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Texts -- 2 Kings 3:1-17 (NET)

Context
Moab Fights with Israel
3:1 In the eighteenth year of King Jehoshaphat’s reign over Judah , Ahab’s son Jehoram became king over Israel in Samaria ; he ruled for twelve years . 3:2 He did evil in the sight of 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 . 3:3 Yet he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat , who encouraged Israel to sin ; he did not turn from them. 3:4 Now King Mesha 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 . 3:5 When Ahab died , the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel . 3:6 At that time King Jehoram left Samaria and assembled all Israel for war. 3:7 He sent this message to King Jehoshaphat 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.” 3:8 He then asked , “Which invasion route are we going to take ?” Jehoram answered , “By the road through the Desert of Edom .” 3:9 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. 3:10 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 !” 3:11 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.” 3:12 Jehoshaphat said , “The Lord speaks through him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to visit him. 3:13 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 .” 3:14 Elisha said , “As certainly as the Lord who rules over all lives (whom I serve ), if I did not respect King Jehoshaphat of Judah , I would not pay attention to you or acknowledge you. 3:15 But now , get me a musician .” When the musician played , the Lord energized him, 3:16 and he said , “This is what the Lord says , ‘Make many cisterns in this valley ,’ 3:17 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 .’

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • 5:13-15 "Despite Joshua's long military experience he had never led an attack on a fortified city that was prepared for a long siege. In fact, of all the walled cities in Palestine, Jericho was probably the most invincible. T...
  • (Continued from notes on 1 Kings)3. Ahaziah's evil reign in Israel -1 Kings 22:51-2 Kings 1:184. Jehoram's evil reign in Israel 2:1-8:155. Jehoram's evil reign in Judah 8:16-246. Ahaziah's evil reign in Judah 8:25-9:29C. The ...
  • Second Kings begins with Ahaziah's reign that fell during the 33-year period of Israel and Judah's alliance (874-841 B.C.; -1 Kings 16:29-2 Kings 9:29). This period in turn fits within the larger context of the divided kingdo...
  • Even though Jehoram was better spiritually than Ahab (v. 2) he was still so much of an idolater that Elisha had no use for him (vv. 13-14).Mesha had rebelled against Israel earlier (v. 3), but he continued to do so. This upri...
  • Hazael was the governor of Damascus.50The Gentile King of Aram had more interest in inquiring of Yahweh than Jehoram's predecessor did (v. 8; cf. 1:2). It was customary in the Near East to make a great show of giving gifts. I...
  • Jehoash (Joash) had respect and affection for Elisha. He anticipated the loss that the death of God's spiritual warrior would be to Israel (v. 14). He recognized that Israel's real defense lay in Yahweh's angelic army and in ...
  • 35:18 Jeremiah then took a promise from the Lord back to the Rechabites. The Lord praised them for their tenacity in clinging to what they believed to be right, not because He approved their puritanical ideals.35:19 Someone f...
  • This oracle is similar to the one in Isaiah 15 and 16.555Other oracles against Moab appear in Ezekiel 25:8-11, Amos 2:1-3, and Zephaniah 2:9, but this is the longest one. It is very difficult to say when Jeremiah gave this or...
  • "The setting of the Mesopotamian dream-visions--which occurred in both the Assyrian period and the Babylonian period . . . --consisted of four elements: (1) the date, (2) the place of reception, (3) the recipient, and (4) the...
  • The date of Joel is its largest introductory problem. There are four most likely possibilities. First, some scholars advocate an early pre-exilic dateduring the reign of King Jehoshaphat (872-848 B.C.) or possibly his grandso...
  • The title of the book comes from its writer. The prophet's name means "burden-bearer"or "load-carrier."Amos was a sheepherder (Heb. noqed; cf. 2 Kings 3:4) or sheep breeder, and he described himself as a herdsman (Heb. boqer;...
  • 2:8 Probably Zephaniah linked Moab and Ammon because both nations descended from Lot (Gen. 19:30-38) as well as because both lay to Judah's east. Both nations had taunted and reviled the Israelites from their earliest history...
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