shining on the water. To the Moabites, who were some distance away, the water looked red like blood.
The Moabites were not expecting the valleys to be filled with water. Therefore, when the sun shined on the water and the cisterns, they mistook the water for blood.
3:23 The Moabites said, “It’s blood! The kings are totally destroyed! They have struck one another down! Now, Moab, seize the plunder!”
The Edomites hated Israel and Judah, because they were a tribute nation as well. This scenario was very probable.
3:24 When they approached the Israelite camp, the Israelites rose up and struck down the Moabites, who then ran from them. The Israelites thoroughly defeated Moab.
The Moabites approached the Israelite camp, expecting to gather plunder. They had limited weapons, so they were slaughtered by the Confederacy.
3:25 They tore down the cities and each man threw a stone into every cultivated field until they were covered. They stopped up every spring and chopped down every productive tree. Only Kir Hareseth was left intact, but the slingers surrounded it and attacked it.
The Confederacy began their scorched-earth policy against the Moabites.
3:26 When the king of Moab realized he was losing the battle, he and 700 swordsmen tried to break through and attack the king of Edom, but they failed.
The Moabite King attempted to burst through Edom alone, thinking that they were the weakest. They failed.
3:27 So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him up as a burnt sacrifice on the wall. There was an outburst of divine anger against Israel, so they broke off the attack and returned to their homeland.
The Moabites practiced infant sacrifice. They assumed that the younger and more innocent the sacrifice, the more their god Chemosh would be willing to answer their request. The Moabite king offered his oldest son (the prince of Moab) on the wall of the city as a burnt offering, hoping to appease Chemosh so that he would raise up and fight for the Moabites. Israel was so angry at this demonstration of human sacrifice, that they broke off the attack and returned home.
King Mesha survived the attack and wrote the Moabite Stone as evidence of the Bible’s accuracy. On this stone, he claimed that he was saved by his god Chemosh on this very day. Though it is true that he was not captured at Kir Hareseth and the Israelites withdrew, Israel and her allies were the real victors in this campaign.