Saturday Morning Promises – Great Stories

And Elisha said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you. But now bring me a musician.” Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. And he said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’ For thus says the LORD: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ And this is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.” Now it happened in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water. And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to bear arms and older were gathered; and they stood at the border. Then they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining on the water; and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood. And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely struck swords and have killed one another; now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!” So when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they entered their land, killing the Moabites. Then they destroyed the cities, and each man threw a stone on every good piece of land and filled it; and they stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees. But they left the stones of Kir Haraseth intact. However the slingers surrounded and attacked it. And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not. Then he took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall; and there was great indignation against Israel. So they departed from him and returned to their own land. (2 Kings 3:14-27)

The Valley Full Of Blood

This is a great story. Elisha is a lot of fun to read after. He is not afraid of any king. He speaks plainly. His trust is in the Lord and he does a lot of powerful things to show God’s supremacy. After Ahab died the king of Moab rebels and so the three kings come up to fight against him. After three days without water they decide to check in with Elisha and see what the will of the Lord will be towards their battle with Moab. Elisha tells Jehoram (Ahab’s son) to go ask his own gods if he wants to know anything. Then Elisha relents and says if it were not for Jehoshaphat he would not waste his time.

A great miracle happens. The armies dig ditches and without wind or rain the valley fills with water. This will serve two purposes: to quench the thirst of the large army and to trick the Moabites. I like what Elisha said to them. “This is a trivial thing in the sight of the Lord.” What Jehovah does is not a big deal but the task given to the three armies is to utterly destroy the Moabites. This is called a ‘scorched earth’ policy.

The Moabites hear of the approaching armies and prepare for battle. Early the next morning they look out over where the opposing armies are camped and the early morning sun shines on the valley full of water as if it were blood. Thinking the three armies have fought one another and slaughtered each other the Moabites rush to take the spoil left by the defeated armies. To their great surprise no one is dead and before they can regroup into an armed force the camp of Israel rises up attacking them to their defeat. The abomination of the Moabites is seen in the king of Moab offering his eldest son as a burnt offering on the wall.

Elisha shows the power of God by giving victory to Israel over Moab. The battle is won only through the grace of God. We have the victory today through the blood of Jesus Christ. When the armies of Satan attack we are to rise up and defeat the devil with the scorched earth policy of allowing no residue of his influence to remain. Nothing is to remain. The Moabites thought they had victory when they saw the blood but the blood was their defeat. Satan must have thought he gained the victory when he saw the blood of Jesus on the cross. Three days later he realized that blood was his defeat. Praise God. That is a great story.

There is no devil in the first two chapters of the Bible and no devil in the last two chapters. Thank God for a Book that disposes of the devil. (Vance Havner)