Second Kings 3:21 said that the Moabites heard of the combined forces of
the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom coming to attack them. So all the men
of Moab who were of age for military duty and even older men were summoned.
They all came and stood at the border ready to defend their land. The coalition
forces had obeyed the instruction of Elisha and dug the trenches in the valley.
And supernaturally God filled the trenches with water despite the absence of
wind or rain. This was indeed God’s miracle.
According
to 2 Kings 3:22-25, as the sun rose in the morning and shone on the water, the
Moabites saw a red glow from the water reflected by the sun. They presumed and
mistakenly concluded that the combined forces of Israel, Judah, and Edom had
fought among themselves and killed each other. Thinking that their enemies had
killed each other, and it would be easy for them to just go out and collect the
spoil, the Moabites let down their guard and went forward. When they
drew near, the Israelites sprung a surprise and struck them. They pommelled the
Moabites and pursued them into the land, slaughtering and destroying their
cities. Each man did his job and buried any good land with rocks. They cut
the water supply off from every well and felled every good tree. The only place
they did not destroy was Kir-hareseth, which was probably a fortress. There
they left the stone untouched although they did attack it.
Verses 26-27 say that seeing the battle was too hot, the king of Moab took with him
700 men who drew swords and attempted to break through the king of Edom. But he
was unsuccessful. As a last-ditch attempt to save the situation, he took his
son who was to succeed him on the throne, and offered him as a burnt offering on
the wall. He was probably seeking to appease Chemosh, a deity of Moab, to
influence the outcome of the battle. What he did stir up anger against the
Israelites, and made them leave for home without finishing the Moabites
off.
A
lesson we learn from what the Moabites did is not to be presumptuous and
over-confident. If they had been more cautious, they would not have concluded from
merely seeing illusions. In our walk with God, we don’t want to be presumptuous
or over-confident. We put our reliance on God. Like Jehoshaphat, we must
inquire of the Lord and seek His direction. It is in walking according to the
plan and purposes of God that we meaningfully achieve our God-given goal in
life. Another indirect lesson is implied in verse 25 where it said, “each
one threw a stone on every piece of good land and filled it.” This suggests
that every individual was involved in the fight. If we are to succeed in the
ministry God has assigned for us, the collaboration of every one of us is
needed. We must not assume that just because someone is already doing the task, we can
adopt a nonchalant attitude. With teamwork, we can accomplish more for God. We
each must do our part and work side by side with each other to achieve the maximum
result. We need one another in God’s Kingdom!
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