Today’s Devotional Theme The Three Kings and Elisha
Daily Scripture2 Kings 3:12, 15
“And Jehoshaphat said, ‘The word of the Lord is with [the prophet Elisha].’ So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him… ‘But now bring me a musician.’ Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him [Elisha].”
Encouragement
No, this devotion isn’t about the well-known Christmas carol, “We Three Kings.” Here’s the scene: The king of Moab decides to rebel against the northern kingdom of Israel, whose king at this time is Jehoram, son of Ahab. Like all the kings of Israel, Jehoram knows God but does not fully obey Him, worshiping other gods besides Jehovah. He decides to call on the king of the southern kingdom, Judah, and upon the king of Edom to help him defeat the fractious Moabites. These three kings and their armies find themselves without water in the wilderness. Defeat at the hands of the Moabites looks inevitable. Jehoshaphat calls on the prophet Elisha to tell them what they should do to get water and gain victory over Moab. Elisha responds reluctantly, since he’s no friend of the idolatrous Jehoram but does respect Jehoshaphat. Elisha asks for music to help him seek the “hand of the Lord” in this ticklish situation (verse 15).
Apply God’s Word
In those days the Israelite kings often called on a prophet to seek God’s will for them (2 Kings 3:11) instead of praying directly to God themselves. The prophet here is Elisha, disciple of Elijah, one of the most in-tune-with-God prophets in Israel’s history. Responding to Elisha’s prayer, God opens ditches in that dry land and floods them with water so the desperate armies can slake their thirst. Then He makes the shining water appear as red as blood to the gathered Moabites (verse 22). The Moabites are fooled into thinking the allied Israelites are slashing each other to death (verse 23) and they wade in to gather the spoil. Israel is waiting for them. Great is their defeat. The Israelites destroy the Moabites’ cities and strew their farmland with stones (verse 25) so they can no longer cultivate it. We are all faced with situations that seem impossible to overcome. That’s when calling on a prayer partner (or a prophet!) for help provides a big advantage in gaining the upper hand and turning our desperate situation into victory.
Come into His Presence
Lord God, I rejoice that when things look hopeless to us, because we can always call on You to help us see our plight through Your eyes and to give us the tools to turn our hopeless situation around and replace our sense of doom with joy. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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