Someone sent me a copy of this story.1 An older couple stepped off the train in Boston. The wife was wearing a faded gingham dress, her husband a threadbare homespun suit. They walked from the train station to the campus of Harvard University and found their way to the outer office of the president of the University. The president’s secretary had the couple sized up in a second. She could tell that such unsophisticated country folk didn’t belong at a renowned institution like Harvard, and probably were not even worthy of a visit to Cambridge. She met their glances with a frown, the kind that was meant to send them a message. “We want to see the president,” the man said softly. “He’ll be busy all day,” the secretary snapped. “We’ll wait,” the lady replied.
For a good while the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally become discouraged and go away. They didn’t. The secretary finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted doing. “Maybe if they just see you for a few minutes, they’ll leave,” she suggested. The president was perturbed. Someone of his importance obviously didn’t have time to spend with such people. But because he detested people in gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office, he sighed in exasperation and nodded for his secretary to show the couple in.
The president, stern-faced, strutted toward the couple. The lady told him, “We had a son that attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus.” The president wasn’t touched; he was shocked. “Madam,” he said gruffly, “We can’t put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery.” “Oh, no,” the lady explained quickly, “We don’t want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard.” The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, and then exclaimed, “A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have spent over seven and a half million dollars on the physical plant at Harvard.”
For a moment, the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Perhaps now he would be rid of them. The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, “Is that all it costs to start a University? Why don’t we just start our own?” Her husband nodded. The president’s face wilted in confusion and bewilderment. And so Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford walked away and went to Palo Alto, California, where they established the University that bears their name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.
People aren’t always what they appear to be. In this case, a couple who appeared to be of little wealth or standing proved to be people of means, perhaps the biggest potential donors the president of Harvard had ever met. And yet, because of his thoughtless treatment of these grieving parents, he failed to benefit in any way from their encounter. Abimelech’s meeting with Abraham was similar, in some ways, to the Stanford’s meeting with the president of Harvard University. Abimelech didn’t really know who he was dealing with. Only in his case, he was enlightened before he took any foolish or hasty action.
This lesson is the first in a series on the Old Testament prophets. Over a period of time, I hope to cover the span of Israel’s history in Old Testament times, studying various periods in Israel’s history, and the prophets who spoke for God during these times. We will certainly not accomplish this goal quickly. My plan is to begin at the beginning, with Abraham, the very first prophet who is named as such in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. From Abraham, we will proceed to Moses, and then to the other prophets of old, prophets like Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha. This project is an ambitious one, and it will obviously take some time to complete it. Nevertheless, I am convinced it is a project well worth the effort, as I will now seek to demonstrate.
I assure you, studying the prophets is not only profitable, it is interesting. Let me suggest some of the ways a study of the prophets can be both fascinating and fruitful:
Many of our heroes—the great men and women of the Bible—were prophets or prophetesses. Years ago, John F. Kennedy wrote a book entitled, Profiles in Courage. It was about courageous people, whose character and conduct entitled them to a place of honor in history. The Old Testament prophets were also people of courage. Many of them died for their calling, and most of them suffered greatly for speaking the truth. As Stephen put it,
51 “You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors did! 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become! 53 You received the law by decrees given by angels, but you did not keep it” (Acts 7:51-53).2
When we study the prophets, we are studying those who paid a high price for fulfilling their calling. They were—in the main—the heroes of the Old Testament times. Among these “great men and women of the Bible” are Abraham, Moses, Deborah, Samuel, Elijah and Elisha, and Daniel. Many of these heroes are named or alluded to in the “hall of faith”—Hebrews 11.
The Old Testament prophets help us understand the Old Testament better. When I was writing my master’s thesis, I lost sight of my task for a while, but a short talk with Dr. Bruce Waltke put me back on course. All too often we lose sight of the “big picture” of the Bible. We tend to get lost in the details, missing the main message. Jesus put it this way to the legalistic Pharisees of His day:
23 “Woe to you experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law: justice, mercy and faithfulness! You needed to do these without neglecting the other. 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel!”(Matthew 23:23-24).
The prophets reminded the Israelites of their day—as they continue to remind us—of the difference between “gnats” and “camels.” They help us keep the details in perspective, in the light of the bigger picture of God’s plans and purposes and guiding principles for His people.
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8).
The prophets are to the Old Testament law what the Supreme Court is supposed to be to the laws of our land. The Supreme Court should interpret and apply the laws of our land in accordance with the intent of the framers of the Constitution of the United States. The Old Testament prophets’ task was to help God’s people interpret and apply the Old Testament law in the light of God’s purposes for giving it.
The Old Testament prophets instruct men how to live godly lives, and thus to live well. The prophets do not allow men the luxury of limiting biblical faith to abstract principles or even to impersonal rules. The prophets help show God’s people where “the rubber of divine revelation meets the road.” We can see this exemplified by the prophetic ministry of John the Baptist. In Luke 3:7-14, John called the nation Israel to repentance, in preparation for the coming of Messiah. His condemnation of sin and his declaration of the requirements of righteousness were very specific. The Pharisees were rebuked for supposing that their ancestry would get them into heaven. Those who had been blessed with an abundance of worldly possessions were reminded of their obligation to share with those in need. Tax collectors were told not to abuse their positions of responsibility by over-charging. And soldiers were admonished not to abuse their power by extorting money from those they were duty-bound to protect.
By heeding the instruction of the prophets, people are blessed. This is even true in the case of pagans.3 Take Pharaoh, for example. I am assuming that Joseph ministered to his own family, the cupbearer, the baker, and even Pharaoh as a prophet, when he interpreted and/or applied dreams relating to each of them. Because of Joseph, Pharaoh ended up even more prosperous after the famine than he was before this national calamity. By heeding the counsel of Joseph, Pharaoh not only minimized the impact of the famine, he ended up possessing the land and the cattle of the people of Egypt (except for the priests—see Genesis 47:13-26). Joseph’s prophetic ministry profited Pharaoh, enabling him to live well because he took heed to his prophecy.
Usually, the same will be true for us. To resist and reject the will and the Word of God spoken through the prophets (Old Testament and New) will be to our peril. To heed the message of the prophets will not only mean that we live godly lives, but that we live well, experiencing the fullness of God’s promised blessings. Many are those who seek divine guidance from other sources. They consult astrology or psychics concerning choices and decisions. They do so to their own destruction. Heeding the prophets is to our eternal benefit.
The Old Testament prophets help God’s people to better understand the world in which they live. The prophets were not only students of God’s Word, they were students of the culture of their day. While John the Baptist was raised and lived in seclusion, he had an amazing grasp of the sins of the culture of his day. We, too, have the inspired Word of God—the “prophetic word”—which enlightens us about the world in which we live:
16 For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; no, we were eyewitnesses of his grandeur. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.” 18 When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you do well if you recognize this: no prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, 21 for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Peter 1:16-21).
Let me attempt to illustrate how the “prophetic word” enlightens us in relation to contemporary events. In the last few weeks, a horrible drama unfolded in the hallways of Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Two very angry young men stormed their school, armed with guns and homemade bombs. Their intent was to kill as many people as possible. To some degree, they succeeded, though fewer than they had hoped died. Around the world, and especially in this country, people have been wringing their hands, wondering how such a thing could happen, as though such deeds are completely unexpected and unpredictable. Are they? Does such violence shock God? Is this far beyond what we may expect from men? It shouldn’t be. In fact, this violent conduct falls completely within what we should expect from fallen sinners:
10 My son, if sinners entice you, Do not consent. 11 If they say, “Co me with us, Let us lie in wait to shed blood; Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause; 12 Let us swallow them alive like Sheol, And whole, like those who go down to the Pit; 13 We shall find all kinds of precious possessions, We shall fill our houses with spoil; 14 Cast in your lot among us, Let us all have one purse”—15 My son, do not walk in the way with them, Keep your foot from their path; 16 For their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed blood. 17 Surely, in vain the net is spread In the sight of any bird; 18 But they lie in wait for their own blood, They lurk secretly for their own lives. 19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain; It takes away the life of its owners (Proverbs 1:10-19). 9 What then? Are we better off? Certainly not, for we have already charged that Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin, 3:10 just as it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one, 11 there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.” 13 “Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,16 ruin and misery are in their paths,17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Romans 3:9-18).
Our culture wrongly assumes that children are born innocent, and that it is our institutions which corrupt them. The experts tell us that if we teach these kids to love themselves and to have self-esteem, they will turn out right. The educational system has usurped the task of guiding our children to define their own values. And so in Littleton, Colorado, even when it was obvious that these young men were determined to make trouble, no one made any serious attempt to stop them. And now we act as though this situation was totally unexpected, unpredictable. Worse yet, many are already advocating even heavier doses of the “solutions” they assured us would work, but which have failed miserably. I would suggest to you that if you were to ask one of the Old Testament prophets about the problem we face with our youth, they would turn you back to the Old Testament Scriptures. They would tell you that parents are to teach their children about God, and His Word:
5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 “ And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates” (Deuteronomy 6:5-9).
What if the child refuses to hear and to heed the word of his parents? The Old Testament prophets would once again point you to the Word of God:
18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, 19 “then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. 20 “And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 “Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear” (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).
Let me put your mind to rest here and now. I am not advocating that we attempt to follow this law today. I am trying to show that the Word of God not only discloses the wickedness that is innate in every child, but that it prescribed the kind of action that was appropriate to deal with such sin. There was both preventative action and prescriptive (curative) action. God’s Word tells us that such things will occur, and how we should deal with them, both before and after the fact.
If we actually did what the law instructed the Israelites to do, it would be a very different world that we live in. Look at what the last verse (Deuteronomy 18:21) says. Putting rebels to death would not only “put away evil,” it would also send a very sobering message to any who might be tempted to take the same path of disobedience. All Israel, God said, would hear and fear. Immediately after the tragedy in Colorado, copycat crimes began to occur all around the nation. That incident in Colorado, along with other similar outbursts of violence in our schools which preceded it, was a lesson. It was not a warning to young hoodlums that such violence would swiftly be punished, and that no more Hitler-worshipping, trenchcoat-wearing rebels would be allowed in our schools. It was a lesson to similar rebels that this kind of violence really achieved what they (in their distorted thinking) wanted. It suggested that one could perpetrate acts of violence and thereby become a celebrity of sorts. According to Deuteronomy, the lesson would have worked the other way. When a rebellious youth was stoned to death, others would look on and learn not to do the same. In Israel, if the law of God were obeyed, copycat crimes would be few and far between.
Today, we wring our hands in dismay and frustration, as though there is no solution. The Bible teaches that parents are to instruct their children in the ways of the Lord, and they are to discipline them when they disobey. It teaches that the root of the problem is a sin nature, deeply rooted in every child. It teaches us to expect the kind of conduct we witnessed in Colorado, especially when parents and society refuse to assume their responsibilities. And, it teaches that when all else fails, God has ordained civil authorities to punish the disobedient (Romans 13:1-7). The psychiatrists of our day may be wringing their hands, but the Old Testament prophets would not hesitate to explain why such things are happening. They would probably tell us that these things are divine judgment on a nation which has rejected God and prayer in schools. We all know that when this tragedy struck in Littleton, there were many prayers being offered up in Colorado, in the schools!
The prophets teach us to do what they do. My understanding of the spiritual gifts has changed somewhat over the years. Early on, I thought that God gave some people the gift of giving so that they could bear the lion’s share of the financial needs of the church. I thought that evangelists did the bulk of the evangelizing, and that teachers did the teaching. There is some truth in this point of view, but the purpose for spiritual gifts goes beyond this. Every Christian is to give, to encourage, to teach, to help, and to evangelize (among other things). Those who are specially gifted aren’t intended to do all the work in their area of giftedness, so that those who are not similarly gifted can sit back and do nothing in this area of ministry. They are to teach others how to do what they do extremely well. I have learned how to give by observing those who have the gift of giving. I have learned how to share the gospel more clearly and effectively from those who have the gift of evangelism. Those with certain strengths are given to the church so that they can strengthen us in our areas of weakness. This means that we cannot excuse ourselves from certain activities by saying, “That isn’t my gift.” It means that we should look for those who are strong in these activities, and learn from them.
I believe this applies to the Old Testament prophets as well. Prophets can teach us a great deal about proclaiming the truth. I am not suggesting that studying the prophets will help us become prophets, too. I am saying that we are commanded to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). We are to hold forth the word of life in a very dark world (Philippians 2:14-16). We are not instructed to proclaim new revelation to others, but we are to proclaim the Word which has been entrusted to us (Romans 10:13-18; Ephesians 5:18-19; 6:17; Philippians 1:14; Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:6-8; 2 Timothy 4:2). Surely a study of the prophets will help us learn how to better proclaim the truth. A study of the prophets will give us a better grasp of the “content” of the Bible, and also of the “methods” these divinely-inspired communicators employed to proclaim God’s truth to men. This will help us as we seek to proclaim the truth of God’s Word today.
1 And Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and stayed in Gerar. 2 Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” 4 But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, will You slay a righteous nation also? 5 “Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.” 6 And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 “Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.” 8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. 9 And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.” 10 Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?” 11 And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife. 12 “But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. 13 “And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’” 14 Then Abimelech took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, “See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” 16 Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; indeed this vindicates you before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was rebuked. 17 So Abraham prayed to God; and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; 18 for the LORD had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
This is a most unusual story, is it not? Abraham and Sarah went to the land of Gerar, in the southern part of Palestine, south of Gaza, and not far from the Mediterranean Sea. Here Abraham once again passed off his wife Sarah as his sister. Abimelech, the king of Gerar, took Sarah, intending to make her his wife. God awakened Abimelech with a startling dream, informing him that Sarah was Abraham’s wife, and that he would be a dead man if he touched her. Abimelech then confronts Abraham, though very carefully, because God had informed this king that Abraham was a prophet. Abraham gives a pathetic excuse for his conduct, and prays for the healing of Abimelech and all his people, so that they once more may be able to bear children. Abimelech grants Abraham and Sarah permission to dwell in his land, under his protection.
It is in the midst of God’s revelation to Abimelech that He informs this king that Abraham is a prophet. From this account, we learn some important lessons about prophets. Let me point out some of these lessons.
Abraham, the prophet, lied to Abimelech. There is no denying it; Abraham lied. Abraham passed his wife off as his sister. Half-sister though she was, the important truth which Abraham concealed was that she was his wife! If Sarah were only Abraham’s sister, she would be eligible to marry Abimelech. As Sarah’s wife, she was not eligible at all. Abraham lied, and when he was confronted with his lie, he quibbled about technicalities, and failed to fully confess his sin. Abraham, the prophet, lied.
Abraham, the prophet, was a liar. To say that Abraham lied to Abimelech on this one occasion is not enough. Abraham had made it his practice to tell this lie. He had, of course, lied to Pharaoh in the same fashion, many years before this (Genesis 12:10-20). Now, we read in Genesis 20 that he has lied again. But from Abraham’s own words we learn that this was what he did everywhere he went (Genesis 20:13). Lying about Sarah had become a lifestyle.
Abraham, the prophet, involved his wife in his lifestyle of lying. It was not just Abraham who lied to Pharaoh and to Abimelech; Sarah lied as well. Abraham had conspired with Sarah to lie wherever they went. It was not Sarah who proposed this deception, but Abraham. Nevertheless, she went along with it.
Abraham, the prophet, seeks to minimize and rationalize his sin of lying to Abimelech. In effect, he tells Abimelech that he felt he had to lie because this king and his people were pagans. He tells Abimelech that he thought there was “no fear of God in this place.” It was one thing for Abraham to tell the truth where men were civilized, but here in this “God-forsaken” (in his mind) place, what else could he do? After having unsuccessfully attempted to transfer some of the blame for his deception to Abimelech and the people of Gerar, Abraham next seeks to minimize his sin by claiming that his words were partially true. It is as though Abraham had said, “Well, it all depends on how you define the word ‘sister.’” Sarah was his half-sister, so didn’t this make his words a ‘half-truth’? Not really. The issue was not whether Sarah was in some way related to Abraham, but whether she was his wife. By claiming that Sarah was his “sister,” Abraham was also implying that she was not his wife. One does not walk away from this story feeling good about Abraham. His words sound more like regret than repentance.
Abraham’s lie stemmed from his lack of faith in God. “Situational ethics” is not a modern invention. Abraham practiced “situational ethics” in his day. Abraham had concluded that “there was no fear of God” in that place, and thus he reasoned that God was not able to keep him, and Sarah. Abraham’s lack of faith prompted him to conclude that he had to resort to pagan devices (deception) in order to survive. In this situation, Abraham reasoned, he had to lie. It was his only way to survive. Abraham is certainly lacking in faith here.
How ironic this story is. Does Abraham think that because they are in this distant, pagan place there is no “fear of God”? Does he conclude that this distance shortens the hand of the sovereign God? God seals every womb in the land, and strikes terror in the hearts of Abimelech and his people. The hand of God was surely not shortened by distance.
From a human point of view, Abraham’s lie put the promised “seed” of Abraham and Sarah at risk. There is an even more serious transgression here. Twenty years earlier, Abraham had lied to Pharaoh and was taught a very painful lesson. But when he lied this time, it was worse. For one thing, he should have learned his lesson earlier, after his painful experience in Egypt. But in addition to this, God has just recently made a very specific promise to Abraham and Sarah, which Abraham’s actions appeared to jeopardize.
20 “And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. 21 “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.” 22 Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham (Genesis 17:20-22, emphasis mine).
9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” 10 He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing. 12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?” 13 And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’ 14 “Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son” (Genesis 18:9-14, NASV, emphasis mine).
Genesis 20 must have occurred shortly after the promise God made to Abraham and Sarah in chapter 18. If this is so, then Abraham and Sarah now knew for certain that God was going to give them a child. Abraham was to be the biological father, and Sarah the biological mother. The promised “seed” would not be a child born of Hagar (Genesis 16), nor the child of some slave (Genesis 15:3). The time that Abraham and Sarah were in Gerar must have been the time when Sarah was to conceive. And yet, at this very time, Abraham passes his wife off as his sister, and the result is that Sarah is about to be found in Abimelech’s honeymoon suite, rather than in Abraham’s bed. Knowing what Abraham now knew (that he and Sarah were about to conceive the child of promise), Abraham’s lie is even more incredible.
Abraham’s lie put the lives and well-being of many others at risk. Abraham’s deceit certainly put his wife at risk. And, as we have shown, it certainly appeared to put the promised seed at risk. But his lie also had a very adverse impact on the people of Gerar. Abraham was called to be a blessing to “all the families of the earth”:
1 Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3, emphasis mine).
Abraham’s lie was no “blessing” to Abimelech or to his people. It put them all at risk. God told Abimelech he was as good as dead for taking Abraham’s wife. Something happened to all the women of the land so that they were not able to conceive. In addition, God did something to Abimelech.4 I believe that God incapacitated him sexually. This not only meant that Sarah would be unable to conceive, it meant that Abimelech and Sarah never had sex, and never would have! What a curse Abraham’s presence was to these people. It was only when Abraham began to behave like the prophet he was that he was profitable to the people of Gerar.
From this story of Abraham and Sarah we can see a number of principles, which apply to all prophets. Let me conclude by identifying some of them:
Prophets are not perfect, and they are not always pious. It should be unnecessary to say this, but unfortunately it is often assumed that one’s prosperity, spiritual gifts, or religious office is proof of his or her spiritual status. In Corinth, it was assumed that possessing certain spiritual gifts made one more pious than those possessing some other gift. The Pharisees assumed that being wealthy was proof of piety. And in a similar way, it is often assumed that anyone who is a prophet must be more pious than someone who isn’t. That’s why we’re so eager for Jonah to repent in the Book of Jonah, even though he does not. It is why we wish to think of Balaam as a believer, when it is virtually certain that he is not. We know that Caiaphas prophesied about the necessity of our Lord’s death, and he most certainly was not a believer (John 11:49-52). This is why we are uncomfortable to find that Abraham is called both a liar and a prophet in the same chapter. Prophets are people,5 and thus we know they are not perfect. We know that God chooses the weak and foolish things of this world to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27-28), so why should it shock us that some prophets are not all that we would wish they were? Prophets are people; prophets are not perfect. We see this also with Miriam, who is a prophetess (Exodus 15:20).
Prophets are not right in everything they say. There is also the temptation to assume that everything which comes from the mouth of a prophet is true. This is not the case. Prophets are not constantly inspired, so that every word they speak merits a “Thus saith the Lord.…” Abraham was not speaking the truth about his wife, Sarah. He was not even fully truthful about his deception. Nathan, the prophet, was wrong to give David the “go ahead” concerning the building of the temple (see 2 Samuel 7:1-17). If we were to ask the wife of any prophet, they would be the first to tell us that their husband was not always right.
Prophets are not always correct in what they think. Abraham thought that there was no fear of God in Gerar. He was wrong. He thought that if he did not lie about Sarah, he would be killed, and his wife would be taken. Once again, Abraham was wrong. Abraham thought that his wife Sarah would save him by lying about her identity. Again, Abraham was wrong. Abraham’s thoughts about the future were not based on faith, but on fear. A prophet is not always right in his opinions or in his statements. A prophet is right only when he is under the direct control of the Holy Spirit, so that God is speaking directly through the prophet.
Prophets do not just speak to men for God; they also speak to God for men. When God communicated with Abimelech, He did so directly—that is, through a dream—and not through Abraham. God did not say to Abimelech, “Abimelech, I have a message for you, and I will communicate it through Abraham. Ask him what I have to say to you.” Abraham communicates very little truth to Abimelech, but he makes a lot of excuses. When God introduced Abraham as a prophet, it was because he had a prophetic task for him to do. This prophetic task was not to speak to Abimelech for God, but to speak to God for Abimelech.
We see Abraham doing this earlier, in Genesis 18, when he interceded for the righteous in Sodom and Gomorrah. We see it now when Abraham intercedes with God for the healing of Abimelech and his people. We see it in Daniel, who prays for the restoration of his people (Daniel 9:1-19). We see it when Elijah prayed—first for the rains to cease, and then for the rains to start (see James 5:16-18). We see it when Moses interceded for the Israelites (Exodus 32:11-14). While prophets do speak to men for God, they also speak to God for men. They are intercessors; they are, at least in a sense, mediators.
In this introductory lesson, we have sought to show why a study of the prophets is profitable. The prophets are not only “speakers,” they are “seers” (1 Samuel 9:9)—they see things more clearly, and thus they enable us to see spiritual truths more clearly as well. They not only speak to men for God, they speak to God on men’s behalf. They are far from perfect, and their every word is not a “Thus saith the Lord…” They do have much to say to us, and we can learn from them, both from their content and from their methods of communication.
As we conclude, I would like to do so by asking a final question: “Why did God identify Himself with Abraham here, and why did God choose to identify Abraham as a prophet at this point in time?” I hate to admit it, but if I had been God, I would have kept silent. I would not have owned Abraham as one of my saints. And I most certainly would not have indicated to Abimelech that Abraham was a prophet. Imagine it! At the very moment in time when Abraham had shown himself to be a liar, God called him a prophet. Why would God choose to identify with such a sinner before a pagan king?
God did not identify with Abraham because he had lived so well or spoken so truthfully. God identified with Abraham to save him, because of his sin. Abraham had lied to Abimelech. He had deceived this king. He had put Abimelech and all his people at risk. All things being equal, I think it is safe to say that Abimelech would have killed Abraham for his wickedness. One thing prevented this—God identified Himself with Abraham. God made it clear that Abraham was one of His, and that any harm done to Abraham or his wife would have serious repercussions. It was God’s identification with Abraham that saved him from the consequences of his sins.
Indeed, why would God ever choose to identify Himself with sinners? But this is exactly what He did in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, when the Second Person of the Trinity took on human flesh, adding sinless humanity to His undiminished deity. He chose to identify with us in our sin in order to save us. Our Lord bore the penalty for our sins personally, when He died on the cross of Calvary. It is only by our identification with Him that we are saved from the penalty of our own sins. Our Lord Jesus was not just a prophet; He was the Prophet. It is He who has spoken finally and fully to men for God. It is He who is currently in heaven, speaking to God for men. Have you trusted in Him as your Savior? He not only spoke the truth; He is the truth, the way, and the life. No one comes to the Father in heaven except through Him (John 14:6).
1 I have had several responses to this introduction, pointing out that the official web site of Stanford University has a different explanation of the origin of the university. I was not able to verify the accuracy of the account I have given, because it came to me as an undocumented e-mail message. The reader should therefore assume this story to be fictional, unless otherwise verified.
2 In this lesson, all New Testament quotations are from the NET Bible, and Old Testament citations are from the New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated.
3 Or, of those who were formerly pagans, like Nebuchadnezzar, who appears to have actually come to faith through the ministry of Daniel (see Daniel 3:1—4:37).
4 In Genesis 20:17, we read that God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maids. Thus, I must conclude that while the divinely ordained affliction kept the wives of Gerar from conceiving, it also kept Abimelech from having sexual relations altogether.
5 Well, they are almost always people, but let us not forget Balaam's donkey, through whom the Lord spoke to his master (see Numbers 22:21-30).
This past week, Dallas Seminary had another commencement exercise. I was reminded of the time when I gave the commencement address for the Seminary’s summer graduation exercises. That was nearly 20 years ago, but thanks to the age of computers, I was able to retrieve that message and look at it once again. I must confess that the introduction was a favorite story of mine, and it serves very well as the introduction to this message on the prophet Moses, so I will quote a good portion of that introduction:
“I felt as though I had undergone an initiation and become a member of an exclusive club. I really knew about horses. And I was wearing a brand new riding mac with all sorts of extra straps and buckles which slapped against my legs as I turned the corner of the hill into busy Newton Road.”
I think Moses would have laughed at this story. He would have laughed because he could identify with James Herriot. Moses, too, had a humbling experience at the beginning of his ministry, an experience that caused him to flee from Egypt and the Israelites he had hoped to deliver. It would be another 40 years before Moses would return to Egypt, and then only reluctantly. He would become one of the greatest prophets of all time, but it would be a long road back, with many hard lessons along the way.
In the Bible, we read of “Moses and the prophets,” but less often do we read of Moses being referred to as a prophet. But such he is. He is not alone as a prophet in the Pentateuch, but he is, without a doubt, the greatest. There were other “prophets” in the Pentateuch.6 Some were not actually called prophets, but they do appear to have had a prophetic ministry. Noah, for example, is called a “preacher of righteousness” in 2 Peter 2:5. His lengthy building project (the ark) was surely a visible warning of the divine judgment that was about to come upon the whole world. Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams (Genesis 41) and his own (Genesis 42:8), and the message of both was clearly prophetic. Jacob prophesied concerning the destiny of his sons (Genesis 49). While Moses did not refer to Enoch as a prophet in the Pentateuch, the New Testament Book of Jude speaks of his prophecy (Jude 1:14-15). Miriam, the sister of Moses, is identified as a prophetess by Moses (Exodus 15:20).
In this lesson, we shall seek to trace the career of Moses as a prophet and attempt to identify some of the ways in which God shaped him for greatness. We will identify some of the qualities of Moses as a prophet and seek to show how these qualities should be evident in our lives as well.
Moses is hardly eager to be a prophet. He drags his feet all the way. God refutes every objection Moses offers, and yet Moses persists in objecting to returning to Egypt and to facing Pharaoh. As I read this account in Exodus 4, I almost expect a bolt of lightning to come from on high, terminating Moses for his incredible refusal to obey God’s instruction. I have always viewed Moses’ response here negatively. How could one commend his lack of faith or his hesitance to obey?
There may be a positive element here, however, which should not be ignored. I am impressed with the fact that a number of those whom God chose for a leadership role were very aware of their human limitations (1 Samuel 18:18; 2 Samuel 7:18; 1 Chronicles 17:16; 29:14; 2 Chronicles 2:6; 1 Kings 3:5-9; Jeremiah 1:4-10). From painful experience, I have come to be uneasy about those who are too eager (sometimes almost driven) to become leaders, and who feel confident in their ability to lead the people of God. Moses may well have gone too far in his self-abasement, but in some ways, he was at least heading in the right general direction—he didn’t trust in his own strength.
I think I can understand how and why Moses came to distrust himself as a leader. We need to understand the sequence of events which led Moses to his self-distrust, and which then later led him to become a great leader of God. The story begins with the “deliverance” of Moses from the waters:7
Moses was the epitome of human accomplishments and skill due to the upbringing he had received as the “son” of Pharaoh’s daughter. (It is my opinion that she may well have been grooming him to be the next Pharaoh.) This is why Stephen can claim that Moses was “powerful in his words and deeds” (Acts 7:22). Moses was a powerful man. He had the right family connections, the right education, and all the right advantages. And so it was this powerful man, Moses, who sought to assist the Israelites in his own strength:
Moses was indeed a powerful man. He had been raised in the royal court of the greatest nation on the face of the earth at that time. He was well trained and skilled in his speech. I believe he was a persuasive man, and even if that was not so, he was still a very powerful man.8 And so I believe that Moses attempted to employ these “strengths” in coming to the aid of his countrymen, the Israelites. Like James Herriot, Moses’ first effort to “show his stuff” was a miserable failure. He ended up killing the Egyptian, and he did not gain the respect of the Israelite he had sought to rescue. The end result was that Moses had to give up everything he had once counted as a strength and flee into the wilderness, where he tended sheep for 40 years.
It was after 40 years of wandering about the wilderness shepherding flocks that God appeared to Moses, instructing him to go back to Egypt and to demand, in His name, the release of the Israelites. Do you find it so amazing that Moses would attempt to decline God’s orders, thereby avoiding a return to Egypt? Moses’ first effort at delivering his people was a disaster. Why should he attempt to do it again? And from a human point of view, whatever advantages Moses had many years before, he did not have now. Then, he was a man of position and power; now, he was a fugitive, wanted for murder. In one sense, then, Moses was right where God wanted him—aware of his weakness and of the fact that his task was indeed “mission impossible.” This time, if the Israelites were delivered, it would be by means of God’s power, and to God’s glory. This time, he would not be going because “it entered his mind” (Acts 7:23), and because “he thought that the Israelites would understand his mission” (Acts 7:25). This time, it would be because God had commanded him to go, and because God’s angel would accompany and empower him:
It was after Moses had been humbled, and after he became painfully aware of his weaknesses, that God sent him to stand before Pharaoh in Egypt and to deliver the Israelites from their Egyptian bondage. It was after God had transformed Moses that he was spoken of as a great man:
Moses was a great leader, but the task soon overwhelmed him. This was noted by Jethro, when he visited Moses, his son-in-law, and gave him some very good advice:
Jethro’s advice was heeded, but apparently not immediately. It would seem that the leaders whom Jethro recommended were not duly installed until after a crisis. This crisis and its outcome is described in the Book of Numbers:
Moses was not threatened by the thought of sharing the ministry with others. Moses was a prophet. I believe that when people came to Moses for “judgment,” they came to him for guidance, that is, to know “the will of God” for their lives regarding some particular issue. In this sense, Moses was functioning as a prophet when he judged the people who came to him. And when the 70 men were set apart to assist Moses in this ministry, they too were empowered to prophesy. This they did only once, our text informs us, but this was sufficient to demonstrate that they had been given the divine enablement necessary for them to carry out their “prophetic” ministry. All of this was to assist Moses in conducting his prophetic ministry.
We know from history (secular and biblical) that some kings were so insecure in their rule that they eliminated every possible successor to the throne, every potential competitor. This is why Herod slaughtered all the male children two and under in the vicinity of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16-18). There is too much of this mindset in Christian ministry. Out of a misguided sense of loyalty to Moses, Joshua perceived the prophesying of the 70 as a threat to the leadership of Moses. Moses did not see it that way at all. He did not seek to hoard the gift God had given to him. He wished that all might possess it, and he welcomed it in others.
Today, as in days gone by, there are far too many leaders who endeavor to run a “one-man show;” they would not have it any other way. They say (or at least think) such things as: “If you want a job to be done right, you just have to do it yourself.” Moses welcomed the assistance of others, and in the process, the ministry was greatly enhanced. In the process, the ministry of Moses was enhanced. His leadership prospered because he encouraged the ministry of others and gladly shared his ministry.
Moses was a great man, a man who shared the ministry with the 70 elders whom God had empowered to assist him. Moses also shared his ministry with his sister Miriam (a prophetess) and his brother Aaron. And yet it was these two who turned against their brother and their leader. Some things never change. How like Satan this is. Satan, who was given much authority under God, wanted more power and authority. He wanted to be number one. And so, wanting to be “like God,” he rebelled against God (Isaiah 14:12-14; Ezekiel 28:11-19), promising Adam and Eve that they, too, could be “like God” (Genesis 3:5; see 3:22).
The issue was not really about “equality” or “plurality” in leadership—not here anyway. It was not that Moses sought to usurp authority over Miriam and Aaron, or others. The root issue was racial. In Numbers 12:1, we are told that Moses took a Cushite (or Ethiopian) woman as a wife. The issue for Miriam was that Moses had chosen to include a Gentile woman, thus allowing Gentiles to participate in God’s blessings for the nation Israel. This is the same issue which got our Lord into very serious trouble early in His ministry (Luke 4, verses 23-29 especially) and also the Apostle Paul (Acts 21:27-28; 22:21-22). Moses’ right to lead was not challenged until Moses chose to lead in a way that his siblings found unacceptable. Then they howled that Moses was setting himself above them, and that their authority was as great as his. And since they were his equals (in their minds, at least), and the two of them agreed that Moses was wrong in marrying this Cushite, then Moses was outnumbered. They were convinced he should never have followed through with his plan to marry this Gentile woman!
Moses had two opportunities to capitalize on this opposition. First, he could take advantage of the situation at that moment, to make an example of his brother and sister. If Moses could shame and silence those closest to him, and those who were most highly regarded after him, then Moses could make a significant point with all the Israelites. Doing so isn’t always a bad thing. In Proverbs we read, “Strike a scoffer, and the simple will become wary” (Proverbs 19:25). When I was a schoolteacher, I found it very beneficial to identity the trouble-maker of the class and to deal with him (or her) in such a way as to instruct the rest. Moses could easily have justified doing so, but he chose not to deal with the opposition in this way.
Second, Moses had the opportunity to use this situation to his advantage historically. Not only is Moses the one “under fire” in this incident, Moses is now the one reporting it in Scripture, so that he can influence the way that every reader looks upon him and upon his siblings. Under inspiration, Moses can do nothing other than report the facts of the story. He is not free to “doctor” the account just to make his family look good. Neither is he free to paint his siblings in a way that exaggerates their sin (though I must confess, this would be hard to do). Moses does not try to use this ugly incident as political fodder or as a publicity event. He simply tells the story as simply and as truthfully as he can.
I can better appreciate the restraint of Moses if I put myself in his sandals. How tempting this would have been, as a prophet, if I had been in this situation! Have you ever had the occasion to be engaged in a conversation with someone when they say something incredibly wrong or unusually cruel and unkind? At that moment, you desperately search for just the right thing to say in response. And then, 15 minutes after that person has left, you think of the perfect comeback, the perfect “put down.” If I were Moses at this moment in time, falsely under attack by my closest associates, I think I would not have been lacking the words to speak; I would have been lacking the self-control needed to refrain from saying them! Who better than a prophet would know just what to say, and to be able to introduce his rebuttal with the words, “Thus saith the Lord. . . .”? Moses could easily have defended himself, and what a temptation that must have been. Instead, he kept silent.
Moses did not need to say anything, as we can see from the story. Notice how quickly and how forcefully God speaks up in his defense. Have you ever been to the grocery store and seen a child misbehave very badly in front of his mother and everyone else? (All too often today, nothing happens, except for the mom to hand the child a treat to silence him.) From time to time, however, you will see a parent who takes the trouble to deal effectively with the child’s disobedience. I am encouraged to see that parent snatch up the child, walk out of the store with him, and proceed to administer discipline, out of sight of the shoppers, most of whom give each other a nod of understanding and appreciation.
That’s what I think of when I read this account of the way God dealt with the rebellion of Miriam and Aaron. God speaks, ordering Moses, Miriam, and Aaron to appear immediately at the tent of meeting. Can’t you see a very white-faced Miriam and Aaron, looking at each other wide-eyed? At that moment, I think, Miriam and Aaron knew they were in serious trouble. God then rebuked them, making it very clear that Moses was the “lead prophet,” and they were his subordinates. He did have the right to “call the shots,” and they had no right to protest. God did speak to and through these two, but they received their revelation indirectly; God communicated with Moses in the most intimate fashion. It was this intimacy with God which set Moses apart from, and above all, the other prophets. None of this was spoken by Moses—even though he was the one being attacked—and even though he was the “senior prophet.” All of this was spoken by God Himself, and you know that Miriam and Aaron listened, especially when Miriam was stricken with leprosy for a week. THE MAN WHO NORMALLY SPOKE FOR GOD KEPT SILENT, AND LET GOD DO THE SPEAKING FOR HIM.
In the context of this attack against Moses by his own siblings, we read these words: “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth” (12:3). If anyone ever had the opportunity and the ability to defend himself, it was Moses, but he chose not to do so. This is meekness—it is not weakness. It wasn’t that Moses was incapable of defending himself. It was that he was more than capable, and yet he opted not to do so. This is the same kind of meekness we see in our Lord when He refused to defend Himself before the Jews and Pilate, even though He was facing crucifixion.
As we consider these words, obviously written by someone other than Moses (but still divinely inspired), I would like to focus your attention on several important truths.
First, Moses was a great prophet, but he was not perfect. The Bible speaks of the greatness of a number of men, men like Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, and Elijah. But one thing is very clear in the Bible: No matter how great some men were, they were all far from perfect. Noah got drunk, and Abraham lied about his wife (more than once). David sinned regarding Uriah and his wife, Bathsheba. Solomon, wise as he was, was very foolish in taking foreign wives and in facilitating the worship of their gods. Elijah wanted to resign as a prophet, angry that God had not made him more successful. The greatest prophet (if we are safe in assuming that this was Moses) was not even able to enter the promised land. The greatest priest (whoever that might be) could enter into the Most Holy place only once a year. His sacrifice did not remove sin, but merely put it off for another year. The greatest king (whether David or Solomon) was far from perfect in a number of ways. These offices anticipated the Great Prophet, Priest, and King—our Lord Jesus Christ. The imperfections and flaws of His prototypes only serve to underscore the need for One far greater than they, and this One could be no mere man, but must be the Son of God Himself. The imperfections of Moses cause us to look forward to Him who is the perfect Lawgiver and Prophet.
Having said this, we should also recognize that Moses was perhaps the premiere prophet of Israel. God said so Himself:
Flawed though he was, and far from perfect, Moses was a great man indeed. One cannot read the Pentateuch without reaching this conclusion, and later inspired writers regard him in the same way. Moses was a great prophet, the likes of which we have never seen since in any mere man.
Moses was a premiere prophet as a prototype of Christ. It was in his rejection, and in his strengths, that Moses was a prototype of the Messiah to come. Moses himself spoke of this. I will not attempt to play out all the ways in which Moses is a prototype of Jesus. But I will outline some of the parallels between our Lord and Moses:
Rejected his leadership, chose a pagan instead (Numbers 14:1-4; John 19:15)
Tried to stone him (Exodus 17:4; John 10:31)
Moses was a great man of God, and many lessons can be learned from his ministry as a prophet. I do not mean that we all need to be prophets, as Moses was. But we are to proclaim the Word of the Lord to men. In this sense, there is much for every Christian to learn from the prophetic ministry of Moses.
Being a prophet requires supernatural enablement, and thus it cannot be done in the power of the flesh. Being a prophet is a supernatural ministry which requires supernatural power. When Moses first attempted to deliver the people of Israel, he did so in his own strength—and he failed miserably. As a man raised in the royal courts of Egypt, Moses had become well-educated, persuasive, and influential. And yet none of this enabled him to successfully deliver even one fellow-Israelite. It was Moses’ idea to rescue his people, not God’s (Acts 7:23, 25). His efforts “in the flesh,” no matter how great or how sincere, were not adequate for the task. Moses came to see that this was a much bigger task, and thus one which required divine enablement. No wonder he was reluctant to return to Egypt when God instructed him to do so. He, like Paul, came to see that his “Jewish strengths” were useless (Philippians 3:1-12), and that in his weakness, God would reveal His strength (2 Corinthians 12:1-10). We cannot accomplish God’s work through the power of the flesh, but only through the enablement of His Spirit.
God sometimes does “later” what we want to do “sooner.” Nearly 20 times in the Psalms the question, “How long. . .?” is raised by the psalmist. The fact is that we don’t like to wait. We want God to act now and not later, because we are impatient. Almost as many times in the Psalms, we find the word “wait,” in the sense of men waiting on God. God had purposed to deliver Israel through Moses, but 40 years later than Moses had thought, and in a very different way, as the next point will state.
God’s means are seldom what we would expect..
Moses assumed God would use him because of his power and influence as one closely associated with the throne of Egypt. Moses assumed wrong, and Moses failed. God did not use a “Pharaoh-to-be” (assuming that Moses was being groomed for this task), but He used a felon—a murderer—with a warrant out for his arrest. It was not that his 40 years of education and preparation in Egypt were of no value, but his last 40 years of training were in the wilderness, leading sheep. It was not through the “hand of Moses,” or through his act of violence (murder) that God rescued His people, but through the “hand of God,” when neither Moses nor the Israelites raised a hand against an Egyptian.9
The great men of God are those who are not threatened by the ministry of others, but who gratefully embrace it as God’s plan to multiply ministry, rather than for men to monopolize it. I must confess that this point comes as a bit of a surprise to me, though it should not. I have long been convinced of the principle of plurality in the leadership and ministry of the church. But somehow I have always thought of the prophets as “Lone Ranger” types, who seem to perform their ministries “solo.” Moses forces me to re-think my position. Moses was a prophet. As such, he judged the people, communicating the will of God in more specific applications (Exodus 18). Because the job was too big for him, he appointed others, on whom the Spirit of God fell, equipping them to share this prophetic ministry with Moses. I was reminded also of the “school of the prophets” which we find in the Old Testament. All of this serves to emphasize the principle of plurality, even among prophets. (By the way, with multiple prophets, the prophecy of one prophet can be confirmed by the rest. See 1 Corinthians 14:29.)
Do not employ your spiritual gift(s) for personal gain or selfish motives. Moses was a prophet. Surely this gift would have come in handy as a tool to use against Aaron and Miriam when they opposed Moses. Moses could have used his gift (or his position) to further his own interests, but he left his own defense to God. How easy it is to prostitute the gifts God has given and to use them for self-gain, rather than for the edification of others. Some in the church at Corinth illustrate this all too well. Meekness is having the power to achieve whatever you wish and choosing not to use it in a self-serving way. Moses was meek, and in this he was like the “Prophet” who would come after him.
Our ministry is not merely to speak of God, but to imitate Christ. A prophet is one who speaks for God. In this sense, his tongue and his mouth play a vital role in his ministry (see Isaiah 6:1-7). But it would be wrong to conclude that it is only through his speech that a prophet “speaks” of God.
This is an interesting text. So far as I have found, only the King James Version renders it in a strictly literal sense (the word “hand” is found in both the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Old Testament here). I think the literal rendering is necessary and proper. The point is that God spoke through Moses, not only through his lips, but through his life, not only by means of his declarations, but also through his deeds. I think the same is true of our Lord, and that this broader sense of “speaking” is in the mind of the writer to the Hebrews when he writes,
1 After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, 2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. 3 The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:1-3, emphasis mine).
I believe Moses grasped that not just his lips, but his life, was to reflect Christ. I believe the same is true for Christians today. We are not only to speak of Christ and for Christ to men; we are to live Christ. Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21). Peter pointed to the example of our Lord and called upon the saints to imitate Him (1 Peter 2:18ff.). You and I are to manifest Christ to a lost and dying world, and that is not done by merely repeating His Word, as important as this is. It is done as Christ is lived out in our lives. Jesus told His disciples that to see Him was to see the Father (John 14:9). As men behold our lives, they should see Christ. In this sense, our lifestyle is (or should be) prophetic.10
People (including prophets) are perfected by adversity. Moses grew in his faith and in his obedience when adversity came his way. Even our Lord was perfected through adversity:
It is more than clear in the Scriptures that the prophets were the most persecuted folk around, and that persecution is also to be expected by all who live godly lives:
Adversity is not proof of impiety, as the legalistic Jews of Jesus’ day insisted (and as some continue to do in our own day). Adversity is God’s purifying and perfecting work. It is by our conduct in the midst of adversity that we have the opportunity to imitate Christ (see 1 Peter 2:18ff.).
It is a glorious ministry that we have been given. When I think about the ministry of Moses, I am reminded of these words, written by the Apostle Paul:
In many ways, the ministry of Moses had its share of misery. He was resisted and opposed, even by those he led from Egypt. Moses was even opposed by his own brother and sister. But whatever we say about the adversity Moses endured, he was also a man who was highly privileged. Moses enjoyed the most intimate relationship with God that any man (after Adam) had experienced in Old Testament times. There was “great glory” associated with his ministry, and yet this glory is vastly overshadowed by the greater glory that we all can experience in the practice and proclamation of the gospel today. In the midst of the “grind” of life, let us never lose sight of the glory. And let this be an incentive for us to boldly proclaim Christ to a lost and dying world.
6 The term “Pentateuch” refers to the first five books of the Old Testament, all of which were written by Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
7 We should recall that “Moses” was the name given by Pharaoh’s daughter: “So she called his name Moses, saying, ‘Because I drew him out of the water’” (Exodus 2:10). The word rendered “drew Him out” is very similar to the name “Moses.” Pharaoh commanded the Israelites: “Cast them out” (into the Nile – Exodus 1:22), but his own daughter defied this order, and even reversed it, by drawing Moses out of the Nile, and then naming him, in effect, “drawn out.” How like God this is to save Israel once through the baby Moses, and through Pharaoh’s own daughter!
8 With his kind of power, Moses didn’t have to be persuasive; all he had to do was to issue an order.
9 The plagues which God brought upon the Egyptians intensified. They started with discomfort and built up to dread. God was slow to kill any living creature, and only as a “last resort” does God take the lives of the firstborn in Egypt, and this after warning the Egyptians and providing a “way of escape” in the Passover celebration. My point here is that even God did not quickly resort to “violence.”
10 For example, as the world looks on, they should see that we are not laying up treasure on earth, but are laying up treasure in heaven. This speaks of the hope which we have laid up for us and of the temporary nature of this world.
Some time ago, an acquaintance (who does not attend our church) came to me and asked what I thought of psychics. He told me that a friend had persuaded him to consult a psychic, and that he had done so, very skeptically. But when he met with this person, he was, in his words, “blown away” by all that she knew about his life. He was convinced she could not have known the things she told him without having possessed some supernatural revelation. Worse yet, she told him some things about his future that greatly troubled him.11 I gave my friend a book to read which addressed this subject from a biblical point of view, hoping that he might come to see the fallacies and the dangers of pursuing guidance from below, rather than from above.
It is popular today to seek “spiritual counsel” from sources that are clearly forbidden and condemned in the Bible. As we continue in our study of the Old Testament prophets, we must, of necessity, consider the subject of false prophets. Two foundational texts which instruct us regarding false prophets are found in the Pentateuch, one in Deuteronomy 13:1-18 and the other in Deuteronomy 18:1-22. We shall consider the first of these two warnings in this lesson—Deuteronomy 13:1-18.
So far in our study of the Old Testament prophets, we have considered two prophets—Abraham and Moses. Abraham may not have been the first prophet, but he is the first person to be called a prophet in the Book of Genesis. Moses is one of the great prophets of all time, and he is also a prototype of Christ. It is important to recognize that in the Bible, the word “prophet” covers a very broad spectrum, from those who are false prophets to those who are godly. Let us begin this lesson by surveying some of the categories of “prophets” we find mentioned in the Bible.
There were heathen false prophets of the gods of the Canaanites and the nations surrounding Israel:
“Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table” (1 Kings 18:19; see also Judges 3:5-7).
In Genesis 20:7, God informed Abimelech that Abraham was a prophet. God did not need to define the term “prophet” for Abimelech. This heathen king knew what a prophet was—a prophet was one who spoke for his god. By and large, any people who worshipped a “god” had some kind of prophet to speak to and for their “god.” The exodus was not about whether or not there was a God. The issue was, whose “god” (or “God”) was the true God? Whose God was able to do what His prophet promised?
1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’“ 2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, nor will I let Israel go” (Exodus 5:1-2).
“‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD’” (Exodus 12:12).
“Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).
10 And Jethro said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 “Now I know that the LORD is greater than all the gods; for in the very thing in which they behaved proudly, He was above them” (Exodus 18:10-11).
This theme of the “battle of the gods” runs through the Old Testament, as you can see from this text in Isaiah:
13 Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Hebrew, and said, “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! 14 “Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; 15 ‘nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, “The LORD will surely deliver us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”’ 16 “Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria: ‘Make peace with me by a present and come out to me; and every one of you eat from his own vine and every one from his own fig tree, and every one of you drink the waters of his own cistern; 17 ‘until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 18 ‘Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered its land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 19 ‘Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Indeed, have they delivered Samaria from my hand? 20 ‘Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the LORD should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?’“ (Isaiah 36:13-20).
In the Bible, there are “unwilling” prophets, like Jonah, who really did not want to do what God had commanded them.
There are also “unwitting” prophets, like Caiaphas, who spoke for God unknowingly (John 11:49-52). In this sense, Caiaphas differs little from Balaam’s donkey, which also spoke unwittingly. Neither sought to obey God or to convey His Word to men, but they did so anyway. Balaam, too, was an unwitting prophet. The prophecies he uttered were in spite of his desire to speak otherwise (see Numbers 22-24).
In the Old Testament, we find prophets in Israel who claim to speak for God, but who are clearly false prophets. These would include men like Zedekiah and the 400 “prophets” who assured Ahab and Jehoshaphat that “God” would give Israel the victory over Syria’s army, led by Ben Hadad (1 Kings 22:5ff.). There were those prophets who spoke from their own inspiration, claiming that God had spoken through them (Ezekiel 13:2).
There are also prophets who appear to have acted wrongly or to have “gone bad.” Miriam and Aaron, for example, wrongly opposed Moses (Numbers 12). The “old prophet” lied to the “young prophet,” claiming to have received later and overriding prophecy, thereby leading the young prophet astray (1 Kings 13).
There was at least one true prophet who spoke too quickly, without consulting God, who later had to retract his statement. When David told Nathan of his desire to build a temple for God, Nathan too quickly gave David his approval, without seeking God’s guidance. When God spoke to Nathan that same night, it was revealed to Nathan that God had other plans (2 Samuel 7:1-17).
For lack of a better category, I would say there were also “temporary” prophets in the Old Testament. I am thinking specifically of those 70 elders of Israel in Numbers 11:24-25 who prophesied once, but not again. These were the 70 men whom God had appointed and empowered to assist Moses in judging the Israelites, as suggested by Jethro in Exodus 18. I am also reminded of Saul, who prophesied with the band of prophets in 1 Samuel 10:9-13. In both instances, prophesying was evidence that these men were empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry out their divinely given tasks.
Very shortly in this series on the prophets, we shall consider the “prophet” Balaam12 in Numbers 22-25. But before doing so, it is very important for us to consider what God has commanded the Israelites concerning false prophets, and this we will do in this lesson and the next. In this lesson, we will study the Word of the Lord to Israel in Deuteronomy 13:1-18. In our next lesson, we will consider the instructions of Deuteronomy 18:1-22. These two texts in Deuteronomy will enable us to better understand the account of Balaam. In Numbers 22-25, Balaam illustrates in person what God speaks of in principle in Deuteronomy 13 and 18.
As I was preparing for this message, I planned to begin right at chapter 13 in Deuteronomy. As I read the earlier texts in Deuteronomy, I saw that this warning about false prophets was a part of a larger picture, so let me attempt to put the teaching of our text into its context by looking at some of the earlier warnings of Deuteronomy.
11 “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 “lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 “and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 “when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 “who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; 16 “who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end—17 “then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’“13
These words strongly urge the Israelites to be diligent to obey the laws God has set down for them, especially after they possess the land and begin to prosper in it. The danger is that once they begin to prosper in the land, the Israelites will take credit for their prosperity and will cease to depend upon God. In so doing, they will forget all that God has done for them to bring them to this land, to provide for them, and to protect them. As a result, they will be tempted to neglect His Word and to cease obeying His commands. When they cease to worship and serve God whole-heartedly, they will begin to turn to other gods. The key to walking obediently in God’s commandments is to constantly keep them in mind and to teach them to their children as well:
13 “It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, 14 that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. 15 “He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. 16 “Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them. 17 “Or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you. 18 “You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 19 “You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. 20 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth” (Deuteronomy 11:13-21, NASB).
When the Israelites reach the land of promise, they are to completely destroy all of the images and implements of Canaanite worship (Deuteronomy 12:1-3). They are not to imitate any of the Canaanite practices, but religiously (that is, scrupulously) follow God’s instructions regarding their worship (12:4-28). They must not seek to worship God “the pagan way,” but must worship Him as He has commanded:
29 “When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, 30 beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ 31 “You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. 32 “Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:29-32, NASB).
In all of this, God is very clear that He alone is God, and that He alone is to be worshipped as God by His people. Furthermore, He requires Israel to worship Him in just the manner He has commanded in His laws and commandments, given at Mount Sinai. Here is where the “false prophets” come in. False prophets will seek to turn the Israelites from worshipping God to worshipping their false gods. They will seek to entice Israel to cease worshipping as God has commanded and to worship as the pagans do. This these false “prophets” will do, speaking as if they were doing so with divine authority. No wonder false prophets are so dangerous to Israel. With this in mind, let us turn to our text in Deuteronomy 13 to see what God has to say to us concerning false prophets.
1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. 5 “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.”
We would not be surprised to be told that false prophets will appear from without, trying to “come in” amongst the people of God. Sad to say, however, in both the Old Testament (above) and the New (see Acts 20:28-30; 2 Corinthians 11:1-15; 2 Peter 2:1ff.), we are warned that false prophets will arise from “within” the people of God. In our text (Deuteronomy 13:1), we are told that these “false prophets” are able to perform “signs and wonders,” which will convince the nave that they are truly speaking for God. We should be aware that false prophets, if empowered by Satan, may be able to do that which is extraordinary (see, for example, the fortuneteller in Acts 16:16ff.).14 No wonder there are “psychics” who amaze those who seek guidance from them.
The ultimate test of a prophet is whether or not he (or she) leads you to worship the One True God in the way He has prescribed. And so it is in verse 2 that we are told that even though a “prophet” performs amazing feats, he is a false prophet if he urges men to follow other gods, new gods which they have not known before. Such prophets must not be given a hearing. While they do not realize it, these false prophets, like their master, Satan, are being used by God to test His people. By allowing them to arise, God puts His people to the test, to see whether or not they will follow Him with their whole heart and soul (verse 3).
False prophets confront the people of God with a choice—either they will hear and obey God, or they will follow the false gods who are promoted by the false prophets. If the Israelites choose to cling to God and to His commandments, then they must take these false prophets and put them to death. They must not tolerate them. There was to be no “religious pluralism” in the land of Israel. They were to follow Him who had redeemed them from their slavery in Egypt, by eliminating those who would seek to seduce them to forsake their God for another. In this way, Israel would purge the evil from among them.
6 “If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), 8 you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. 9 “But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10 “So you shall stone him to death because he has sought to seduce you from the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 “Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.”
It is one thing to put to death a false prophet whom we do not know well, who is not someone close to us. It is quite another thing to deal severely with a false prophet who is a member of our family. This is where obedience to God’s commands becomes very painful. God wants to make sure that what He has required in general is applied in particular. This is necessary because we have a tendency to disconnect the general commands from specific situations. Let me illustrate. I don’t know how many times I have talked with someone who comes to me for counsel because of some problem with a spouse or with a child. They tell of some sin they have discovered, and they ask what to do. When I ask if they have applied Matthew 18:15-20, they often look at me in surprise. They believe that this general instruction applies to other relationships (with other members in their church, or with their Christian boss or co-workers), but they don’t seem to grasp that these instructions equally apply to the family. Because of this tendency to “disconnect” specific action from general commands, God moves from general instructions regarding false prophets to very specific ones. What should an Israelite do if the “false prophet” who arises is a member of their family? Deuteronomy 13:6-11 tells them in very specific terms.
Whether it be a brother, a son or a daughter, your wife, or a close friend, God instructs the Israelites to deal with every false prophet who arises as He has instructed in verses 1-5. Whatever god they promote, whether one from those nearby or those from afar (as though the worship of this god would be less offensive), whether it be a familiar god or a completely new one, the one who would worship and serve God must not listen to a loved one who seeks to turn him away from God to another god. The false prophet, no matter how close our relationship to them might be, must be put to death. Obedience to this command would not only rid the nation Israel of a dangerous evil, but it would also set an example for the rest of the nation and serve as a warning to any who might seek to turn others from God.
12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that 13 some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known), 14 then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you, 15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword. 16 “Then you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God; and it shall be a ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. 17 “Nothing from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that the LORD may turn from His burning anger and show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and make you increase, just as He has sworn to your fathers, 18 if you will listen to the voice of the LORD your God, keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the LORD your God.
Obedience to God’s commands is seldom easy. There are two situations in which the command to put false prophets to death is especially difficult. The first is when it involves friends or family. We have just dealt with that in Deuteronomy 13:6-11. The second is when the trouble is far off, where we think it will hardly affect us. If my next door neighbor’s house is on fire, I will be greatly concerned. I will not only call the fire department and report the fire, I will go outside with a water hose, helping to put it out. I will do this not only because I wish to help my neighbor, but also because the fire may consume my house as well if it is not put out quickly. Now when someone’s house is on fire across town, or in an another city, I am tempted not to get involved, because it is far away and it does not seem to adversely affect me.
The same is obviously true regarding false prophets, and verses 12-18 address this. False prophets are like a cancer. If they are permitted to exist in one part of Israel, their evil will probably spread to other parts of the nation. Distance was not to be a factor in how godly Israelites responded to evil. Even if a potential problem arose in a distant city, the Israelite who learned of this evil was to act decisively in dealing with the situation. Therefore, no Israelite was to ignore as much as a hint or a rumor of evil, even though the evil may be far off. Any rumor or report of evil that came to one’s hearing was to be taken seriously. I am reminded of the signs posted in airports around the world, which read something like this: “Any mention of bombs or weapons will be taken most seriously.” In other words, passengers are warned that they had better not even so much as make a joke about a bomb, or they will find themselves in a great deal of trouble. The same level of seriousness was to be taken in response to rumors of false prophets and false worship, anywhere in Israel. The rumor was to be investigated carefully to see if there was any substance to it.
Verses 12-18 introduce three additional factors to what was commanded in verses 1-5. First, the evil now addressed is distant and remote. It is not in one’s home or family (as in verses 6-11), but in some distant city. Second, the evil is only alleged, and it must therefore be investigated. Because the alleged evil is distant, it is reported as a rumor, and not as fact. Even though a rumor, and even though distant, the allegation must be taken seriously. Finally, the evil is not just one false prophet. The evil has spread to the entire city, so that the entire city must be destroyed to rid the nation of the evil. Not only the people, but all of their possessions, must be destroyed. In short, the Israelite city that has fallen into false worship must be dealt with in precisely the same manner as the Canaanite cites were.
One might be tempted to breathe a sigh of relief, telling oneself that this command was given to the nation Israel, centuries ago. Since they were living in the land of Canaan so long ago and so far away, and since we are now living in a different dispensation, surely we are not obliged to carry out these commandments, are we? The answer must surely be that we are not to apply these commandments exactly as the Israelites of old were to do. If this is so, then what is the point of studying this text today? Let me suggest some of the ways in which our text relates to us, today.
First, our text illuminates our reading of the Old Testament. When we come to the story of Balaam in the Book of Numbers, we will see that Balaam is a false prophet. We will understand why false prophets are so dangerous and why God eventually took this prophet’s life. We will see how the Israelites should have dealt with false prophets, and why the nation fell under divine judgment for their idolatry. Our text, along with Deuteronomy 18, prepares us for our study of the Old Testament prophets.
Second, our text informs us of how dangerous false prophets are, how they can be identified, and how we should deal with them. I do not mean, of course, that we are to stone those today who practice or promote other religions. I do mean that we should learn from our text that God wanted His people to act quickly and decisively when they encountered a false prophet. The New Testament has much to say about false prophets and false teachers. While we are not to put these folks to death, we are to put them out of the church. And whether they be those close to us, or those far away, we must see the danger they pose, and therefore commit ourselves to act decisively to rid the church of their influence and teaching.
Having said this, let me seek to bring this text a little closer to home. First of all, we should expect false prophets today, just as the Israelites were to expect them in the past. Jesus warned of false prophets (Matthew 7:15-23; 24:23-25), as did the apostle Paul (Acts 20:28-31), and Peter (2 Peter 2:1ff.), and John (1 John 4:1). They will not only come to us from without (2 John 1:4-11) but also from within (Acts 20:28-31; 2 Peter 2:12-22). Some of them may very well come with false wonders (Matthew 24:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:9). We must be constantly on the alert for such men and women, who will seek to lead us astray. As a rule, we can expect these folks to add to or take away from the Scriptures (see Deuteronomy 12:32; Revelation 22:18-19), or they will seek to twist the Scriptures (2 Peter 3:14-18).
False prophets tell us what we want to hear, and they appeal to our fallen nature. They appeal to the flesh and our appetites, promising what they cannot deliver:
17 These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. 18 For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, 19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved (2 Peter 2:17-19).
These false prophets are a test of our faith and our commitment to God. Such people are not just a concern to the leaders of the church; they should be a concern to all. First, we must all be alert so that they do not deceive us, and we follow them to our own hurt. And when we become aware of their existence, we must involve ourselves in dealing with them.
Our defense is simple and straightforward. We are to do as the Israelites of old were instructed. We are to trust and obey. We are to constantly be in His Word, learning it, teaching it to others, and obeying its commands. Let us commit ourselves to do just this, to trust and obey God, to His glory, and for our good.
11 I might add that subsequently these predictions did not prove to be true.
12 To my knowledge, the only place in the Bible where Balaam is actually called a prophet is 2 Peter 2:15-16.
13 Unless otherwise indicated, all New Testament Scripture quotations will be from the NET Bible, and Old Testament quotations will be from the New King James Version.
I confess. I’ve always been cheap. I’ve never wanted to pay retail prices, and I’ve habitually found ways to avoid paying a “middle-man.” For example, years ago I used to go to wrecking yards to purchase used parts to fix our cars. Then I discovered it was cheaper to buy a wrecked car, dismantle it in the back yard, and then file it away in the shed and in our attic. That way I could avoid paying the kind of prices wrecking yards charge. I was also able to purchase some new car parts cheaper than the local parts house paid for them. It saved money, and it was enjoyable.
Now I know that I may work harder at being cheap than some of you, but I’m convinced that, at heart, others of you are just as cheap as I am. We are all glad to find a way to “buy direct” and thus to avoid paying a “middle-man” for his services. Even if the prices are not any cheaper, many of us enjoy going to the outlet malls, because it seems that we are buying directly from the manufacturer. We work very hard to avoid the middle-man—in almost everything but religion. For some reason, people seem to prefer to approach God indirectly, through a middle-man. I’m not talking about people praying to God the Father through Jesus. I’m talking about those who think they need to go through Mary to get to Jesus, or who need a “medium” to access supernatural powers. I’m even talking about people who think they need a preacher to tell them God’s will for their life. Our text in Deuteronomy 18 deals with this, and I believe we will find it contains some rather surprising statements.
This lesson is the fourth in a series of messages on the Old Testament prophets. In our first lesson, we talked about Abraham as the first person in Genesis to be called a prophet. Our second lesson focused on Moses as the greatest Old Testament prophet. In our third lesson, we began to consider false prophets, giving special attention to Deuteronomy 13. In this lesson, we will continue to study about false prophets, focusing our attention on the instruction of Deuteronomy 18.
The structure of this chapter is fairly apparent, so far as identifying the paragraphs and their subjects. Verses 1-8 deal with the Levitical priests. Verses 9-14 list the illicit sources of “spiritual mediation,” which the Israelites were forbidden to employ. Verses 15-19 prophesy the coming of the greatest Prophet of all time, the Lord Jesus Christ, the “Prophet like Moses” (verses 15, 18). Verses 20-22 draw our attention to the false prophets, whom we are not to fear, nor hear.
The pieces of the puzzle are clear; understanding their relationship and the message of this chapter takes a bit more effort. The more I have pondered this chapter, the more convinced I have become of the importance of this passage to the Israelites of old, and to us. Let us give careful, prayerful attention to this text. Let us eagerly hear and heed its instruction, especially as it speaks to us of the Messiah to come.
1 “The priests, the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and His portion. 2 Therefore they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the LORD is their inheritance, as He said to them. 3 And this shall be the priest’s due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it is bull or sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach. 4 The firstfruits of your grain and your new wine and your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. 5 For the LORD your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons forever. 6 So if a Levite comes from any of your gates, from where he dwells among all Israel, and comes with all the desire of his mind to the place which the LORD chooses, 7 then he may serve in the name of the LORD his God as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the LORD. 8 They shall have equal portions to eat, besides what comes from the sale of his inheritance” (NKJV).
It is easy to see that this paragraph instructs the Israelites about their responsibilities to the Levites. The question is, “What does this have to do with the rest of the chapter, which deals with sources of prophetic revelation, true and false?” Several things point us in the right direction. The first is that we know what the rest of the chapter is about—sources of “divine revelation.” Twice in verses 1-8, we find the expression, “in the name of the Lord” (verses 5, 7). In verses 9-14, we do not find the expression because these forbidden folks do not speak “in the name of the Lord.” Indeed, they are “an abomination to the Lord” (verse 12). In verses 15-19, we have the expression, “the voice of the Lord” (verse 16), and the reference to the Ultimate Prophet who “speaks in My name” (verse 19). The false prophet may either “speak in the name of other gods” (verse 20), or he may presumptuously “speak in the name of the Lord” (verse 22). I believe we can safely conclude that all of Deuteronomy 18 deals with those who “speak for the Lord,” both the false and the true.
How were the Israelites to know what God had spoken? How were they to know what they should do? In other words, how were they to know the will of God for their lives? We know that it was not by means of soothsayers or sorcerers or mediums. The normative way for an Israelite to know the will of God was through the Levitical priests, who read and taught the law to the people.15
8 And of Levi he said: “Let Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your holy one, Whom You tested at Massah, And with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah, 9 Who says of his father and mother, ‘I have not seen them’; Nor did he acknowledge his brothers, Or know his own children; For they have observed Your word And kept Your covenant. 10 They shall teach Jacob Your judgments, And Israel Your law. They shall put incense before You, And a whole burnt sacrifice on Your altar” (Deuteronomy 33:8-10, NKJV, emphasis mine).
In addition to their normal instruction in the Law, the priests were to pronounce the will of God in difficult situations:
8 “If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 9 “And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them; they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. 10 “You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in that place which the LORD chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they order you. 11 “According to the sentence of the law in which they instruct you, according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce upon you. 12 “Now the man who acts presumptuously and will not heed the priest who stands to minister there before the LORD your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall put away the evil from Israel. 13 “And all the people shall hear and fear, and no longer act presumptuously” (Deuteronomy 17:8-13, NKJV).
In addition, a priest might employ the ephod or the Urim and Thummin to discern the will of God:16
“He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the LORD for him by the judgment of the Urim. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, he and all the children of Israel with him—all the congregation” (Numbers 27:21; see also Leviticus 8:8; Deuteronomy 33:8).
6 Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand. 7 And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. 9 When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. 11 “Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.” 12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will deliver you” (1 Samuel 23:6-12, NKJV).17
The point of these first eight verses of Deuteronomy 18 is that the Israelites were to support the Levites, through whom they were taught the Word and the will of God. The Levites had no inheritance, and thus they had to be supported by the other tribes in Israel. The function of the Levites was not just to carry out tasks related to the temple, but to teach the Law of God and to instruct the Israelites concerning the will of God. The forbidden mediators of verses 9-14 were not necessary, because God had provided the means by which His Word and His will were to be conveyed to His people (cf. 2 Kings 1:1-4, 16). The Levites were the usual means by which God communicated His Word and His will to men, as they taught and applied the law. The prophets were yet another means of instruction and interpretation. Israel did not need to turn elsewhere for divine guidance. God had more than adequately provided for the instruction and the guidance of His people. Men turn to illegitimate sources of guidance because they have rejected God.18
9 “When you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. 14 For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you” (NKJV).
I have opted not to delve into the details of these illicit attempts to obtain prophetic revelations, for reasons that will soon be stated. What I would like to do here is to make some general observations concerning all of the forbidden practices mentioned in our text.
While the prohibitions of our text seem to cover virtually every illicit form of communication with “supernatural powers,” we are given very few details—here or elsewhere in the Bible—as to how these pagan practices were performed. For example, we know little about how the Canaanites caused their children to “pass through the fire.” This appears to be child sacrifice, and in our text, it seems related to efforts to obtain divine guidance. There is a good reason why the Bible tells us as little as it does about such practices:
29 “When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, 30 “take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ 31 “You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. 32 “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:29-32, NKJV, emphasis mine).
It is neither necessary nor profitable to spend a great deal of time studying that which is an abomination to God:
6 Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore, do not be partakers with them, 8 for you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light— 9 for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth—10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For the things they do in secret are shameful even to mention. 13 But all things being exposed by the light are made evident. 14 For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says: “Awake, O sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!” (Ephesians 5:6-14, emphasis mine).
From these verses and others, I would understand that our task is to focus on the light, and not to ponder the depths of darkness (see Revelation 2:24). If we “walk in the light,” we will recognize that which is of the darkness, because the light will expose it. But we profit little from spending time studying the darkness, some of which is too “shameful even to mention.” For this reason, we are given few details as to how the pagan practices of the Canaanites were performed.
These forbidden means of achieving contact with divine powers are all an abomination to God, as are all those who practice them. Just as these pagan practices are an abomination to God (verse 9), so are those who practice them (verse 12). I sometimes hear someone say, “God hates the sin, but loves the sinner.” There may be an element of truth in this, but our text clearly states that these practices are an abomination to God, as are those who engage in them.
These abominations were practiced by the Canaanites (verse 9), whom the Israelites were to completely destroy when they entered the land (Deuteronomy 7:1-6). It was because of these abominations that God judged the Canaanites and expelled them from His land. It was because of these pagan practices that God gave the land to the Israelites, enabling them to defeat the Canaanites, and to possess their land. If the Israelites imitated these practices, God would also cast them from the land (Deuteronomy 4:25-26).
These were the abominable pagan practices which the Israelites would be tempted to learn, once they entered the land (verse 9). The Levites were to teach the Israelites the law, as were the Israelite parents to teach their children about God, but there were going to be others from whom God’s chosen people might learn to do evil. We may be reluctant to teach our children about “the facts of life,” about sexuality and morality and all that goes with it, but rest assured that whether or not we “teach” our children about these matters, there are many other willing “teachers.” The important thing is that our children not “learn” from the wrong sources. So it is also in the matter of divine revelation. There will be those who will attempt to teach the Israelites the Canaanite ways of seeking contact with the supernatural. God’s people must not learn these Canaanite ways, because God hates them.
These forbidden practices constituted participation in the occult. These practices were not a valid means of seeking God’s will or His help, but an illicit attempt to enlist the help of unclean19 “supernatural” powers. This was not the way to the divine God of Israel, but the means of making contact with the demons. The occult rejects God and seeks to make contact with the supernatural powers through an encounter with the dark side—through those practices which seek to contact and make use of the demonic forces of evil.
These same forbidden practices are prevalent in our country today. One does not have to look very hard to find virtually all of these forbidden practices in existence today. The New Age movement is deep into occult practices, as are many others. Some of those engaged in such practices are in positions of power or influence in our country. These words of warning in our text do not concern distant and unrelated matters, but those very practices that are becoming popular in America today.
In effect, these forbidden pagan practices seek to “use” the supernatural forces in a way that appears to keep them at arm’s reach, and thus under man’s control. This is a very important point. These forbidden practices seek to interface with “the supernatural” in a way that uses the “higher powers” for a price. The appearance is that supernatural beings are serving those who seek to employ them; the reality is that those who suppose they are using the evil supernatural powers are really enslaved to them. They are enslaved to Satan himself, through contact with demonic forces (Leviticus 17:7; 1 Corinthians 10:14-22). There is a certain thrill to the thought that one might be able to “tap into” supernatural powers and make use of them for one’s benefit. The sense of being “in control” is an illusion. It is very much like the person who thinks they are “using” drugs. They may get a momentary thrill out of using them, but in the process, they become addicted and enslaved to these drugs.
It is interesting that the Bible speaks of serving other gods as harlotry, and no wonder. I do not speak from experience, but I believe that my observations are correct. With prostitution, there is no relationship between the prostitute and the patron. We see this, for example, in the encounter between Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38). Judah thought that he was hiring a prostitute, and in his illicit encounter, he never recognized that this supposed “cult prostitute” was really his daughter-in-law, Tamar. So it is with the “hiring” of these forbidden mediators, who make contact with supernatural powers. Those who seek to hire supernatural powers think they are holding these powers off at arms reach, by the use of a mediator, but in truth, they will pay an exceedingly high price. The one who seeks an illicit spiritual relationship with the supernatural faces the same dangers as the one who pursues the strange woman:
24 Now therefore, listen to me, my children; Pay attention to the words of my mouth: 25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths; 26 For she has cast down many wounded, And all who were slain by her were strong men. 27 Her house is the way to hell, Descending to the chambers of death (Proverbs 7:24-27).
15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, 16 according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’ 17 And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. 18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. 19 And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him’” (NKJV).
This passage is one of the great Messianic prophecies of the Pentateuch. It compliments other prophecies, such as these:
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3:14-15).
“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (Genesis 49:10).
Some have understood this promise of a “Prophet like Moses” to include a line of prophets, up to and including the Messiah. That may be, but the emphasis of this prophecy falls on the “Ultimate Prophet,” our Lord Jesus Christ. Twice this coming Prophet is referred to as a prophet “like Moses” (verses 15, 18). In what sense is our Lord “like Moses”? There may be a number of parallels between Moses and Christ, but I don’t think this prophecy was meant to call attention to them all. I believe this prophecy was meant to underscore the likeness of our Lord to Moses in a more focused way, which is spelled out in our text.
This coming Prophet will be a Jew, like Moses, One raised up from His brethren. This One who is like Moses is, like Moses, to be heard and obeyed. It is at this point that we come to the main similarity between Moses and the Messiah, I believe. Moses indicates that this coming Prophet will play a role similar to his own. The Jews should therefore respond to the “Ultimate Prophet” as they were supposed to respond to Moses. They are to fear Him and to hear Him. The reason for this is now explained.
Moses goes back to the time when God first appeared to the nation Israel on Mount Horeb (or Mount Sinai). When God appeared on that mountain, it was an awesome sight. More than this, it was a terrifying sight:
18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” 20 And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was (Exodus 5:18-21, NKJV).
When God appeared at Sinai, the people begged Moses that they not be required to come near God, in order to hear His commands. They asked Moses to serve as their mediator and to stand before God, and then to convey His words to them. When Moses refers to the fear of the people and their petition, he does so from the account found in Deuteronomy 5:23-33:
23 “So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. 24 And you said: ‘Surely the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives. 25 ‘Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God anymore, then we shall die. 26 ‘For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 ‘You go near and hear all that the LORD our God may say, and tell us all that the LORD our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.’ 28 Then the LORD heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 ‘Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! 30 ‘Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 ‘But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’ 32 Therefore you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess” (Deuteronomy 5:23-33, NKJV).
Recently, a terrible storm passed through the city of Dallas, Texas, causing considerable wind damage. But this was nothing compared to the devastation caused by the tornadoes that were spawned later on as the storm passed into Oklahoma and Kansas. Those who witnessed that massive tornado (a level 5, with winds up to 260 miles per hour!) said they had never seen anything like it before. They also said they hoped they would never see anything like it again. It was terrifying. Think of what it must have been like to witness the awe-inspiring evidences of God’s presence on Mount Sinai. Those who looked on had never seen anything like that before, and they did not want to see or hear it again. They feared for their lives. And so they begged that Moses become a mediator on their behalf.
We might have expected God to rebuke the Israelites for wanting to keep their distance from Him, but this is not the case at all. God commends the Israelites for their fear, and for their request: “And the LORD said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him’” (Deuteronomy 18:17-19, NKJV). In the Old Testament, men had to keep their distance from God. Boundaries were established around the base of Mount Sinai, and the people were commanded to stay back, lest they die (Exodus 19:12-13). When Moses reached the top of the mountain, God sent him back down, to warn the people again not to get too close (Exodus 19:20-25). It was right for a sinful people to keep their distance from a holy God. In the Old Testament, the operative principle was not “Draw near,” but “Stay back” (see Exodus 3:5).
It was also right for the Israelites to ask that Moses serve as their mediator. It was he who went up and drew near to God on that mountain. It was he who was the mediator of the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai. And this is where the Lord Jesus Christ comes in, as the “Prophet like Moses.” Since sinful men cannot enter into the presence of a holy God, they need a mediator between themselves and God. Our Lord became the Mediator of a new covenant. Our Lord came from the presence of God, and He spoke the Father’s words to men:
No one has ever seen God. The only One, himself God, who is in the presence of the Father, has made God known (John 1:18).
41 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus began complaining about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven, . . .” (John 6:41).
So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus replied, “What I have told you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and to judge about you, but the Father who sent me is truthful, and the things I have heard from him I speak to the world” (John 8:25-26).
“I am telling you the things I have seen while with my Father, . . .” (John 8:38a).
49 “For I have not spoken from my own authority, but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me” (John 12:49-50).
24 “The person who does not love me does not obey my words. And the word you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me” (John 14:24).
14 “You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because the slave does not understand what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything I heard from my Father” (John 15:14-15).
Jesus became the Mediator of a new and better covenant than the covenant mediated by Moses:
19 Then he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 In the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:19-20).
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time (1 Timothy 2:5-6, NKJV).
6 But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, no one would have looked for a second one (Hebrews 8:6-7).
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to worship the living God. 15 And so he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, since he died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant (Hebrews 9:13-15; see also Hebrews 12:24).
Jesus Christ is the One of whom Moses spoke, when he said that a Prophet, like him, would come. It is not surprising then, that Jesus would later say that it will be Moses who will condemn those who reject Him:
36 “But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds that the Father has assigned me to complete—the deeds I am now doing—testify about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time, 38 nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. 39 You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me; 40 but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life. 41 “I do not accept praise from people, 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe, if you accept praise from one another and don’t seek the praise that comes from the only God? 45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what Moses wrote, how will you believe my words?” (John 5:36-47).
Like Moses, who spoke with God “face to face,” our Lord came from the very presence of God. How interesting that when our Lord came to the earth, claiming to be one with the Father, the Jews compared Him to Moses, and they found Him unacceptable. To the Jews of our Lord’s day, Moses was the ultimate prophet. They were also looking for “the Prophet like Moses.” They first asked John the Baptist if he was “the Prophet,” and John indicated that he was not:
19 Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed—he did not deny but confessed—”I am not the Christ.” 21 So they asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No” (John 1:19-21).
Those whom Jesus called as His disciples recognized Him as the One of whom Moses had spoken:
43 On the next day Jesus wanted to set out for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 (Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.) 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also wrote about—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:43-45).
After Jesus commenced His public ministry, it did not take some people long to conclude that He was “the Prophet.” When He fed the 5,000, the crowd concluded that Jesus was “the Prophet,” and they purposed to make Him their king:
14 So when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone (John 6:14-15).
Later on, when Jesus appeared in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles, some of the people there concluded that Jesus was, indeed, “the Prophet”: “When they heard these words, some of the crowd began to say, ‘This is really the Prophet!’” (John 7:40).
Others were not so sure (John 7:41-44). By and large, the Jewish religious leaders were convinced that Jesus was an imposter. They compared Jesus with Moses and found Him wanting. In part, the reason was because they failed to understand in what way “the Prophet” was to be “like Moses.” They expected “the Prophet” to agree with their interpretation of the Law, and He did not. Jesus had not come to reject the law as the Jews accused, but to fulfill it. The problem with the Pharisees was that they neither taught the law correctly, nor did they keep it. The law did not prove the Pharisees to be righteous and deserving of heaven; it exposed them as sinners, in need of salvation, the salvation our Lord Himself accomplished at Calvary:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place. 19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do this, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-20).
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin. 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God, which is attested by the law and the prophets, has been disclosed— 22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:19-24).
The Pharisees were convinced that the law (as they interpreted it) condemned Jesus, and proved them right. After all, hadn’t Jesus broken the Sabbath on numerous occasions (see Matthew 12:1-2; Luke 6:6-11; 13:10-14; John 5:2-18; 9:16)? Jesus insisted that Moses testified of Him, and that it was Moses who would accuse them in the judgment:
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44).
45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. 46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what Moses wrote, how will you believe my words?” (John 5:45-47).
Moses was not the problem. Moses testified about the coming of Jesus, the Christ. In the Gospels, Moses himself testifies that Jesus is the Christ. He was there, you recall, at the transfiguration of our Lord (Matthew 17:1-4). And yet the Pharisees repeatedly sought to pit Jesus against Moses (John 8:5).
28 They heaped insults on him, saying, “You are his disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses! We do not know where this man comes from!” (John 9:28-29).
Here is where the Jews went wrong in regard to Jesus and Moses. They expected Jesus to be another Moses, that is, to be just like Him. And, to be just like Moses, Jesus would have to agree with them completely. This assumes, of course, that their interpretation of the law of Moses was the true interpretation of the law. Because their interpretation of the law was distorted by their traditions, they constantly were in conflict with Jesus and Moses. But even beyond this, the Jews of Jesus’ day failed to understand those very significant ways in which Jesus was not “like Moses.” Jesus was not entirely “like Moses” because He was vastly superior to Moses. Like Moses, Jesus would speak God’s Word to men. But while Moses spoke to God on the mountain, Jesus was God. Moses spoke to men for God; Jesus spoke to men for God and as God. Like Moses, Jesus mediated a covenant. But our Lord’s “new covenant” was vastly superior to the “old covenant” mediated by Moses. Our Lord’s superiority to Moses is the core of the message of the Book of Hebrews:
1 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, partners in a heavenly calling, take note of Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess, 2 who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was too in God’s house. 3 For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself! 4 For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. 5 Now Moses was “faithful in all God’s house” as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken. 6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. We are of his house, if in fact we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope we take pride in. 7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! 8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness. 9 “There your fathers tested me and tried me, and they saw my works for forty years. 10 “Therefore, I became provoked at that generation and said, ‘Their hearts are always wandering and they have not known my ways.’ 11 “As I swore in my anger, ‘They will never enter my rest!’” (Hebrews 3:1-11).
Notice the argument the writer to the Hebrews develops. Moses was great in God’s house; Jesus the Messiah was far greater. Moses was a servant in God’s house; Jesus was the builder of the house. And, as a result, we should surely heed His words. We should listen as He speaks. This is precisely what God meant for Israel to understand from Moses’ words in Deuteronomy 5 and Deuteronomy 18. And the writer to the Hebrews makes a point of this:
15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up and causing trouble, and through him many become defiled. 16 And see to it that no one becomes an immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that later when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance, although he sought the blessing with tears. 18 For you have not come to something that can be touched, to a burning fire and darkness and gloom and a whirlwind 19 and the blast of a trumpet and a voice uttering words such that those who heard begged to hear no more. 20 For they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned.” 21 In fact, the scene was so terrifying that Moses said, “I shudder with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly 23 and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel’s does. 25 Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven? 26 Then his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too.” 27 Now this phrase “once more” indicates the removal of what is shaken, that is, of created things, so that what is unshaken may remain. 28 So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us give thanks, and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe. 29 For “our God is indeed a devouring fire” (Hebrews 12:15-29).
When the Israelites beheld the awesome holiness of God on Mount Sinai, they were terrified, and rightly so. They begged not to see or hear God any more, lest they die, beseeching Moses to mediate with God on their behalf. God commended their fear and their recognition of their need for a mediator. Through Moses, God communicated to Israel that He would raise up another prophet, like Moses. At the moment, the Israelites did not realize that this “Prophet” would be vastly superior to Moses. If Israel was to fear God and to hear Moses, surely they should fear God and hear “the Prophet like Moses,” who was none other than the promised Messiah. They should fear Him, hear Him, and heed His words. Instead, they refused to hear Him, and they had Him crucified for breaking the Law of Moses.
Were the Hebrew Christians contemplating drawing back from Christ, rather than drawing near? Was this their solution to suffering persecution for His sake? Then they were moving in the wrong direction. The Old Testament saints were to keep their distance from God. When Jesus Christ came to this earth, He came as Immanuel, God with us (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). In truth, the Hebrews would not be drawing back; they would be falling away. The Hebrew saints needed to rekindle a deep sense of fear and reverence for the Lord Jesus. If the sights and sounds of Mount Sinai terrified the Israelites of old, then a realization of who Jesus is and what He has accomplished should inspire even greater fear, fear that should prompt them to draw near, to hear Him, and to obey His Word. This, I believe, is the message of Hebrews, not to mention the rest of the New Testament.
20 “‘But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 “And if you say in your heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’—22 “when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”
The Israelites were to fear God, and to obey the commands God gave to them through the great prophet, Moses. But they were also to look for a coming Prophet, a “Prophet like Moses,” who would speak for God, and who should be heard and obeyed. In addition to watching for this coming “Prophet,” the Israelites were to watch out for false prophets. These false prophets would speak presumptuously, as though God were speaking through them. They would seek to “bring God near,” but it would not be the true God with whom they were “in touch.” How was Israel to discern between “the Prophet” and these false prophets? If the “prophet” spoke “in the name of other gods” (verse 20), it was obvious that he was a false prophet. No further test was required. But what of the “prophet” who spoke presumptuously “in the name of the LORD” (verse 22)? Such a prophet is to be tested by his own words. If what he speaks in the name of the Lord comes to pass, He is a true prophet.20 If what he says does not come to pass, he is a false prophet and is to be put to death (verse 20).
The final command in our text is not that the false prophet be executed (which has already been stated in verse 20), but rather that he not be feared. This whole passage is about fear. The Israelites are to fear God, as did the previous generation, who stood terror-stricken at the base of Mount Sinai. And because they feared God, they were to hear Moses and to obey him. When the “Prophet like Moses” appears, He is to be feared and obeyed. But the false prophets are not to be feared; they are to be put to death.
Deuteronomy 18 has brought some other biblical texts into much clearer focus. Having just taught through the Book of John, I can now better understand the debate over the relationship between Moses and Jesus in this Gospel. I can see how John was portraying Jesus as the “Prophet like Moses,” who was in the very presence of God, and who spoke God’s Word to men. I can see why men should have listened to him, just as God Himself instructed:
4 So Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, I will make three shelters—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud surrounded them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is the Son I love, in whom I have great delight. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:4-5, emphasis mine).
How seriously do we take the Lord Jesus? How well are we listening to His words? We should listen very carefully:
1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, 4 while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will (Hebrews 2:1-4, emphasis mine).
16 For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; no, we were eyewitnesses of his grandeur. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.” 18 When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you do well if you recognize this: no prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, 21 for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Peter 1:16-21, emphasis mine).
I do not think most Christians sufficiently fear our Lord or hear His words so as to diligently obey them. We are all too comfortable with the thought of the baby Jesus, laying helplessly (or so we suppose) in His manger. We think of the meek Savior who was led away to His death at Calvary. We think of Him who put up with the doubts and fears, and even the rebuke of His disciples. I fear that we like to think of Jesus in such a way. But let me remind you of the portrayal of our resurrected and ascended Lord in the Book of Revelation. Here, John falls down before Him as a dead man (Revelation 1:9-17). He is the One before whom every knee shall bow, as every tongue confesses Him to be Lord of all (Philippians 2:9-11). Are we guilty of thinking too casually of our Lord? I fear that we are.
Here is one of the great tensions of the Bible. On one hand, we are encouraged to “draw near” to Him; on the other, we are instructed to fear Him. In the Old Testament, men were to fear God and not draw near. Now, we are to fear God and draw near. We can only draw near through the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. But when we do, we should do so in fear, knowing that He is infinitely holy, while we are not, except through His atoning blood.
13 Therefore, get your minds ready for action, by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance, 15 but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, 16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.” 17 And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one’s work, live out the time of your temporary residence here in reverence. 18 You know that you were set free from your empty way of life handed down from your ancestors not by perishable things like silver or gold, 19 but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, Christ (1 Peter 1:13-19).
False prophets play down the majesty and holiness of God. They try, as it were, to ‘bring God down’ to our level. They make us feel comfortable around “God” (or the “gods”), and they even seek to convince us that we can manipulate God to our advantage. The true prophets did just the opposite. For example, remember this text in the Book of Isaiah:
1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” 4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:1-5, NKJV).
We should never lose this perspective of the God we serve. He has come down from heaven in the person of Jesus Christ. He has mediated a new covenant. He does command us to draw near. But we are always to do so with a sense of His awesome holiness, and thus draw near with fear. And this fear should prompt us to hear and to obey Him.
Under the old (Mosaic) covenant, men not only had to keep their distance; they needed human mediators who would draw near to God on their behalf. They needed Moses, for example, and they also needed the priests. All of this has changed since the coming of the “Prophet like Moses.” Because of the mediatorial work of our Lord Jesus Christ, Christians are now able to have a direct and personal relationship with the Father: “At that time you will ask in my name, and I do not say that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God” (John 16:26-27).
Because of the new covenant our Lord has inaugurated, every Christian is encouraged to “draw near” to God, and to “hold fast” our confession. We are now all a “kingdom of priests,” who are to minister one to another:
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the full assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. 23 And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, 25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 10:19-25).
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).
We do not need any human mediator to stand between us and our God. Christ has performed this task, once for all. We now have direct access to God through Him. We do not need a pastor or minister to approach God for us, because we can come to Him boldly, through the blood of Jesus. This is why we worship the way the New Testament saints did. In our worship meeting, all of the men are encouraged to lead as prompted by the Holy Spirit, calling out a hymn, reading a text of Scripture, passing out the elements at communion, or praying. We do not have one person who is the designated leader, who guides us in our worship. We believe that there must be a freedom for every man to exercise his priesthood by verbal leadership, and for every woman to participate in submission to the leadership of the men as we worship our Lord each week. To the degree that we place any one person other than our Lord in exclusive leadership, I believe we fail to “draw near” as we should. We must be alert to the danger of drifting back to the old covenant, in which we seek to install men in some kind of mediatorial role, as “middle-men” between God and us.
If I understand our Lord correctly, He teaches us that since His mediatorial work is finished, there is no longer any need for a middle-man. We can come directly to the Father. Why, then, do men seem inclined to retain some kind of middle-man between God and themselves? It is, I think, because we fear God and do not wish to draw near to Him. It is because we fail to grasp and appropriate the mediatorial work our Lord has already accomplished at Calvary. This explains why men prefer to worship Mary and to pray to her, rather than to the Son of God Himself. They are more comfortable around Mary than they are around God. But our Lord has provided us with a way to come to God directly. We do not need Mary to mediate for us. We do not need a pope, or a preacher, or anyone else.
I think I’m beginning to understand why angels are so popular today. They are another kind of “middle-man” between a holy and righteous God and sinful men. We feel warm and cozy and comfortable at the thought of angels being nearby, to guide and to guard us. We don’t feel as comfortable around a holy God. But we are commanded to draw near to God, while at the same time we are to fear Him.
False prophets are false mediators, promising us access to God or “other gods.” They seek to “bring God down” to us, ignoring or denying that our Lord has done this, once for all. Their promises are false, and their paths lead to death. Forsake every other mediator but Christ.
One last word. I believe our text speaks of Him who will enable us to draw near to God. This One, this “Prophet like Moses,” is also One we should fear. Drawing near and having fear seem contradictory. It is my opinion that we will gravitate toward one and move away from the other. There are those who, in the name of drawing near to God, seem to be lacking in holy fear. They speak irreverently of Him, and act irreverently in His presence. But there is the opposite danger as well. There are those who so emphasize the fear of God that they tend to live at a distance from God. They seem to lack a deep sense of the presence and the power of God in their lives. I believe that within the faith there are groups inclined toward “nearness” who are lacking in fear, and there are other groups who are properly “fearful” but who are distant (from an intimacy with God and with others). I am sure that as you read this you are trying to figure out “who is who.” What I wish to leave with you is the biblical truth that we should “draw near” “with fear.” Let us not cling to one and shun the other. Let us seek to live in intimate relationship with Him—but in a way that reverences Him. If we do so, we shall not need any go-between, other than our Lord Himself.
15 We should remind ourselves that the ancient Israelites did not have their own copies of God’s Word. The Word of God, once written, was read to the people by the priests or others (see Deuteronomy 31:10-13; Joshua 8:33-35; 2 Kings 22:8ff.; Nehemiah 8). Even the king had to write out his own copy of the law to read (Deuteronomy 17:14-20).
16 No one really knows exactly what the urim and thummin were, or how they worked, although theories abound. I believe all would agree that they were employed under some circumstances to determine the will of God. For a brief, but cautious, look at the urim and thummin, see Dr. Bruce Waltke, Finding the Will of God (Gresham, Oregon: Vision House Publications, 1995), pp. 62-64.
17 Actually, what David is asking is whether the people of Keilah would hand him over to Saul if he remained there. David is asking a somewhat rhetorical question, and God informs him that, if he were to stay, they would turn him over to Saul. I have elsewhere pointed out that this indicates that God not only knows what will happen, but what would happen, in any given circumstance. God is omniscient. He knows all things actual; He also knows all things possible.
18 For example, Saul seeks guidance from Samuel through the witch of En-dor, because he had turned from God, and God had turned from him (1 Samuel 28, especially verse 15).
19 Is it not interesting that in the New Testament demons are often referred to as unclean spirits?
20 This assumes that he is not advocating following false gods (see Deuteronomy 13:1-5).
While I was preparing to teach on the prophet Balaam, I went to the church library to check out some of the best commentaries on the Book of Numbers. I found the three good commentaries that were not in my own library. As I was in the process of checking them out, I discovered something interesting. Two of the commentaries had never been checked out before. The third had been checked out once, five years ago, by one of my fellow-elders. It would appear that very few people are studying the Book of Numbers; in fact I suspect that few are even reading Numbers.
I’m quite sure I know the reason why the Book of Numbers is so often ignored. People think that these last three books of the Pentateuch (Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) are boring. Let’s face it; there are some portions of the Pentateuch that appear to be irrelevant, and that are commonly considered boring. Having admitted to this, I now wish to point out that one of the most fascinating stories in the Bible is found in the Book of Numbers. I am speaking of the story of Balaam, the “diviner,” who was hired to curse Israel by Balak, the King of Moab. Who can possibly keep from giggling as they read of Balaam arguing with his donkey? And best of all, the donkey wins!
In our study of the Old Testament prophets, we have already considered Abraham and Moses. We then turned to the subject of false prophets, based upon Deuteronomy 13 and 18. There, Moses warns us about false prophets and those who would lead us away from worshipping the one true God. The story of Balaam in the Book of Numbers provides us with a case study of a false prophet. He is a false prophet who seeks to curse Israel, but who can only pronounce blessings upon God’s people. There are some very important lessons for us to learn from Balaam. Let us listen well to the story, and look to the Holy Spirit to teach us from this fascinating text.
It may help to get “the lay of the land” of the Book of Numbers before we take up the story of Balaam. Numbers begins with the Israelites at Mount Sinai, after the giving of the law. They are preparing to move out in military fashion, ready to possess the promised land (Numbers 1:1—10:10). They then make their way from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea. Twelve men, each representing one tribe of Israel, were sent to spy out the land, and while all had glowing reports of the bounty of the promised land, ten of the men expressed fears concerning the size of the Canaanites and doubts about Israel’s ability to take the land from them. Because of this, the Israelites rebelled against God and refused to attack the Canaanites. This led to God’s judgment upon that first generation of Israelites who were delivered from Egyptian bondage (10:11—14:45). For 40 years, this generation of Israelites had to wander about the wilderness until virtually all died. That wandering period, along with the setting down of certain laws, is described in chapters 15-19. In chapter 20, the second generation of Israelites sets out toward Moab, the launching point for Israel’s invasion of Canaan. Along the way Israel comes to the wilderness of Zin, the same place to which the Israelites had come shortly after crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 16:1). Here, Miriam dies and is buried (20:1). Since there is no water there, the people begin to grumble once again (20:1-5). Moses is instructed to “speak to the rock” and, by this means, to produce water for the people to drink. In his anger, Moses strikes the rock twice with his rod (20:10-11), and for this act of irreverence, Moses himself is forbidden to enter the promised land (20:12-13). This is also the time for Aaron to “be gathered to his people,” that is, for Aaron to die. His priestly garments are removed from him and placed on his son Eleazar. Then, in the sight of all the congregation, Aaron ascends Mount Hor, where he dies (20:22-29). All these events signal the end of an important chapter in Israel’s history, a chapter which began at the exodus, and which concluded with the death of that generation of Israelites who failed to trust and obey their God.
The final section of the Book of Numbers deals with the second generation of Israelites as they prepare to enter and to possess the land of Canaan. These chapters describe the journey of the Israelites as they approach the promised land (chapters 21-25). The people are numbered in preparation for war (chapters 26-27), and they are instructed concerning God’s requirements for their conduct (chapters 28-36).21 It is in this closing section of the Book of Numbers that the account of Balaam is found.
When the Canaanite king of Arad heard that the Israelites were approaching, he attacked them, taking some Israelites captive. God gave this king and his people into the hands of the Israelites, and they were utterly destroyed (21:1-3). Leaving Mount Hor, the Israelites sought to pass by Edom, along the coast of the Red Sea, but they became impatient and began to grumble. God sent fiery serpents among the people as a divine judgment, and many died. When Moses interceded with God, he was instructed to make a bronze serpent which was to be lifted up for the people to see. Everyone bitten who looked up to the bronze serpent lived (21:4-10).
The remainder of chapter 21 describes those events immediately preceding the introduction of Balaam in chapter 22. Israel is making its way to Pisgah (verse 20), which seems to be a ridge near the top of Mount Nebo. This spot provided a panoramic view of the promised land. It is from Pisgah that Moses will view the promised land before his death on Mount Nebo (Deuteronomy 34:1-4). When the Israelites send messengers to Sihon, the king of the Amorites, asking for his permission to pass through his land, he refuses, assembling his army to wage war against them (Numbers 21:21-23). The Israelites prevail and take possession of his land (21:24-31). They then capture Jazer, defeating and dispossessing the Amorites who live there (21:32). Going up by way of Bashan, the Israelites encounter Og, the king of Bashan, who comes out to fight them. Like Sihon, Og is defeated, and the Israelites possess his land as well (21:33-35).
1 The Israelites journeyed and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho. 2 And Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all that the Israelites had done to the Amorites. 3 And the Moabites were greatly afraid of the people, because they were so numerous. The Moabites were sick with fear because of the Israelites.
It is not difficult to understand why the Moabites would feel threatened by the approaching Israelites. What a sight it must have been to look out and see an innumerable host of Israelites camped nearby, and heading your way! They were aware of how the Israelites had prevailed over those who opposed them along the way. In particular, Balak, the king of Moab, had heard of Israel’s victory over the Amorites. We are told that the Moabites were “sick with fear.”
One must wonder, however, just why the Moabites were so frightened. They should not have feared for their lives. The Ammonites and the Moabites were the offspring of Lot, and thus related to the Israelites:
30 Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and settled in the mountain, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31 Later his firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the earth to go in to us, according to the way of all the world. 32 Come, let’s make our father drink wine so that we may lie with him to preserve the family from our father.” 33 So that night they made their father drink wine, and the firstborn came and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she got up. 34 Then in the morning the firstborn said to the younger, “Since I lay with my father last night, let’s make him drink wine also tonight, and then you go and lie with him, to preserve the family from our father.” 35 So they made their father drink wine that night as well, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down and when she got up. 36 So the two daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. 37 And the firstborn gave birth to a son, and she called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38 And as for the younger, she also gave birth to a son, and called his name Ben-Ammi; he is the father of the Ammonites of today (Genesis 19:30-38).
Because of their kinship with the Moabites, God commanded the Israelites not to harm them:
9 Then the Lord said to me, “Do not harass Moab and provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of their land as your territory. The reason is, I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their possession. . . . 17 The Lord said to me, 18 “Today you are going to cross the border of Moab, that is, of Ar, 19 But when you come close to the Ammonites do not bother or provoke them because I am not giving any of the land of the Ammonites as your possession; I have already given it to Lot’s descendants as their possession” (Deuteronomy 2:9, 17-19).
4 So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “Now this mass of people will lick up everything around us, as the bull devours the grass of the field.” Now Balak, the son of Zippor, was king of the Moabites at this time. 5 And he sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the river in his native land, to call him, saying, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are settling next to me. 6 So now, please come and curse this nation for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them, and drive them out of the land. For I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.”
One might reason that because the Israelites had slain all the Amorites, this is what they were going to do to the Moabites as well. This might explain why the Moabites are so fearful about the coming of the Israelites. And yet, to be fearful of the approach of the Israelites as life-threatening, the Moabites would have to be ignorant of the special privileges God had established for them as the descendants of Lot. If the Moabites actually feared that they were going to be slaughtered by the Israelites, we would expect them to say as much. But as we look more closely at the words of verses 4-6, this does not appear to be what the Moabites feared.
From the Moabites’ own words, we would have to conclude that their fears were economic. They call attention to the large number of Israelites who are approaching. They do not mention war, nor slaughter. They speak of the Israelites coming near to them and settling down alongside them. They are concerned that the Israelites will consume all the natural resources of the land, leaving less for themselves: “Now this mass of people will lick up everything around us, as the bull devours the grass of the field” (verse 4). This sounds a great deal like the basis for the conflict between the herdsmen of their ancient ancestors, Abraham and Lot:
5 Now Lot, who was traveling with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support their living together, for their possessions were great, and they were not able to live together. 7 So there was strife between Abram’s herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. Now the Canaanites and the Perizzites were living in the land at that time (Genesis 13:5-7).
Israel was to be a source of blessing to the world, and certainly to the Moabites. And yet the Moabites feared the presence of the Israelites, so much so that they were willing to hire a man like Balaam to put a curse on them. Their aim was to somehow weaken this great nation by cursing them, so that they would be able to defeat them and “drive them out of the land.”
To accomplish this, the Moabites formed an alliance with the Midianites, thinking, perhaps, that there would be strength in numbers (or perhaps merely wanting to spread out the cost of hiring a high-priced “consultant” like Balaam). The Midianites were also somewhat related to the Israelites in a back-handed fashion. Midian was one of the sons of Abraham, through Keturah (Genesis 25:1-5). Also, when Moses fled from Egypt, he settled down in the land of Midian, where he married the daughter of a Midianite priest and had two sons (see Exodus 2:15ff.; Acts 7:29). Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, is the Midianite who gave Moses some very helpful administrative advice (Exodus 18).
The Moabites and the Midianites conspired together to recruit a man who had connections with the spiritual underworld, and who could therefore arrange to have a curse put on the Israelites. No doubt diviners were plentiful in those days, but there seemed to be one man who was “tops in his field.” His name was Balaam, and he was from Pethor, a city located along the Euphrates River:
Balaam was from Pethor, a city on the River, probably the Euphrates. Possibly Pethor was not far from the great city of Mari, discovered in 1933 in the Euphrates Valley. The discovery of a vast number of cuneiform tablets at Mari, beginning in 1933, revealed among other things the existence of a complex cult of prophets and seers whose activities precisely resemble those of Balaam. The fact that he undoubtedly represented the prophetic customs and practices of Mari and vicinity makes possible a better understanding of Balaam’s narrative in Numbers.22
The term the River … usually denotes the Euphrates (e.g., Gen. 31:21; Exod. 23:31; Josh. 24:2-3, 14-15).… Pethor is almost universally agreed to be ancient Pitru (modern Tell el-Ahmar), a site on the Sajur, a tributary of the Euphrates, about two miles from its confluence with the Euphrates, and about 12 mi. south of Carchemish.… The distance between Pethor (Pitru) and the plains of Moab would be over 370 miles. The journey would take an estimated 20-25 days, hence the four journeys in the story about 90 days.23
It is ironic, is it not, that Balaam comes from Mesopotamia, not far from where Abraham once lived. Balaam certainly knows something of the religion of the Israelites because he frequently refers to their God as “Yahweh.”24 Nevertheless, it seems obvious that he is not well-informed about the nation Israel, since he has to be told that Israel has been blessed by “Yahweh” (22:12). Balak must have believed that Balaam was the best man for the job he had in mind. If it was necessary to go so far to recruit a man with his credentials, it seemed to be worth it.
The distance may also serve another purpose. I confess that this is speculative on my part, but is it possible that Balak purposed to find a diviner who lived a good distance from Moab, so that the diviner would be ignorant of the success of the Israelites? A man who was too well-informed about Israel, their God, and their history, might very well decline when asked to curse them. Balaam seems to be just far enough removed from Canaan to be unaware of factors that were vital to his decision regarding Balak’s offer.
I remember a joke about the fellow who counterfeited some money. He wasn’t too smart, because he accidentally printed the wrong denomination on the bill he was counterfeiting. He printed a large quantity of twenty-one dollar bills! He knew that no one would accept these bills. Then he had a great idea. He would take this money way up into the Appalachian mountains, and he would pawn this money off on some unsuspecting hillbillies. When this counterfeiter reached a gas station in a very remote place, he asked, “Say, would you mind giving me change for this twenty-one dollar bill?” The hillbilly owner responded, “Sure. Will two sixes and a nine be okay?” I wonder if Balak hoped that Balaam lived far enough away from Canaan that he would not really grasp all that brought the Israelites to this place at this time.
There are many reasons why we confidently conclude that Balaam was not a true prophet; indeed, that he was not even a true believer in God. For the moment, let us simply observe that Balaam was merely a well-known “diviner,” with a reputation for effectively cursing nations. I do not mean to say that he was a complete fraud, and that his “curses” had no effect on others. His reputation seems to indicate otherwise. If his “cursing” was in vain, then why did God forbid him to do so? I believe that his powers did not come “from above,” but “from below,” that he was “connected,” but not to the God of Israel.
Balak’s message to Balaam is most informative: “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are settling next to me. So now, please come and curse this nation for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them, and drive them out of the land. For I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed” (22:5b-6).
Israel had come out of Egypt—some 40 years earlier. Balak does not bother to inform Balaam how this great exodus had come to pass. He does not mention the covenant God had made with Abraham, nor does he bother to tell Balaam that the Israelites had destroyed those who opposed them along their way. He does admit to being outnumbered by the Israelites, and he reveals his plan to defeat the Israelites and drive them out of the land. But when Balak says to Balaam, “For I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed,” I am absolutely amazed. Balak’s words immediately bring to mind the words of God in the Abrahamic Covenant:
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram, “Go out from your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s household, to the land that I will show you; 2 and I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, in order that you might be a blessing; 3 and I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1-3).
It is neither Balak nor Balaam who bestows “blessings or cursings” on nations. It is God who blesses and curses, and this all takes place in relationship to the nation Israel, on whom He has pronounced a blessing. Now, the only question is, “Will the Moabites and Midianites be blessed or cursed?” This will be determined by their response to the nation Israel. Those who bless Israel will be blessed; those who curse Israel will be cursed. In the light of the Abrahamic Covenant, we see that Balak’s plan to curse Israel is destined to bring a curse upon him and the Moabite nation.
7 And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fee for divination in their hand. And they came to Balaam and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8 And he said to them, “Stay here tonight, and I will bring back to you whatever word the LORD may speak to me.” So the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. 9 And God came to Balaam, and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me saying, 11 “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Come now and put a curse on them for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them out.” 12 But God said to Balaam, “You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, for they are blessed.” 13 So Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land, for the LORD has refused to permit me to go with you.” 14 And the princes of Moab rose up and they went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
The elders of Moab and Midian set out on their long journey to Pethor, where Balaam lived. In their hands was the “divination fee” which they were willing to pay Balaam for his services (verse 8). You will notice that Balaam made no immediate commitment one way or the other. He asked the delegation to spend the night there with him, thus giving him the opportunity to inquire of the LORD (“Yahweh,” the God of Israel) concerning their offer. This is incredible when you stop to think about it. Balaam uses the particular name for the God of Israel (“Yahweh”), rather than employing one of the more generic names available (e.g., “Elohim”)25. Stripped to its essentials, Balaam’s request must therefore have been something like this: “Yahweh, there is this group of men here, who have asked me to go with them, so that I can curse Your people. Would that be all right with You?”
In the first place, Balaam must have known more than he lets on. If not, more information was given him than what we are told. In our text, Balaam is informed by his esteemed visitors, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are settling next to me. So now, please come and curse this nation for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them, and drive them out of the land. For I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed” (Numbers 22:5b-6). The name of that nation, and the name of their God is not to be found in these words. Balaam’s words to his visitors betray the fact that he knew who this people was, because he knew the name of their God was “Yahweh.” If Balaam knew this much, then surely he knew about Israel’s exodus from Egypt, and he probably knew something of the covenant God had made with this nation (e.g., Genesis 12:1-3). How could Balaam dare to ask Yahweh if it would be all right for him to accompany these men to meet Balak, so that he could curse Israel? This is absolutely incredible!
I believe that God’s appearance to Balaam was in the form of a dream, while he was sleeping. The expression used here, “God came to…,” is not one which would suggest that God has come in response to Balaam’s efforts to communicate with Him. Indeed, its other occurrences would strongly imply that God came unexpectedly. God unexpectedly “came to” Abimelech in a dream, warning him that he was a dead man if he so much as touched Abraham’s wife, Sarah (Genesis 20:3). In a similar fashion, God “came to” Laban, who was in hot pursuit of Jacob, for fleeing from him without any farewells (and also because Rachel stole his household gods). In a dream, God warned Laban not to so much as speak harshly to Jacob (Genesis 31:24). These previous uses suggest to me that God spoke to Balaam in a dream, in a way that He done before with other pagans like Abimelech and Laban.
The first thing God says to Balaam is in the form of a question, “Who are these men with you?” (22:9). Of course God knows who these men are. He does not need Balaam to inform Him of such things. Why, then, does God ask a question to which He already knows the answer? As parents, we do the same thing all the time. When we catch our children doing something wrong, we may ask, “Just what do you think you are doing?” We know the answer, but we want to see how forthright they are with their answer. If they seek to hold back the truth, we know that repentance is a long range goal. If they tell it all, not holding back any facts and seeking to make no excuses, we can deal quite differently with them.
It was a good question. Who were these men? They were the emissaries of Balak, the king of Moab. These were men who represented nations and governments that were opposed to the nation Israel. These were men who were seeking to persuade Balaam to curse the very people God had blessed. In the light of this, what were these men doing in Balaam’s house, as his guests? To invite one to be a guest in your home was to grant them the highest level of intimacy and fellowship. This is why the Apostle John instructs that false teachers not be shown such hospitality:
9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not remain in the teaching about Christ does not have God. The one who remains in this teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house and do not give him any greeting, 11 because the person who gives him a greeting shares in his evil deeds (2 John 1:9-11).
No wonder God rebukes Balaam for having these men as his house guests. Inviting them to stay the night was the first of a sequence of mistakes Balaam made with regard to Balak and his requests.
Balaam’ answer to God’s question leaves much to be desired. He did not come clean with God, and tell all. Did he suppose that Yahweh did not know all? Consider this comparison of what Balaam was told by Balak’s representatives with what Balaam himself told God, in answer to His question:26
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5 And he sent messengers to Balaam, . . . saying, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are settling next to me. 6 So now, please come and curse this nation for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them, and drive them out of the land. For I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed.” |
10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me saying, 11 “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Come now and put a curse on them for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them out.” |
Balaam leaves out the fact that Balak expresses concern that the Israelites will live beside him, and not that he fears that the Israelites will annihilate the Moabites. In other words, his actions cannot be justified as “self-defense,” but rather are the protection of national self-interest. Balaam most certainly does not tell God that Balak has flattered him by stating that whomever Balaam blesses is blessed, and that whomever he curses is cursed. I think Balaam is well aware that this is God’s prerogative, and not man’s. And so, even though God asks Balaam a very open-ended question, Balaam responds in a very tight-lipped fashion. Balaam seeks to withhold information from God.
The same tendency can be seen in Balaam’s report to Balak’s emissaries, concerning God’s response to his request to accompany them and to meet with Balak:
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12 But God said to Balaam, “You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, for they are blessed.” |
13 So Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the princes of Balak, “Go to your land, for the LORD has refused to permit me to go with you.” 14 And the princes of Moab rose up and they went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.” |
In fact, God forbade Balaam to go with these dignitaries and to meet with Balak. Also, God forbade Balaam to curse the Israelites, informing him (if he did not already know this) that this was a people whom He had blessed (verse 12). Balaam does not tell his guests the whole story. He does not tell them that God forbade him to do what they were attempting to hire him to do; he tells them rather that God refused to give him permission to go with them. Both answers are similar in kind, but quite different in intensity. To be refused permission to go with these men is quite different from being forbidden to do what they have asked Balaam to do. In other words, God’s will was not only crystal clear; it was emphatically stated. The most important truth of all was never conveyed to this dignified delegation: The Israelites could not be cursed because God had blessed them. It was not just Balaam who was unable to curse the Israelites; no one could do so.
15 And Balak again sent princes, more numerous and more honorable than the first. 16 And they came to Balaam, and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, “Please do not let anything hinder you from coming to me. 17 For I will honor you greatly, and whatever you say to me I will do. So come, put a curse on this nation for me.” 18 And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment of the LORD my God, to do less or more. 19 Now therefore, please stay the night here also, that I might know what more the LORD might say to me.” 20 And God came to Balaam at night, and said to him, “If the men come to call you, rise up and go with them; but the word which I will say to you, that you must do.”27 21 So Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
One would have thought it was all over. Balak had made Balaam a tempting offer, but God had forbidden him to accept it, and so Balaam sent the delegation back to Balak. Balak’s response is interesting and informative. First, we see that he refuses to take “No” for an answer. He is determined to have Israel cursed, and he is likewise determined that Balaam is the man to do it. Second, we can see that Balak really offers Balaam nothing new; he simply enhances the offer he has already made. Balak initially sought to flatter Balaam with the delegation of princes he had sent, and with the money they had in their hands as a fee for divination. Balak now sends a larger and more noble delegation and seems to offer even more money. By inference, this new delegation of high-powered dignitaries says, “Name your own price.”
At first impression, Balaam’s response to this enhanced offer seems commendable. Isn’t he telling Balak that he cannot and will not come, no matter how much money he is offered? It may seem so, but I doubt that this is really the case. It is my personal opinion that Balaam is attempting to use God to further his own interests. He seems to be saying that there is no way he can be persuaded to violate the commandment of Yahweh, his God (verse 18). And yet, if Balaam is so determined not to transgress the commandment of the Lord, then why does he invite this delegation to spend the night with him “also”28 as though God may have some further word? What more does God need to say to him besides “No!”? Surely God’s words to him the first time he entertained such a delegation would have sufficiently informed him that God was not pleased with this kind of hospitality. Furthermore, if God had blessed Israel, and this blessing could not be reversed, then what profit would there be in continuing negotiations regarding his cursing the Israelites?
Balaam had an inadequate grasp of who God was. For one thing, Balaam did not grasp the sovereignty of God. The pagan “gods” were far from sovereign. We know, of course, that they did not even exist. But these “gods” were thought to be open to manipulation, by means of persistence (repetition) and extreme measures. The prophets of Baal sought to gain the attention of Baal by mutilating themselves (1 Kings 18:26-27). The heathen have their prayer wheels and other means by which they seek to multiply their prayers, thinking that this will gain the attention of their gods.29
How many times have I seen this kind of perseverance (bull-headedness) actually succeed in the realm of humanity. There are all too many parents these days who don’t really mean what they say. They tell their child not to do something, and their child looks them in the eye while he or she does this very thing. The parents all too often just shrug their shoulders, as if to say, “What can I do about it?” And so the child learns that “No” isn’t really a final “No.” Persist at the forbidden action long enough, and the parents will “fold.” Balaam seems to think of God in the same way. Why else would he seek to make further inquiry of Him, when he has already been given a clear “No”?
Once again, God came to Balaam in the night. This time God instructs Balaam that if the men come to call him, he is to get up and go with them; however, he must be careful to do only that which God says. God appears to be changing His mind here, does He not? How can we explain this, especially when the Angel of the Lord nearly takes Balaam’s life for going with these men? I will attempt to deal with this apparent problem by making the following assertions:
(1) God clearly forbade Balaam to go: “But God said to Balaam, ‘You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, for they are blessed’” (22:12). There is no question as to what God’s will for Balaam was in this situation. Balaam was told not to go and not to seek to curse the people He had blessed. I can almost hear Balaam trying to avoid this very obvious command by saying, “God forbade me to go with that first group of men, and for the price they offered for my services. But now a new delegation has come, offering me even more money. Perhaps circumstances have changed sufficiently for me to reopen my inquiry as to God’s will in this matter.” But nothing had really changed in principle. Balak was seeking Balaam’s services to curse the very people God had blessed. Balaam was raising the same question to which God had already answered, “No.”
(2) It wasn’t that Balaam did not know the will of God; it was that he did not want to do it. When Balaam asks the men to spend the night so that he can inquire further of the Lord, it is clear that Balaam does not want to do what God has commanded. Balaam wanted to disobey God and to go with the men. The money and the fame which Balak offered Balaam was too much for Balaam to turn down. He was intent upon getting around God’s will.
(3) Balak has no intention of taking “No” for an answer. He is a man of considerable power and wealth on the one hand, and a very desperate man on the other. He knows that apart from some form of supernatural intervention, he will not be able to expel the Israelites from the land. Balak refuses to accept Balaam’s refusal to come. I doubt very much that Balaam wanted to “cross” Balak.
(4) God does not approve of everything He allows. God was angry because Balaam went with the princes of Moab (22:22). Let there be no doubt that God is not pleased when men do the evil that He permits. God sometimes allows men to sin, even though He has condemned and forbidden it. This is a good example of what we might call “God’s permissive will.” God forbade Balaam to go with the delegation that had come, and also He forbade Balaam from cursing Israel, the people He had blessed. God’s direct revelation to Balaam, forbidding him to go, was His will in precept. When He permitted Balaam to accompany these men to meet with Balak, it was His permissive will. God allows men to do those things which He has forbidden. Woe to those who persist in their path of sin, for it is surely the road to destruction. Just because God allows men to sin does not mean that He approves of sin.
(5) When God allows men to do what He has forbidden, it is because it will fulfill His purposes. When God does permit men to sin, it does not mean that His Word or His will has changed. It means that He has purposed to allow us to sin, for His glory. In some way, God will use our disobedience to instruct others and to bring about His purposes in a way men would never have imagined, or to bring about our own demise. The sin of Judas Iscariot in betraying the Savior was the instrument God used to accomplish our redemption on the cross of Calvary. The rejection of Jesus as the Messiah by the nation Israel opened the door to the evangelization of the Gentiles (Romans 11:11). The sin of Ananias and Saphira was used of God to bring fear on the church in Jerusalem (Acts 5:11). David’s sin in numbering the Israelites resulted in the purchase of the land on which the future temple would be constructed (2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21; 2 Chronicles 3:1).
Although God uses the sinful acts of men to accomplish His purposes, this in no way minimizes or reduces the penalty meted out to them for their sin. How easy it would be for someone to wrongly conclude that “since my sin ultimately fulfills the purposes of God,” I can live in sin with impunity, as though I were doing God a favor!”30 This is not the case at all. God hates our sin, and He punishes sinners for their sins. Let us never seek to turn grace into a license to sin. As we will see all too soon, Balaam paid a very high price for his sin.
(6) When men sin, God may withhold His punishment for a time. Divine punishment for sin is often delayed, so that we can see the awful consequences of sin. God delayed His punishment on the land of Canaan, so that its sin would be fully developed, and so that the wickedness of the Canaanites can be clearly seen. Though the punishment God prescribed on the Canaanites was severe, it was justly deserved (Genesis 15:13-16; see also Matthew 13:24-30; James 1:13-15).
(7) Apart from God’s grace, Balaam would have died on the way to meet Balak. Three times the donkey saved Balaam from the sword of the Angel of the LORD.
21 So Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab. 22 Then God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the way to oppose him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 And the donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned aside from the way and went into the field. And Balaam beat the donkey, to turn her back to the road. 24 Then the angel of the LORD stood in a path among the vineyards, where there was a wall on either side. 25 And when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she pressed herself into the wall, and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall, and so he beat her again. 26 Then the angel of the LORD went farther, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. 27 So when the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she crouched down under Balaam. Then Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he beat his donkey with a staff. 28 Then the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?” 29 And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made me look stupid; I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you.” 30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am not I your donkey, upon which you have ridden ever since I was yours unto this day? Have I ever attempted to treat you this way?” And he said, “No.” 31 Then the LORD opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand; so he bowed his head, and fell on his face. 32 And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? Look, I came out to oppose you, because what you are doing is perverse before me. 33 The donkey saw me, and turned from me these three times. If she had not turned from me, I would have slain you, but saved her alive.” 34 And Balaam said to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned, for I did not know that you stood against me in the way. So now, if it is evil in your sight, I will go back home.” 35 But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you may only speak the word that I will speak to you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey, and set out with the princes of Moab. This must have been quite a scene to behold. Accompanying Balaam were the dignitaries who had been sent to persuade Balaam to come and curse the people of God. Each of them must have had their own servants and bodyguards. Balaam himself was accompanied by two of his own servants. I can imagine that those who happened to witness this entourage of Moab’s elite must have been duly impressed. Balaam was probably soaking all this up, basking in the glory of it all. After all, this whole caravan was on his account. He was the honored member of a very distinguished group.
What Balaam could not see was that by his choice to accompany this delegation, he had set himself in opposition to God. The words of verse 22 are chilling: “Then God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the LORD stood in the way to oppose him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him.” Balaam had angered God. More than this, by his actions, Balaam made God his adversary. The Hebrew word translated oppose in verse 22 is literally transliterated satan. Out of 27 occurrences in the Old Testament, it is rendered Satan 19 times in the King James Version (“adversary” seven times; “withstand” once).
What an amazing and terrifying thought! To deliberately and purposefully oppose the will of God is to make God your adversary. This truth is taught elsewhere:
26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, 27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God’s enemies. 28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for the son of God, and profanes the blood of the covenant that made him holy, and insults the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:26-31).
He who would oppose the people of God and the will of God has made God his adversary.
As they make their way toward Moab, the Angel of the LORD stands in the path of Balaam and his donkey. The “Angel of the LORD” is a most fascinating person. He appears with some frequency in the Old and New Testaments.31 There are different views as to who this is, but at the very least we can say that he is an angel who represents God, speaking and acting on His behalf. At most we could say that he is a visible manifestation of the second person of the Godhead, none other than a preincarnate appearance of our Lord. If Balak sent his most noble princes to entice Balaam to come to him, God sent His most awesome emissary to oppose his coming.
Here is an amazing thing. Balaam, does not see the Angel of the LORD, but his donkey does. A prophet was known as a “seer,” who spoke to men for God concerning the things he “saw” (see 1 Samuel 9:9, 11, 19). Balaam cannot “see” the Angel of the LORD, but the donkey can, and this donkey then speaks to Balaam, rebuking him (cf. 2 Peter 2:16) for his sin. The donkey is a better “prophet” (or “seer”) than Balaam. Let no prophet ever attempt to take credit for what he sees and says, for God can do as much through a donkey.
Three times the donkey will see the Angel of the LORD and refuse to continue on the path in an attempt to spare Balaam from his sword. The first encounter comes where the path ran through an open field. The donkey sees the Angel and turns aside, into the field. Balaam is furious with his donkey for turning off the road. He beats his donkey severely,32 virtually forcing her to get back onto the path. Some time later, Balaam and his mount pass through some vineyards. Just as Balaam’s donkey is making her way between two walls, she sees the Angel of the LORD once again. In order to avoid the Angel, the donkey presses hard against one wall, crushing Balaam’s foot between her body and the wall. Greatly angered by her seemingly senseless behavior, Balaam beats his donkey once again. Going on farther, the Angel blocked the donkey’s path while she was confined to a very narrow place, and so all she could do was to lie down, refusing to go on. This really angers Balaam, who now employs his staff to beat his donkey. I cringe as, in my mind, I can hear the squeals uttered by the donkey in her pain, as she endures the brutal blows of Balaam’s staff.
What happens next seems absolutely incredible to the reader, and yet it did not appear to make much of an impression on Balaam. The donkey suddenly speaks to her master. She asks Balaam what she has done wrong for him to beat her so severely these three times. Balaam hardly appears to notice the incredible fact that a donkey is speaking to him. In effect, Balaam’s answer to the donkey’s question is, “Because you made a jackass out of me. And so help me if I had a sword in my hand right now I would kill you.” This is my paraphrase, of course, but it is not far from the sense of the text. Balaam was angry with his donkey because she had made him look like a fool. The donkey’s actions seemed completely inexcusable, so long as one is unaware of the presence of the Angel of the LORD, with His sword poised to kill Balaam. Balaam’s actions were irrational and cruel to a donkey who could see the Angel, who was aware of the danger He presented, and who sought to spare her master’s life.
There is a great deal of humor in our text, even though it deals with a very serious matter. Balaam seems to be very concerned about status and prestige. Surely this is why Balak sent an even more prestigious delegation the second time. There was probably plenty of pomp and circumstance as this entourage made its way back to Moab. We have seen these three incidents through the eyes of the donkey, and to some degree, through the eyes of Balaam. But what must this have looked like to one of the princes who was in the caravan, as they witnessed these events? Balaam, a man highly regarded for his ability to influence or control the “gods,” cannot manage to make his donkey go where he wants. These princes watch as Balaam completely loses control of himself, cruelly beating his animal. This did not do his image any good, and it would seem that his image was very important to Balaam.
But it gets even more incredible. The princes watch as Balaam strikes his donkey repeatedly in the open field, forcing her back onto the path. Then they look on as the donkey suddenly draws away, pressing hard against the wall, with Balaam’s foot catching the worst of it. Once again, they watch Balaam beat his animal. And then they look on (I think with smiles on their faces) as the donkey lays down beneath Balaam, so that he must jump off and beat the animal until she gets to her feet. And just when it would appear that things could not get worse, they watch in disbelief as Balaam and his donkey carry on a conversation. Can you imagine their astonishment if Balaam had turned to these princes and said something like this: “Men, I’ve just had a little talk with my donkey here, and we’ve decided that it would be best for us not to continue on with you.”
It is very doubtful that those who looked on saw the Angel of the LORD. It must have been something like what Saul’s fellow-travelers on the road to Damascus experienced, when our Lord appeared to him in a blinding light. We read, “Now the men who were traveling with him stood there speechless, because they heard the voice but saw no one” (Acts 9:7). A similar incident is recorded in John 12:27-30. The princes who accompanied Balaam (not to forget his two servants) must have gaped, wide-eyed, when they saw Balaam fall prostrate to the ground. What in the world was this man doing? Had he completely lost his mind? To the onlooker, it would have seemed so.
Balaam tells his donkey that if he had a sword in his hand, he would kill her that very moment. How foolish his words seem to us, since we know that there was One present who did have a sword, and who was ready to use it that very moment on Balaam. The donkey’s response to Balaam is most interesting:
And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am not I your donkey, upon which you have ridden ever since I was yours unto this day? Have I ever attempted to treat you this way?” (Numbers 22:30).
Of all the things I would have said to Balaam if I were his donkey, this is not even on my list. Why does the donkey speak as she does? Actually, her words make a lot of sense. Balaam was a man who was supposed to be “in touch” with the spiritual forces (especially those on the dark side). He was a man who was consulted for guidance regarding the future. Very often, then as now, the diviner would predict the future based upon the arrangement or relationships of physical elements (e.g., the pattern of tea leaves in a cup, or of the physical organs of an animal prepared for sacrifice). It shouldn’t have taken a rocket scientist to discern that there was some kind of significance to the three-fold refusal of the donkey to stay on the path. There was a lesson to be learned here, but Balaam completely missed it.
If I may be so bold as to attempt to paraphrase the words of a donkey, I believe her words were meant to be understood something like this:
“Stop and think about this for a moment, master. How long have I been your beast of burden? A long time, right? And have I ever acted in this fashion before? You know that I have not. And if I have not acted this way before, through all the years you have ridden me, doesn’t this suggest to you that something out of the ordinary is going on here? Don’t you think that there may be a message for you in all of this? If I turned off the path three times for what appeared to be no reason at all, doesn’t this cause you to wonder if you are on the right path or not?”
It is only now that Balaam’s eyes are opened so that he is able to actually see the Angel of the LORD, standing in the way, with His sword drawn. Instantly, Balaam is on his face, prostrate before the Angel of the LORD. The Angel then asks Balaam essentially the same question, “What reason did you have for beating your donkey these three times?” The Angel does not wait for Balaam to respond. Instead the Angel explains, “I came out here to oppose you, because what you are doing is perverse. The donkey is a better ‘seer’ than you. She saw me and turned back these three times. This was to save you from certain death. Had she continued on, I would have killed you and let her live. You were about to kill her for saving your life. She is a far better prophet than you.”
Think of it. If Balaam’s words to the donkey could kill, that donkey would have been dead (see 22:29). In effect, Balaam was cursing his donkey. Balaam cursed the donkey, yet she was the only reason Balaam had not been killed by the Angel of the LORD. Balaam was cursing his one and only source of blessing. Balaam cursed and would have killed the instrument of his deliverance. Is the connection between this incident and what Balaam is seeking to do to Israel not clear? God had promised to bless Israel and also to make Israel a source of blessing to all who treated His people with favor. Balaam was seeking to turn God’s blessing into a curse, and by so doing, he was bringing a curse upon himself.
Balaam can think of no excuse that will adequately explain or justify his actions. He admits his sin, though some think he has not owned up to it in full measure. His only excuse is that he did not realize it was God who opposed him on his journey. He offers to go back home if it is evil in the Angel’s sight. Did Balaam say if it was displeasing to the Angel? How could it be otherwise? How could he not see this?
Instead of ordering Balaam to go back home, the Angel instructed him to go on with the men, but he must only speak that which God gave him to say. And so, once again, Balaam is on his way to Balak, but his mission will produce the opposite of what the Moabites want, and nothing like what Balaam hopes for. If Balaam has learned but one lesson, it is this: one who speaks for God must do so precisely, just as God has spoken—no additions or omissions, no embellishments or watering down of the truth.
Our text has many lessons to teach us. Let me conclude by pointing out a few of these lessons.
(1) It is never more dangerous or foolish than to be for what God is against, and against what God is for. Balaam was seeking to curse those whom God had blessed. That made Balaam against those whom God was for. In so doing, Balaam found God to be his adversary. How much better it is for us to have God as our Advocate! As the Apostle Paul puts it, “What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). Those who would have God as their Adversary are those who must some day bow before Him as Lord of all:
5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, 6 who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. 8 He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross! 9 As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess to the glory of God the Father that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:5-11).
(2) Our challenge is not to “convert” God to be on our side, but to be converted, so that we may be on His side. Many people are just like Balaam in that they are seeking to get God to join them, to be on their side. The message of the Bible is that we are on one side, and God is on the opposite side. We are sinners, both by nature and by choice; God is righteous. We are naturally in an adversarial relationship to God. It was God who took the initiative so that we might no longer be His enemies, but His sons:
11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh—who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed in the body by hands—12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, the one who turned both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, in his flesh, 15 when he nullified the law of commandments in decrees. The purpose of this was to create in himself the two into one new man, thus making peace, 16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer foreigners and non-citizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20 because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:11-22).
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? 11 Not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation (Romans 5:8-11).
All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6, NKJV).
(3) Getting away with sin for a season should in no way lead one to conclude that there will be no dire consequences in the future. Balaam disobeyed God by going with the delegation to meet with Balak. Balaam might well have thought that he was “making progress” with God, and that there was good reason to hope that God would change His mind about Israel. God had told Balaam “No” at first, and yet He later permitted him to go and to meet with Balak. God threw a good scare into Balaam on his journey, but he did survive. How easy it would be for Balaam to reason that he would not be punished for his sin, and that he might even be rewarded for it.
How eager men are to believe that God will not condemn them eternally for their sins. Eve foolishly believed Satan when he assured her that she would surely not die for eating the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:4). Down through the centuries, men whom God momentarily allowed to get away with their sins have reasoned from this that God will not punish them for their sin:
4 The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks, “God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.” 5 He is secure at all times. He has no regard for your commands, he disdains all his enemies. 6 He says to himself, “I will never be upended; because I experience no calamity.” 7 His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words, his tongue injures and destroys. 8 He waits in ambush near the villages, in hidden places he kills the innocent. His eyes look for some unfortunate victim. 9 He lies in ambush in a hidden place, like a lion in a thicket, he lies in ambush, waiting to catch the oppressed; he catches the oppressed by pulling in his net. 10 His victims are crushed and beaten down, they are trapped in his sturdy nets.11 He says to himself, “God overlooks it, he does not pay attention” (Psalm 10:4-11).
6 Arrogance is their necklace, and violence their clothing. 7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong, their thoughts are sinful. 8 They mock and say evil things, they proudly threaten violence. 9 They speak as if they rule in heaven, and lay claim to the earth. 10 Therefore they have more than enough food to eat, and even suck up the water of the sea. 11 They say, “How does God know what we do? Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?” (Psalm 73:6-11).
3 Above all, understand this: in the last days blatant scoffers will come, being propelled by their own evil urges 4 and saying, “Where is his promised coming? For ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately suppress this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed from water and by water. 6 Through these things the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water. 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. 8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. 9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare. 11 Since all these things are to melt away in this manner, what sort of people must we be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness, 12 while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God. Because of this day, the heavens will be burned up and dissolve, and the heavenly bodies will melt away in a blaze! 13 But, according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness truly resides (2 Peter 3:3-13).
Balaam is a reminder that there is a “payday,” someday. It is not until the end of the Book of Numbers that Balaam dies, but he dies because of his sin. My friend, never mistake the longsuffering of God for apathy. God will most certainly reward the righteous and punish the wicked.
(4) Many people who attempt to convince us they are eagerly seeking God’s will, but without success, are those who already know God’s will, and have no intention of doing it. Balaam persists at “inquiring” of God, as though he were seeking God’s will. God had made His will very clear to Balaam—”Don’t go with them, and don’t curse those whom I have blessed”—but Balaam wanted a different answer.
(5) The story of Balaam underscores the vital role which the Pentateuch33 plays for Old and New Testament saints alike. Balak told Balaam that the one whom he curses is cursed, and the one whom he blesses is blessed (22:6). The student of Genesis knows better.
1 Now the LORD had said to Abram, “Go out from your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s household, to the land that I will show you; 2 and I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, in order that you might be a blessing; 3 and I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1-3).
It is God who blesses and curses. And beyond this, cursing and blessing are determined on the basis of how one deals with Abraham and his offspring. If one wished to be blessed, then he must bless those whom God has blessed. Anyone who curses those whom God has blessed will be cursed. Balak sought to flatter Balaam by telling him that he could bless or curse whomever he wished. The truth was that God had blessed Israel, and there was nothing Balaam could do to change this.
The Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament) brings the events of Numbers 22-25 into focus. It is in the Book of Genesis that we learn of the covenant God made with Abraham, which describes the blessing God pronounced upon Abraham and his offspring (12:1-3). It is in Genesis and Exodus that we learn of the link between the Israelites, the Moabites, the Ammonites (Genesis 19:30-38), and the Midianites (Genesis 37:28, 36; Numbers 10:29). It is from the Pentateuch that we are first warned about diviners, like Balaam, who are false prophets (see Deuteronomy 13, 18). The Pentateuch is foundational to our understanding of God’s dealings with Israel, and with the Gentiles. It is foundational to our understanding of the gospel. Would that Balaam had been better informed concerning the matters dealt with in the Pentateuch.
(6) Beware of the grave danger of seeking to “use” God. If our text teaches us anything, it is that Balaam did not appreciate the monumental differences between the one true God, the God of Israel, and the “gods” of the heathen nations. Balaam was skilled in the manipulation of the “gods,” but he hardly sensed that it was God who was using him. It is fairly easy to see the folly of Balaam’s ways, and yet many Christians seek to use God, rather than to serve Him. We try to convince God that our happiness is more important than our holiness, that our pleasures are more important than pleasing Him. How often we know that what we are pursuing is in violation of His Word, and yet we persist at seeking to change His mind, or at least in seeking to convince ourselves that what we want is not really that bad. The pagan gods were not real, but the product of man’s fallen imaginations—”god” the way we would like him to be. These gods could be manipulated and used because they were man-made. We serve the God who made man, and who will not be manipulated. It is our duty and privilege to conform to Him, rather than for us to seek to conform Him to our wants and wishes.
(7) There is nothing more important than being on the right path, nor more dangerous than being on the wrong one. As I read the Book of Proverbs, I see two paths constantly being described. The one path is the way of righteousness, which is the way of life. The other path is the way of sin, which is the way that leads to death. Balaam is on the wrong path. It is a path that will inevitably lead to his death, as the final chapters of Numbers confirm. Even Balaam’s donkey could see the danger, but not Balaam. As we leave this text, let me remind you that there are only two paths, only two “ways.” Jesus is the one and only Way to eternal life. Sin and self-interest is the way that leads to eternal destruction. Which path are you on, my friend? If you have not yet trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and the gift of eternal life, you are on the path to destruction. Turn from that path today by trusting in Jesus Christ, who died for your sins, and whose righteousness alone can justify you in God’s sight.
21 I obtained this information from a very helpful chart in J. Sidlow Baxter’s, Explore the Book (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1960), vol. 1, p. 156. Baxter has an uncanny way of simplifying and summing up things which seem very complicated. I find myself constantly picking up this great work, now six volumes in one. This book makes a great gift.
22 Walvoord, John F., and Zuck, Roy B., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Scripture Press Publications, Inc.) 1983, 1985.
23 Timothy R. Ashley, The Book of Numbers, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1993), p. 445.
24 In Numbers 22:18, Balaam speaks of “the LORD my God.” The term “LORD” is a translation of the Hebrew “Yahweh” (or Jehovah), and “God” is a rendering of “Elohim.” “Yahweh” would probably be understood as the technical term for Israel’s God.
25 In these chapters, Balaam uses both “Yahweh” and “Elohim.” My point is that Balaam knows who Israel’s God is.
26 I have underscored the things which Balak communicated to Balaam, but which Balaam held back from God.
27 There is more than one way that this statement could be translated, but the rendering of the NIV makes the most sense in the context: “Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you.”
28 The “also” here appears to convey the thought that just as the first delegation had spent the night with Balaam, as his guests, so the second delegation will do likewise.
29 This kind of repetition is precisely what our Lord prohibited in Matthew 6:7.
30 This is, in fact, the argument put forth in Romans 6:1, which is thoroughly rejected in the verses which follow.
31 Genesis 16:7, 9, 10, 11; 22:11, 15; Exodus 3:2; Numbers 22:22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 31, 32, 34, 35; Judges 2:1, 4; 5:23; 6:11, 12, 21, 22; 13:3, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21; 2 Samuel 24:16; 1 Kings 19:7; 2 Kings 1:3, 15; 19:35; 1 Chronicles 21:12, 15, 16, 18, 30; Psalms 34:7; 35:5, 6; Isaiah 37:36; Zechariah 1:11, 12; 3:1, 5, 6; 12:8; Matthew 1:20, 24; 2:13, 19; 28:2; Luke 1:11; 2:9; Acts 5:19; 7:30; 8:26; 12:7, 23.
32 A number of translations render the Hebrew term “struck” (NASB, NKJB, New Jerusalem Bible). I don’t think this rendering is quite strong enough. I much prefer the term “beat,” or preferably, “beat severely.” In the King James Version, this word occurs 500 times. In the KJV, 348 times the term is rendered “smite,” 92 times “slay,” 20 times “kill,” 9 times “beat,” five times “slaughter.” It is very often used to depict the utter defeat and wholesale slaughter of Israel’s enemies in battle. It is not as though Balaam simply took a switch and struck the animal a few times to get her moving toward Moab; Balaam beat this animal mercilessly, in order to impose his will on it.
33 The term “Pentateuch” refers to the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
I was in the grocery store the other day, and as I was making my way down one aisle, I passed another shopper. This woman had a child in her cart, whom I judged to be about five or six years old. This was a very attractive child, and I was especially fascinated by the way its long hair had been so meticulously braided. And so when I caught the eye of the child, I said something like, “Hello there. I love your hair. What a lovely young lady you are!” The mother looked at me with disgust and replied, “His name is ______.” What could I say? There was absolutely no way for me to take back what I had said or to make amends for my foolishness. I quickly found it necessary to look for something I needed several aisles away.
Sometimes we say things that really get us into trouble. Someone sent me an e-mail message recently about things that you should never say to a police officer. These included the following:
As much as he wishes to do so, the false prophet Balaam finds it impossible to say anything that will please Balak, the king of Moab. This heathen king was attempting to persuade Balaam to curse the Israelites, who had camped nearby, poised to take possession of the Promised Land.
10 And Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent to me saying, 11 ‘Look, a nation has come out of Egypt, and it covers the face of the earth. Come now and put a curse on them for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them out.’” 12 But God said to Balaam, “You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, for they are blessed” (Numbers 22:10-12).
In our previous lesson, we focused on Numbers 22 and the invitation Balaam received from the delegation sent by Balak. Balak made a very tempting offer to Balaam, if he would come and curse Israel for him. Because Balaam wanted to accept Balak’s offer, he did not listen when God forbade him to go with the delegation that had come to bring him to Balak. Neither did he listen to his donkey, which spoke to him. Only when Balaam saw the Angel of the Lord did he offer to turn back from going to the king of Moab. God instructed Balaam to go on, but with one condition: he was to very carefully speak only the words that God gave him (22:35). If Balaam learned anything at all, it was that when he spoke for God, he must not say anything but that which God revealed to him.
As we approach Numbers 22:36-24:25, we will attempt to focus on three things: (1) the stubborn persistence of Balak; (2) the progress of Balaam; and, (3) the oracles which God had spoken through Balaam. I would remind you that while Balaam is a false prophet, the words he speaks in our text are the words of God. Just as God can speak through a donkey, He can also speak through a man like Balaam. Indeed, one of the great prophecies of the Old Testament is to be found in our text! Regardless of the mouthpiece, let us listen well to what God is saying, and let us seek to learn what Balaam and Balak did not.
One of my relatives used to say that his mother was the most gracious woman he ever knew. He claimed that she always found something good to say about everyone. “Why,” he would say, “if you asked her about the devil, she was sure to say, ‘Well, he’s persistent.’” That’s one thing we can safely say about Balak. In our text, Balak is both “persistent” and “consistent.” That’s a nice way of saying that he was a stubborn man, who refused to listen and to learn. The Bible has other names for people like him.
As I read through these chapters in Numbers, I am amazed that this man never gives up, and that he never seems to get the message. This is in spite of the fact that it is God who is speaking, and He repeats the message several times. Here is a king who is willing to pay Balaam well for his words, if he will put a curse upon Israel. Yet he is not willing to heed the words of Balaam, which pronounce a curse upon any who would curse Israel. Balak learns absolutely nothing from his encounter with the God of Israel.
His persistence is seen in his refusal to accept Balaam’s response when he declines his invitation to come and curse Israel. His persistence is also seen in his numerous attempts to approach God in worship (Numbers 22:39—23:6; 23:13-17, 27-30). If I am correct, Balak is not attempting to have Balaam persuade his heathen “gods” to curse the Israelites and their God. I suspect that Balak has already attempted this and failed. I believe Balaam is being brought in as a kind of spiritual consultant, with the hope that he can somehow communicate with Yahweh and induce Him to curse His own people, the Israelites, upon whom He has pronounced His blessing.
Balak behaves like a Mafia “godfather,” who is trying to “make Balaam and God an offer they cannot refuse.” On the one hand, he employs flattery and bribery to persuade Balaam, and on the other hand, there is the implied threat that harm will come to him if Balak does not get what he demands. Balak looks upon God as being weak-willed, so he expects to change the will of God by persisting to press Him to curse Israel. And so he moves from one place to another, making one sacrifice after another, as though the quality and quantity of his offerings can manipulate God. God is not impressed, nor does He change His mind.
Notice, too, that Balak is very willing to join together with Balaam and with whatever “god” will get him what he wants. He is the classic polytheist (a believer in many gods). He looks upon the gods as some people look on vitamin pills—if one is good, then several must be far better. And so Balak is more than willing to unite himself with other prophets and other gods, so long as he gets his way. His motto is, “the more the merrier.”
Balak’s approach was the opposite of God’s instructions to Israel. God repeatedly warned the Israelites not to embrace any other gods or to incorporate any of their religious practices. Their safety and security came from standing alone, in keeping themselves separate from the heathen nations around them, and in worshipping God alone. Balak could not even begin to grasp how offensive his “worship” was to the God of Israel. Was he trying to get God’s attention? He was getting it, but not in the way he wanted.
The more I have studied this passage, the more I have been impressed with the differences between Balak and Balaam. Both men were pagans, it is true, but each responded differently to divine revelation in this account. Balak makes no progress at all. He is exactly the same man at the end of the story as he is at the beginning. Balaam, however, undergoes some significant changes. Balaam makes a great deal of progress in his understanding of God, and in the way he speaks as a prophet. Consider these examples of Balaam’s progress in our passage.
Balaam learns that those whom Balak merely calls “a people” are “God’s people.”
5 And he sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the river in his native land, to call him, saying, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are settling next to me. 6 So now, please come and curse this nation for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them, and drive them out of the land. For I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed” (Numbers 22:5-6, emphasis mine).
20 Indeed, I have received command to bless, and he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 21 He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, neither has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the acclamation for a king is among them; 22 God brought them out of Egypt, They have as it were the strength of a wild bull. 23 For there is no spell against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. At this time it must be said of Jacob and of Israel, “What God has done!” (Numbers 23:20-23, emphasis mine).
Balaam learns that those whom Balak wants him to curse are those whom God has blessed.
6 So now, please come and curse this nation for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them, and drive them out of the land. For I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed. . . .12 But God said to Balaam, “You must not go with them; you must not curse the people, for they are blessed” (Numbers 22:6, 12, emphasis mine).
Then Balaam took up his oracle, and said, “Balak, the king of Moab brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel.’ 8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? (Numbers 23:7-8, emphasis mine).
19 “God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent; has he said, and will he not do it? or has he spoken, and will he not establish it? 20 Indeed, I have received command to bless, and he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it” (Numbers 23:19-20, emphasis mine).
Balaam eventually admits his sin in going with Balak’s emissaries and offers to go back. When Balak summons Balaam, this false prophet really wants to go and curse the Israelites. Obviously, Balaam would have been rewarded with a generous fee, which he was eager to obtain. After God instructs him not to go (22:6, 12), Balaam declines the invitation of Balak’s emissaries, but without conviction, thereby leaving the door open for future negotiations. When a better offer is proposed and Balaam seeks God’s permission to go, God grants him permission, but it eventually becomes apparent to him that this displeased God greatly, putting his life in great jeopardy. This was first communicated circumstantially by Balaam’s donkey, as she repeatedly turned off the path. Then it was conveyed more clearly and forcefully when the donkey spoke to Balaam, and finally when he saw the Angel of the Lord standing in his way, with drawn sword. Balaam finally admits his guilt in going to Balak (22:34) and offers to turn back.
Balaam’s words to Balak indicate some movement in the right direction. Balaam tells Balak that he has no power, in and of himself, to speak anything for God (22:38). He also informs Balak that whatever God puts in his mouth, that he must speak (22:38; 23:3, 12).
At first, Balaam is not entirely candid in what he says, but in the end, he speaks very plainly and forcefully to Balak. Balaam does not fully disclose all that Balak had communicated to him through the delegation that he had sent (compare 22:5-6 with 22:11). Likewise, Balaam does not fully convey to Balak all that God had spoken to him (compare 22:9, 12 with 22:13). But after the ordeal with his donkey and the Angel of the Lord, Balaam is careful to say all that God revealed to him. The oracles that he spoke were the words of God.
Balaam begins to identify himself with God and with the nation Israel.
18 And Balaam answered and said to the servants of Balak, “If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not transgress the commandment of the LORD my God, to do less or more” (Numbers 22:18, emphasis mine).
10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or as a number, the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my latter end be like theirs” (Numbers 23:10).
Balaam comes to grasp that the God of Israel was God alone. Balaam starts to comprehend the complete “otherness” of God when compared to the “gods” he has dealt with previously. Specifically, Balaam begins to grasp the sovereignty of God:
18 And he took up his oracle, and said, “Rise up Balak, and hear, Listen to me, son of Zippor; 19 God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent; has he said, and will he not do it? or has he spoken, and will he not establish it? 20 Indeed, I have received command to bless, and he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 21 He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, neither has he seen trouble in Israel.
The LORD their God is with them, and the acclamation for a king is among them; 22 God brought them out of Egypt, They have as it were the strength of a wild bull. 23 For there is no spell against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. At this time it must be said of Jacob and of Israel, “What God has done!” 24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lion, and like a lion lift himself up; they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain” (Numbers 23:18-24, emphasis mine).
When Balaam learns how God’s will is supposed to be sought, he ceases to employ his pagan methods and uses those that please God: “ When Balaam saw that it pleased the LORD to bless Israel, he did not go as at the other times to seek for omens, but he set his face toward the wilderness (Numbers 24:1).
At first, God “put the words in Balaam’s mouth,” as He did with the donkey. But later God’s Spirit comes upon Balaam, so that he speaks in the Spirit:
The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all of this?” The woman replied, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, there is no deviation to the right or to the left from all that my lord the king has said. For your servant Joab gave me instructions. He has put all these words in my mouth” (2 Samuel 14:19,emphasis mine).
“So now, look, the LORD has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours; but the LORD has decreed disaster for you” (1 Kings 22:23, emphasis mine).
2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel camped tribe by tribe; and the Spirit of God came upon him. 3 Then he took up this oracle, and said, . . . (Numbers 24:2-3a, emphasis mine).
In the end, Balaam speaks the words of God to Balak, in spite of the fact that he has already been fired and told to leave, and in spite of the fact that doing so puts his life in jeopardy.
10 Then Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, “I called you to curse my enemies, and look, you have done nothing but bless them these three times. 11 So now, flee to your place. I said that I would greatly honor you; but now, the LORD has stood in the way of your honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also speak to your messengers which you sent to me, saying, 13 ‘If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the LORD to do either good or evil of my own will; but what the LORD tells me I must speak.’ 14 And now, I am about to go to my people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future.” 15 And he took up his oracle, and said:
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, and the oracle of the man whose eyes are open; 16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and who knows the knowledge of the Most High, who he sees a vision from the Almighty, although falling prostrate with eyes open: 17 ‘I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand; A star will march forth out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab, and the heads of all the sons of Sheth. 18 And Edom will be a possession, Seir, his enemies, will also be a possession; but Israel will do valiantly. 19 A ruler will be established from Jacob, and will destroy the remains of the city.’”
20 Then he looked on Amalek, and took up his oracle, and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end will be that he will perish.” 21 Then he looked on the Kenites, and took up his oracle, and said, “Your dwelling place seems strong, and your nest is set in a rock; 22 Nevertheless the Kenite will be consumed, How long will Asshur take you away captive?” 23 And he took up his oracle, and said, “Oh, who will live when God does this! 24 And ships will come from the coast of Kittim, And will afflict Asshur, and will afflict Eber, and he will also perish forever.” 25 And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.
One might wonder why there are four separate prophecies given through Balaam in chapters 23 and 24. Balak seemed to insist on seeking further revelation, with the hope that he could somehow change the purposes and promises of God. But when you compare the four prophecies, you begin to observe some very interesting relationships. (1) Each subsequent prophecy is longer and more specific than the previous one. From Balak’s perspective, every prophecy gets worse. (2) At the beginning, Balaam’s words emphasize the impossibility of cursing the people God has blessed; as these prophecies continue, there is a growing emphasis and specificity regarding the judgment of God on Israel’s enemies. Does Balak want God’s people cursed? Instead, he finds that he and his people are cursed! (3) There is also a growing emphasis and specificity regarding the blessings that God will bring upon His people, Israel.
Balak becomes more and more upset by Balaam’s prophecies. He is emphatic that he will not settle for this kind of prophecy, and that Balaam had better come up with something better. Finally, after Balaam’s third prophecy, Balak gives up, and with great anger tells Balaam to leave. There will be no bonus check for Balaam, and not even a paycheck for him. If Balaam wants to spare his life, he had better get out of town quickly. Surely Balaam did not fail to get the point, and yet instead of keeping quiet and leaving quickly, he delivers a final prophecy against Balak’s wishes. This is an amazing prophecy of blessings for Israel and of judgment for all the enemies of Israel. By the end of Numbers 24, we can see that Balaam has come a long way from the fellow we first met in chapter 22.
What Balak cannot grasp, and Balaam begins to understand, is that God’s relationship with Israel is based upon His covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Unlike men, God will not break His promises. No matter what Balak offers, there is no way that Balaam or any other prophet can manipulate Him so that He will abandon His people, to whom He has eternally committed Himself in the form of a covenant:
1 Now the LORD had said to Abram, “Go out from your country, and from your relatives, and from your father's household, to the land that I will show you; 2 and I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great, in order that you might be a blessing; 3 and I will bless those who bless you, but the one who treats you lightly I must curse, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1-3).
In the light of God’s covenant promise to Abraham, the forefather of the nation Israel, Balak’s request of Balaam is seen for what it is—impossible:
5 And he sent messengers to Balaam, the son of Beor, to Pethor, which is by the river in his native land, to call him, saying, “Look, a nation has come out of Egypt. They cover the face of the earth, and they are settling next to me. 6 So now, please come and curse this nation for me, for they are too powerful for me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them, and drive them out of the land. For I know that whomever you bless is blessed, and whomever you curse is cursed” (Numbers 22:5-6).
Then Balaam took up his oracle, and said, “Balak, the king of Moab brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob or me, and come, denounce Israel.’ 8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? (Numbers 23:7-8, emphasis mine).
All the prophecies of Balaam are the outgrowth of God’s covenant promises to Israel, and Balak’s attempts to reverse this covenant will prove futile.
7 Then Balaam took up his oracle, and said, “Balak, the king of Moab brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, ‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me, and come, denounce Israel.’ 8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed, or how can I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced? 9 For from the top of the rocks I see them, and from the hills I watch them. Indeed, a nation that lives alone, and it will not be reckoned among the nations. 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or as a number, the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my latter end be like theirs.”
This first prophecy is short and to the point. Balak has brought Balaam from Aram, instructing him to curse Israel (Numbers 23:7). It is impossible for Balaam to grant his request because, as a prophet, he can only echo what God has declared. God has not denounced Israel, so neither can Balaam denounce them (verse 8). This is a nation that stands apart from all other nations (verse 9), and they will become even greater in number and strength (verse 10a). Balaam cannot curse them; he even indicates that he wishes he could enter into their blessings, which include a hope that extends beyond the grave (10b).
18 And he took up his oracle, and said, “Rise up Balak, and hear, Listen to me, son of Zippor; 19 God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent; has he said, and will he not do it? or has he spoken, and will he not establish it? 20 Indeed, I have received command to bless, and he has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. 21 He has not looked on iniquity in Jacob, neither has he seen trouble in Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the acclamation for a king is among them; 22 God brought them out of Egypt, They have as it were the strength of a wild bull. 23 For there is no spell against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel. At this time it must be said of Jacob and of Israel, “What God has done!” 24 Indeed, the people will rise up like a lion, and like a lion lift himself up; they will not lie down until they eat their prey, and drink the blood of the slain.”
My perception of Balak is that he is a man who is accustomed to getting his way. No one would dare to speak harshly to him, and yet even though he has made it clear to Balaam that he wants no more prophecies like the first one (23:11-12), Balaam’s words become more pointed and forceful. His second oracle begins with words that we might paraphrase this way: “Sit up straight and listen, Balak, because God has a word for you, and you’d better pay attention!”
Balak may be used to giving orders to men, and even to his “gods,” but the God of Israel is different. He is not a man. He does not lie, and He certainly does not break His promises. He does not take orders from men. If God has committed Himself to bless Israel, that is the way it will be (verse 19). Since God has commanded Balaam to bless Israel, he surely cannot reverse it (verse 20).
Verse 21 is absolutely amazing. Behind this verse, there appears to be the assumption on Balak’s part that God’s blessings are based upon the merits of those who are blessed. Balak thus appears to be attempting to outdo Israel, by his sacrifices and by hiring Balaam. Balaam pulls the rug out from under Balak once again by informing this heathen king that God’s blessings are based upon the principle of grace. God has not made His covenant with Israel, based upon Israel’s righteousness. Indeed, God does not look upon the (many) sins of Jacob. God’s kindness to Israel is rooted in His grace. This was the basis for His leading Israel out of Egypt. Balak should remember that God defended Israel against her enemies, so that they were invincible. There was no way that Balaam could reverse this to bring about Israel’s downfall. To oppose Israel is to oppose Israel’s God (verses 22-23).
The final verse, Numbers 23:24, concludes with a powerful word of promise and warning. What God has done for Israel shows His faithfulness and power. But God is yet to do great things for His people in the future. He will cause Israel to rise up like a lion. Like a lion, Israel will not rest until it has destroyed and consumed its prey—and we all know who that will include (see Numbers 31:1-12)! This final verse of Balaam’s second prophecy is a very powerful word of warning that Israel will destroy their enemies. The point of all this is quite clear—no nation ought to become the enemy of Israel. This is precisely what Balak is doing.
The emphasis in this second oracle of Balaam is on the God of Israel, His nature, and His attributes. Based upon God’s covenant and His character, it is certain that the blessings of Israel are certain and secure. And based upon His covenant relationship with Israel, as evident in the exodus, no nation should dare to oppose the people of God. To do so is to become the enemy of God and to face destruction. If there is a curse to be pronounced, it must be pronounced upon God’s enemies, because God’s blessings have been promised to His people, Israel.
3 Then he took up this oracle, and said, “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, and the oracle of the man whose eyes are open; 4 The oracle of him who hears the words of God, who sees the vision of the Almighty, although falling prostrate with eyes open: 5 ‘How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, and your habitations, O Israel! 6 They are like valleys stretched forth, like gardens by the river’s side, like aloes that the LORD has planted and like cedar trees beside the waters. 7 He will pour the water out of his buckets, and their descendants will be like flowing water; their king will be greater than Agag, and their kingdom will be exalted. 8 God brought them out of Egypt, They have as it were the strength of a young bull; they will devour hostile people, and will break their bones, and pierce them through with arrows. 9 They crouch and lie down like a lioness; and as a great lion, who can stir him? Blessed is he that bless you, and cursed is he that curses you.’”
As I read the first words of this third oracle, I am impressed with the way Balaam has an ever-growing sense that he is speaking authoritatively for God. Verses 3 and 4 say it so forcefully. Balaam has claimed to speak for the “gods” before, but now he realizes that the revelation he has received is from the one True God, and that his words are therefore authoritative. In today’s terminology, Balaam has come to believe in the inspiration and authority of Scripture, and he sees that what he is speaking is the Word of God. It certainly affects the way Balaam deals with Balak, and it should also affect the way Balak responds to the Word of the Lord.
The rest of Balaam’s third oracle pronounces a blessing on Israel. How this must have galled Balak. He was paying for cursing, not blessing! How different is the way God looks upon the Israelites, camped below. Balak sees them as a great threat to him and to his people. God sees them as beautiful. They are like gardens, planted by the river. God will faithfully water them, and as He does, they will grow stronger, so that they will utterly defeat their enemies (verses 5-9). The imagery of a lion devouring its prey introduced in the last oracle (23:24) is once again employed (24:9). And now the Abrahamic covenant is reiterated in a way that precisely reverses what Balak has sought!
Balak is hot with anger. How dare Balaam turn the tables on him, blessing the very people he was paying him to curse, and cursing those whom he insisted that he bless! To make matters worse, Balaam has done this three times (24:10). Balak knows how to hurt a fellow like Balaam—he fires him and withholds his pay (24:11). Balaam tries to explain, but Balak is not listening (24:12-13). In spite of his anger, Balaam gives Balak a final, unsolicited word from the Lord in his fourth and final oracle.
15 And he took up his oracle, and said: “The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor, and the oracle of the man whose eyes are open; 16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God, and who knows the knowledge of the Most High, who he sees a vision from the Almighty, although falling prostrate with eyes open: 17 ‘I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not close at hand; A star will march forth out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the skulls of Moab, and the heads of all the sons of Sheth. 18 And Edom will be a possession, Seir, his enemies, will also be a possession; but Israel will do valiantly. 19 A ruler will be established from Jacob, and will destroy the remains of the city.’”
20 Then he looked on Amalek, and took up his oracle, and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end will be that he will perish.”
21 Then he looked on the Kenites, and took up his oracle, and said, “Your dwelling place seems strong, and your nest is set in a rock; 22 Nevertheless the Kenite will be consumed, How long will Asshur take you away captive?”
23 And he took up his oracle, and said, “Oh, who will live when God does this! 24 And ships will come from the coast of Kittim, And will afflict Asshur, and will afflict Eber, and he will also perish forever.”
25 And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.
In verses 15 and 16, Balaam repeats what he has already declared in 23:2-3. Once again the introduction makes it clear that the words which follow are inspired by God, and thus reliable and authoritative. Balak would do well to heed them, and so would we.
Verses 17-19 are a sermon in and of themselves. This pagan prophet speaks the most beautiful and pointed words of prophecy yet. In fact, in this messianic prophecy, Balaam goes farther than many true prophets have done, or will do. Has God promised to bless Abraham and his offspring in the Abrahamic covenant? Balaam now tells us how this will take place. The blessings that will come to Israel come through Messiah. Wonder of wonders, Balaam “sees” him, a true prophet for a few moments of his life, at least so far as his words are concerned. This Messiah will not only come to save Israel, He will destroy Israel’s enemies (verses 17b-18).
Have the Midianites and the Moabites sought to form an alliance against Israel with the futile hope of defeating the people of God? It won’t work. In fact, these closing words of Balaam’s prophecy spell out defeat for all those who would join together against the people of God. In spite of all their strengths and strongholds, nothing will prevent them from the defeat which God has promised in the Abrahamic covenant, and now through Balaam. With these parting words, Balaam leaves. We would suppose that we have seen the last of Balaam, but Numbers 25 indicates otherwise.
Our text leaves us with many lessons to ponder. Allow me to mention a few of the lessons I see from these chapters.
The Israelites have now come to the borders of the Promised Land. Soon, they will possess the land under Joshua. Throughout Israel’s history, the neighboring nations surrounding Israel will be intimidated by the presence of the people of God and His blessings upon them. Like Balak, the kings of these nations will seek to bring about Israel’s downfall. Let Israel never forget that their safety and security—and their blessings—are a gift from God, based upon His covenant with them. As they trust in Him, He will protect them and give them prosperity, even in the face of opposition from their neighbors.
Though they do not see it at the time, it will become increasingly apparent that the blessings of God will ultimately be realized through one person—the Messiah. He is the reason why God can bless an unworthy people. Israel’s blessings are wrapped up in Messiah. Whether one is an Israelite or a Gentile, every person must choose to submit to Him or to oppose Him. To submit to Him (to bless Him) is to experience God’s blessings. To oppose Him (to curse Him) is to fall under the curse of God. Israel’s future rests in their response to the Messiah who is yet to come.
I am impressed by the fact that the events of chapters 22-24 are not taking place before the eyes of the Israelites. If it were not for the account of Numbers 22-24, neither Israel nor we would even know these things took place. I am reminded of passages in Job and in the Book of Daniel that speak of the “spiritual warfare” that is taking place, unknown to us (unless God reveals it). Thank God that He is constantly protecting us and securing our blessings, when the forces of hell oppose us.
We can learn an important lesson from Balak. It does not pay to oppose the purposes and promises of God. We can never prevail against God. Let us learn from Balak that what God says, He means. When we neglect the Word God has spoken to us, we do so to our own peril.
1 After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our ancestors through the prophets, 2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world (Hebrews 1:1-2).
1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, 4 while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will (Hebrews 2:1-4).
How sad that Balak has everything backwards! The presence of Israel in the land was not a threat to him, but a blessing. All he had to do was to bless Israel. Instead, he sought to curse God’s people.
The issue is essentially the same for men and women today. Our Lord is the fulfillment of Israel’s blessings. We are blessed or cursed of God, based upon our response to Jesus Christ:
13 After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph saying, “Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. For Herod is going to look for the child to kill him.” 14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother at night and went to Egypt. 15 He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet was fulfilled: “I called my Son out of Egypt” (Matthew 2:13-15, citing Hosea 11:1).
15 Brothers and sisters, let me illustrate with a human analogy: when a covenant has been ratified, even though it is only a human contract, no one can set it aside or add anything to it. 16 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not say, “and to the descendants,” referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ (Galatians 3:15-16).
12 But to all who have received him—those who believe in his name—he has given the right to become God’s children 13 —children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God (John 1:12-13).
16 For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God (John 3:16-18).
Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
9 If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, because this is the testimony of God that he has testified concerning his Son. 10 (The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son.) 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life; and this life is in his Son. 12 The one who has the Son has this eternal life; the one who does not have the Son does not have this eternal life (1 John 5:9-12).
Balaam teaches us a very important lesson. Being close to God is not enough. As I read through these chapters in the Book of Numbers, I see Balaam getting closer and closer to the truth. He even speaks some of the most beautiful words of prophecy we could ever hope to read. And yet in spite of all this, we know that Balaam never comes to faith. He, like Balak, will perish because of his sin. It is not enough to be close to God. It is not even enough to speak words of truth about God. Balaam never really trusted in the God of Israel. Are you close to God? Do you attend church, and perhaps even read His Word? You might even teach a Sunday school class. But have you responded to the words of salvation which you have read and taught? It does not matter how close you have gotten to salvation if you have not received Jesus Christ by faith, the One of whom Balaam spoke, but in Whom he never trusted.
Our text is a wonderful illustration of the sovereignty of God. God is in complete control. He does what He wants, and what He says, He does. No one can thwart His purposes and promises. Those who oppose Him will perish. Those who trust in Him will be saved. The God of Israel is God alone. He is not like the man-made “gods” of the heathen, which can be manipulated to give them what we want. Men must bow down to God and be His servants.
I find it interesting that some Christians resist the biblical teaching that God is sovereign—in absolute control. Would we really want it any other way? Because He is sovereign, no one can resist Him or nullify His purposes and promises. God is able to produce everything that He has promised. And the One who has all knowledge and all power is also the One who is loving and merciful. Who else would we wish to be in control? The sovereignty of God is not the basis for protest, but the basis for praise. While the king of Moab did not submit to the sovereignty of God, an even greater king did:
28 Now all of this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. 29 After twelve months, he happened to be walking around on the walls of the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king uttered these words: “Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for a royal residence by my own mighty strength and for my majestic honor?” 31 While these words were still on the king's lips, a voice fell from heaven: “It is hereby announced to you, Nebuchadnezzar the king, that your kingdom has been removed from you. 32 You will be driven from among human beings, and your dwelling will be with the animals of the field. You will be fed grass like oxen, and seven times will pass over you before you comprehend that the Most High is ruler over human kingdoms. He bestows them on whomever he wishes.” 33 Now in that very moment this pronouncement came true with Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among human beings, and he ate grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until his hair became long like an eagle's feathers, and his nails like the claws of a bird. 34 But at the end of the appointed time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me.
“I blessed the Most High, and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever. For his rule is an everlasting rule, and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next. 35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he wishes with the army of heaven and with those who inhabit the earth. No one swats his hand and says to him, `What have you done?'
36 “At that time my sanity returned to me. I was restored to the honor of my kingdom, and my splendor returned to me. My ministers and my magistrates were seeking me out, and I was reinstated over my kingdom. Tremendous greatness was restored to me. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the king of heaven, for all of his deeds are right and his ways are just. Those who live in pride he is able to bring low” (Daniel 4:28-37).
Balaam’s Advice: “If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em”
When we move from Numbers 24 to Numbers 25, we might suppose that we have left Balaam behind. In chapters 22-24, Balak, the king of Moab, employs Balaam, a diviner from Mesopotamia, to manipulate the God of Israel so that He will curse the Israelites, rather than bless them. His hope is to weaken the nation Israel militarily, so that the Moabites and Midianites might defeat them in battle and drive them out of the land. Balaam appears to “change God’s mind” with respect to his going to meet with Balak, but as he learns on his journey, he persists in his efforts at great peril to himself. In spite of Balak’s pressure and Balaam’s desire to do otherwise, this false prophet consistently pronounces blessings on Israel and cursings on Israel’s enemies. In the end, Balak dismisses Balaam, sending him home without pay.
And so when we come to Numbers 25, we do not expect to hear any more about Balaam. Indeed, Balaam is not even named in this chapter. But these later texts make it clear that Balaam and Balak were behind the events of our text in Numbers 25:
8 And they slew the kings of Midian in addition to those slain, namely Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba—five Midianite kings. And Balaam the son of Beor they slew with the sword. 9 And the Israelites took the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took all their herds, and all their flocks, and all their goods as plunder. 10 And they burnt all their towns that they had inhabited, and all their encampments with fire. 11 And they took all the plunder and all the booty, both people and animals. 12 And they brought the captives and the booty and the plunder to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the Israelite community, to the camp on the steppes of Moab, along the Jordan across from Jericho. 13 And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went out to meet them outside the camp. 14 And Moses was furious with the officers of the army, the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, who had come from service in the war. 15 And Moses said to them, “Have you allowed all the women to live? 16 Look, these people, through the counsel of Balaam, caused the Israelites to act treacherously against the LORD in the matter of Peor—and there was the plague among the community of the LORD. 17 Now therefore kill every boy, and kill every woman who has had intercourse with a man. 18 But all the young women who have not had intercourse with a man will be yours” (Numbers 31:8-18, emphasis mine).
12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write the following: “This is the solemn pronouncement of the One who has the sharp double-edged sword: 13 ‘I know where you reside, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you continue to cling to my name and you have not denied your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed in your city where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you: you have some people there who follow the teaching of Balaam, who instructed Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. 15 In the same way, there are also some among you who follow the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore, repent! If not, I will come against you quickly and make war against those people with the sword of my mouth. 17 The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give him some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and on that stone will be written a new name that no one can understand except the one who receives it’” (Revelation 2:12-17, emphasis mine).
The seduction of the Israelites and the death of 24,000 is, at its roots, the result of one man’s counsel. The man is Balaam. Fortunately, the satisfaction of God’s anger and the termination of the plague is also the result of one man’s courage. This man is Phinehas. Let us learn what God has to teach us from the lives of these two men, and from the nation Israel in this dark chapter in Israel’s history.
1 When Israel dwelt in Shittim,34 the people35 began to commit fornication with the daughters of Moab. 2 And these women36 invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; and then the people ate, and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4 And the LORD said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders of the people, and hang them up before the LORD in sun,37 that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israelites, “Each of you must slay those of his men who were joined to Baal-peor.
The Israelites were camped by a grove of Acacia trees, on the east side of the Jordan River. They were waiting for the time when God would lead them into the promised land. Unknown to the Israelites, a spiritual attack against them had been waged by the Moabites and the Midianites, who had hired Balaam to persuade God to curse the nation Israel. Balaam knew that the heathen gods could be manipulated, or at least so it seemed. We know that there are no other gods, but God alone. Because the “gods” are gods of man’s making, they are gods of man’s shaping as well. They are “gods” whose minds can be changed, whose wills can be influenced, even manipulated.
It must have been quite an adjustment for Balaam to finally encounter the One True God, Yahweh, the God of Israel. Did Balaam think too highly of himself? Was he impressed by the fact that Balak wanted his services, and was willing to pay outrageous wages to get him? Did he look at himself as the one through whom God would speak and act? God spoke to Balaam by means of a donkey, Balaam’s donkey. Did Balaam suppose that because God appeared to change His mind by allowing him to go to Balak that He would also change His mind about cursing Israel? Balaam discovers that God is speaking through him, as He spoke to him by means of his donkey. God would speak words of blessing upon Israel, and words of cursing upon any who would oppose Israel.
Can you appreciate how difficult the task facing Balaam was? Balak offered Balaam a lucrative fee for his services if he could persuade God not to bless Israel, but to curse them. Balaam found that it was impossible to induce God to curse those whom He had blessed. If this was the case, then surely Balaam had miserably failed; surely there was no way that Balaam could achieve the result Balak so strongly desired, and for which he would so richly reward Balaam.
I can almost see Balaam trudging back toward Mesopotamia, muttering to himself about lost wages and a fruitless journey. (I wonder if he tried to engage the donkey in conversation again?) I’m virtually certain that he did not attempt to beat her again! Suddenly, Balaam stops in his tracks. “I’ve got it,” he cries out. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of it before?” Balaam had been using the wrong approach. He was trying to get the unchanging God to change His plans and purposes. That would never happen, as he discovered. God would never go back on His Word; Balaam had said so himself (Numbers 23:19). So Balaam now devises a devious plan, a plan that seeks to “use” God’s faithfulness to His Word for his own personal gain.
God had promised to bless Israel, but His blessings under the Law were conditional. Israel would be blessed as they obeyed God’s commandments. In Leviticus 18, very specific laws are set down which regulate the sexual conduct of God’s chosen people, the Israelites. Israel is to be careful not to practice the abominations of Egypt, from which they have been delivered, or of Canaan, which they are about to possess:
1 The LORD spoke to Moses saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the LORD your God. 3 As they do in the land of Egypt in which you have been living, you must not do, and as they do in the land of Canaan into which I am about to bring you, you must not do; you must not walk in their statutes. 4 You must observe my regulations and you must be sure to walk in my statutes. I am the LORD your God. 5 So you must keep my statutes and my regulations by which anyone who does them will live. I am the LORD” (Leviticus 18:1-5).
Leviticus 18:6-23 then specifies what the practices are which God has forbidden, and they are virtually all related to sexual purity. Moses then concludes:
24 “‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for the nations, which I am about to drive out before you, have been defiled with all these things. 25 Thus the land has become unclean and I have brought the punishment for its iniquity on it, so the land has vomited out its inhabitants. 26 Your yourselves must keep my statutes and my regulations and must not do any of these abominations, both the native citizen and the foreigner who resides in your midst, 27 for the men who were in the land before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become unclean. 28 So do not let the land vomit you out because you defile it just as it has vomited out the nation which was before you, 29 for anyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them will be cut off from the midst of their people. 30 You must keep my charge to not practice any of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God’” (Leviticus 18:24-30).
In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses reiterates the Law that was given at Mount Sinai to the second generation of Israelites, who are about to possess the land of Canaan—the same people who fall into sin in Numbers 25. In Deuteronomy 28:1-14, Moses spells out all the ways that God will bless Israel, if they but obey His law. The remaining 55 verses in Deuteronomy 28 describe the “curses” that will fall upon Israel if they disobey His law. Balaam now seems to realize that he has been foolishly seeking to change God, which cannot be done. He now sees that while God cannot be changed, the Israelites are a fickle people, whose hearts can easily be turned from God. If he can succeed in seducing the Israelites, and causing them to engage in sexual and religious adultery, then he knows that God must keep His own Word and bring a curse upon this people. It was perfect! At least Balaam thought it was. He would use Israel’s weaknesses (stiff-necked and prone to wander) and God’s strength (He does not change, keeping His Word) against Israel and for Balak and the Moabites. What a stroke of genius! Balaam must have congratulated himself all the way back to Balak.
It was impossible to persuade God to forsake His purpose of blessing Israel, but history had proven that it would be very easy to turn Israel from the right path by rebelling against God’s Word, thereby incurring His wrath. All Balaam had to do was to tempt the Israelites to sin in such a way that they would fall under the curse of God as laid out in the law. It was an ingenious plan, and incredibly simple. The Israelites could be seduced to follow other gods, and this would anger God to the point that they would incur the curses God had pronounced on those who practiced such sins! The plan that quickly formed in Balaam’s mind seemed to be flawless. If God is faithful and does not change, man is fickle and prone to wander. He would counsel Balak: “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” By inviting them to dinner (and thus to participate in idol worship with them), the Moabites would entice the Israelites to engage in sexual and spiritual harlotry. This was an abomination to God and would thus bring a curse upon them. Here was a sure-fire, indirect way to bring about the same objective Balaam had failed to accomplish directly. Israel’s waywardness throughout their time in the wilderness gave Balaam confidence his plan would work.
Following Balaam’s counsel, the Moabite women invited the Israelites to dinner. There is a strange irony to all of this:
3 An Ammonite or Moabite may not enter the assembly of the LORD; to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall do so, forever, 4 for they did not meet you with food and beverage on the way as you came from Egypt and, furthermore, they hired against you Balaam son of Beor of Pethor in Aram Naharaim to curse you. 5 But the LORD your God was unwilling to pay heed to Balaam and he changed the curse to a blessing, for the LORD your God loved you (Deuteronomy 23:3-5).
The Moabites were indicted by God for not offering “bread and water”—the simplest fare—to the Israelites when they fled from Egypt. And now they are tempting the Israelites with “bed and breakfast.” None of this seems to have registered with the Israelites. No one appears to suspect impure motives on the part of the Moabites. I do not wish to underestimate just how tempting a “dinner invitation” would be to the Israelites. When my wife and I were flying back from Europe a few years ago, our airplane circled over the city of Atlanta before landing. As we came in over the city, there, outside our window, we could see the “golden arches” of a McDonalds restaurant before us. The whole plane spontaneously erupted with cheers and shouts of joy—for a McDonalds! Now I have always enjoyed the coffee at McDonalds, and their french fries are great, too. But I’ve never heard such a cheer for a fast food restaurant before. The reason these folks cheered was because they had been away from the USA, and they had missed some of their favorite foods. Somehow, the golden arches of a McDonalds restaurant symbolized the availability of American foods not available overseas.
This second generation of Israelites had been wandering in the wilderness for nearly 40 years. They had eaten manna and water, with almost no exceptions. The spices of Egypt were no more. And suddenly the “welcome wagon” arrives at the Israelites’ camp. Some friendly neighbors come by to welcome them to the neighborhood and to offer them steak and ale. One should not minimize the temptation here, even though such a meal was wrong.38 Perhaps the Israelites did not initially realize that to share such a meal with the Moabites was to join them in the worship of their gods. But eventually they willingly participated, not only in the meal, but in the sexual immorality that also was a part of their “worship.”
In verse 1, we read that the people began to commit this terrible sin. I would therefore understand that God responded very quickly to this sin. We may be grateful that He did. How many more would have sinned and been put to death had God delayed dealing with this matter? Seldom are we as prompt to deal with sin.
Many translations render the text in such a way as to indicate that the sin was that of sexual immorality. I have no doubt that sexual immorality was involved. This was typical of Canaanite religion. The word rendered “commit fornication” in verse 1 is one employed in the Old Testament for literally playing the harlot (Genesis 34:31; 38:15, 24). Very often, however, it is employed when referring to spiritual harlotry, the forbidden (and thus adulterous) worship of other gods (see Exodus 34:15-16; Leviticus 17:7; 20:5-6). I think when it is used in our text it refers to both sexual and spiritual immorality. By participating in the pagan sacrificial meals, and by engaging in sexual relations with the Moabites as an act of worship, the Israelites both committed sexual immorality and engaged in spiritual harlotry.
Think of it. God’s law laid down strict regulations concerning sexual conduct, and immorality was labeled as a sin that was abhorrent to God. Sexual immorality was contrary to true religion—to Israel’s religion—because it offended a holy and righteous God. But the Canaanites incorporated sexual immorality into their religion, as (can you believe it?) an “act of worship.” No wonder church attendance was good among these pagans! Going to bed was, so to speak, going to church. How clever Satan is, to take what God has condemned as contrary to religion, and make it a vital part of religious worship.
In his excellent commentary on the Book of Numbers, Gordon J. Wenham points out the parallels between the experiences of the first generation of Israelites to leave Egypt and the second generation, which will enter the land of Canaan.39 The sin of the second generation of Israelites in Numbers 25 is remarkably similar to the sin of the first generation Israelites at Sinai, when Moses had gone up the mountain to receive the law from God:
1 When the people saw that Moses delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered together around Aaron, and they said to him, “Get up, make us gods that will go before us. As for this fellow Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 So Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 And all the people broke off the golden earrings that were on their ears, and they brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received them from their hand and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and he made a molten calf. Then they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow will be a feast to Yahweh.” 6 So they rose up early on the next day, and they offered up burnt offerings, and they brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play (Exodus 32:1-6).
Several things impress me in verses 1-5. First, I am amazed at how quickly this sin occurs. Second, I am impressed with how widely spread the sin has become in such a short period of time. The whole nation seems to have been affected. Third, I am amazed at how easily the entire nation succumbs to temptation. Fourth, I am troubled by how far—how deeply into sin—Israel has fallen. Finally, I find it difficult to believe how little it took to turn Israel from serving God to serving pagan deities. An invitation to dinner, and suddenly Israel finds itself engaged in the worship of false gods.
God’s response is not surprising. He had made it very clear to His people whom they were to worship, and how. He promised to bless His people when they obeyed His law, and to curse them when they rebelled against Him (Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28-31). Numbers 15 records very specific instructions as to how the Israelites were to offer sacrifices. Further instructions concerning the priests and sacrifices were set down in Numbers 18 and 19. These instructions, so clearly and so recently set down, were cast aside by the “worship” the Israelites engaged in with the Moabites and Midianites. And because of their immorality and idolatry, God was angry (Numbers 25:3).
God instructs Moses concerning how he is to deal with this spiritual disaster in verse 4:
And the LORD said to Moses, “Arrest all the leaders of the people, and hang them up before the LORD in sun [i.e., “in broad daylight”]40, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel.”
In my opinion, anyone reading these words in the original text would not have any difficulty understanding exactly what God meant.41 The problem is not that God’s words are unclear, but rather that they are difficult to accept. Why would God require such severe action? Why would God command Moses to put all of the leaders of the people to death publicly? Why did God command that only the leaders be put to death? And if God did command that all the leaders be publicly executed, why does Moses command something less than this in verse 5? He orders that the offenders be put to death, and he does not specifically require that their bodies be publicly exposed.
So Moses said to the judges of Israelites, “Each of you must slay those of his men who were joined to Baal-peor.”
The Lord instructs Moses to publicly execute all the leaders of the nation Israel publicly. Why all of them? Surely every leader has not committed this sin of harlotry. There are several factors which we should take into account:
Leaders have a higher level of responsibility, because they have been given more authority, and because they serve as examples to those who follow them:
“From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked” (Luke 12:48b).
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly (James 3:1).
Some of the corruption was undoubtedly being practiced by Israel’s leaders. Corruption often flows from the top down. Leaders are responsible to promote righteousness by ridding the nation of the wicked:
A king sitting on the throne to judge separates out all evil with his eyes (Proverbs 20:8).
A wise king separates out the wicked; he turns the threshing wheel over them (Proverbs 20:26).
Remove the wicked from before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness (Proverbs 25:5).
If a ruler listens to lies, all his ministers will be wicked (Proverbs 29:12).
It would appear that the leaders did little or nothing to deal with the idolatry and immorality of the people. The only person who is said to have acted in response to Israel’s great sin was Phinehas. Even Moses seems to have done nothing more than to order the judges to locate the guilty and see to it that they were punished.
Leaders are responsible for the sins they tolerate, especially those within their family:
11 The LORD said to Samuel, “Look! I am about to do something in Israel such that when anyone hears about it, both of his ears will tingle. 12 On that day I will fulfill against Eli everything that I spoke about his house—from start to finish! 13 You should say to him that I am about to judge his house forever because of the iniquity that he was aware of. For his sons were cursing God, and he did not rebuke them (1 Samuel 3:11-13).
2 The overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher, 3 not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not contentious, free from the love of money. 4 He must manage his own household well and keep his children in control without losing his dignity. 5 But if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for the church of God? (1 Timothy 3:2-5).
These are general statements, which may help us to understand why God would call for the execution of all of Israel’s leaders. It is the following verses which serve to explain God’s command more precisely. But before we press on to consider these verses, let us pause momentarily to consider why Moses appears to have called for action that was less severe than what God commanded.
I must begin by pointing out that our text does not tell us why Moses did what he did. Indeed, some commentaries seek to persuade us that Moses did not depart from God’s command. Their explanations are strained, however.42 Before we become too critical of Moses, let me remind you that most Christians today fail to carry out a number of the commands of our Lord in the Gospels literally. We need only to read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) to see this.
Moses had great compassion on the Israelites. He did not desire to see a large-scale execution. Moses also knew that God was merciful and compassionate (Exodus 34:6-7). When the first generation of Israelites worshipped the golden calf, God threatened to wipe out the entire nation, but due to the intercession of Moses, the nation was spared (Exodus 32). We should recall that on this occasion Moses commanded the Levites to take their swords and to kill friends and neighbors (Exodus 32:27). This was without a specific command from God to do so. This dramatic response brought the people back under control and spared them from much more extensive punishment. I would like to believe that Moses did not take the dramatic action God commanded because he knew that God would be gracious, and indeed He was, as the following verses of Numbers 25 will indicate.
6 Just then one of the Israelites came and brought to his brethren a Midianite woman, before the eyes of Moses, and in the plain view of all the whole community of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up from the midst of the assembly, took a javelin in his hand, 8 and went after the Israelite man into the tent and thrust both the Israelite man and the woman through to her belly. So the plague was stopped from the Israelites. 9 And those that died in the plague were 24,000. 10 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Israelites, when he was zealous with my zeal for my sake among them, that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal. 12 Therefore, announce: ‘I am going to give to him my covenant of peace; 13 and so it will be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he has been zealous for his God, and has made atonement for the Israelites. 14 Now the name of the Israelite who was stabbed, the one who was stabbed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a leader of a clan of the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur. He was a leader over the people of a clan of Midian. 16 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Bring trouble to the Midianites, and destroy them, 18 because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.
The Israelites had accepted the invitation to dine with the Moabites, and thus they became participants in sexual and religious harlotry. God had commanded Moses to publicly execute all the leaders of the nation. Moses commanded the judges to put those to death who had engaged in this sin. So far as our text indicates, not so much as one person had been put to death by any Israelite. God began to take action personally by means of a plague. We are not told when the plague started, but only that it stopped (verse 8).
It has taken me a while to catch the significance of verse 6, but this verse really goes a long way in explaining why God took this matter so seriously: Just then one of the Israelites came and brought to his brethren a Midianite woman, before the eyes of Moses, and in the plain view of all the whole community of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting.
For some time the plague had been taking its toll among the Israelites; thousands were dying. Verse 6 informs us that “the whole community of the Israelites” were assembled near the entrance to the tent of meeting (verse 6). These weeping Israelites seem to have been godly Jews who were mourning there on account of this sin, and the outburst of divine displeasure that it had produced. This large crowd of mourners was assembled when a certain Israelite fellow boldly brought a Midianite43 woman home “to his brethren.”
It takes little imagination to figure out what was happening inside that tent when Phinehas arrived, but we must certainly conclude that from his actions, this fellow has involved his family in his sin. The family tent into which the couple entered appears to have been a certain distance from the tent of meeting. If the man brought this Midianite woman “to his brethren,” then we would have to assume that his family was at their tent, and not at the “tent of meeting.” While “the whole community of Israelites” was at the tent of meeting, this Israelite family seems to have stayed home, to meet this fellow and his bride (or at least his lover). There is no mention of this fellow’s family disapproving his actions, or of any of them seeking to stop what was taking place, before their eyes, and in the family tent. His family became his partners in crime.
I want to pause for a moment to reflect upon the mention of this family and their passive acceptance of what this young man has done. I do not think the mention of this family is merely trivial detail, especially in the light of these later verses in our text:
14 Now the name of the Israelite who was stabbed, the one who was stabbed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a leader of a clan of the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur. He was a leader over the people of a clan of Midian.
My friend, Lee Hall, called an important observation to my attention. The parents of this young man and young woman were both leaders. The man’s father was the son of a Simeonite leader, Salu (verse 14). The woman’s father was Zur, one of the Midianite leaders who was later killed by the Israelites (Numbers 31:8). It was not the leaders who committed this specific sin, but their children. Does this not help to explain why God commanded Moses to put all the leaders to death? I think it does. Zimri had chosen to disobey God’s commands and was in the act of committing spiritual and physical immorality. His family seemed to be watching it all happen, without raising so much as a word of protest. There, at the tent of meeting, stood virtually all of Israel’s leaders; yet when they saw what was happening, they did nothing either. I believe an important principle is evident here: the sins which leaders knowingly choose to condone or to tolerate become sins for which the leaders are also responsible.
Is this not evidenced in Scripture? Was Eli not partially responsible for tolerating the sins of his sons (1 Samuel 2)? 44 Did Samuel also not bear some responsibility for what his sons did (1 Samuel 8:1ff.)? Then there was Jacob before them, who seemed all too passive in dealing with the violation of his daughter and the revenge brought about by his sons (Genesis 34). David’s passivity in dealing with the sin of Amnon led to even more violence (2 Samuel 13). No wonder the Israelites were admonished as parents to deal with their disobedient children (Deuteronomy 21:18-21; Proverbs 13:24; 19:18; 29:17). This is why Paul sets this qualification down for church leaders:
2 The overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher, 3 not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle, not contentious, free from the love of money. 4 He must manage his own household well and keep his children in control without losing his dignity. 5 But if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for the church of God? (1 Timothy 3:2-5, emphasis mine).
It is sad to say that in the church today, there are parents who choose to cling to their children rather than to rebuke and discipline them, because their commitment to their children is greater than their commitment to their God and to His Word. Often they seek to sanctify their action by calling it “unconditional acceptance.” Why do we think that the New Testament texts which call for church discipline (e.g., Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; Galatians 6:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; 1 Timothy 5:19-20; Titus 3:9-11) exclude the members of our family?
It is hardly coincidental that on the one hand God commanded that all of Israel’s leaders be put to death in broad daylight, even though no one does anything to carry out the command. Now, on the other hand, we read that an Israelite deliberately carries out his sin in view of all, and once again no one does anything about it. Among the many who looked on as this Israelite blatantly disregarded God’s Law was Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest (verse 7). He knew (as all Israel should have known) that God had forbidden such immorality and idolatry.
11 “Keep that which I am commanding you this day. I am going to drive out before you the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12 Be careful that you do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, where you are going, lest it should become a snare in your midst. 13 But you will destroy their altars, you will smash their images, and you will cut down their Asherah poles. 14 For you will not worship any other god, for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. 15 Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, then you will be invited, and you will eat from his sacrifice; 16 and you take from their daughters for your sons, and their daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, and they make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods. 17 You will not make molten gods for you” (Exodus 34:11-17, emphasis mine).
As a priest, Phinehas knew how precise God’s Law was governing Israel’s worship. He also knew that those who practiced this kind of immorality were to be put to death. He did not need a special revelation from God—God’s will was clear. Filled with zeal for God, Phinehas stood up in the middle of the assembly (in the sight of all), took a spear in hand, and went after the Israelite man and his mistress. It would appear that by the time he reached the tent they were already engaged in sexual sin, and so with one thrust of his spear he put both the man and the woman to death.
With this one act of religious zeal, Phinehas not only puts an end to the sin of these two people, he also brings to an end the plague which God had brought upon Israel, a plague which had already taken the lives of 24,000 Israelites.45 What no one else seemed willing to do, Phinehas did. He is the only one who is reported to have lifted a hand against this terrible sin which threatened the existence of the nation. The action of this one man seems to have saved the nation.
One cannot avoid considering the possibility that Phinehas was, in one sense, foreshadowing the coming of our Lord and His atoning work at Calvary. As Phinehas acted in his zeal for the Lord by putting this couple to death, our Lord revealed His zeal by cleansing the temple (John 2:17). By his actions, Phinehas atoned for the sins of Israel and propitiated the righteous anger of God. By laying down His own life, our Lord atoned for the sins of the world and satisfied the righteous anger of God. As a result of his zealous act, God made a “covenant of peace”46 with Phinehas and with his descendants. For Phinehas and his descendants, it meant the assurance of a permanent priestly role. Later on, this expression, “covenant of peace” seems to refer to the salvation which will be accomplished through the coming of Messiah. Because of breaking the Mosaic covenant with God, the whole nation was under God’s curse. Because of Phinehas’ zealous act, God made a “covenant of peace” with him and with his descendants. Does this not suggest that Israel would be blessed through Phinehas, and does it not further illustrate the fact that while we are under the curse, our one chance at having peace with God is to be one of the descendants of our Lord, who has made peace with God for us?
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5, NIV).
11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh—who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed in the body by hands—12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, the one who turned both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, in his flesh, 15 when he nullified the law of commandments in decrees. The purpose of this was to create in himself the two into one new man, thus making peace, 16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by which the hostility has been killed. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 so that through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:11-18, emphasis mine).
There is a blessing here, for the plague on Israel is terminated, and a blessing is pronounced upon Phinehas and his descendants. There is also a curse, and this curse is upon the enemies of God, those who sought the downfall of Israel:
16 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Bring trouble to the Midianites, and destroy them, 18 because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.
For a brief period of time, it looked as though Balaam had succeeded. The nation had been seduced and had fallen into spiritual harlotry. God’s wrath had been provoked, and thus He had sent a plague upon Israel. Thanks to the zealous action of one man—Phinehas—the nation was spared. Balaam had not succeeded in turning God’s blessing to a curse. Instead, God spared His people through the action of one righteous man. Verses 17 and 18 set the scene for the rest of the Book of Numbers. Because the Moabites and the Midianites had cursed God’s people rather than bless them, they brought a curse upon themselves. God therefore commanded Moses to see to it that the Midianites were destroyed for their treachery. And so they were, along with Balaam:
8 And they slew the kings of Midian in addition to those slain, namely Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba—five Midianite kings. And Balaam the son of Beor they slew with the sword. (Numbers 31:8, emphasis mine).
Before we seek to underscore some of the things this text should teach us to do, let me begin by emphasizing something that it does not require or justify. This text does not justify violence in seeking justice in the name of God. I am greatly concerned that no one read this biblical text or this sermon and conclude that they are justified—even commended—in bombing abortion clinics, in shooting abortionists, and performing other acts of terrorism in the name of God. Israel in those days was a theocracy, and God was their king (1 Samuel 10:19; 12:12). God had ordered “capital punishment” for those who had willfully broken His law. Phinehas was acting under divine orders. Today, God has ordained human government as the means by which justice is meted out (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-15). Let us beware, then, of finding any sanction here for lawlessness or vigilante justice.
This text does have much to teach us about leadership. Israel fell into sin, and God called for the death of all of its leaders. Its leaders were not doing their job, part of which was to remove evil from the nation. These leaders were guilty, and worthy of death for knowing about sin and doing nothing about it. How much greater their sin if they were actually practicing this sin, and by so doing, encouraging others to do so as well? I find it most distressing that a significant number of Americans recently brushed aside the immorality of its president. “I don’t care about his personal life,” they said, “I only care about the economy.” They saw no connection between the morality of leadership and the task of leadership. Little wonder that a president who would practice immorality would also seek to protect those who practice immorality as the Bible defines it. As many Americans expressed their desire to leave the president in office, so the Israelites refused to remove their leaders from office, even though God ordered not only their removal, but their execution. Those who lead must be men of character, and men of courage. No wonder Paul places so much emphasis on the character of those who lead in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.
Leaders must not only be men of character, they must also be men who truly lead, men who take action when it is required. Phinehas teaches us that leadership is not just a matter of holding an office, although he did serve in a leadership role as a priest. Leadership is not just instructing or commanding others to act as they should. Phinehas could have commanded, “What this couple is doing is sin. Now one of you go over there and kill them!” The simple fact was that all the nation knew it was wrong, and no one was willing to act, even though they knew what they were to do. The sin of this young Israelite was deliberate; he took the initiative to act as he did. The sin of the nation was in remaining passive, even though they knew how they were to respond to this sin. Phinehas was a leader because he was willing to stand alone, and to act alone, when no one else was willing to do what was right.
There are two words that are commonly understood to refer to a “leader” in the New Testament. One word is found in 1 Corinthians 12:28, and it is often rendered “administrations.” The NET Bible renders it “managements,” which I rather like.
27 Now you are Christ’s body, and each of you is a member of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, helps, managements, different kinds of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:27-28, emphasis mine).
6 And we have different gifts, according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; 8 if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness (Romans 12:6-8, emphasis mine).
In 1 Corinthians 12:7, the gift of administration(s) is, I believe, a supportive gift. The one with this gift “stands behind,” so to speak, helping, facilitating, and coordinating ministry. I think that many women have and exercise this gift in a way that does not violate biblical prohibitions against women leading men in the church. The person with this gift does not compel others to act in a certain way, but assists in such a way that others do their jobs better. That, in my opinion, is what administration is all about. Bureaucracy reverses this, and the administrator is the one in charge, who tells others how they must do their jobs, rather than to listen to those they are helping and assisting them to do what they believe their job requires.
In Romans 12:8, we find the kind of leadership exemplified by Phinehas. The Greek word literally means “to stand before.” This is the kind of leadership that occurs when a man steps out of the crowd and does what he knows to be God’s will. It is often after one has taken his stand in this manner that others follow. This is far different from standing behind, and ordering others to march on ahead of you. It is a kind of leadership that is sadly lacking in our country today. It was in ancient times as well, and this is why Phinehas stands out in our text as a true leader.
We should also note that the zealous and courageous action of Phinehas in our text did enhance his leadership role. The divine response was the “covenant of peace” God made with Phinehas and his descendants. There was also a human response. When Moses sent the Israelites to war against the Midianites, he sent Phinehas with them, along with the holy instruments and signal trumpets. It was in this battle that the five Midianite kings were slain, along with Balaam (Numbers 31:6-8). In Joshua 22, we find that when a report reached the Israelites that the Reubenites, Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar at the entrance to the land of Canaan (22:11), they assumed their brothers had turned from worshipping God to worshipping the gods of the Canaanites. They sent a leader from each tribe of Israel and Phinehas. If their brothers had turned away from worshipping God in truth, the Israelites knew that Phinehas was the man to deal with it. When a serious moral problem arose in the tribe of Benjamin, Phinehas was very much a part of Israel’s dealing with it (Judges 20, note especially verse 28). No wonder we read in 1 Chronicles 9:20 that “the Lord was with him.” Here is a leader who truly stood before his people.
There is surely a lesson here for us concerning what we might call “sin in the camp.” There certainly appears to be great reluctance to deal with sin decisively. Sin is like a cancer—the longer we leave it alone, the more likely it is to kill us. The Corinthian church was reluctant to deal with a man living in sexual immorality—immorality so serious that it shocked even the Corinthians. Paul described sin as a kind of leaven that would corrupt the whole church, and thus must be rooted out:
1 It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, the kind of immorality that is not permitted even among the Gentiles, so that someone is cohabiting with his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you have been deeply sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this from among you? 3 For even though I am absent physically, I am present in spirit. And I have already judged the one who did this, just as though I were present. 4 When you gather together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, along with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 turn this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. 6 Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast affects the whole batch of dough? 7 Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of dough, just as you are, in fact, without yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 So then, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of vice and evil, but with the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:1-8).
Jesus likewise took a hard line when it came to sin, and urged others to do likewise:
6 “But if anybody causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks. It is necessary that stumbling blocks come, but woe to the person through whom they come. 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into fiery hell” (Matthew 18:6-9).
Surely our text, like many others in the Bible, warns us about being soft on sin. These days sexual sin is looked upon lightly by some who profess to be Christians, and it is not even regarded by sin by many others. Let us remember these words from Proverbs:
3 For the lips of the adulteress woman drip honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. 4 but in the end she is bitter like wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave (Proverbs 5:3-5).
Immorality is deadly, so let us deal with it as a deadly disease. Let us not pamper it or protect it, but let us root it out with all diligence.
We learn from Numbers 25 that we are never more safe and secure than when we are hated and opposed by the enemies of God. As I read the religious news and as I hear Christians praying, I find that a great deal of their interest and attention is riveted on those who are being persecuted for the sake of Christ. Now the Bible has a great deal to say about our responsibility toward those who are being persecuted for their faith (Hebrews 10:32-35; 13:1-3), and I do not wish to minimize our obligations here. But I do wish to point out that we are often most vulnerable at those times when we are not under direct attack. As I look back to Numbers 21, I find that the Israelites were attacked on a number of occasions, and in each case God gave the Israelites the victory. The Israelites were more vulnerable to the dinner parties of the Moabites and Midianites than to the war parties of their enemies. Let us remember this when we or others are suffering persecution. We may very well be in greater danger from those who would befriend us than from those who would attack us. There are today a number of efforts to bring various religious groups together, into some kind of union. We are to manifest Christian unity within the faith, but let us beware of those unions which join belief with unbelief, which join true worship with false worship.
According to the Apostle Paul, there is a lesson to be learned from our text. In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul turns our attention to the sin of Israel in Numbers 25 and uses it as a warning to the Christians of his day, and of ours as well:
1 For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 5 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness. 6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. 7 So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and twenty-three thousand died in a single day. 9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes. 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroyer. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall. 13 No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful, who will not let you be tried too much, but with the trial will also provide a way through it so that you may be able to endure (1 Corinthians 10:1-13, underscoring mine).
The Corinthians had corresponded with Paul and had inquired about eating meat sacrificed to idols (1 Corinthians 8:1ff.). Chapters 8-10 of 1 Corinthians contain Paul’s response to the question. In chapter 8, Paul temporarily takes the viewpoint of some of the Corinthians: “There are no other gods than the one true God, and thus idols represent nothing. If this is true, then there can be nothing wrong with eating meats offered to idols” (see 1 Corinthians 8:4-6). If this logic were valid, eating meats offered to idols would be wrong for a different reason. A weaker brother would be caused to stumble by following our example of eating such meats, and thus our actions would be sin because they would cause a weaker brother to sin (8:7-13). Paul then takes most of chapter 9 to show how the Christian should be willing to lay aside his or her “rights.” Paul uses himself as an example. He and Barnabas have the right to marry, and to take a wife along as they minister. The saints would be obliged to support these men and their wives. Paul has chosen not to do so because some might look upon him as being just like the false teachers, who minister primarily for the money. Even though he has the right to be supported in ministry, he sets it aside for the greater good, for the cause of the gospel (9:1-23).
It is at 1 Corinthians 9:24ff. that Paul gets to the heart of the matter at hand—self discipline vs. self-indulgence. The Corinthians seek to justify eating meats offered to idols because they wish to indulge themselves in the festive dinners of their heathen neighbors (not unlike the Israelites gladly accepted a dinner invitation from the Moabites and Midianites in Numbers 25). The self-indulgent Corinthians have developed a line of reasoning that seems to justify the satisfaction of their appetites. That argument we have already seen in 8:4-6 (since there are no other gods than God, idols are no big deal, nor is eating meats offered to them). Paul now cuts to the quick, beginning with verse 24 of chapter 9:
24 Do you not know that all the runners in a stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win. 25 Each competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run uncertainly or box like one who hits only air. 27 Instead I subdue my body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not be disqualified.
The Christian should be living his life to win the prize of God’s approval, just as an athlete strives hard to win the prize given for winning a race. In order to win the prize, the contestant must exercise great self-control. Those who are self-indulgent simply do not have the stamina or endurance to win. The Corinthians are caught up in a self-indulgent lifestyle, and thus they insist upon attending those ceremonies where false gods are worshipped, and where delicious meats are served—meats offered to idols. Paul temporarily granted the Corinthian view that idol-meats were not a problem, since there are no other gods. But now Paul strongly warns the Corinthians about the dangers of their theology and practice. The Corinthians have gotten soft, and they are living indulgent lives, rather than the disciplined lives of an athlete, or a disciple.
In the first half of chapter 10, Paul reviews the history of Israel, and especially of the major failures of the nation. In each case, disaster came upon the nation for insisting upon the satisfaction of fleshly lusts. The Christian must live a disciplined life, bringing their bodily desires and appetites under control (9:24-27). Israel failed and fell under divine discipline when their fleshly appetites prevailed (10:1-13).
Paul is not finished yet. He now exposes “eating meat offered to idols” for what it truly is (10:14-22). Eating these meats is not an insignificant issue. It is not a matter of personal liberty; it is forbidden (see Acts 15:29; 21:25). Eating meats offered to idols involves participation in a heathen meal, which is the exact counterpart and contradiction to the Lord’s Table (10:14-18). To eat meats offered to idols is to participate in the “demon’s table” (10:20). The guiding principle for the Christian is that everything we do should be to the glory of God (10:31), and not the satisfaction of fleshly lusts.
Is it any wonder that when we come to 1 Corinthians 11 we find Paul dealing with misconduct at the Lord’s Table (11:17-34)? Some Corinthian saints were all too willing to participate in heathen idol worship in order to enjoy a good meal (including meats offered to idols). If Christians were willing to participate in heathen worship rituals, is it any wonder that they would act like pagans at the Lord’s Supper? And, wonder of wonders, the problem at the Lord’s Table was self-indulgence. There, too, the saints were so eager to enjoy a good meal that they made pigs and fools of themselves.
Self-indulgence may seem like a rather innocent vice, especially in certain forms. But I must warn you that it is often the beginning of a deadly departure from the true worship of the one and only God. Americans are living indulgently, even many who would consider themselves to be poor. Let us remember that being a disciple of our Lord means bringing our bodies under discipline; it means crucifying the flesh daily (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5). Let us beware of so indulging the flesh that it rules us, rather than us ruling it.
Having said this, please do not misunderstand me, as though I was advocating some form of asceticism. There are those who think that abusing the flesh and refusing to enjoy the good things God has provided is truly spiritual. They are wrong:
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days 17 that are only the shadow of the things to come, but the reality is Christ. 18 Let no one who delights in humility and the worship of angels pass judgment on you. That person goes on at great lengths about what he has supposedly seen, but he is puffed up with empty notions by his fleshly mind. 19 He has not held fast to the head from whom the whole body, supported and knit together through its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God. 20 If you have died with Christ to the elemental spirits of the world, why as though you lived in the world do you submit to them? 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!” 22 These are all destined to perish with use, founded as they are on human commands and teachings. 23 They have the appearance of wisdom with their self-imposed worship and false humility, by an unsparing treatment of the body, but they are thoroughly useless when it comes to restraining the indulgences of the flesh (Colossians 2:16-23).
1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the later times some will desert the faith and occupy themselves with deceiving spirits and demonic teachings, 2 influenced by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared. 3 They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creation of God is good and no food is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving. 5 For it is sanctified by God’s word and by prayer (1 Timothy 4:1-5).
17 Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, that are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. 18 Tell them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous givers, sharing with others. 19 In this way they will save up a treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the future and so lay hold of what is truly life (1 Timothy 6:17-19).
Our text teaches what observation confirms: sexual sin is often linked with spiritual adultery and apostasy. The statistics are alarming when it comes to how many pastors are leaving the ministry. When I hear of a pastor who had to resign from his position, without hesitation my first thought is that he has fallen into sexual sin. Very few abandon their faith or their ministry because they have thought through their biblical beliefs and found them to be false. The pattern is so consistent and so frequent, it is entirely predictable. A man who loves the Lord encounters a woman whom he finds attractive. If not dealt with decisively, this often leads to sexual immorality. Initially, the man acknowledges his sin and guilt, and agrees that he must cease from his sinful behavior. All too often, the man fails to carry out his commitment by making a decisive break in the illicit relationship. And before long, you begin to hear statements like this: “Well, I know that some people believe that the Bible condemns what I am doing, but.…” Sexual sin is a serious sin, and it is often the gateway to a host of other sins. Beware of sexual sin.
As I read our text in Numbers 25, I am reminded of these words of Scripture:
Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6).
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and locked them up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment, 5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, when God brought a flood on an ungodly world, 6 and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction, having appointed them to serve as an example to future generations of the ungodly, 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless men, 8 (for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) 9 —if so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment at the day of judgment, 10 especially those who indulge their fleshly desires and who despise authority (2 Peter 2:4-10).
God rewards the righteous. He rewarded Phinehas for his faithfulness. And God punishes the wicked. God punished those wicked Israelites who engaged in sin. He punished the Midianites and the Moabites. He punished Balaam. God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked.
Our text and the story of Balaam remind me of several other Scriptures:
The memory of the righteous is blessed, But the name of the wicked will rot (Proverbs 10:7, NKJ).
But the wicked shall perish; And the enemies of the LORD, Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.The name of the wicked will vanish (Psalm 37:20, NKJ).
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children. 16 When I thought how to understand this, It was too painful for me—17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. 18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. 19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. 20 As a dream when one awakes, So, Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their image (Psalm 73:15-20).
It took a while for me to see it, and then it was as plain as day. According to my electronic concordance program, the name “Balaam” occurs 51 times in Numbers 22-24. It occurs two times in Numbers 31. It does not occur at all in Numbers 25. When Balaam was used of God to speak words of blessing on the nation Israel, he received a great deal of prominence. But the minute Balaam chose to deliberately oppose Israel and bring the nation under God’s wrath, Balaam disappears. We have to remind ourselves that the events of Numbers 25 were the fruit of Balaam’s labors. Surely the wicked vanish; their days of disobedience and of fleshly indulgence are few. What a warning this man Balaam should be to all those who would ignore the Word of God and go their own sinful way. What kind of person are you, my friend? Are you a Phinehas, who trusted and obeyed God, and who was rewarded for his faith? Or are you a Balaam, who knows a great deal about God, but does not know God personally, and whose destiny is eternal destruction? My prayer is that you will be a Phinehas, and not a Balaam.
The final lesson I wish to highlight is the faithfulness of God and the fickleness of men. Think of it; for three long chapters Balaam seeks to change God’s mind. Balaam seeks to persuade God to forsake His promise to bless Israel, and to curse them instead. Balaam not only fails to do this, he ends up pronouncing blessings on Israel and cursings on their enemies. Israel’s future was safe in the hands of God, “For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable” (Romans 11:29). While God would not forsake His plans, purposes, and promises, fickle Israel was willing to cast God aside for a mere meal. How quickly and easily Israel fell. If it were not for the faithfulness of God, we would be hopeless. It is not our faithfulness to Him which assures us of His promises, but His faithfulness to us. Why is it that some people find the sovereignty of God such a distressing truth? It should be the most comforting truth there is, at least for the believer. May we find both warning and comfort in this text, and may God grant that we, by His grace, discipline our bodies and our appetites, so that we may win the prize of His commendation, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
34 The NIV translates Shittim “Acacia Grove,” which is literally what the word means.
35 Notice how the expression “the people” is interchanged with “Israel.” The verbs used in verse 1 are singular, rather than plural. It is as though the author is suggesting that the nation is acting in unison. It is not just individuals who have sinned, but the nation. Everyone seems to have been implicated in one way or another. This must be why God could command Moses to publicly execute all the leaders in verse 4.
36 The translator’s note in the NET Bible reads: “The verb simply says “they called,” but it is a feminine plural. And so the women who engaged in immoral acts with Hebrew men invited them to their temple ritual.”
37 God commanded Moses to execute the leaders publicly, and to publicly expose their bodies. The same expression is employed in 2 Samuel 21, where seven of the sons of Saul were put to death in the same fashion, because of the sin of Saul against Gibeah. The Septuagint appears to attempt to water this down but the Hebrew term (especially as it is used in 2 Samuel 21) just doesn’t seem to allow it.
38 We should also remember that Satan sought to tempt our Lord to turn stones into bread, after only 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-4).
39 Gordon J. Wenham, Numbers: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove, Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1981), p. 184.
40 The translator’s note in the NET Bible reads, “This means in broad daylight.”
41 The rendering of verse 4 by the NKJV is quite amazing: “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the LORD, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD continued…may turn away from Israel.’” The original KJV does not render it this way, nor does the NIV, the NRS, or the NASB. The NKJV is not a translation at this point, but an interpretation, and I fear that it is not a good one.
42 I especially like Wenham’s assessment of Keil’s interpretation: “Keil [p. 205] indeed argues that verse 5 correctly interprets ‘hang them’ (4): ‘them’ refers to the Baal worshippers, not the chiefs, he claims. However, this is not the natural interpretation of the Hebrew, and most commentators suppose the death of the chiefs is being called for.” Wenham, Numbers, p. 186.
43 It is obvious from this that just as both the Moabites and Midianites worked together to hire Balaam, so the two peoples are working together to seduce the Israelites, and to lead them to commit immorality and to engage in idol worship.
44 In this case, Eli verbally rebuked his sons, but took no further action when they ignored him, as he should have done.
45 One can quickly see that when Paul refers to this plague in 1 Corinthians 10:8, he speaks of the death of 23,000. There are many possible explanations, but it would be good to keep in mind that in Numbers 25:9 we are told the total number of Israelites who died in the plague. In 1 Corinthians 10:8, we are told how many died in one day. If the plague was some kind of physical malady, then some may have lingered in their illness for more than a day, before they died.
46 For this expression, see also Isaiah 54:10; Ezekiel 34:25-26; Malachi 2:5.
My parents live on a lake in Washington State. This past week, something very unusual happened on the lake. Many years ago, the original owner (who homesteaded the property) planted some water lilies along the shore. They are beautiful, ranging in color from white to light pink to a brilliant red. Over the years, these lilies have become so prolific they are now encroaching on the swimming area and the open water. A man came by, offering to spray the lilies so they would die. It sounded like a great idea, and a whole lot easier than attempting to dig the lilies up by detaching their massive root system from the lake bottom.
My folks decided to try this approach to dealing with their water lily problem. The man came by and sprayed the lilies, and the operation seemed to be a great success. The encroaching lilies were indeed dying. It looked as though the problem had been solved with little effort or expense. Then, one day, something unexpected happened. When one of the neighbors looked out at the lake, they saw what looked like an “island.” The “island” turned out to be a floating mass of water lily roots. The lilies had died, alright, but when the roots below the surface of the water died as well, they became detached from the lake bottom and floated to the surface as a large floating island. When my parents contacted the man who had done the spraying, he admitted that in a few “rare” cases, this kind of thing was known to happen.
The neighbors were rightly concerned that my parents’ new island might float down the lake to their waterfront, or drift out from shore and thus become a hazard for the speed boats and water skiers. The question facing my parents was what they should do with this water lily island. The island of roots would have to be cut into smaller pieces which could be brought up on shore, loaded on a trailer, and then hauled away. First, the large island would have to be towed closer to the shore, where the water was not as deep, so that they could cut it into pieces. They decided to wrap ropes around the island so that they could try to tow it to shore with a powerboat. They were in the boat out in the lake, beside the island, seeking to attach a rope to the floating mass when a very strange thing happened. All around their boat bubbles began to surface. It was as though the lake beneath and around them had become carbonated. And then, much to the surprise of all, another large root mass broke loose from the bottom, surfacing underneath the boat, lifting it out of the water like a kind of natural dry-dock.
The boat, once useful for getting around the lake, was now useless. “Beached” as it were in several feet of water, the boat was of no value at all. This strange surfacing incident, and the way it immobilized that boat, reminds me of a battle scene that is described in Judges 4:1–5:31. For some 20 years, the Canaanites had reigned rough shod over the Israelites. Their superior military might enabled them to make Israel a vassal state. One of the weapons which gave the Canaanites military superiority over Israel was the chariot. Our text informs us that the Canaanites possessed 900 iron chariots, which they used to oppress the Israelites. For 20 years, these chariots had been employed against Israel, and the sight of them must have terrified the Israelites. When Sisera, the Canaanite commander, heard that a large number of Israelites had assembled for battle, he sent all of these chariots out to fight the Israelites. And when he did, God seems to have sent a great rainstorm, which rendered the chariots virtually useless. The once dry ground turned to mud, and the river flooded. The chariots were now a liability. Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot, desperately trying to make his escape. Our text is about this defeat of the Canaanites, and it describes this moment in history as a great turning point for the nation Israel, brought about largely through the faithful ministry of Deborah, the prophetess.
In our last several lessons, we studied Balaam, and his vain attempts to bring a curse upon the Israelites. These same Israelites47 took possession of the promised land under Joshua, but they failed to completely dispossess the Canaanites. The Book of Judges picks up the history of Israel after the death of Joshua. Unfortunately, there was a very clear pattern to this period in Israel’s history, which is summarized in Judges 2:
11 The Israelites did evil before the LORD by worshiping the Baals. 12 They abandoned the LORD God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They followed other gods—the gods of the nations who lived around them. They worshiped them and made the LORD angry. 13 They abandoned the LORD and worshiped Baal and the `Ashtars. 14 The LORD was furious with Israel and handed them over to robbers who plundered them. He turned them over to their enemies who lived around them. They could not withstand their enemies’ attacks. 15 Whenever they went out to fight, the LORD did them harm, just as he had warned and solemnly vowed he would do. They suffered greatly. 16 The LORD raised up leaders who delivered them from these robbers. 17 But they did not obey their leaders. Instead they prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned aside from the path their ancestors walked. Their ancestors obeyed the LORD’s commands, but they did not. 18 When the LORD raised up leaders for them, the LORD was with each leader and delivered the people from their enemies while the leader remained alive. The LORD felt sorry for them when they cried out in agony because of what their harsh oppressors did to them. 19 When a leader died, the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one. They would follow after other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them. They did not give up their practices or their stubborn ways. 20 The LORD was furious with Israel. He said, “This nation has violated the terms of the agreement I made with their ancestors by disobeying me. 21 So I will no longer remove from before them any of the nations which Joshua left unconquered when he died. 22 Joshua left those nations to test Israel. I wanted to see whether or not the people would carefully walk in the path marked out by the LORD, as their ancestors were careful to do.” 23 This is why the LORD permitted these nations to remain and did not conquer them immediately; he did not hand them over to Joshua (Judges 2:11-23 NET).
The Book of Judges has several recurring themes. The first is the cycle of sin, suffering, petition, deliverance, the death of the deliverer—and then the cycle begins once again with sin. This is outlined in the text above. The next is the recurring statement, “there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (see 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). Another recurring theme is that, at this time, there were two problems in Israel, and both concerned leadership: (1) Israel had no king, and (2) its leaders (judges) kept dying. The solution will become apparent in time—Israel needed a man who could be their king, and yet who would never die. This could only be fulfilled in the person and ministry of Jesus Christ.
1 The Israelites again did evil before the LORD after Ehud’s death. 2 The LORD turned them over to Jabin, king of Canaan, who ruled in Hazor. The general of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. 3 The Israelites cried out for help to the LORD, for Sisera had 900 chariots with iron-rimmed wheels, and he cruelly oppressed the Israelites for twenty years.
By the time we reach Judges 4, Israel has already had two judges. God raised up Othniel to deliver Israel from Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia (3:7-11). Then Ehud, the left-handed Benjamite, was God’s deliverer from the hand of Eglon, the king of Moab (3:12-31). After the death of Ehud, the cycle of sin and judgment commenced again. The Israelites did evil in the sight of God, and so God handed them over to Jabin, a Canaanite king. Jabin harshly dominated Israel for 20 years; his right-hand man was Sisera, the captain of his army. From verse three, we learn that a key factor in the Canaanites’ domination of Israel was their 900 iron chariots. Naturally, the Canaanites also had a number of other weapons as well. From Judges 5, we gain even greater insight into this period of Canaanite domination:
6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael caravans disappeared; travelers had to go on winding side roads. 7 Warriors were scarce, they were scarce in Israel; until you arose, Deborah, until you arose as a motherly protector in Israel. 8 God chose new leaders, then fighters appeared in the city gates; but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, among forty military units in Israel (Judges 5:6-8).
The Canaanite presence in Israel wrought great havoc. The highways were virtually deserted, no doubt heavily patrolled by the Canaanites with their chariots. Villages were likewise abandoned because there were no walls to protect the people from being pillaged and robbed by the Canaanites. The Israelites seem to have retreated to the walled cities, and even these did not really protect them. And if the Canaanites had their chariots, swords, spears, and shields, it would seem that the Israelites were not allowed to possess any weapons. Israel may have been able to muster 40,000 warriors, but they would have had to fight unarmed.
4 Now Deborah, a prophetess, wife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. 5 She would sit under the Date Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites would come up to her to have their disputes settled. 6 She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali. She said to him, “Is it not true that the LORD God of Israel is commanding you? Go, march to Mount Tabor! Take with you 10,000 men from Naphtali and Zebulun! 7 I will bring Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to you at the Kishon River, along with his chariots and huge army. I will hand him over to you.” 8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go. But if you do not go with me, I will not go.” 9 She said, “I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain fame on the expedition you are taking, for the LORD will turn Sisera over to a woman.” Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh.
Deborah really was a shade-tree prophetess. She did not occupy an office in Jerusalem,48 but worked beneath the shade of a “Date Palm tree” nearly ten miles to the north, in the mountains of Ephraim, between Ramah and Bethel (verse 5). People came out to her at this palm tree, and she settled their disputes (or more literally “judged them”). This appears to be the same kind of “judging” we see Moses doing (Exodus 18:13-27), and later his 70 helpers (Numbers 11:16-30). Her judging, like that of Moses and his helpers, was enabled by the Holy Spirit. It may be that the gift of prophecy she possessed first became evident in her judging. Who better to “judge” a matter than one who can “see” the situation exactly as it is? As the word got out that God’s will could be known through Deborah, many came to her for judgment. It would seem that she was but one of a very few judging prophets, and even more likely that she was the only person gifted and functioning in this way at this time.
It is during these dark days for Israel that Deborah the prophetess calls for Barak and issues him this divine directive:
She said to him, “Is it not true that the LORD God of Israel is commanding you? Go, march to Mount Tabor! Take with you 10,000 men from Naphtali and Zebulun! 7 I will bring Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to you at the Kishon River, along with his chariots and huge army” (Judges 4:6b-7).
The NKJV renders this text this way:
“Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; 7 ‘and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand’?” (Judges 4:6b-7, NKJ).
It is interesting that a number of translations render this command less literally:
Now she sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali, and said to him, “Behold, the LORD, the God of Israel, has commanded, ‘Go and march to Mount Tabor, and take with you ten thousand men from the sons of Naphtali and from the sons of Zebulun” (Judges 4:6, NAS).
She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor’” (NIV).
The difference is subtle, but apparent. In the Hebrew text, the command is more literally stated in the form of a question: “Have I not … ?” The less literal translations render it as a simple command. It may be that the New American Standard and the New International versions are right in translating more loosely, but I’m not entirely convinced. In the first place there are other places where a similar expression is found, and the more literal rendering seems more appropriate.
Deborah said to Barak, “Spring into action for this is the day the LORD is handing Sisera over to you! Has the LORD not taken the lead?” Barak quickly went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him (Judges 4:14).
Visit King David and say to him, ‘My master, O king, did you not solemnly promise your servant, “Surely Solomon will be king after me; he will sit on my throne”? So why has Adonijah become king?’ (1 Kings 1:13).
It appears to me from these examples and others that this form of expression is sometimes used to refer to statements previously made, or to action which has occurred prior to that which has been commanded. In verse 14 of chapter 4, for example, Deborah gives the word that God has ordered Barak to commence their march, with the assurance that when they do so, God will already have gone before them. In Judges 4:6, the way the order is given, I get the impression that God has already commanded this before. Is it not possible that God had previously ordered Barak to muster his troops and engage the Canaanites in battle? Are God’s words spoken through Deborah a repetition and confirmation of a previous revelation to Barak? I am inclined to think so. Either way, Barak now has heard a word from the Lord, and it is obviously not enough for him. Barak refuses to obey unless Deborah accompanies him. If she will go with him, he will go; if not, then he will not go.
Just what was it that caused Barak to respond in this way? I think we can say with confidence that Barak lacked the faith to act without Deborah. But what did Barak fear? What was it he felt Deborah would contribute by coming along? It was surely not her battle skills. She was not a David, who could handle a Goliath on his own. She was, in fact, a wife (Judges 4:4) and mother (Judges 5:7). It may be that Barak feared no one would follow him. Such fears were not unfounded. After all, the Israelites had been oppressed for 20 years by the Canaanites. The Canaanites were well armed; the Israelites were virtually unarmed. Many had been coming to Deborah for judgment. Perhaps they would follow her into battle, even if they would not follow Barak. Or, perhaps it was simply that Barak wanted to have this prophetess with him so that he would have a means of obtaining divine guidance at this critical time. This would not have been such a terrible request. After all, did the Israelites not take the means of discerning God’s will into battle with them at other times (1 Samuel 14:3, 18-20; 30:7-8)? Even Jonathan sought a sign to confirm that his attack was God’s will (1 Samuel 14:6-14). The difference here is that God’s will has been revealed to Barak, and he is reluctant to act on the command he has already been given.
Whatever his fears, he is rebuked by Deborah for his lack of faith. She assures Barak that she will accompany him, but he will not get the glory for the victory over the Canaanites that God has promised (verse 9). We can easily identify with Barak’s fears, but we can hardly defend them. When God spoke to Barak through Deborah, He told him all he needed to know. He did not need any further word from God. Look again at the instructions:
6 She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali. She said to him, “Is it not true that the LORD God of Israel is commanding you? Go, march to Mount Tabor! Take with you 10,000 men from Naphtali and Zebulun! 7 I will bring Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to you at the Kishon River, along with his chariots and huge army. I will hand him over to you.”
Barak is told where to go, how many men to take with him, and even what tribes they are to come from. He is told that he is to provoke Sisera to attack, descending from Mount Tabor to the plain near the river Kishon, and there God will deliver him into Barak’s hand. There was nothing more that Barak needed to know. He did not need Deborah to accompany him for any further guidance, nor did he require her presence to obtain a following or a victory. Nevertheless, he thought he needed Deborah to come along with him, and so she consented to accompany him.
10 Barak summoned men from Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. Ten thousand men followed him; Deborah went up with him as well. 11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendents of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law. He lived near the tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh. 12 When Sisera heard that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 he ordered all his chariotry—900 chariots with iron-rimmed wheels—and all the troops he had with him, to go from Harosheth-Haggoyim to the River Kishon. 14 Deborah said to Barak, “Spring into action for this is the day the LORD is handing Sisera over to you! Has the LORD not taken the lead?” Barak quickly went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15 The LORD routed Sisera, all his chariotry, and all his army with the edge of the sword. Sisera jumped out of his chariot and ran away on foot. 16 Now Barak chased the chariots and the army all the way to Harosheth Haggoyim. Sisera’s whole army died by the edge of the sword; not even one survived.
What a sight it would have been, if one could have seen these two armies setting out for battle. Barak set out with his men, armed with little or nothing (see 5:8), but Sisera had his well-armed soldiers, and 900 iron chariots. Barak set out with 20 years of defeat behind him; Sisera set out with 20 years of military dominance. Sisera must have been accompanied by a number of top military strategists; Barak is accompanied by Deborah, a wife and mother in Israel. Can you imagine Lappidoth, Deborah’s husband, standing among those sending off their loved ones to war, holding the children Deborah had born to him? No doubt they were crying as their mother waved farewell to them. If they were old enough to comprehend the situation, they would have wondered if they would ever see their mother again. What a contrast! And what a contrast their going out was with their return!
Quite frankly, the battle plan God had given Barak made little sense, militarily speaking. Chariots were very effective on the plains, but they were of little or no value in the mountains. God ordered Barak to muster his troops on Mount Tabor, and then to lead them down from the mountain and onto the plains. This is precisely where the chariots had the advantage and could do the most damage. Humanly speaking, the plan didn’t make sense. But in retrospect we can see how shrewd God’s plan was. Because the Israelite army was on the plain, Sisera felt that his chariots were the perfect weapon. He ordered all of his chariots to engage the Israelites in battle. It looked like a slaughter, which is exactly the way God wanted it to appear. Now, Deborah makes her contribution to the battle. She orders, “Up! For this is the day in which the LORD has delivered Sisera into your hand. Has not the LORD gone out before you?” (verse 14). This was nothing more than a repetition of what she had spoken earlier, other than the indication that now was the time to commence the battle.
From Judges 4, we learn only that the Israelites soundly defeated the Canaanites. Just how this was accomplished is explained more fully in Deborah’s inspired song of triumph in chapter 5:49
19 Kings came, they fought, the kings of Canaan fought, at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; but they took no silver as plunder. 20 From the sky the stars fought, from their pathways they fought against Sisera. 21 The Kishon River carried them off, The river confronted them—the Kishon River. Step on the necks of the strong! 22 The horses’ hooves pounded the ground, the stallions galloped madly (Judges 5:19-22, emphasis mine).
How ironic this sounds, especially if the Canaanites practiced astrology. Did they look to the stars for direction, or for help? The stars were fighting against them! Did they trust in their chariots? God created a rainstorm, turning the plains to mud, causing the river Kishon to overflow its banks, sweeping the Canaanites away. The horses seem to have panicked, so that they probably killed their share of Canaanites. No wonder God had instructed Barak to bring his army down from Mount Tabor to the plains, near the river Kishon. Now the wisdom of His plan is apparent.
It was not really the Israelites who overcame the Canaanites. The victory was the Lord’s. He routed Sisera and all his chariots (verse 15). It would seem that no Canaanites were surviving. The Israelites needed only to perform what might be called a “mop up” operation. They could go about the bodies of the Canaanites, making sure each soldier was dead, and then plundering their weapons. Now the Israelites had their weapons! Sisera saw that defeat was certain, and so he took flight, leaving his chariot behind and running with all his strength, hoping to find a place of safety with his own people. The next verses take up his flight and his death at the hands of a woman.
17 Now Sisera ran away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for Jabin, king of Hazor, and the family of Heber the Kenite had made a peace treaty. 18 Jael came out to welcome Sisera. She said to him, “Stop and rest, my lord. Stop and rest with me. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera stopped to rest in her tent, and she put a blanket over him. 19 He said to her, “Give me a little water to drink for I am thirsty.” She opened a goat-skin container of milk and gave him some milk to drink. Then she covered him up again. 20 He said to her, “Stand watch at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes along and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say ‘No.’” 21 Then Jael, wife of Heber, took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other. She snuck up on him, drove the tent peg through his temple into the ground while he was asleep from exhaustion, and he died. 22 Now Barak was chasing Sisera. Jael came out to welcome him. She said to him, “Come here and I will show you the man you are searching for.” He went with her into the tent, and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead with the tent peg in his temple.
We know nothing of Deborah’s husband, Lapidoth, other than his name. We know a little more about Heber, the husband of Jael, but what we know does not sound good:
11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away from the Kenites, the descendents of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law. He lived near the tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.… 17 Now Sisera ran away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for Jabin, king of Hazor, and the family of Heber the Kenite had made a peace treaty (Judges 4:11, 17, emphasis mine).
Heber the Kenite was related to Moses and thus to Israel through Moses’ father-in-law (verse 11). Yet Heber seems to have abandoned his relationship with Israel, moved to the north, and allied himself with Jabin, the Canaanite king who was oppressing Israel. In other words, it looks as though Heber had changed sides. He was no longer on Israel’s side, but on the Canaanites’ side.
This seems to have been common knowledge, because Sisera fled to the home of Heber, thinking that he would surely be safe there, under the protection of an ally. It would appear that, providentially, Heber was not home, and thus Sisera made a fatal error in seeking sanctuary there. Jael’s response to Sisera led him to believe that he had found a place of safety, where he could eat, rest up, and then continue his retreat toward home. She invited him into her tent and told him not to fear. When he came inside the tent, she covered him with a rug or something similar. She gave him milk to drink, and this, combined with his fatigue, was sufficient to put him to sleep. She had promised to stand in the doorway and to keep watch. Sisera assumed that if anyone came looking for him, she would tell them he was not there. Sleep overcame him, for the last time. He would never wake up.
We are not told when or why Jael decided to put Sisera to death. Quite obviously, Jael’s loyalties were not the same as those of Heber, her husband. Her loyalty was to Israel, and not to the Canaanites. She refused to be bound by the covenant of peace that her husband had made with the Canaanites. From Sisera’s arrival and subsequent actions Jael must have realized that the Israelites were prevailing in the battle with the Canaanites. She must have sensed this was her opportunity to come to Israel’s aid by putting Sisera to death. Putting up tents and taking them down was the woman’s work, and so Jael had the tools of her trade close at hand and knew how to use them. While Sisera was deep in sleep, she seized a tent peg and drove it through Sisera’s skull and into the ground. Not long afterward, Barak arrived, in hot pursuit of Sisera. Jael called him to her tent and showed him Sisera’s body, with his head still pinned to the floor. From an Israelite point of view, Jael did a masterful piece of work. The glory did, indeed, go to a woman, and not to Barak.
23 That day God humiliated Jabin, king of Canaan, before the Israelites. 24 Israel’s power continued to overwhelm Jabin, king of Canaan, until they did away with Jabin, king of Canaan.
These verses are important because they tell us that this victory over Sisera and his army is not the end of the story, but rather the first of a series of battles by which the Israelites overcame the Canaanites. The defeat of Sisera and his army was a turning point in history because it put the Israelites on the offensive and the Canaanites on the defensive. This victory not only eliminated some of Jabin’s top warriors,50 but it deprived him of his greatest weapons—his 900 iron-rimmed chariots. The spoils of this victory would also have provided armor and weapons for many Israelite soldiers, men who previously would have had to fight unarmed (see Judges 5:8). This placed a great handicap on the Canaanites, and leveled the playing field for future battles.
This victory over the Canaanites brought about a change of heart on the part of the Israelites. For 20 years the Canaanites had oppressed them. They had gotten used to being subject to Canaanite domination. They had virtually given up any thought of resisting the Canaanites, let alone defeating them. No wonder Barak was so reticent to lead. But this victory changed all this. While only the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun were summoned to this battle (4:6), others now joined in the fight (5:14). Over time, the Israelites grew stronger and prevailed over the ever-weakening Canaanites. Israel had been delivered once again.
1 In that day Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang this victory song:
2 “When the leaders took the lead in Israel, When the people answered the call to war—Praise the LORD! 3 Hear, O kings! Pay attention, O rulers! I will sing to the LORD! I will sing to the LORD God of Israel! 4 O LORD, when you departed from Seir, when you marched from Edom’s plains; the earth shook, the heavens poured down, the clouds poured down rain. 5 The mountains trembled before the LORD, the God of Sinai; before the LORD God of Israel.
6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael caravans disappeared; travelers had to go on winding side roads. 7 Warriors were scarce, they were scarce in Israel; until you arose, Deborah, until you arose as a motherly protector in Israel. 8 God chose new leaders, then fighters appeared in the city gates; but, I swear, not a shield or spear could be found, among forty military units in Israel. 9 My heart went out to Israel’s leaders, to the people who answered the call to war. Praise the LORD! 10 You who ride on light-colored female donkeys, who sit on saddle cloths, you who walk on the road, pay attention! 11 Hear the sound of those who divide the sheep among the watering places; there they tell of the Lord’s victorious deeds, the victorious deeds of his warriors in Israel. Then the LORD’s people went down to the city gates—
12 Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up, sing a song! Get up, Barak! Capture your prisoners of war, son of Abinoam! 13 Then the survivors came down to the mighty ones; the LORD’s people came down to me as warriors. 14 They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek, They follow after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers; From Makir leaders came down, from Zebulun came the ones who march carrying an officer’s staff. 15 Issachar’s leaders were with Deborah, The men of Issachar supported Barak, Into the valley they were sent under Barak’s command; Among the clans of Reuben there was intense heart searching. 16 Why do you remain among the sheepfolds, listening to the shepherds playing their pipes for their flocks? As for the clans of Reuben—there was intense heart searching. 17 Gilead stayed put beyond the Jordan River, As for Dan—why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards? Asher remained on the seacoast, he stayed put by his harbors. 18 The men of Zebulun were not concerned about their lives; Naphtali charged on to the battlefields.
19 Kings came, they fought, the kings of Canaan fought, at Taanach by the waters of Megiddo; but they took no silver as plunder. 20 From the sky the stars fought, from their pathways they fought against Sisera. 21 The Kishon River carried them off, The river confronted them—the Kishon River. Step on the necks of the strong! 22 The horses’ hooves pounded the ground, the stallions galloped madly. 23 ‘Call judgment down on Meroz,’ says the LORD’s angelic messenger, ‘Be sure to call judgment down on those who live there, because they did not come to help in the LORD’s battle, to help in the LORD’s battle against the warriors.’
24 The most rewarded of women should be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite. She should be the most rewarded of women who live in tents. 25 He asked for water, she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for important men, she served him curds. 26 Her left hand reached for the tent peg, her right hand for the workmen’s hammer. She “hammered” Sisera, she shattered his skull, she smashed his head, she drove the tent peg through his temple. 27 Between her legs he collapsed, he went limp and was lifeless; between her legs he collapsed and went limp, in the spot where he collapsed, there he went limp—violently murdered.
28 Through the window she looked, Sisera’s mother cried out through the lattice, ‘Why is his chariot so slow to return? Why are the hoofbeats of his chariot-horses delayed?’ 29 The wisest of her ladies answer, indeed she even thinks to herself, 30 ‘No doubt they are gathering and dividing the plunder—a girl or two for each man to rape! Sisera is grabbing up colorful cloth, he is grabbing up colorful embroidered cloth, two pieces of colorful embroidered cloth, for the neck of the plunderer!’ 31 May all your enemies perish like this, O LORD! But may those who love you shine like the rising sun at its brightest!
The focus of our lesson has been on Judges 4, but I must tell you that as a result of my study I am convinced that the key to the interpretation of our text is found in the chapter which follows—Judges 5. This chapter is poetry, as you can see. It is similar in form and substance to the “song of deliverance” which the Israelites sang after they passed safely through the Red Sea, at which time the Egyptian army was drowned (see Exodus 15). As the prophetess Miriam may have had a hand in writing the “song of the sea” (Exodus 15), it was Deborah who penned the inspired “song of deliverance” in Judges 5. Time will not allow me to attempt to expound this song in detail, but I think we can quickly summarize the flow of the argument of chapter 5.
I believe the key to chapters 4 and 5 is found in verse 2 of chapter 5: “When leaders lead in Israel, When the people willingly offer themselves, Bless the LORD!” Israel praises God because the leaders actually lead, after years of little or no leadership at all. And because the leaders led, the people (at least some of them) followed. Many volunteered to join their Israelite brethren in going to war against the Canaanites.
Verses 3-11 link the giving of the Law at Sinai with the deliverance of the Israelites from the Canaanites under Deborah and Barak. At Sinai, God made a covenant with Israel. His presence and power at Sinai were demonstrated as He employed nature to accomplish His purposes. The earth quaked and the heavens brought forth rain, testifying to the presence of God (verses 4 and 5). That was in the past, and it was witnessed by the first generation of Israelites to be delivered from Egyptian bondage. Now, the second generation of Israelites sings a similar song, based upon the deliverance God gave Israel from her Canaanite oppressors. Here, too, Israel’s deliverance was due to God’s grace and power. The Israelites were ill-equipped and powerless before the Canaanites and their chariots, but God intervened, employing nature to defeat those who oppressed His people. Israel had nothing but a rag-tag army, with virtually no weapons. It was an army with a woman among those who went to battle, Deborah, a “mother in Israel” (verses 6-8, see NKJV). It looked as though Israel was about to suffer a great slaughter, but now, thanks to the victory God has brought about, God’s people are urged to join in praising God for His salvation (verses 9-11).
Leading this peasant army was Barak, accompanied by Deborah. Deborah was instructed to awake and to sing a song (was this song given to her in the night as a prophetess?). Barak was told to lead away the captives. The volunteers, mentioned in verses 2 and 9 are now identified by tribe in verses 14 and 15. They came from Benjamin, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh (Machir, cf. Genesis 50:23, etc.), as well as those from Zebulun (verse 14). Issachar and Reuben also took part in the fighting (5:15).
In verses 16-18, we see a stark contrast being made between the “workers” (Zebulun and Naphtali, verse 18) and the “shirkers” (e.g., Gilead and Dan, verse 17). If there were those like Zebulun and Naphtali, who were first to volunteer, there were also those who shrunk back from their duty. It may well be that they were far enough away from the conflict that they felt no obligation to involve themselves in this fight. The fact that they were a part of a larger entity—the nation Israel—did not motivate them to come to the aid of their brethren. And for this they are condemned.
Verses 19-23 describe, in poetic language, the battle that was fought between the Canaanites and the Israelites. The kings of Canaan came and fought, but they did not prevail, and they took away no spoils of war. God called the forces of nature into “active duty” and employed them in defeating the Canaanites (verses 20-21). The “stars” joined in the fight, doing battle against Sisera. Torrential rains turned the river Kishon into a raging flood. The Canaanites’ chariots were immobilized and their horses traumatized (verse 22). In verse 23, a curse is pronounced against the city of Meroz, for while others came to the aid of their brethren, the people of this city did not.
Verses 24-27 are a poetic, but very graphic, description of the slaying of Sisera, at the hand of Jael. Here, she gets the glory that would have been Barak’s. She is blessed as a woman among women. She, like Deborah, is identified in relation to her husband. She was a tent-dwelling woman, but in her sphere of service, she played her part well. Sisera asked for water, but she gave him milk. It would most certainly have to be warm milk. No doubt this was her way of giving him the equivalent of a sedative. She brought him curds (or yogurt) in a bowl, which he gladly consumed. And then, as he lay at her feet deep in sleep, she took a tent peg, and with a hammer, she drove it through his head. There he lay dead at her feet. She was the victor. She had prevailed over the arch enemy of Israel. Three times in verse 27 it is said that Sisera bowed at the feet of Jael. This refers, I think, to his posture in sleep, but the song sees more to it than that; in so doing, he symbolically submits himself to Jael as the greater one.
Verses 28-30 paint a very dramatic picture. Note that once again this is given “from a woman’s point of view.” If Deborah, a “mother of Israel,” represents the women of Israel, Sisera’s mother represents the grieving Canaanite women whose losses have been so great on this day. The song writer focuses on the mother of Sisera, waiting for her son to return, triumphant in battle, as he has done so many times before over the past 20 years. But time passes, and the sound of hoofbeats is not heard. Why the delay? Has something gone wrong? The maidens wisely attempt to assume the best. Surely the victory was so decisive and the spoils so great that more time was required to gather them and to bring them home. That was it; it must be.
Verse 31 concludes the song with blessing and cursing. If Deborah saw the power of God at Sinai repeated in the war with Sisera, she now sees this battle as a prototype of God’s future dealings with men. Let all the enemies of God perish, just as the Canaanites have in this battle. And let all those who love God be blessed, rising like the sun in all its glory and power. Is this not, in effect, a repetition of the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12:1-3)? Let those who bless God’s people be blessed; let those who curse them be cursed. This applies across the board. Those fellow-Israelites who came to the aid of their brethren were blessed. Those who refused to help were cursed, not unlike the Canaanites who opposed God’s people.
I cannot help but compare these two men, Sisera and Barak. Sisera was a man who had a good deal of faith, but in the wrong things. Sisera trusted in his own judgment. He trusted in his army. He trusted in his 900 iron chariots. He even trusted in Heber’s wife, Jael. And the result was that Sisera died at the hand of a woman, with a tent peg driven through his skull.
Barak, on the other hand, was not a man of great faith. He was reluctant to take on the Canaanites with their weapons and their superior army. He refused to go to battle unless Deborah accompanied him. Barak did not have great faith, but he had a little faith. His faith, small as it may be, was in God. He obeyed God’s word as communicated to him through Deborah, and the result was that God gave the Canaanites into the hands of the Israelites. His faith may have only been the size of a mustard seed (cf. Matthew 17:20), but it was in God. Little faith, rightly directed, is far superior to great faith in the wrong object.
Barak is one of those listed in the New Testament “hall of faith” in the Book of Hebrews:
32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. 33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight, … (Hebrews 11:32-34, emphasis mine).
The question should arise in our minds, “If Barak is listed in the ‘hall of faith,’ then why is Deborah not named?” I think the answer is found in verse 34. Barak was one who “gained strength in weakness,” and “became mighty in battle.” Barak was weak in his faith, and he became strong. In our story, Deborah was strong in her faith all along. Indeed, I believe Deborah was the primary reason why Barak’s faith was strengthened. The absence of Deborah’s name here is not an insult to her; it is a compliment.
The problem we face when we come to the interpretation and application of this text of Scripture is that many seek to use it as a proof text for their personal agendas. To be more specific, those who resist the biblical teaching on the role of women in ministry (that men should lead in the church) latch onto this text and claim that it proves that women are justified in taking the lead, especially when men refuse to do so. In so doing, they miss the message of the passage, which teaches the opposite.
Of particular interest to some is the fact that Deborah is a prophetess. Does having the gift of prophecy somehow change the rules, as some seem to suggest? Let me begin to address this matter by pointing out that the term prophet or prophets (and prophet’s) occurs some 490 times in the New King James Version of the Bible. The term “prophetess” occurs eight times (“prophetesses” occurs once in the New American Standard Bible, in Acts 21:9). Of these nine references to prophetesses, two refer to false prophetesses. In the whole of the Bible, we find a total of nine prophetesses identified (Miriam, Exodus 15:20; Deborah, Judges 4:4; Huldah, 2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22; the prophetess who bore a son in Isaiah 8:3; Anna, Luke 2:36; and the four daughters of Philip, Acts 21:9).51 This must be contrasted with a vastly larger number of men who were prophets. Women prophetesses were comparatively rare, in both Old and New Testament times.
Miriam was a prophetess, but it seems that her ministry was with the women. We never see her leading men (except, perhaps, when she was wrongly a leader in a rebellion against Moses—see Numbers 12:1-16). She is identified as a prophetess in Exodus 15:20, and she seems to have played a role in the writing, as well as the singing, of some of the Song of the Sea, which the Israelites sang after God brought them safely through the Red Sea (Exodus 15:20-21ff.). Deborah seems to have written the “song of deliverance” recorded in Judges 5.
In the Book of Acts, Luke informs us that Philip had four daughters who prophesied, and yet when the time came for the prophecy that arrest and bonds (jail) awaited Paul if he persisted in going to Jerusalem, it was not through these women that the prophecy was revealed. Agabas, a prophet from Judea, came down and made this known to Paul (Acts 21:10ff.). Why, if these women were prophetesses and were on the scene, did God bring a man down from Judea? I think it was because this was a task he wanted a man to perform. (It is possible that these women actually prophesied of Paul’s fate in Jerusalem, and that Agabas was sent to confirm it, but Luke’s account of this matter portrays Agabas as the leader.)
I have already pointed out that every time a prophetess is identified in the Bible, she is identified in relation to a man (e.g., her husband, her father). I think it can be demonstrated that when there was a woman prophetess who assumed a leadership role, it was meant to be a very clear indication of spiritual decay:
9 You will be shocked and amazed! You are totally blind! They are drunk, but not because of wine, They stagger, but not because of beer. 10 For the LORD has poured out on you a strong urge to sleep deeply. He has shut your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers) (Isaiah 29:9-10).
I believe the Israelites had to seek out Deborah (in our text) and later on Huldah (2 Kings 22:14; 2 Chronicles 34:22) because of Israel’s sin and spiritual decay. Because of the sin of His people, God took away the prophets, the “eyes” of the people (remember that prophets were called “seers”). People sought God’s will from Deborah and from Huldah because of Israel’s sin and spiritual decline. That they had to come to a prophetess, rather than a prophet, was a rebuke, not to the prophetesses, but to the nation.
I would particularly caution any who would attempt to make our passage their proof text for women leaders in Israel and the church. Remember that Deborah’s ministry is recorded in the Book of Judges. It is in Judges that we read, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; cf. also 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). The Book of Judges is not holding forth an ideal for us to follow, but is depicting evils for us to avoid. If one were to say that Deborah is the model for all women in ministry (i.e., that women should lead men), will we also urge all women to follow Jael? Would we tell men today that they should be like Samson? Judges describes real people, people with very serious flaws, people that God nonetheless employs for His own purposes. But let us not make the mistake of assuming that since they are found in the Bible they are examples for us to follow in all that they did.
The story of Deborah and Barak does not advocate a general principle that women should lead men. And yet having said this, I would agree that our text does teach us about leadership. I would go even farther. I believe that Deborah did lead here. Indeed, I would say that Deborah led and that Barak followed. But there were definite limits as to how far Deborah was willing to go. I would also say that Deborah did not lead to the degree that Barak seems to have desired. She did not lead the Israelite army in war; Barak did. Deborah followed Barak into battle, as did the others (Judges 4:10). Deborah does give Barak the word to go to war in 4:14, but she is merely repeating what she had already said. Barak should have seen that it was the time to fight on his own, based upon what God had already said. Deborah plays a crucial role in this battle. She operates behind the scenes as much as she can. Barak’s reticence to lead and his insistence that Deborah go with him are portrayed as weakness on his part, for which he is rebuked. That a woman gets the glory is to be viewed as a divine rebuke, not a compliment.
I believe our text informs us that Deborah did have a leadership role at this point in Israel’s history. This is not portrayed as a good thing, to be imitated by women later in history. Barak is portrayed as a man of weakness, whose faith God strengthens. Deborah did lead, but only within certain limits. Deborah led, but in such a way as to promote male leadership, and thus to keep herself in a subordinate role. Deborah did not seek a prominent leadership role, and in fact she actively sought to avoid it. She made it clear that God had designated Barak as the leader, and that God was commanding him to lead.
Deborah did play a crucial leadership role in our text, but note the outcome of her leadership. From 4:23-24, we learn that this battle was a turning point in the relationship between Israel and the Canaanites, who dominated the Israelites for 20 years. In the “song of deliverance” in chapter 5 (verse 2), we see that because of Deborah’s ministry, the leaders assumed their leadership roles, and the workers followed them (not her). Deborah did not seek to overturn the way leadership was supposed to function, but affirmed it. Because of her ministry, God’s designated leaders did lead, and followers actively followed by volunteering for service. That is the way it is supposed to work. That is the way it did work when Deborah played out her role in Israel’s history.
Barak became the leader he was supposed to be, thanks in large part to the role that Deborah played. I would suggest that more often than not, when a man becomes the kind of leader that God wants him to be, there is a “Deborah” somewhere nearby, perhaps out of the spotlight, but very much standing behind the man, encouraging him and strengthening his faith in God. Many of the great deeds of faith performed by men find their roots in the godly actions and prayers of a woman—a wife, a mother, a daughter, a prayer warrior. I have often thought that whatever success I have ever experienced in my ministry was more related to the prayers of my wife than to my faithfulness or skills in ministry. Would that there were more Deborahs today.
Let me mention one last thing as I close. In those dark days of the judges, the leaders shrunk back, and there were few who were willing to follow. The bottom line was that there seemed to be no one to fight the enemy, the Canaanites. Through the ministry of this great woman, Deborah, leaders and followers emerged, and the battle was fought and won. Today, it is very little different than in Deborah’s day. There is a great deal that needs to be done in the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are Sunday School classes to be taught, new believers to be discipled, evangelism to be carried out, and on and on the needs go. And yet today there are all too few willing to step forward and assume leadership positions. And there are even fewer people who are willing to follow. In our church, as in most others, there are jobs that need to be done, and not enough people willing to do them. What has God called you to do? Has He called you to serve? Then volunteer, and be a supportive follower. Do what needs to be done! Are you called to lead? Then do it, trusting in God to work through your weakness in a way that makes you strong.
47 These were second generation Israelites—the first generation, which experienced the exodus from Egypt, died in the wilderness.
48 It is not until much later that David will make Jerusalem the center for Israel’s worship.
49 I believe it is obvious that Deborah wrote this song, without the help of Barak. She was the prophetess, the one who could produce inspired writing. And while we are told (5:1) that both Deborah and Barak sang this song, it would seem from 5:12 that it was Deborah who wrote it. His job was the warfare, hers the writing.
50 One might easily conclude that because 10,000 Israelites were mustered for battle (4:6, 10), a similar number was sent to oppose them. This need not be the case. Sisera could have sent a much larger army, intending to quickly and decisively wipe out any further Israelite opposition. He could also have sent a smaller army, confident that by the use of his best soldiers and his 900 chariots the battle would be an easy one to win.
51 I am not suggesting here that there were only nine prophetesses in Old and New Testament times. Surely there were more than this, just as there were probably more prophets than those identified in the Bible. But when comparing the number of prophetesses to the number of prophets we find in the Bible, prophetesses are rare.
16:29 In the thirty-eighth year of King Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri’s son Ahab became king over Israel. Ahab son of Omri ruled over Israel for 22 years in Samaria. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil before the LORD than all who were before him. 31 If following in the sinful footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat were not bad enough, he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians. Then he worshiped and bowed to Baal. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal he had built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole; he did more to anger the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 During Ahab’s reign, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. Abiram, his firstborn son, died when he laid the foundation; Segub, his youngest son, died when he erected its gates, just as the LORD had warned through Joshua son of Nun.
17:1 Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As certainly as the LORD God of Israel lives (whom I serve), there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command.” 2 The LORD told him: 3 “Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 4 Drink from the stream; I have already told the ravens to bring you food there.” 5 So he did as the LORD told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream.
7 After awhile, the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land. 8 The LORD told him, 9 “Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told a widow who lives there to provide for you.” 10 So he got up and went to Zarephath. When he went through the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. He called out to her, “Please give me a cup of water, so I can take a drink.” 11 As she went to get it, he called out to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.” 12 She said, “As certainly as the LORD your God lives, I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple sticks for a fire. Then I’m going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you planned. But first make a small cake for me and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the LORD God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the LORD makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’” 15 She went and did as Elijah told her; there was always enough food for Elijah and for her and her family. 16 The jar of flour was never empty and the jug of oil never ran out, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah.
17 After this the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe. 18 She asked Elijah, “Why, prophet, have you come to me to confront me with my sin and kill my son?” 19 He said to her, “Hand me your son.” He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him down on his bed. 20 Then he called out to the LORD, “O LORD, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?” 21 He stretched out over the boy three times and called out to the LORD, “O LORD, my God, please let this boy’s breath return to him.” 22 The LORD answered Elijah’s prayer; the boy’s breath returned to him and he lived. 23 Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room to the house, and handed him to his mother. Elijah then said, “See, your son is alive!” 24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a prophet and that the LORD really does speak through you.”
At this point in our study of the Old Testament prophets, we come to the life and times of the prophet Elijah. We would probably agree with J. Sidlow Baxter’s appraisal of Elijah.
“His eminence is seen both in the religious reformation which he wrought, and in the fact that the New Testament speaks of him more often than of any other Old Testament prophet. Moreover, it was he who was chosen to appear with Moses at our Lord’s transfiguration. And further, it is from this point that the ministry of the prophets in the two Hebrew kingdoms becomes more prominently emphasised. One of Israel’s most startling and romantic characters, he suddenly appears on the scene as the crisis-prophet, with thunder on his brow and tempest in his voice. He disappears just as suddenly, swept skywards in a chariot of fire. Between his first appearing and his final disappearing lies a succession of amazing miracles.”52
“Here is the Martin Luther of old-time Israel, who singlehanded challenged the whole priesthood of the state religion, and all the people of the realm, to the decisive test on Mount Carmel.”53
Of all the Old Testament prophets, the New Testament mentions Elijah more than any other. He is the prophet who appeared with Moses at the transfiguration of our Lord. He is a man who appears from out of nowhere, and whose exit from this life is even more fantastic. The appearance of Elijah signals a new era in the history of Israel. Where prophets were few and far between before his time, there are now hundreds of prophets, and even a school of the prophets. Elijah appears at a time when prophets began to play a much more prominent role in the history of Israel.
I suspect there is another reason why Elijah is so popular—he is a man like us, a man with whom we can identify:
Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months! (NET Bible).
Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years (James 5:17, NIV).
Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months (James 5:17, NASB).
Elijah is the “Peter” of the prophets. For me, at least, I find it much harder to identify with Isaiah or Jeremiah than I do with Elijah. Elijah is a prophet who served God, but whose humanity (i.e., his weaknesses) is apparent as he does so.
29 In the thirty-eighth year of King Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri’s son Ahab became king over Israel. Ahab son of Omri ruled over Israel for 22 years in Samaria. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil before the LORD than all who were before him. 31 If following in the sinful footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat were not bad enough, he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians. Then he worshiped and bowed to Baal. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal he had built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole; he did more to anger the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 During Ahab’s reign, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. Abiram, his firstborn son, died when he laid the foundation; Segub, his youngest son, died when he erected its gates, just as the LORD had warned through Joshua son of Nun.
By and large, the life and ministry of Elijah centers around Ahab, the king of Israel, and Jezebel, his foreign wife. If we are to understand the ministry and message of Elijah, we must first understand the times in which he lived. We know very little about Elijah’s past, although we certainly have more information regarding Ahab and those who came before him. Ahab is the seventh king to reign over the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It may be helpful to provide a chart of the early kings of Israel and Judah, so that we can understand where Ahab fits in the history of his nation.
United Kingdom
Saul
David
Solomon
Divided Kingdom: Israel and Judah
|
Judah |
Northern Kingdom (Israel) | ||||||
|
Rehoboam Abijah |
17 years 3 years |
Jeroboam Nadab |
22 years 2 years | ||||
|
Asa |
41 years |
Baasha Elah Zimri |
24 years 2 years 1 week | ||||
|
Jehoshaphat |
25 years |
Omri Ahab Ahaziah |
12 years 22 years 2 years |
||||
|
Jehoram |
8 years |
Jahoram Jehu |
12 years 28 years | ||||
At the insistence of the Israelites, the United Kingdom commenced with the appointment of Saul as the first king of Israel. Under Saul’s leadership, Israel won significant victories over the Ammonites (in the freeing of Jabesh Gilead) and the Amalekites (although Saul let King Agag live). The Philistines were posing a very real threat to Israel, and it was David who emerged in this conflict, commencing with his defeat of Goliath. It was at the hands of the Philistines that King Saul and his son Jonathan died in battle. It was David who firmly established the kingdom and expanded its borders by subduing the surrounding nations. Solomon further consolidated the kingdom, but in the latter days of his reign Solomon began to marry foreign wives and to facilitate their worship of foreign gods, even participating with them. For this reason, God informed Solomon that his kingdom would be divided, but not until after his death (1 Kings 11:1-13). After Solomon’s death, God’s word was fulfilled as Jeroboam led the ten tribes in rebellion against the dynasty of David. From this point on, we read of the Northern Kingdom, or Israel, and of the Southern Kingdom, Judah. All of the Northern Kingdom’s kings were wicked, but Ahab has the distinction of being the most wicked king of all (1 Kings 16:30, 33; 21:25-26). Ahab was the second king in the dynasty of Omri. His father was Omri, who ruled for 12 years, and after Ahab’s death his son, Ahaziah, ruled 2 years. Ahab was on the throne for 22 years. Although Ahab surpassed all those who came before him in wickedness, we must not forget that he repents in 1 Kings 21:27ff.
Ahab’s downfall seems to have begun with his marriage to Jezebel, the daughter of a Sidonian king named Ethbaal (1 Kings 16:31).54 Here was a woman who seemed to drive Ahab to greater depths of evil, and when this man was incapable of handling the matter himself, she did not hesitate to take over (see 1 Kings 21:4-16). Together with his wife Jezebel, Ahab re-introduces the worship of Baal and the Asherah to Israel (16:31-33; see 1 Kings 11:1-8). At first, it would seem as though Jezebel and Ahab were content with religious pluralism. Israelites could worship Yahweh, or Baal, or both. It is this kind of pluralism we see in America today. The one thing that is intolerable is to make any exclusive claims regarding one’s faith or one’s “god.” To think your religion is a way to God is fine; to say your religion is the way to God is intolerable.
But as one can see, pluralism was not good enough for Jezebel. She was not content for Israel to have the option of serving whatever God or gods they chose; she wanted the worship of Yahweh eliminated. Its “unpardonable sin” was its exclusiveness. Israel’s God was God alone, and to serve Yahweh, one must serve no other gods. And so Jezebel began to systematically kill off the prophets of Yahweh. Had it not been for divine intervention (sometimes implemented through human means like Obadiah—see 18:4, 13), it would appear that she would have succeeded.
The author of 1 Kings adds a very interesting historical note in verse 34, which some think is out of place:
During Ahab’s reign, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. Abiram, his firstborn son, died when he laid the foundation; Segub, his youngest son, died when he erected its gates, just as the LORD had warned through Joshua son of Nun.
I disagree. During Ahab’s reign, and thus under Ahab’s orders, the city of Jericho was rebuilt by Hiel, the Bethelite. In the course of this construction, Kiel’s first sin was killed when the foundation was laid. Kiel’s youngest son died as the city gates were being erected. The author’s point is to let the reader know this happened in fulfillment of the words of prophecy Joshua uttered centuries earlier:
At that time Joshua made this solemn declaration: “The man who attempts to rebuild this city of Jericho will stand condemned before the LORD. He will lose his firstborn son when he lays its foundations and his youngest son when he erects its gates” (Joshua 6:26).
I believe 1 Kings 16:34 is a very solemn reminder of the reliability of the Word of God. Does God’s Word say that a man’s oldest and youngest sons will die when he seeks to rebuild Jericho? Then it will happen! But this also applies to all of God’s other promises, and all of His warnings. The exchange which takes place between Ahab and God’s prophets will be ample proof of this. It is too bad that Ahab could not have learned his lesson sooner, from the tragedy in Kiel’s family.
Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As certainly as the LORD God of Israel lives (whom I serve), there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command.”
Elijah is something like Melchizedek (see Genesis 14:18-20), in that he seems to appear out of nowhere. We know only that he is “from Tishbe in Gilead.” We are not even certain where this town was located. Elijah either appears before Ahab or sends word to him, but the message is simple: “As certainly as the LORD God of Israel lives (whom I serve), there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command” (verse 1). The prophet speaks in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. By His authority, Elijah announces that there will be no more rain until he gives the command.
Elijah’s proclamation is a clear challenge to Baal, whom both Jezebel and Ahab serve:
“Baalism existed as a religion for several centuries in various ancient Near Eastern countries. Its prominence in Canaan and Phoenicia is especially important for understanding 1, 2 Kings, since it is from those cultures that the major influence on Israel and Judah came. M. Smith concludes that ‘the Phoenician baal of Ahab and Jezebel was a storm-god. The extrabiblical evidence indicates that the baal of Carmel and Baal Shamem were also storm gods.’ Thus, Baal worshipers believed that their god made rain, which is a quite important detail in an agricultural community. Elijah apparently prays for a drought to prove that Yahweh, not Baal, is in charge of crop-enriching rains.”55
“Why choose a drought? Why emphasize that Yahweh lives? Elijah determines to attack Baalism at its theological center. Baal worshipers believed that their storm god made rain, unless, of course, it was the dry season and he needed to be brought back from the dead. To refute this belief Elijah states that Yahweh is the one who determines when rain falls, that Yahweh lives at all times, and that Yahweh is not afraid to challenge Baal on what his worshippers consider his home ground.”56
Elijah’s declaration not only challenges the false gods that Israel worshipped; it also challenges the false prophets of Baal and the Asherah. Are there 850 prophets in Israel, 450 who are prophets of Baal, and 400 of whom are prophets of Asherah? Elijah is the prophet of Yahweh, the God of Israel. Do these prophets claim to represent their gods, and to speak with authority on their behalf? Then let them prove it now. This challenge also puts Elijah’s authority and credibility on the line. Before Elijah can call for repentance, he must first demonstrate that Yahweh is “in charge” and that he is His prophet. This is in keeping with the Old Testament law:
20 But the prophet who will presume to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 21 Or if you say to yourselves, how can we know what the LORD has not spoken? 22 Whenever a given prophet speaks in my name and the thing is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it so you need not fear him” (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).
Elijah’s claim that it will not rain without his command is the test. If Elijah’s words can stop the rains, then the Israelites had better listen carefully to what he has to say, for it will be God speaking through him. On the other hand, Elijah is claiming the authority to do what it was believed Baal controlled—the weather. Thus, we have a contest. Either God controls the rain, and Elijah is His spokesman, or Baal controls the rain, and his prophets speak for him, with authority.
2 The LORD told him: 3 “Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 4 Drink from the stream; I have already told the ravens to bring you food there.” 5 So he did as the LORD told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 6 The ravens would bring him bread and meat each morning and evening, and he would drink from the stream. 7 After awhile, the stream dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
Elijah is commanded to leave, and to “hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan” (verse 2). The waters from the brook Cherith will provide him with drink, and the ravens will bring bread and meat morning and evening. The ravens have been given their orders from God (verse 4). Israel and her king may not pay attention to God’s Word, but the unclean ravens do His bidding.
One might wonder why God instructed Elijah to hide. There had to be sufficient time for Israel to observe that God had indeed brought a drought upon the land of Israel. There is little for Elijah to do or say until his authority as a prophet of Yahweh has been established. Thus, he must stay out of sight until the drought is acknowledged and Elijah is credited with bringing it about. As this becomes indisputably clear, there will be increased hostility toward Elijah and efforts to seize him will intensify.
I think there is another purpose for this three-and-one-half year period of hiding. This appears to be the commencement of Elijah’s public ministry. It is important for this prophet to be deeply convinced of God’s ability to provide for his every need, both for his daily provisions, and for his protection. God is using this quiet time in Elijah’s life to teach him to “trust and obey.” This is a time when Elijah’s faith is deepened. And there is a final purpose for this period of hiding—it is a time when God will bring salvation to the Gentiles. This we shall see in the following verses.
8 The LORD told him, 9 “Get up, go to Zarephath in Sidonian territory, and live there. I have already told a widow who lives there to provide for you.” 10 So he got up and went to Zarephath. When he went through the city gate, there was a widow gathering wood. He called out to her, “Please give me a cup of water, so I can take a drink.” 11 As she went to get it, he called out to her, “Please bring me a piece of bread.” 12 She said, “As certainly as the LORD your God lives,57 I have no food, except for a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. Right now I am gathering a couple sticks for a fire. Then I’m going home to make one final meal for my son and myself. After we have eaten that, we will die of starvation.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go and do as you planned. But first make a small cake for me and bring it to me; then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the LORD God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the LORD makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’” 15 She went and did as Elijah told her; there was always enough food for Elijah and for her and her family. 16 The jar of flour was never empty and the jug of oil never ran out, just as the LORD had promised through Elijah.
As the drought lingered on, the brook Cherith finally dried up. It was time for Elijah to change his hideout. He was given very clear directions as to where he should stay next. He was instructed to go to Zarephath, with the assurance that God had a widow there whom He had commanded to provide for him. I do not believe that this woman necessarily received an audible command from God, but God makes it clear once again that He accomplishes what He has purposed and declared. God’s Word is true and trustworthy. His word is never frustrated (empty—Isaiah 55:11).
How interesting that God would send Elijah to Zarephath:
“Zarephath is located in Phoenicia, the very heart of Baalism. Here Yahweh will defeat Baal in his own territory. Here, God’s people will fare better than Baal’s. F. C. Fensham asserts that in fact the main purpose of this narrative is ‘to demonstrate on Phoenician soil, where Baal is worshiped, that Yahweh has power over things in which Baal has failed.’”58
Zarephath is in Sidon, not that far from where Jezebel’s father, the king of Sidon lived, not far from where she had grown up. Zarephath is where the Baal worship of Ahab and Jezebel originated. The Sidonian gods of Phoenicia have the home field advantage. Elijah is on their turf. It was often believed that the gods were territorial. This seems even to be true of Abraham, who feared that God could not protect him outside the promised land (see Genesis 20:11-13). It was true of the Syrians, who thought that Yahweh was the “god of the mountain” while Baal was a “god of the valleys” (1 Kings 20:28). If this were true (which it is not!) then Elijah is taking a huge risk by moving to Zarephath. Who would live there as one who worshipped Yahweh? Who would hide him? You would think that everyone living there would want to turn him over to Ahab. And yet so far as we are told no one laid a hand on him while he was there. The safest place in the world was under Baal’s nose. The safest place in the world was where God told you to be.
As Elijah approached Zarephath, he came upon a widow at the city gate who was gathering up sticks for a fire. Elijah called out to her, asking her for a cup of water. As she went to get the water, Elijah called out with a much more difficult request. Could she also bring him a little bread as well? In the original text, the words seem to refer to a “crumble” or “morsel” of bread. Elijah is not asking for a loaf of bread, or even a sandwich, he asks for something which this woman actually has, and not much more. The issue for the woman, then, is not whether she has it to give, but whether she will do so. She has no excess to share, so she will have to give Elijah that which was for her and her son.
The widow informed Elijah that she was preparing a “last supper” for herself and her son. Though she might wish to share some bread with him, there was only enough flour and oil to make a small serving for herself and her son. When this last bit of her supplies was gone, they would starve. She had nothing to spare.
I don’t think this woman told Elijah anything he didn’t already know. His words put her faith in Yahweh to the test. She responds in a very different fashion than Jezebel (1 Kings 19:2) and Ben Hadad (20:2). The widow’s words, “As certainly as the LORD your God lives… (17:12) are virtually identical to the words spoken later on by Obadiah: “As certainly as the LORD your God lives…” (18:10). I am inclined to believe that this widow was already a believer in Yahweh, or at least one, like the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26ff.), whose heart has been prepared to trust in Him. How ironic this would be. A prophet of Yahweh cannot find sanctuary in Israel, but is cared for in a pagan country, by a Gentile widow. Elijah reassures this woman with a “thus saith the Lord” in verse 14: “For this is what the LORD God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour will not be empty and the jug of oil will not run out until the day the LORD makes it rain on the surface of the ground.’” This woman must give up her life, and the life of her son, in order to save it. And this she does. The woman then prepares food for Elijah, and then for herself and her son. As long as the drought lasted, God provided for her needs. Elijah’s coming to Israel brought judgment; his coming to Zarephath brought salvation.
If I am reading the text correctly, God provides Elijah, the widow, and her son with what is needed on a day-to-day basis. He did not supply a barn full of grain and barrels of oil. Each meal, the woman had to repeat what she did when she served Elijah bread the first time they met. God continued to replenish the small amount of grain and oil each time they were used. God gave them their “daily bread,” not their monthly allotment. Never was the grain completely consumed or the oil container completely emptied. This, we are reminded, took place in fulfillment of the word of the Lord which was spoken by Elijah.
17 After this the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. His illness was so severe he could no longer breathe. 18 She asked Elijah, “Why, prophet, have you come to me to confront me with my sin and kill my son?” 19 He said to her, “Hand me your son.” He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him down on his bed. 20 Then he called out to the LORD, “O LORD, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?” 21 He stretched out over the boy three times and called out to the LORD, “O LORD, my God, please let this boy’s breath return to him.” 22 The LORD answered Elijah’s prayer; the boy’s breath returned to him and he lived. 23 Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room to the house, and handed him to his mother. Elijah then said, “See, your son is alive!” 24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a prophet and that the LORD really does speak through you.”
Providing sanctuary for Elijah was the best thing that could have happened to the widow and their son. It was God’s means of saving their lives. They were about to die of starvation when Elijah arrived, and yet God provided for all three for the remainder of the drought and famine. One can imagine the grief of this widow when her son became ill and stopped breathing. To her, it looked like a cruel joke: God saved her son’s life only to take it later on. Her words to Elijah are an admission of her sin, and of her perception that God, through His prophet, had punished the sins of this woman by killing her son. Elijah’s prayer in some ways reiterates the thoughts the widow had just expressed: “O LORD, my God, are you also bringing disaster on this widow with whom I am staying by killing her son?” (verse 20, emphasis mine). I am especially curious about that word “also.” It is almost as though Elijah were saying: “Alright, God, I can understand you bringing disaster (this drought and famine, and men seeking my life) on me—that’s my role as a prophet. But did you have to include her in my disaster by taking the life of her son?” It is as though the widow is saying, “It’s my fault; why did he have to suffer?”—while Elijah says, “It is my fault; why did she have to suffer because You killed her son?”
I find it interesting that Elijah, though a prophet, did not completely understand his situation. While he knew things as a prophet that others did not know, he did not know or understand all. I am reminded of this verse in 1 Corinthians 13:9-10: “For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, but when what is perfect comes, the partial will be set aside.”
Having made his protest to God, Elijah now makes his petition: “O LORD, my God, please let this boy’s breath return to him” (verse 21). This Elijah said as he stretched himself out on the child three times. There are all kinds of explanations given for Elijah’s actions, but whatever he did, it was God who healed that child and brought him back to life. This was a miracle, and not a common, everyday application of CPR. It would seem quite clear that God’s purpose for all of this agony can be seen in the response of this widow to the raising of her son: “Now I know that you are a prophet and that the LORD really does speak through you” (verse 24).
Is this not the purpose of miracles—to accredit those who are true prophets and to affirm the power of God and His word?
21 Or if you say to yourselves, how can we know what the LORD has not spoken? 22 Whenever a given prophet speaks in my name and the thing is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it so you need not fear him” (Deuteronomy 18:21-22).
Indeed, the signs of an apostle were performed among you with great perseverance by signs and wonders and powerful deeds (2 Corinthians 12:12).
1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, 4 while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will (Hebrews 2:1-4).
I believe this Gentile woman had faith before her son was healed. As pointed out earlier, her words to Elijah were identical with those of Obadiah, a man whom we know to be a believer. I think she had faith in the God of Elijah, and in Elijah as His prophet. She entrusted her life and that of her son to him. But now, she has “resurrection faith.” It is my contention that saving faith is resurrection faith. It is true for New Testament saints, and it was also true of those believers we find described in the Old Testament:
8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach); 9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation (Romans 10:8-10).
18 Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be.” 19 Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. 22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness (Romans 4:18-22).
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 12 So in fact children were fathered by one man—and this one as good as dead—like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore (Hebrews 11:8-12).
I’m sure that some may wish to argue this point. They might agree that Abraham did have a resurrection faith. He believed that God could empower the dead bodies (so far as child-bearing) of him and his wife to bear a son. He believed that if he sacrificed his son, God could raise him from the dead. But was this true of all Old Testament saints? I believe it was:
13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. 14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. 18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” 19 and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there. 20 By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. 21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and “worshiped as he leaned on his staff.” 22 By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his burial (Hebrews 11:13-22).
Every Old Testament saint died in faith, without seeing the fulfillment of the promises of God which they believed by faith. This meant that they were not looking for God’s promises in this life, but in the next. And to live as they did, suffering and dying for their faith, they had to believe in the resurrection, because that was the only way they would ever inherit the promises for which they waited in faith. While I believe that the Gentile widow had faith before this, her faith is now a resurrection faith. Was God being unduly harsh with this woman, as both she and Elijah seemed to think? He was graciously bringing her to the point where her faith was a resurrection faith.
The first purpose of this passage, I believe, is to convince us that Elijah speaks the Word of God, and that God’s Word is always true. Note the prominence of the expressions related to God’s Word:
16:34 “just as the LORD had warned through Joshua son of Nun”
17:1 “unless I give the command”
17:2 “The LORD told him”
17:8 “The LORD told him”
17:9 “I have already told a widow who lives there to provide for you”
17:14 “For this is what the LORD God of Israel says”
17:15 “She went and did as Elijah told her”
17:16 “just as the LORD had promised through Elijah”
17:24 “Now I know that you are a prophet and that the LORD really does speak through you.”
The sins of Israel and of Ahab their king are the result of a disregard for His Word. They were either ignorant of His commands, or they deliberately disobeyed what they knew He required. If and when revival is to come, it will begin with a renewed reverence for the Word of God.
The miracles Elijah performed vindicated his position as a prophet of God and should have caused those who heard him to heed his words. Elijah’s miracles were proof of his authenticity and authority. Those who heeded his words—like the Gentile widow—were saved from death. Those who rejected his words suffered the consequences for their disobedience.
Is this not also true of the person and the works of our Lord Jesus Christ? When He came to this earth, He claimed to have come down from the Father, and to speak for the Father:
“I came from the Father and entered into the world; but in turn, I am leaving the world and going back to the Father” (John 16:28).
41 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus began complaining about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” 42 and they started saying, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” (John 6:41-42).
Then Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak just what the Father taught me” (John 8:28).
48 “The one who rejects me and does not accept my words has a judge; the word I have spoken will judge him at the last day. 49 For I have not spoken from my own authority, but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me” (John 12:48-50).
10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father residing in me performs his miraculous deeds. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me; but if you do not believe me, believe because of the miraculous deeds themselves (John 14:10-12).
Jesus claimed to be God. He claimed to have come down to earth from the Father in heaven. He claimed that He would be rejected by men, crucified, and then raised from the dead, after which He would return to the Father in heaven. These were not empty words. Jesus performed many miracles, which vindicated these claims:
30 Now Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples that are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20:30-31).
So the question is this: do you believe these words, which Jesus spoke?
13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” 16 For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God” (John 3:13-18).
Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Our text is another early indication of God’s purpose to save Gentiles as well as Jews.
16 Now Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as he customarily did. He stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and regaining of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him, 21 and he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him, and were amazed at the gracious words that came out of his mouth. They began to say, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” 23 Jesus said to them, “Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself! What we have heard that you did at Capernaum, do here in your own hometown too.’” 24 And he added, “I tell you the truth, no prophet is acceptable in his own hometown. 25 But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days, when the sky was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine over all the land. 26 Yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to a woman who was a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha; yet none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 When they heard this, all the people in the synagogue were filled with anger. 29 They got up, forced him out of the town, and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But he passed through their midst and went on his way (Luke 4:16-30, underscoring mine).
In Romans 9-11, Paul teaches that God purposed to use the unbelief of the Jewish people as the occasion for proclaiming the gospel to the Gentiles. In the text above, our Lord is making this same point. When Jesus came to his home town of Nazareth and announced that He was the Messiah, people were delighted to hear it. But then Jesus tempered their enthusiasm (here is an understatement!) by informing them that He had come not only to save Jews, but Gentiles also. His Jewish audience was enraged and sought to kill Him. This only served to underscore what Jesus was saying about Jewish unbelief. How grateful you and I (if we are Gentiles) can be for God’s grace toward us.
Last night, the news broke that a madman entered a Fort Worth church auditorium filled with young people, injuring several, killing seven, and then taking his own life. This was a terrible loss for those who lost loved ones. But from what I have heard, all of those killed had a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Knowing this puts the death of these saints in an entirely different light, because we know that those who trust in Jesus Christ immediately enter the presence of God when they die (2 Corinthians 4:6-8; Philippians 1:23-24). Not only do we know that when Christians die they immediately go to heaven, but from our text, we are assured that God will not allow any of His loved ones to die until it is His time for them to “go home.” I am absolutely confident that no madman is able take the life of anyone whom God has purposed to spare, and to continue to use in this life. God’s purpose for those saints who die is to bring them home to Himself. God may use their suffering and death to bring some to faith and others to a deeper commitment. But lest we become timid and fearful as times become more dangerous for Christians, let us remember how God spared the lives of Elijah, the widow, and her son, at a time when Ahab and Jezebel were doing everything they could to locate this prophet and take his life. When I was in seminary, Dr. Stanley Toussaint used to lead us in a song at the beginning of each class, which began, “More secure is no one ever, than the loved ones of the Savior.…” It was true in Elijah’s day, and it is just as true today. Praise God!
52 J. Sidlow Baxter, Explore the Book (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1960), vol. 2, p. 111.
54 Wiseman points out that Ethbaal means “Baal is alive.” Donald J. Wiseman, 1 and 2 Kings: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove, Illinois, U.S.A.; Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1993), p.162.
55 Paul R. House, 1, 2, Kings (Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1995), p. 210. House cites here M. Smith, The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1990) 44.
57 These words sound like those of a true believer. Was this woman already a believer, before Elijah arrived? If not, she was at least partially informed about who Israel’s God was. If so, then Elijah’s arrival was God’s way of sparing the prophet and at the same time saving His own (which would include the widow, and perhaps her son) from starvation.
This week I received an e-mail with another one of those “Peter and the Pearly Gates” jokes. In order to make this joke theologically tolerable, I had to do some editing, and even so, let the reader beware:
Two Christians die on the same day and go to heaven. When they arrive in heaven they meet Peter, who is handing out the rewards (here, of course is a theological error). One of the men is a minister, and the other fellow who is standing just ahead of him is dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, a leather jacket, and jeans. While they are standing in line, he informs the minister that he was a cab driver in Nuu Yowk City. The cab driver receives a crown with many stars. The minister has high hopes for an even bigger crown. But his crown is smaller, with fewer stars. He can’t understand why he should be rewarded in this way, especially when the cab driver did so well. The minister protests, “I’m Joseph Snow, and I’ve served as pastor of Saint Mary’s for the last 43 years. How come my reward is less than this cab driver from New York City?” Peter responds, “Well, your reward is based upon the results of your ministry. While you preached, people slept; while he drove, people prayed.”
If God did reward the saints according to the results of their ministry (which he does not!), then Elijah should have received a substantial bonus in his paycheck after the contest on Mount Carmel. Incidentally, I call this contest (and thus chapter 18) “The Showdown at the Mount Carmel Corral.” Who could do better than to call down fire from heaven, while standing before a large crowd of people who had wished him dead? These are the kind of results that many in Christian ministry have yearned for, but have never once experienced. The contest on Mount Carmel was a turning point in the history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It is an event far removed from us, both in time and space, but there are many lessons for us to learn from this spectacular incident. Let us listen well, and learn what God has for us from this text.
You will remember that Elijah is a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, during the reign of Ahab and his Sidonian wife Jezebel (1 Kings 16:29-34). Elijah appears from out of nowhere to announce to King Ahab that it will not rain in Israel until Elijah speaks the word. This Elijah declares in the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel (17:1). God then instructs Elijah to hide himself by the brook Cherith, where he could drink from its waters and be fed bread and meat morning and evening by the ravens (17:2-6). When the drought became extreme and the brook dried up, God instructed Elijah to go to Zarephath, a city in Sidon, not far from where Jezebel used to live. In other words, God had Elijah hide out in the heart of Baal country, where no one would have been more eager to capture and to kill Elijah than Jezebel’s father, the king of the Sidonians (16:31). There in Sidon, God cares for Elijah through a Gentile widow. They are saved from death by starvation, and the boy is raised from the dead, all by the word of God through Elijah (see 17:24).
1 Some time later, in the third year of the famine, the LORD told Elijah, “Go, make an appearance before Ahab, so I might send rain on the surface of the ground.” 2 So Elijah went to make an appearance before Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. 3 So Ahab summoned Obadiah, who supervised the palace. (Now Obadiah was a very loyal follower of the LORD. 4 When Jezebel was killing. the LORD’s prophets, Obadiah took 100 prophets and hid them in two caves in two groups of 50. He also brought them food and water.) 5 Ahab told Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys. Maybe you can find some grazing areas so we can keep the horses and mules alive and not have to kill some of the animals.” 6 They divided up the land between them; Ahab went one way and Obadiah went the other. 7 As Obadiah was traveling along, Elijah met him. When he recognized him, he fell facedown to the ground and said, “Is it really you, my master, Elijah?” 8 He replied, “Yes, go and say to your master, ‘Elijah is back.’” 9 Obadiah said, “What sin have I committed that you are ready to hand your servant over to Ahab for execution? 10 As certainly as the LORD your God lives, my master has sent to every nation and kingdom in an effort to find you. When they say, ‘He’s not here,’ he makes them swear an oath that they could not find you. 11 Now you say, ‘Go and say to your master, “Elijah is back.”’ 12 But when I leave you, the LORD’s spirit will carry you away so I can’t find you. If I go tell Ahab I’ve seen you, he won’t be able to find you and he will kill me. That would not be fair, because your servant has been a loyal follower of the LORD from my youth. 13 Certainly my master is aware of what I did when Jezebel was killing the LORD’s prophets. I hid 100 of the LORD’s prophets in two caves in two groups of 50 and I brought them food and water. 14 Now you say, ‘Go and say to your master, “Elijah is back,”’ but he will kill me.” 15 But Elijah said, “As certainly as the sovereign LORD lives (whom I serve), I will make an appearance before him today.”
From 1 Kings 17, we were informed that the drought Elijah prophesied came to pass, and we know that it created difficulties for Elijah, and for the widow of Zarephath and her son. We know that the brook Cherith dried up, and that it was necessary for Elijah to go to the land of Sidon to live. From these beginning verses in chapter 18, we learn more about the impact of the drought on Israel. We know that there was such a serious shortage of feed for the livestock that the king himself had to search for any pasture land, in the hope that they would not need to kill some of the horses and mules for lack of feed (18:5-6). We also learn how intent Ahab was on capturing Elijah. Obadiah informed Elijah that Ahab had an “all points bulletin” out for him. Without a doubt, Elijah was Israel’s most wanted fugitive. Ahab not only searched throughout the land of Israel, he pressed the neighboring kingdoms to turn Elijah over to him if he was hiding out within their borders. Even when a neighboring country assured Ahab that Elijah was not living there, Ahab was not satisfied. He insisted that they provide him with the equivalent of a sworn affidavit, stating in writing that they did not know where Elijah could be found (18:10). Ahab was serious about capturing and killing Elijah.
And we know that it was not just Elijah whose life was in danger. In verse 4, we are informed that Jezebel was hunting down every true prophet of the God of Israel and slaughtering them. We are not told how many prophets died at the hand of Jezebel, but one must conclude that it was more than a few. I don’t know exactly what time period the writer to the Hebrews is referring, but these words now take on new meaning:
32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. 33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight, 35 and women received back their dead raised to life. But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life. 36 And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, sawed apart, murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 38 (the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth. 39 And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. 40 For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us (Hebrews 11:32-40, emphasis mine).
It was while this intensive manhunt was underway that God instructed Elijah to present himself to Ahab, and to inform the king that God was going to bring rain to the parched land of Israel (18:1-2). Elijah was on his way when he encountered Obadiah. Obadiah is a most interesting and perplexing fellow. He is the servant of King Ahab and appears to be one of his most trusted men. It is Obadiah, along with Ahab, who searches the land for any remaining pasture or feed for the king’s livestock.59
What is most puzzling is that Obadiah is so closely associated with Ahab, and yet we are told that he “was a very loyal follower of the LORD” (18:3). The writer gives us some very compelling evidence to validate this assessment of Obadiah’s relationship with God. He tells us that when Jezebel began killing the prophets, Obadiah hid 100 of the prophets away in two caves, in groups of 50, providing them with shelter and food (18:4). And yet one has to wonder how such a man could be a part of Ahab’s administration. It would appear that neither Ahab nor Jezebel was aware of his faith in the God of Israel. Obadiah appears to be a kind of “closet Christian,” not unlike Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus in the New Testament (John 19:38-39). He does not seem to have come out into the open concerning his faith.
Obadiah seems to have recognized Elijah immediately (18:7). His response to Elijah’s appearance inclines me to think that he was not really that happy to see Elijah. Obadiah apparently was able to keep his sparing of the 100 prophets secret. It was not that he was opposed to Elijah, but it hardly seems that he wants to be publicly associated with him either. Most of all, he does not want to tell Ahab that he knows where to find Elijah, only to have him disappear. Obadiah knows better than nearly anyone else how much Ahab wants to capture Elijah, and he also knows how angry he can get when Elijah makes him look bad by eluding him.
It is somewhat interesting to me that Obadiah can speak of Elijah miraculously disappearing by means of the Holy Spirit. Here is a man who saved 100 prophets by hiding them away, and yet he assumes that the prophet Elijah has been spared in some miraculous way—every time the enemy draws near, he is whisked away by the Spirit (18:12). If Obadiah informs Ahab of Elijah’s whereabouts, he fears that the prophet will simply vanish into thin air, and then he (Obadiah) will be left to face the king’s wrath. Elijah’s instructions sounded like a suicide mission to Obadiah.
I am fascinated and somewhat troubled by the fact that Obadiah brings up the matter of the 100 prophets whose lives he saved. We have already been told this in verses 3 and 4, when we were first introduced to Obadiah and told of his character. Now, Obadiah feels obliged to tell Elijah about it, or at least to remind him of it in verses 12 and 13. Why does he feel he must do so? It sounds as though Obadiah wants to convince Elijah of his piety. And if he can do this, Obadiah seems to hope that this will change Elijah’s mind about sending him to Ahab. Does Obadiah think that being pious is a guarantee that one will not suffer for his faith? I hope not, but the description of this man does leave some serious questions.60 Of course we would like Obadiah to be flawless in his faith, but when we look in the Bible we see that even the greatest saints had their flaws. And so why should we expect perfection of this man?61 Elijah does not promise Obadiah that he will be safe, but he does assure him that he will be there when Ahab returns (18:15). And so Obadiah makes his way to Ahab, to tell him this amazing news.
16 When Obadiah went and informed Ahab, the king went to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is it really you, the one who brings disaster on Israel?” 18 Elijah replied, “I have not brought disaster on Israel. But you and your father’s dynasty have, by abandoning the LORD’s commandments and following the Baals. 19 Now send out messengers and assemble all Israel before me at Mount Carmel, as well as the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah whom Jezebel supports.
From the context, we know that Ahab and Obadiah had gone out in search of pasture and feed for the king’s livestock. It would seem that they had prearranged to meet at some designated place when they were finished with their search. I would take it, then, that Obadiah went to this designated meeting place where he found Ahab. If this were the case, Ahab would not have been too far off at that moment, and he may very well have gone directly to the place where Elijah came upon Obadiah. Notice that Elijah did not go to Ahab; Ahab came to him. Perhaps Elijah is attempting to make it very clear to Ahab who is in charge. As the spokesman for God, Elijah is the higher authority. Furthermore, it was wise for Elijah to choose a remote and private place. Ahab could not as easily arrest Elijah in such a place, whereas it would have been relatively easy in the city of Jezreel. And there, in this secluded location, Ahab and Elijah could talk candidly, without the interference of Jezebel. However it came about, the king of Israel and Elijah are now “eyeball to eyeball,” as we would say.
When they met, Ahab could not restrain himself from verbally getting in the first blow: “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?” (verse 17, NKJ). Ahab could have used a basic course in logic. He was right, of course, that Israel was in a lot of trouble. It was Elijah who announced that this trouble was coming, in the form of a drought. But Ahab was completely off track in concluding that Elijah was the source of his troubles, and those of his nation. Israel’s troubles were the result of Ahab’s sins, those of his father, and those of the Israelites whom he led:
1 “‘You must not make for yourselves idols, so you must not set up for yourselves a carved image or a pillar, and you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down before it, for I am the LORD your God. 2 You must keep by sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. I am the LORD. 3 “‘If you walk in my statutes and be sure to do my commandments, 4 I will give your rains in their time so that the land will give its yield and the tree of the field will give its fruit. 5 Threshing season will extend for you until vintage season, and vintage season will extend until sowing season, so you will eat your bread to satisfaction, and you will live securely in your land” (Leviticus 26:1-5, emphasis mine).
10 “For the land to which you are headed as your possession is not like the land of Egypt from which you came, a land where you sowed seed and which you irrigated by hand like a vegetable garden. 11 Rather, the land to which you go as your possession is one of hills and valleys, a land that drinks water from the rains, 12 one the LORD your God looks after. He is constantly attentive to it from the beginning to the end of the year. 13 Now, if you conscientiously attend to my commandment which I am giving you today, that is, to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your mind and being, 14 then, he says, “I will send the rain of your land in its season, the former and the latter rains, so that you might have an ingathering of wheat, new wine, and oil. 15 I will provide pasturage for your livestock and you yourself will eat to satisfaction. 16 “Watch yourselves lest you become deceived and turn to serve and worship other gods; 17 then the anger of the LORD will boil up against you and he will close up the heavens so that they do not rain, the land will not yield its produce, and you will soon die off from the good land that he is about to give you” (Deuteronomy 11:10-17, emphasis mine).
15 “But if you pay no attention to the LORD your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am relating to you today, then all these curses will come and overtake you: 16 Cursed will you be in the city and cursed will you be in the field. 17 Cursed will be your basket and your kneading-trough. 18 Cursed will be your children, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your cattle, and the young of your flock. 19 Cursed will you be in your coming in and cursed will you be in your going out. 20 The LORD will send upon you the curse, the unease, and the rebuke in everything you undertake until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of your evil in forsaking me. 21 The LORD will plague you with pestilence until he has completely removed you from the land to which you are going to possess it. 22 He will afflict you with consumption, fever, inflammation, infection, sword, scorching, and mildew, and these will attack you until you perish. 23 The heavens above your heads will be as brass and the earth beneath you as iron. 24 The LORD will make the rain of your land like powder and dust; it will come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed. 25 The LORD will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will go out against them one way but flee them seven ways and will become a source of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your carcass will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to shoo them off” (Deuteronomy 28:15-26, emphasis mine).
Elijah was not “troubled” by Ahab’s angry indictment. He knew better. Quickly turning the tables on Ahab, he informed the king that Israel’s troubles were not due to any wrong doing on his part, but were the consequence of Ahab’s disregard for God’s commandments, and particularly his worship of other gods. Omri had acted wickedly (1 Kings 16:25-26), and now his son—Ahab—has surpassed him. No previous king had matched Ahab in wickedness (16:30, 33). And it was not just Ahab who sinned. Like Omri, Ahab’s “leadership” encouraged the nation to sin as well (see 16:26).
Elijah issues a command to Ahab:62 “Now send out messengers and assemble all Israel before me at Mount Carmel, as well as the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah whom Jezebel supports “ (verse 19). Ahab was told to assemble “all Israel” to Mount Carmel. We can safely assume that every Israelite did not come, but Elijah’s instructions inform us that the entire nation was summoned. While Israel had a “chief of sinners” at the helm, they had the leadership they deserved. The nation suffered from this drought because the entire nation was under divine judgment for their idolatry. The nation was to gather to be confronted with their sin. I believe that Mount Carmel63 was chosen for a number of (unspecified) reasons. It was somewhat removed from Jezreel and Samaria. It was not far from Sidon. It was a “high place” that had been used both to worship Baal and to worship the true God of Israel. It was the perfect place for a “battle of the gods.” The altar on which Israel had worshipped God had been torn down, but the stones were still there. It could be rebuilt, and so it was (18:30-32).
Elijah also instructed Ahab to assemble the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah. I am not convinced that the 400 prophets of Asherah showed up. When the people and the prophets arrive at Mount Carmel, Elijah refers only to the 450 prophets of Baal. In verse 22, Elijah indicates that the odds are 450 to 1—450 prophets of Baal to 1 prophet of God, himself. In verse 25, Elijah speaks to the prophets of Baal, but no mention is made of the prophets of Asherah. In verse 40, Elijah orders the Israelites to seize the prophets of Baal. Again, there is no mention of the 400 prophets of Asherah. I am therefore inclined to think that Jezebel and the 400 prophets of Asherah stayed behind, and did not accept the challenge. As someone remarked, for the Prime Minister of Israel to meet with Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat is to give him a certain legitimacy. It is to officially recognize him and the organization which he represents. I do not think that Jezebel was willing to recognize Elijah as a prophet. If Ahab was willing to take orders from this fellow, let him, but not Jezebel.
20 Ahab sent messengers to all the Israelites and he assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long are you going to be paralyzed64 by indecision? If the LORD is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” But the people did not say a word. 22 Elijah said to them: “I am the only prophet of LORD who is left, but the prophets of Baal number 450. 23 Let them bring us two bulls. Let them choose one of the bulls for themselves, cut it up into pieces, and place it on the wood. But they must not set it on fire. I will do the same to the other bull and place it on the wood. But I will not set it on fire. 24 Then you will invoke the name of your god, and I will invoke the name of the LORD. The god who responds with fire will demonstrate that he is the true God.” All the people responded, “This will be a fair test.”
I honestly don’t know what brought the Israelites to Mount Carmel. Perhaps things had gotten so bad the people were desperate and would do almost anything if they thought it would end the drought. I have to admit that I would probably have gone to Mount Carmel just out of curiosity. It was apparent that there was going to be a major confrontation. I would have been eager to see the standoff between Ahab and this gutsy prophet. I would have wondered what Elijah had in mind. It was sort of like being given free tickets to the Super Bowl. Whatever was going to happen up there, it was going to be interesting, and many were there to see it for themselves. It is obvious that they were not taking sides with Elijah at the outset, but neither were they openly siding with Ahab. Initially, the people did not say a word; they did not commit themselves, one way or the other (verse 21). It is only after Elijah spells out the challenge that the people openly agree that it is a fair contest (verse 24).
Elijah takes charge when the people arrive on Mount Carmel. He lays out the indictment, “If the LORD is the true God, then follow him, but if Baal is, follow him!” (verse 21). The people of Israel were seeking to worship both Yahweh and Baal. This was a violation of God’s commands given to Israel in the Old Testament:
2 “I, Yahweh, am your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 3 You will have no other gods before me. 4 You will not make for yourself a graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on earth under it, or that is in the water below. 5 You will not bow down to them nor serve them, for I, Yahweh, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations to those who hate me, 6 but showing faithful love to thousands belonging to those who love me and to those who keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:2-6).
13 “Take heed to do everything I have told you to do, and do not make mention of the names of other gods, do not let them be heard on your mouth” (Exodus 23:13; see also verses 23-24, 32-33).
11 “Keep that which I am commanding you this day. I am going to drive out before you the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite. 12 Be careful that you do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, where you are going, lest it should become a snare in your midst. 34:13 But you will destroy their altars, you will smash their images, and you will cut down their Asherah poles. 14 For you will not worship any other god, for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. 15 Be careful not to make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to their gods, then you will be invited, and you will eat from his sacrifice; 16 and you take from their daughters for your sons, and their daughters prostitute themselves to their gods, and they make your sons prostitute themselves to their gods. 17 You will not make molten gods for you” (Exodus 34:11-17).
1 “When the LORD your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you—Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations more populous and powerful than you—2 and he delivers them over to you and you attack them, utterly annihilate them; make no covenant with them nor show them compassion. 3 You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons, 4 For they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the wrath of the LORD will erupt against you and he will soon destroy you. 5 To the contrary, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars, shatter their masseboth, cut down their asherim, and burn up their images. 6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. He has chosen you to be a people prized above all others on the face of the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:1-5).
18 “You must remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, even as he has to this day. 19 Now it will come about that if you at all forget the LORD your God and run after other gods, worshiping and prostrating before them, I testify to you today that you will be utterly destroyed. 20 Just like the nations the LORD is about to decimate from your sight, so he will do to you because you would pay no attention to him” (Deuteronomy 8:18-20).
At first glance, this encounter on Mount Carmel would seem to be between Elijah and King Ahab. But when you begin to identify those verses which speak of Elijah’s face-to-face conversation with Ahab, they are relatively few. I believe that Elijah’s conversation with Obadiah may be more extensive than his conversation with Ahab. Ahab is almost a spectator here, sitting on the sidelines as Elijah addresses the Israelites. The Israelites are wavering between Yahweh and Baal, and also between Ahab (and Jezebel) and Elijah. They have been straddling the fence,65 and it is time for them to commit themselves one way or the other. Let them see the folly of thinking they can serve both. Pagan theology often welcomes a plurality of gods, but the God of Israel does not. So let the people choose, here and now, whom they will serve.
And so Elijah challenges the people to make a decision about whom they will serve. He urges them to serve the one who truly is God. His initial challenge is answered with silence. No one says a word. These folks are not about to commit themselves to one God or the other. Elijah makes an offer which no one can refuse. He proposes a contest between the God of Israel and Baal, a contest between himself and the 450 prophets of Baal. The odds of success appear to be 450 to 1 in favor of the prophets of Baal. Elijah has purposely stacked the cards against himself. No one can accuse him of proposing a test which favors him. Now, the rules of the contest are laid down. Let each side prepare an altar and a sacrifice, without lighting the fire under it. Each side will call on its God (god) to consume the sacrifice with fire. The side whose God (god) answers by igniting the sacrifice is the one true God.
You need to understand that both Yahweh and Baal were believed to have the power to control the weather. We are told that Baal was sometimes pictured with a bolt of lightning in his hand: “The people believed Baal to represent the sun-god also and in their epics thought he rode the thunderclouds and sent lightning (as did the Hebrews the LORD, Pss. 18:14; 104:3-4).” 66 So, too, we find that God is said to send fire from heaven:
23 The sun rose over the land when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Then the LORD rained down on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD from the heavens. 25 So he overthrew those cities, and all the region, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew from the ground. 26 But Lot’s wife looked back intently and she became a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:23-26).
16 And on the third day in the morning there were thunders and lightning and a dense cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud horn; and all the people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the lower end of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was completely covered with smoke because Yahweh had descended on it in fire; and its smoke went up like the smoke of a great furnace, and the whole mountain shook greatly. 19 When the sound of the horn grew louder and louder, Moses was speaking and God was answering him with a voice (Exodus 19:16-19).
23 Moses and Aaron then entered into the Tent of Meeting and went out and blessed the people, and the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 24 Then fire went out from the presence of the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw it so they shouted loudly and fell on their faces (Leviticus 9:23-24).
David built there an altar for the LORD and offered burnt sacrifices and tokens of peace. He called out to the LORD, and he responded by sending fire from the sky and consuming the burnt sacrifice on the altar (1 Chronicles 21:26; see also 2 Kings 1:10, 12, 14; 2 Chronicles 7:1; Luke 9:54; Revelation 20:9).
This time the people were not silent. How could they be? How could they turn down such a contest? They had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Let the people now see which God (god) could produce what he promised. No more need to waver between two choices. Let the best (and only) God win.
25 Elijah told the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls for yourselves and go first, for you are the majority. Invoke the name of your god, but do not light a fire.” 26 So they took a bull, as he had suggested, and prepared it. They invoked the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us.” But there was no sound and no answer. They jumped around on the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah mocked them, “Yell louder. After all he is a god; he may be deep in thought, or perhaps he stepped out for a moment or has taken a trip. Perhaps he is sleeping and needs to be awakened.” 28 So they yelled louder and, in accordance with their prescribed ritual, mutilated themselves with swords and spears until their bodies were covered with blood. 29 Throughout the afternoon they were in an ecstatic frenzy, but there was no sound, no answer, and no response.
In all my years of watching football, I have never seen the team that has won the toss of the coin choose to kick off. They always choose to receive. They want the ball first because they see this as an advantage. A team also prefers the home field advantage. After all, would you want a stadium full of booing opponents, or one that is largely your fans? In our text, Elijah gives the opposing team—the 450 prophets of Baal—all the advantages. They also have 450 men on the field, opposing only Elijah on the other team. Elijah gives them the advantage of going first. They also have the home field advantage, because the crowd that has gathered is pro-Baal and pro-Ahab. They would certainly not dare to side with Elijah, the fugitive whose life seems to hang by a thread.
We find no mention of these prophets having to construct or rebuild an altar. I suspect that there was already a functioning pagan altar there, which they utilized. The prophets of Baal prepare the altar by laying the firewood. They also select a bull and then prepare it for sacrifice. They lay the bull upon the altar and then begin to call upon Baal to ignite the fire. They start in the morning, and from morning till noon they call upon their god. I wonder how many people really expected to see fire? If anyone did, they were sorely disappointed. Over and over they called out, “Baal, answer us!” but there was no response. I think the prophets were beginning to feel the heat, and I don’t mean any heat from the sacrificial fire. These prophets began to intensify their efforts to gain Baal’s attention. They leaped about the altar, going through all kinds of physical contortions to impress their god. Around noon, Elijah began to call attention to the failure of these prophets and their god.
“Elijah’s taunt is that Baal was acting in a merely human manner. He uses terms known to the people from the Ugaritic Baal myths. Was the god musing on the action to take (deep in thought)? Had he gone aside to answer the call of nature (so Targum; NEB ‘engaged’; NIV, after LXX, busy) or had he left on a journey with Phoenician merchants? Was Baal asleep as Yahweh was not (Ps. 121:3-4)? The practice of self-inflicted wounds to arouse a deity’s pity or response is attested in Ugarit when men ‘bathed in their own blood like an ecstatic prophet.’”67
“This ritual dance also gets no response. At noon Elijah begins to taunt them, suggesting Baal is preoccupied in some manner. G. E. Saint-Laurent demonstrates that ancient Baal worshipers indeed did imply in their writings that not only could Baal die, but he also could go on a journey, fall asleep, or even resort to bloody self-mutilation.”68
Baal was a “god” with human qualities, and Elijah forcefully drives these home, along with their implications. Perhaps their “god” is preoccupied in thought, like a husband who ignores his wife while reading his paper. He might be busy, on the toilet. Is their god suffering from constipation? It’s crude, but it presses the point of the inferiority of their “god.” What a pathetic “god” this would be! Maybe their god is just “out of the office” at the moment and can’t be reached. He doesn’t even have a beeper or a cell phone. Perhaps he has dozed off, like some people do in church, oblivious to what’s being said by another. If he was sleeping, there was only one solution: yell louder to get his attention. Elijah was brutal in his attack, but this was no time for subtlety. Either their “god” was God, or he was not. If he was not available at a critical time like this, then he could never be counted on; he should never be trusted, and especially if the God of Israel did respond.
You can image what this kind of taunting did to these weary prophets, who got no response from their efforts. Elijah pressed harder and harder. His mocking was difficult to tolerate. No doubt they would love to have killed him, but this would not prove that their god was superior to Yahweh. It would only prove they had failed. It wasn’t just Elijah; the people were watching. And so they took their pursuit of their god to the next level, the frantic level. They cried out loudly, this time punctuating their cries with slashes from their knives and lances. They had to show their god they were serious. Finally, they seemed to enter into a frenzied state of ecstasy, a kind of madness69 that could even have been demonically inspired.70
Isn’t it interesting that these false prophets think that there is some merit in shedding blood. They have not been able to get their god’s attention in any other way, and so they begin to mutilate their bodies with swords and spears, as though the sight of blood will finally arouse Baal. It is not the blood that men shed that counts; it is only the blood which the Son of God shed on man’s behalf. It is His shed blood which should get our attention. It is His shed blood, and His alone, which saves men from their sin.
It was not a pretty scene. Those bloodied priests, expending the last of their strength, desperately attempting to arouse their god. It all just sort of wound down as the “time of the evening sacrifice” approached. The author’s final sentence sums it up: “But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention” (verse 29). There is probably nothing more insulting than to be ignored, and that is what the people did to these worn out, bloody prophets of Baal.
30 Elijah then told all the people, “Approach me.” So all the people approached him. He repaired the altar of the LORD that had been torn down. 31 Then Elijah took 12 stones, corresponding to the number of tribes that descended from Jacob, to whom the LORD had said, “Israel will be your new name.” 32 With the stones he constructed an altar for the LORD. Around the altar he made a trench large enough to contain two seahs of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. 34 Then he said, “Fill four water jars and pour the water on the offering and the wood.” When they had done so, he said, “Do it again,” so they did it again. Then he said, “Do it a third time,” so they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed down all sides of the altar and filled the trench. 36 When it was time for the evening offering, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and prayed: “O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today prove that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are the true God and that you are winning back their allegiance. 38 Then fire from the LORD fell from the sky. It consumed the offering, the wood, the stones, and the dirt, and licked up the water in the trench.
The account of Elijah offering his sacrifice follows that of the futile floggings of the false prophets. In reflecting on the text, I believe it is clear that these two sacrifices are not completely sequential. By this I mean that the false prophets did not start and finish their attempts to call down fire on their sacrifice before Elijah began making preparations for offering his sacrifice. For some period of time in the afternoon, at least, the two sacrifices are, to some degree, being conducted synonymously. You will notice that the sacrifice of the false prophets comes to a silent halt “at the time of the evening sacrifice,” when their ravings ceased (verse 29). Our text likewise informs us that Elijah offers up his prayer “at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice” (verse 36). In other words, Elijah’s sacrificial process concludes with fire at the same time the 450 prophets’ sacrifice ends in failure and silence. This means that in order to have constructed the altar and prepared the sacrifice (not to mention hauling the water to pour on the sacrifice) in time for the evening sacrifice, Elijah would have had to start earlier in the afternoon.
It would seem, therefore, that the sequence of events that day went something like this:
Early in the morning:
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The prophets of Baal prepared their sacrifice |
Elijah waited quietly | |
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These prophets then began to call on Baal to answer with fire |
Elijah waited quietly |
Noon:
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The 459 prophets keep on trying to arouse their god |
Elijah begins to taunt them | |
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The prophets now cry louder, and become more animated |
Afternoon:
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The prophets slash themselves, go into a frenzy |
Elijah rebuilds the altar | |
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The prophets begin to wear down, to become silent |
Elijah begins to prepare for the sacrifice | |
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The people lose interest in the prophets of Baal |
Elijah has water poured on the sacrifice | |
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No one pays any attention to the prophets |
The people take interest in Elijah | |
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The prophets of Baal give up in fatigue and despair |
Elijah prays to God, | |
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God answers with fire! |
All of this should help us better grasp the drama being played out before the eyes of Ahab and the people of Israel.71 In my mind’s eye, I envision two altars, not that distant from each other—at least within sight of each other. On the one side, there is the altar of Baal, functional because of its on-going use in the worship of Baal. On the other side is the broken down relic of what used to be an altar of Yahweh. The stones have been torn down and lay in a heap. As the drama begins in the morning, the prophets of Baal arrive at the altar in a regal procession, something like the faculty of a prestigious school filing in for the commencement ceremony. With all dignity and solemnity, they lay the wood for the fire, and then slaughter the sacrificial bull. They place the bull on the firewood, and then begin to call upon Baal to send down fire to consummate the sacrifice.
Nothing happens at first, and no one seems bothered by it. After all, these things take time. But as time passes and there is no response, the ceremony begins to lose some of it pomp and circumstance, and begins to be more intense, louder, and even a bit frantic. At first Elijah says nothing to the 450 prophets. He does not want to be accused of interfering with their efforts, something like sneezing just when your golfing partner is trying to sink a difficult putt. But as noon approaches, I can imagine Elijah making his way over to where the prophets of Baal are laboring unsuccessfully. He may have pushed his way through the crowd, and then after watching for some time, begun to call out to them, offering some suggestions.
The goading comments of Elijah recorded in verse 27 might not have been spoken all at once. Suppose that Elijah had begun to rebuild the altar of Yahweh, and ever so often he would stroll over to see how the 450 prophets were doing. And at each visit, he may have offered one of his helpful suggestions. Back and forth he may have gone in the afternoon, making progress on rebuilding his altar, and taking a jab at the useless efforts of the prophets of Baal. And as the day wore on, the people understandably lost interest in the prophets of Baal. It was obvious that nothing was going to happen there, even though these men were working themselves into a bloody frenzy. No bystander was impressed, and eventually all of the onlookers made their way over to Elijah’s altar, so that when the time of the evening sacrifice arrived, only the 450 prophets of Baal were left at Baal’s altar, and all the rest were intently watching Elijah. In my mind, this is something like what happened.
Having taken the broad overview of the contest on Carmel, let me now focus on some of the details of Elijah’s sacrifice, as they are given in our text. Elijah calls the people over to him, to witness what he does and says. He repairs the broken down altar. I am fascinated by the way Elijah rebuilt the altar. He found the old, torn-down altar, and salvaged the 12 stones from which it was built. He rebuilt the altar, not with 10 stones, representing the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom, but with the 12. In spite of the fact that the nation is divided, God still looks upon His people as a unity, because His covenant was made with Israel, and thus with all of his sons. This is amplified by the way Elijah linked this altar with “the word of the LORD” that was spoken to Israel (Jacob). This altar was constructed for the worship of a particular people, Israel. It was also constructed for the worship of a specific god: Yahweh. I am not exactly sure what it means to “build an altar in the name of the Lord” (verse 32), but at least it seems to indicate that this altar was not for the worship of just any god, but exclusively for the worship of Yahweh, the God of Israel.
I think the people are looking on all the time that Elijah is rebuilding this altar. Elijah was reminding and teaching Israel by everything he did and said. Now things really start to get interesting. Elijah does something unheard of, especially during a drought—he instructs the people who are helping him to dig a trench around the sacrifice, and then to pour water on the sacrifice until the trench is filled with the run-off. The people are not only watching Elijah prepare his offering, some of them seem to be participating.
Twice Elijah instructs them to pour more water on the sacrifice. It is his way of proving that what happens next is of God and God alone. The prophets of Baal were unable to call down fire which would ignite their sacrifice.
Now, at the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah petitions God to act. He does not make any dramatic gestures as did the false prophets. Loud enough for all to hear, he offered a very short and simple prayer,
“O LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today prove that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are the true God and that you are winning back their allegiance” (verses 36b-37).72
Elijah prays that God will hear his prayer so that the people will know that Yahweh alone is God, and so that His people will worship Him alone. He prays that the people will see that he has done all these things at the Lord’s command. He does not pray specifically for Ahab to turn, but rather generally, that this people will hear and turn. He prays that they will know that it is God who has turned their hearts toward Him. Almost immediately, it would seem, God did respond. He sent fire from heaven that consumed the bull and the wood, and the stones, the dust, and the water. The fire consumed everything. No cleanup was needed after this sacrifice.
39 When all the people saw this, they fell facedown to the ground and said, “The LORD is the true God! The LORD is the true God!” 40 Elijah told them, “Grab the prophets of Baal! Don’t let even one of them escape!” So they grabbed them, and Elijah led them down to the Kishon Valley and executed them there.
The rules of the contest were clear. God had won, hands down. The people not only reached the right conclusion, they acted on it as they should have. They fell on their faces, acknowledging, “The LORD, is the true God! The LORD is the true God!” (verse 39). Elijah seized the moment. It was not enough just to profess that the Lord is God. It was time to practice God’s commandments. These 450 prophets had just demonstrated that they were false prophets, who, according to God’s law, must be put to death:
6 “If your own full brother, your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and say, let’s go and serve other gods that you have not known previously, either you or your ancestors, 7 the gods of the surrounding people whether near to or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other, 8 you must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him nor spare nor cover up for him. 9 Instead, you must kill him without fail. Your own hand must be the first to put him to death and then the hand of the whole community afterward. 10 You must pelt him to death with stones because he tried to entice you away from your God, he who delivered you from the land of Egypt, the place of slaves. 11 Thus, all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this in your midst” (Deuteronomy 13:6-11).
20 “But the prophet who will presume to speak anything in my name that I have not authorized him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. 21 Or if you say to yourselves, how can we know what the LORD has not spoken? 22 Whenever a given prophet speaks in my name and the thing is not fulfilled, then I have not spoken it; the prophet has presumed to speak it so you need not fear him” (Deuteronomy 18:20-22).
Elijah does not allow the people’s zeal to cool. He commands that these 450 false prophets be seized and put to death (verse 40). Not a one was to be allowed to escape. Elijah then brought these false prophets down to the Brook Kishon, and there he executed them. At long last, Israel was obeying God.
41 Then Elijah told Ahab, “Go on up and eat and drink, for the sound of a heavy rainstorm can be heard.” 42 So Ahab went on up to eat and drink, while Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel. He bent down toward the ground and put his face between his knees. 43 He told his servant, “Go on up and look in the direction of the sea.” So he went on up, looked, and reported, “There is nothing.” Seven times Elijah sent him to look. 44 The seventh time the servant said, “Look, a small cloud, the size of the palm of a man’s hand, is rising up from the sea.” Elijah then said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up the chariots and go down, so that the rain won’t overtake you.’” 45 Meanwhile the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind blew, and there was a heavy rainstorm. Ahab rode toward Jezreel. 46 Now the LORD energized Elijah with power; he tucked his robe into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.
In all the excitement of the contest on Mount Carmel, we almost forget about the rain. But this is what this whole contest is all about. God told Elijah to present himself to Ahab, and to tell him that it was going to rain. All of the events at Carmel simply lead up to this climactic event. If we were honest, we might be willing to admit that the coming of the rain is a bit anti-climactic after the calling down of fire from heaven and the slaughter of the 450 prophets of Baal. But it is the conclusion to this three-and-a-half-year famine.
I am taken aback by the way Elijah deals with King Ahab. From the way he dealt with the 450 prophets of Baal, you might expect Elijah to order the execution of Ahab. Better yet, why not have Ahab burned up with the fire from heaven? Here was a man who had the dubious honor of being called the most wicked king of Israel to this point in time (16:30, 33). Instead of calling for Ahab’s death, Elijah instructs Ahab to get up and to eat and drink before the rains come. Was Ahab instructed to partake of the sacrifice? Well, if the sacrificial bull was completely consumed (as it appears), perhaps there was still a feast of some kind.
While Ahab went up to eat and drink, Elijah went up to pray. This prayer for rain—unlike the one he had just prayed before all Israel—Elijah prayed privately, atop Mount Carmel, with his face between his knees. If we note nothing else about this posture, it certainly seems to reflect humility on Elijah’s part. The Mediterranean Sea was visible from atop Mount Carmel, and so Elijah ordered his servant to look toward the sea, to see if the rain was yet coming. Six times the servant was sent to look, only to return as there was no rain in sight. The seventh time a very small cloud emerged from the sea, and this Elijah recognized as the firstfruits of an abundant rain from God. Knowing that the rain was soon coming, Elijah ordered Ahab to get his chariot and get on down to Jezreel before the storm rains came. The rains did come, but they did not keep Ahab from reaching Jezreel. Girding up his loins, Elijah was able to outrun Ahab’s chariot, and thus arrive in Jezreel before him.
If we are to understand what has taken place on Mount Carmel, we must view this event in the light of the Old Testament, and particularly the Law of Moses as recorded in the first five books of the Old Testament. When God led the Israelites out of Egypt, it was to bring them into the promised land of Canaan. God would drive out the Canaanites because of their great sin (see Genesis 15:12-16). The Israelites were not to imitate the sins of the Canaanites but rather to destroy every object which the Canaanites used to worship their false gods (Deuteronomy 7:1-6). The famine which God brought upon Israel was due to the sins of her king and the people. Through Elijah, God had announced the coming of the drought and famine (1 Kings 17:1). Now, Elijah is told to appear before Ahab so that the rains will come (1 Kings 18:1). The NET Bible really hits the nail on the head with its translation here: “Some time later, in the third year of the famine, the LORD told Elijah, ‘Go, make an appearance before Ahab, so I might send rain on the surface of the ground.’” Notice the subtle, but significant difference between this translation and those of the NIV, NASB, and NKJ versions:
After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land” (NIV).
Now it happened after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth” (NASB).
And it came to pass after many days that the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth” (NKJ).
The “and” is not really a wrong translation; it simply fails to pick up the subtlety of the meaning of the conjunction in this context. There is a distinct cause/effect relationship here, and this relationship is clearly outlined in the Law:
1 “‘You must not make for yourselves idols, so you must not set up for yourselves a carved image or a pillar, and you must not place a sculpted stone in your land to bow down before it, for I am the LORD your God. 2 You must keep by sabbaths and reverence my sanctuary. I am the LORD. 3 “‘If you walk in my statutes and be sure to do my commandments, 4 I will give your rains in their time so that the land will give its yield and the tree of the field will give its fruit. 5 Threshing season will extend for you until vintage season, and vintage season will extend until sowing season, so you will eat your bread to satisfaction, and you will live securely in your land” (Leviticus 26:1-5, emphasis mine; see also Deuteronomy 11:10-17; ).
15 “But if you pay no attention to the LORD your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am relating to you today, then all these curses will come and overtake you: 16 Cursed will you be in the city and cursed will you be in the field. 17 Cursed will be your basket and your kneading-trough.… 23 The heavens above your heads will be as brass and the earth beneath you as iron. 24 The LORD will make the rain of your land like powder and dust; it will come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed. 25 The LORD will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will go out against them one way but flee them seven ways and will become a source of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your carcass will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to shoo them off” (Deuteronomy 28:15-17, 23-26, emphasis mine).
In the Book of 1 Kings, we find that the principle is clearly repeated by none other than Solomon, at the dedication of the temple:
35 “The time will come when the skies are shut up tightly and no rain falls because your people sinned against you. When they direct their prayers toward this place, renew their allegiance to you, and turn away from their sin because you punish them, 36 then listen from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. Certainly you will then teach them the right way to live and send rain on your land that you have given your people to possess” (1 Kings 8:35-36).
The point is this. Israel’s sin resulted in divine discipline—God ceased to give rain. Elijah was instructed to announce this to Ahab before the drought began (17:1). But when God orders Elijah to appear before Ahab in chapter 18, He does not say to Ahab, “Its going to rain.” He does not even mention rain until after the confrontation on Mount Carmel, until after Israel proclaims the LORD to be God, until after the 450 prophets of Baal have been killed. It is not until verse 41 that Elijah brings up the subject of rain, and that is because God will only withdraw the drought when Israel repents. The confrontation on Mount Carmel, then, was designed to turn Israel away from her idolatry and back to God, in order that God might once again send the rains.
I should say one more thing about Israel’s repentance here. Elijah’s prayer in verses 36 and 37 is for God to show Himself to be God, so that His people would repent. Not only does he pray that Israel would repent, but that they would understand that it was God who brought them to repentance. It was not Israel that was seeking God; it was God who was seeking Israel, as always.
I could not help but find a relationship between the sin of Solomon and the sin of Ahab. Ahab is an exceedingly wicked man, the most wicked king Israel had seen. I find myself very eager to point an accusing finger in his direction, and for good reason. But then I came across these words earlier in 1 Kings:
1 King Solomon fell in love with many foreign women (besides Pharoah’s daughter), including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. 2 They came from nations about which the LORD had warned the Israelites, “You must not establish friendly relations with them! If you do, they will surely shift your allegiance to their gods.” Solomon was irresistibly attracted to them. 3 He had 700 royal wives and 300 secondary wives; his wives had a powerful influence over him. 4 When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been. 5 Solomon worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. 6 Solomon did evil before the LORD; he did not remain loyal to the LORD, like his father David had. 7 To top it off on the hill east of Jerusalem Solomon built a high place for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom. 8 He built high places for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense and make sacrifices to their gods. 9 The LORD was mad at Solomon because he had shifted his allegiance away from the LORD God of Israel, who had appeared to him on two occasions 10 and had warned him about this very thing so that he would not follow other gods. But he did not obey the LORD’s command. 11 So the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you insist on doing these things and have not kept the covenantal rules I gave you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 12 However, for your father David’s sake I will not do this while you are alive. I will tear it away from your son’s hand instead. 13 But I will not tear away the entire kingdom; I will leave your son one tribe for my servant David’s sake and for the sake of my chosen city Jerusalem” (1 Kings 11:1-13, emphasis mine).
While Ahab married a foreign wife, he was not the first king of Israel to do so. Ahab was not the first king to marry a Sidonian woman, for Solomon did as well. Ahab was not the first to set up altars for the worship of foreign gods, for Solomon did likewise. What I see from this is that while Solomon may not have gone as far in his idolatry as Ahab, he was guilty of the same kinds of sin. The sins for which God divided Solomon’s kingdom were the sins for which God brought drought upon Israel. Our actions—or more pointedly, our sins—have an impact on others. Solomon’s sin seems to have set a precedent for Ahab’s sin. Ahab’s sins certainly had an impact on the nation. The sins of a leader do impact the people he leads.
There is in our text a very clear contrast between the prophets of Baal and the prophet Elijah. I would like to suggest to you that there is a lesson to be learned here concerning prayer. Both Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal prayed on that incredible day. Baal did not hear or answer the prayers of the 450 prophets, but God heard the prayer of Elijah. We would all agree, I think, that one of the reasons why the prayers of the 450 prophets were not answered is because they prayed to the wrong god. No matter how many people are praying, or how hard they pray, prayers to the wrong god are futile.
I would like to go even farther with this matter of the prophets in our text and prayer. Very frequently these days, I hear Christians talking as though getting an answer to your prayers is directly related to the following factors:
Often when Christians start to talk about spiritual warfare, they begin to speak as though the number of those who are praying is a determining factor. I have seen the expression “prayer power” used in such a way as to suggest that the only way Satan can be defeated is if enough Christians “gang up” in prayer. In our text, 450 people prayed together, they prayed persistently (all day long), and they prayed fervently.
We know from the Book of James that Elijah is a model for us in the matter of prayer. What does James say to us about prayer that we should learn?
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone in good spirits? Let him sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you ill? Let him summon the elders of the church, and let them pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 So confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness. 17 Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and there was no rain on the land for three years and six months! 18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land sprouted forth with a harvest (James 5:13-18, emphasis mine).
If Elijah is an example of a prayer warrior, then I would encourage you to consider the implications. Is God prompted by the number of those who pray? James tells us what Elijah exemplifies, namely that the prayer of one saint has great effectiveness. Jesus said that if two agree on anything in prayer it will be done (Matthew 18:19). Why is it that we think we have to amass large numbers of people to pray in order for God to hear and to answer us? Why is it that we place so much emphasis on ourselves, on the number of us who pray, and on the fervent manner? I fear that it is because we think we can manipulate God.
Having said this, I know that I may have upset you. What about “concerts of prayer”? What about encouraging groups of people to pray in large groups? I’m all for it, so long as we do not think that God will be impressed with our numbers, and that how we pray, or how many pray is what determines whether or not God will answer us. Groups of people did gather for prayer, and this is good. But I am cautioned about “prayer meetings” by some of the Scriptures that I read. In Acts 1, the church had gathered for prayer, and surely that was a good thing, but then they proceeded not to “wait” as our Lord had instructed, and appointed the twelfth apostle. I wonder if they did not feel that because they had prayed about it, it was the right thing to do? And when some of the same people gathered to pray for Peter in Acts 12, they did not even have sufficient faith to believe that their prayers had been answered. Surely God did save Peter, but the prayer meeting here had its deficiencies.
I want to confess that I do not pray as much as I should, or as persistently as I should. I delight to see saints gather together for prayer, and much more should be done. It is a beautiful thing for the saints of a city to gather for prayer in a large facility like a stadium, but let us not ever suppose that the prayer of one person is of little value. Elijah prayed. It was a short prayer. It was, by all appearances, not a fervent (dramatic, like the 450 prophets) prayer. But it was a prayer that was according to the will and Word of God. It only takes one such prayer, though others would surely have been blessed to participate.
Let me be very clear about the application of this text, lest someone use it to justify their misconduct. In our text, Elijah commanded the Israelites to kill the 450 prophets of Baal, and they did so. In those days, God governed His people through kings and prophets. In those days, murderers, rapists, and false prophets were to be stoned by the people of God. It is not so today. God has ordained human governments to execute capital punishment (see Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:11-17). There is no justification for bombing abortion clinics or shooting doctors who perform abortions. In the present, human government has been given the responsibility and authority to deal with those who take human life. And they will give account to God in the future. Our text does not mandate violence, nor justify it.
Having said this, there is an example for us here. Finally those who lived in Elijah’s day took their sin seriously. In obedience to the law and the command of Elijah, they killed the false prophets. We are not to take sin lightly, either, especially our own sin:
42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled, than to have two hands and go into hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter life lame, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 If your eye causes you to sin, throw it away. It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched. 49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other” (Mark 9:42-49).
I fear that we do take sin lightly. We have become so accustomed to it, we hardly recognize it. Revival in our nation will be evident when Christians first, and then unsaved sinners, take their sin seriously. We should mortify sin in our flesh. It must not be allowed to co-exist with us. Revival is evident when men take their sin seriously.
1Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, 3 for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him. 5 So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. 7 You too lived your lives in this way at one time, when you used to live among them. 8 But now, put off all such things as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices 10 and have been clothed with the new man that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it. 11 Here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and in all (Colossians 3:1-11, emphasis mine).
I want to say a word about supernatural Christianity. It seems to me that Christianity has tended to divide into two polarized extremes. There is the one extreme which insists that we must have signs and wonders and miracles today. They seem to say that if it happened in the Bible, it must happen today, and if it does not, it is because we lack the faith to claim what we have been promised. The other extreme is, perhaps, a reaction to the first group. They don’t openly deny the possibility of God healing, but they don’t expect it, don’t ask for it, and question the veracity of claims that it has happened. Those on this side place a great deal of emphasis on human methods of organization, ministry, and fund-raising.
I wish to be found somewhere in the middle. I don’t have to see miracles daily to believe that God is there, and that He is all-powerful. Nevertheless, there are times when God does intervene in a miraculous way, and this can be a powerful witness to the lost (as it was to the Israelites on Mount Carmel). The miraculous manifestation of God’s power on Mount Carmel was necessitated by Elijah’s obedience to God’s command. After all, how could a sacrifice be ignited with water-soaked wood? Sometimes I fear that we do not see more of the miraculous because we are reluctant to obey God’s Word. We trust in our insurance and investment programs and our bank accounts. And if all else fails, we trust in our credit cards. We take our Lord’s teaching about money and service as too extreme, and thus we seldom need divine intervention—or so we falsely conclude. Most of us who profess faith in Jesus Christ could probably live a lot closer to the edge than we do. It is when we are on the edge that we more often and more dramatically see His hand. I am not, by this, calling for foolishness or “testing God,” but simple obedience to His commands.
Just add water. How often we read this on boxes of prepared food. But in our text we cannot overlook Elijah’s command to “add water” three times. Such water was precious at the time, but Elijah ordered it poured out on the altar and the sacrifice. He knew the rains were coming. It was the water which made the offering of his sacrifice impossible. After all, the 450 prophets of Baal could not accomplish lighting the fire with dry wood; how could Elijah’s offering be consumed when it was soaking wet?
I believe God has a way of “adding water” so that we must trust in Him, and so that He gets the glory. How many times in the Bible does God create impossible situations, so that His power will be evident? God told Abraham and Sarah (Abram and Sarai at the time) that they were going to have a son, and this was when they were already old. But God waited another 25 years to fulfill His promise. By that time, bearing a child was a joke—which is why Sarah laughed when she overhead the prophecy (Genesis 18:9-15). When God led Israel out of Egypt, He did not take them the easy way, but led them to the edge of the Red Sea, with the Egyptians in hot pursuit. There was nowhere to go! More water. When our Lord was about to feed the five-thousand, He first told His disciples to feed the people. Their response, paraphrased, was “impossible!” Right. That’s exactly the way our Lord wanted it. Then He fed them. When our Lord learned that Lazarus was ill, he waited until He knew Lazarus was dead. More water on the altar. Everyone believed that Jesus could have prevented Lazarus’ death, but raising the dead, that was too much.
Has God ever poured water on your hopes, your goals, your desires? Some of these may have been wrong to start with, and we should not expect God to bless them. But it has been my observation that even when God does intend to do something, He first pours water on it, He brings unexpected difficulties and obstacles, so that it will be more than evident that it was His doing, and not ours. Are there difficulties in your life, my friend? Maybe they are just water on the altar. What God chooses to accomplish, He often purposes to accomplish as something that is humanly impossible. As someone has said, “I love the word impossible.”
59 Among the livestock are the horses and mules (18:5), which would be needed to draw the chariots of the king in battle.
60 Matthew Henry recognizes the problem, and seeks to resolve it when he writes: “But it is strange to find such an eminently good man governor of Ahab’s house, an office of great honour, power, and trust. [1.] It was strange that so wicked a man as Ahab would prefer him to it and continue him in it; certainly it was because he was a man of celebrated honesty, industry, and ingenuity, and one in whom he could repose a confidence, whose eyes he could trust as much as his own, as appears here, v. 5. Joseph and Daniel were preferred because there were none so fit as they for the places they were preferred to. Note, Those who profess religion should study to recommend themselves to the esteem even of those that are without by their integrity, fidelity, and application to business. [2.] It was strange that so good a man as Obadiah would accept of preferment in a court so addicted to idolatry and all manner of wickedness. We may be sure it was not made necessary to qualify him for preferment that he should be of the king’s religion, that he should conform to the statues of Omri, or the law of the house of Ahab. Obadiah would not have accepted the place if he could not have had it without bowing the knee to Baal, nor was Ahab so impolitic as to exclude those from offices that were fit to serve him, merely because they would not join with him in his devotions. That man that is true to his God will be faithful to his prince. Obadiah therefore could with a good conscience enjoy the place, and therefore would not decline it, nor give it up, Continued…though he foresaw he could not do the good he desired to do in it. Those that fear God need not go out of the world, bad as it is. [3.] It was strange that either he did not reform Ahab or Ahab corrupt him; but it seems they were both fixed; he that was filthy would be filthy still, and he that was holy would be holy still. Those fear God greatly that keep up Continued…the fear of him in bad times and places; thus Obadiah did. God has his remnant among all sorts, high and low; there were saints in Nero’s household, and in Ahab’s.” Henry, Matthew, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers) 1997.
61 We wonder how Obadiah can be a saint and yet a servant of Ahab at the same time. We likewise wonder how Lot can be a godly man, living in Sodom and Gomorrah (see 2 Peter 2:6-9).
62 In the Hebrew text, the verbs “send” and “gather” are imperatives. Elijah is not asking, he is instructing. No matter, it would seem that Ahab was used to taking orders from someone, usually Jezebel. Provan comments, “… from the moment Elijah meets the king he dominates him. Ahab speaks but once in the entire story (18:17), and having been silenced by Elijah’s aggressive and fearless response (18:18), he spends the rest of the time either doing what the prophet tells him (18:19-20, 41-42, 44-45) or watching from the sidelines so quietly as to be invisible (18:21-40). He is as impotent as the god he worships. Elijah’s ‘win’ over him is as comprehensive as his ‘win’ over the prophets of Baal.” Iain W. Provan, 1 and 2 Kings (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995), p. 139.
63 “Mount Carmel (six hundred metres high, south of modern Haifa) may have been chosen as it lay on the border of Israel and Phoenician territory and possibly as a high place venerated by both parties.” Donald J. Wiseman, 1 and 2 Kings: An Introduction and Commentary (Downers Grove, Illinois, U.S.A.; Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1993), p. 168.
64 The same word, rendered “falter” here, is used in verse 26
65 “The challenge ‘How long will you go on limping (waver) between two opinions?’ … can be interpreted also as roads or even crutches.’ This is the English idiom to ‘sit on the fence’ (so NEB). The clear choice is between acknowledgment of the LORD (Yahweh) or Baal. Syncretistic worship of both at the same time is impossible.” Wiseman, p. 169.
68 Paul R. House, 1, 2, Kings (Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1995), pp. 219-220.
69 “Baal’s priests acted like ecstatic prophets (v. 29, NIV, frantic prophesying; better RSV ‘ranted and raved’). This rare form of the verb … is used of mad actions (cf. 2 Ki. 9:11; Je. 29:26). The fact that there is no response indicates Baal’s impotence (Je. 10:5).” Wiseman, p. 170.
70 “This is not the only place in the OT where this is so. Numbers 11:16-30 and 1 Samuel 10:5-6, 10-11 come to mind. Even more striking are 1 Samuel 18:10-11 and 19:18-24, where we find precisely the bizarre sort of behavior evidenced in 1 Kings 18. The condition is commonly referred to as ‘ecstatic,’ because the person involved ‘stands outside himself’ (Gk. ekstatis) in a state of spirit possession. In OT thinking this possession can be by good influences or by bad (cf. the Spirit of God in Num. 11:16-30; the ‘evil spirit’ in 1 Sam. 16:14; 18:10), although whichever is involved, it is always liable to be interpreted by others as equivalent to madness (cf. 2 Kgs. 9:11; Jer. 29:26).” Provan, p. 138.
71 The reader should understand that my account is purely hypothetical and is intended to help him understand the drama that is being described in our text.
72 “This prayer incorporates concern, then, for God’s reputation, the validity of the prophet’s work, and for the people’s well-being.” House, p. 220.
73 I must thank Brenda Smith, our friend and fellow member of our church, for pointing this one out. Some think that if you can get someone famous to pray for you that you will surely get what you want.
This week I received an e-mail response to my sermon on Luke 7:18-35 which a writer found on the Internet. As you can see, he was not pleased with my handling of the doubts of John the Baptist: “Your exposition of Luke 7:18 … about John was so unfair to John the Baptist. See Ron Ritchie’s fairer treatment in same page. Otherwise, very good materials overall.”
Actually, I don’t take offense to the criticisms and corrections that come from readers, and often they can be more profitable than compliments. In this case, I disagree with the gentleman who wrote, but I appreciate his honesty and concern.
The text in Luke to which this gentleman refers is the one which describes that period of time after John the Baptist’s arrest, when he entertained doubts about Jesus’ identity as the Messiah. This great prophet, the last of the Old Testament prophets, had “hitched his star” to Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah:
29 On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is greater than I am, because he existed before me.’ 31 I did not recognize him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. 33 And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God” (John 1:29-34).
Things did not go as John had expected from this point on. At first, Jesus became more and more popular while John’s followers decreased, many choosing to follow Jesus, and rightly so (see John 1:35-39; 3:25-36). John was arrested, but as he drew near to the day of his own departure he noted that Jesus was not ushering in His kingdom as John had expected. In fact, John may well have become aware of growing opposition to Jesus on the part of the Jewish religious leaders. As a result, John sent messengers to Jesus to ask this question:
18 John’s disciples informed him about all these things. So John called two of his disciples 19 and sent them to Jesus to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” 20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” (Luke 7:18-20).
John the Baptist had a very successful ministry. People came to him from far and wide. After John introduced Jesus as the Messiah, it did not bother him that Jesus was more successful than he was. He expected it; he rejoiced in it. But when he could see that his life might well end at any moment (and so it did—see Mark 6:12-29), and that Jesus’ ministry was not going as he had expected, he began to entertain doubts. The sermon I wrote on John the Baptist from Luke 7:18-23 emphasized John’s human weakness at this moment, and the reader who responded (not unkindly) did not feel it fair to paint John the Baptist in this light. I understand, and I disagree. That is the way Luke describes John at this moment in his life.
I could not help seeing the relationship between John the Baptist, a Christian’s uneasiness about a description of a very low point in his life, and our text for this lesson. As you well know, there is a very close connection between Elijah and John the Baptist. We will pursue their relationship later in this message, but just as John the Baptist had his moment of doubt, Elijah had his day of despair (actually “days” of despair—at least 40). The account of his fear and despair is found in 1 Kings 19.
This lesson is for every Christian who has ever tasted of success in spiritual ministry. It is also for every Christian who has ever experienced fear, and doubt, and despair—even thoughts of suicide. There are vitally important lessons to be learned from this great text, so let us look to God’s Word and to His Spirit to enlighten us as we seek to learn what He has to say to us.
The Northern Kingdom of Israel was deeply imbedded in sin. Its king, Ahab, had the distinction of being the most wicked man who had ever sat on the throne of Israel (1 Kings 16:30, 33; 21:25-26). The capstone on his life of sin was his marriage to Jezebel, the daughter of the King of Sidon. Because of Jezebel, the worship of Baal had become the dominant religion of Israel. In keeping with the warnings God had given Israel in the Law of Moses, God brought a drought upon the land. This was announced by Elijah (1 Kings 17:1-2), who was then divinely instructed to hide out by the brook Cherith. For some time, he drank from the waters of this brook and was fed bread and meat brought by the ravens morning and evening. When the brook dried up, God instructed Elijah to relocate to Zarephath, where he stayed with a widow and her son until the drought ended.
After three-and-a-half years, God instructed Elijah to present himself before Ahab so that He might bring the people to repentance and thus send the rains upon this drought-parched land. Elijah first met Obadiah, who was both a believer in God and a faithful servant of Ahab. Obadiah set up a meeting between Ahab and Elijah, at which time Elijah instructed Ahab to summon all Israel to Mount Carmel. There on the mountain, Elijah rebuked the Israelites for vacillating between God and Baal. He proposed a contest which would settle the question of who was the true God. The prophets of Baal would prepare their sacrifice, and Elijah his. If the prophets of Baal could produce fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice, then Baal must be God. But if Elijah could do so, then Yahweh, the God of Israel, must be the true God. Let Israel then follow the God who could produce fire from heaven. In spite of their efforts, the prophets of Baal failed, and Elijah’s simple prayer resulted in fire from heaven. The people proclaimed that the Lord is God, and at Elijah’s command, they put the prophets of Baal to death.
Now that the Israelites had repented and had proclaimed their allegiance to Yahweh, God could once again bring rain to the earth. Elijah encouraged Ahab to eat and drink, because he was soon to return to Jezreel. The rains were about to come in Israel. Elijah’s prayers were heard, and the rains were soon to come, so the prophet told Ahab it was time for him to leave, while he could still travel in his chariot. We take up the story at this point.
18:45 Meanwhile the sky was covered with dark clouds, the wind blew, and there was a heavy rainstorm. Ahab rode toward Jezreel. 46 Now the LORD energized Elijah with power; he tucked his robe into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel. 19:1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, including a detailed account of how he killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this warning, “May the gods judge me severely if by this time tomorrow I do not take your life as you did theirs.”
This is a very interesting and important text. It is somewhat obscured by the rather unusual translation of the NASB:
45 In a little while the sky grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy shower. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel. 46 Then the hand of the LORD was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and outran Ahab to Jezreel (NASB, emphasis mine).
One certainly gets the impression from this translation that Elijah was attempting to beat Ahab to Jezreel, as though this were some kind of contest. Suffice it to say that “outran” is not the usual way of rendering the Hebrew term, and in addition, it just doesn’t make sense in the context. The normal meaning of the text is that Elijah ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot as a kind of escort. The miracle was that he was physically strengthened to run from Mount Carmel to Jezreel, a minimum of 15 miles, and this at chariot speed.
But why did Elijah wish to accompany Ahab to Jezreel? We know from the following verses that this is where Jezebel was staying. I believe that Ahab’s compliance with all that Elijah had instructed led the prophet to come to the false conclusion that Ahab would now assume the leadership role he should, and that when he returned to Jezreel, he would “put Jezebel in her place” and make things right for the nation. The text does not say this, but it certainly seems to infer something like this.
As I read the text, I see a very enthusiastic Elijah, racing before Ahab’s chariot, eager to get to Jezreel and to complete the “revival” that had commenced on Mount Carmel. He would go with Ahab, just to make sure everything went all right, and perhaps to enjoy the satisfaction of watching this wicked woman be put in her place. As they reached the city and drew near to Ahab’s palace, I can almost hear Ahab saying to Elijah, “Why don’t you wait out here for a moment? I think it would be best if I broke the bad news to her privately.”74
Elijah was still expectant and enthusiastic. He was confident that Ahab would soon come to the door, invite him in, and then together they would confront Jezebel and tell her how things were going to be from now on. Perhaps Elijah was pacing outside their door when he first heard Jezebel shriek in a fit of rage. Did the prophet overhear any of the conversation that took place between Ahab and his wife? We do know that Ahab broke the bad news to Jezebel about how Elijah (Ahab seems to claim no part in this) put to death the 450 prophets of Baal (19:1). Elijah hears footsteps approaching the door and watches intently as it swings open. Neither Ahab nor Jezebel emerge, but one of the servants, who conveys a message from Jezebel to the prophet: He has 24 hours to live. Jezebel is going to kill him, just like he killed the 450 prophets of Baal. Whatever the events on Mount Carmel had done to Ahab, they had only intensified Jezebel’s animosity toward Elijah and his God.
This is the only way I can make sense of the text. If it were otherwise, the messenger who was sent to Elijah should have simply killed him on the spot, after telling him why he was about to be executed. Why would one messenger be sent to find Elijah and give him this message, only for another to have to find him after being warned earlier? But if Elijah was waiting outside the palace door, then one of the servants could have been sent by Jezebel. She certainly knew that she could not send Ahab out to convey this message to Elijah. He would simply comply with Elijah’s demands, once again.
3 Elijah was afraid,75 so he got up and fled for his life to Beersheba in Judah. He left his servant there, 4 while he went a day’s journey into the desert. He went and sat down under a shrub and asked to the LORD to take his life, “I’ve had enough! Now, O LORD, take my life. After all, I’m no better than my ancestors.”76 5 He stretched out and fell asleep under the shrub.
I believe Elijah had “high hopes” as he ran before Ahab’s chariot to Jezreel. His expectations were not only unrealistic; they were unfounded. From his “success” on Mount Carmel, he assumed complete success, and this did not happen. If he went to Jezreel expecting Jezebel’s defeat, he himself fled from Jezreel in defeat. Elijah arose and fled to Beersheba in Judah. This surely seemed to be the safest place, in Judah, rather than in Israel, and thus somewhat out of Jezebel’s reach. In addition, Beersheba was about as far to the south as one could get in Judah. In other words, Elijah was as far away from Jezebel as he could get and still be in the promised land.
It should be noted that Elijah’s departure here is vastly different from his flight from Ahab recorded earlier:
1 Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As certainly as the LORD God of Israel lives (whom I serve), there will be no dew or rain in the years ahead unless I give the command.” 2 The LORD told him: 3 “Leave here and travel eastward. Hide out in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan. 4 Drink from the stream; I have already told the ravens to bring you food there.” 5 So he did as the LORD told him; he went and lived in the Kerith Valley near the Jordan (I Kings 17:1-5).
His escape from Ahab in chapter 17 is clearly a “Thus saith the Lord.” It is not at all so in our text in chapter 19. Elijah’s decision is questioned (19:9, 13), and in the end, he is ordered to return the way he came (19:15). This escape, as we are told, is not made in faith, but out of fear.
There is an excellent little book entitled, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. I think that another book might be written, entitled, A Psychiatrist Looks at 1 Kings 19. It would make for some interesting reading. If Elijah were to have consulted a psychiatrist, I believe he would have been diagnosed as suicidal. In fact, I believe that in our text Elijah is actively trying to kill himself. He is doing the very things people do when they are trying to kill themselves. He is depressed. He is angry. He is tired of life and wants out. He leaves his servant behind so that he will be alone. This way, no one can stop him. He then goes out into the wilderness, where there is no food or water, and this after he has run 15 or so miles from Mount Carmel to Jezreel, and another 100 miles or so from Jezreel to Beersheba. Now, another day’s journey into the wilderness, he lays down under a scrubby tree to die. It is just as though he has taken a bottle of sleeping pills and never plans to wake up. His final words say it all: “He… asked to the LORD to take his life, ‘I’ve had enough! Now, O LORD, take my life. After all, I’m no better than my ancestors’” (verse 4).
The contemporary expression, “I’ve had my fill of …” is not far from the meaning of “enough.” “Enough of this!” Elijah protests, “I’m out of here!” His words, on the one hand, are filled with defeat and despair. Elijah has had all he can take (or so he thinks); he’s been a failure, and so he asks God to take his life (which Elijah is already in the process of doing himself). The irony is that neither his actions nor his words are rational. He begs God to take his life when he is doing so. He begs for God to take his life, yet he flees from Jezebel, who would gladly have given him a hand at this. He speaks of defeat and failure, yet in his words to God, he expresses his belief that he alone has remained a faithful servant of God while all Israel has failed (19:10, 14). Here, as always, the person who is seeking to kill himself is not thinking clearly. Elijah’s actions are suicidal, but (as always) his thinking and actions are not rational. After all, why flee from one woman, when God had protected him through three-and-a-half years of drought, and from this many years of Ahab and Jezebel seeking his life? Elijah had just stood alone before the nation on Mount Carmel, and now he cannot face Jezebel (alone) in Jezreel. I have concluded that Elijah’s actions do not make any sense, and thus I have not sought to pursue an explanation of his depression any further.
All of a sudden an angelic messenger touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked and right there by his head was a cake baking on hot coals and a jug of water. He ate and drank and then slept some more. 7 The LORD’s angelic messenger came back again, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, for otherwise you won’t be able to make the journey.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. That meal gave him the strength to travel 40 days and 40 nights until he reached the mountain of God in Horeb.
I love this text! Elijah lies down and goes to sleep, hoping never to awaken, other than in heaven.77 He is awakened by a nudge78 from an angel, an angel who is none other than the Angel of the Lord. Was Elijah in heaven? Not really. But he was to receive a lesson from heaven. Elijah is in no condition to be corrected at this moment, and this is why the angel has only one command for Elijah: “Get up and eat.” He did, and then went back to sleep again. Good food and sleep were essential to his physical recovery.
What a lesson there was for Elijah in this meal! Here is a prophet who, according to his own words, is a failure. He is a man who seems to feel that his significance to God is somehow dependent upon his success in ministry as a prophet. The angel’s presence is, in and of itself, instructive and corrective. Did God care for Elijah, at the time of his greatest failure? God provided Elijah with bread and water before, for three-and-a-half years. He was given “day old” bread by unclean ravens, and then a very basic bread by the widow of Zarephath. This provision came when Elijah was obedient and successful. But now, in his greatest moment of defeat, he is fed hot-baked bread and water, served by none other than the Angel of the Lord. Did God care for Elijah, even when he failed? I think we know the answer.
The second time the angel awoke Elijah, he had a bit more to say: “Get up and eat, for otherwise you won’t be able to make the journey” (verse 7). I don’t believe Elijah planned to go anywhere, other than to heaven. His plan seems to have been only to go out into the wilderness and die. If this is true, than I can just see Elijah’s eyes widen. I can hear him reply, “Journey, what journey?” What journey was he going on that would require him to be strengthened by food and drink? We know the answer; Elijah was about to make a 40-day journey south to Mount Horeb, the same mountain where God gave the Law to Moses. Also, it was the same mountain where God manifested Himself in His glory to Moses.
One can hardly miss the parallels we see in this text. Elijah spends 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness before he reaches Mount Sinai (also known as Mount Horeb). Moses spent 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain when he was receiving the law. Our Lord spent 40 days and nights in the wilderness as a part of His temptation.
There are striking similarities between Elijah, Moses, and our Lord (all of whom, incidentally, were present at our Lord’s transfiguration), but there are also dramatic differences. I am inclined to believe that Elijah was stationed at the same place where Moses stood when our Lord passed by, revealing His glory (Exodus 33:17–34:9). Moses, however, requested to see this manifestation of God’s glory; Elijah did not. Elijah was summoned to appear there, as I read the text. Our Lord and Moses seem to have done without food and water for 40 days, as did Elijah, but in Elijah’s case, the bread and water he was given by the Angel of the Lord seems to have had supernatural qualities, strengthening Elijah for his journey. While our Lord was weakened and (seemingly) more vulnerable to temptation by His 40-day fast, the food Elijah was given strengthened him, so that he not only could make the journey to Sinai, but so that he was now able to think straight, and thus be admonished and instructed. There is one more similarity and contrast. Just as the Israelites of Elijah’s day (and before) had worshipped Yahweh by means of a golden calf (1 Kings 12:28-30; 2 Kings 10:29), so the Israelites worshipped Yahweh by means of a golden calf, thanks to Aaron (Exodus 32). The difference is that when Israel sinned, Moses interceded with God on Israel’s behalf (Exodus 32:11-14). It is amazing, but true, that Elijah did not intercede for Israel, but pled with God against Israel:
1 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left and they are seeking my life!” 4 But what was the divine response to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal” (Romans 11:1-4, emphasis by underscoring mine).
Elijah is a most puzzling man at this point in his life. I cannot discern whether he is angry for having failed or whether he is upset with his success. It would seem that at this point in time Elijah had not only given up on his own ministry, he had given up on Israel. He was ready to resign from life by orchestrating his own death. And thinking he was the last prophet in Israel, his death should spell the end of Israel’s hope for revival and restoration. Until now, I have never thought of Elijah and Jonah as having any similarities, but both wish to die to avoid a ministry that would manifest God’s grace to those who are completely undeserving.
9 He went into a cave there and spent the night. All of a sudden the LORD spoke to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” 10 He answered, “I have been absolutely loyal to the LORD, the sovereign God, even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.” 11 The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD. Look, the LORD is ready to pass by.” A very powerful wind went before the LORD, digging into the mountain and causing landslides, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the windstorm there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a soft whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he covered his face with his robe and went out and stood at the entrance to the cave. All of a sudden a voice asked him, “Why are you here, Elijah?” 14 He answered, “I have been absolutely loyal to the LORD, the sovereign God, even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life.”
Elijah is now on Mount Sinai, the most important mountain of all in Jewish history. Here is the place where God manifested Himself to the Israelites. Here is where Moses ascended and came down with the Ten Commandments. Here is the place where God revealed His glory to Moses, as he had requested. For an Old Testament prophet, the Old Testament Law of Moses was the foundation of their ministry. It was on the basis of the Mosaic Covenant that Elijah prophesied that there would be no rain in Israel till he spoke the word. It was on the basis of the Law (and of God’s specific command to do so) that Elijah prayed for the rains to return to Israel. This was the place of Israel’s beginnings as a nation. And so it is that after Elijah’s collapse, God brings him here to help him sort things out, to see things straight, to think in terms of God’s covenant.
Elijah spent the night in a cave, perhaps the very place from which Moses beheld the glory of God centuries before. There, the Lord spoke to Elijah, asking this simple question: “Why are you here, Elijah?” (verse 9). How much more God could have said! I am reminded of God’s question which He put to Jonah, who was at a similar point in his life and ministry: “Is it good that you are angry?” (Jonah 4:4; see also verse 9). Twice God asked Jonah this question, just as He asked Elijah the same question twice (1 Kings 19:9, 13). Both Jonah and Elijah answered the first question the same way—they wanted to die. And after God asked the first question and the two men answered, God then gave an object lesson to both Jonah and Elijah. Jonah’s lesson was by means of a gourd plant that withered and died. Elijah’s lesson was by means of some very spectacular events.
God first caused a great wind to pass by the cave, hurling rocks and even causing landslides. It must not only have been spectacular, it must have been frightening. Then God sent a great earthquake. I have witnessed an earthquake or two in my life, once in the classroom where I was teaching. I can only imagine how frightening it would be to witness an earthquake while in a cave. After the earthquake, God sent a fire. Elijah had seen God send fire before, and not too many days earlier. But as spectacular as all these things were, God was not present in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. Instead, God came in the form of a soft whisper or voice.
What was this object lesson all about? What was Elijah supposed to learn from it? I believe he was supposed to learn a very simple but very important lesson: God is not to be sought in the spectacular. The contest on Mount Carmel was spectacular. God proved that He was God; He alone was God. But it would appear that Elijah expected that God would continue to manifest Himself in a spectacular way. And when Jezebel sent the messenger to him with her threats, Elijah was crushed and frightened. He seems to have expected that God would deal with her in a most spectacular way. God occasionally “speaks” dramatically, as He did with the “fire from heaven” on Mount Carmel, but this is not the norm. God speaks through His Word, and in those days, through His prophets. It seems to me that Elijah heard the “still, small voice” of God, but he was not content to be a “small voice.”
Let me say one more thing about this business of the spectacular. This is an issue which causes much trouble in the church today. There are those who believe that God does speak through very spectacular means. The problem is that some actually demand that He do so. If God does not speak in a spectacular way, they are not sure He has spoken at all. And so they, perhaps like Elijah, get all out of sorts when God does not meet their expectations and demands. On the other hand, there are many Christians who do not believe that God may speak in a spectacular way today. They not only doubt that such things can or will occur, they tend to deny that any such thing has occurred. Sometimes they even resort to calling anything spectacular “demonic.” As you can tell, I am referring to the tensions which exist between so-called “charismatic” Christians and “non-charismatic” (or, perhaps more accurately in some cases, anti-charismatic) Christians. When a belief demands that God not only can but must speak in a spectacular way, I say, “Shame on you.” And when another believer refuses to even grant the possibility that God might speak in a spectacular way, I say, “Shame on you.” Let us get this matter clear in our minds. God does not always speak spectacularly, but He can and does do so occasionally. Whether He speaks softly or loudly, let us be sure to listen. And let us never look down upon the still, small voice of God.
Now we come to the saddest portion of our passage. For the second time, God asks Elijah the same question: “Why are you here, Elijah?” And, for the second time, Elijah gives the same answer: “I have been absolutely loyal to the LORD, the sovereign God, even though the Israelites have abandoned the agreement they made with you, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left and now they want to take my life” (verses 9-10). The distressing thing to realize is that Elijah’s answer has not changed by so much as a word. This indicates to us that Elijah has not learned anything from the lessons God has just taught him, both in the wilderness, and from his vantage point in the cave atop Mount Sinai.
When I was teaching high school in the state prison in our home town, a fellow teacher had a problem with a young man who kept falling asleep in class (which was forbidden by the prison rules). As the teacher would pass by this slumbering student, he would raise his voice, then later he would gently nudge the fellow. Finally, as he came to this fellow’s desk and found him deep in sleep, he grabbed him by the shoulder and gave him a little shake. The student awoke, jumped to his feet, and said to the teacher, “If you ever do that again, you’re going to get it!” My fellow teacher made his way to the door and summoned Mr. Look, the guard who was stationed in the hall (Mr. Look, incidentally, was formerly a sergeant in the Navy.). Mr. Look escorted the inmate student to solitary confinement (known then as “the hole”). Thirty days later, the student emerged from his confinement and returned to class. After class, the student approached his teacher and said, “I’m really sorry Mr. Smith (actually, I don’t remember his name after all these years), but I think you misunderstood what I was saying. What I meant to say was this: ‘If you ever do that again, you might get it.’” It was only a one word change, but at least there was some change. Not so much as a word was changed by Elijah.
In spite of God’s merciful provisions for Elijah, the bread and water, and His intimate nearness at the lowest point in his life; in spite of his journey to the place where the Law of Moses was given, and the spectacular manifestations of God’s presence and power; in spite of God’s twice-asked question, Elijah has not repented nor has he changed in his response to this situation. (In this way, Elijah is not that different from the Israelites, is he?) Because he has failed to respond to divine correction as he should, God accepts his resignation, with some qualifications, as the following verses indicate.
15 The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came and then head for the Desert of Damascus. Go and designate Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 You must designate Jehu son of Nimshi to be king over Israel, and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to take your place as prophet. 17 Jehu will kill anyone who escapes Hazael’s sword, and Elisha will kill anyone who escapes Jehu’s sword. 18 I still have left in Israel 7,000 followers who have not bowed their knees to Baal and or kissed the images of him.
God does not allow Elijah to resign on the spot. He is allowed to “give his notice,” so to speak, but he cannot step aside immediately. In the first place, Elijah certainly cannot resign by means of suicide. Second, Elijah must return by the way he came. He must retrace his steps, backward, as it were. God does not let him get away with his temper tantrum. If he had thrown the dishes on the floor, then I think God would have had him clean up the mess.
A simple reading of the text raises some questions. It would appear that Elijah is given his first task—he is to go back the way he came, and then “head for the Desert of Damascus” (verse 15). There, he was to designate Hazael to be the next king over Syria. He was also to designate Jehu son of Nimshi to be the king over Israel. Neither of these instructions was carried out by Elijah in his lifetime. Both were carried out at a later time by Elisha (see 2 Kings 8:8-15; 9:1-10). I’m having a little trouble understanding this, although it serves to underscore the fact that Elijah’s ministry was largely finished. The one thing he will do is to anoint Elisha as a prophet and as his replacement.
It is possible that God is emphasizing a point here, not only for Elijah, but for the reader. Elijah had the misconception that he alone was left as a prophet and as one who faithfully followed God. It would seem he reasoned that since he was the only pious man, and the only prophet in Israel, then his resignation (by suicide) would leave the nation without a word from God. How typically suicidal is his thinking: “If they don’t have me around any longer, they’ll be sorry. I’ll show them by taking my own life.” God is not impressed. He will not allow Elijah to “check out” by suicide, but He will put this prophet on the shelf. And now, in the time that remains for him, he can see how God is able to achieve His purposes and promises without this one prophet’s help. And so God informs Elijah that he is not the last surviving saint in Israel. Indeed, there are 7,000 in Israel who remain faithful to God. It is no wonder that in the next chapter God will save Ahab and the nation Israel from Syria’s attacks, and by means of an unnamed prophet, one of a number who make up the “school of the prophets.” Does Elijah wish to see Israel judged by the sword (e.g., Romans 11:1-4)? It will happen, but not by the word or the hand of Elijah. It will come about when Elisha anoints Hazael and Jehu, and when these relative pagans achieve God’s purposes.
19 Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with 12 pairs of oxen; he was near the twelfth pair. Elijah passed by him and threw his robe over him. 20 He left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, then I will follow you.” Elijah said to him, “Go back! Indeed, what have I done to you?” 21 Elisha went back and took his pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He cooked the meat over a fire that he made by burning the harness and yoke. He gave the people meat and they ate. Then he got up and followed Elijah and became his assistant.
Here is the one thing Elijah seems to have gotten right. He sought out Elisha and designated him as his replacement, as God had instructed. I am still puzzled by the order of events, however. It would appear that Elijah did first what he was commanded last. Regardless, it must have been a rather humbling thing for Elijah to go about his duties with Elisha tagging along. It does not appear that Elisha belonged to the “school of the prophets” (see 1 Kings 20:35; 2 Kings 2:7; 4:1, 38; 5:22; 6:1; 9:1), but he does appear to be the son of wealthy parents. (How many people have 12 pair of oxen, all plowing the same field at the same time? In today’s terms, Elisha would be behind the wheel of the twelfth massive four-wheel-drive tractor.) From the description we are given of Elisha, he is a man of real character. When singled out by Elijah, he goes to his home and announces his calling and departure. He then returns to offer a sacrifice, using the oxen he had been plowing with—an expensive meal, indeed. And he burns the yoke and the harness to cook as fuel for the sacrificial fire. It is as though he had said, “I’ve made this decision to follow God, and Elijah, as a prophet, and I have no intention of turning back.” Today we would say, Elisha burned his bridges. What a humble thing for the son of wealthy parents to do—he left his family and took up the life of a prophet, becoming Elijah’s servant.
There are many lessons to be learned from our text. Let me underscore a few of them.
First, let it be noted that Christians—even godly Christians—can be depressed, and even suicidal. In our text, we see Elijah, a man mightily used of God on Mount Carmel (and before), suddenly fearful, depressed, and suicidal. I have heard of a number of highly respected preachers (past and present) who suffered from depression. In the case of Elijah and other saints, depression is certainly not commendable, but it is at least understandable. Notice how quickly and unexpectedly it comes. This man of great faith and courage (on Mount Carmel) suddenly becomes fearful and runs for his life. How quickly, and how easily, we fall. As Paul put it so well, we ought to let the failures of the saints of old be a warning to us:
11 These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall. 13 No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful, who will not let you be tried too much, but with the trial will also provide a way through it so that you may be able to endure (1 Corinthians 10:11-13).
Second, we should be reminded that success is not the norm for a prophet or for a New Testament saint. All too often today, people seem to have a sense of entitlement. Some folks think they have a right to a good job, with a great salary and benefits, whether or not they work hard. The younger generation simply assumes that they should enjoy “the good life,” without realizing where it comes from. All too many Christians have even greater expectations, assuming that God has promised them the blessings of heaven here and now. They feel entitled to health, wealth, and happiness. No wonder the preachers who make such promises have such a large following. I would remind you, however, that any prophet who expected to be successful would have had to forget or to forsake a lot of biblical history.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way” (Matthew 5:10-12).
51 “You stubborn people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors did! 52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become!” (Acts 7:51-52).
Our Lord’s words in the Sermon on the Mount indicate that just as the Old Testament prophets were persecuted, so will those be who follow our Lord—not just prophets, or apostles, or leaders. This is confirmed by many New Testament texts:
18 “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too. 21 But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me” (John 18-21).
21 After they had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch. 22 They strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom of God through many persecutions” (Acts 14:21-22).
10 You, however, have followed my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, 11 as well as the persecutions and sufferings that happened to me in Antioch, in Iconium, and in Lystra. I endured these persecutions and the Lord delivered me from them all. 12 Now in fact all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:10-12).
Elijah’s problem in our passage seems to be related to his fixation on “success” and its near relative, “spectacular.” I think this is the same problem that Job’s friends reveal by their response to Job’s suffering. They assumed that if Job was suffering, he must have done something wrong. The solution was to find out what his sin was and confess it. As the Bible makes clear, we may expect to suffer for doing right, and not just for doing wrong:
18 Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the perverse. 19 For this finds God’s favor, if because of conscience toward God someone endures hardships in suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it? But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God. 21 For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:18-21).
1 So, since Christ suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same attitude, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin, 2 in that he spends the rest of his time on earth concerned about the will of God and not human desires. 3 For the time that has passed was sufficient for you to do what the non-Christians desire. You lived then in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, boozing, and wanton idolatries. 4 So they are astonished when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you.… 12 Dear friends, do not be astonished that a trial by fire is occurring among you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice and be glad. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, who is the Spirit of God, rests on you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or thief or criminal or as a troublemaker. 16 But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear such a name (1 Peter 4:1-4, 12-16).
Third, when we disobey God, we are often ingenious at making up excuses for our actions which sound pious. Some years ago, the elders of a certain church made a decision which they communicated to the church as a whole. One of the elders made the announcement, “What is the biblical principle on which this decision was based?” The elder was honest enough to say, “We have based our decision on the principle of, ‘O ye of little faith.’ How seldom I have heard someone say something like, “I bought this car, which is way above my means, because I decided to indulge my flesh.” We try to sanctify our sin by giving it a pious label. We say, “When I saw this new red convertible, the Lord just told me this was the car I should buy.” Or, even more piously, we can say, “I bought this new boat for my family. I thought we weren’t spending enough quality time together.” I’m not against buying a new car or a boat, but I am opposed to our efforts to make something seem pious which isn’t necessarily so.
It has finally occurred to me that twice God asked Elijah the same question, “Elijah, what are you doing here?” We know the answer, because it is right there in our text. All Elijah had to say was, “Because I was afraid of Jezebel.” That was the truth of it, but Elijah had to make it sound more pious. And so he tells God how spiritual he has been and how wicked the Israelites have been. He’s giving up because the people are just too pagan for him. Watch out for pious excuses for sin.
Fourth, God’s work will never fail, even when His servants do. Thank God that His work does not depend upon our faithfulness, but upon His. In our worship time this Sunday, we focused on the unfailing love of God. What a wonderful truth that is. God’s love never fails, but we often do. God’s love never fails, even when we fail. What a marvelous example of the grace of God this whole matter has been. God has been gracious to the nation Israel, first in bringing them to repentance, and then in giving rain. God has been (and will continue to be) gracious to Ahab, even though he is “chief of sinners,” so far as Israel’s kings are concerned. And God has been incredibly gracious to Elijah, when we may have been inclined to simply write him off and go on. Elijah wanted to go out in sorrow and shame—by suicide. How much better was God’s exit for Elijah—in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11-12)! The man who was caught up in the “spectacular” was “caught up” in a most spectacular way.
Fifth, Elijah is all too much like the people he wants God to give up on. Paul has informed us in Romans 11:1-4 that Elijah was not petitioning God on behalf of Israel, but against them. He seems fed up with the nation, because they have not fully repented. He seems almost angry with God for being so gracious to undeserving sinners. And yet Elijah is not repentant himself. He, like Jonah, reluctantly accepts God’s refusal to put him to death, and he does as he is commanded (at least in part), but he does not do so wholeheartedly. Elijah seems hard-hearted and stiff-necked, not unlike the Israelites.
I have observed a principle in our text which I have also seen in effect today. It goes something like this: WE WILL OFTEN BE TEMPTED WITH THOSE SINS THAT WE MOST LOUDLY PROTEST AND DETEST.
I have observed marriages in which one spouse is unfaithful to the other. The “faithful” spouse is hurt and often angry. I usually warn the offended party to be careful about becoming too self-righteous. I tell them that it is very likely they will be tempted in the same area in their life. Elijah seems to detest Israel’s lack of repentance and the vacillation of the Israelites and their king. And yet look at how inconsistent Elijah is in his life and ministry.
Sixth, if we fail to learn the lessons God is teaching us by rejecting His reproofs and refusing to repent, He may very well set us aside so far as our ministry is concerned. When Elijah failed by fear and flight, God graciously met him in his darkest hour. He met his physical needs and addressed his spiritual needs as well. But when confronted with his sin, Elijah did not repent. Finally, God set Elijah aside. He did not allow him to die as he had requested, but he did instruct him to appoint his own replacements. What a sad thing it is to see a child of God set aside because of an unrepentant heart. God does not need us, although we desperately need Him. He can easily set us aside and can quickly replace us, and sometimes by those we would consider totally inadequate for the task (folks like Hazael and Jehu).
Seventh, we are often in need of going back to our beginnings. Elijah was not doing well at all, physically or spiritually. God ministered to Elijah’s physical needs with bread and water. But He ministered to Elijah’s spiritual need by taking him to Mount Sinai. The ministry of the Old Testament prophets was based upon the Old Testament law. Elijah was ministering to Israel, and so God takes him back to Israel’s beginnings at Mount Sinai, when He gave His people the law. Elijah did not respond as he should have, but let us not allow that to obscure the fact that God sought to minister to him by taking him back to his “roots.”
The same is true for the Christian today. Our Lord instituted the Lord’s Supper (or Communion) as a weekly event (at least that was the way it was done in the New Testament), so that week after week we would be taken back to our roots. The cross of Jesus Christ is the basis for our salvation and eternal life. Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, died in our place, bearing the penalty for our sins, so that we might be forgiven for our sins and spend eternity with Him. This is not just a truth which we acknowledge at the time of our conversion—though we must acknowledge it to be saved. This is a truth which should govern our lives. We should cease sinning and seek to live righteously, because we died to sin in Christ and were raised to new life in Him (Romans 6). If we suffer unjustly, we should do so innocently and silently, because this is how our Savior suffered for us, so that we might be saved (1 Peter 2). It all goes back to the cross, and so week after week, we need to go back to our beginnings, our roots, by remembering the sacrificial death of our Lord.
I have been speaking of going back to the cross, for I have been assuming that I am speaking to Christians. But I know that it is entirely possible that one of my readers is not a Christian. It is possible that you have never yet gone to the cross, for the forgiveness of your sins. Elijah has made some very serious mistakes in our text, but Elijah knew God. And because of this, God graciously worked in his life to bring him back to repentance and intimacy with Himself. Every unbeliever is not necessarily a Jezebel, who boldly and loudly blasphemes God. You may be like the Israelites of old who simply failed to declare their allegiance, who wavered between trusting in God and serving a false god. If you have never declared your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, there is no better time than now.
74 I would warn the reader that this is conjecture on my part, but we must have some sense of what took place in Jezreel if we are to grasp the rest of the story. Let the reader beware. My comments here are suggestive.
75 It is interesting that the KJV and the NKJV render this word “saw,” rather than “was afraid.” Other translations seem consistent in rendering the word “was afraid.” It is particularly of interest that the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) renders it “was afraid.” The Hebrew word is almost identical for both “was afraid” and “saw.” In the context, however, it seems compellingly clear that Elijah is temporarily overcome with fear. He did not “run for his life” for no reason. Even if one grants the rendering “Elijah saw… ”, it would be necessary to conclude that he was terrified by what he saw.
76 The term “fathers” most often refers to one’s ancestors. It can also be used in reference to a prophet (2 Kings 2:12), and I am inclined to think that is the sense in which Elijah uses it here. He is saying, I believe, that his prophetic ministry has been no more successful than that of the prophets (the “fathers”) who preceded him.
77 Suicide is particularly tempting for the Christian in a time of great despair, because they are assured of going to heaven when they die. I assisted in a funeral where a young man shot himself in the head as he knelt by his bed, reading Revelation 21-22. Why not leave this troubled life behind and advance to heaven? It seems reasonable at the time, but it is not, because we must not take our life by our own hand.
78 The Hebrew word is here rendered “touched” but sometimes this “touch” is more than a gentle one, as when the Angel of the Lord “touched” Jacob as they wrestled, dislocating his hip (Genesis 32:25).
In October of 1962, the pilot of a U-2 spy plane spotted Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, just 90 miles from the United States. These missiles were camouflaged as trees, and they were aimed at various cites in the United States. As a result, the ill-fated “Bay of Pigs” invasion was staged, and it was a disastrous failure. It is not difficult to understand why President John Kennedy was concerned about Russian missiles in Cuba, aimed at United States cities. It was a serious threat to our national security.
Centuries earlier, something similar occurred in Israel. The nations surrounding Israel posed an on-going threat to the security of the nation Israel. As the Israelites prepared to enter the land of Canaan, they encountered opposition from a number of these nations (see Numbers 21:1-35; Deuteronomy 2:26ff.). Under Joshua, the Israelites crossed over the Jordan and began to drive out the Canaanites, though not completely (see Judges 1:1-36). As a result, throughout the period of the Judges the nation Israel was oppressed by many of the surrounding nations. Under Saul, some of the enemies of Israel were defeated, but under David, Israel was able to dominate their neighbors. This was true of Solomon’s reign in the earlier years, but in the latter years of his reign Israel’s dominance began to deteriorate.
When the united Kingdom was divided after the death of Solomon, the political and military dynamics radically changed. This was due to the fact that the northern Kingdom of Israel was sometimes at war with Judah (1 Kings 15:6-7). The impact of the hostility between Israel and Judah can be seen in this incident recorded in 1 Kings 15:
16 Now Asa and Baasha king of Israel were continually at war with each other. 17 Baasha king of Israel attacked Judah and he established Ramah as a military outpost to prevent anyone from leaving or entering the land of Asa king of Judah. 18 Asa took all the silver and gold that was left in the treasuries of the LORD’s temple and of the royal palace and handed it to his servants. He then told them to deliver it to Ben Hadad son of Tabrimmon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, ruler in Damascus, along with this message: 19 “I want to make a treaty with you, like the one our fathers made. See, I have sent you silver and gold as a present. Break your treaty with Baasha king of Israel, so he will retreat from my land.” 20 Ben Hadad accepted King Asa’s offer and ordered his army commanders to attack the cities of Israel. They conquered Ijon, Dan, Abel Beth Maacah, and all the territory of Naphtali, including the region of Kinnereth. 21 When Baasha heard the news, he stopped fortifying Ramah and settled down in Tirzah. 22 King Asa ordered all the men of Judah (no exemptions were granted) to carry away the stones and wood that Baasha had used to build Ramah. King Asa used the materials to build up Geba (in Benjamin) and Mizpah (1 Kings 15:16-22).
Asa, king of Judah, was at war with Baasha, king of Israel. Because Baasha was at peace with Syria to his north, he felt free to concentrate on his conflict with Judah on his southern border. He began to fortify Ramah as a military outpost, which would virtually control the access to and from Jerusalem, a mere five miles to the south. This threat was just as disturbing to Asa, king of Israel, as the military buildup in Cuba was to President Kennedy. Asa took action. He gathered all the treasures he could find in the temple and the palace and sent them as a tribute to Ben Hadad, king of Syria, urging him to break his treaty with Israel and to establish a treaty with Judah. Ben Hadad accepted the offer and began to wage attacks on Israel’s northern borders, conquering some of Israel’s northern cities. This forced Baasha to give up his efforts to fortify Ramah and to concentrate on defending his northern borders. The dynamics of Israel’s relationship with the surrounding nations drastically changed with the division of the united Kingdom. Now, rather than Israel and Judah standing together against their enemies, they were aligning themselves with the surrounding nations against each other.
The events described in 1 Kings 15 provide the backdrop for our text in chapter 20. (We know from 1 Kings 20:34 that the “Ben Hadad” of chapter 15 is the father of the “Ben Hadad” of chapter 20.) Ben Hadad of Syria is more than happy to overrun Israel and to make the Israelites his vassals, and so in 1 Kings 20, we find Ben Hadad advancing on Samaria and issuing ultimatums.
Our text brings us to yet another “battle of the gods” which is recorded in 1 Kings. The first battle commenced in chapter 17. The test here was, “Which God can control the rains?” In response to Israel’s idolatry and disobedience, God sent Elijah to announce that there would be no rain in the land of Israel until he spoke the word (17:1). God then instructed Elijah to flee to the brook Cherith, where he could drink from the brook and where he was provided with bread and meat every morning and evening by ravens (17:1-7). When the drought dried up the brook, God instructed Elijah to go to the Sidonian town of Zarephath, where He had a widow who would provide for him (17:8ff.). After approximately three-and-a-half years, God ordered Elijah to present himself to Ahab. Elijah instructed Ahab to assemble all Israel on Mount Carmel, along with the 850 false prophets of Baal and the Asherah. There, Elijah challenged Israel to choose either Baal or Yahweh, based upon his ability to send down fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice offered to him (test 2). The challenge was accepted and, even though they were given the first chance, the 450 prophets of Baal could not produce fire from heaven. Elijah called upon Yahweh, who immediately sent fire from heaven. The people proclaimed Yahweh to be God, and they obeyed Elijah’s orders to kill the 450 false prophets of Baal.
Because of the people’s repentance on Mount Carmel, Elijah prayed that God would send rain to the parched land of Israel. As the clouds began to gather, Ahab hastily made his way back to Jezreel with Elijah leading the way before his chariot. The confrontation with Jezebel did not go as Elijah had hoped, and when she threatened to take his life within 24 hours, Elijah became frightened and fled for his life. Even though God dealt kindly with Elijah, there was no true repentance. Elijah was therefore ordered to return by the way he had come and to anoint Hazael as king over Syria, Jehu as king over Israel, and Elisha as prophet in his place. If the first test was about “rain” and the second was about “fire from heaven” (lightening), the third was about war. This “battle of the gods” seems to have taken place sometime after Elijah’s flight and is depicted in 1 Kings 20.
1 Now Ben Hadad king of Syria assembled all his army, along with 32 other kings with their horses and chariots. He marched against Samaria, and besieged and attacked it. 2 He sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel who was in the city. 3 He said to him, “This is what Ben Hadad says, ‘Your silver and your gold are mine, as well as the best of your sons and wives.’” 4 The king of Israel replied, “It is just as you say, my master, O king. I and all I own belong to you.” 5 The messengers came again and said, “This is what Ben Hadad says, ‘I sent this message to you, “You must give me your silver, gold, wives, and sons.” 6 But now at this time tomorrow I will send my servants to you and they will search through your palace and your servants’ houses. They will carry away all your valuables.” 7 The king of Israel summoned all the leaders of the land and said, “Notice how this man is looking for trouble.79 Indeed, he demanded my wives, sons, silver, and gold, and I did not resist him.” 8 All the leaders and people said to him, “Do not give in or agree to his demands.” 9 So he said to the messengers of Ben Hadad, “Say this to my master, the king, ‘I will give you everything you demanded at first from your servant, but I am unable to agree to this latest demand.’” So the messengers went back and gave their report. 10 Ben Hadad sent another message to him, “May the gods judge me severely if there is enough dirt left in Samaria for my soldiers to scoop up in their hands.” 11 The king of Israel replied, “Tell him the one who puts on his battle gear should not boast like one who is taking it off.” 12 When Ben Hadad received this reply, he and the other kings were drinking in their quarters. He ordered his servants, “Get ready to attack!” So they got ready to attack the city.
In the history of Israel, there were “superpowers” with whom God’s people had to contend—Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia—but on a day-to-day basis they had to deal with those nations or city-states which surrounded them. Among these “neighbors” would be the Philistines, the Midianites, the Moabites, the Syrians, and others. We have already read of the intrigue regarding Judah, Israel, and Syria when Asa, king of Israel, hired Ben Hadad of Syria to break his treaty with Baasha, king of Israel. It would appear that Syria was now going to attempt to tighten their grip on Israel. Ben Hadad (probably the son of the Ben Hadad in 1 Kings 15:18) marches toward Israel, joined by 32 kings and a combined army that must have totaled more than 127,000 men.80 When Ben Hadad nears the city of Samaria, he does what virtually every commander did before besieging a city—he gave them his terms for surrender. If the enemy surrendered, no lives would be lost, and terms for peace would be easier. If a city chose to fight and lost, their defeat would be devastating (see Deuteronomy 20:10-18).
Ben Hadad’s servants came to Ahab with terms for his surrender: he must turn over his silver and gold, along with his wives and his sons. Ahab felt he had no choice but to surrender and quickly agreed to Ben Hadad’s terms. It wasn’t over that quickly or easily, however. It would seem that while Ben Hadad was required by custom (primitive international law?) to offer terms for surrender, this is not really what he wanted. It would seem Ben Hadad either wanted to completely humiliate Ahab or that he intended to have his war and wipe him out completely. Two factors seem to influence Ben Hadad’s actions. First, he has 32 kings with him. These must be kings of city-states with whom he has an alliance. I suspect Ben Hadad is trying to impress them with his leadership and military prowess. This would tend to keep them in line, if they ever had any thoughts about changing sides. Second, there is the twice-mentioned (verses 12, 16) fact that Ben Hadad and his companions were drinking heavily. Ben Hadad was not sober enough to be driving, let alone declaring war. I wonder how many wars have started this same way. We certainly can see the wisdom of these words to kings in the Book of Proverbs:
4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for rulers to crave strong drink, 5 lest they drink and forget that which is decreed, and remove from all the poor their rights. 6 Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those who are distressed; 7 Let them drink and forget their poverty, and remember their misery no more (Proverbs 31:4-7).
Word comes back to Ahab from Ben Hadad—the terms for peace have changed. Not only must Ahab agree to the terms previously declared, but he must also submit to Ben Hadad and his army searching and seizing anything he chooses. The first demands seem to involve only Ahab. As the king of Israel, he would symbolically surrender by giving up his personal treasures. But now Ahab is told he must consent to allow Syria to take what belongs to his “servants” (verse 6). One must determine what the term “servants” means here, but I am inclined to think it means more than just his household “servants.” I think it means that Ahab will surrender whatever Ben Hadad wants from Ahab’s subjects. In other words, Ben Hadad must be allowed to pillage whatever he wants. Now he is demanding that he be allowed to deal with Israel as though they had fought and lost. There was no benefit in this kind of “surrender;” Ahab and the nobility of Israel concluded that they might just as well fight, since they had nothing to lose by so doing.
I am quite interested in the fact that Jezebel’s name never appears in this entire chapter—nor does Elijah’s. I have to smile at how quickly Ahab agrees to give up his wives. Was Ben Hadad threatening to “take Jezebel off his hands”? What a thought! I do not see a lot of anguish here on Ahab’s part. And yet, when Ben Hadad’s demands extend beyond himself, Ahab seems to resist. This puzzles me. Why does Ahab suddenly seem to show a little courage, even determination? Does Ahab feel the same need to impress his leaders as Ben Hadad who wants to look good before the 32 kings with him? When Ben Hadad receives Ahab’s response, the drunken king begins to talk big. He utters an oath, which makes this a matter involving the gods: “May the gods judge me severely if there is enough dirt left in Samaria for my soldiers to scoop up in their hands” (verse 10). Ahab is not my hero, but I have to admit that his finest hour for me is when he responds, “Tell him the one who puts on his battle gear should not boast like one who is taking it off” (verse 11). This is a “macho” version of, “Don’t count your chickens before they’ve hatched.” This reply from Ahab pushed Ben Hadad over the edge so that he not only declared war against Israel but ordered his troops to attack. This he did while under the influence of alcohol, along with the other kings. They were in no condition to go into battle. It’s hard to fight a war with a hangover.
13 Now a prophet visited Ahab king of Israel and said, “This is what the LORD says, ‘Do you see this huge army? Look, I am going to hand it over to you this very day. Then you81 will know that I am the LORD.’” 14 Ahab asked, “By whom will this be accomplished?” He answered, “This is what the LORD says, ‘By the servants of the district governors.’” Ahab asked, “Who will launch the attack?” He answered, “You will.”
I read the first 12 verses of our text and, as a man, I can understand it. My wife (and most women), however, would almost certainly respond, “This is stupid and senseless! This war that will cost many lives is simply about two kings, their over-sized egos, and their problem with alcohol.” It really is a stupid war, isn’t it? There did not need to be a war nor did anyone have to die, but these two kings are too proud to back down. What appears up to this point to be a very human thing now takes on a very different look with the arrival of an unnamed prophet, who has a message for king Ahab.
Ahab must have gulped as he pondered what he had gotten himself into. He was faced with an opponent who greatly outnumbered him. It would take a miracle to save Israel from total annihilation. But for all its appearances of being purely human (and senseless) in its origins, it was a war that God had purposed to use for His glory. This is yet another occasion on which God is going to demonstrate His sovereignty. This great army will be handed over to Ahab and Israel on this very day. Here is a clear and concise prophecy revealing how God will prove Himself to Ahab and to Israel.
Ahab does not appear to doubt the words of this prophet. But then who else can he trust besides God? Here is a man who needs God’s help and knows it. Ahab inquires as to who should lead out in battle. The prophet informs him that it is to be the “servants of the district governors” (verse 14), all 232 of them (verse 15). There is some discussion and disagreement amongst the scholars as to whom this expression, “the servants of the district governors,” refers. It could be the equivalent of the “White House staff,” I suppose, those young civilians who serve the “leaders of the people” (verse 8). If this refers to men in the military, it would be the youngest and most inexperienced men82 in uniform. It is those whom all would have considered “least likely to succeed” in this task. God is once again stacking the odds against Himself and His people to clearly demonstrate His presence and power to His people. Ahab would have a 50-yard-line view as he would be leading the Israelites in the attack.
15 So Ahab assembled the 232 servants of the district governors. After that he assembled all the Israelite army, numbering 7,000. 16 They marched out at noon, while Ben Hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were drinking heavily in their quarters. 17 The servants of the district governors led the march. When Ben Hadad sent messengers, they reported back to him, “Men are marching out of Samaria.” 18 He ordered, “Whether they come in peace or to do battle, take them alive.” 19 They marched out of the city with the servants of the district governors in the lead and the army behind them. 20 Each one struck down an enemy soldier; the Syrians ran and Israel chased them. Ben Hadad king of Syria escaped on horseback with some horsemen. 21 Then the king of Israel marched out and struck down the horses and chariots; he thoroughly defeated Syria.
It is clear that these 232 young men were both young and inexperienced. If they were not warriors but civilians, as I am inclined to think, then this would add to the Syrians’ confusion as to their purpose. Ben Hadad and the kings with him were drunk in their tents, probably prematurely celebrating victory. Ahab sent the 232 young lads first and then followed behind some distance with his 7,000 troops.83 As the 232 young lads approached the Syrian camp, the Syrian lookouts spotted them. They sent word to Ben Hadad that men were approaching. The size of the approaching group, and the fact that these were not “mighty men of valor” raised some doubt as to what their intent was. Were they coming as diplomats to negotiate more favorable terms of surrender? Perhaps so. Were they coming to fight? If so, they would be easily defeated.
Ben Hadad makes another serious mistake. He orders his men not to kill those who are approaching but to take them alive. Why would he do this? I can think of only a couple of reasons. First, if they were coming to negotiate, Ben Hadad wanted to hear what they had to say. If all these men were killed, how would he know what they wanted? Second, you cannot humiliate and mock dead men. To take these men alive meant that the Syrians could humiliate them and then send them back to Ahab in shame, perhaps the way David’s men were sent back to him in shame by Hanun (2 Samuel; 1 Chronicles 19:4; see also Isaiah 20:4).
Whatever his reasons, Ben Hadad’s order completely changed the way in which these two groups would engage. It was the equivalent of having all the Syrian warriors tie one hand behind their backs. From a distance, you can kill off your enemies before they are very close to you by the use of arrows and spears. But to take the enemy alive, you must overpower them one-on-one in hand-to-hand combat. If your enemy can kill you, but you cannot kill him, it is a difficult task indeed to overpower him.
When the 232 “young lads” confronted the Syrians, they caught them off guard by each fellow striking down his opponent. This led to panic,84 and the Syrians sought to escape. Ahab pursued with his 7,000 men and routed the Syrians. Ben Hadad and some others were able to escape on horseback, but Ahab struck down the horses and chariots, soundly defeating the Syrians.
22 The prophet visited the king of Israel and instructed him, “Go, fortify your defenses. Determine what you must do, for in the spring the king of Syria will attack you.” 23 Now the advisers of the king of Syria said to him: “Their God is a god of the mountains. That’s why they overpowered us. But if we fight them in the plains, we will certainly overpower them. 24 So do this: Dismiss the kings from their command, and replace them with military commanders. 25 Muster an army like the one you lost, with the same number of horses and chariots. Then we will fight them in the plains; we will certainly overpower them.” He approved their plan and did as they advised.
Both Ahab and Ben Hadad are counseled. Ahab’s counsel comes from the Lord; Ben Hadad’s counsel comes from his advisors. The prophet—it appears to be the same prophet who first appeared to Ahab in verse 13—informs Ahab that the conflict with Syria is not over. He therefore instructs Ahab to make the necessary preparations for yet another battle, which will come in the spring. No other specifics are given to Ahab.
Ben Hadad’s counselors have a much more difficult task before them. I would hate to have been Ben Hadad’s press secretary on this occasion. What kind of a “spin” could you put on this terrible, humiliating defeat to make it look good? His counselors did the best they could with a bad situation. They explained this disaster in theological terms. The God of Israel, they claimed, was a “mountain god.” (Did He not just recently send down fire from heaven at Mount Carmel?) Their gods were “plain gods.” You could not expect them to give victory if you were fighting in the mountains, now could you? The only solution was to be sure to wage the next warfare on the plains. Knowing what they now know (or think that they do) they are unwilling to admit defeat and grant this victory of the Israelites. They want to stage a come-back contest. They would re-stage the contest, sending exactly the same number of men into battle. This victory would overturn the defeat they had just suffered.
Two other changes must be made. One is very clearly stated, the other carefully ignored. The 32 kings who accompanied Ben Hadad into battle were replaced by military commanders. They now knew the victory was not as easy as they had assumed earlier. They wanted to put their best foot forward in the coming war. Ben Hadad should therefore replace the kings with top military commanders. Was part of the reason for their defeat unproven men? They may have thought so. This is sort of like the owners of a losing football team replacing the coaching staff. There is yet another element, which may never have been spoken but which had to enter the minds of Ben Hadad and his army—drinking on duty. I imagine that when the Syrians stage their next attack on Israel, the king and his commanders (not to mention the warriors) will all be stone sober. Who could avoid seeing how their drunkenness hindered their efforts?
26 In the spring Ben Hadad assembled the Syrian army and marched to Aphek to fight Israel. 27 When the Israelites had mustered and had received their supplies, they marched out to face them in battle. When the Israelites deployed opposite them, they were like two small flocks of goats, but the Syrians filled the land. 28 The prophet visited the king of Israel and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because the Syrians said, “The LORD is a god of the mountains and not a god of the valleys,” I will hand over to you this entire huge army. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’” 29 The armies were deployed opposite each other for seven days. On the seventh day the battle began, and the Israelites killed 100,000 Syrian foot soldiers in one day. 30 The remaining 27,000 ran to Aphek and went into the city, but the wall fell on them. Now Ben Hadad ran into the city and hid in an inner room. 31 His advisers said to him, “Look, we have heard that the kings of the Israelite dynasty are kind. Allow us to put sackcloth around our waists and ropes on our heads and surrender to the king of Israel. Maybe he will spare our lives.” 32 So they put sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads and went to the king of Israel. They said, “Your servant Ben Hadad says, ‘Please let me live!’” Ahab replied, “Is he still alive? He is my brother.” 33 The men took this as a good omen and quickly accepted his offer, saying, “Ben Hadad is your brother.” Ahab then said, “Go, get him.” So Ben Hadad came out to him, and Ahab pulled him up into his chariot. 34 Ben Hadad said, “I will return the cities my father took from your father. You may set up markets in Damascus, just as my father did in Samaria.” Ahab then said, “I want to make a treaty with you before I dismiss you.” So he made a treaty with him and then dismissed him.
It happened just as the prophet had said. Ben Hadad and his reconstructed army marched to Aphek, the spot they seem to have chosen to fight the Israelites. There are several “Apheks” in the area, but I am inclined to the view that this “Aphek” was on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee on the road from Damascus to Samaria. This would be flat enough to be considered a plain and would facilitate the use of horses and chariots, as required by the battle plan of the Syrians.
One can hardly imagine what that scene must have looked like as the two armies faced off at Aphek. There was a “sea” of Syrian soldiers, while the army of Israel was divided into two groups. The writer tells us they looked like two “little flocks of goats” while the Syrians “filled the land” (verse 27). The odds were, once again, incredible—impossible—and, I might add, just the way God wanted them. This was not a war to prove how courageous or mighty the Israelites were; it was a battle between the gods of the Syrians and Yahweh, the God of Israel. This was a battle to prove, once again, that God was with His people. Had Ben Hadad underestimated Israel? Had he foolishly used kings rather than military leaders? Had he boasted too soon of victory and toasted his success too many times before the battle began? Well, now he had time to think about all these things and to do it right the second time. Now Syria would be sure not to make the same mistakes. And now it seemed certain that the Syrians would prevail over Israel.
At this very discouraging moment in time, God spoke to Ahab once again through the prophet. He made it clear that God would once again deliver the Syrian army into Israel’s hands. This was to let Israel (the “you” is now plural) know that Yahweh is God. God is doing this for His own glory, because the Syrians had explained their loss in terms that made their gods equal to Yahweh and in terms that spoke of Yahweh as being less than He was. It was, once again, a “battle of the gods.”
For seven days the Israelites and the Syrians camped facing each other. Surely the Syrians were seeking to give the Israelites time to ponder their superior strength. On the seventh day, the battle commenced and the Israelites killed 100,000 men that day. The remaining 27,000 men ran for their lives, hiding inside the walls of the city of Aphek. There was no safety for them there. The walls fell in on them, killing virtually all of them. Somehow, Ben Hadad had managed to hide in an inner room so that he was one of the very few who survived. His survival was even a surprise to Ahab (verse 32).
Ben Hadad is now given more advice, and surprisingly, he takes it. He is told that the Israelite kings (unlike him) are compassionate to those who surrender. They counsel Ben Hadad to humbly surrender to Ahab and to plead for mercy. Ben Hadad concurs and sends messengers to pursue peace. How different this is from the message his messengers had brought to Ahab just a year before! The messengers were wearing sackcloth around their waists and ropes on their heads, a symbol of submission and surrender. They approached Ahab and informed him that Ben Hadad, “his brother,” was still alive and was begging for mercy. What a sweet taste this must have been to Ahab! The one who had earlier threatened and insulted him was now begging for mercy.
This “success” proved to be Ahab’s downfall. He quickly granted Ben Hadad’s petition, and even more. He not only let him live, but he also invited him up into his chariot with him. Ahab not only failed to kill him, but was treating Ben Hadad as a peer. To make matters worse, he entered into a treaty with him at that very moment, and then sent him home. How quickly this foe became a friend, indeed, a brother!
Was this compassion? Was this mercy? Are we seeing a new Ahab, one that we should commend? Surely not, as the final verses of chapter 20 will indicate. Ahab’s reasons for sparing Ben Hadad were self-serving. Perhaps he enjoyed the pleasure of letting Ben Hadad live. Did he let this king live for the same reasons he had ordered his soldiers to let the Israelites live (verse 18)? Was the groveling of Ben Hadad too pleasurable to end by death? Perhaps, but it would seem that Ahab’s primary motivation was economic gain. Ben Hadad immediately promised to return the cities his father had taken from Israel earlier (see 1 Kings 15:16-22). He also offered to allow Ahab to set up shops for trade in Damascus (verse 34). Ahab was so eager to get this in writing (so to speak) that he sealed the covenant right there in the chariot. How often money does talk, as it seems to have done here!
35 One of the members of the prophetic guild, speaking with divine authority, ordered his companion, “Wound me!” But the man refused to wound him. 36 So the prophet said to him, “Because you have disobeyed the LORD, as soon as you leave me a lion will kill you.” When he left him, a lion attacked and killed him. 37 He found another man and said, “Wound me!” So the man wounded him severely. 38 The prophet then went and stood by the road, waiting for the king. He also disguised himself by putting a bandage down over his eyes. 39 When the king passed by, he called out to the king, “Your servant went out into the heat of the battle, and then a man turned aside and brought me a prisoner. He told me, ‘Guard this prisoner. If he ends up missing for any reason, you will pay with your life or with a unit of silver.’ 40 Well, it just so happened that while your servant was doing this and that, he disappeared.” The king said to him, “Your punishment is already determined by your own testimony.” 41 The prophet quickly removed the bandage from his eyes and the king of Israel recognized he was one of the prophets. 42 The prophet then said, “This is what the LORD says, ‘Because you released a man I had determined should die, you will pay with your life and your people will suffer instead of his people.’” 43 The king of Israel went home to Samaria bitter and angry.
Twice in this chapter God has spoken to Ahab through a prophet. This time, God will speak again, but in a different manner. This is a message the king will be reluctant to hear, and so the message will come indirectly at first. It is very much like the message of rebuke God had for David, after he sinned regarding Bathsheba and her husband Uriah (2 Samuel 12:1-15). A story is told which evokes a response from the king. The king passes judgment, without realizing that he is condemning himself. The prophet then brings the message home to the king, informing him as to how God’s judgment will come for his sin.
In those days, there was “a school of the prophets” (see also 2 Kings 2:3-7, 15; 4:1, 38; 5:22; 6:1; 9:1), or as the NET Bible renders it, a “prophetic guild” (verse 35). One of the prophets, under inspiration, ordered a fellow-prophet to wound him. What a difficult thing to ask. What a terrible thing to have to do! No doubt it was out of compassion that the prophet refused to injure his colleague. But that compassion was disobedience to a command from God, and thus the first prophet rebuked the one which showed compassion, indicating that a lion would meet him in the road and kill him for his disobedience (verse 36). As prophesied, the prophet was met by a lion and killed. The next fellow commanded to injure the prophet took his orders seriously, and so he wounded him “severely” (verse 37).
The injured prophet must have been an ugly sight. He covered his head with a bandage so that his face would not be recognized, and then he stood along the road where king Ahab would pass. When the king passed by, the prophet called out to the king, seeking compassion. He told the king he was a soldier who had been given a prisoner to guard. The one who handed the prisoner over to the soldier made it very clear that the prisoner must not be allowed to escape, and that if he did, there would be serious consequences—he would pay with his life, or he must pay a steep fine. The soldier was obviously not paying close attention to his duties (he was “doing this and that”), and his prisoner escaped. Now, the one who had allowed him to escape was asking for mercy from the king. Ahab had no mercy on this fellow. He knew his duty, and he knew the consequences if he failed. Now, he must pay his dues.
The king was right, of course. This soldier had disobeyed orders. He allowed an enemy to escape, and now he must take his place and receive his punishment. When Ahab pronounced judgment on this “soldier,” the prophet removed his disguise, and the king realized he was a prophet. This prophet then applied the same judgment to the king which he had himself pronounced. Ahab had let a man go whom God had determined must die. Now that Ahab had let Ben Hadad go, he must pay for this sin with his own life. And not only this, the nation Israel would suffer in place of the Syrians. The king was guilty, condemned by his own actions and also by his own judgment. He left for Samaria bitter and angry. There was no joy in this “victory” because it was not really a victory any longer.
Just what made Ahab’s actions so wrong? Some would tell us that while the command to kill Ben Hadad is not recorded in our text, it must surely have been given to Ahab.85 I believe Ahab should have been well aware of this command. In Deuteronomy 17, God gives instructions concerning those kings who will rule over His people:
14 “When you come to the land the LORD your God is giving you and you take it over and live in it and then say, ‘I will appoint a king over me like all the nations surrounding me,’ 15 you must without fail select over you a king whom the LORD your God will choose. From among your own kin you must appoint a king—you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your kin. 16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself nor allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, for the LORD has said, you must never again return this way. 17 He also must not marry many wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not amass much silver and gold. 18 When he sits on his royal throne then he must make a copy of this instruction upon a scroll given to him by the Levitical priests. 19 It must be constantly with him and he must read it as long as he lives so that he might learn to revere the LORD his God, and observe all the words of this instruction and these statutes in order to carry them out, 20 so that he will not exalt himself above his fellow citizens and turn from the commandment right or left, and so that he might enjoy many years over his kingdom, he and his descendants, in the midst of Israel” (Deuteronomy 17:14-20, emphasis mine).
Every king was responsible to know the law of God, by which he was to govern God’s people. This was so important that the king was required to write out a copy of the law for himself, under the supervision of the priests. He was to constantly read the law and to obey it. The law had very specific instructions regarding war, as we see in Deuteronomy 20, not that far removed from the command to kings in chapter 17:
10 “When you approach a city to wage war against it then offer it terms of peace. 11 If it accepts them and submits to you, all the people found in it will become compulsory servants to you. 12 But if they do not accept terms of peace but make war with you, then you shall lay siege against their city. 13 The LORD your God will deliver it over to you and you will slay every single male by sword. 14 However, the women, little children, cattle, and anything in the city—all its spoil—you may take as your booty. You may appropriate the spoil of your enemies which the LORD your God has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all cities very distant from you, those not of these nearby nations” (Deuteronomy 20:10-15, emphasis mine).
Was there anything particularly hard to understand about this command? Just in case this may have escaped the notice of Ahab, there is the account in 1 Samuel 15 about a king who did the same thing Ahab has now done:
1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one whom the LORD sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the LORD says. 2 Here is what the LORD of hosts says: ‘I have carefully noted what the Amalekites did to Israel by opposing them on the way as they came up from Egypt. 3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t have any compassion of them. Put them to death—man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’” 4 So Saul assembled the people and mustered them at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. 5 Saul proceeded to the city of Amalek, where he set an ambush in the wadi. 6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go on and leave! Go down from the midst of the Amalekites, lest I sweep you away with them! For you dealt kindly with all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from the midst of the Amalekites. 7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur which is adjacent to Egypt. 8 He captured Agag king of the Amalekites alive, but he exterminated all his people with the sword. 9 However, Saul and the army had compassion on Agag and on the best of the flock, the cattle, the fatlings, the lambs, and on everything else that was of worth. He was not willing to annihilate them. But they exterminated everything that was despised and worthless. 10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel saying, 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from me and has not done what I said.” Samuel became angry, and he cried out to the LORD all that night. 12 Then Samuel got up early to meet Saul the next morning. But Samuel was informed, “Saul has gone to Carmel where he is setting up a monument for himself. Then he left and went down to Gilgal.” 13 When Samuel came to him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you! I have done what the LORD said.” 14 Samuel replied, “If that is the case, what then is this sound of sheep in my ears? And the sound of cattle that I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They were brought from the Amalekites; the army spared the best of the flocks and cattle in order to sacrifice to the LORD our God. But everything else we annihilated.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait a minute! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” He said to him, “Tell me.” 17 Samuel said, “Is it not the case that when you were insignificant by even your own reckoning, you became head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you as king over Israel. 18 The LORD sent you on a journey saying, ‘Go and annihilate those sinful Amalekites and fight with them until you have destroyed them.’ 19 Why haven’t you paid attention to the voice of the LORD? Instead you have greedily darted to the spoil, doing something evil in the LORD’s estimation.” 20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “But I have paid attention to the voice of the LORD! I went on the journey that the LORD sent me on. I brought back Agag king of the Amalekites, after annihilating the Amalekites. 21 But the army took some of the flocks and cattle—the best of what was to be destroyed—to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”
22 Then Samuel said, “Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as he does in obedience to his voice? Obeying is better than sacrifice; paying attention is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and presumption is like the iniquity of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you from being king.”
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed what the LORD commanded and what you said as well. For I was afraid of the army, and I paid attention to what they were saying. 25 Now please forgive my sin. Go back with me so that I can worship the LORD.” 26 Samuel said to Saul, “I will not go back with you. For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
27 Then Samuel turned to leave. But he grabbed the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day! He will give it to one of your colleagues who is better than you! 29 The eminent one of Israel does not deal falsely nor does he change his mind. For he is not a human being who changes his mind.” 30 He again replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel. Go back with me and I will worship the LORD your God.” 31 So Samuel followed Saul back, and Saul worshipped the LORD. 32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” So Agag came to him trembling, thinking to himself, “Surely death is bitter!” 33 Samuel said, “Just as your sword left women childless, so your mother will be most bereaved among women.” Then Samuel cut Agag in pieces there in Gilgal before the LORD. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Until the day of his death Samuel did not again see Saul. Samuel did, however, mourn for Saul. But the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel (1 Samuel 15:1-35, emphasis mine).
Whether or not Ahab was given direct revelation about Ben Hadad, he was given very clear general orders by God in the law; lest he not understand the application of this law, he need only look at the transgression of Saul in this same regard. God takes disobedience seriously.
I want you to notice that the Scriptures clearly identify the actions of Saul, and later Ahab, as disobedience. They knew better, or they should have. In the case of Ahab, he not only had the law itself, but a lesson from history to guide him. How sad that he did not listen and learn. Here, as in Saul’s case, we see a very important principle: PARTIAL OBEDIENCE IS DISOBEDIENCE.
The irony of it all is that disobedience is carried out in the guise of compassion. Both Agag and Ben Hadad were brutal killers and men who were opposed to God and His people. Here were men who, if permitted, would have killed the Israelite kings who showed kindness to them.
An important lesson we should learn here is to beware of sin cloaked in the garb of compassion. A parent who has a disobedient child may refuse to discipline that child as they should, doing so in the name of compassion or “unconditional love.” The church at Corinth knew that one of its members was living in immorality—with his father’s wife. They knew they should have “handed the guilty sinner over to Satan,” but they did not, and they were proud of it! How could this be? I would imagine they congratulated themselves for their “compassion.” I was reminded of this great Old Testament text, which speaks of God’s compassion:
5 And Yahweh descended in the cloud and stood with him there; and he made proclamation of Yahweh by name. 6 And Yahweh passed by before him and proclaimed: “Yahweh, Yahweh, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished; visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:5-7, emphasis mine).
God is the supreme example of compassion. No one has ever come close to the compassion He has shown to His people. But notice that His compassion does not leave guilt unpunished. He does not look the other way and refuse to deal with the guilt of our sin. In His great compassion, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to bear the guilt and penalty for our sins, so that we may experience His mercy and grace. Our guilt was punished in the person of Jesus Christ. Guilt must always be punished. Ahab’s “compassion” was not godly compassion; it was self-serving. For this, Ahab would pay with his own life. The penalty Ahab should have meted out for Ben Hadad would now be meted out on him. Both he and Israel would suffer for his disobedience. Beware of disobedience carried out in the name of compassion.
1 “When the LORD your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before you—Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations more populous and powerful than you—7:2 and he delivers them over to you and you attack them, utterly annihilate them; make no covenant with them nor show them compassion” (Deuteronomy 7:1-2, emphasis mine).
There is a lesson for us to learn here regarding our response toward sin. We are to put to death the deeds of the flesh:
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he is never going to die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:8-11).
10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. 11 Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you. 12 So then, brothers and sisters, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh 13 (for if you live according to the flesh, you will die), but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live (Romans 8:10-13; cf. also 13:14; 2 Corinthians 4:11; Colossians 3:5).
When it comes to sin, we must be brutal and merciless in doing away with it, or anything which promotes it:
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into hell” (Matthew 5:27-30, emphasis mine).
Is this not very close to the admonition God gave to Cain in Genesis 4?
6 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why is your expression downcast? 7 Is it not so that if you do what is right, you will be fine? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is to have you, but you can have the mastery over it” (Genesis 4:6-7).
Sin’s desire is to kill us. Our duty is to kill it, to mortify the flesh, and to reckon ourselves dead to sin. To seek to coexist with sin is to nurture that which seeks our death and destruction.
What an important lesson we have here regarding the lessons we should learn from history. It would seem that Ahab had little regard for what God had done for His people, Israel. He seems to have had little or no regard for God’s law, which prescribed his duty toward the Syrians in general and Ben Hadad in particular. He seems not to have heeded the lessons of history, which would have spared him from this folly and disaster. Surely it is not too much to expect a king to read the inspired Scriptures regarding those kings who have gone before him. If he had, he could have avoided repeating the sin of Saul and facing virtually the same consequences.
How sad it is that we now live in a day when history is not regarded as highly as it should be! Now, justification is made for revising history to make it conform to our current beliefs and practices. To embrace this view of history is to wipe out all the lessons of the past. From Ahab’s folly, let us learn to heed the lessons of history as they illustrate the blessings for those who obey God’s Word—and the disaster for those who disobey.
Once again, we are reminded that God is never hindered by the impossible. Indeed, once again God has orchestrated this confrontation in such a way as to give Israel little human hope so that His sovereign hand may be seen in this victory. We should see from this great divine intervention of mercy and grace what we should recognize everywhere—God’s grace is not His response to our piety or worthiness. It is His unmerited favor, in spite of our sin, and it is done for His glory. It is not our goodness which prompts God to act, but His desire to display His glory. It was not that Israel was deserving of divine deliverance, but that the Syrians had made this a battle of the gods. The Lord—He alone is God—and He demonstrates this for His glory and for the good of His people. To God be the glory!
79 Why does Ahab always blame his troubles on others, rather than seeing it as the result of his own sin (see 18:17)?
80 I conclude this based upon the numbers we are given in 1 Kings 20:29-30. A total of 127,000 soldiers died in the second battle between Syria and Israel. We know that Ben Hadad was counseled to attack Israel the second time with the same number of troops with which he attacked the first time. This was to simulate a re-match. Thus, there must have been at least 127,000 soldiers marching against Israel in the first attack.
81 It is noteworthy that here the “you” is singular, while in verse 28 it is plural. In the first battle, Yahweh is proving to Ahab that He is God. In the second battle, He is demonstrating this to all Israel.
82 The term “servants” (plural) is found in its singular form (rendered “boy”) in 1 Kings 20:14 when it is used of David facing Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:33: “But Saul replied to David, ‘You aren’t able to go against this Philistine to fight with him! You’re just a boy! He has been a warrior from his youth!’”
83 One can hardly overlook the fact that the number of Israelite troops was 7,000. First, this is an insignificant force compared to the size of the Syrian army which opposed them. And further, God had indicated to Elijah that there were still 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18). Does it not appear that the reader is to make some connection between the 7,000 in chapter 19 with the 7,000 in chapter 20?
84 The Syrians panic seems irrational and not unlike that of Elijah when he fled from Jezebel.
85 “Though this order is not recorded in the biblical text, it is clear that Ahab had received it.” Walvoord, John F., and Zuck, Roy B., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Scripture Press Publications, Inc.) 1983, 1985.
It was almost twenty-three years ago when our church first began to meet for worship and teaching. The first year, we met in a school, and then for the next six months, we rented space in a hotel. When we learned that our current church building was for sale, a meeting was arranged between the leaders of the church selling the building and some of our leadership. One of our elders is a real estate attorney, and naturally, he was planning to be present. Someone invited me—mainly out of courtesy—and I had indicated that I might try to make it to the meeting. When my elder/lawyer/friend heard this, he took me aside and said something like: “Bob, of all the things that you might contribute something to, this is not one of them—stay home!” He was right, and I wasn’t upset to miss that meeting.
This past year, we signed a contract to purchase a larger church building just a few blocks away. This involves the other church taking our smaller (and less expensive) building in trade. The end result is that it was necessary to have two sales contracts—one for the purchase of the new building, and one for the sale/trade of our present building. My elder/lawyer friend, Hugh, drafted the contracts. He sent each of the elders a copy of both contracts to look over. Some of my fellow-elders actually read those contracts, and one even had sticky notes attached to his copies. I confess, I never even looked at them. I remembered my lawyer friend’s advice from 20 years earlier. I knew I had nothing to contribute to this discussion either. To be honest, even if I had read those contracts, I would not have understood a word. And so when we met to discuss the contracts, my elder/lawyer friend asked if we had any questions. I was more than happy to remind him of his advice from years earlier. I told him I expected him to tell me what all those pages meant. Real estate transactions are not my area of expertise.
If I had any advice to give Ahab, the king of Israel, it would be this: “Avoid all real estate transactions!” Poor Ahab. His real estate dealings were the death of that man. In 1 Kings 21, Ahab seeks to purchase a plot of land beside his property for a garden. His offer is declined, and he is most unhappy about it. As a result, his wife orchestrates the murder of the property owner, so that Ahab can possess this piece of land. For this, Ahab is rebuked by Elijah, and his death is prophesied, along with that of Jezebel and any heirs to the throne. In the very next chapter (1 Kings 22), Ahab sets out to repossess a piece of property which had belonged to Israel, and in his efforts to do so, the king is killed, just as Elijah had said.
It is a fascinating story with many lessons for us to learn. Let us listen well to the words of Scripture, and ask the Holy Spirit to make their meaning and message clear to us.
1 After this the following episode took place. Naboth the Jezreelite owned a vineyard in Jezreel adjacent to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard so I can make a vegetable garden out of it, for it is adjacent to my palace. I will give you an even better vineyard in its place, or, if you prefer, I will pay you silver for it.” 3 But Naboth replied to Ahab, “The LORD forbid that I should sell you my ancestral inheritance.” 4 So Ahab went into his palace, bitter and angry that Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not sell to you my ancestral inheritance.”
Chapter 20 ends with Ahab bitter and angry (see verse 43). Ben Hadad, king of Syria, had attacked Israel. It was a battle that was humanly impossible for Israel to win, and yet God gave Ahab and the Israelites the victory. Ben Hadad had not yet learned his lesson, and so he staged a second battle, this time fighting Israel on the plain. The Syrians explained their first defeat as the result of fighting Israel (whose God, they said, was a “God of the mountain”) in the hills, rather than on the plain (they thought their “god” was the “god of the plain”). Because Ben Hadad made this a theological issue, God once again gave the Syrians into the hands of the Israelites. The only problem was that Ahab did not finish the battle by putting Ben Hadad to death, as he should have done. Instead, he entered into a treaty with him, thinking it was to his advantage to do so. For this, Ahab was rebuked and told, “Because you released a man I had determined should die, you will pay with your life and your people will suffer instead of his people” (1 Kings 20:42). No wonder Ahab went home depressed!
This is where our text takes up the story of Ahab, Jezebel, and Elijah. Apparently Ahab felt that he needed a hobby, something to distract him from his troubles. What could be a better diversion than gardening? After all, how much trouble could a person get into in a garden (!!!).86 Ahab concluded that the perfect place for his “vegetable garden”87 was right next to his palace. There was only one problem—the property belonged to Naboth. Ahab did not see this as a problem. I think he must have believed that money and influence could solve any problem. And so he went to Naboth, offering to trade him for a better piece of property or to pay him a generous price for his property. Either way, I suspect that Ahab would have been willing to pay more than its market value (this seems clear, since he specifically indicated he would offer him a better piece of land in trade—verse 2).
Ahab was stunned when Naboth rejected his offer. Who wouldn’t take the deal he had offered? It was something Ahab could not understand, because he had so little regard for God’s law. Naboth’s actions were not prompted by monetary considerations, but by biblical principles. When God gave the land of Canaan to Israel, He divided it among the tribes of Israel. Given the nature of men, the land (like money) would have tended to accumulate into the hands of the few. And so the rich would get richer, and the poor would get poorer. God set down some very specific laws in Leviticus 25:8-17, 23-34 and Deuteronomy 25:5-10. These laws prevented the land from permanently changing hands, outside the family or tribe to which it was allotted. Because of these laws, Naboth knew that he could not sell or trade his land. That is why he responded, “The LORD forbid that I should sell you my ancestral inheritance” (verse 3). The words “the Lord forbid” express not only a strong resolve on Naboth’s part, but also a sense of revulsion at the thought of selling (or trading) his land.88 It was not just that Naboth was being unreasonable; this was something he could not do, according to the law, and thus it was something he would not do, even if the king made him a deal that was tempting. Such principles did not make sense to Ahab. The king was caught completely off guard by Naboth’s refusal. He went home, crawled into bed, refused to eat, and began to pout.
5 Then his wife Jezebel came in and said to him, “Why do you have a bitter attitude and refuse to eat?” 6 He answered her, “While I was talking to Naboth the Jezreelite, I said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard for silver or, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not sell you my vineyard.’” 7 His wife Jezebel said to him, “You are the king of Israel! Get up, eat some food and have a good time. I will get the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you.” 8 She wrote out orders, signed Ahab’s name to them, and sealed them with his seal. She then sent the orders to the leaders and to the nobles who lived in Naboth’s city. 9 This is what she wrote: “Observe a time of fasting and seat Naboth in front of the people. 10 Also seat two villains opposite him and have them testify, ‘You cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out and stone him to death.” 11 The men of the city, the leaders and the nobles who lived there, followed the written orders Jezebel had sent them. 12 They observed a time of fasting and put Naboth in front of the people. 13 The two villains arrived and sat opposite. Then the villains testified against Naboth right before the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they led him outside the city and stoned him to death. 14 Then they reported to Jezebel, “Naboth has been stoned to death.” 15 When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up, take possession of the vineyard Naboth the Jezreelite refused to sell you for silver, for Naboth is no longer alive; he’s dead.” 16 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
Jezebel found Ahab sulking in his bed and began to question her husband about what was troubling him. Ahab told her about his visit to Naboth and his unsuccessful attempt to buy his land. He also told her Naboth’s response: “But he said, ‘I will not sell you my vineyard’” (verse 6). That wasn’t quite all of the story. Note how the explanation changes, from Naboth’s actual words to Ahab’s perception of these words, to his summation of them for Jezebel:
Naboth’s words: “The LORD forbid that I should sell you my ancestral inheritance” (21:3).
Ahab’s perception: “I will not sell you my ancestral inheritance” (21:4).
Ahab’s account to Jezebel: “But he said, ‘I will not sell you my vineyard” (21:6).
Naboth did refuse to sell or trade his land, but he also made it clear to Ahab why he refused to do so. The LORD had forbidden him to do so in the Law of Moses. It was contrary to the law Naboth purposed to obey. Ahab only heard Naboth say that he refused to sell his ancestral inheritance. And when Ahab explains his depression to Jezebel, he simply tells her that Naboth refused to sell him his vineyard. Ahab’s version of his meeting with Naboth makes Naboth sound unreasonable and completely avoids any mention of God.
Jezebel was used to getting her way. She was not about to let anyone get away with saying no to the king. She understood power all too well, and she certainly knew how to use it. She recognized that Ahab did not have what it took to do what had to be done, so she took charge. She wrote letters to the leaders of Jezreel. Her orders sound strangely similar to the order David sent to Joab, instructing him to put Uriah on the front lines and then to withdraw from him, guaranteeing his death (2 Samuel 11:14-15). These men were to call for a fast, and then at the right time, two worthless men (two “men of belial”) were to accuse Naboth of cursing God and the king. This was a capital offense (Exodus 22:28; Leviticus 24:13-23), and so Naboth was to be taken outside the city and stoned.
The hypocrisy of this incident is incredible. It is like a warm-up for the way the Jewish religious leaders will condemn and execute the Lord Jesus on the trumped-up charges of blasphemy (claiming to be God) and insurrection against the king (rebelling against Roman rule). Both travesties of justice were carried out in a way that gave the appearance of religious piety. How Jezebel must have relished making a mockery of God’s laws! A fast was called, not a feast. Fasts were called in times of national disaster, when God’s will and Word were sought:
1 Later the Moabites and Ammonites, along with some of the Meunites, attacked Jehoshaphat. 2 Messengers arrived and reported to Jehoshaphat, “A huge army is attacking you from the other side of the Sea, from the direction of Edom. Look, they are in Hazezon Tamar (that is, En Gedi).” 3 Jehoshaphat was afraid, so he decided to seek the LORD’s advice. He decreed that all Judah should observe a fast. 4 The people of Judah assembled to ask for the LORD’s help; they came from all the cities of Judah to ask for the LORD’s help (2 Chronicles 20:1-4).
This is the way it was supposed to work. When there was a time of national disaster, the nation would fast, and God’s will would be sought. The leaders of Jezreel pretended to be concerned about a most serious matter and then had two worthless men bear false testimony against Naboth, giving them a pretext for killing this innocent man, and thus making his property available to the king. Jezebel’s instructions make it appear that men are genuinely concerned about sin in the nation, and that there is a resolve to deal with that sin to rid the nation of it. Testimony is given by two men, charging that Naboth has committed a most grievous offense, an offense punishable by death. And so Naboth is executed, just the way the law prescribed (Exodus 22:28; Leviticus 24:15-16). The only problem is that this was an innocent man.
When it was certain that Naboth was dead,89 Jezebel sent word to Ahab, instructing him to come and to take possession of “his” land. Ahab almost seems to be on his way to possess “his” land when God instructs Elijah to intercept the king with a message of judgment.
The penalty for such false testimony was the same as the punishment which resulted from that false testimony:
16 If a false witness should take the stand against another to accuse him of rebellion, 17 then both parties to the controversy must stand before the LORD, that is, before the priests and judges who will be in office in those days. 18 The judges will seek the truth in the matter and if the witness should prove to be false and has given false testimony against the accused, 19 you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused; thus you will purge evil from among you. 20 The survivors will hear and become afraid to keep doing such evil among you. 21 You must not react with pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Deuteronomy 19:16-21).
It is clear, therefore, what the law required for the punishment of Ahab and Jezebel. And this sentence will soon be pronounced by Elijah.
17 The LORD told Elijah the Tishbite: 18 “Get up, go down and meet Ahab king of Israel who lives in Samaria. He is at the vineyard of Naboth; he has gone down there to take possession of it. 19 Say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says, “In the spot where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood they will also lick up your blood, yes yours!”’” 20 When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, “So, you have found me, my enemy!” Elijah replied, “I have found you, because you are committed to doing evil before the LORD.” 21 The LORD says, ‘Look, I am ready to bring disaster on you. I will destroy you and cut off every last male belonging to Ahab in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated 22 I will make your dynasty like those of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah because you angered me and made Israel sin.’ 23 The LORD says this about Jezebel, ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the outer wall of Jezreel.’ 24 As for Ahab’s family, dogs will eat the ones who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.” 25 (There had never been anyone like Ahab, who was committed to doing evil before the LORD, egged on by his wife Jezebel. 26 He was so wicked he worshiped the disgusting idols, just like the Amorites whom the LORD had driven out from before the Israelites.)
I suppose Ahab had consoled himself about the death of Naboth. After all, Naboth should have accepted his more than generous offer. He should have shown more respect for his king. Naboth was being unreasonable when he refused to sell his property. He was unwilling to negotiate or to discuss the matter. Ahab took the approach which men have used since the beginning of time: “What I don’t know can’t hurt me.” He didn’t tell his wife to kill Naboth. He wasn’t even told what she was going to do or how she planned to carry it out. He didn’t want to know. Somehow, this made him feel less guilty. I doubt that Ahab even questioned the charges against Naboth, for which he had been put to death.
I can see Ahab standing there in his newly-acquired vineyard, thinking about where he will put the tomato plants and the cabbages. His thoughts are interrupted by the appearance of Elijah. God had told Elijah what he was to say to Ahab: Just as the dogs had licked up Naboth’s blood, they would lick up his blood in the same place. There was nothing subtle about this message from God, nothing which Ahab could not understand. He was responsible for Naboth’s death, and for that he would die. His death, like Naboth’s, would not be a pretty sight.
Ahab’s response to Elijah’s appearance is just what we would have expected: “So, you have found me, my enemy!” (verse 20). The man whom Ahab should have trusted and valued most is the man he regards as his enemy. Ben Hadad can be his “brother” (1 Kings 20:32-33), but Elijah is his enemy. Elijah is not intimidated by the king. Instead, his hostile response prompts a graphic description of what the future holds for this king and his family. His dynasty will come to an end, with no heirs to the throne, just as it had happened to Jeroboam and Baasha before him (verse 22). The dogs will not only lick up Ahab’s blood, they will devour the body of Jezebel by the outer wall of Jezreel. And as for Ahab’s family, they will die as well. Those who die in the city will be eaten by the dogs, and those who die in the country will be consumed by the birds. This is not a royal death, but then Ahab and Jezebel have not been the kind of rulers that God required.90 It was a very fitting death because Ahab, goaded on by his wicked wife Jezebel, was the most evil king Israel had yet known (verses 25-26).
27 When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted. He slept in sackcloth and walked around dejected. 28 The LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, 29 “Have you noticed how Ahab shows remorse before me? Because he shows remorse before me, I will not bring disaster on his dynasty during his lifetime, but during the reign of his son.”
Here is something that catches the reader completely off guard. We have gotten used to Ahab’s pouting and going to bed in despair, but his sorrow is very different here. Who would have ever thought that Ahab—this wicked man, the most wicked king Israel had ever seen—would ever repent? And just as surprising, who would have thought that God would have sought to bring him to repentance? Here is but another example of a prophecy of divine judgment that leaves the door open for repentance, in fact which encourages repentance:
1 The LORD said to Jeremiah: 2 “Go down at once to the potter’s house. I will speak to you further there.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house and found him working at his wheel. 4 Now and then there would be something wrong with the pot he was molding from the clay with his hands. Then he would rework the clay into another pot as he saw fit. 5 Then the LORD said to me, 6 “I, the LORD, say, ‘O nation of Israel, can I not deal with you as this potter deals with the clay? In my hands, you, O nation of Israel, are just like the clay in this potter’s hand.’ 7 There are times, Jeremiah, when I threaten to uproot, tear down, and destroy a nation or a kingdom. 8 But if that nation that I threatened stops doing wrong, I will forgo the destruction I intended to do to it. 9 And there are times when I promise to build up and establish a nation or a kingdom. 10 But if that nation does what displeases me and does not obey me, then I will forgo the good I promised to do to it. 11 So now, tell the people of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem this: The LORD says, ‘I am preparing to bring disaster on you. I am making plans to punish you. So, every one of you, stop the evil things you have been doing. Correct the way you have been living and do what is right’” (Jeremiah 18:1-11).
In the Book of Jonah, the king of Nineveh seemed to know that God’s warnings of future judgment were sometimes intended to turn a person or a nation to God in repentance. And so the whole city of Nineveh repented when Jonah prophesied of that city’s destruction. That is what made Jonah angry with God. He understood that the message of coming judgment which he proclaimed throughout Nineveh was also an invitation to salvation, if men would repent. Jonah knew God well enough to know that He was gracious and compassionate, and eager to save:
1 This was an enormous disaster to Jonah and he was angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD and said, “Oh, LORD, isn’t this just what I said when I was in my own country? This is why I took the initiative to run off to Tarshish, because I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to wrath and abounding in loyal love, and one who relents concerning disaster. 3 And now, LORD, take my soul from me, because it would be better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:1-3).
God’s mercy and compassion were what Jonah disliked about God and were the basis for his protest, rather than his praise.91
We are not that different from Jonah. We praise God for His grace and mercy in our lives, but we are distressed to see it manifested to those whom we consider unworthy. On February 3, 1998, Karla Faye Tucker was executed for murder in Texas. She publicly admitted her guilt and professed that she had come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ while in prison. Some folks refused to accept the possibility that this woman could go to heaven when she died. They did not want to believe that God would be gracious to a murderer. Likewise, we cannot imagine God delighting in the repentance of Ahab, a repentance that God had apparently been seeking. In Ahab’s case, all of the consequences of Ahab’s sin were not set aside, but God did indicate to Elijah that He would not destroy the dynasty of Omri (Ahab’s father) until after Ahab’s death.
1 There was no war between Syria and Israel for three years. 2 In the third year Jehoshaphat king of Judah came down to visit the king of Israel. 3 The king of Israel said to his servants, “Surely you recognize that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us, though we are hesitant to reclaim it from the king of Syria.” 4 Then he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to attack Ramoth Gilead?” Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “I will support you; my army and horses are at your disposal.” 5 Then Jehoshaphat added, “First seek an oracle from the LORD.” 6 So the king of Israel assembled about 400 prophets and asked them, “Should I attack Ramoth Gilead or not?” They said, “Attack! The sovereign one will hand it over to the king.” 7 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the LORD still here, that we may ask him?” 8 The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can seek the LORD’s will. But I despise him because he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but disaster. His name is Micaiah son of Imlah. Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say such things.” 9 The king of Israel summoned a eunuch and said, “Quickly bring Micaiah son of Imlah.” 10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their respective thrones, dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying before them. 11 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made iron horns and said, “This is what the LORD says, ‘With these you will gore Syria until they are destroyed.’” 12 All the prophets were prophesying the same, saying, “Attack Ramoth Gilead! You will succeed; the LORD will hand it over to the king.” 13 Now the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, the prophets are in complete agreement that the king will succeed. Your words must agree with theirs; you must predict success.” 14 But Micaiah said, “As certainly as the LORD lives, I will say what the LORD tells me to say.” 15 He came before the king and the king asked him, “Micaiah, should we attack Ramoth Gilead or not?” He answered him, “Attack! You will succeed; the LORD will hand it over to the king.” 16 The king said to him, “How many times must I make you solemnly promise in the name of the LORD to tell me only the truth?” 17 Micaiah said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep that have no shepherd. Then the LORD said, ‘They have no master. They should go home in peace.’” 18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you he does not prophesy prosperity for me, but disaster?” 19 Micaiah said, “That being the case, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, with all the heavenly assembly standing on his right and on his left. 20 The LORD said, ‘Who will deceive Ahab, so he will attack Ramoth Gilead and die there.’ One said this and another that. 21 Then a spirit stepped forward and stood before the LORD. He said, ‘I will deceive him.’ The LORD asked him, ‘How?’ 22 He replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ The LORD said, ‘Deceive and overpower him. Go out and do as you have proposed.’ 23 So now, look, the LORD has placed a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours; but the LORD has decreed disaster for you.” 24 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah approached, hit Micaiah on the jaw, and said, “Which way did the LORD’s spirit go when he went from me to speak to you?” 25 Micaiah replied, “Look, you will see in the day when you go into an inner room to hide.” 26 Then the king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon, the city official and Joash, the king’s son. 27 Say, ‘This is what the king says, “Put this man in prison. Give him only a little bread and water until I safely return.”’” 28 Micaiah said, “If you really do safely return, then the LORD has not spoken through me.” Then he added, “Take note, all you people.”
For the next three years, after the defeat of Ben Hadad and Syria, Israel enjoyed a time of peace. During this time, there was no war between Israel and Syria, and some believe this was the time when the two nations jointly fought against Assyria at the battle of Karkar. Opinions differ as to how successful the Assyrians were, though they claimed a great victory over Syria and its allies. This was also a time of peace between Israel and Judah, due at least in part to the alliance Ahab and Jehoshaphat formed, sealed by the marriage of Ahab and Jezebel’s daughter, Athaliah, to Jehoshaphat’s son, Jehoram (2 Kings 8:18, 26-27; 2 Chronicles 18:1).
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, came to visit Ahab at Samaria. Ahab was distressed that Ben Hadad had not returned the city of Ramoth Gilead as he had promised (see 1 Kings 20:34). Ahab believed he was justified in seeking to repossess Ramoth Gilead; after all, it was property that rightly belonged to Israel.92 Jehoshaphat offered to join forces with Ahab. I wonder whether Jehoshaphat really cared about Ramoth Gilead, or whether he simply seized the opportunity to finally crush Syria once and for all, and thus to eliminate this nation’s threat to Judah’s national security. For whatever reason, Jehoshaphat committed himself and Judah to the battle.
But the king of Judah seems to have some misgivings about this attack. Was this alliance with Ahab wise? Was it the will of God? It did not make sense to go into battle without consulting God. And so Jehoshaphat seems to place a last minute condition on his commitment: “Let God’s will first be discerned, as on other occasions in the past” (see 2 Samuel 5:19, 23-24). Ahab was glad to oblige. He assembled 400 prophets, and so Ahab asked them about the wisdom of his plan to attack Syria. Their response was unanimous and confident: Most certainly! Let the king attack. The “higher power” will be with them.
In the NET Bible, we find the term, “the sovereign one,” in verse 6. This nicely translates the Hebrew term Adoni, while distinguishing this reference to “god” from others. The term which specifically refers to the God of Israel is “Yahweh,” and is translated “LORD” in the NASB. The Hebrew term “Elohim” is more general, and although it is used of the God of Israel, it is also used of “gods” more generally. Adoni is the term used by Obadiah in 1 Kings 18:7, 10 to refer to Elijah. Ahab uses the term to refer to Ben Hadad when he surrenders to him in 1 Kings 20:4. It is clearly a “watered-down” term for God, the kind of term that could comfortably be used in reference to a “god” by false prophets. Speaking of false prophets, doesn’t the number (400) sound familiar to you? I must confess that it appears to me as though these “prophets” were “retreads.” I wonder if these are not the same 400 prophets of the Asherah, mentioned in 1 Kings 18:19. The 400 prophets of the Asherah did not seem to show up for the contest on Mount Carmel. And after the contest, they may have downplayed their former role, declaring themselves to be in “general practice.”
One thing is for sure—Jehoshaphat is not at all convinced by their performance, no matter how impressive it may have been. That is why he asks, “Is there not a prophet of the LORD93 still here, that we may ask him?” (verse 7). Ahab understands Jehoshaphat’s concerns exactly and responds that there is one prophet of the LORD available, but this fellow, Micaiah, always speaks contrary to the king’s plans. Ahab admits that he despises the fellow. Jehoshaphat cautions Ahab about speaking this way about the LORD’s prophet. And so Ahab reluctantly sends for Micaiah, certain that he will disapprove of his plan to attack Ramoth Gilead.
First Kings 22:10-14 seems to describe a kind of intermission. These verses inform the reader that two things happened prior to Micaiah’s appearance before Ahab and Jehoshaphat. First of all, the 400 prophets, under the direction of Zedekiah, put on a more dramatic presentation, seeking to convince Jehoshaphat that this attack was the will of God (since they know that Ahab has already determined to go to war with Syria). Zedekiah brings out the visual aids. He employs a pair of iron horns to show how Israel and Judah will “gore” the Syrians. Second, as Micaiah is being brought to where the two kings are waiting, he is told what the other prophets have already indicated to be “God’s will.” He is urged to agree with the majority position for once. Micaiah responds that he must speak as God directs him.
If I am reading the text correctly, it is not Jehoshaphat who is doing the speaking, but rather the king of Israel. This is his “show,” and he is determined to convince Jehoshaphat that God wants them to go to war with Syria. And so Ahab asks Micaiah whether or not they should attack Ramoth Gilead. Something about Micaiah’s response troubled Ahab. Was it his lack of enthusiasm, or perhaps a tone of voice which conveyed, “All right, go ahead if you must—it’s what you’re going to do anyway.”? Or was it the fact that Micaiah’s answer was favorable? Micaiah’s prophecies were never favorable—ever! (22:8). The amazing thing is that Ahab chose to press the matter. Why didn’t he simply accept Micaiah’s prophetic response as a “Yes” and go on? Perhaps he knew that Jehoshaphat was not convinced, that he sensed something was lacking in the prophet’s reply.
For whatever reason, Ahab rebukes Micaiah for his response and insists that he speak the truth. What irony! Micaiah grants Ahab’s request. Would this king like to know what God thinks of this conflict? Micaiah has “seen” the shepherd smitten and the flock scatter. Let the king know that this battle will cost him his life. He will perish in the battle, and the troops will scatter. This proposed battle will be a complete failure.
Jehoshaphat was right there the whole time taking this conversation in. If the king of Israel was going to perish, and all the troops were going to scatter, what did this say to the king of Judah? This was a war he should avoid like the plague. There was no better time to “get out” than now. Let him withdraw his offer to support Ahab in the battle. These thoughts may have been going through Jehoshaphat’s mind when he heard Ahab say, “I told you so, didn’t I?” “I told you that this is what Micaiah would say.” And so, rather than acknowledging that his plan was not the will of God, Ahab took the words of Micaiah as reinforcing what he had already said in verse 8—Micaiah always prophesies disaster. Micaiah had performed as he had predicted. And so Ahab’s “prophecy” (that Micaiah will speak against his planned attack) is given more weight than Micaiah’s prophecy that the plan will fail.
Micaiah has much more to say. He’s just beginning to warm up. Ahab has done a most impressive job through his 400 prophets, who have all indicated that the attack on Ramoth Gilead will be a success. Now, Micaiah gives his own interpretation—a divine interpretation—of the 400 prophets’ endorsement of Ahab’s plan. Do these prophets speak for God as they claim? No! And so Micaiah explains the role that they have played. They may not speak for God, but they are accomplishing God’s purposes. God’s intention is to bring Ahab down, to remove him as king of Israel. He has been rebuked often enough. Now it is time to remove him as Israel’s king. The 400 prophets are “spirit-filled,” but not by God’s Spirit. They are being used by God to deceive Ahab, so that he will precipitate the very battle in which he is destined to die.
These are strong words, and Zedekiah gets the point. Micaiah claims to speak for Yahweh, while Zedekiah and his ilk speak by means of another spirit—the spirit of deception, a lying spirit—and thus deceive Ahab. Zedekiah’s prophetic pride is offended. How dare Micaiah claim to have the Spirit of God, the “Spirit” which Zedekiah professes to possess. Zedekiah punctuates his words with a blow to the jaw of Micaiah, but God’s spokesman is not silenced. He responds that Zedekiah will know soon enough who possesses God’s Spirit, especially when he seeks to hide himself in an inner room (presumably after Israel’s devastating defeat).
Ahab has had enough of Micaiah. He instructs that Micaiah be placed on minimum rations and held in custody until his return (victorious, of course). Micaiah accepts the challenge that is implied. In effect he says, “Very well, let this be the test. If you return, the LORD has not spoken through me. But if you perish in the battle and don’t return, then let those listening take heed to what I say.” Micaiah wants this to be a public challenge, not just a private matter. After all, Ahab and apparently Zedekiah are not going to survive to learn their lesson.
29 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah attacked Ramoth Gilead. 30 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and then enter into the battle; but you wear your robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and then entered into the battle. 31 Now the king of Syria had ordered his 32 chariot commanders, “Do not fight common soldiers or high ranking officers; fight only the king of Israel.” 32 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, “He must be the king of Israel.” So they turned and attacked him, but Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 When the chariot commanders realized he was not the king of Israel, they turned away from him. 34 Now an archer shot an arrow at random and it struck the king of Israel between the plates of his armor. The king ordered his charioteer, “Turn around and take me from the battle line, for I am wounded.” 35 While the battle raged throughout the day, the king stood propped up in his chariot opposite the Syrians. He died in the evening; the blood from the wound ran down into the bottom of the chariot. 36 As the sun was setting, a cry went through the camp, “Each one should return to his city and to his homeland.” 37 So the king died and was taken to Samaria, where they buried him. 38 They washed off the chariot at the pool of Samaria; dogs licked his blood (this was where the prostitutes bathed), just as the LORD had said would happen. 39 The rest of the events of Ahab’s reign, including a record of his accomplishments and how he built a luxurious palace and various cities, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. 40 Ahab passed away. His son Ahaziah replaced him as king.
I wonder how confident Jehoshaphat was when he went into this battle. He heard Micaiah, the prophet of Yahweh, declare that “the king” was going to be killed, and that all the warriors would flee to their homes. There were only two kings attacking Ramoth Gilead, and he was one of them! And to make matters even worse, Ahab makes a request of Jehoshaphat just before they are to attack: “Let Ahab conceal his identity by putting on the armor of one of the troops, and let Jehoshaphat remain in his royal attire.” How foolish could Jehoshaphat be? It was like asking him to wear a sweatshirt with a bullseye on the back. This made the king of Judah the primary target, and seemingly put Ahab out of harm’s way. If Ahab was so confident that Micaiah was wrong, why was he working so hard to prevent what this prophet had warned of? To me, this moment is absolutely mind-bending. I can hardly believe Jehoshaphat could be so nave.
Once again the king of Syria issues a command which plays a crucial role in the outcome of the battle. Earlier, Ben Hadad had instructed his army to take the approaching Israelites alive (1 Kings 20:18). Now, he orders his men to seek and destroy but one man—the king of Israel—the man Ben Hadad had called “my brother” (1 Kings 20:33). How foolish Ahab had been to let this man live, and now it was Ben Hadad who was intent on killing Ahab. This time he would succeed, not because of Syrian superiority, but because it was the will of God.
Before we are told of Ahab’s death, we are given an account of the “near death experience” of Jehoshaphat, who foolishly allied himself with Ahab in this battle. Jehoshaphat went into the battle wearing his royal garb. He “stuck out like a sore thumb” we would say. It was easy to spot him, and the Syrian soldiers did. The soldiers (who had been told not to kill anyone but the king of Israel) all began to converge on Jehoshaphat. One can hardly imagine the panic which must have come upon Jehoshaphat when he saw the entire Syrian army thundering his way! He sought to flee, but that was not working. As the Syrian soldiers drew near, Jehoshaphat did the only thing left to do—he cried out to God. Our text simply says that he “cried out,” but in 2 Chronicles 18:31, we get a slightly different perspective of this same incident:
“When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they said, ‘He must be the king of Israel.’ So they turned and attacked him, but Jehoshaphat cried out. The LORD helped him; God lured them away from him.”
It is about time for Jehoshaphat to come to his senses. How gracious God was to spare his life. It was, indeed, a miracle that he lived. While the Syrians were seeking to kill “the king of Israel,” God kept them from mistakenly killing the king of Judah. God also orchestrated the events of this battle so that Ahab did die, just as He had purposed and as Micaiah had prophesied.
It is not hard for me to understand how a certain soldier happened to shoot a single arrow into the air, at random. That’s because I used to hunt deer when I was growing up. During most of the year, the deer would approach you almost fearlessly, and they would consume your vegetable garden, your flowers, and (with great pleasure), your apples. But during hunting season, they seemed to disappear. They would hide in the brush so well that you might never see them, even though they were only a few feet away. Many were the times I came home empty-handed. Many were the seasons that I never fired a single shot. (The truth is, I have never really killed a deer. One time I even let one that was in my sights walk away, even though it was close enough to hit with a stone.) But one particular season I was making my way home after a frustrating day of trying to bag a deer. As I was walking along the trail toward home, a very large bird swooped down over my head and landed on a nearby stump. It was not a good day for that bird! I was tired of carrying a gun around and never firing a shot. That was the only shot I ever fired during deer season. It may not have been a trophy buck, but it was something.
A certain Syrian soldier seems to have felt the same way. He was engaged in a battle in which he was forbidden to kill anyone but the king of Israel, and Ahab could not be seen anywhere. Finally, in his frustration, this soldier decided that he was not going to go home and tell his children that he never so much as shot one arrow at the enemy. And so he pulled back on his bow and let one solitary arrow fly in the general direction of the enemy army. He could not have known that the “soldier” he happened to hit was the king of Israel. In fact, I can almost hear the soldier muttering, “Oh, no. I hit someone. The captain will scream at me for violating orders!”
But that one arrow, fired haphazardly into the air, found the mark which God had intended. This soldier’s arrow would make our “smart bombs” seem primitive. It not only hit the king of Israel, it struck him at the one place in his armor which was vulnerable and would allow for a mortal wound. This was no accident. This was the fulfillment of Micaiah’s prophecy. The king was unwilling or unable to leave the scene of battle, and so he virtually bled to death in his chariot. The floor of his chariot was covered in blood, and so they took it to the “chariot wash” to clean it up. That was the very place where Naboth’s blood had been shed and licked up by the dogs. It was also the place where the harlots came to wash. And now, it was Ahab’s blood that spilled upon the ground, where the dogs would lick it up, just as Elijah had prophesied. God’s Word was precisely fulfilled!
Verses 39-40 are a kind of epitaph. From a secular point of view, Ahab’s reign was impressive. He had many military and economic successes. He, like David and Solomon, was known for building impressive structures. He founded cities. And yet when viewed from a spiritual perspective, his life was a disaster, a tragedy. Here was a man whom God had graciously spared and even prospered. Here was a man who had even repented at one time. But here was a man who could never be described as a “man after God’s own heart.” As we read of Ahab’s death, we are tempted to breathe a sigh of relief, and to say, “Good riddance.”
Our text is one from which we can learn many important lessons. As we conclude, let me suggest what some of these lessons might be. The way I will approach this is to consider the individuals involved in our story and to point out the lesson which we can learn from each.
ELIJAH. I think there is something to be learned from Elijah’s presence or absence in our text. Elijah is prominent in chapters 17 through 19 of 1 Kings. After his attempted resignation, he disappears in chapter 20, where an unnamed prophet assures Ahab of victory over Ben Hadad. Later, this same prophet rebukes Ahab for failing to put his enemy to death. In chapter 21, Elijah again appears, rebuking Ahab (and Jezebel, indirectly) for taking the life of Naboth. It is here that the death sentence is pronounced upon Ahab and Jezebel, and Ahab’s descendants. It is also here that Ahab repents, and God delays some aspects of the judgment He has announced. In chapter 22, Elijah is not mentioned, and Micaiah is the “lone prophet” who stands up to Ahab and his 400 false prophets.
I find it interesting to see how God seems to deliberately use other prophets, just to make it very clear to Elijah that he is wrong to think that “he alone was left” (see 19:10, 14). He most certainly was not left, alone, as a prophet. It is also noteworthy that while Elijah seems to have given up on Israel (see Romans 11:1-4), God had not. Elijah is the prophet whose ministry brings Ahab to repentance (21:27-29). I’m not certain that this is what Elijah really wanted, but it was the ministry God had ordained for him. God does not give Elijah the privilege or the pleasure (if he saw it that way—Jonah certainly did) of seeing the judgment come upon Ahab and Jezebel as a direct and immediate result of his ministry.
JEHOSHAPHAT. Jehoshaphat can teach us many lessons. The first is the folly of being unequally yoked with unbelievers:
1 When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned home safely to Jerusalem, 2 the prophet Jehu son of Hanani confronted him and said to King Jehoshaphat: “Is it right to help the wicked and be an ally of the those who oppose the LORD? Because you have done this the LORD is angry with you. 3 Nevertheless you have done some good things; you removed the Asherah poles from the land and you were determined to follow the LORD” (2 Chronicles 19:1-3).
14 Do not become partners with those who do not believe; for what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15 And what agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share in common with an unbeliever? 16 And what mutual agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I will live in them and will walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” 17 Therefore “come out from their midst, and be separate,” says the Lord, “and touch no unclean thing, and I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters,” says the All-Powerful Lord (2 Corinthians 6:14-18).
Jehoshaphat’s alliance with Ahab is mystifying. Why would he ask for a prophet of the LORD, and then set aside his words of warning? Why would he allow Ahab to talk him into going into battle, conspicuously dressed as a king, knowing that Ahab was disguising himself, and that God had indicated “the king” would be killed in the battle? Jehoshaphat teaches us the danger of ungodly alliances.
On the other hand, Jehoshaphat is a wonderful example of the grace of God. In spite of Jehoshaphat’s folly in entering into an alliance with Ahab, God spared his life in a very unusual and miraculous way. In spite of Ahab’s conscious efforts to thwart God’s will, and of Jehoshaphat’s folly, God fulfilled His Word by bringing about Ahab’s death and Jehoshaphat’s deliverance, even when all appearances were just the opposite. It looked as though Ahab was sure to survive, and Jehoshaphat was destined to die.
AHAB. I must confess, Ahab is the kind of fellow I love to hate. It would be easy to find a kind of smug satisfaction in his demise. God has some words for us about such an attitude:
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and when he stumbles let not your heart be glad, 18 lest the LORD sees, and it displeases Him, and He turns His wrath from him (Proverbs 24:17-18).
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. 22 for you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the LORD will reward you (Proverbs 25:21-22).
Ahab was, without question, the most wicked king Israel had ever seen. He certainly deserved divine judgment. But then all sinners deserve God’s eternal wrath (Romans 3:23; 6:23). I am amazed at how longsuffering God is with Ahab. I am amazed that this fellow actually repents, at least to some degree. And I should not be surprised to find that God delights in his repentance. Here is the heart of God. This should be our way of viewing sinners as well.
Having said this, Ahab also illustrates that for all sinners, there is a “Payday Someday.”94 Ahab was given a number of opportunities to repent, over a significant period of time. It may even have seemed that he was getting away with his sin. But God has appointed a day of judgment for all men, and no one will escape that day.
As I stopped and reflected on this, I remembered that from the very beginning Satan has been tempting men to sin, while at the same time assuring them that they will not suffer the consequences of their sin:
1 Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the animals of the field which the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it indeed true that God said, ‘You must not eat from every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden God said, ‘You must not eat from it, nor must you touch it, lest you die’.” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die, 5 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:1-5, emphasis mine).
And so, from that moment of the fall of man onward, men have arrogantly persisted in their sin, supposing that God would do nothing about it:
6 Arrogance is their necklace, and violence their clothing. 7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong, their thoughts are sinful. 8 They mock and say evil things, they proudly threaten violence. 9 They speak as if they rule in heaven, and lay claim to the earth. 10 Therefore they have more than enough food to eat, and even suck up the water of the sea. 11 They say, “How does God know what we do? Is the sovereign one aware of what goes on?” (Psalm 73:6-11).
1 Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written you, in which I am trying to stir up your pure mind by way of reminder: 2 I want you to recall both the predictions foretold by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3 Above all, understand this: in the last days blatant scoffers will come, being propelled by their own evil urges 4 and saying, “Where is his promised coming? For ever since our ancestors fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:1-4).
The arrogant self-confidence of the wicked will in no way keep them from the judgement of God:
5 For they deliberately suppress this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed from water and by water. 6 Through these things the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water. 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly (2 Peter 3:5-7).
It may appear for a time that the wicked are getting away with it, but they are not!
16 When I tried to make sense of this, it was troubling to me. 17 Then I entered the precincts of God’s temple, and understood the destiny of the wicked. 18 Surely you put them in slippery places, you bring them down to ruin. 19 How desolate they become in a mere moment! Terrifying judgments make their demise complete! 20 They are like a dream after one wakes up. O sovereign Master, when you awake you will despise them (Psalm 73:16-20).
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and locked them up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment, 5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, when God brought a flood on an ungodly world, 6 and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction, having appointed them to serve as an example to future generations of the ungodly, 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless men, 8 (for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) 9 —if so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment at the day of judgment, 10 especially those who indulge their fleshly desires and who despise authority (2 Peter 2:4-10).95
There is one way to escape God’s judgment, and only one way. That “way” is to accept the one and only provision God has made for the forgiveness of our sins. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth as the sinless Son of God. He voluntarily took our sins upon Himself, and bore the penalty for our sins on the cross of Calvary. Having died to sin and its guilt, He was raised from the dead and has ascended back into heaven. All who accept God’s gift of salvation in Jesus Christ need not fear the coming wrath of God, for our Lord suffered that wrath on the cross of Calvary. To escape the wrath of God, you must acknowledge your sin and guilt, and place your trust in Jesus Christ as the payment for your sins. In so doing, you receive the forgiveness of your sins, and in place of certain judgment, you now have a sure hope of eternal life in the presence of God forever. Here is an offer you should not refuse.
BEN HADAD. Ben Hadad is a lesson to us concerning the sovereignty of God. When I read of this king, I am reminded of the proverb which reads: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD as channels of water; He turns it wherever He wants” (Proverbs 21:1).
Ben Hadad was a king who arrogantly and foolishly opposed God’s people. He failed to keep his “covenant” with Ahab, but then Ahab wasn’t that big on covenants, either. He made his fight with Ahab and Israel a “battle of the gods,” which got him into a lot of trouble. In the end, according to God’s Word, Ben Hadad lived, while Ahab died. But this king who actively opposed God and His people was not as “in charge” as he supposed. In the final analysis, God used Ben Hadad and his opposition to bring glory to Himself. I am reminded of God’s words concerning Pharaoh: “For the scripture says to Pharaoh: ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth’” (Romans 9:17).
Contrary to popular belief, God does not need “willing volunteers” in order to achieve His purposes. It is easy to see how God can use a willing volunteer; it is amazing to see how God can use an arrogant and powerful adversary. All through history God has orchestrated human events, using belligerent rebels. God used Pharaoh, as he used Ahab and Ben Hadad. God even uses Satan (see Job 1 and 2). Let us never worry about who is “in charge.” It is God, and he often brings about His glory and our good by means of those who oppose Him.
NABOTH. As I was considering the way God works to accomplish His will in our text, I turned to this passage in Psalm 37, which instructs saints not to agonize about the success of the wicked:
By David 1 Do not fret when wicked men seem to succeed! Do not envy evildoers! 2 For they will quickly dry up like grass, and wither away like plants. 3 Trust in the LORD and do what is right! Settle in the land and maintain your integrity! 4 Then you will take delight in the LORD, and he will answer your prayers. 5 Commit your future to the LORD! Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf. 6 He will vindicate you in broad daylight, and publicly defend your just cause. 7 Wait patiently for the LORD! Wait confidently for him! Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner, a man who carries out wicked schemes! 8 Do not be angry and frustrated! Do not fret! That only leads to trouble! 9 Wicked men will be wiped out, but those who rely on the LORD are the ones who will possess the land.
10 Evil men will soon disappear; you will stare at the spot where they once were, but they will be gone. 11 But the oppressed will possess the land, and enjoy great prosperity. 12 Evil men plot against the godly, and viciously attack them. 13 The sovereign master laughs in disgust at them, for he knows that their day is coming. 14 Evil men draw their swords, and prepare their bows, to bring down the oppressed and needy, and slaughter those who are godly. 15 Their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. 16 The little bit that a godly man owns is better than the wealth of many evil men, 17 for evil men will lose their power, but the LORD sustains the godly.
18 The LORD watches over the innocent day by day, and they possess a permanent inheritance. 19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come, when famine comes they will have enough to eat. 20 But evil men will die; the LORD’s enemies will be incinerated, they will go up in smoke. 21 Evil men borrow, but do not repay their debt; but the godly show compassion and are generous. 22 Surely those favored by the LORD will possess the land, but those rejected by him will be wiped out. 23 The LORD grants success to the one whose behavior he finds commendable. 24 Even if he trips, he will not fall headlong, for the LORD holds his hand.
25 I was once young, now I am old. I have never seen a godly man abandoned, or his offspring forced to search for food. 26 All day long he shows compassion and lends to others, and his offspring are blessed.27 Turn away from evil! Do what is right! Then you will enjoy lasting security. 28 For the LORD promotes justice,and never abandons his faithful followers. They are permanently secure, but the offspring of evil men are wiped out.
29 The godly will possess the land, and will dwell in it permanently. 30 The godly speak wise words, and promote justice. 31 The law of their God controls their thinking, their feet do not slip.
32 Evil men set an ambush for the godly, and try to kill them. 33 But the LORD does not surrender the godly, or allow them to be condemned in a court of law.
34 Rely on the LORD! Obey his commands! Then he will permit you to possess the land; you will see the demise of evil men. 35 I have seen ruthless evil men growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil. 36 But then one passes by, and all of a sudden they have disappeared! I looked for them, but they could not be found.
37 Take note of the one who has integrity! Observe the godly! For the one who promotes peace has a future.
38 Sinful rebels are totally destroyed, evil men have no future. 39 But the LORD delivers the godly, he protects them in times of trouble. 40 The LORD helps them and rescues them, he rescues them from evil men and delivers them, for they seek his protection (Psalm 37:1-40, emphasis mine).
I was particularly interested in the repeated promise, “they will possess the land.” If this is true, how do we explain the plight of Naboth? His life was taken and his property was stolen by a wicked king. And this man, who was intent on keeping the law of God, died. How can the promises of Psalm 37 be true for him? The answer can be found in Psalm 37, but it is also very clearly stated in the New Testament:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 This brings you great joy, although you may have to suffer for a short time in various trials. 7 Such trials show the proven character of your faith, which is much more valuable than gold—gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away—and will bring praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 because you are attaining the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:3-9).
13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. 14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:13-16).
The “inheritance” and “land” which God promised in Psalm 37 (and elsewhere in the Old Testament) was not earthly, but heavenly. That is why it is said to be a permanent inheritance. That is why death does not prevent one from possessing this inheritance. The writer to the Hebrews makes it very clear that these Old Testament saints all died without inheriting the promises. This is because their promised inheritance was a heavenly one. In the same way, New Testament saints now look forward to the promised blessings of God. Death does not keep us from our blessings; it takes us to them!
In an earlier lesson, I mentioned the terrible slaughter of seven saints in a Fort Worth, Texas, church this past week. It was a terrible crime. And I can understand how family and friends grieve the loss of those who died. I know there will be those who think it a tragedy that those so young could be deprived of a long and fruitful life, and there is certainly a sense in which this is true. But let us remember that those who died professed faith in Jesus Christ. Their “inheritance,” like that of Naboth, is in heaven—not on earth. They have not been kept from God’s promised blessings; indeed, they have already begun to enjoy them. Let us keep that fact in mind as we mourn their murders. God uses even the wicked deeds of sinful men to bring about His glory and our good (Romans 8:28).
As I conclude this lesson, I am obliged to ask you a simple question, my friend: Do you know the security and confidence of being a child of God? Do you know for certain that your sins are forgiven and that your eternal inheritance is sure? If you confess your sin, and trust in the sacrifice which Jesus Christ made at Calvary on your behalf, you can know the blessed assurance of His salvation.
86 Of course there was the Garden of Eden, where man fell (Genesis 3).
87 Iain Provan makes a very interesting observation at this point. He points out that the expression “vegetable garden” occurs only one other time in the Bible, in Deuteronomy 11:10. Here, God contrasts the land of Israel with Egypt, which was like a “vegetable garden.” There, you merely had to dig a little trench with your foot to water your “vegetable garden” by means of irrigation. But the land of Israel was dependent upon God to send the rains which were required to grow any crops. Naboth’s property was a vineyard. Israel was likened to God’s vineyard (cf. Isaiah 5:1-7). One does get the impression that Ahab, once again, was out of step with God. God wanted to take Israel from dwelling in a “vegetable garden” and to “plant” them where they would be His “vineyard.” Ahab wanted to acquire a “vineyard,” and turn it into a “vegetable garden.” I think Provan has something here. Iain W. Provan, 1 and 2 Kings (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995), pp. 157-158.
88 Naboth employs the same expression that David used in 1 Samuel 24:6 and 26:11, when he was repulsed by his men’s suggestion that he should kill Saul, the Lord’s anointed.
89 Actually, word was sent to Jezebel that Naboth had been put to death. The leaders certainly knew who was behind all this.
90 Contrast the deaths of Ahab and Jezebel with the “departure” of Elijah in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2).
91 I have dealt with the matter more fully in my series on the Book of Jonah. I intend to do even more extensive work in Jonah 2, for although Jonah’s “psalm” employs the terminology of praise found in the Psalms, it does not employ the theology of praise found in the Psalms or the rest of the Bible. Jonah’s words may sound pious, but true piety praises God for His mercy and grace. True piety does not protest these things, as we see Jonah doing in Jonah 4.
92 The hypocrisy of this can hardly be overlooked. Ahab had no qualms about taking property that did not belong to him (i.e., Naboth’s vineyard – chapter 21), and yet he was incensed that his property (Ramoth Gilead) was not returned to him, as promised.
93 Note how the NET Bible, like the NASB, indicates the Hebrew term “Yahweh” by translating “LORD” in all caps. These prophets may claim to speak in the name of Adoni1, or even Elohim, but they do not claim to speak for “Yahweh” here – yet. They finally get the point, and thus in 22:11, 15 and later, they use the exact term Jehoshaphat is looking for, but surely we are meant to see through this.
94 This was the title of a sermon by Robert G. Lee (I believe). I heard it years ago while I was a seminary student.
95 See also Isaiah 2:12; Jeremiah 46:10; Ezekiel 30:2-3; Joel 2:1-2; Zephaniah 1:14-18; Acts 17:30-31.
A number of years ago I was visiting a woman in the hospital who was dying of cancer. I was wearing a suit, and both she and her husband mistook me for a doctor. They were very eager to see me, thinking that “as a doctor” I might have some encouraging news for them. Actually, I did—the gospel—but they were not interested in spiritual things. Once they found out that I was a minister, it was all over. They could not get me out of that hospital room fast enough. A few days later, I returned to the hospital to visit this woman once again. This time, the husband came to the door, but did not let me in. He told me his wife was not up to a visit at the moment. The door was open far enough that I could see her sitting up in bed, reading one of those Hollywood movie magazines. What a tragic sight. Here was a woman on the verge of death, too busy to talk about her eternal future, but healthy enough to be reading about the fantasy world of Hollywood movie stars.
Our text is about two men on the brink of death (or, in Elijah’s case, the brink of leaving this world behind). Second Kings 1 describes the death of king Ahaziah, the son of Ahab and Jezebel. Second Kings 2 describes the amazing departure of Elijah, in a chariot of fire. There is something for us to learn from the departures of both of these men. Surely they have been placed side by side for a reason. Let us seek to learn what this is, and what it means to us as we look at the exodus of Elijah and the debut of Elisha.
1 After Ahab died, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Ahaziah fell through a window lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and was injured. He sent messengers with these orders, “Go, ask Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, if I will survive this injury.” 3 Now the LORD’s angelic messenger told Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise and go up to meet the messengers from the king of Samaria. Say this to them: ‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. 4 Therefore this is what the LORD says, “You will not leave the bed on which you lie, for you will certainly die.’” So Elijah went on his way. 5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?” 6 They said to him, “A man came up to meet us. He told us, “Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, ‘This is what the LORD says, “You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Therefore you will not leave the bed on which you lie, for you will certainly die.”’” 7 The king asked them, “Describe the appearance of this man who came up to meet you and told you these things.” 8 They said to him, “He was a hairy man and had a leather belt tied around his waist.” The king said, “He is Elijah the Tishbite.” 9 The king sent a captain and his 50 soldiers to retrieve Elijah. The captain went up to him, while he was sitting on the top of a hill. He told him, “Prophet, the king says, ‘Come down!’” 10 Elijah replied to the captain, “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your 50 soldiers!” Fire then came down from the sky and consumed him and his 50 soldiers. 11 The king sent another captain and his 50 soldiers to retrieve Elijah. He went up and told him, “Prophet, this is what the king says, ‘Come down at once!’” 12 Elijah replied to them, “If I am indeed a prophet, may fire come down from the sky and consume you and your 50 soldiers!” Fire from God came down from the sky and consumed him and his 50 soldiers. 13 The king sent a third captain and his 50 soldiers. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. He begged for mercy, “Prophet, please have respect for my life and for the lives of these 50 servants of yours.” 14 Indeed, fire came down from the sky and consumed the two captains who came before me, along with their men.
So now, please have respect for my life.” 15 The LORD’s angelic messenger said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Don’t be afraid of him.” So he got up and went down with him to the king. 16 Elijah said to the king, “This is what the LORD says, ‘You sent messengers to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. You must think there is no God in Israel from whom you can seek an oracle. Therefore you will not leave the bed on which you lie, for you will certainly die.’” 17 He died just as the LORD had prophesied through Elijah. In the second year of the reign of King Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, over Judah, Ahaziah’s brother Jehoram replaced him as king of Israel, because he had no son. 18 The rest of the events of Ahaziah’s reign, including his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.
As we turn to our text in our English Bibles, we see that we have left 1 Kings behind and moved on to 2 Kings. It may be helpful to remind ourselves that in the Hebrew Old Testament, these two books were one. Thus, there is no real “break” between the two books. We simply move from the death of Ahab in 1 Kings 22 to the death of his son, Ahaziah, in 2 Kings 1.
Ahab was an exceedingly wicked king, and we know that he died in a way that fulfilled divine prophecy. It was not an easy way to die, being struck by an arrow and then having to sit propped up in a chariot all day, bleeding to death. At least there was a certain dignity to dying this way, in battle. There are much worse ways to die. I recently read the account96 of a Russian security guard at a Moscow bank, who asked his partner to help him test the ability of his bulletproof vest to protect him from a knife attack. He died of multiple stab wounds. And then there was the watchman for a communications relay company in Canada, who died early on Christmas morning, literally baked as he warmed himself by stationing himself in front of the microwave dish.
Ahaziah’s death does not appear to be a noble one either. He did not die in battle, as his father Ahab had done. He did not die of old age or of some disease. Somehow this fellow fell out of his upstairs window, and the protective lattice work or netting failed him, causing him to plunge to the ground. What was Ahaziah doing that would cause him to fall out of his window? Was he drunk? Did he do something really foolish, like walk along the ledge of his roof? We don’t really know, but it is obvious that this is not the way a king would want to die.
Confined to his bed, Ahaziah wondered what the future held for him. Would he recover? He had to know. And so he sent messengers to Ekron, a Philistine city approximately 40 miles southwest of Samaria. There, they were to consult Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, to find out whether Ahaziah would survive from his fall. It would seem that Ahaziah was not only seeking to learn what his fate would be, but that he was hopeful that Baal Zebub might influence the outcome. Ahaziah seems to have hoped he would be healed, or at least be told that he would get better. He did not seek this from the LORD, the God of Israel; instead, he inquired of the Philistine god, Baal Zebub.
The expression, “to ask,” or “to inquire” (of the LORD) is quite common in the Old Testament. Rebekah did so regarding the two twins in her womb (Genesis 25:22). The people came to Moses to “inquire of God” (Exodus 18:15). Jehoshaphat twice “inquired of the LORD” (1 Kings 22:5; 2 Kings 3:11). Even Ben Hadad sent Hazael to “inquire of the LORD” concerning his health (2 Kings 8:8). But unfortunately, men also “inquired” of heathen gods:
14 When Amaziah returned from slaughtering the Edomites, he brought back the gods of the people of Seir. He set them up as his own gods, bowed down to them and burned sacrifices to them. 15 The anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and he sent a prophet to him, who said, “Why do you consult this people's gods, which could not save their own people from your hand?” (2 Chronicles 25:14-15, NIV).
This is what God had forbidden His people to do in Deuteronomy 12:29-31:
29 “After the LORD your God has cut off the nations from the place where you are going to dispossess them and you do so and settle down in their land, 30 Be careful not to be ensnared like they are, after they have been destroyed from your presence, and pursue their gods and say, ‘how do these nations serve their gods? I myself will do the same.’ 31 You must not do this against the LORD your God for everything abominable to him, what he hates, they have done for their gods; they even burn up their sons and daughters to their gods” (Deuteronomy 12:29-31).
The most striking example of disobedience to this command in Israel’s not-too-distant past occurred when Saul “inquired” of the witch of Endor, as recorded in 1 Samuel 28:5-25. It is given as the reason for Saul’s tragic death in 1 Chronicles 10:13-14:
13 So Saul died because he was unfaithful to the LORD and did not obey the LORD’s instructions; he even tried to conjure up underworld spirits. 14 He did not seek the LORD’s guidance; so the LORD killed him and transferred the kingdom to David son of Jesse.
When Ahaziah “inquired” of Baal Zebub, God was not about to ignore such blatant disregard of Himself or His law, and so He dispatched an angelic messenger (“the Angel of the Lord”) to give Elijah this message, which he was to convey to king Ahaziah:
“‘You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are on your way to seek an oracle from Baal Zebub the god of Ekron. Therefore this is what the LORD says, ‘You will not leave the bed on which you lie, for you will certainly die’” (2 Kings 1:3b-4).
Elijah intercepted the king’s messengers, who were already on their way to Ekron and delivered the “word of the Lord” to them.
The messengers immediately turned back and returned to king Ahaziah in Samaria. Ahaziah noted that these men had returned far too soon to have made the trip to Ekron and back. The messengers delivered Elijah’s message to the king, virtually verbatim:
“‘“You must think there is no God in Israel! That explains why you are sending for an oracle from Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron. Therefore you will not leave the bed on which you lie, for you will certainly die”’” (2 Kings 1:6b).
Ahaziah had rejected the God of Israel. To inquire about the future from another “god” was to deny any faith in the one true God. Because of this, God has a word for Ahaziah. He rebukes him for rejecting the God of Israel, and then proceeds to inform him that he will never leave his bed, but that he will die. Ahaziah’s first response was not to repent, but to question his messengers so he might discern the identity of the bearer of these bad tidings. He asked his servants to describe the man who had spoken these words. Their description of this hairy man with a leather belt around his waist left no doubt in Ahaziah’s mind as to the identity of this prophet—it was Elijah for certain. He seems to have already guessed as much from the message itself.
Ahaziah does not repent, as his father Ahab had done (1 Kings 21:27-29), but instead he hardens his heart. We should not expect otherwise, because Elijah has already described his destiny. The words which prompted Ahab’s repentance also prophesied the demise of all of his descendants:
17 The LORD told Elijah the Tishbite: 18 “Get up, go down and meet Ahab king of Israel who lives in Samaria. He is at the vineyard of Naboth; he has gone down there to take possession of it. 19 Say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says, “In the spot where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood they will also lick up your blood, yes yours!”’” 20 When Elijah arrived, Ahab said to him, “So, you have found me, my enemy!” Elijah replied, “I have found you, because you are committed to doing evil before the LORD.” 21 The LORD says, ‘Look, I am ready to bring disaster on you. I will destroy you and cut off every last male belonging to Ahab in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated 22 I will make your dynasty like those of Jeroboam son of Nebat and Baasha son of Ahijah because you angered me and made Israel sin.’ 23 The LORD says this about Jezebel, ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the outer wall of Jezreel.’ 24 As for Ahab’s family, dogs will eat the ones who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country” (1 Kings 21:17-24, emphasis mine).
God’s sovereign plan was being fulfilled, just as God had declared through His prophet Elijah. At the same time, Ahaziah was responsible for hardening his heart, and not only ignoring God’s warnings, but actually seeking to reverse them. Ahaziah preferred false foreign gods, which were not only made by human hands but could be manipulated by men. He would resist any commands set down by a sovereign God. And so Ahaziah sets in motion a course of events which he hopes will thwart the purposes of God, and thus save his own life. Ahaziah intends to make God “jump through his hoops.”
One can hardly explain what follows any other way. The king sent out 50 soldiers and their commander to seize Elijah. The intent of this mission is not stated, but then it hardly needs to be. This was the equivalent of a SWAT team. Does anyone doubt that Elijah was to be placed under arrest and brought before Ahaziah? And once in custody, is it not quite clear that the king plans to intimidate Elijah, forcing him to change his prophecy, and thus Ahaziah’s future? And if Elijah were to refuse, the king would have the satisfaction of taking Elijah with him, to the grave.
Elijah must know how Ahaziah will respond. And yet he does not seek to hide from him (as he had once run from Jezebel—1 Kings 19:1-3). The captain and his men found Elijah sitting at the top of a hill. With the full authority of a drill sergeant, the captain addressed Elijah, the “man of God,” giving him these orders in the name of the king: “Come down!” The words of the commander are fascinating. Elijah is addressed as a “man of God,” and yet he is given orders from the king, as though this should make it clear that he must obey man rather than God (contrast Acts 5:29). The king is giving orders, as it were, to God. The commander, like the wicked, speaks “from on high” (Psalm 73:8).
I am reminded of the time, years ago, when I taught high school classes in a medium security state prison. There was a guard, whose name was Mr. Look, stationed out in the hall. He was an ex-navy sergeant, and this fellow was tough. The guards in that prison wore blue uniforms as I recall, and the inmates wore brown uniforms. Whenever an inmate sought to resist his instructions, Mr. Look would reply with a statement like this: “Well, isn’t that interesting? The way I heard it, the folks in the blue shirts were giving the orders, and the people in the brown shirts were taking orders.” Usually, a few hours of cleaning toilets was then assigned—to emphasize his words. To play out the analogy, the commander of the 50 was wearing a brown shirt, and Elijah was wearing a blue shirt. You would not know it from the way the commander spoke, however. It does not put one in good standing to be giving orders to God, or to His prophet. This fellow didn’t even say “Please.” This fellow is about to be “fired” (sorry, I couldn’t resist).
Elijah takes up the challenge. The captain spoke in the name of the king. Elijah will speak in the name of the King of Kings—the God of Israel. Elijah employs some of the captain’s own words. He had called Elijah a “man of God” (the NET Bible translates this “prophet” and then in a marginal note informs us that the text literally reads “man of God.”). Elijah reasons that if he was, in fact, a man of God, and he spoke with God’s authority, then he should be able to call down fire from heaven to consume the captain and all his men. If Elijah was under divine protection, and the king sought to harm him, then the king (and anyone acting on his behalf—such as this captain) would be the ones in danger. Immediately fire did come from heaven, and the 51 soldiers now lay dead before the prophet.97 I guess we now know who was wearing the blue shirt!
One wonders what the second commander and his men were thinking as they made their way to the place where Elijah was stationed. Had they heard about what had happened to the first group? Did this fellow think that using the same tactics on Elijah as the first captain had tried would really work? The second captain repeats the same words, with what seems to be greater emphasis on the king’s authority. He orders Elijah to come down “at once” (verse 11). Did this captain think that tough talk would frighten Elijah? Elijah simply repeats the same words to this captain as he had spoken to the one before him. If he was a “man of God,” as this captain had said, then let fire come down from heaven and consume this fellow, along with his 50 men. Once again, fire came down from heaven, and consumed all 51 soldiers.
In our text at least, the third time is a charm! This third captain has reasoned this matter out, and he does not intend to end up like his two predecessors. To put it differently, this captain has grasped the “chain of command” correctly. God is the ultimate authority, and because Elijah is a “man of God,” (a prophet), he speaks and acts with God’s authority. No official of the king had better attempt to harm or intimidate Elijah, or even seek to put him under arrest. This captain responds appropriately. He did not order Elijah to do anything. He knows all too well what has happened to those who had come before him, and he is sure that it will happen to him as well if he deals with Elijah in a similar manner. He kneels down before Elijah and pleads for mercy for himself and his men. God graciously responds to this humble petition. The Angel of the LORD instructs Elijah not to be afraid and to go with this man and his men. Now, at last, the orders are coming from the right direction—from the top down.
Notice the tone of our text, as it describes Elijah before the king. Not one word of king Ahaziah is recorded in verse 16. In this verse, only Elijah speaks, and we can certainly say that he “gets in the last word.” The thing that strikes me about Elijah’s words to the king is that they are virtually identical with the words the Angel of the Lord gave to Elijah, as well as the words that Elijah conveyed to the messengers of the king. In spite of all of Ahaziah’s efforts to reverse or to reduce his sentence, nothing has changed so far as his “sentence” is concerned. His death has been foretold. His judgment is sure. As God had said long before, “Thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17). As so the very next words we read in verses 17 and 18 are Ahaziah’s obituary. He died, just as the LORD has prophesied through Elijah.
Because he had no sons, Ahaziah’s brother, Jehoram, took his place. This informs us that the prophecy of Elijah concerning the dynasty of Omri and the house of Ahab has only partially been fulfilled, because the entire house of Omri must die. But as for Ahaziah, he turned from God to the “gods” of the land, and he paid the price for his sin—death.
1 Just before the LORD took Elijah up to heaven in a windstorm, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal. 2 Elijah told Elisha, “Stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As certainly as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 Some members of the prophetic guild in Bethel came out to Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the LORD is going to take your master from you?” He answered, “Yes I know. Be quiet.” 4 Elijah said to him, “Elisha, stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” But he replied, “As certainly as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. 5 Some members of the prophetic guild in Jericho approached Elisha and said, “Do you know that today the LORD is going to take your master from you?” He answered, “Yes I know. Be quiet.” 6 Elijah said to him, “Stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” But he replied, “As certainly as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they traveled on together. 7 The 50 members of the prophetic guild went and stood opposite them at a distance, while Elijah and Elisha stood by the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his robe, folded it up, and hit the water with it. The water divided, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you, before I am taken away from you?” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of the prophetic spirit that energizes you.” 10 Elijah replied, “That’s a tall order. If you see me taken from you, may it be so, but if you don’t, it will not happen.” 11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot pulled by fiery horses appeared. They went between Elijah and Elisha, and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm. 12 While Elisha was watching, he was crying out, “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!” Then he could no longer see him. He grabbed his clothes and tore them in two. 13 He picked up Elijah’s robe, which had fallen off him, and went back and stood on the shore of the Jordan. 14 He took the robe that had fallen off Elijah, hit the water with it, and said, “Where is the LORD God of Elijah?” When he hit the water, it divided and Elisha crossed over. 15 When the members of the prophetic guild in Jericho, who were standing at a distance, saw him do this, they said, “The spirit that energized Elijah rests upon Elisha.” They went to meet him and bowed down to the ground before him. 16 They said to him, “Look, there are 50 capable men with your servants. Let them go and look for your master, for the wind sent from the LORD may have carried him away and dropped him on one of the hills or in one of the valleys.” But he replied, “Don’t send them out.” 17 But they were so insistent, he became embarrassed. So he said, “Send them out.” They sent the 50 men out and they looked for three days, but could not find him. 18 When they came back, he was staying in Jericho. He said to them, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t go’?”
From verse 1, we learn that the writer wants us to understand that the events of verses 1-10 are preliminary and preparatory to Elijah’s exodus. In these verses Elijah, accompanied by Elisha, starts out at Gilgal, travels to Bethel, then to Jericho, and finally back to the Jordan River where they will cross to the other side. Each time Elijah sets out, he gives Elisha orders to stay behind. Each time, Elisha refuses to stay behind and leave his master alone. When they come to their destination, they meet a school of the prophets there. Each time they are met by these prophets, Elisha is once again told that this is the day the LORD will take his master from him. Elisha responds by telling these prophets that he knows that Elijah is to be taken from him and to be still.
The perplexing thing about this text is its use of these repetitions. Why does Elijah need to go to all these places before his departure? Why does the reader need to know about these visits? Why does Elijah seem to be trying to get rid of Elisha and to go on alone? Why does Elisha refuse to obey his master and insist on staying with him? What does all this have to do with Elijah’s departure? Let’s consider these questions, because I believe they are important.
First, why does Elijah travel from Gilgal to Bethel, from Bethel to Jericho, and from Jericho to the Jordan, and then across the river? There is some difference of opinion as to which “Gilgal” our text refers. It would seem to me that it is the Gilgal that the author expects the readers to be familiar with, the Gilgal that has already played a significant part in Israel’s history. From Joshua, chapters 4 and 5, we know that Gilgal is the first place the Israelites camped after crossing the Jordan River. This was the staging point for Israel’s attack on Jericho. It was the place where Joshua took the 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan River and made a memorial—to commemorate Israel’s crossing of the Jordan and entrance into the promised land. This is where Joshua circumcised the Israelites, because this second generation of Israelites had not been circumcised during their wilderness wanderings. And finally, Gilgal is the place where the Israelites observed their first Passover, after having entered the land. Gilgal was a place of new beginnings.
Bethel was also a significant place in the history of Israel. When Abraham left his home and family to travel to the promised land, Bethel was the second place he stopped in the land. He built an altar there, and called upon the name of the LORD (Genesis 12:8). It is the place to which Abraham returned after he was sent away from Egypt by Pharaoh (Genesis 13:3). It is the place where Jacob spent the night and had his vision of the ladder ascending into heaven (Genesis 28:19). It is the place to which Jacob returned after his sojourn in Paddam-aram (Genesis 31:13; 25:1). When Samuel was a prophet, Bethel was a part of his preaching circuit (Bethel, Gilgal, Mizpah; 1 Samuel 7:16). Bethel was one of the two cities in which Jeroboam set up golden calves for Israel to worship, so that they would not return to worship in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:29).
These were very significant places in Israel’s history, and no doubt this is one of the reasons Elijah visited these places just before his death. Was he, in effect, reclaiming these places for God? Ironically, these places which had to be taken from the Canaanites were now possessed by Israelites, but the practices and worship of the Israelites were hardly any different from those of the pagan Canaanites before them.
We should see the importance of Bethel, Jericho, and the Jordan River in terms of what they shared in common, as disclosed in our text. At each of these places Elijah and Elisha were met by a gathering of prophets who made up a “prophetic guild” (NET Bible), a “school of the prophets.” Elijah was making one last circuit, I believe, of those places where there was a “school of the prophets.” He was regarded as the most prominent prophet of the day, and all of the prophets seemed to look to him for leadership. At each place, God spoke through the prophets, revealing that this was Elijah’s day of departure. At each place, the prophets made a point of making this known to Elisha, but not to Elijah. At each place, Elisha informs the prophets that he knows this is the day his master will be taken from him, and he instructs them to be quiet.
So what is this all about? If we take Elijah’s words at face value, as we should, then we know that this journey is divinely directed. God instructed Elijah to go to Bethel (verse 2), then Jericho (verse 4), and finally the Jordan (verse 6). I believe God wanted Elijah to visit the prophets one last time. I believe this is where the “school of the prophets” was located, and that God directed Elijah and Elisha there so that these prophets would prophecy concerning Elijah’s departure. As a result, virtually every prophet in Israel knew this was Elijah’s day to “depart,” to be “taken from Elisha.” It would appear that God wanted Elijah to make this last circuit with Elisha, so that by the time the day was over all the prophets would realize that Elijah was gone and that Elisha was his replacement. God was orchestrating the final events of Elijah’s life in such a way as to designate and accredit Elisha as his replacement.
That final group of 5098 prophets is noteworthy. These men do not accompany Elijah and Elisha across the Jordan. They stand off in the distance, watching the two prophets as they cross the Jordan. They watch as Elijah takes off his robe, folds it up, and strikes the waters of the Jordan River with it, parting the waters so that they can cross the Jordan on dry ground. These 50 prophets also seem to have witnessed the windstorm (2:11, 16), but not the chariot and the horses of fire. Only Elisha returns, and he parts the Jordan just as Elijah had done earlier, using Elijah’s robe (2:13-14). It is apparent from all this that Elijah has been taken away from Elisha, and that Elisha is now Elijah’s replacement. God takes Elijah in such a way that He thereby informs all of the prophetic community that Elijah is gone, and that Elisha now ministers in his place, with even greater power.
In this description of the final moments of Elijah’s life, we see some of the fine qualities of Elisha, qualities which will serve him well in his future ministry. It is not just that he is a man who has the Spirit of God, though he surely does. Our text underscores the kind of man whom the Spirit of God now empowers. Earlier, Elijah left his servant behind, so that he could die alone in the desert (1 Kings 19:3). It would seem that he is attempting to do the same with Elisha, but Elisha will have no part of that. Elisha has faithfully followed Elijah as his servant since the day that Elijah threw his robe over him (1 Kings 19:19); he is determined to be with him till the very moment God takes his master away. Earlier, when Elijah asked God to let him die in the desert, he repeated the statement, “I alone am left.” Now, we see that this will not be the case if Elisha has anything to say about it. Elisha is committed to be with his master to the very end, no matter what that might mean. Here is a faithful servant, a man who serves his master well. Good leaders begin as good servants; good leaders continue to be servants—servant-leaders.
As his time grew short and Elijah knew he could not be rid of Elisha, he asked his servant what he could do for him as a final gesture. Some are inclined to suppose that by his answer, Elisha betrays a kind of ambition that is unseemly. I don’t see this at all. Elisha must have known that he was designated at Elijah’s replacement from the very beginning (1 Kings 19:16, 19-21). Elijah signified this when he threw his robe over Elisha (19:19). Now, Elisha had torn his own robes and was wearing the robe Elijah left behind (2:13-14). If Elisha was to carry out his task of replacing Elijah, then he would need to be empowered by the Holy Spirit to do it. If Elisha thought of Elijah as twice the man he was, then in his mind it would take twice the Spirit to enable him to carry on his ministry. I do not see an ambitious man here; I see a humble man, who desires the grace that is needed for him to do his job well.
I don’t necessarily see Elijah as reluctant to grant Elisha’s request, either. Elijah tells Elisha that his request, though a difficult one, will be granted, but only on the condition that Elisha is with him and sees him as he is taken away. Elijah knows from the time he has spent with Elisha, and particularly from the events of that day, that Elisha will not allow himself to be separated from his master. In other words, the condition that Elijah stipulates is one that is likely to be met. Furthermore, by requiring that Elisha actually “see” (as a prophet or seer must) his departure, he is leaving the request with God, since it is God who opens the eyes of men to “see” such things (2 Kings 6:17).
In this sense, the horses and chariots of fire may be more for Elisha’s benefit than for Elijah’s. The text does not tell us that Elijah got into the chariot of fire and rode off into heaven. It tells us that the fiery chariot and horsemen of Israel appeared, separating Elijah and Elisha. We are actually told that Elijah was taken up to heaven “in a windstorm” (verse 11). While I have always been inclined to think of Elijah as riding into heaven in that chariot, it does not appear to have happened that way. Perhaps the fiery horses and chariot were Elijah’s escort.
Elijah is taken up, out of sight. Elisha knows that his master is gone. Knowing what he does, it was senseless to conduct a search for Elijah. He is clearly in heaven. But the 50 prophets don’t really know this for certain. They, from a distance, have watched these two prophets cross over the Jordan on dry ground, thanks to the actions of Elijah. They seem to have witnessed the windstorm, though I doubt that they saw the horsemen and chariot of fire. They seem to have assumed that Elijah was taken up by the windstorm they witnessed, and thus reasoned that his body might be found somewhere, set down by the same windstorm that plucked him up into the air. They saw Elisha return alone, wearing the robe of Elijah. They realized, I think, that Elisha was Elijah’s replacement, and that he ministered through the same Spirit that empowered Elijah. But they had not really seen Elijah depart, and so they felt compelled to send out a “search party” to see if they could find the prophet, or at least his body. Reluctantly, Elisha granted permission to conduct the search, but he knew they would find nothing—and that is exactly what they found—nothing.
The first thing that strikes me in our text is Ahaziah’s failure to understand authority from a biblical perspective. The account of Ahaziah’s death serves as a commentary on this text in Deuteronomy:
14 When you come to the land the LORD your God is giving you and you take it over and live in it and then say, “I will appoint a king over me like all the nations surrounding me,” 15 you must without fail select over you a king whom the LORD your God will choose. From among your own kin you must appoint a king—you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your kin. 16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself nor allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, for the LORD has said, you must never again return this way. 17 He also must not marry many wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not amass much silver and gold. 18 When he sits on his royal throne then he must make a copy of this instruction upon a scroll given to him by the Levitical priests. 19 It must be constantly with him and he must read it as long as he lives so that he might learn to revere the LORD his God, and observe all the words of this instruction and these statutes in order to carry them out, 20 so that he will not exalt himself above his fellow citizens and turn from the commandment right or left, and so that he might enjoy many years over his kingdom, he and his descendants, in the midst of Israel (Deuteronomy 17:14-20).
Every king of Israel was to write out their own copy of the Law of Moses. They were to keep this law with them and to constantly read it. The king was not to amass military strength, so that he would trust in God for his defense. He was not to be puffed up by his power, exalting himself above his fellow-Israelites. In so doing, he would have a long and fruitful reign. Ahaziah, like his father Ahab, failed at almost every point. He failed to grasp that his authority came from God, and therefore attempted to use his authority to force God’s prophet to do as he wanted. Thus it comes as no surprise that his reign ends as it does.
As I read this account of Elijah’s departure, my mind goes back to 1 Kings 19, where Elijah begged God to take his life. What a contrast we see between the “departure” Elijah sought and that which God “wrought.”
Elijah’s request that God take his life came about when Jezebel threatened to kill him. Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. Now, Ahaziah wants to arrest Elijah, but instead of running, Elijah stations himself on the top of a hill, in public view. And when the soldiers come to arrest him, he calls down fire from heaven.
In his despair, Elijah viewed himself as a failure and claimed to be the only true prophet left. Now, Elijah must travel to various places in order to visit the “school of the prophets.” His ministry is far from a failure.
In chapter 19, Elijah feared for his life. He fled, thinking it was not safe for him to remain in Israel. Now, Elijah is free to travel about Israel. There is no “security problem” here.
In chapter 19, Elijah attempted to quit and wanted to die. God refused his request because it was not his time. Now, every prophet has the same message: “It’s time!”
In chapter 19, Elijah left his servant behind, so that he could go into the desert and die. This time, try as he may, Elijah is unable to convince Elisha to leave him, and besides Elisha, 50 prophets look on from a distance.
If God had granted Elijah’s request in chapter 19, he would have died a failure. It would have been a tragic departure. Now, Elijah goes “God’s way,” leaving behind many prophets to carry on in his absence, and departing triumphantly with an angelic escort—a chariot and horses of fire! What a way to go!
Here is but one very dramatic example of the blessing of unanswered prayer (or, more accurately, prayer that is answered, “No!”). God graciously refused to allow Elijah to take suicide as the easy way out. Instead, God instructed him to get back to the real world and to do what he had been called to do. When it is time for us to leave this world, God will take us away. God’s ways are so much better (and higher) than ours. When God says “No,” just remember from our text that it is because His way is far better than ours.
When the first two chapters of 2 Kings are studied side by side, we cannot help but see the contrast between Ahaziah’s death and Elijah’s departure.
Elijah sought to take his life, and God refused him permission. Ahaziah sought to save his life, and God took it. We are surely reminded of our Lord’s words:
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life on account of me will find it (Matthew 16:24-25).
Ahaziah, and eventually every heir of the house of Omri will perish. There is no one to carry on as king in his place. When Elijah departed, not only would Elisha carry on (with twice the Spirit), but there was an entire school of prophets as well. Ahab’s work abruptly ended. Elijah’s carried on, because it was God’s work.
Ahaziah dies the death of an unbeliever. He enters into eternal judgment. Elijah dies the death of a saint, entering into eternal bliss.
Every single person who reads these words is going to die, either as Ahaziah did, or as Elijah did. Today, as in Elijah’s day, there are only two kinds of people: those who will spend eternity with God, and those who will spend eternity in torment, away from the presence of God. You will either spend your life trying to avoid the judgment of God, and failing to do so, or you will spend your life trusting in God, saved and kept by Him. Your destiny depends upon your response to the person and work of Jesus Christ. He came to this earth to live a perfect, sinless life and to die in the sinner’s place, bearing his punishment. If you acknowledge your sin and trust in what Christ has done on your behalf, you will be saved, and when you die, you will go into the presence of our Lord forever (see 2 Corinthians 5:6-9; Philippians 1:23). To die in unbelief is to face the certainty of eternal judgment.
From the very beginning, Satan has been seeking to assure men that if they disobey God, they will surely not die (see Genesis 3:4). This is a lie, as surely as Satan is a liar, and as surely as Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Do not be deceived. No matter how hard you work to avoid the penalty of death, you will fail. The only way that we can escape this penalty is by faith in Jesus Christ, who paid the penalty personally.
There is one last thing I wish to point out from our text. Elijah’s departure is not the exception; it is the rule, for every Christian. Some may think that at his departure Elijah was given the VIP treatment. It is my strong conviction that every Christian gets this VIP treatment at the moment of their death. I would like you to see the similarity of these three texts of Scripture:
11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a fiery chariot pulled by fiery horses appeared. They went between Elijah and Elisha, and Elijah went up to heaven in a windstorm. 12 While Elisha was watching, he was crying out, “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!” (2 Kings 2:11-12).
Now Elisha had a terminal illness. Joash king of Israel went down to visit him. He wept before him and said, “My father, my father! The chariot and horsemen of Israel!” (2 Kings 13:14).
22 “Now the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 And in hell, as he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far off with Lazarus at his side” (Luke 16:22-23).
It is my conviction that every Christian has an angelic escort to heaven when they die. In 2 Kings, this is said of the two greatest prophets of all time—Elijah and Elisha. But in Luke 16, it is said of Lazarus, a poor beggar. The rich man (who is never named) lived well all of his life, and I’m sure that he had a very fancy funeral. But the reality is that when he died, he went to hell. Lazarus, on the other hand, lived a life of suffering. He may not even have been given a funeral. But the angels gave him a heavenly escort to heaven. I believe this informs us that every Christian’s departure is a glorious one—if we could see the heavenly realities, like chariots and horsemen of fire. Those we love who trusted in Jesus Christ may have spent their final hours in physical pain, and may have died in agony, but the heavenly reality is not diminished one bit by this. When it is the Christian’s time to depart from this life, it is a glorious departure. This we must “see” by faith, but it is a certainty. What a glorious day our day of departure will be, if we know Christ as our Savior!
96 I cannot attest to the historical accuracy of these accounts of ignoble death.
97 Unless, of course, they were consumed entirely, as were the sacrifice, the water, and even the stones of the altar on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:38). This seems to be the case, since the word “consumed” in 1 Kings 18:38 is the same word that is now used in 2 Kings 1:10, etc.).
98 The number “50” does seem interesting. Ahaziah’s soldiers came to seize Elijah in groups of 50, and they did not succeed. Instead fire came down from heaven and killed them. Now, 50 prophets look on. Unseen to them, fire comes down from heaven and snatches Elijah away. The soldiers experienced the wrath of God; Elijah experienced the grace of God.
Transition of power from one leader to the next is not always easy. Years ago I was a high school teacher in a state prison. I taught there the summer between my first and second year of seminary. At the end of the summer the full-time teacher who was to replace me came to my last class session. Someone must have given him some advice about “taking charge” because he let it be known to those inmates that he was going to be the one “in charge.” As the inmates filed out of class, one of them came up to me and whispered softly, “We’ll see.”
Just this past month, I was in Indonesia during the election of the president and vice president. You may remember that several times in 1998 there was serious rioting in that nation. The year 1998 was a very traumatic time in the history of Indonesia. If the results of the election last month had been different, things could have become very messy again. The fellow I was staying with in Jakarta left for the office the morning of the election with these words, “If you look out that window tonight and see fires burning all over the city, you’ll know that the riots have begun again.”
The section we are dealing with in 2 Kings describes the transition of power from Elijah to Elisha. While there were a number of prophets in Israel, it would seem that Elijah was the “senior prophet” of his time. After his departure, it was necessary that his successor be designated in a way that would make it clear he was the one in whom the spirit of Elijah had come to abide.
It took some doing for Elijah to be recognized and respected as God’s prophet in Israel. At the beginning of his prophetic ministry, it was necessary for him to hide out by the brook Cherith, and then at the home of a Gentile widow and her son who lived in the Sidonian town of Zarephath (1 Kings 17). At the end of his ministry, Elijah was able to travel freely about Israel, without fear of being bothered by wicked men. After all, the nation not only knew that he had called down fire on Mount Carmel, but that he had called down fire upon two groups of soldiers who had been sent to arrest him (2 Kings 1:9-12).
Elisha was with Elijah when he was taken up into heaven, accompanied by a chariot and horses of fire (2 Kings 2:11-12). A guild of prophets looked on from a distance as Elijah and Elisha crossed the Jordan River. They saw Elijah take his robe and strike the waters of the Jordan. They observed the waters of the Jordan parting so that Elijah and Elisha could cross over on dry ground. They did not witness Elijah’s incredible departure, but they realized that he was gone when Elisha returned alone. They watched as Elisha took Elijah’s robe and struck the waters of the Jordan just as Elijah had done, and then cross over on dry ground. They realized that Elisha was somehow energized by the Spirit that once had empowered Elijah.
I am inclined to believe that Elisha did not yet have the full respect that his office deserved. I say this because the prophetic guild who were in Jericho were not yet willing to accept Elisha’s word, unchallenged. They must have seen some evidence of the whirlwind that took Elijah up into heaven because they asked Elisha for permission to send out a search party to look for Elijah’s body. I don’t believe they expected to find Elijah alive. It seems their intention was to recover the prophet’s body if at all possible. They may have reasoned that if he was caught up by a whirlwind, his body must have been deposited somewhere, whether in the hills or in the valley. Elisha knew better, and he told them not to go, but they kept pressing him till he reluctantly granted them permission to conduct a search. Their mission was unsuccessful, as Elisha knew it would be. The very fact that they sought to change Elisha’s mind suggests to me that they did not yet sufficiently appreciate the power and position God had given him as Elijah’s replacement. To truly honor a prophet, one must take his words seriously. When spoken under inspiration, his words were the word of the Lord. It is my opinion that Elisha’s words were not yet taken seriously enough,99 and that the three miracles described in our text were divinely designed to accredit Elisha as Elijah’s replacement, who now possessed the office and authority of Elijah.
19 The men of the city said to Elisha, “Look, the city has a good location, as our master can see. But the water is bad and100 the land doesn’t produce crops.” 20 Elisha said, “Get me a new jar and put some salt in it.” So they got it. 21 He went out to the spring and threw the salt in. Then he said, “This is what the LORD says, ‘I have purified this water. It will no longer cause death or fail to produce crops.” 22 The water has been pure to this very day, just as Elisha prophesied.
In America, hardly anyone thinks about the water they drink. My recent trip to Indonesia reminded me of the fact that pure water is a very precious thing. During my stay abroad, I was careful not to drink water from the tap, and not even to brush my teeth with it. I would only drink bottled water in a restaurant, and I was warned to be careful about the ice as well. Although the location of the city of Jericho was ideal, the city had a serious water problem. The city was in the Jordan River valley, approximately five miles west of the Jordan River, and a few miles north of the Dead Sea.101 The land was fertile, but water was needed for drinking and for watering the crops. The city’s water supply spelled the difference between a thriving city and a wasteland. Unfortunately, the waters of the spring at Jericho were “bad” (literally, “evil”). The result was that the water was not drinkable, and the land was barren.
Elisha was told about this problem. He was not exactly asked to do something about it, but it seems those who informed him hoped he might be able to do something about it. I am reminded of the way Mary, the mother of Jesus, informed our Lord that they had run out of wine at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee (see John 2:3). Elisha instructed them to bring him a new jar, in which salt had been placed. He took the jar of salt and went to the spring, where he proceeded to cast this salt upon the “evil” waters. He then spoke these words: “This is what the LORD says, ‘I have purified this water. It will no longer cause death or fail to produce crops” (verse 21). From that time to the day this book was written, the waters of the spring remained pure.
There are those who have sought to identify the precise problem with the water. The author of our text does not even attempt to do so. I am content to leave it at that. Some seek to explain just how the salt healed the waters. I do not think we were intended to know this, either. What we do know is that the water was “bad” and that it could not be drunk, nor could it be used to water their crops. By what appears to be a symbolic gesture (casting salt upon the waters), Elisha heals the waters of the spring. In the final analysis, it is Elisha’s word that purified the waters (literally, the waters were healed “just as Elisha said,” verse 22).
Here was a miracle that lasted, not only in terms of its essence, but in terms of its effect. The writer tells us in verse 22 that the waters remained pure up to the day the account was written. Surely this is an evidence of the hand of God and made it clear that this “healing” was indeed a miracle. I think the miracle endured in a different way. It continued to be a sign as time passed. Let me see if I can illustrate this.
Years ago when our church was newly formed, we did not yet have a building of our own. We met in a school, and later in a hotel. We observe communion every week, and so each Sunday morning Ray, my brother-in-law, would prepare the communion trays. On one particular Sunday, Ray finished preparing one tray and held it out to me to set aside so that he could pour the grape juice into the cups in the next tray. The humidity was especially low that day, which meant there was a great deal of static electricity. I had just walked some distance on the carpet, and so when I reached out to take the tray from Ray, I got a very substantial jolt of static electricity. I jumped and slopped grape juice everywhere. It was a mess, but Ray graciously helped me clean it up. Later on we were celebrating the Lord’s Table, and as communion was being observed, it happened to be Ray who brought the tray of grape juice to the row where I was seated (on the aisle). It was a most solemn moment, and Ray held out the tray, for me to take it. Then, unexpectedly, he withdrew it. He bent down and quietly whispered in my ear, “Steady, now.” Because of the way I spilled the grape juice earlier, Ray wanted to be sure I did not do it again. My earlier action had continuing results.
That is the way it must have been with the water in that spring at Jericho. Can you imagine finding that spring after a long journey, hurrying to it and taking a great gulp of water, only to spit it out in disgust? Having once drunk from these “evil” waters, one would not be so quick to try again. You would be reminded of the previous condition of this spring every time you drank from it in the future. From this day on, every time someone drank from that well, they would be reminded that these waters were once bad. And thus, it would seem to me, one would have to exercise a certain amount of faith every time you drank from this well. Would there not be the lingering thought, “I wonder if the purification of these waters is still in effect.”?
By the healing of these waters, God gave life to an entire city through His prophet, Elisha. And by the healing of these waters God was once again showing His sovereign control over His creation. Did the heathen look to their gods for rain and crops? The God of Israel is God alone. He gives water, and He gives crops, as He does here by the hand of Elisha.
23 He went up from there to Bethel. As he was traveling up the road, some young boys came out of the city and made fun of him, saying, “Go on up, baldy! Go on up, baldy!” 24 When he turned around and saw them, he called God’s judgment down on them. Two female bears103 came out of the woods and ripped 42 of the boys to pieces. 25 From there he traveled to Mount Carmel and then back to Samaria.
It’s a very simple story, really, but one that troubles many. Some people seem to read the story as though it went like this (I caution you to read carefully, forewarned that the following is not what the biblical text says, or what I understand it to mean. What follows is a description of how the critics and skeptics tend to read this text.):
Elisha made his way to Bethel. Outside town, a group of children was playing. Elisha happened to pass by. Innocently (or at least ignorantly) a child took note of the fact that the prophet was bald, and commented about this. The other children took up this theme and chanted or sang it, thinking that Elisha would see the fun in it all. The grumpy prophet did not see anything funny about this at all. Instead, he exploded in anger and pronounced a curse upon these children, so that two bears came on them and they were brutally maimed.
It was, indeed, a long, hot twenty-five mile trek from Jericho (some 1300 feet below sea level) to Bethel (which was 2,000 feet above sea level). Bethel was not just any Israelite city, either. Bethel was one of two cities that Jeroboam had designated as places of worship for the northern kingdom of Israel when Solomon’s kingdom was divided between his son Rehoboam and his enemy, Jeroboam. Jeroboam feared that these two kingdoms might be tempted to re-unite because of the one central place of worship (Jerusalem) which was located in Judah. And so Jeroboam made a bold move—he established two places of counterfeit worship in Israel. One was in Dan, at the northern edge of Israel. The other was in Bethel, at the southern edge of Israel, a mere 12 miles from Jerusalem. One of the golden calves Jeroboam had provided for Israel to worship was placed in Bethel (see 1 Kings 12). This was a very pagan place, where God and His Word were no longer revered. The disrespect which Elisha received by these young Bethel boys was typical of the attitude of the general population in Bethel toward any true prophet of God.
The term used by our author to refer to these young men is one that is quite flexible. It is used of a young child, but it can also refer to what we would call a “young man.” It is apparent to me that these are not “little boys” who accost Elisha, but “young men.” My junior high school teacher, Chet Dombroski (I can remember some things), used to call fellows like this “local toughs.” This was not a group of little boys; it was a gang of young trouble-makers. Remember, we know that 42 were injured. That means that the smallest number for this “gang” was 42, and there could have been others who were fortunate enough to escape from the bears. This could have been a very intimidating confrontation for Elisha. The “bad boys of Bethel” got what they deserved. Would they try to bully Elisha? Then let them face two mother bears and see what real intimidation feels like.
There are various explanations of the words these young men spoke to Elisha, but I think we can be certain of several things. First, these young men were both hostile and insulting to the prophet. The expression “bald head” is no compliment, but rather a most offensive insult. We do not know for sure what they meant by the words, “Go up,” either. Were they challenging Elisha to do what Elijah had just done (“Go up” into heaven?)? It’s possible, but I rather doubt it. After all, even the prophets who looked on from a distance were inclined to think that Elijah was “taken up” by a windstorm. I think the essence of what these boys were chanting was something like this: “Keep on going up that road!” In more contemporary terms, these young men were shouting for Elisha to “Get out of town!” These young men, like the rest of those who lived in Bethel, did not want Elisha around. They did not want to hear “the word of the Lord.”
Let me remind you that Elisha did not personally harm any one of these trouble-makers. Elisha pronounced a curse on them, but in and of itself, that is not an act of violence. By pronouncing a curse, he left judgment where it should be—in the hands of God. We are intended to conclude that the two she bears attacked the young men simply because Elisha pronounced a curse on them. This is true, but we must also see that it was God who brought about the judgment these young men deserved. If we do not like the judgment that was executed here, then we have a problem with God. I believe that God “tried these young men as adults” (in today’s legal language) and found them guilty. Thus He carried out their rightly-deserved punishment by means of the bears.
Before anyone gets too worked up about this incident, they should seriously consider several other biblical texts in relation to what is reported in our text:
In the Law, God warned His people that if they refused to obey Him, He would send wild animals against them, and their children:
21 “‘If you walk in hostility against me and are not willing to obey me, I will increase your affliction seven times according to your sins. 22 I will send against you the animal of the field and it will bereave you of your children, annihilate your cattle, and diminish your population, and your roads will become deserted”(Leviticus 26:21-22, emphasis mine).
Later on, God’s judgment came upon His people because they rejected and ridiculed His prophets:
15 The LORD God of their ancestors continually warned them through his messengers, for he felt compassion for his people and his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his warnings, and ridiculed his prophets. Finally the LORD got angry at his people and there was no one who could prevent his judgment (2 Chronicles 36:15-16).
Do we really think that God indiscriminately pours out his wrath on “innocent little children”? It was Jonah who lacked compassion toward the innocent, and God who refused to punish those who were not yet accountable for their actions (who “did not know their right hand from their left”):
10 The LORD said, “You have compassion for the plant, something that you have not worked over nor made to grow, a thing that lasted a night and perished after a night. 11 Now should not I have compassion for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand people who do not know their right from their left, besides many animals?” (Jonah 4:10-11, emphasis mine).
For me, the most forceful and relevant Old Testament text is this one, recorded in the first chapter of the Book of Proverbs:
8 Listen, my child, to the training of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother. 9 For they will be a garland of grace for your head and a pendant for your neck. 10 My child, if sinners entice you do not consent. 11 If they say, “Come with us; we are going to lie in wait for blood we are going to lie in hiding for an innocent person for no reason. 12 We will swallow them alive, like the grave, and whole, like those going down to the pit. 13 We will get all kinds of precious wealth, we will fill our houses with plunder. 14 Throw your lot in with us, and we will all have a common purse.” 15 My child, do not go in the way with them, withhold your foot from their path; 16 for their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed blood; 17 for it is futile to spread a net in front of all the birds! 18 But these men lie in wait for their own blood, they lie in hiding for their own lives. 19 Thus is the end of all who unjustly gain profit; it takes away the life of those who get it. 20 Wisdom calls out in the street, she lifts up her voice in the plazas; 21 at the head of the noisy streets she calls, in the entrances of the gates in the city she makes her speech: 22 “How long will you simpletons love simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery, and fools hate knowledge? 23 If only you will respond to my rebuke, then I will pour out my spirit to you, and I will make my thoughts known to you. 4 Since I called but you refused me, I stretched out my hand but no one paid attention, 25 and you neglected all my advice and did not comply with my rebuke, 26 then I will laugh at your disaster, I will mock when what you dread comes, 27 when what you dread comes like a whirlwind, and your disaster comes like a storm, when distress and trouble come upon you. 28 Then they will call to me, but I will not answer; they will look to me, but they will not find me. 29 Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, 30 they did not comply with my advice, they spurned all my rebuke, 31 then they will eat from the fruit of their way and from their counsel they will be satisfied. 32 For the turning away of the simple will kill them, and the careless ease of fools will destroy them. 33 But the one who listens to me will live in security and be at ease from the dread of harm (Proverbs 1:8-33).
These were not innocent little boys, naively teasing a prophet in an inappropriate fashion. Elisha was not needlessly harsh, nor was God. God’s judgment was poured out on those who rebelled against God, who disobeyed His Word, and who mocked His servants, the prophets. If there was one lesson that the people of Bethel learned that day, it was that they must reverence God and His spokesmen.
1 In the eighteenth year of King Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Ahab’s son Jehoram became king over Israel in Samaria; he ruled for 12 years. 2 He did evil before the LORD, but not to the same degree as his father and mother. He did remove the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3 Yet he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin; he did not turn from them.
4 Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep-breeder. He would send as tribute to the king of Israel 100,000 male lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. 5 When Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 At that time King Jehoram left Samaria and assembled all Israel for war. 7 He sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you fight with me against Moab?” Jehoshaphat replied, “I will join you in the campaign; my army and horses are at your disposal.” 8 He then asked, “Which invasion route are we going to take?” Jehoram answered, “By the road through the Desert of Edom.” 9 So the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom set out together. They wandered around on the road for seven days and finally ran out of water for the men and animals they had with them. 10 The king of Israel said, “Oh no! Certainly the LORD has summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to the king of Moab!” 11 Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here that we might seek the LORD’s direction?” One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shapat is here; he used to be Elijah’s servant.” 12 Jehoshaphat said, “The LORD speaks through him.” So the king of Israel, Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom went down to visit him.
13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why are you here? Go to your father’s prophets or your mother’s prophets!” The king of Israel replied to him, “No, for the LORD is the one who summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to Moab.” 14 Elisha said, “As certainly as the sovereign LORD lives (whom I serve), if I did not respect Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not pay attention to you or acknowledge you.” 15 But now, get me a musician.” When the musician played, the LORD energized him, 16 and he said, “This is what the LORD says, ‘Make many cisterns in this valley,’ 17 for this is what the LORD says, ‘You will not feel any wind or see any rain, but this valley will be full of water and you and your cattle and animals will drink.’ 18 This is an easy task for the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you. 19 You will defeat every fortified and every important city. You must chop down every productive tree, stop up all the springs, and cover all the cultivated land with stones.”
20 Sure enough, the next morning, at the time of the morning sacrifice, water came flowing down from Edom and filled the land. 21 Now all Moab had heard that the kings were attacking, so everyone old enough to fight was mustered and placed at the border. 22 When they got up early the next morning, the sun was shining on the water. To the Moabites, who were some distance away, the water looked red like blood. 23 The Moabites said, “It’s blood! The kings are totally destroyed. They have struck one another down. Now, Moab, grab the plunder!” 24 When they approached the Israelite camp, the Israelites rose up and struck down the Moabites, who then ran from them. The Israelites thoroughly defeated Moab. 25 They tore down the cities and each man threw a stone into every cultivated field until they were covered. They stopped up every spring and chopped down every productive tree. Only Kir Hareseth was left intact, but the slingers surrounded it and attacked it. 26 When the king of Moab realized he was losing the battle, he and 700 swordsmen tried to break through and attack the king of Edom, but they failed. 27 So he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him up as a burnt sacrifice on the wall. There was an outburst of divine anger against Israel, so they broke off the attack and returned to their homeland.
There are several things we need to review before we consider the “three kings” of 2 Kings 3. We need to remember that we are now in the period of the divided kingdom. The “Israel” over which Saul, David, and Solomon reigned is now two nations: the northern kingdom of Israel, and the southern kingdom of Judah. Israel will be carried off to captivity by the Assyrians; later, Judah will be carried off to Babylon by the Babylonians. Both Elijah and Elisha were prophets to the northern kingdom of Israel. At this point in Elisha’s ministry, Israel continues to be ruled by the house of Omri, or more specifically at this point in time, by Ahab’s son, Jehoram.104 Judah is still ruled by Jehoshaphat.
The story of the “three kings” is all the more perplexing in the light of 1 Kings 22:1-40. On this earlier occasion, Ahab wanted to go to war against the king of Syria in order to regain possession of Ramoth Gilead. Ahab asked Jehoshaphat to join him in this battle, and the king of Judah agreed, with almost the same words that we find in 2 Kings 3:7:
“I will support you; my army and horses are at your disposal” (1 Kings 22:4b).
“I will join you in the campaign; my army and horses are at your disposal” (2 Kings 3:7b).
In this earlier alliance with a king of Israel, Jehoshaphat is clearly set up by Ahab, who disguises himself and sends the king of Judah out to battle in his royal attire—something which nearly costs Jehoshaphat his life. God providentially intervened, however, sparing Jehoshaphat’s life, and bringing about the death of Ahab by what seemed to be a random shot (1 Kings 22:29-38).
One has to marvel that Jehoshaphat would so readily join with Jehoram, king of Israel, especially after this stinging rebuke for going into battle with Ahab:
1 When Jehoshaphat king of Judah returned home safely to Jerusalem, 2 the prophet Jehu son of Hanani confronted him and said to King Jehoshaphat: “Is it right to help the wicked and be an ally of those who oppose the LORD? Because you have done this the LORD is angry with you. 3 Nevertheless you have done some good things; you removed the Asherah poles from the land and you were determined to follow the LORD” (2 Chronicles 19:1-3).
I am inclined to wonder if the words of 2 Kings 3:1-3 may not have been a factor in Jehoshaphat’s decision to go with Jehoram:
1 In the eighteenth year of King Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah, Ahab’s son Jehoram became king over Israel in Samaria; he ruled for 12 years. 2 He did evil before the LORD, but not to the same degree as his father and mother. He did remove the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. 3 Yet he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who encouraged Israel to sin; he did not turn from them.
We are told that Jehoram, Ahab’s son, became king (after the death of Ahaziah) and reigned for 12 years. Like Ahab his father, Jehoram was also evil. But he was not as evil as his father or his mother (Jezebel) had been. It may be that Jehoshaphat reasoned that while Jehoram was not the man he should have been, he was not as bad as he could have been, and he was surely not as bad as Ahab or Jezebel. Perhaps, then, Jehoshaphat reasoned that Jehoram was a good enough king to form an alliance with him in a time of war. After all, many of those who are our allies in a time of war are not our close associates in a time of peace. Perhaps this is why the author gives us this evaluation of Jehoram at the beginning of this account.
Ahab, king of Israel, has died, and Jehoram his son now reigns in his place. When Ahab was king, he prevailed over the surrounding nations, collecting tribute from them. Moab (located on the eastern side of the Dead Sea), ruled by king Mesha at the time, paid tribute in the form of 100,000 male lambs and the wool of (100,000) male rams. When Ahab died and Jehoram took his place, Mesha saw this as his opportunity to break away from Israelite domination and to avoid further payments of tribute.
Jehoram was not inclined to let Mesha get away with this rebellion. Not only would Israel lose the tribute Moab paid them, but other subject nations might also try to break away from Israel’s domination. And so Jehoram appealed to Jehoshaphat for help against a common enemy. Jehoram’s strategy was brilliant, or so it seemed. Now, two nations were going to join him in his battle against the Moabites. It hardly seems coincidental that Edom is also an ally of Israel and Judah in this war. I understand that Edom was subject to Judah at this time, and thus when Jehoshaphat committed Judah to this battle, he was as good as committing Edom also. How could the king of Edom say “No”?
The route of their attack further entangled Edom in this alliance. Edom and Moab were neighbors. Moab was on the eastern side of the Dead Sea, and Edom was located at the southern end of the Dead Sea, just below Moab. Rather than attack Moab by crossing the Jordan River and marching south (thereby attacking Moab’s northern border), Jehoram planned to march south, down the western side of the Dead Sea. Then the three kings and their armies would pass through Edom and attack Moab at their southern border, which was perhaps not as heavily armed. This was all Jehoram’s plan, a plan that Jehoshaphat did not devise or propose. It is a plan to which Jehoshaphat rather foolishly submitted himself, his army, and Edom as well.
It really did seem like a clever plan, and at first it appeared to be working well. The three kings and their armies marched down the western coast of the Dead Sea, intending to pass around the end of the Dead Sea, passing through the Desert of Edom. This is where things really began to go wrong. The text seems to describe their journey as though these three armies were “wandering around,” as though they had lost their way (2 Kings 3:9). We are then told that they ran out of water while still in the desert. As someone has said, “This does not bode well.” The king of Israel was one of the first to figure out that they were all in very serious trouble. He saw this as the judgment of God—the God of Israel—Who was intent upon bringing about the destruction of all three kings and their armies. How interesting that this polytheist would see these events as coming from the hand of God.
Jehoshaphat was not willing to accept Jehoram’s assessment of the situation. It was certainly a bit late, but Jehoshaphat decided it was time to seek divine guidance. He wanted this guidance from a true prophet, a “prophet of the LORD” (2 Kings 3:11). Jehoram has no one to recommend, but one of his servants does. He reports to Jehoram that Elisha, the one who formerly served Elijah, was living nearby. Jehoshaphat was certain that this prophet was one through whom the LORD spoke (3:12).
The three kings then made their way (literally “went down”) to where Elisha was staying. Elisha immediately rebuked Jehoram, asking why he had come, and instructing him to go and consult the prophets of his father (Ahab) and mother (Jezebel). This meeting is probably as distasteful to Jehoram as it is to Elisha. He would prefer to consult other prophets, except for one fact—Jehoram was convinced that Yahweh, the God of Israel, was behind this disaster, and that He alone could save them. Unpleasant as it might be, he had no alternative.
This would not have been enough to convince Elisha to come to his aid. Elisha made it very clear to Jehoram that his help would be for Jehoshaphat’s sake. The kings of Israel and Edom would be spared, but only on account of Jehoshaphat. I am reminded of the principle which Paul set down in 1 Corinthians 7:12-14:
12 To the rest I say—I, not the Lord—if a brother has a wife who is not a believer and she is happy to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 And if a woman has a husband who is not a believer and he is happy to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified because of the wife, and the unbelieving wife because of her husband. Otherwise your children are unclean, but now they are holy (1 Corinthians 7:12-14).
This text encourages the Christian spouse not to divorce their unbelieving mate and to live with their unbelieving partner so long as they are willing to do so. The reason Paul gives is that, in some sense, the children of this marriage are “sanctified” or “set apart.” I would suggest to you that our text in 2 Kings 3 sheds some light on Paul’s words. Neither the king of Edom nor the king of Israel were saints, but in spite of this they were “blessed” because of their association with Jehoshaphat. In the same way, I believe, the unbelieving spouse and children of a “mixed marriage” (spiritually speaking) benefit from living in association with the parent who is a believer. “Second-handedly,” they experience God’s blessings on the believer, with whom they are associated.
Having decided to seek divine guidance on behalf of Jehoshaphat and his associates, Elisha asks for a musician, perhaps a harpist like David.105 While this was not the norm, music sometimes played an influential role in the realm of the spirit. This is most apparent in the life and times of David. For example, Samuel informed Saul that he would be overcome by the Spirit of God, which would indicate to others that God had empowered him to serve as their king:
3 “You should continue on from there, coming to the tall tree of Tabor. At that point three men who are going up to God at Bethel will encounter you. One of them will be carrying three kids, one of them will be carrying three round loaves of bread, and one of them will be carrying a flask of wine. 4 They will ask you how you’re doing and will give you two loaves of bread. You will accept them. 5 Afterwards you will go to Gibeah of God, where there are Philistine deputies. When you enter the city, you will meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place. They will have harps, tambourines, flutes, and lyres, and they will be prophesying. 6 Then the spirit of the LORD will rush over you, and you will prophesy with them. You will become a different person. 7 “When these signs have taken place, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God will be with you. 8 You will go down to Gilgal before me. I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and to make peace sacrifices. You should wait for seven days, until I come to you and inform you of what you should do.” 9 As he turned to leave Samuel, God changed his thinking. All these signs happened on that very day. 10 When they arrived at Gibeah, a company of prophets was coming out to meet him. Then the spirit of God rushed on him, and he prophesied in their midst. 11 When everyone who had known him previously saw that he was prophesying with the prophets, the people all asked one another, “What on earth has happened to the son of Kish? Does even Saul belong with the prophets?” 12 A man who was from there replied, “And who is their father?” Therefore this became a proverb: “Is even Saul among the prophets?” 13 Then when he had finished prophesying, he went to the high place” (1 Samuel 10:5-13, emphasis mine).
We are also told that when Saul was troubled by an evil spirit, David’s music seemed to calm him:
And so it was that whenever the spirit from God would come on Saul, David would take his lyre and would play it with his hand. This would bring relief to Saul, and things would improve for him. The evil spirit would depart from him (1 Samuel 16:23).
The musician came as Elisha requested, and as he (or she) played, the Spirit of God [literally, the “hand of the LORD”] came upon Elisha. Elisha spoke the word of the LORD to them. They were to create cisterns or ditches in the valley where they were. This “valley” would be what we in Texas might call a “wash.” Here, it is not a constantly flowing, year-round stream or river; it is a dry river bed, where the waters would gather to run off when it rained sufficiently to produce a stream (or, in some cases, a torrent). God is assuring Jehoshaphat and the other kings that He will fill the “wash” with water, so they are to dig out small reservoirs which will contain some of the water, and thus obtain water for themselves and their animals to drink.
In some ways, it sounds as though God is saying, “Get ready, it’s going to rain!” But Elisha makes it clear that God is going to do something unusual. He is going to fill the “wash” or valley with water, but in such a way that they will not see the source of the water which God provides. They will not observe the phenomena which are normally associated with rain. They will see neither wind nor rain. Usually, if water were to be found in this wash, it would be because a storm had brought rain. This water will seemingly come from nowhere.
I believe there are several reasons for this unusual provision of water. First, I believe that God does not allow Himself to be “put in a box,” as some are inclined to do with God. Why is it that we so often try to find human explanations for His actions? When we read in the Book of Jonah that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish, and then escaped, we seem to find great comfort and assurance in reading stories about others who have been swallowed by fish and have survived. Why is this? Do we believe only the believable? I believe that whether or not anyone ever survived being swallowed by a fish before or after, Jonah did. After all, God prepared this fish. God did not wish to provide water in a normal fashion, but He chose to do it in a most unusual way. Because He is God, this is no problem to Him. God is not restricted to man’s ways, or even to man’s imaginations (1 Corinthians 2:9).
Second, God provided water for these three kings and their armies in a very unusual way in order to emphasize His ability to give them the victory over their enemies, the Moabites. That is what these words seem to mean:
“‘You will not feel any wind or see any rain, but this valley will be full of water and you and your cattle and animals will drink.’ 18 This is an easy task for the LORD; he will also hand Moab over to you. 19 You will defeat every fortified and every important city” (2 Kings 3:17b-19a).
The God who provided water “out of nowhere” is the God who will give them the victory, when there seems to be “no way” that can happen. He is the God of the impossible.
Third, the water is provided in an unusual way because it is not only the instrument of salvation for these three kings and their armies, but it is also God’s instrument of destruction for the Moabites. If the water had come from the rains, the Moabites would probably have seen this. The text would indicate that when the Moabites looked out and saw the water, they assumed that it was blood. They seem to have no idea that this could be water, because they had not observed any rainfall. They expected any water in that wash to come about normally, but God provided the water in an unusual way, a way undetected by the Moabites. Supposing that this divinely-provided water was the blood of their enemies, the Moabites reasoned that these three approaching armies had turned against one another. If this was the case, they did not need to come prepared to have a fight; they needed to come prepared for hauling freight. I can almost see them laying aside their swords and their shields to lighten the load of their chariots, or to leave their arms free to carry off the spoils. And so with this very unusual provision of water for the three kings and their armies, God put their enemies at a tremendous disadvantage. They left their fortifications and came out into the open, not fully armed (it would seem) but largely unarmed, because they wrongly supposed that their enemies were already dead.
God had made it clear that when he gave Jehoshaphat and his colleagues success, they were to totally devastate the land. They were to capture and destroy the major cities, to chop down the trees of value, to cover the land with stones, and to stop up every spring (2 Kings 3:19). In so doing, they would virtually cripple the nation of Moab for years to come. The Moabites would think twice before they made an enemy of God’s people again.
From the outset of the fighting, it was apparent that the Moabites were losing. The allied army did just as God had commanded throughout the land of Moab. Only the capital city of Moab remained, and here is where the battle got ugly. Kir Hareseth was under attack by the “slingers.” It was not just David who was highly skilled with the sling, but a number of Benjamites, and perhaps others (see Judges 20:16). I think the present day equivalent would be the “sharpshooters” who are used in very specialized situations. They were attempting to “pick off” those Moabites who made the mistake of giving these sharpshooters any target at all.
The king of Moab seemed to realize that it would only be a matter of time before the city fell. He assembled 700 of his swordsmen and made a desperate attempt to break through and attack the king of Edom—who seemed to be the weakest link in the allied army’s defenses. This did not work, and so in one final act of desperation, the king of Moab offered up his son as a burnt sacrifice on the wall of the city, in the sight of all. This seems to be an act of appeasement to his god, Chemosh, with the hope that his god would save the Moabites. The result was an outbreak of anger against Israel. There is a great deal of discussion about this anger. Was it God’s anger against Israel? Was it anger on the part of the Moabites? I cannot say for certain. But it is safe to say that this “anger” caused the allied armies to give up their fight and go home. I think we can also conclude that the war accomplished the goal of delivering Jehoshaphat and those with him and of dealing a devastating blow to the Moabites. At the same time, the way this war ended did not allow anyone to feel really good about it. We must remember Elisha’s words to the king of Israel, which indicated that he had little concern for saving this idolater, but only concern for Jehoshaphat. A foolish alliance—and perhaps a foolish war—was concluded safely, but without the usual thrill of victory.
Let us conclude this message by considering what these miracles accomplished then, and what they have to teach us now.
First of all, these miracles served to accredit Elisha as the successor of Elijah. Moses parted the Red Sea, and Joshua the Jordan river. So, too, both Elijah and Elisha parted the Jordan River. As Moses “healed” the waters of Marah (Exodus 15:22-26), so Elisha healed the waters of the spring at Jericho. Elisha is one of a line of men whom God used to save His people. It was through Elisha that God spared Jehoshaphat and the kings of Israel and Edom, along with their armies. We hear it from the lips of the servant of Jehoram, as well as from the king of Judah—“the Word of the LORD is with Elisha” (2 Kings 3:11-12).
Second, God is a saving God. God “healed” the waters of the spring at Jericho, and He provided “streams in the desert” which spared the lives of Jehoshaphat and those with him. His salvation is gracious; it is unmerited. He saved the Edomites and the Israelites, along with their kings, only because they were associated with Jehoshaphat. God saved Jehoshaphat, in spite of his foolish decision to enter into an alliance with pagans. I am reminded of this verse from the Psalms: “Yahweh looks after the simple, when I was brought low he gave me strength” (Psalm 116:6, NJB).
How grateful I am that God not only saves, but that He saves the simple! How often God has saved me from my own folly.
Third, God is a God who saves, but He is also the God who judges sin. We see God’s saving hand in our text, but we dare not overlook the incident with the “Bad boys of Bethel” and the bears, or the defeat of the Moabites. Those who reject God and who reject His Word are those who place themselves in harm’s way. God may delay His wrath, but He will not overlook sin indefinitely. The God who saves is also the God who judges.
I am reminded of Paul’s words here, calling our attention to the “kindness and harshness of God”: “Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God—harshness toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off” (Romans 11:22).
God was gracious to Jehoshaphat, even though he had done something foolish. In spite of his folly, Jehoshaphat was a man who trusted in God, and thus God was kind toward him. Those who mocked Elisha also mocked his God, and because of this God dealt with them severely.
My friend, how will God deal with you? Will He deal with you severely, or with kindness? The answer to this question is determined by your response to the person and work of Jesus Christ. Your relationship to Jesus Christ determines whether you spend eternity in heaven with God, or an eternity in hell, separated from God. You and I are saved, not by any good works or merit of our own, but on the basis of our relationship to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary, bearing the guilt and the penalty for our sins. Those who acknowledge their sin and who trust in Jesus Christ are promised the forgiveness of their sins and the assurance of eternal life.
When our Lord Jesus came to this earth, He came as God’s final messenger, exposing our sin, suffering its guilt and punishment, and offering eternal life to those who trust in Him. If God dealt severely with those young men who mocked Elisha (as God’s messenger), how do you think He will deal with those who reject Jesus Christ as His final messenger?
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it to tenant farmers and went on a journey. 34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop. 35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one, killed another and stoned another. 36 Then he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and get his inheritance!’ 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those evil men to a miserable death, and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, 4 while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will (Hebrews 2:1-4).
It is my hope and prayer that you have given heed to our Lord and to His message. If you have trusted in Him, then you can rest assured that He will save you, and show His kindness to you.
99 Remember, too, that Elisha had served as Elijah’s servant for some period of time (2 Kings 3:11). It would take a little doing for people to think of Elisha as the “father” of the prophets, rather than as the servant of Elijah.
100 In my opinion, the “and” has the force of “so that.” It was the bad water of this spring which caused the land to be unproductive. When the waters were healed, the land became productive.
101 Modern-day Jericho is about a mile or so east of the site where ancient Jericho was located, and is almost a desert oasis, since this area gets little rain.
102 I came across a scholarly article that referred to the “Bethel boys” as the “Bad boys of Bethel,” and I liked this designation so well that I borrowed it.
103 It was also near Bethel that the “young prophet” was killed by a lion (see 1 Kings 13).
104 There are actually two Jehoram’s (see 2 Kings 8:16): Jehoram, son of Ahab (sometimes also called Joram), and Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat. This can obviously be confusing. It is the first Jehoram (king of Israel) with whom we are dealing in our text.
105 In the NET Bible, the translator’s note on 2 Kings 3:15 reads: “The term used refers to one who plays a stringed instrument, perhaps a harp.” The NIV renders it, “bring me a harpist.”
When in Indonesia recently, I taught during my last week at a seminary in Jogjakarta (or Jogja, as most people there call it), about an hour’s flight from Jakarta. I was given the task of teaching through the Gospel of John in three days. It was no easy task, but I will tell you that I actually accomplished my mission in that regard. The faculty at this seminary were very capable and dedicated people. Todd E, a missionary who spent his seminary days in our church, and who is now supported by our church, is one of the professors there. When he learned I was going to Jakarta, he asked me to teach there at the seminary for a week. Todd served as the translator for my teaching.
One of the women in my class was small and appeared quite frail. I was told that just a few days before, her husband, also a student at the seminary, had suddenly passed away. Apparently neither he nor anyone else realized he had diabetes. This man and his wife—like most of the other students there—were very poor. They had almost no money, no job that I knew of, and no regular support. They were truly trusting the Lord for their daily bread. They had apparently been fasting for several days, and this brought about a reaction which put him into a coma, and he died very quickly. It was a strange feeling, teaching through John 11—the story of our Lord raising Lazarus from the dead—with this recent widow looking on, with tears streaming down her face. After that session, the whole class gathered around her to pray for her.
Our text begins with a similar story that reminded me of this grieving seminary student. One of the men who belonged to the prophetic guild had passed away, leaving behind not only his wife, but also two children. She seems to have been left with no visible means of support. Her creditor was pressing her for payment and threatened to take her children as slaves. She was in desperate straits when she came to Elisha and pled with him to help. It is one of several crises described in our text. In each case, Elisha is used of God to minister to the practical, but very pressing, needs of those who knew and trusted God. Let us listen well, for these verses surely reflect God’s compassion and care for His children.
1 Now a wife of one of the prophets appealed to Elisha for help, saying, “Your servant, my husband is dead. You know that your servant was a loyal follower of the LORD. Now the creditor is coming to take away my two boys to be his servants.” 2 Elisha said to her, “What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a small jar of oil.” 3 He said, “Go and ask all your neighbors for empty containers. Get as many as you can. 4 Go and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour the oil into all the containers; set aside each one when you have filled it.” 5 So she left him and closed the door [behind] her and her sons. As they were bringing the containers to her, she was pouring the oil. 6 When the containers were full, she said to one of her sons, “Bring me another container.” But he answered her, “There are no more.” Then the oil stopped flowing. 7 She went and told the prophet. He said, “Go, sell the oil. Repay your creditor, and then you and your sons can live off the rest of the profit.”
It would seem that Elisha is now regarded as the “headmaster” (so to speak) of the “school of the prophets.” A widow is in desperate straits and appeals to Elisha for help. She was the wife of one of the prophets, and her husband is now dead. She is the mother of two boys, and they are deeply in debt. The creditor is threatening to take her boys as his slaves, as repayment for her debt.106 The woman looks to Elisha—and thus to God—for help.
Elisha’s words are a bit puzzling. He first asks her, “What can I do for you?” I do not think that this is meant in the sense, “What can I do for you?”, as though Elisha is suggesting that he is powerless to help her, or that he is unwilling to do so. It seems to be almost a rhetorical question, “Let me see now; what can I do for you?” Then it seems to come to him: “What do you have in the house?” That is, “What are your resources? What do you have to work with?”
She tells him that all she has is a small jar of oil. Elisha tells her to borrow all the empty containers she can from her neighbors, and then to go inside her house with her boys, shut the door, and pour from the oil she has into these empty containers. The prophet encourages her to get all the containers she can. The woman did as she was told, filling all the containers she could acquire with oil. She informed Elisha, who then told her to sell the oil, pay off her debt, and to use the rest of the proceeds to pay her living expenses.
The story is simple and straightforward. There are some aspects of the story which should be highlighted, however.
First, this woman was a “widow indeed” (see 1 Timothy 5:3), in that she seems to have no other means of support and no family members to come to her aid. Her children are young and depend on her for their livelihood. Further, this woman is in debt through no fault of her own. Her poverty is the result of her husband’s death, and from her words, we believe that he was a godly man. Here is a woman who truly needs help.
Second, Elisha provides for this woman’s needs in a way that allows her and others to participate. This woman and her children gather the empty containers and fill them. Then she sells the oil and pays off her debts. The neighbors also play a part,107 and in so doing, they must have been aware of the way God provided for this woman. The Old Testament law instructed the Israelites not to cut the corners of their fields so that the poor could glean from what remained in the field (Leviticus 23:22). Welfare programs should not encourage the needy to sit, inactive, while others harvest, winnow, and cook their food. There seems to be a trend today to return to a more biblical model, establishing help programs that enable the recipient to retain their dignity by doing what they can to provide for themselves. This is what the Bible has taught from the beginning. And it is what Elisha did as well. This woman and her children were encouraged to work hard, and thus to participate in God’s provision for them.
It is possible to place so much emphasis on what God does for us that we conclude we can and must do nothing ourselves. When it comes to salvation, it is all of God in the sense that we can contribute nothing to God’s grace. All things are of Him, through Him, and for Him. Yet having heartily affirmed this truth, it is also true that God does require us to participate in our salvation. We are called upon to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the One who died for our sins (see John 6:28-29). We must confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:8-11). And we are to be baptized as a public profession of our faith. That, my friend, is participation in (not contribution to) our salvation. And, beyond this, we are to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (participation), knowing that it is “God who works in us to will and to do His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).
I have just returned from Indonesia. One of the things which most impressed me was the dedication and sacrifice of those who know and serve our Lord there. In the seminary where I taught the Gospel of John, I saw many students who had very few resources, and yet they endeavored, by God’s grace, to accomplish much for Him. How often I have excused myself from attempting something because I convinced myself that I did not have the resources to do so! Does our text not teach us that God expects us to use what little we have, trusting Him to provide for all of our needs?
I see this theme repeated over and over in the Bible. Moses makes all sorts of excuses for why he should not go to Egypt, as God commanded. And God says to him, “What is that in your hand?” (Exodus 4:2). It was nothing special; it was just a staff—probably no more than a stick Moses found somewhere, which suited the task of tending sheep. But that staff was used of God in a powerful way to demonstrate that Moses spoke for God. Jesus made the five loaves and two fishes into a meal for thousands (John 6:1-14), and He turned water into wine (John 2:1-11). Paul says that God uses our weakness to demonstrate His power (2 Corinthians 12:7-11). God allows, and often requires, that we participate in His work.
Third, I note that this is a two-stage miracle. Why didn’t Elisha save himself time and trouble by giving this woman all of her instructions at once? At first, Elisha simply tells the widow to borrow as many empty containers as she can, and then to close her door and, with her sons, to fill the borrowed containers with the oil she has. He could have told her why he instructed her to do this. It is only after she has obeyed his initial commands that he gives her subsequent instructions which make it clear how God had provided for her needs.
Is there not a principle implied here, which is just as true for us today as it was for this widow centuries ago? She was to obey what God commanded, even though it did not make sense to her, and even though she did not know the outcome. She was to obey God’s command, without being told why. This is what “boot camp” is designed to do for new recruits in the armed forces. When a superior officer gives an order, the one who is subordinate to that authority dares not ask why, nor does he dare to disobey his orders. The subordinate is to obey, without asking questions, and without being told what part his actions play in the overall scheme of things. The officer who gives the orders is under no obligation to explain why he has given the order, and in some cases, it would be detrimental if he did so.
The Bible is full of commands, but most often they are not accompanied with detailed explanations. If we love our Lord, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15). As Christians, we know that God is good, and that He causes all things to work out for our good, and for His glory (Romans 8:28). We know that God is sovereign, in complete control of all things, so that His plan is never thwarted. We must trust God because we love Him, and because we know His character and attributes. We must obey His commandments, not because He has explained why He has instructed us to act in a particular way, but because He is God, and we are His servants. This woman was instructed to do some very unusual things, without knowing where all this would lead. But she obeyed, trusting God and His spokesman, Elisha. And in the end, she saw how God provided for her in His wisdom and mercy.
Fourth, this was a miracle which enhanced the faith of this woman and her children, and perhaps others who witnessed God’s provision for this family. This truth grows out of the principle stated previously. We are to obey God’s commandments, trusting in Him, even when we have no idea how God will cause everything to work out for our good and His glory. This miracle was accomplished in a way that required the woman’s participation, and this participation was rooted in her faith in God and His Word, as spoken by Elisha. How God must have increased this woman’s faith, and the faith of her children, not to mention the faith of all who witnessed the working of God in this miracle!
Fifth, this miracle is similar to the miracle performed by Elijah in 1 Kings 17. The similarity of this miracle, performed according to the word of Elisha, with that which took place through the word of Elijah in 1 Kings 17, seems quite obvious. Is this not one more instance where God is making it clear to Israel and to us that Elisha is His replacement for Elijah, and that through Elisha, God is performing miracles equal to or greater than those of Elijah? Elisha’s accreditation continues.
Sixth, by means of this miracle, God not only provided for this widow’s immediate needs, but He also made provision for her long-term needs as well. God provided some immediate cash, with which this widow was able to pay off her debts and keep her children from slavery. But God also provided an “endowment fund” as well, from what was left over after the woman’s debts were paid. This miracle solved the widow’s short-term and long-term needs. How often our efforts to help those in need solve short-term problems and create (or aggravate) long-term problems! This miracle freed the widow in need from her immediate and her long-term problems.
8 One day Elisha traveled to Shunem, where a respected woman lived. She insisted that he stop for a meal. So whenever he was passing through, he would stop in there for a meal. 9 She said to her husband, “Look, I’m sure that the man who regularly passes through here is a very special prophet. 10 Let’s make a small private upper room and furnish it with a bed, table, chair and lamp. When he visits us, he can stay there.”
11 One day Elisha came for a visit; he went into the upper room and rested. 12 He told his servant Gehazi, “Ask the Shunammite woman to come here.” So he did so and she came to him. 13 Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tell her, ‘Look, you have treated us with such great respect. What can I do for you? Can I put in a good word for you with the king or the commander of the army?’” She replied, “I’m quite secure.” 14 So he asked Gehazi, “What can I do for her?” Gehazi replied, “She has no son, and her husband is old.” 15 Elisha told him, “Ask her to come here.” So he did so and she came and stood in the doorway. 16 He said, “About this time next year you will be holding a son.” She said, “No my master! O prophet, do not lie to your servant!” 17 The woman did conceive, and at the specified time the next year she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.
18 The boy grew and one day he went out to see his father who was with the harvesters. 19 He said to his father, “My head! My head!” His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20 So he picked him up and took him to his mother. He sat on her lap until noon and then died. 21 She went up and laid him down on the prophet’s bed. She shut the door behind her and left. 22 She called to her husband, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, so I can go see the prophet quickly and then return.” 23 He said, “Why do you want to go see him today? It is not the new moon or the Sabbath.” She said, “Everything’s fine.” 24 She saddled the donkey and told her servant, “Lead on. Do not stop unless I say so.” 25 So she went to visit the prophet at Mount Carmel. When he saw her at a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, it’s the Shunammite woman. 26 Now, run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you well? Are your husband and the boy well?’” She told Gehazi, “Everything’s fine.” 27 But when she reached the prophet on the mountain, she grabbed hold of his feet. Gehazi came near to push her away, but the prophet said, “Leave her alone, for she is very upset. The LORD has kept the matter hidden from me; he didn’t tell me about it.” 28 She said, “Did I ask my master for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t mislead me?’” 29 Elisha told Gehazi, “Tuck your robes into your belt, grab my staff, and go. Don’t stop to exchange greetings with anyone. Place my staff on the child’s face.” 30 The mother of the child said, “As certainly as the LORD lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her back.
31 Now Gehazi went on ahead of them. He placed the staff on the child’s face, but there was no sound or response. When he came back to Elisha he told him, “The child did not wake up.” 32 When Elisha arrived at the house, there was the child lying dead on his bed. 33 He went in by himself and closed the door. Then he prayed to the LORD. 34 He got up on the bed and spread his body out over the boy; he put his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes over the boy’s eyes, and the palms of his hands against the boy’s palms. He bent down over him, and the boy’s skin grew warm. 35 Elisha went back and walked around in the house. Then he got up on the bed again and bent down over him. The child sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. 36 Elisha called to Gehazi and said, “Get the Shunammite woman.” So he did so and she came to him. He said to her, “Pick up your son.” 37 She came in, fell at his feet, and bowed down. Then she picked up her son and left.
Once again, the story is simple and straightforward. Elisha’s travels often took him near the home of a well-to-do woman and her husband. The woman would not let Elisha pass without stopping in for a meal. She then persuaded her husband to build a small upper room for the prophet, so that when he came their way he would not only have food, but rest and shelter as well. One day when Elisha was staying at this woman’s home, he determined to express his gratitude by doing something for her. He was not really thinking of a miracle, but of some favor that he might grant, like putting in a good word for the woman with the king or with the commander of the army. Elisha gave his servant the task of questioning the woman and then getting back to him as to what he might do for his gracious hostess.
Gehazi did as Elisha had instructed him, but this wealthy woman was not seeking anything, and the truth of the matter was that she did not lack any necessity. She told Gehazi that she was well provided for and needed nothing. Elisha then asked his servant if he knew of anything she needed that she had not mentioned. Gehazi shows some real insight here. He knew that while this woman was still in her child-bearing years, her husband was not. He seems to have discerned that while this was the deepest longing of her life, she would not mention it. After all, it seemed as if it were impossible. It would take a miracle, and while this woman seems to have the faith for such miracles, she is not willing to presume upon this prophet to ask for such a thing.
Elisha seized upon this suggestion and told Gehazi to call the woman. When she came and stood in the doorway, Elisha prophesied that the next year at this time she would be holding a son in her arms. A son! She had not dared to hope for a child, and now the prophet tells her that she will bear a child, and that he will be a boy. In that culture, there was nothing more important to this woman than a son. It was too good to believe, as the Shunammite’s response indicated: “O prophet, do not lie to your servant!” The following year, she held that promised son in her arms. True prophets do not lie.
A few years passed, and the child, now a young boy, went out into the field to be near his father during the harvest. The boy became ill, and the father had one of his servants carry the boy home to his mother. It was there, in his mother’s arms, that the boy died. The woman carried the child upstairs to Elisha’s room where she placed him on the prophet’s bed. She then closed the door and sent word to her husband, asking him for the use of a servant and a donkey. Her husband was perplexed. This was not a Sabbath or a new moon, not one of those times when she usually went to worship where the prophet was. Her husband was perplexed by her request, but she assured him that everything was fine and set out with the servant and the donkey to find Elisha.
From his vantage point on Mount Carmel, Elisha saw the woman approaching in the distance and sensed that something must be wrong. He sent his servant Gehazi to meet her and to inquire if all was well with her and her family. The woman did not wish to discuss this matter with Gehazi, so she simply told him that everything was fine. But when she reached Elisha, she cast all dignity aside, flinging herself at the prophet’s feet and grasping them firmly. Gehazi was shocked and began to try to free the prophet from her grip. Elisha had a better grasp of the situation. Though God had not revealed the problem to him, he knew that this woman was deeply troubled about something.
The woman unburdened her soul to the prophet, informing him of the death of her son in such a way as to appeal to the prophet for his recovery. She had not asked the prophet to give her a son, and when he prophesied that she would bear a son, she begged him not to deceive her about such a thing. In other words, the gift of this child was all Elisha’s doing. The woman never actually told Elisha that the boy had died, at least so far as our text informs us. Elisha had figured that out from what the woman told him. He did not waste any more time talking. Elisha instructed his servant Gehazi to get to the boy without delay. He was not even to stop or slow down along the way to greet anyone he passed. If it were today, and his servant had been driving an emergency vehicle, his red lights would have been flashing all the way. Gehazi was to run ahead of Elisha (and the boy’s mother) and to place the staff of Elisha on the boy’s face. The boy’s mother refused to leave Elisha’s side. I find it almost amusing to read, “So he got up and followed her back” (verse 30). It is obvious that this woman was setting the pace, and it was Elisha who probably had to work to keep up with her. Here was one determined woman.
Gehazi did as he was told. He ran ahead, found the boy in the upper room, and placed Elisha’s staff on his face. It seems that he watched expectantly as he did this, hoping that he might see some sign of life, but no such sign occurred. Gehazi then went back to meet Elisha, informing him that he had placed the staff on the boy’s face, but that the child did not awaken. When Elisha arrived, he went up to his room, where the child had been laid, with his staff now on the boy’s face. He went in alone and closed the door. The child was dead. There is no doubt about this as we are told this twice (4:20, 32). We are also told that the child did not show any response, and that his body had lost its warmth, so that Elisha had to warm it with his own body (4:34).
Elisha’s actions are not merely the motions of a man attempting to give artificial respiration. It is apparent that the child has been dead for several hours.108 Elisha’s actions did warm the boy’s body (verse 34), but the prophet is not constantly working on the boy. Some of the time, he is pacing about, in prayer I would assume (verses 33, 35). The raising of this boy was no mere resuscitation by means of artificial respiration; it was a raising from the dead, through prayer. We know, of course, that Elisha did not raise this boy; God did.
The lad sneezed seven times and then opened his eyes. Elisha called to Gehazi and told him to get the boy’s mother. When she came to Elisha, he told her to pick up her son. She fell on her face at the prophet’s feet and then picked up her son and went out.
The story is the second one in our text which deals with a mother in distress. The two women are quite different in many ways. The first woman was a widow; the Shunammite woman’s husband was alive. The widow had two children, while the Shunammite woman initially had no children. The widow was poor, and the Shunammite woman was rich. The widow pleads with Elisha for help, and the Shunammite says that she has all she needs. Elisha provided for the needs of the widow, while the Shunammite was intent upon meeting the needs of the prophet.
These two women are very different, but there is a point of commonality. Both of these women had a problem related to children. The widow could not provide for her children, who were about to be taken from her. The Shunammite woman could not produce children, though one was to be given to her. The problem these women shared in common in our text is that they had a need which they were unable to meet. In both cases, God met this need.
In both stories, it is the woman who gets the spotlight. In the case of the widow, we know that her husband was a prophet who “was a loyal follower of the LORD” (verse 1). In the case of the Shunammite woman, her husband is alive, but nevertheless it is the wife who gets all the attention. I must confess a certain amount of bias here, because I somehow find myself not very impressed with the Shunammite’s husband. So far as our text is concerned, it is the woman who is said to be “respected” (NET Bible) or “great” (KJV).109 Nothing complimentary is said of her husband. It is the woman who insists that Elisha stop for a meal (verse 8). She is also the one who suggests to her husband that they make a small upper room for the prophet (verse 9). At best, it would seem, the husband went along with the suggestion. It is to the woman that Elisha wishes to give a token of appreciation. It is this woman who is asked what Elisha can do for her.110 It is the woman who is promised that she will have a child by that time next year. And when the boy was with his father and became seriously ill, the father did not bother to attend to his son personally; instead, he had one of his servants take the child to its mother.111
If my observations about the Shunammite’s husband are correct, there is something for us to learn here. This woman is highly commended and greatly blessed of God, regardless of the spiritual state of her husband. There are some who seem to think that because a wife is to be subject to her husband, her spirituality and ministry are thereby limited by the spirituality of her husband. While it is true that a godly husband enhances the ministry of his wife (see Proverbs 31:10-31), it is not true that the wife of an ungodly husband is completely limited by her mate. One dramatic example of this is Abigail, whom David commends for being a wise and godly woman, whose counsel he heeds—and this in spite of the fact that her husband was a fool (see 1 Samuel 25:1-42). The same may be the case with this Shunammite woman. What a tribute the writer pays to this fine and godly woman.
While I do not believe that the Shunammite presumed Elisha would raise her son, I am convinced that she believed it was a distinct possibility. I am inclined to believe that her faith was like that of Abraham, when he was instructed by God to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice:
16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants—not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”). He is our father in the presence of God whom he believed—the God who makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. 18 Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be.” 19 Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. 22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness (Romans 4:16-22).
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. 18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” 19 and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there (Hebrews 11:17-19).
Abraham was told that he and his wife Sarah would have a child. Even though they were “as good as dead,” so far as having children was concerned, Abraham believed that God was able to do what He promised. And so when the time came that God commanded Abraham to offer Isaac up as a sacrifice, Abraham reasoned on the basis of his faith. He and Sarah were as good as dead, so far as producing a child was concerned, and yet God promised them a child. God’s promise was fulfilled by the birth of Isaac. Now, God commands Abraham to take the life of this same son, Isaac, by offering him as a sacrifice. Abraham knows that God’s promises are linked to this child. Thus, to put this child to death would seem to nullify all of God’s promises which were to be fulfilled through Isaac (and particularly through his offspring). Abraham reasoned that if God could give a child to a couple who were as good as dead in terms of child-bearing, then God could also bring that same child back to life if he offered him as a sacrifice. Thus, Abraham was willing to offer up Isaac because he was certain that God would raise Isaac from the dead.
I believe the Shunammite woman reasoned in a similar fashion. She did not ask for a son, but God gave her the desire of her heart anyway. Now, for some reason, her precious son was dead. She could not believe that God gave her a son in such a special way, only so that she would lose him so early in life. And so it was, I believe, that she placed the child on the prophet’s bed, and then would tell no one of her plight except the prophet himself. In my opinion, the Shunammite would not leave Elisha because she hoped that just as he was the one who promised her the child, he would also be the one to restore this child to life. Why else would she have acted as she did? This woman’s faith was not only rewarded by the raising of her son, it was greatly strengthened. I know there is a certain amount of speculation here, but surely the writer is informing us that something very special took place here.
If I am right, this story illustrates a principle which we see elsewhere in Scripture: God finishes what He starts. Paul put it this way:
For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).
28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 29 because those whom God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those God predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified (Romans 8:28-30).
Is it not comforting to know that what God starts always gets finished, because God always finishes what He starts? I believe this was what gave the Shunammite woman hope.
We should also observe that there is a rather obvious similarity between Elijah’s raising of the widow’s son in 1 King’s 17:17-24 and Elisha’s raising of the Shunammite’s son in our text. Once again our author appears to be emphasizing the fact that the miracles which Elijah performed were matched by Elisha. Surely Elisha is Elijah’s successor.
38 Now Elisha went back to Gilgal, while there was famine in the land. Some of the prophets were visiting him and he told his servant, “Put the big pot on the fire and boil some stew for the prophets.” 39 Someone went out to the field to gather some herbs and found a wild vine. He picked some of its fruit, enough to fill up the fold of his robe. He came back, cut it up, and threw the slices into the stew pot, not knowing they were harmful. 40 The stew was poured out for the men to eat. When they ate some of the stew, they cried out, “Death is in the pot, O prophet!” They could not eat it. 41 He said, “Get some flour.” Then he threw it into the pot and said, “Now pour some out for the men so they may eat.” There was no longer anything harmful in the pot.
These were difficult days in Israel. Our text begins with the notation that there was a famine in the land at the time (verse 38). There was not much food to be had at the time, and yet a group of prophets showed up at Gilgal while Elisha was there, and it was obvious that they needed to be fed. Elisha instructed his servant to put the large pot on the fire and to make some stew. (Stew, in my opinion, was and sometimes still is the equivalent of a casserole. Casseroles are sometimes emergency measures, when there is either little time or little food available. I know I have just revealed my prejudice here.) Someone went out to scare up more food to add to the stew and came upon something growing on a wild vine. He picked an apron-full of this fruit and took it back to the “kitchen,” where he cut up the fruit and put it in the pot. (I am of the opinion that others were doing likewise, so that this stew was absolutely a unique recipe.) When the stew was dished out, some began to eat it, and promptly spit it out (this is reading between the lines a bit). We know for certain that they cried out, “Death is in the pot!” I have paraphrased this, “There’s poison in the pot!”
This was not only embarrassing, it was a serious problem. It may well be that the last available ingredients had been put in that pot, so that throwing it all out and starting over was impossible. These visiting prophets were hungry after their journey, and they would have to be fed before they could be sent on their way. What was to be done? The solution was to “save the stew.” Elisha instructed someone to bring him some flour (or perhaps meal). He took the flour and placed it in the pot, and then instructed that the stew be served. The stew had been saved. I am of the personal opinion that the stew was not only nutritious and filling, but that it was also flavorful. I can hardly imagine the stew being served and the guests making horrid faces due to the taste of the stuff, edible or not. If this stew was like the wine our Lord made from water, then it was really great tasting stuff.
42 Now a man from Baal Shalisha brought some food for the prophet—twenty loaves of bread made from the firstfruits of the barley harvest, as well as fresh ears of grain. Elisha said, “Set it before the people so they may eat.” 43 But his attendant said, “How can I feed 100 men with this?” He replied, “Set it before the people so they may eat, for this is what the LORD says, ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” 44 So it he set it before them; they ate and had some left over, just as the LORD predicted.
I would understand that this meal too was served in a time of famine. A man came from Baal Shalisha, bearing the firstfruits of his barley harvest—twenty loaves of bread and some fresh ears of grain. Normally, these offerings would have been brought to the priest in Jerusalem, but this is Israel, and there is no temple or priesthood here. And so the man who wished to abide by the law brought his offerings to the next best person—the prophet Elisha. It is interesting that this man is said to have come from Baal Shalisha. The name of this town includes the name of the heathen god, Baal, which would suggest that this was not a very godly place. Yet in spite of this, the man came to Elisha to present his offering.
Elisha seems to see these firstfruits as firstfruits. They were the promise of more to come. He instructed that this bread and the ears of grain be fed to the people who were there. Elisha’s attendant pointed out the obvious—there was not enough bread or grain to go around. The food was adequate to feed a few, but those gathered to eat were about 100. Elisha was told the obvious. He assured his attendant that God had spoken concerning this matter. The LORD had promised that “They will eat and have some left over.” It will not only prove to be enough, it will be more than enough. And so the food was set out, as Elisha instructed, and when the meal was over, there was food left over, just as God had said.
The similarity of this to the feedings of the 5,000 and the 4,000 is obvious. This miracle is a prototype of the bread our Lord will provide, in even greater quantities. He who was able to “heal” the waters of the spring at Jericho was also able to “save the stew” and to “stretch a meal” far beyond its normal limits. Did Elijah provide food for the widow and her son? Elisha provided oil for a widow and her children, which put food on their table for a long time. Elisha also provided bread for 100 people. Surely Elisha is able to do what Elijah did, and perhaps even more. Elisha is surely Elijah’s replacement.
This past week, we celebrated Thanksgiving. Our tables were filled with all sorts of delicious food, and our refrigerators are probably still overflowing with leftovers. For us, several of the stories in our text must sound foreign. Very few of us have suffered the kind of debt the widow in our text faced, with the likelihood of losing her children as well. Most Americans know of a famine only by reading about it. The closest we come to experiencing the needs we read of in our text is the great depression, and there are few who are old enough to remember that. (My friend, Betty Bob Edling reminded me that she was in the depression, and she does remember it!) The times have been few when we have found it necessary to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).
Those times could come in the future. Some fear they will come. But let me remind you of what our text should teach us about times of need: God provides for His people. Yes, we see that these miracles are performed by Elisha and that these accredit him as Elijah’s replacement. But behind all this, we see that it is really God who provides—a livelihood for the widow and her children, a son for the childless Shunammite woman, and food for those in a time of famine. God provides. Let us not forget this as we face the new year.
I think I should also point out that God does not always provide as early as we would prefer. The widow and her children were on the brink of disaster. The Shunammite woman seemed to be past the time when she and her husband could have a child, and it surely seemed too late to revive the boy, after he had been dead for several hours. God waited until the stew seemed to be the last meal for these visiting prophets, but in every case, God provided, after it became apparent that men were helpless in and of themselves. I believe God sometimes waits until it is apparent that we are desperately needy, so that He will get the glory and so that our faith will grow.
With a text like this, there is always the possibility of misinterpretation and abuse. In these four stories, we find God miraculously providing for the needs of His people. As I have considered this text and its message to us, I was reminded of the response of the Jews to our Lord’s miraculous provision of food for the 5,000 as recorded in the Gospel of John:
32 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the solemn truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread all the time!” (John 6:32-34, emphasis mine).
How sad it was that when Jesus so marvelously provided for the physical needs of this crowd, they did not grasp the meaning of it all, even though He explained it to them! His provision of food for the physical needs of this crowd was meant to show them that He had been sent to meet a much greater and more desperate need—the need for eternal life. He had come as the “Bread from heaven,” so that those who “ate” of Him could have eternal life. He had come as the “Good Shepherd” to “lay down His life for the flock” (John 10:11). He had come as the One who would die for their sins, and who would be raised from the dead so that they might live a drastically different kind of life here and now—life everlasting. But all they could think of was their stomachs.
My friend, I hope that you will see that God is the great Provider. Our text provides us with a few illustrations of how God provides for His people. But the most important provision of all is that of the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. This is something which everyone desperately needs. It is something we can never provide for ourselves. It is something God has provided for us in the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ. Do not fail to receive this salvation, the greatest Gift anyone can ever receive.
And finally, let me caution you not to see this text as a pretext for laziness. God does provide, but it is very clear from His Word that He normally provides for us as we work by the sweat of our brows, and as we look to Him to bless our labors so that we can eat and have clothing. And when there are those exceptional times when there are great physical needs within the church and the world, God’s normal way of providing for these is through our hard work and our sacrificial giving:
The one who steals must steal no longer; rather he must labor, doing good with his own hands, so that he may share with the one who has need (Ephesians 4:28).
32 And now I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace. This message is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have desired no one’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine provided for my needs and the needs of those who were with me. 35 By all these things, I have shown you that by working in this way we must help the weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:32-35).
Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep yourself unstained by the world (James 1:27).
Let us not expect God to miraculously provide for us or for those around us when it is within our means to provide through our own labor and sacrifice. And when we labor hard and share with those in need, let us be encouraged by the knowledge that we manifest God’s love and care as we do so.
107 Not only did the neighbors loan this woman their containers, they probably purchased some of her oil. That oil, like the wine Jesus created at the wedding in Cana, must have been the best one could buy, so I’m sure many were eager to purchase oil from her.
108 The child died in his mother’s arms. His mother then had to speak with her husband, acquire a donkey and a servant, and then make her way to Elisha on Mount Carmel, and then return. This had to take several hours.
109 The NIV renders “well-to-do,” the NAU, “prominent,” the NKJV, “notable,” and the NLT, “woman of rank.”
110 The two “you’s” in verse 13 are feminine singular, excluding the husband. Note also the “for her” in verse 14.
111 While it is only inferential, from the way the husband responds to his wife’s request for a donkey and a servant in 4:23, I get the impression that this woman went up to the prophet alone, and that he did not go to celebrate or worship with her.
I am going to tell you a story in which the names and some of the details have been changed. A young woman was experiencing some painful physical symptoms, and so she contacted her health care provider and explained her troubles. She was given a bureaucratic response. It would take several weeks for her to see her primary care doctor. This doctor would then determine if further testing or diagnosis were required. After several weeks, she was able to get in to the first doctor, who scheduled an appointment with a different doctor, again with several weeks delay. Time went on, and the woman’s pain got significantly worse. Eventually, she was unable to go to work. Finally, her “request” for medical help turned into her husband’s “insistence” that something be done, immediately. The health provider responded, but hardly in a timely manner, and after several blunders, the woman was informed that the tests showed there was nothing seriously wrong with her.
A friend of the family happened to be a doctor who specialized in such matters, and he asked for permission to personally take a look at the test results. This led to a consultation with one of the finest medical minds available, and they agreed that there was an obvious problem—a tumor—which the woman’s health care system had failed to detect. A letter was written by highly respected medical authorities, and suddenly the health care system responded with the necessary surgery a few months late. Finally, the problem was identified and solved, but only after pressure was applied “from the top down.”
Requests for help from the “bottom up” (i.e., from the patient) had not been taken seriously. A letter from the “top down” got immediate results. I think you and I would agree that if we had our choice of approaching a problem like this from the “bottom up” or from the “top down,” we would almost certainly opt for the “top down” approach. The fact is that in the world in which we live, this is the approach that seems to work best. It is the system of choice. The problem is that we don’t usually have anyone “at the top” to whom we can appeal.
The story of the healing of Naaman in 2 Kings 5:1-27 is the account of a man with a very serious medical problem—leprosy. He found no help in his own country, but he had heard that there was a cure available in Israel. He commenced a “top down” approach to bring about his healing, but, to his dismay, found that this method didn’t work. He learned that God had a “bottom up” solution to his problem. Our text describes how God graciously frustrates Naaman’s “top down” approach and initiates a “bottom up” solution. The fact of the matter is that God is not impressed or moved by man’s “top down” efforts, because it is God who is at the top, and not men, not even men of position and power, like Naaman, or the kings of Syria and Israel. We should listen well and learn about this “bottom up” system, because it is normally the way that God works, especially when it comes to the salvation of men.
1 Now Naaman, the commander of the army of the king of Syria, was esteemed and respected by his master, for through him the LORD had given Syria military victories. But this great warrior had a skin disease. 2 Raiding parties went out from Syria and took captive from the land of Israel a young girl, who became Naaman’s wife’s servant. 3 She told her mistress, “If only my master were in the presence of the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his skin disease.”
The first thing we are told about Naaman is that he was a great man, highly esteemed by his master, the king of Syria. This is the kind of thing which impresses men. It is also the kind of thing which causes some people to think that God should be impressed as well. They foolishly reason that powerful people should gain a hearing from God.
1 After Jesus had finished teaching all this to the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion there had an esteemed slave, who was sick and at the point of death. 3 When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they urged him earnestly, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5 because he loves our nation and he built us our synagogue.” 6 So Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7 That is why I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and my servant must be healed. 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him. He turned and said to the crowd that followed him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 So when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well (Luke 7:1-10, emphasis mine).
The centurion knew better than the Jews. They sought to persuade Jesus to heal the centurion’s servant, mainly on the basis of his deeds—deeds from which they benefited greatly. The centurion contradicted the appeal of the Jewish elders. He knew that he was unworthy to have Jesus journey to his home and to come under his roof. He believed that Jesus could heal his servant, and he was also convinced that the Lord’s authority was so great that distance would not hinder Him. And so he requested that Jesus heal his servant “long distance,” by the mere speaking of a word. The Jewish leaders had a “top down” mentality. They were impressed with the centurion’s position and power, but even more by his works on their behalf. The centurion knew that he was unworthy of our Lord’s presence, and so he modified their request to one that was consistent with his assessment of himself and of Jesus. No wonder Jesus had good words to say about this Gentile’s faith.
In our text in the Book of 2 Kings, the author begins by telling us how great Naaman was. He was a “giant” in the mind of his master, the king of Syria. He had been incredibly successful in leading the Syrians in their attacks against Israel. Our author goes on to inform us that Naaman was indeed a great warrior (verse 1), but then he goes on to tell us something that neither Naaman nor his king knew—Naaman’s military success was not primarily the result of his courage or military skills; it was the result of God’s sovereign plan and purpose: “for through him the LORD had given Syria military victories” (verse 1). Naaman’s success in his battles with Israel was God’s judgment on Israel, because of the sins of His people:
23 “The heavens above your heads will be as brass and the earth beneath you as iron. 24 The LORD will make the rain of your land like powder and dust; it will come down upon you from the sky until you are destroyed.…” 45 “All these curses will fall upon you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you do not obey the LORD your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has demanded of you. 46 These curses will be as a sign and wonder with reference to you and your descendants forever. 47 Because you have not served the LORD your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, 48 you will instead serve your enemies whom he will send against you bringing hunger, thirst, nakedness, and lack of everything; they will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you” (Deuteronomy 28:23-24, 45-48).
As great as he is, Namaan has one very serious problem—he has leprosy. He is still highly esteemed by his master, the king of Syria, but there is hardly a disease which could be more devastating to Naaman. It would surely spell the end of his military career, and in time, perhaps his life as well. I am sure that he attempted every possible cure that money could buy in Syria, but with no success. A ray of hope came from a most unlikely source—an Israelite slave girl, the servant of Naaman’s wife. She had been captured by the Syrians on one of the raids they had successfully carried out against Israel.
This Israelite slave girl is a most remarkable person. She has every reason to hate Naaman and his wife. Her master is responsible for many raids against Israel, and therefore the death of many Israelites—perhaps even this young girl’s parents. Instead of hating her master and finding a certain amount of pleasure in his humiliating disease, this young girl seems to genuinely care about the well-being of her master and her mistress. She manifests true submission, which is seen in her desire to bring about what is in her master’s best interest. In this regard, she is much like Daniel, who in his youth was also torn away from his family by a nation that was an enemy of Israel. Nevertheless, he found no pleasure in having to inform the king (Nebuchadnezzar) that the prophecy he had received foretold some very humbling days for him (Daniel 4:19). Naaman’s healing and salvation are directly attributable to the faithfulness of this young girl.
The word “young” in verse 2 is translated “little” in several versions of the Bible (KJV, NAU, NJB), and “young” in others (NET Bible, NIV, NKJV). The word in the original text seems to be almost the opposite of the word “respected”112 in 2 Kings 4:8, describing the Shunammite woman. I believe the author is not only telling us that this “little” girl is “young,” but that she is a person of no social standing whatever. She is on the bottom rung of the Syrian social ladder. (By the way, as a leper, Naaman is nearly on a par with her, socially, perhaps even a bit lower.) It was no doubt humbling for Naaman to have to act on the advice of his young and insignificant Israelite slave girl, but he was a desperate man.
4 Naaman went and told his master what the girl from the land of Israel had said. 5 The king of Syria said, “Go! I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten units of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, and ten suits of clothes. 6 He brought the letter to king of Israel. It said, “This is a letter of introduction for my servant Naaman, whom I have sent to be cured of his skin disease.” 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill or restore life? Why does he ask me to cure a man of his skin disease? Certainly you must see that he is looking for an excuse to fight me.”
Neither Naaman nor his wife seems to have doubted the testimony of the Israelite servant girl. He is faced with a very real problem with protocol. How does a Syrian military commander like Naaman go about requesting the help of an Israelite prophet? The prophet is the prophet of Yahweh, the one true God. This means that for all intents and purposes, Naaman will be admitting that his “gods” are powerless to heal him, and that only Israel’s God can do so. This also places Naaman in the very awkward position of having to travel to Israel, a country that he has often entered in his official position as commander of the armies of Syria. In the past, he has come to Israel to attack it and to take prisoners. Now, he needs help from an influential leader in Israel. How does one handle a sticky situation like this?
There seem to be only two possible approaches. The first is the ego-saving method of using the “top down” approach. The second would require Naaman to humble himself and to ask for healing—the “bottom up” approach. Not surprisingly, Naaman and his master, the king of Syria, chose the “top down” approach. He obtained the king of Syria’s permission and assistance to pursue healing in Israel. The king of Syria wrote a letter to the king of Israel, politely demanding that he see to it that Naaman be healed. And if the letter would not intimidate the king of Israel into arranging for Naaman’s healing, there was also the incentive provided by the offer of the money which Naaman had brought with him. Besides, paying well for his healing would keep Naaman on “higher ground”(i.e., higher status), thus enabling him to maintain his dignity. (If it is embarrassing to have to ask for a ride in someone else’s car; it is not embarrassing for you to ride in the Rolls Royce for which you paid a small fortune.)
The king of Syria’s request was one that the king of Israel could hardly refuse, and yet it seemed that he had no way of fulfilling it. As the reader can see, it was really not a problem at all, but the king of Israel failed to see the solution.113 The king of Syria assumed that there was a close relationship between the king of Israel and the prophet of Israel, as there should have been. Upon receiving this letter, the king of Israel should have called for Elisha the prophet, who could heal Naaman. But because the kings of Israel had ceased to seek divine guidance, and because they assumed that the prophets always spoke against them,114 it never entered this king’s mind to turn to Elisha for help when he was in trouble.
The king’s words, “Am I God? Can I kill or restore life?” (verse 7) are most enlightening. The king knows that only God can restore a man to life or cure a leper. The reader knows that both Elijah (1 Kings 17:17-24) and Elisha (2 Kings 4:18-27) have raised someone from the dead. If the curing of the sick and raising of the dead is work which only God can do, then why does it not occur to the king of Israel that the prophet who speaks for God can heal Naaman? Is it that the king does not think of seeking God’s help through the prophet -- or that he refuses to do so?
In spite of the king of Israel’s folly, Elisha heard that the king had torn his clothes and so he sent word to the king. His words were a rebuke for the king’s distress, which was completely inappropriate in this situation. There was no need for the king to tear his garments; all the king needed to do was to send Naaman to Elisha to be healed. In this way, Naaman would come to know that there was indeed a prophet in Israel (verse 8).
8 When Elisha the prophet heard that the king had torn his clothes, he sent this message to the king, “Why did you tear your clothes? Send him to me so he may know there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood in the doorway of Elisha’s house. 10 Elisha sent out a messenger who told him, “Go and wash seven times in the Jordan; your skin will be restored and you will be healed.” 11 Naaman went away angry. He said: “Look, I thought for sure he would come out, stand there, invoke the name of the LORD his God, wave his hand over the area, and cure the skin disease. 12 The rivers of Damascus, the Abana and Pharpar, are better than any of the waters of Israel. Could I not wash in them and be healed?” So he turned around and went away angry. 13 His servants approached and said to him, “O master, if the prophet had told you to do some difficult task, you would have been willing to do it. It seems you would be happy that he simply said, “Wash and you will be healed.” 14 So he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, as the prophet had instructed. His skin became as smooth as a young child’s and he was healed.
Naaman arrived at Elisha’s house with his whole retinue of attendants. It must have been a most impressive sight to behold. I believe this is precisely what Naaman hoped for, because he was still seeking to be healed from “the top down.” Can you imagine what Gehazi must have thought as he looked out the window and saw this entourage arriving?
Surely Naaman expected the “red carpet” treatment, because he was a VIP. He was a revered and feared military commander. He had a letter from the king of Syria, and he had just come from the king of Israel, with whom he had an audience, even though he had dropped in unexpectedly. Naaman had his own preconceived ideas about how his healing should take place. He assumed that on his arrival, Elisha would be duly impressed with his power and prestige, and that he would take note of all the chariots (not just one) parked outside his door, along with those who accompanied him. He would have liked to have been able to point out that he had come with silver and gold and fine garments to pay for Elisha’s services. He could not imagine anyone not seizing this opportunity.
Likewise, he expected that this “miracle for hire” would be performed with all the pomp and circumstance that such an occasion required. After all, if you go out to eat at a fine restaurant, you expect the service to greatly surpass that which you would receive at a fast food restaurant. In Naaman’s mind, he envisioned Elisha coming out personally and giving him his undivided attention. Naaman anticipated that the miracle would then be performed immediately, in some dramatic fashion (not unlike some religious folks perform for their television audiences today). He would certainly call on the name of his god115 and wave his hand over the diseased area, healing Naaman with the style and dignity that suited a man of his stature.
Things did not go as Naaman expected. From what we can read, there is no indication the king of Syria’s letter ever was read to Elisha, or that anyone even had the chance to explain why Naaman had come. As a prophet (or seer) of God, Elisha would not necessarily have had to be told why Naaman had come—he could have known (see 2 Kings 5:26). And of course the prophet could also have been informed by someone who had been there when Naaman appeared before the king of Israel. I am inclined to think that Gehazi came out and began to convey Elisha’s message to Naaman before this Syrian commander had the chance to say anything. This was a way of letting Naaman know from the beginning that Elisha was in charge. And so Gehazi conveys Elisha words to Naaman: Naaman is to go to the Jordan River and to immerse himself seven times, after which he will most certainly be healed of his leprosy.
When Naaman hears this message, communicated to him by a (mere) servant, he becomes furious. He is insulted that he has not been treated in a manner worthy of his position. He expected to deal directly with the prophet and to “take charge” of his healing. He wanted the prophet to heal him immediately and in the manner he expected. He was insulted that he would be told to immerse himself. Worse yet, he was greatly angered that he would be told to immerse himself in the muddy waters of the Jordan. In his homeland, there were many beautiful rivers. If he had to immerse himself, he would do so in one of the crystal clear rivers of Syria, like the Abana or the Pharpar.
Why is Naaman so angry? What is the problem? Naaman was offended because his pride had been wounded. If he were to be “saved” from his incurable disease, he wanted to be saved “his way,” in a way that was easy on his ego, and which left him in control of the situation. It was humiliating enough for a Syrian celebrity to come to Israel and to seek healing from an Israelite prophet. But to be told he must be healed in such a humiliating fashion was more than he was willing to tolerate.
Fortunately for Naaman, his servants reasoned with him and prevailed. They were very diplomatic with their master, and their argument was convincing. Naaman was desperately in need. He was willing to pay a very high price, or to do something very difficult, if necessary. If Naaman was willing to do something great, why would he not happily do something small? Why be troubled by meeting a small demand when he was willing to meet a large demand? We know the answer: pride. Naaman grasps the logic of the argument and concedes the point. He goes to the Jordan and dips himself seven times in its waters. And when he comes forth after dipping the final time, his skin was like that of a young child. He was completely healed.
15 He and his entire entourage returned to the prophet. Naaman came and stood before him. He said, “For sure I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now, please accept a gift from your servant.” 16 But Elisha replied, “As certainly as the LORD lives (whom I serve), I will take nothing from you.” Naaman insisted that he take it, but he refused. 17 Naaman said, “If not, then please give your servant a load of dirt, enough for a pair of mules to carry, for your servant will never again offer a burnt offering or sacrifice to a god other than the LORD. 18 May the LORD forgive your servant for this: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to worship, and he leans on my arm and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this.” 19 Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.”
The man who did not even see Elisha when he first arrived outside his house now has a face-to-face conversation with the prophet. Naaman’s words are exactly what we would hope for in a new believer. I think our author meant for Naaman to be a rebuke to the Israelites who would read this account. Here was a man whom we would have called a “raw pagan” at the time he first arrived in Israel. There is a radical change in this man’s attitudes and actions after his healing. Naaman came from a country that worshipped false gods, and yet after his healing, he was able to confess, “I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel” (verse 15).
It is one thing to say that God alone is God, but Naaman sought to apply this newly obtained knowledge. First, Naaman sought to apply this knowledge as it related to his personal worship. It may seem somewhat strange to us, but Naaman asked Elisha for two mule loads of earth to take back to Syria with him. Here is a man who recently boasted that the waters of Syria were far superior to the waters found in the River Jordan. Now, he finds Israelite soil more precious than Syrian soil. How can this be?
I would suggest to you that this request on Naaman’s part reveals a depth of insight not found in many Israelites. Way back in the Book of Genesis we read of Jacob fleeing from his older brother, Esau, because he had bargained him out of his birthright and had also stolen his blessing. As he was about to leave Israel, he had a dream in the night:
10 Jacob left Beersheba and started to go to Haran. 11 When he came on a place he spent the night there because the sun had gone down. He took one of the stones of the place and set it at the place for his head; and then lay down in that place. 12 And he dreamed, and there was a stairway standing on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens; and there the angels of God were going up and coming down on it; 13 and there the LORD stood above it. And he said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you are lying will I give to you and to your descendants. 14 And your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 And I am with you, and will protect you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have said to you.” 16 Then Jacob woke up from his sleep; and he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I knew it not!” 17 He was afraid, and he said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven!” 18 And early in the morning Jacob took the stone which he had placed at his head and set it up as a standing stone and poured oil on the top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Beth-el, although formerly the name of the city was Luz (Genesis 28:10-19).
Because of this dream Jacob came to understand a very important truth. God had chosen to mediate His blessings to the world through Abraham and his offspring (the Jews). God had not only chosen to identify Himself with a particular people (the Jews, and particularly the Messiah), but He had identified Himself with a particular place (the land of Israel, and particularly Jerusalem). Jacob took special notice of the ground on which the ladder in his dream had rested—this Israelite soil on which he had spent the night. He saw that the presence of God was particularly associated with the land of Israel, and thus even though he was leaving that land, it was his intention to return to it.116
Somehow, Naaman had come to grasp this same truth, at least in some measure. If God’s presence was associated with the land of Israel, then how could Naaman possibly worship God on Syrian soil? His solution was to take some Israelite soil with him. On those two donkeys, Naaman took “a little bit of Israel” back to Syria with him. It was on this soil that he planned to worship the God of Israel from now on. Here was a man who was committed to worship the God he had just confessed as God alone.
Naaman was concerned about his worship in another way, which concerned his work. As commander of the army of the king of Syria, it would seem that he was also the king’s bodyguard. As such, he would accompany the king wherever he went, providing him with protection. This included the king’s worship of his heathen god at the temple of Rimmon. The king would literally be leaning on Naaman’s arm as he bowed down to his god, and this would require Naaman to bow down, too. Naaman assured Elisha that even though he might be bowing down with the king, he would no longer be worshipping Syrian gods. That was now a part of his past.
With these words, this new convert, Naaman, revealed insight which the people of Israel lacked. He knew that to truly worship God, he must worship as God had instructed. He knew as well that to worship God alone meant that he could worship no other gods. When I read Naaman’s words here, I cannot help but think of the words of another Gentile in Jesus’ day, the words of a centurion:
5 When he came into Capernaum a centurion came to him asking for help, 6 saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, in terrible anguish.” 7 Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Instead, just speak a word and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority; I have soldiers under me, and I say to this one, ‘Go’ and he goes, and to another ‘Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this he was amazed and said to those who followed him, “I tell you the truth, I have not found faith like this in anyone in Israel! 11 I tell you, many will come from the east and west to share the banquet with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go; just as you believed, it will be done for you.” And the servant was healed at that hour (Matthew 8:5-13, emphasis mine).117
This Gentile centurion had faith that was greater than most Israelites, and so did the Gentile, Naaman.
Naaman responded in another way to his newly found faith in God. He sought to show his appreciation by offering Elisha the payment for services rendered which he had brought with him. He had originally planned to purchase his healing, and Elisha had overruled that plan. But now that he is healed, I think Naaman simply wishes to meet Elisha and to sincerely express his deep gratitude and appreciation. We know that he wanted to discuss his concerns about worshipping the one true God appropriately.
Naaman was prepared to express a great deal of gratitude. He had brought with him 10 units of silver, 6,000 shekels of gold, and 10 suits of clothes (verse 5). It is difficult and probably impossible to express this in monetary terms that would be meaningful to us, but one Old Testament text makes it clear that this “payment” was worth a great deal of money. In 1 Kings 16:24, we are told that king Omri of Israel paid Shemer two talents of silver for the hill on which he then built the capital city of Samaria. The silver alone which Naaman brought was worth five times this much, and that does not take into account the gold and the clothing. Naaman came prepared to pay generously for his healing.
Naaman was completely healed, and he could not have been happier with the results of his visit to Israel. It is easy to see why he would wish to meet with Elisha, and why he would gladly leave all that he had brought with him to pay for his healing. He urged Elisha to take it, but Elisha firmly refused. This was a work of God’s grace, and he did not want Naaman to have any confusion on this point. Elisha did not want to leave room for Naaman to conclude that he had contributed, in some measure, to his healing. It was only after it became clear that Elisha would not be persuaded to take any gift that Naaman asked if he could take some Israelite soil back to Syria. As Naaman left to return to his homeland, it was apparent that he had gained much and had lost nothing but his arrogance and his leprosy.
When he had gone a short distance, 20 Gehazi, the prophet Elisha’s servant, thought, “Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him. As certainly as the LORD lives, I will run after him and accept something from him.” 21 So Gehazi ran after Naaman. When Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from his chariot to meet him and asked, “Is everything okay?” 22 He answered, “Everything is fine. My master sent me with this message, ‘Look, two servants of the prophets just arrived from the Ephraimite hill country. Please give them a unit of silver and two suits of clothes.’” 23 Naaman said, “Please accept two units of silver. He insisted and tied up two units of silver in two bags, along with two suits of clothes. He gave them to two of his servants and they carried them for Gehazi. 24 When he arrived at the hill, he took them from the servants and put them in the house. Then he sent the men on their way.
25 When he came and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” He answered, “Your servant hasn’t been anywhere.” 26 Elisha replied, “I was there in spirit when a man turned and got down from his chariot to meet you. This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants. 27 Therefore Naaman’s skin disease will afflict you and your offspring forever.” When Gehazi went out from his presence, his skin was as white as snow.
One of the young people in the audience of our church suggested this title for our text: “A Great Medical Miracle: The World’s First Leprosy Transplant.” That’s not bad. Gehazi seems to have stood there, gazing at all that gold and silver that was going back to Syria. Somehow to him, it seemed terribly wrong. I fear that there was a Judas-like spirit in Gehazi. The money, which meant nothing to Elisha, meant a great deal to Gehazi. And think of how Gehazi could have rationalized taking the money. Like Judas, he could have argued that these were difficult days, with famines and economic hard times. That money could have been used to feed the poor.118 This would overlook the fact that the poor had been fed anyway, without the use of “foreign funds.”
Note the resolve of Gehazi: “As certainly as the LORD lives, I will run after him and accept something from him” (verse 20). This was a very purposeful act on Gehazi’s part. Gehazi’s words are strikingly similar to Elisha’s words in verse 16: “As certainly as the LORD lives (whom I serve), I will take nothing from you.” Is Elisha determined not to take any gift from Naaman? Gehazi is just as determined to do so.
Besides his greed, there are yet two more things which make Gehazi’s sin so sinister. I have already suggested that Gehazi’s sin was Judas-like. I would also like to suggest that Gehazi was Ananias-like (Acts 5:1-11). Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, conspired to hold back a portion of the money they received from the sale of their property. In doing so, they had to lie about the amount they had received for the sale of the property. Gehazi also has to concoct a story, which is a complete fabrication. He does not ask for all of the treasure that Naaman has brought with him. Perhaps he finds some consolation in this. But he does tell Naaman a story which seems in keeping with the character of Elisha, who refused to accept any gratuity from Naaman.
After Elisha is “out of sight” (or so it seems), Gehazi runs after Naaman’s chariot, and Naaman, looking back, sees him and stops and waits for him. Gehazi them tells Naaman that circumstances have suddenly changed, so that there now is a need that Naaman can meet. Gehazi tells Naaman that two young men have just arrived from the sons of the prophets in the hill country of Ephraim. The inference is that these men are in great need (or, perhaps, that those from whom they had just come were in need as well) and that a “contribution” from Naaman would meet their needs, and yet still not be a gift to Elisha. It was all a lie. It was not Elisha who made the request, and it was neither Elisha nor “two young men from the hill country of Ephraim” that would benefit from this gift. Gehazi was looking out for himself.
There is one final thing that is most distressing about Gehazi in our text. His words betray a strong sense of racial pride and prejudice. Listen to them carefully: “Look, my master did not accept what this Syrian Naaman offered him” (verse 20). Do you sense the prejudice behind these words? It is not just, “Naaman.” It is not even, “This rich man, Naaman,” but rather, “this Syrian Naaman.” It is almost as though Gehazi had said, “This Syrian, by his deeds (as commander of the Syrian army) has made Israel pay dearly. Now it is time for him to pay, and pay well.” I think this helped to salve the conscience of Gehazi, as he did this evil thing.
Gehazi is like Judas in that he does not seem to have learned anything from his master. To put it just a little differently, very little of Elisha has (as we say) “rubbed off on Gehazi.” He did not share Elisha’s convictions about refusing gifts from Gentiles. He did not seem to share the joy of seeing Naaman healed and worshipping the God of Israel. He did not seem to grasp that Naaman’s success was God-given. He did not have a commitment to tell the truth. And he did not even have the common sense to know better than to try to lie to Elisha, the “seer.”
Let us not forget who Gehazi was—he was Elisha’s servant. We should remind ourselves of the relationship between Elisha and Elijah’s before Elijah’s death:
Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here that we might seek the LORD’s direction?” One of the servants of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shapat is here; he used to be Elijah’s servant” (2 Kings 3:11).
It is my opinion that as the servant of Elisha, Gehazi might have assumed an even greater role after his death. While Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of his spirit (2 Kings 2:9), it would seem that Gehazi wanted nothing to do with the spirit of Elisha. How tragic.
Naaman had two of his men carry the gift of silver and clothes, but Gehazi stopped them before they reached the house where Elisha was. Gehazi hid this treasure in the house, where he was sure Elisha would not see it, but his sin was already known to the “seer.” When Gehazi went in and stood before Elisha, the prophet asked him where he had been. Here was his chance to tell the truth and to repent of his sin. Gehazi chose instead to tell yet another lie. He denied that he had been anywhere. This would have been hard for anyone to believe, but surely Gehazi should have known better than to try and deceive a prophet.
I can only imagine how Gehazi’s heart stopped when Elisha informed him that he has seen it all. He was there all the time, in spirit, observing his servant’s sin. The lie had been exposed and rebuked. Now Elisha turns his attention to the sin itself—Gehazi’s greed and desire to accumulate riches.
“This is not the proper time to accept silver or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants” (2 Kings 5:26b).
Elisha’s words are most interesting. We do not find it difficult to understand why he would say that it was not the time to accept silver or clothes. This is what Gehazi did accept from Naaman. But why does Elisha add “olive groves, vineyards, sheep, cattle, and male and female servants”? I can venture a guess. I would imagine that this is what Gehazi intended to purchase with the silver he had acquired from Naaman.
Was it wrong for anyone to possess such things at that time? I would have to say that the answer must be “No.” The Shunammite woman was quite wealthy, and we would assume that she and her husband possessed all these things. We certainly know that Naaman possessed such things, and Elisha does not require him to give them up. Indeed, he sends Naaman back with the wealth he brought to Israel.
It is my opinion that Elisha’s comments are directed specifically to Gehazi. He tells Gehazi that it is not the time to “accept” these things. That is, it was not the appropriate time to accept gifts from Naaman. He had just been healed, and to accept his gifts at this time might give Naaman the impression that his healing was something other than a gift of God’s grace, unearned and unmerited. If Naaman was allowed to think that he contributed anything to his healing, he would fail to grasp the grace of God in his healing and in his salvation. Thus, the taking of these gifts from Naaman was wrong.
It seems to me that Gehazi wanted very much to accept some of Naaman’s gifts because he was a Syrian. In my opinion, this is the very reason why Elisha refused to accept his gifts—because he was a Syrian. He was not an Israelite, like the Shunammite woman, who was intelligently giving expression to her faith. When Jesus sent out His disciples, He expected that people would provide for them and support them, as an expression of their faith. We see the same thing with Lydia, after she believed in Jesus as Messiah (Acts 16:15). But Naaman did not have this Jewish/Israelite background, and so Elisha does not want to leave him any wrong impressions.
Further, it was not “the time” to accept Naaman’s gifts. For Naaman, the gift would have come too close in time to his healing. But in addition to this, this was a time when God was seeking to get Israel’s attention, through drought and famines, through military threats, and through prophetic miracles and teaching. As the servant of a prophet—and likely as one of the sons of the prophets—Gehazi did not do well to be seeking to get ahead at the very time God was making things difficult for those who had forsaken Him. Gehazi could not serve two masters, Elisha and material things. These were the “last days” for Israel, and so Gehazi’s efforts to accumulate possessions were completely inappropriate, especially for one associated with the prophets.
Like Judas Iscariot, Gehazi had been close to God’s spokesman. As the servant of Elisha, he had seen the hand of God at work through his master, and he had heard the Word of God. And yet he chose to forsake his master for material things, to cling to lies rather than the truth, to seek to gain rather than to give. And for all of this Gehazi gains nothing, except leprosy. This servant, who seems to despise Naaman, the Gentile, is Gehazi, the leper. He finds that he is no better than Naaman; in fact, Naaman is now far better than he, in body and in spirit.
It may be that Gehazi later repents and is restored, because we shall find him again in chapter 8. It would seem that the events in chapter 8 take place at a later time than the events of chapter 5. It is true, however, that our author (as other Hebrew writers) is not always as concerned with chronological sequence as we are, and thus all of the incidents we find in this book may not be chronological. At least it is possible that Gehazi, like Miriam before him, repented of his sin and was healed of his leprosy (see Numbers 12:10-15).
What an incredible story this is of the healing of Naaman, and correspondingly of the “sickening” of Gehazi. There are many important lessons to learn here, so allow me to point out a few as we conclude this study.
First, I find it informative to contrast two Israelite servants in this text, Gehazi and the slave girl who served Naaman and his wife. The slave girl had every human excuse for hating her master and mistress, or for taking pleasure in watching him suffer from his disease. This young girl was snatched from her parents and from her homeland and made a slave in a foreign land. To make matters worse, this young girl’s plight was probably the result of Naaman’s leadership role as captain of the army of the king of Syria. She had every reason to hate him, and seemingly no reason to love him and seek his best interests. She was a true Israelite in that she was a “light to the Gentiles” (see Isaiah 42:6; 49:6; 51:4). She sought the best interests of her master, and she was the instrument through whom Naaman was healed, both physically and spiritually.
I would very much like to know “the rest of the story” regarding this young girl, wouldn’t you? Can you imagine her joy when she saw her master return—healed, and a believer in her God? Can you picture in your mind’s eye this great and powerful man, worshipping the God of Israel on his Israelite soil, with the young girl beside him? Think of the gratitude this man had for what this girl had done for him. I’ll bet no slave girl in Syria was ever better treated than she was. I would not be surprised if Naaman gave this young girl her freedom. In seeking her master’s best interests, I believe she experienced God’s blessings as well.
Gehazi was a servant, too. He thought his master was wrong to let this Syrian commander return home with all his money, and so he did what his master refused to do, and he lied to his master and to Naaman in doing it. Gehazi cared little for Naaman and sought to look out for himself, and in so doing brought about his own downfall. He did not “seek first the kingdom of God,” and thus he ended up in worse condition than Naaman.
Gehazi is like too many people whose livelihood is obtained through the exercise of their religion. Gehazi saw ministry as the pathway to money. He did not seem to understand grace at all. Salvation is a gift of God’s free grace. Men do not earn it by good works, and they most certainly cannot buy it. And yet this servant of the prophet is already trying to turn ministry into a profit-making business. There were those similarly minded who came before him—like Balaam, just as there would be those like Simon Magus who would come after him (Acts 8:9-24). Ministry should not be viewed as the pathway to wealth. Elisha was in the prophet-making business (the school of the prophets); Gehazi was in the profit-making business (getting some of Naaman’s wealth).
It is interesting to compare the two kings in our text—the king of Syria and the king of Israel. Neither one of them were right in their relationship to God. They both had a problem with the contemporary issue of “the relationship of church and state.” The king of Syria mistakenly viewed the state as having power over the church, and thus he assumed that by sending a letter to the king of Israel, this king could instruct the prophet to heal Naaman. The king of Israel had the opposite problem. He saw no relationship between the state and religion. It did not even occur to him that he should seek the help of Elisha, who as a prophet of God, was able to heal Naaman.
Our text has much to teach us about the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Lord refers to the healing of Naaman and the feeding of the widow of Zarephath as examples of the fact that God had always intended to save Gentiles as well as Jews (Luke 4:16ff.). Indeed, God’s purpose had been for Israel to be the means by which He would save the Gentiles. It was those Israelites like Gehazi who resisted God’s purposes, and who sought to hoard the blessings of God for themselves; and in the process, they lost what they sought to keep and ended up in the same miserable condition of the Gentiles.
Naaman’s healing is a reminder to us of how all men must be saved. Men cannot come to God in their pride and position and demand the blessing of salvation. They must see themselves to be spiritually as unclean and wretched as Naaman was physically (and spiritually). They cannot demand a “have it your way” kind of salvation; instead, they must humbly submit to that salvation which God has provided. The gospel does not seek to flatter our egos, but to humble us with the knowledge of our sin and condemnation. The gospel does not allow us to delude ourselves about how good and great we are, but it does declare to us that there is only one man who was ever truly good—Jesus Christ. He was good because He was both God and man. He gave His life on the cross of Calvary, to bear the penalty for our sins. It is by trusting in Him that lost sinners like ourselves can be cleansed from our sins and be assured of eternal life. I urge you to follow Naaman’s example and to accept God’s only means of cleansing and salvation—faith in Jesus Christ.
I would point out as well that Naaman instructs us that when one does come to faith in Jesus Christ, they renounce any false religion or worship, and they worship only the One true God. Naaman understood that when he came to trust in God, he also renounced his false religion, never again to worship as he had before. He was committed from that day on to worship and to live as God instructed. May we do likewise. And may we, Gentiles like Naaman, rejoice in the fact that God purposed to save us, as well as the Jews.
112 “Great,” KJV; “well-to-do,” NIV; “prominent,” NAU; “notable,” NKJ; “wealthy,” NLT; “woman of rank,” NJB.
113 The king of Israel was wrong to assume that the king of Syria was seeking a pretext for attacking Israel. As I understand this story and the events which follow in chapter 6, God uses this incident to bring about peace, not war. There will be more on this in the next message.
115 I cannot capitalize “god” here because in Naaman’s mind at this moment in time, the God of Israel was not God alone, but simply one of many “gods.”
116 I have written of this elsewhere, but let me briefly say that when Jesus came to the earth, this changed matters significantly. Jesus refers to Jacob and his ladder in John 1:51. But now that He has come to the earth, He is the ladder. Thus, wherever He is, man has access to heaven. This is why Jesus can speak as He does to the woman at the well (John 4:21-24). Worshipping God is no longer a matter of being in the right place, but of believing in the right person—Jesus. If Naaman lived after the coming of our Lord, he would not have needed that soil.
117 You will note that this text in Luke’s Gospel is a parallel passage that is cited in Matthew 7:1-10 earlier in this message.
118 In Matthew 26:9 and Mark 14:4-5, we are told that the disciples protested about the “waste” of the expensive perfume, which should have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor. But in John’s Gospel, we are told that it was Judas who was the source of this argument, and that his motives were not at all pure. He was a thief and wanted to pilfer his “commission” from the money bag which was in his care (John 12:4-6).
There’s no feeling much worse than knowing that you’ve lost something irreplaceable. I was probably no more than ten years old when my father decided to take me salmon fishing. We did not have very far to go because we lived within a mile of Puget Sound. We did not have a boat, so my father borrowed one from a neighbor, and his Model A Ford coupe with which we hauled it. For several hours we trolled about the sound, catching nothing. When we got home, my father made a very distressing discovery—he had lost his wallet. It seemed quite obvious that his wallet had slipped out of his pocket and into Puget Sound while we were fishing. Those were hard times, and my father had just cashed a check for a couple hundred dollars, and the cash was in his wallet, along with his Social Security Card, drivers license, and some other important information.
It was a miserable afternoon that Sunday, until we received a phone call from a Christian family we had never met before. They had been fishing in Puget Sound also. One of the children looked down into the water and spotted the wallet, below the surface of the water, and sinking. She quickly reached into the water and plucked it out. They took the wallet home, removed the contents, and dried everything out. They found my father’s identification and called to tell him they had his wallet, and everything that was in it. They did not even hint about a reward. I must tell you that there was great rejoicing that day over what had been lost and then was recovered.
Our text also contains the story about something that was lost and recovered. One of the members of the guild of the prophets was chopping on a log near the Jordan River when the iron head of his borrowed axe flew off its handle and into the muddy waters of the river. In his mind, the axe head was hopelessly lost. He cried out to Elisha, who was somewhere nearby, and thanks to his actions, the axe head was retrieved. It is a story with which we can all identify, because we have experienced the joy of finding something that seemed hopelessly lost. But why would such a story be recorded in the Bible? What is so important about a lost axe head that it would merit being recorded in the Word of God?
The story that follows the account of the recovered axe head is one that we recognize as significant, and worthy of becoming a part of Scripture. It is a story which occurs during a war Syria was carrying out against Israel. Through a sequence of supernatural events, Elisha leads the Syrian army into the city of Samaria. Here, they are all fed and then released. This is the only time in the Bible an army that has attacked Israel is treated in this fashion. Why? What was unique about this situation? And what is the relationship between this incident and the recovery of the lost axe head in the verses that precede it? That is what we shall seek to discover in our study.
1 Some of the prophets said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you is too cramped for us. 2 Let’s go to the Jordan. Each of us will grab a log from there and we will build a meeting place for ourselves there.” He said, “Go.” 3 One of them said, “Please come along with your servants.” He replied, “Okay, I’ll come.” 4 So he went with them. When they arrived at the Jordan, they started cutting down trees. 5 As one of them was felling a log, the axhead dropped into the water. He yelled out, “Oh no, my master! It was borrowed.” 6 The prophet asked, “Where did it drop in?” When he showed him the spot, Elisha cut off a branch, threw it in at that spot, and made the axhead float. 7 He said, “Lift it out.” So he reached out his hand and grabbed it.
One can’t be certain where this guild of prophets was living at the time, but wherever it was, their accommodations were too small. Some of the prophets felt this would be the time to build a bigger facility, and at the same time, change their location. Elisha was asked for his permission, and he approved the plan.119
We can see by this passage that things have changed considerably in Israel since the early days of Elijah’s ministry. At that time, Elijah was forced to hide from Ahab and Jezebel and those who were seeking his life (1 Kings 17:3ff.). Other prophets had to do likewise (1 Kings 18:4). Now, the prophets seem to have more respect. They are now able to travel about the country freely, and even to live beside the Jordan River, where their presence could hardly be overlooked. The prophetic community was no longer in grave danger, it seems, and it must have been growing as well. This may be why the prophets thought it necessary to build a larger facility near the Jordan River.
The prophets were not content merely to have Elisha’s permission to build in another location. They wanted Elisha to be present with them as they went about the task of building a meeting place. As I considered this request of Elisha, I was reminded of Moses’ persistence in obtaining God’s assurance that He would be with His people as they made their way from Mount Sinai to the Promised Land (see Exodus 33:14-15). Now, God’s presence was somehow associated with His prophets, and especially with Elisha. No wonder they wanted him to be with them as they went about this task! How little do we grasp the privilege we have of His constant presence with us and in us, through His Spirit (see John 14:25-31; 16:7ff.).
Elisha is with the prophets when the borrowed axe head flies off into the waters of the Jordan. He hears the plea of the prophet and comes to his aid. He cuts off a limb and thrusts it into the water near the place where the axe head went in. The iron axe head floats to the surface, and Elisha instructs the prophet to snatch it out of the water.
I believe what happened here was a miracle. I do not believe, as some do, that Elisha groped around the water with a stick until he came upon the axe head and fished it out. I would imagine that the axe head was somehow tied to the handle. It was iron, and I doubt that it had a hole in the head, as modern axes do. Thus, there would have been no way to retrieve the axe head out of the water, even if he knew where it was. I’m convinced that Elisha plunged the stick into the waters of the Jordan as a symbolic gesture. My understanding is that the axe head floated to the surface, as though it were a piece of wood. I do not know the mechanics of how this occurred, but I have no doubt that it did happen, just as the author describes it. Some people seem to find it necessary to understand how and why the axe head floated to the surface before they can believe that it did so. I choose to believe that it did so, assuming that God was not required to follow the laws of nature that He set down.
I see this same approach employed with many of the miracles of the Bible. When we read that a great fish (it doesn’t really say that it was a whale) swallowed Jonah, and then spit him out alive, some folks seem to find great comfort and assurance in reading reports that men have been swallowed by whales and lived. It would seem that the “great fish” that swallowed Jonah was created just for that task. Why do we need to hear that something similar has happened in history to believe what the Bible calls a miracle? It is almost as though we are trying to prove that it really isn’t a miracle (it has happened before, and it happens in a way that I can understand and accept), so that we can accept it as a biblical miracle. If the Bible says that a miracle was performed, yet in a way that we cannot understand or replicate, this should be all the more reason to accept it as such, when the Word of God declares it to be a miracle.
By the way, I should tell you that while the construction of this dwelling with poles may sound foreign to you, it sounds very familiar to me. When I was growing up, my parents bought an old fishing resort, which was open during the summer months. My father and I120 constructed a number of buildings from logs and poles that we prepared from trees we cut down on our property. We felled the trees, limbed them, and then peeled them, before building the structures we needed. I used an axe many times and a chain saw as well. I can truly identify with these prophets as they built this dwelling place.
One of the things about this story that surprises me is that God did intervene supernaturally. Had I been Elisha, I would have been inclined to lecture the young prophet about the proper care and use of axes. He should have been continually checking to see that head was securely bound to the handle. And he probably should not have been working so close to the water’s edge. I might have suggested to him that it was not wise to borrow tools. Elisha had no words of instruction or rebuke for the young prophet; he just acted promptly to recover the lost axe head.
While Elisha did see fit to employ a miracle to retrieve a lost axe head, consider what he did not provide. Elisha did not seek to utilize supernatural means to construct the new dwelling for the prophets. (I’ll bet they would rather have had God build it!) If God’s prophet could retrieve lost axe heads, then why could he not also construct buildings? The truth is that God is able to do all things, but Elisha did not ask God for such things. What God did provide through Elisha was a tool—an axe head—so that this prophet could cut down trees and limb them, and then cut them into poles for construction. How many times I have wished that God would do the job Himself, supernaturally, and not leave any of the hard work to me. But what we read in our text is very true to the way God works. He provides us with the means—the tools—to do what He has purposed, and then He expects us to labor to accomplish it. These “tools” are not just material things, like axe heads, but are divine enablements such as spiritual gifts (see 1 Corinthians 12:1ff.).
8 Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, “Invade at such and such a place.” 9 But the prophet sent this message to the king, “Make sure you don’t pass through this place because Syria is invading there.” 10 So the king sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions. 11 This made the king of Syria upset. So he summoned his advisers and said to them, “One of us must be helping the king of Israel.” 12 One of his advisers said, “No, my master, O king. The prophet Elisha who lives in Israel keeps telling the king of Israel the things you say in your bedroom.” 13 The king ordered, “Go, find out where he is, so I can send some men to capture him.” The king was told, “He is in Dothan.” 14 So he sent horses and chariots there, along with a good-sized 121army. They arrived during the night and surrounded the city.
Syria has already played a significant part in the history of Israel. In 2 Samuel 8, the Syrians come to help Hadadezer, the king of Zobab, in his fight with Israel. David defeats the Syrians and then places garrisons of Israelite soldiers in Syria. He also exacts tribute from the Syrians. In 2 Samuel 10, some Syrians are hired by the Ammonites to fight against David. David had sent a delegation to Hanun, the king of the Ammonites, to express his sympathy over the death of his father, Nahash. Hanun’s advisors convinced the king that this was a trick, and that the men David sent were really spies. And so Hanun humiliated these men and sent them away. David gathered his army to do battle with the Ammonites, and so Hanun hired the Syrians to assist him in his fight with Israel. The Syrians suffered a great defeat, along with the Ammonites, and they learned better than to ally themselves with anyone against the people of God (2 Samuel 10:19).
When Absalom killed Amnon for raping his sister, Tamar, he fled to a town in Syria (2 Samuel 13:37). When Solomon reigned as king of Israel, he imported chariots from Egypt and then resold them to other nations, including Syria (1 Kings 10:29). One has to wonder if some of the Syrian chariots that were later used against Israel were not purchased from Solomon. Rezin, king of Syria, became Solomon’s adversary (1 Kings 11:23-25). When Judah was attacked by the northern kingdom of Israel, Asa, king of Judah, hired Ben-hadad of Syria to break his alliance with Israel and to attack them, thus forcing the king of Israel to defend himself on his northern border. Since Israel did not wish to wage two wars at the same time, one on their northern border and the other on their southern border, they ceased their campaign against Judah. This gave Judah some relief from Israel’s attacks (1 Kings 15:18).
Syria becomes one of God’s chastening rods to discipline Israel for her many sins. Thus Elijah was instructed to anoint Hazael as king over Syria (1 Kings 19:15). We have seen a good deal of Syria and Ben-hadad in the lifetime of Elijah. In 1 Kings 20, Ben-hadad forms an alliance with 32 kings, and they attack Israel. An unnamed prophet assured Ahab, the king of Israel, that God would deliver this great army into the hand of Israel. God gave Israel the victory, but warned that the Syrians would return. Ben-hadad’s servants sought to console him after his defeat by explaining that Israel’s gods were “gods of the mountains,” and that because they waged war with Israel in the mountains, they lost (15:23). And so another battle was re-staged, but this time it was to be fought on the plains. Because of the Syrians’ assessment of their failure, God promised to give Israel the victory once again, but when Israel was victorious, Ahab did not put Ben-hadad to death as instructed, but let him live, making a covenant with him. The prophet rebukes Ahab for his sin and tells him that he will exchange his own life for the life of Ben-hadad (20:42). Three years pass without conflict, but because Ben-hadad does not return Ramoth-gilead to Ahab, the king of Israel persuades Jehoshaphat to got to war with him against Ben-hadad. Through the prophet Micaiah, God indicates that this battle will not be successful, and that the king of Israel will be killed. Ahab persuades Jehoshaphat to proceed with their attack. The king of Israel disguises himself, while Jehoshaphat wears his royal attire into battle. Jehoshaphat is nearly killed, but God spares his life. A “random” arrow from a Syrian soldier finds its mark in Ahab’s chest, and the king of Israel dies. Now, in 2 Kings 5, we once again encounter Syria.
We have come to a new era in terms of the relations between Syria and Israel. I do not mean to say that there is no war, because Syria does attempt to engage Israel in battle on several occasions. But in chapters 5-7, even though there is military confrontation between Israel and Syria, we see virtually no bloodshed. Wars are commenced, but they are supernaturally terminated in a way that prevents the loss of human life. I believe I know how this unique period of time can be explained. Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, is healed of his leprosy, and he is drawn to faith in the God of Israel (2 Kings 5). Now a believer, Naaman desires to worship God rightly and not to be involved in pagan worship of false gods (2 Kings 5:17-18). But he hasn’t given much thought, I suspect, to the issue of returning to his post as commander of the Syrian army. If Naaman does not wish to offend God by worshipping Him on Syrian soil, or by identifying with the king of Syria as he engages in heathen idol worship, then surely he does not wish to engage the Israelites in battle. Can’t you just see this man, kneeling in prayer, beseeching God to keep him from going to war with His people? I believe the answers to his prayers are described in 2 Kings 6 and 7.
Second Kings 6:8-14 sets the stage for one such deliverance. The king of Syria commences a series of attacks against Israel. These do not appear to be attempts at all-out war, but are rather border skirmishes, conducted in guerilla fashion. It was during one of these raids that Naaman’s Israelite servant girl was captured (5:1-2). This kind of attack required the element of surprise, and this is where Elisha was giving the Syrians trouble. Elisha was divinely informed of the king of Syria’s secret battle plans, and the prophet would make these plans known to the king of Israel before Syria attacked. The result was that each attack was a failure. After several failed efforts, the king of Syria became enraged. He was convinced that one of his men must have been divulging information to the Israelites. One of his men informed him that it was Elisha the prophet who was revealing the king’s battle plans to the king of Israel.
The king of Syria decided to eliminate Elisha, thinking this would solve his problem once and for all. His first problem was to learn where Elisha could be found. How easy it would have been for God to keep Elisha’s whereabouts a secret, or for God to inform the prophet about the coming soldiers so that he could make his escape. After all, this is what had been happening up till now. We are not told whether or not Elisha knew what was about to happen. We do know that he made no effort to hide or to escape. God’s “way of escape” was by means of a situation that looked like certain and sudden death to the prophet.
The king of Syria summoned his soldiers, but this time it was no small raiding party that assembled. He mustered a great army and sent them to Dothan,122 where he had been told Elisha was staying. His troops surrounded the city of Dothan. It looks as though the prophet is in grave danger.
15 The prophet’s attendant got up early in the morning. When he went outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and chariots. He said to Elisha, “Oh no, my master! What will we do?” 16 He replied, “Don’t be afraid, for our side outnumbers them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he can see.” The LORD opened the servant’s eyes and he saw that the hill was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 18 As they approached him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Strike these people with blindness.” The LORD struck them with blindness as Elisha requested. 19 Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the right road or city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you’re looking for.” He led them to Samaria.
20 When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O LORD, open their eyes, so they can see.” The LORD opened their eyes and they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria. 21 When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Should I strike them down, my master?” 22 He replied, “Do not strike them down. You did capture them with your sword or bow, so what gives you the freedom to strike them down?123 Give them some food and water, so they can eat and drink and then go back to their master.” 23 So he threw a big banquet for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back to their master. After that no Syrian raiding parties again invaded the land of Israel.
Early in the morning, Elisha’s servant arose and went out of the house, perhaps to get water. We don’t know whether the servant is Gehazi or not. For some reason, the author chooses not to name him. Dothan was located on a plain and largely surrounded by hills. To the south were the hills of Samaria, and to the north was the Carmel range. When the servant looked about, the early morning sun would have first been visible as it’s rays first struck the surrounding hills. Can you imagine his fright when he saw the sunlight reflecting off the shields and swords of the Syrian soldiers, positioned on the hills surrounding the city? He could see their horses and chariots, and he knew they were ready to attack. I can imagine his first thought was something like, “We’re finished!”
The servant was frantic as he ran back to Elisha and reported what he had seen. He asked what they should do. What could they do? Elisha told him what he could do; he could calm down. There was no reason to panic. Elisha knew that his servant did not “see” the whole picture. He saw only flesh and blood. He had no grasp of the spiritual forces that were at work. He assured his servant that those who were on their side outnumbered the great host that his servant had just seen. And so he prayed that the eyes of his servant might be opened, to see the angelic army that was not normally visible. When God opened the eyes of Elisha’s servant, he saw that the hill was full of horses and chariots of fire, and that these angelic warriors were surrounding Elisha. God’s prophet was safe and secure. The king of Syria may have intended to capture Elisha, but God had arranged for his safety. No one would harm Elisha with protection like this. But how would they deal with this army? How could bloodshed be avoided?
I should point out that it would have been very easy for Elisha to speak the word and to command the angelic army to slaughter the Syrians. This did not happen. The angels were present to assure Elisha’s servant that they were safe. But even though they were there, and they were able, they did nothing. From a New Testament perspective, I should probably say that they were undoubtedly watching intently and learning (see 1 Corinthians 11: 10; 1 Peter 1:12).
Elisha first prayed that his servant’s eyes might be opened, and they were. He now prays that the eyes of the Syrian soldiers will be closed, and they are. God struck the entire Syrian army with blindness. Now they are completely helpless. What a strange and disarming thing! Once when I was a student in college I had a very serious problem with a tooth. I went to the infirmary where they gave me some pain pills. I don’t know what they were, but I reacted to them. I felt light-headed, and so I decided to take a shower. While in the warm shower, I temporarily lost my sight. I shall never forget how helpless I felt for that few moments until my sight returned. You can imagine how blindness would immobilize a soldier. How could you fight someone you could not see? But isn’t this just the point? These soldiers were fighting against God as they sought to capture (and probably kill) Elisha. They were fighting the “unseen forces,” and from Elisha’s prayer for his servant, we must say that it is because they are “blind” to spiritual realities.
It is also interesting that God chose to let Elisha’s servant “see” the angelic army, and yet He blinded the Syrians. What would have happened if the Syrian soldiers had their eyes opened, so that they could have seen the angelic army? Would they have fallen on their faces in fear? Perhaps. Would they have fled in panic? It could well have been. But God seems to have wanted to teach the people of Israel an important lesson, and so He has Elisha bring the entire army to Samaria.
Willingly, the Syrian soldiers follow Elisha, who leads them to “the man they are looking for” (verse 19). Wasn’t Elisha the man they were looking for? Perhaps Elisha means that they really should have been seeking the king of Israel. If they are going to officially surrender, then they will have to do so to the king of Israel. And so Elisha leads them to Samaria, some 12 miles away.
Can you imagine the shock the sight of this great approaching army must have been to the people of Samaria? Samaria is situated on a hill a few hundred feet high, and so it commands a view of the plain below. The watchmen in the towers of Samaria must have been wide-eyed as the Syrians approached from the plain below. The size of this awesome force was evident from their vantage point. I would imagine that they began to prepare for an attack. And then, as the army drew nearer, someone must have recognized Elisha at the head of the group, leading them to the city. The gates were opened (probably at Elisha’s instruction), and they all entered. No doubt the Syrians were relieved of their weapons before their eyes were opened. When their sight returned, it was obvious that they were defenseless and vulnerable. No one tried to resist.
The king of Israel thought this was a perfect opportunity to slaughter the entire Syrian army, but he first asked Elisha’s permission. Elisha’s answer was the second surprise of the day. Who would have ever imagined that Elisha would forbid the Israelites to kill these Syrians? More than this, who would have ever entertained the thought of putting on a banquet for the entire Syrian army? In obedience to Elisha’s command, the entire army was fed. Can you imagine coming home to your wife and telling her that you are going to have guests for dinner? She asks how many there will be, and how soon the meal must be served. You tell her that they are to eat very soon, and that there is a whole army to be fed! I’ll bet some husbands were unpopular that day. On the other hand, better to work up a meal than to lose a husband in battle.
After dinner, the Syrian soldiers are released to return home. The author tells us that this incident brought an end to the guerilla attacks on Israel. What a way to win a war, not by defeating your enemies, but by feeding them!
14 Bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people. 19 Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heaping burning coals on his head. 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:14-21).
The Bible Knowledge Commentary has an interesting comment about the significance of this meal:
In the ancient Near East eating together under one’s roof constituted making a covenant of peace (J. Herbert Livingston, The Pentateuch in Its Cultural Environment. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1974, p. 157). The Arameans were now bound by social custom not to attack the friend who had extended his gift of hospitality and protection. For these reasons the Arameans stopped raiding Israel’s territory for a time.124
What a great pair of stories we find in our text for this lesson. While lost axe heads and invading armies are not the experience of most of us, there are nevertheless many lessons we can learn from this portion of God’s Word. Let me suggest a few.
I believe we see in our text a manifestation of God’s grace toward Naaman, toward the Syrians, and toward Israel. I think we almost have to ask ourselves this question: “Why would God possibly spare the Syrian army, when in times past He has commanded their complete destruction, and even condemned Ahab for failing to carry it out (1 Kings 20:26-43)?” I can think of only two reasons.125 First, God may be foreshadowing the fact that His purpose is to save Gentiles as well as Jews. We know from Paul’s instruction in Romans 9-11 that God has used the unbelief of the Israelites as His occasion to show mercy and grace to the Gentiles:
30 Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience so that he may show mercy to all (Romans 11:30-32).
So, here, the sin of Israel does not at all prevent God from showing His mercy to the Gentiles, in this case Naaman in particular (2 Kings 5:1-19), and now the whole Syrian army in general.
If Naaman was still the commander of the Syrian army (2 Kings 5:1), then he surely dreaded leading the Syrian army back into Israelite territory. And he would certainly not want to have captured and killed Elisha, the prophet through whom his leprosy had been healed. If Naaman was among the Syrian soldiers in our text, he must have returned home to Syria with a smile on his lips, and a prayer of praise and thanksgiving as well. I would even venture to suggest what song he should have sung (assuming, of course, that it had been written back then): “How Great Thou Art.”
Who would have imagined that God would spare Elisha’s life, spare Israel from war, and Naaman from opposing the people of God by allowing the Syrian army to find Elisha? Who would have thought that God would deliver His people (Elisha and Israel) through the approach of an enemy army, determined to destroy them? Only God can do such things. Are there circumstances in your life that seem to destine you to disaster? If you are a child of God, I can assure you that God delights in taking those things that appear to be our downfall and making them the instruments of our deliverance. And if you are not a Christian, I can suggest to you that the things which appear to be destructive may be the very things which God has graciously brought into your life to draw you to Him (see Matthew 5:3-4). God makes us vulnerable and helpless, so that we have no one else to turn to but Him.
Our text also reminds us of the security that we have as saints, and the tranquility that this should produce in us as we face the trials of life. This is one of those exceptional passages where the curtain is lifted for a moment, and we are granted the privilege of seeing the spiritual forces which God has at His disposal to protect His own. I believe that if our eyes were opened as the servant’s eyes were opened, we would be able to see the “horsemen and chariots of fire” which God has appointed for our protection. There is never a time when “those who are against us” outnumber “those who are for us.” God will never be outnumbered. I do not mean to suggest that these angelic guardians will never allow us to suffer. This was the fallacy that Satan sought to suggest to our Lord at His temptation (see Matthew 4:6). But I assure you that when it is God’s time for us to die, they will serve as our escort into heaven’s gates, just as they were for Elijah and others (see 2 Kings 2:11-12; 13:14; Luke 16:22). No one is more secure than the child of God, even in the midst of great danger.
This should result in a calmness of spirit and tranquility that keeps us from panic in times of stress or danger. The sight of the Syrian army terrified Elisha’s servant. Elisha responds with the calm of a man who knows that he is secure, under the watchful care of God. The next millennium is nearly upon us, and we are growing weary of the term “Y2K.” I do not fault those who want to be prepared for trouble, especially if that preparation is directed toward the opportunity to serve others in troubled times. But no Christian should be fearful about the future. I assure you that the “horsemen and chariots of fire” will not be intimidated by Y2K.
It was not the angelic army that brought deliverance to Elisha or to Israel; it was answered prayer. Elisha prayed, and the eyes of his servant were opened. His fears were relieved. Elisha prayed again, and the eyes of his enemies were closed. It was not angelic intervention, but divine intervention through prayer which brought about the deliverance we see in our text. And it also brought about the cessation of hostilities between Syria and Israel, at least for a time.
It is easy for us to fix our attention on the large-scale deliverance of 2 Kings 6:8-23, but let us not forget the story of the recovered axe head in verses 1-7. God is a great God, and He does bring about deliverance on a large scale, such as that of Elisha and Israel in verses 8-23. But He also is the God of the minute. In terms of practical, daily living, most Christians would agree that God can (and even does) deliver His people from the great trials and dangers of life. But where most of us become practical atheists is in the details of life—in the little distresses and difficulties, like lost axe heads.
I’ve heard some interesting attempts at making the story of the lost axe head relevant. One dear preacher of a bygone era said that the axe head was man, lost in the muddy waters of sin, and the stick was the cross. That’s a little too much spiritualizing for me. I’d rather say that God cares about lost axe heads, or wristwatches, or a wedding ring . . . . God cares about the little trials and challenges of life. And He is not too busy to come to our aid in such matters. God can deal with large armies or with lost axe heads. What a great and gracious God He is.
Our greatest need is the forgiveness of our sins, and He has surely come to our aid in this matter. He sent His sinless Son to bear the penalty for our sins, and to provide us with the righteousness He requires. If you have never yet done so, I urge you to acknowledge your sin, and to accept His provision in the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.
119 Not all good ideas come from the top down.
120 I was a young man at the time, and so I must confess that my father did most of the work. I did help cut and haul the logs, and peel a number of poles, however. Later, my brother inherited some of this kind of work, which continues even to this day.
122 From 2 Kings 6:23, it seems that the king of Syria did not accompany his men to Dothan as the Syrian soldiers “went back to their master.”
123 This statement poses the translator with some difficulties, as can be seen by comparing various translations: “Do you kill your own prisoners with sword and bow?” (NJB); “Would you kill those you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow?” (NASB, and virtually the same meaning in the NKJV and NIV). The essence of the statement seems to be that these men have surrendered and become prisoners of war, and thus it would not be appropriate to kill them in this manner.
124 Walvoord, John F., and Zuck, Roy B., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Scripture Press Publications, Inc.) 1983, 1985.
125 This is not to suggest that God is restricted to what we think makes sense.
My wife, Jeannette, and I know something about making do with a little. When we came down to Dallas to attend seminary, we had one child and another on the way. My income covered about half of our expenses for the month. During those days, the Lord provided for us in some very interesting ways. We purchased a small freezer from a friend for $15. The freezer contained venison, which supplied meat for several months. Then, we received a call from a meat packing company, informing us that our “order” was ready to be picked up. We informed the person who called us that we had not ordered any meat. We were told that the meat had been ordered in our name, and was already paid for, and that all we had to do was to pick it up.
Perhaps the most exciting provision was through a seminary student friend who worked at a local dairy. He could take home all the “out of code date” ice cream he could carry. There was nothing wrong with the ice cream; it just could not be sold any longer. And so this fellow literally brought us home cardboard boxes of ice cream, which we kept in our small freezer. During those days, we became connoisseurs of ice cream, so much so that we asked him not to bring us any more “Banana Brazil Nut” ice cream. There were a few times when ice cream may have been the main course, but you would never have heard us complain about that.
Compared to others, Jeannette and I can hardly claim to have gone through “hard times.” Some of you have probably seen much worse times than this. But I doubt that any of us has experienced the kind of hard times that we read about in 2 Kings 6:24–7:20. In this text, the city of Samaria is under siege, and food supplies have run so short that things that are abhorrent to us were sold as food at a premium price. Worse yet, some even practiced cannibalism. These were terrible days for the people of Israel, and yet God miraculously came to their aid. While these events happened to people who lived long ago and far away, our text teaches us lessons that apply to us in our own times. Let us listen well, then, and look to the Spirit of God to guide us in our study of this portion of His Word.
24 Later Ben Hadad king of Syria assembled his entire army and attacked and besieged Samaria. 25 Samaria’s food supply ran out. They lay siege to it so long that a donkey’s head was selling for 80 shekels of silver and a quarter of a kab of dove’s manure for five shekels of silver.
26 While the king of Israel was passing by on the city wall, a woman yelled to him, “Help us, my master, O king!” 27 He replied, “No, let the LORD help you. How can I help you? The threshing floor and winepress are empty.” 28 Then the king asked her, “What’s your problem?” She answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Hand over your son, we’ll eat him today and then eat my son tomorrow.’ 29 So we boiled my son and ate him. Then I said to her the next day, ‘Hand over your son and we’ll eat him.’ But she hid her son.” 30 When the king heard what the woman said, he tore his clothes. As he was passing by on the wall, the people could see he was wearing sackcloth under his clothes. 31 Then he said, “May the LORD judge me severely if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day.”
As you can see, there appears to be a contradiction between verses 23 and 24. In verse 23 we read:
So he threw a big banquet for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back to their master. After that no Syrian raiding parties again invaded the land of Israel (emphasis mine).
But then in the very next verse we read: “Later Ben Hadad king of Syria assembled his entire army and attacked and besieged Samaria” (verse 24, emphasis mine).
Verse 23 seems to say that after the Syrian soldiers are fed and sent home, there is no more conflict between Syria and Israel. And yet in the very next verse (24), we read that the Syrian army besieges the Israelite city of Samaria. Is there a contradiction here? How do we explain verse 24 in the light of verse 23? We should begin by noting that if this were a problem, surely the author would have been just as aware of it as his readers. And if his words were to cause anyone to doubt the reliability of his account, then surely the author would have avoided saying what he has, or at least taken the effort to minimize the apparent contradiction.
Several observations may help us with the meaning of the author’s words in these two verses. First, we should take note that in verse 23, the author refers to the Syrian fighting forces as “raiding parties,” while in verse 24 he speaks of Ben Hadad’s “entire army.” I believe this difference in terminology alone would be sufficient to answer the charge that there is a contradiction in our text. The Syrians did cease employing raiding parties to attack Israel (verse 23). We never read of raiding parties again. But the Syrians did attack Israel again, this time with their entire army.
A second observation is that when we come to verse 24, some time has elapsed since the events referred to in verse 23. The events of verse 24 occur “later” (NET Bible; “after this,” KJV, NKJV, NAU; “some time later,” NIV) than the events of verse 23 and earlier.
A third observation is that the expression which is used here does not always imply that whatever action is terminated has ceased permanently. As I look at the passages which employ the expression used in our text (or one that is similar), I see an emphasis on the cessation of some action, rather than on the permanence of that cessation. For example, in 1 Samuel 7:13 we read, “So the Philistines were subdued; they did not again approach the border of Israel. The hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.”
We know, of course, that the Philistines most certainly did “approach the border of Israel” later on in Israel’s history. The author is informing us that after Israel’s decisive victory over the Philistines, they ceased hostilities against Israel during Samuel’s lifetime. Afterward, the Philistines will once again attack Israel (1 Samuel 9:16; 13:3ff.; 14:11ff.). It was David’s slaying of the Philistine, Goliath, which commenced his rise to fame and position (1 Samuel 17:1ff.). And so we see that the cessation of hostilities referred to in 1 Samuel 7:13 is to be understood as something other than a permanent cessation of all hostilities between Syria and Israel.126 I believe the same is true in our text. Thus, Elisha’s single-handed victory over the Syrian army brought about the cessation of the surprise attacks which the marauding bands of Syrians had been carrying out, but in due time, Ben Hadad resumed hostilities, this time by assembling the entire army with which he surrounded the city of Samaria.
Ben Hadad’s strategy was very effective. It focused all of Syria’s forces on one city, Samaria, the capital city of Israel. Inside Samaria was the king of Israel and all of the elders of the city. This would be something like laying siege to Washington, D.C.. Hardly a shot had to be fired. No one dared to leave the city, just as no one dared to attempt to enter it. This meant that the city was cut off from all its necessities. Our text does not indicate to us whether or not there was a shortage of water in the city. What is very clear is that the city is virtually out of food.
Our passage is a textbook illustration of the principle of “supply and demand.” Food of any kind is now in very short supply. As a result, the demand is great, and the price of food inside the city has skyrocketed. A donkey’s head, we are told, sold for 80 shekels of silver, while a 1/4 pint of dove’s dung127 sold for five shekels of silver. It is one thing to pay a high price for a good cut of meat, or even for some staple like potatoes, but eating any portion of a donkey appears to be forbidden by Israelite food law.128 Certainly dove droppings would not have been considered “clean” either. These things were so offensive that it would hardly have been necessary to ban them as food for an Israelite. Supplies were so scarce that such “foods” as these were almost considered a delicacy. In those desperate days, no husband came home and greeted his wife with the words, “Honey, what’s for dinner tonight?” If he did, his wife would probably have asked, “Heads (as in donkey head), or tails (dove droppings)?”
As distasteful as donkey head or dove droppings may be, these are nothing compared to the meal that two women shared. Even a man as wicked as the king of Israel was shocked when he heard what they had done. One of the women saw the king as he was walking by on the wall of the city. She cried out to him, begging him for help.129 As I read the king’s response to this woman, I get the feeling that the king is not only frustrated, but he is also very angry. His words are very significant. In effect, he tells the woman not to cry out to him for help, but to God. It is almost as though he said, “Don’t ask me for food; that’s God’s job. He’s responsible for the production of food; I’m only responsible for its distribution.”
God is graciously reminding the king of Israel of a most important fact: he is not God; God is. Do you remember how the king of Israel responded when Naaman showed up, letter in hand, asking that he see to it that Naaman was healed? “Am I God? Can I kill or restore life? Why does he ask me to cure a man of his skin disease?” (2 Kings 5:7).
The sad fact is that kings often suffered from what we might call the “God complex.” They had great power and authority, and they sometimes needed to be reminded that God alone is truly sovereign. This was a lesson that Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way (see Daniel 4). The king of Israel had been asked to do things that only God can do, which forces him to acknowledge that he is a mere man, and not God, and that only God can do what has been requested. We should also consider the fact that it is not just kings who suffer from the “God complex,” but anyone who becomes too impressed with their position and power.
The woman who pled to the king for help now explains her dilemma. Thinking they were about to starve, she and another woman made an agreement. This woman agreed to kill her son and to make a meal of him, which she would share with another woman. The other woman promised that they would eat her son the next day. But the next day she learned that the other woman had hid her son. The mother who had sacrificed her son does not spell out what she wants from the king, other than his “help.” Does she want the king to force the other woman to produce her son, but is afraid to say it? Does she want the king to become a party to such a horrendous sin as the sacrifice of a child for a meal?
The king is horrified and incensed. You would think that he would have been angry with this woman, for the terrible sin she had committed. The heathen sacrificed their children to pagan gods, but even they did not eat them, so far as I am aware. Here is a mother who would not lay down her life for her child, but took her child’s life to spare her own. Why was the king not angry with her? Why did he not seek to punish her? Instead, the king vented his wrath on Elisha: “Then he said, ‘May the LORD judge me severely if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day’” (2 Kings 6:31).
The king did not seem to grasp or accept the fact that all of this was happening because of Israel’s sin, but centuries earlier Moses had prophesied that these things would take place when Israel disregarded and disobeyed His law. He spoke of defeat by foreign armies, of hunger, and even of cannibalism. For example, we read these words:
47 “Because you have not served the LORD your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, 48 you will instead serve your enemies whom he will send against you bringing hunger, thirst, nakedness, and lack of everything; they will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 49 The LORD will raise up against you a distant nation, one from the other side of the earth as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 one of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly nor consideration of the young. 51 It will devour the offspring of your cattle and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed; it will not leave you with grain, new wine, olive oil, increase of herds, or growth of flocks until it has demolished you. 52 It will besiege all of your villages until all of your high and fortified walls collapse, those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. It will put under siege all your gates in all parts of the land the LORD your God has given you. 53 You will then eat your own offspring, the flesh of the sons and daughters the LORD your God has given you, because of the stressful siege in which your enemies will constrict you. 54 The man among you who is by nature tender and very sensitive will look with evil upon his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children 55 and will withhold from all of them his children’s flesh that he will eat, there being none left, because of the bitter siege with which your enemy will oppress you in your villages. 56 Likewise, the most tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of even putting the sole of their foot on the ground because of their daintiness, will turn against their beloved husbands, their sons and daughters, 57 their afterbirth, and their newborn children, for they will eat them secretly in their need because of the severe siege which your enemy will impose upon you in your villages” (Deuteronomy 28:47-57).
The people of Samaria were getting just what they deserved. No doubt Elisha told them so, but they did not heed his rebuke—and neither did the king of Israel. As he walked along the wall, people who looked up could see that under his clothing the king wore sackcloth. Sackcloth was to be worn as a public sign of mourning and repentance (see Jonah 3:5-9), yet it certainly does not appear that the king was truly repentant. He does not wear his sackcloth openly. We read of no repentance on his part. And, instead of heeding God’s word and honoring Elisha, His prophet, the king issues an order for Elisha to be killed. “May the LORD judge me severely if Elisha son of Shaphat still has his head by the end of the day” (2 Kings 6:31).
Like Herod centuries later, who orders that the head of John the Baptist be cut off (Matthew 14:8-10), the king of Israel swears that the day will not pass before Elisha’s head is cut off.
The king of Israel also sounds a great deal like his mother, Jezebel, and Ben Hadad, king of Syria:
Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah with this warning, “May the gods130 judge me severely if by this time tomorrow I do not take your life as you did theirs” (1 Kings 19:2).
Ben Hadad sent another message to him, “May the gods judge me severely if there is enough dirt left in Samaria for my soldiers to scoop up in their hands” (1 Kings 20:10).
One has to wonder why the king of Israel is so angry with Elisha, when he is God’s prophet. I believe that it is precisely because Elisha is God’s prophet. I am assuming that as God’s prophet, Elisha predicted this siege and its outcome. The king’s messenger seems to have said as much:
He [Elisha] was still talking to them when the messenger approached and said, “Look, the LORD is responsible for this disaster. Why should I continue to wait for the LORD to help?” (2 Kings 6:33).
These words imply that just as Elisha predicted this crisis, so he also promised that God would deliver Israel from the Syrians and starvation. Why else would the servant say it was futile to wait any longer “for the LORD to help”?
The king of Israel seeks to kill Elisha just as Elijah before him was sought by the king. In both instances, the king wants to put God’s prophet to death for speaking the word of the LORD. Unbelievers do not wish to hear a word from God, and they certainly do not wish to hear what He has to say to them about their sin and their need to repent. Our Lord Jesus was the ultimate spokesman for God the Father (Hebrews 1:1-4), and yet He and His message were rejected (John 1:9-11). They wanted to kill Him, just as the Jews sought to kill the prophets who came before Him (Matthew 5:12; 12:31; Acts 3:14).
My good friend, Bobbie Harmon, was discussing this text with my wife, Jeannette, and me this past week, and she made this insightful remark: “It reminds me of the Tribulation.” I think she’s absolutely right. Those who would speak for God today may suffer rejection and persecution, but in the very difficult days of the Tribulation, those who trust in God will experience great persecution. Those who hate God take it out on those who love Him. This is seen at the beginning of man’s existence on earth, when Cain killed his brother Abel (Genesis 4:1-15), and it has been going on ever since. Christians should be prepared for opposition from those who are in rebellion against God, and who do not want to hear the “word of the Lord.”
32 Now Elisha was sitting in his house with the community leaders. The king sent a messenger on ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the leaders, “Do you realize this assassin intends to cut off my head?” Look, when the messenger arrives, shut the door and lean against it. His master will certainly be right behind him.”131 33 He was still talking to them when the messenger approached and said, “Look, the LORD is responsible for this disaster. Why should I continue to wait for the LORD to help?” 7:1 Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says, ‘About this time tomorrow a seah of finely milled flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria.’” 2 An officer who was the king’s right hand man responded to the prophet, “Look, even if the LORD made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” Elisha said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food.”
We should note that on this occasion Elisha is not hiding out somewhere in the wilderness; he is dwelling in the city of Samaria. This means that he, too, was suffering from a lack of food, just as the others in Samaria were hungry. Elisha was sitting in the house where he lived, and with him were the elders of the city of Samaria. We would hardly expect this, unless these men had come to accept Elisha as God’s prophet. It would therefore appear that the king was acting without the support of the leaders of the city, and indeed was in opposition to them.
Elisha was a prophet, a “seer.” He knew the secret plans that Ben Hadad made in secret (see 2 Kings 6:12). He “saw” his servant Gehazi take a gift from Naaman (2 Kings 5:26). And now, Elisha knows that a messenger is on his way from the king, to cut off his head. Elisha informs the city leaders who are with him and instructs them not to let this man enter when he arrives. For whatever reason, the man did gain entrance. He expresses the thoughts of the king of Israel who had sent him to kill Elisha. If Elisha had prophesied that disaster would come to Samaria, it has surely come. But if he also promised deliverance, that had not yet come, and many doubted that it ever would. The king of Israel—and therefore his servant as well—was not willing to wait any longer. He was going to have Elisha’s head for this.
Elisha had further revelation from God on this matter of a divine deliverance, which he now declares to the king’s servant:
“Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the LORD says, ‘About this time tomorrow a seah of finely milled flour will sell for a shekel and two seahs of barley for a shekel at the gate of Samaria’” (2 Kings 7:1b)
Within 24 hours, Elisha declares, God will completely reverse the deplorable conditions in the city of Samaria. Supplies will be plentiful, and thus the price for food will be very reasonable. There will be both barley and fine wheat flour, which will be sold for an unbelievably low price the very next day.
I realize that many of the translations render verse 2 as though the “opening of heaven’s windows” were the promise of coming rains. I’m not convinced that this is necessarily the case. In Genesis 7:11 and 8:2, the “windows of heaven are opened,” and the rains certainly come flooding down upon the earth. In Malachi 3:10, the “windows of heaven” open, but with blessings, not just with rain. In Isaiah 24:18, the “windows of heaven” are opened in judgment (not unlike Genesis 7 and 8). When God “opens the windows of heaven,” something is going to come down to the earth, but I’m not so sure that it is always rain.
In the context of 2 Kings 7:2, it would hardly seem that the king’s servant is speaking of rain. Rain would not produce the immediate bounty of grain that Elisha has promised. In our text, we are not told that the food shortages are due to drought, but rather are due to the siege. What Elisha promises includes freedom from the Syrian blockade (so that food can be brought into Samaria, or so that Samaritans can go out to get food), and a vast supply of grain close at hand. The servant’s words indicate that even if God were to open the windows of heaven and literally pour out grain, there is no way that the prophecy of Elisha could be fulfilled that soon. God’s ability to provide for the people of Samaria vastly exceeds the servant’s imagination.
Elisha responds to the unbelief of the king’s servant. He assures the servant that the prophecy of a bounty of grain within 24 hours will be fulfilled. He also informs the servant that due to his unbelief, he will not participate in the benefits. He will see the fulfillment, but not taste of it. Graciously, perhaps, Elisha does not tell the man why he will not eat any of this grain. Once again, it would seem that God delights in creating seemingly impossible situations, so that His power might be displayed.
3 Now four men with a skin disease were sitting at the entrance of the gate. They said to one another, “Why are we just sitting here waiting to die? 4 If we go into the city, we’ll die of starvation, and if we stay here we’ll die. So come on, let’s defect to the Syrian camp. If they spare us, we’ll live; if they kill us, well we were going to die anyway.” 5 So they started toward the Syrian camp at dusk. When they reached the edge of the Syrian camp, there was no one there. 6 The LORD had caused the Syrian camp to hear the sound of chariots and horses and a large army. Then they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel has paid the kings of the Hittites and Egypt to attack us.” 7 So they got up and fled at dusk, leaving behind their tents, horses and donkeys. They left the camp as it was and ran for their lives. 8 When the men with a skin disease reached the edge of the camp, they entered a tent and had a meal. They also took some silver, gold, and clothes and went and hid it all. Then they went back and entered another tent. They looted it and went and hid what they had taken. 9 Then they said to one another, “It’s not right what we’re doing. This is a day to celebrate, but we haven’t told anyone. If we wait until dawn, we’ll be punished. So come on, let’s go and inform the royal palace.” 10 So they went and called out to the gatekeepers of the city. They told them, “We entered the Syrian camp and there was no one there. We didn’t even hear a man’s voice. But the horses and donkeys are still tied up, and the tents remain up.” 11 The gatekeepers relayed the news to the royal palace.
12 The got up in the night and said to his advisers, “I will tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know we are starving, so they left the camp and hid in the field, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will capture them and enter the city.’” 13 One of his advisers replied, “Pick some men and have them take five of the horses that are left in the city. (Even if they are killed, their fate will be no different than that of all the Israelite people—we’re all going to die!) Let’s send them out so we can know for sure what’s going on.” 14 So they picked two horsemen and the king sent them out to track the Syrian army. He ordered them, “Go and find out what’s going on.” 15 So they tracked them as far as the Jordan. The road was filled with clothes and equipment that the Syrians had discarded in their haste. The scouts went back and told the king.
16 Then the people went out and looted the Syrian camp. A seah of finely milled flour sold for a shekel, and two seahs of barley for a shekel, just as the LORD had said they would. 17 Now the king had placed the officer who was his right hand man at the gate. When the people rushed out, they trampled him to death in the gate. This fulfilled the prophet’s word that he had spoken when the king tried to arrest him. 18 The prophet told the king, “Two seahs of barley will sell for a shekel, and a seah of finely milled flour for a seah; this will happen about this time tomorrow in the gate of Samaria.” 19 But the officer replied to the prophet, “Look, even if the LORD made it rain by opening holes in the sky, could this happen so soon?” Elisha said, “Look, you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of the food.” 20 This is exactly what happened to him. The people trampled him to death in the gate.
When I was in college, a professor made two speaker enclosures for me, which became a part of my stereo system. I have to confess that when Jeannette was not in the house I would turn up the stereo until the dishes rattled in the cupboards. Today, young people drive around with their radios so loud you can hear them coming for blocks. Moviemakers boast of the quality of their sound track, and theaters work to have the finest sound system available.
A good sound system is one that reproduces sounds as close to the original sounds as possible. I assure you that no sound system has ever been built that could compete with the “life-like sounds” that were produced outside of Samaria during the Syrian siege of that city. What the Syrian soldiers heard was so realistic that it sent the entire army into a panic. They did not attempt to retreat; instead, every man ran for his life.
When I was in Indonesia recently, the nation was in the midst of their election of a president and vice president. Things were a little tense for a while, and there were armed troops stationed very visibly throughout the city of Jakarta. On the day of the elections, some violence had broken out, and the soldiers portrayed a fierce readiness with some very intimidating weapons. They expected trouble, and they wanted everyone to know that they were ready to deal with it. But for several weeks prior to this, the military was just making its presence known. I did not see an impressive display of weapons or of fierce resolve. As one of the large trucks rolled by, carrying around 20 soldiers, I could not help but smile as I saw one soldier, sitting on the tailgate of the truck, playing his guitar. I think the others were singing.
I suspect that this was very much the way it was in the Syrian camp at this point in the siege. The Syrian forces would hardly have been on alert, and they may have become downright sloppy about maintaining a state of readiness. After all, their forces greatly outnumbered any army that the king of Israel might be able to muster. They had successfully surrounded Samaria, creating a virtual stranglehold on the city. The siege had gone on for months, without resistance. All the Syrian army had to do was to wait. Either the people of Samaria would starve to death, or they would surrender. They were in no condition to fight.
Whether it was late in the evening or very early in the morning, God terrorized the Syrian soldiers in the twilight hours.132 This gave them just enough light to escape, but not enough light to fully see what was happening. It would have been something like listening to the old radio program, “The Shadow,” in the dark. It was an auditory experience unlike anything anyone has ever heard, before or since. We know that the horses were unhitched (from the chariots), or unsaddled, and secured for the night (2 Kings 7:10). The Syrians were probably asleep when the terrifying sounds occurred. They all heard the sounds of a massive armed force approaching and very near the camp. They had heard sounds like this before, as they advanced upon their enemies. But the volume and intensity of the sounds convinced them that the approaching army was even greater than theirs. The only army this large was that of the Egyptians, or the Hittites, or perhaps even both!
There was no opportunity to calmly assess the situation and organize a response. There was no time to think. There was not even time to get dressed, to put on one’s armor, or to hitch up the horses. Everyone panicked and ran for their lives. In my mind’s eye, I see the Syrians terrified by the thought of a massive army and of a great slaughter. They scattered into the night in their undergarments. Who would take the time to get dressed? This is where some of the clothing came from that was left behind (7:8). And so the Syrians flee, without food, without much clothing, and most likely without their weapons. It must have been a long, hard journey home. And for those who did arrive home in Syria, there would have been a lot of explaining to do. But to deliver the people of Samaria from the Syrians and from starvation, God orchestrated all of this.
The first to taste of God’s provisions were four lepers. These men were outcasts, who were not allowed inside the city of Samaria. They were most likely beggars. You can imagine how much success they would have had asking for alms in these difficult times. They were in a desperate situation, and so they decided to take desperate measures. They knew there was no food in Samaria. They assumed that there was plenty of food in the Syrian camp. And so they agreed to go to the Syrians and beg for mercy. If the Syrians killed them, they would simply die a little sooner, and perhaps more mercifully than by starvation. But if the Syrians took pity on them, then they might continue to live. None of these lepers anticipated what did happen. I think that we can safely conclude that none of them acted in true faith. This was a gamble they were willing to take because they believed they had nothing to lose. And remember that seeking refuge in the camp of the Syrians was to become a traitor to Israel.
Put yourself in the sandals of one of these men for a moment, and live out the drama of that moment. As they approach the Syrian camp, they see the tents from a distance. As they get nearer, they see the horses, still tied up, but they do not see so much as one Syrian. They must have made their way into the camp with fear and trembling. (I am tempted to think that the campfires were burning, with breakfast still cooking on the fire.) One of them works up the courage to pull back the flap of one of the tents, but no one is inside. They look in one tent and then another, but there is not one person in the entire camp! The tents are not empty, however. Inside each tent is great treasure—food, clothing, money, and the spoils of war. The supply tents are full of grain and other food. These lepers have struck it rich.
The first inclination of these four men is to gather up all the treasure they can find and to hide it. When I was young, my family used to go wild blackberry picking. These delicious berries are not always easy to find, nor are they easy to pick. And so when we would find an especially good berry patch, we would be very quiet and not tell anyone. (If the truth were told, I would race ahead and try to pick as many berries as I could before my sisters came along to get in on the bounty.) These four lepers are frantically hoarding and hiding the treasures they have found, but there is so much of it there is no way they can possibly gather it all.
The lepers finally come to their senses. They realize that while they are stuffing themselves with food and gathering up wealth, the people back in the city of Samaria are on the brink of starvation. It is only right that they return to the city and share the good news of God’s provision for His people. And so they return to the gates of Samaria, where they call out the good news to the gatekeepers (it seems clear that they were banned from entering the city). The gatekeepers passed this report on to the king, who had to be awakened from his sleep. His response should not surprise us. Surely this was a trap, he reasoned, and the Syrians were hiding out nearby, just waiting for the people of Samaria to come out of the city, where they could fall upon them and kill them.
From a military point of view, this was a very logical and reasonable conclusion. But there was another factor that the king had ignored: Elisha had prophesied the very thing that the lepers were reporting. It seems that Elisha had been promising God’s provision for some time (6:33), but the previous day he had indicated that God’s bountiful provision of food would come within 24 hours (7:1). The king did not make any connection between the promise of Elisha and the proclamation of the lepers. He expected disaster, and not deliverance, even when that deliverance was promised and proclaimed.
We know that there were several servants who overheard the king’s response,133 but only one servant offers wise counsel to the king. His words are well chosen for a king who does not believe in God. He simply encourages the king to consider what he has to lose by checking out this report more carefully. His logic is essentially the same as that of the lepers. They were all going to die anyway, so why not take a chance if it might save their lives? The king could well afford to send a few good men to the Syrian camp to see if there was any truth to the report of the lepers. If it was a trap, and they were killed, they would have died of starvation before long anyway. And if the report was true, then the whole city could be spared. The king has nothing to lose—and everything to gain.
The king cannot escape the logic of his servant’s counsel, and so he sends a small group of men to go to the Syrian’s camp and investigate. To their amazement and delight, they see with their own eyes that the lepers were right. The Syrian camp had been abandoned. The horses and chariots, food and supplies, have been left there at the camp. The road to the Jordan River is strewn with discarded clothing and equipment, as the Syrians shed every “besetting thing”134 which hindered their rapid escape. Everything that the lepers had said was true.
Let me point out something that may be worth noting. The evidence of a Syrian retreat was there for all to see, but the explanation for their flight is given only to the reader. Who would have known that God had created the “sounds of war” when there was no approaching army? The reader is told so that he will recognize the hand of God in all of this, bringing about in a most unusual way the fulfillment of His word. I never cease to be amazed at the creativity of the Creator. He seldom works according to the same script, but each time He saves, He does so in a unique way that shows His wisdom and power. So far as I can recall, this is the only time that God saves His people in this fashion. God is never limited as to the means He can employ.
I should point out something else from this miracle. God accomplishes several things at one time here. First, God rids Samaria and Israel of the Syrian army and of the threat it posed to Israel’s national security. It put an end to the blockade of the city. Secondly, it also provided an abundance of food for the people of Samaria. Isn’t this just like God? He uses those who had come to destroy Israel, and He causes them to be the means of Israel’s deliverance. What a marvelous God we serve! But there is possibly a third accomplishment here as well. Suppose that Naaman was still the commander of the Syrian army at this time, or at least that he was somehow among the Syrians at this camp. If this were the case, God would have spared his life without the shedding of any Syrian blood. The method God used to disperse the Syrian army did not include confrontation and warfare. God graciously spared the Syrians, as well as the people of Samaria. They were simply his “chastening rod” for disciplining the people of Israel. God’s salvation of His people, the Jews, does not prevent Him from saving Gentiles as well.135
The last paragraph of our text (2 Kings 7:16-20)136 emphasizes the reliability of God’s Word by stressing the fulfillment of prophecy in these events. First, God’s promise to provide food for the people of Samaria was fulfilled, exactly has prophesied (verse 16). As incredible as Elisha’s prophecy seemed, it was precisely fulfilled by the scattering of the Syrians.
But there is another promise that is kept as well, one that is given even more emphasis. The king’s servant had refused to believe the promise of God’s provision, and so Elisha prophesied that he would see the promise fulfilled, but would not partake of it (7:2). The fulfillment of this prophecy is described in 2 Kings 7:17-20. The king’s servant who was sent to kill Elisha, and who doubted the prophecy of an abundance of food within 24 hours, was appointed as the “gatekeeper” by the king. (Do you suppose that this was done as punishment for not cutting off the head of Elisha as he was commanded? This would be like a detective being given school crossing duty.) He may very well have been on duty when the lepers reported that the Syrians had fled (2 Kings 7:10). When the people of Samaria heard the report of the king’s scouting party, they rushed toward the gate to get to the food in the Syrian camp. The king’s servant was no match for this crowd, who trampled the man to death on their way to “deliverance.”
I may be working too hard at making this point, but the appointment of this servant as a gatekeeper and his death while on duty seems to be significant. As I have given this a little thought, I realized that we were introduced to this fellow as he broke through the door of Elisha’s house. Elisha had instructed those with him in the house to blockade the door, so that the servant could not enter. Somehow, the servant was able to force his way in, and thus the confrontation with Elisha that is recorded in our text. And now, it is this same servant who is the gatekeeper. The crowds break down the gates, it would seem, and the gatekeeper is crushed. It seems more than coincidental that the king’s servant would die in a manner that recalls his abrupt entrance into the home of the prophet. He who lives by the sword dies by the sword. He who breaks down doors is crushed by gates that are broken down.
This is an amazing text. It shows man at his (or her) worst, as we see in the case of the women who covenanted to cannibalize their children. The fact is, no one looks good in our text, except Elisha. The people of Samaria show no signs of repentance, even though their plight is the result of their own sin. The king gives no evidence of repentance either, and indeed he issues an order for Elisha to be put to death. The lepers and those involved in sending out the search party to the Syrian camp do not seem to act out of faith, but only as a calculated risk, believing that they have little to lose. The king’s servant refuses to believe a very specific promise that Elisha makes of God’s provision for the people of Samaria.137
The Bible was not written to glorify man, and it’s a good thing because man has no cause to glory, except in God. In our text, God provides for His people, not because of their goodness, and not even because of their repentance. God provides salvation (physically speaking) for them in spite of their sins. I cannot help but think of how much like this God’s provision of spiritual salvation is:
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? 11 Not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Chr