Bible Passage:  2 Kings 3

We read about the son of Ahab and Jezebel, king Jehoram today.

Although not as wicked and evil as his parents, he was still a wicked man (3:2-3).  He tried to do some good by getting rid of the pillar of Baal but he left behind the golden calves for the people to worship.

Now faced with the rebellion of the Moabites, he sought the help of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah.  Jehoshaphat was a contrast to Jehoram.  He was a godly man (1 Kings 22:41-43) who followed in the godly footsteps of his father Asa. But now the two kingdoms formed an alliance to attack their common enemy.

But the enemy was far, and now they found themselves in the wilderness with no water (3:9)

Jehoram’s guilty conscience convinces him that this calamity was the judgement of God.  His own sins made him think that everything that has happened against him is the judgement of God (3:10).

Now there are times when we will meet with crisis –  just like Jehoram and Jehoshaphet now.  But the way they responded was quite different.

Jehoram believes that God is to be avoided because of the crisis.

Jehoshaphat believes that God should be sought because of the crisis (3:11).

Which one are we?

After seeking the man of God, they were told to dig ditches so that God can send water.

There is a lesson here.

The people needed help from God and they sought it from Him.

But God instructed them to dig.  It might seem a strange thing to do but digging ditches was something the people of God could do.  God did not ask them to do more than they could do.  When God wants us to prepare for the blessing He will bring, He gives us thing we can really do.

If Israel and Judah had disobeyed God and failed to dig the ditches, God’s blessings would have passed them by.  His deliverance would not be seen.

How obedient are we to the voice of God today?

 

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