Lectionary Calendar

Saturday, November 23rd, 2024
the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33

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Bible Commentaries
2 Kings 3

2 Kings2Ki 2 2 Kings2Ki 2 Kings2Ki 4

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Verses 1-27

Intro:
1. Coldstone Peru Fundraiser after ch tonight. Baptism 9/10. Israel. [blank]
2. The Moabite Stone (4’x2’x1’) - 1 of the most imp finds in biblical archeology.
  1. In 1868 a German missionary discovered in Jordan, a 34 line inscription carved on a black stone. Now located in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
  2. The inscription tells of king Mesha’s military campaigns and victories, especially against Israel. It gives valuable extra-biblical evidence for the relationship between Israel and Moab in the 9th century b.c.
  3. On the Moabite Stone, Mesha tells how the god Chemosh delivered Moab from its neighbor Israel. It also mentions Yahweh specifically (11).
THE INCOMPETENT KING (1-9)
1. (2,3) Maybe a reminder to us that a little reform is not regeneration.
2. (6-9) Explain Map - circuitous route.
THE INDIGNANT PROPHET (10-27)
1. (10) People always start with blaming God.
  1. We often wait for disaster to strike...before we’ll cry out to Him (That must bless His heart :( ) But even when we have turned aside from Him, God will not desert us, & will answer our appeal for help as He did for these kings & their armies.
2. (11) Elisha...who poured water on the hands of Elijah –
  1. 1st it’s amazing for what he was recognized for (or not recognized for). Not, Elisha who picked up the mantle from Elijah & parted the river Jordan? Not, Elisha who cast salt at the source of the cities water supply to heal the water.
  2. Ask? What do you think he means by using this descriptive phrase? Ask?
    1. A picturesque expression of servanthood here. Not used anywhere else in the OT.
  3. Whose hands have you poured water on?
3. (15) Bring me a musician - a general expression a person who makes music.
  1. Odd? Why? (It doesn't say) Why do you think he asks for this? (not norm for prophet)
    1. I think the influence of music calms his agitation & helps him get in the spirit for God to speak to him.
    2. What do you do to hear from God in the mornings? Before your devo’s?
  2. Ask? When you want to hear from the Lord...what helps you? Ask? (read the Word? A certain place you like to go? Music?)
4. The hand of Yahweh came upon him - In 1 Sam 10:5, the band of prophets that meets Saul at Gibeath-elohim (the hill of God) also uses music to elicit prophetic oracles.
5. (18) Sometimes we need to be reminded this is a simple matter for God.
  1. In which situation in your life do you need to hear that?
  2. In what situation of a friend do you need to remind someone of that?
6. (19) you shall fell every good tree - A type of scorched-earth policy - which is a military strategy that targets anything that might be useful to the enemy while it is advancing through or withdrawing from an area. [Eg. Kuwaiti oil Fires set on fire by the retreating Iraqi forces in 1991]
  1. But the Mosaic law prohibits the felling of fruit-producing trees during a siege. Armies may, however, cut down trees that are not good for food to create siege works against a city.
    1. Deut 20:19,20 When you are attacking a town and the war drags on, you must not cut down the trees with your axes. You may eat the fruit, but do not cut down the trees. Are the trees your enemies, that you should attack them? ²⁰ You may only cut down trees that you know are not valuable for food. Use them to make the equipment you need to attack the enemy town until it falls.
7. (20) And the land was filled with water –
  1. Often we have to prepare for divine blessings, long before we get to see them
  2. Our expectant face is the valley full of ditches.
  3. Maybe we can call this the cooperation with the Spirit.
    1. He alone can send the water, but we must dig the ditch. Work carefully & abundantly.
    2. We share our faith, or invite somebody to church or a home study, but the living water can only come by way of the throne.
  4. We also know when the blessing arrives, it usually comes unannounced... There is neither wind nor rain. [unexpected answers, unexpected timing, unexpected help]
    1. I stand amazed at the absolute quietness of how God works often.
    2. I stand amazed at the absence of anything sensational & dramatic.
    3. I stand amazed at the utter sense of my uselessness in a situation, where only “God” could work.
    4. Its the role of faith not to question but simply to obey. A.B.Simpson
    5. Dig the ditch...God will fill it. Dig the ditch...God will fill it!
  5. Also, the same water that was salvation to the 3 armies, brought defeat to the overconfident Moab.
8. (23) This is blood - Flowing blood is a common motif in ancient Near Eastern accounts of military victory.
9. (25) Kir Hareseth - Perhaps refers to Kir-Moab, a major city in the south of Moab with steep approaches on either side.
10. (26) Wrath - The Hebrew term used here describes anger toward wrongdoers, but it is uncertain whose wrath the text refers to here.
  1. It seems that the Israelites were frightened by the human sacrifice, believed that the Moabites’ god was angry, and retreated.
  2. Or, as Warren Wiersbe said, The deed was so repulsive to Judah and Moab that they left the field in great anger against Israel for even getting them involved.
    1. When you join forces with those who do not love God, you never know what will happen to embarrass or offend you or to disgrace the Lord’s name.
11. It was the faithful prophet of God, not the wicked king, who saved the nation.
12. Now it’s interesting to think back on Elisha...who poured water on the hands of Elijah. Here was the prophet they were coming to for water (& direction from the Lord).
  1. Elisha provides rivers of water in a dry & thirsty land. Biblical imagery for thirsting after God...like the Psalmists image of a deer in Ps.42:1,2 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
    1. Thirsting For God (feeling alone)
      1. We don’t know which of the sons of Korah are writing this.
      2. We don’t know where he was. Or, how far from Jerusalem & its tabernacle worship, that he was. Or, why he was away.
      3. We know, he felt cut off from God.
        
        We know he felt like a thirsty deer in the desert, searching for water.
      4. What seems to be a forced absence from Jerusalem was also an absence from his work & therefore from his sense of being useful.
        
        This reflected on his whole purpose for living.
        
        Have you ever lost a job or felt stuck in a dead-end job? Maybe you’ve experienced an early forced retirement. Old age. Or just feel like your days of usefulness are over?...Then you can relate to Korah Junior.
  2. But who can you provide water for? Who can you bring or be refreshment to?

return to 'Top of Page'

Verses 1-27

Intro:
1. Coldstone Peru Fundraiser after ch tonight. Baptism 9/10. Israel. [blank]
2. The Moabite Stone (4’x2’x1’) - 1 of the most imp finds in biblical archeology.
  1. In 1868 a German missionary discovered in Jordan, a 34 line inscription carved on a black stone. Now located in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
  2. The inscription tells of king Mesha’s military campaigns and victories, especially against Israel. It gives valuable extra-biblical evidence for the relationship between Israel and Moab in the 9th century b.c.
  3. On the Moabite Stone, Mesha tells how the god Chemosh delivered Moab from its neighbor Israel. It also mentions Yahweh specifically (11).
THE INCOMPETENT KING (1-9)
1. (2,3) Maybe a reminder to us that a little reform is not regeneration.
2. (6-9) Explain Map - circuitous route.
THE INDIGNANT PROPHET (10-27)
1. (10) People always start with blaming God.
  1. We often wait for disaster to strike...before we’ll cry out to Him (That must bless His heart :( ) But even when we have turned aside from Him, God will not desert us, & will answer our appeal for help as He did for these kings & their armies.
2. (11) Elisha...who poured water on the hands of Elijah –
  1. 1st it’s amazing for what he was recognized for (or not recognized for). Not, Elisha who picked up the mantle from Elijah & parted the river Jordan? Not, Elisha who cast salt at the source of the cities water supply to heal the water.
  2. Ask? What do you think he means by using this descriptive phrase? Ask?
    1. A picturesque expression of servanthood here. Not used anywhere else in the OT.
  3. Whose hands have you poured water on?
3. (15) Bring me a musician - a general expression a person who makes music.
  1. Odd? Why? (It doesn't say) Why do you think he asks for this? (not norm for prophet)
    1. I think the influence of music calms his agitation & helps him get in the spirit for God to speak to him.
    2. What do you do to hear from God in the mornings? Before your devo’s?
  2. Ask? When you want to hear from the Lord...what helps you? Ask? (read the Word? A certain place you like to go? Music?)
4. The hand of Yahweh came upon him - In 1 Sam 10:5, the band of prophets that meets Saul at Gibeath-elohim (the hill of God) also uses music to elicit prophetic oracles.
5. (18) Sometimes we need to be reminded this is a simple matter for God.
  1. In which situation in your life do you need to hear that?
  2. In what situation of a friend do you need to remind someone of that?
6. (19) you shall fell every good tree - A type of scorched-earth policy - which is a military strategy that targets anything that might be useful to the enemy while it is advancing through or withdrawing from an area. [Eg. Kuwaiti oil Fires set on fire by the retreating Iraqi forces in 1991]
  1. But the Mosaic law prohibits the felling of fruit-producing trees during a siege. Armies may, however, cut down trees that are not good for food to create siege works against a city.
    1. Deut 20:19,20 When you are attacking a town and the war drags on, you must not cut down the trees with your axes. You may eat the fruit, but do not cut down the trees. Are the trees your enemies, that you should attack them? ²⁰ You may only cut down trees that you know are not valuable for food. Use them to make the equipment you need to attack the enemy town until it falls.
7. (20) And the land was filled with water –
  1. Often we have to prepare for divine blessings, long before we get to see them
  2. Our expectant face is the valley full of ditches.
  3. Maybe we can call this the cooperation with the Spirit.
    1. He alone can send the water, but we must dig the ditch. Work carefully & abundantly.
    2. We share our faith, or invite somebody to church or a home study, but the living water can only come by way of the throne.
  4. We also know when the blessing arrives, it usually comes unannounced... There is neither wind nor rain. [unexpected answers, unexpected timing, unexpected help]
    1. I stand amazed at the absolute quietness of how God works often.
    2. I stand amazed at the absence of anything sensational & dramatic.
    3. I stand amazed at the utter sense of my uselessness in a situation, where only “God” could work.
    4. Its the role of faith not to question but simply to obey. A.B.Simpson
    5. Dig the ditch...God will fill it. Dig the ditch...God will fill it!
  5. Also, the same water that was salvation to the 3 armies, brought defeat to the overconfident Moab.
8. (23) This is blood - Flowing blood is a common motif in ancient Near Eastern accounts of military victory.
9. (25) Kir Hareseth - Perhaps refers to Kir-Moab, a major city in the south of Moab with steep approaches on either side.
10. (26) Wrath - The Hebrew term used here describes anger toward wrongdoers, but it is uncertain whose wrath the text refers to here.
  1. It seems that the Israelites were frightened by the human sacrifice, believed that the Moabites’ god was angry, and retreated.
  2. Or, as Warren Wiersbe said, The deed was so repulsive to Judah and Moab that they left the field in great anger against Israel for even getting them involved.
    1. When you join forces with those who do not love God, you never know what will happen to embarrass or offend you or to disgrace the Lord’s name.
11. It was the faithful prophet of God, not the wicked king, who saved the nation.
12. Now it’s interesting to think back on Elisha...who poured water on the hands of Elijah. Here was the prophet they were coming to for water (& direction from the Lord).
  1. Elisha provides rivers of water in a dry & thirsty land. Biblical imagery for thirsting after God...like the Psalmists image of a deer in Ps.42:1,2 As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
    1. Thirsting For God (feeling alone)
      1. We don’t know which of the sons of Korah are writing this.
      2. We don’t know where he was. Or, how far from Jerusalem & its tabernacle worship, that he was. Or, why he was away.
      3. We know, he felt cut off from God.
        
        We know he felt like a thirsty deer in the desert, searching for water.
      4. What seems to be a forced absence from Jerusalem was also an absence from his work & therefore from his sense of being useful.
        
        This reflected on his whole purpose for living.
        
        Have you ever lost a job or felt stuck in a dead-end job? Maybe you’ve experienced an early forced retirement. Old age. Or just feel like your days of usefulness are over?...Then you can relate to Korah Junior.
  2. But who can you provide water for? Who can you bring or be refreshment to?

return to 'Top of Page'

2 Kings2Ki 2 2 Kings2Ki 2 Kings2Ki 4

Copyright Statement
These files are the property of Brian Bell.
Text Courtesy of Calvary Chapel of Murrieta. Used by Permission.

Bibliographical Information
Bell, Brian. "Commentary on 2 Kings 3". "Bell's Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/2-kings-3.html. 2017.

Bible Commentaries2 Kings 3

Bell's Commentary on the BibleBell's Commentary

Verses 1-27

Verses 1-27

Bible Commentaries
2 Kings 3