2 Kings 3:1-27, THE 'SECOND-HAND IMPACT' OF UNGODLY AFFILIATIONS

Preached Sunday, January 2, 2011
from
2 Kings 3:1-27

Theme: We must choose wisely the path we’ll walk before God—because there are consequences to our choice.

(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)

A few weeks ago, we studied together from the life of King Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was, over-all, a godly king. He walked, as the Bible tells us, in the ways of his father King David. But he had one very significant character flaw. Even though he himself was a godly man, he had the sad tendency to enter into alliances with ungodly kings. Those alliances nearly destroyed him; and his tendency to enter into them brought God’s strong rebuke upon him more than once.

I was prepared to move on in our study to the story of his son, King Jehoram. But I made an interesting discovery. No sooner does the Bible begin to tell us the story of his son Jehoram than it has yet another story about Jehoshaphat himself — and still another unwise alliance with the ungodly. The Bible seems to treat this particular story separately from the other stories it tells of Jehoshaphat; and seems to place it in the context of that period of time in which he served a co-regency with Jehoram.¹ And this led me to think about the way Jehoshaphat’s alliances with ungodly kings not only affected him, but had a very destructive impact on his son.

And this led me further, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, to consider how our own carelessness in keeping separate from an affiliation with the ungodliness of this world brings a negative impact on more than just ourselves alone. Others who are watching our lives carefully, and who depend on us to set an example of a faithful walk with Christ before them, also experience what we might call a ‘second-hand’ impact from our alliances with the ungodly.

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Now; as I sought to emphasize in our last study, I believe that the Bible teaches us to be “separate” from the sins of this world, but not “separatists” in our relationships with the sinful people of this world. We need to be so close to the fallen people of this world that we can share the love of Jesus Christ with them, and show them the difference He makes in our lives. But at the same time, we must also be very careful that we ourselves don’t get entangled in those same sinful values and priorities and practices that they embrace. We must be “in the world” enough to communicate the love of Jesus to this world; but not be “of the world” to the degree that we affiliate ourselves with the ungodly in their sin.

We must keep ourselves separate from the sins of this world; because if we fail to do so, we will cease to be effective as servants for Christ. The apostle Paul put it this way:

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work (2 Timothy 2:20-21).

In a rich person’s house, there are vessels of gold and silver. They’re used for honorable purposes. But there are also mop buckets and trash baskets and empty jelly jars that are used for dishonorable purposes. And to some degree, it’s up to us which one of the two we will be. If we “cleanse” ourselves from dishonorable things, we will be ” a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work”.

One of those “good works” for which I believe the Lord Jesus wishes to use us has to do with our impact on others. God places other people in our lives — our children, or our grandchildren, or our brothers and sisters and relatives; or perhaps as our neighbors, or our workmates — who are watching our lives and are trying to learn about Jesus from us. And the things that we affiliate ourselves with not only impact us, but they also impact those who are watching us. People are evaluating our Savior, and learning about what the Christian life means, by seeing the places that we go to, or the movies we watch, or the books we read, or the other various ways in which we encounter this world.

Now; the Lord Jesus was very conscious of this. He once prayed to the Father about His disciples and said, “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth” (John 17:19). And I wonder; do you and I ever think about praying that way with regard to the people who are looking at our lives? Do we dare to say to them — as Paul once said — “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1); and then pray, “Father, for the sake of those who are watching my life, I “sanctify” myself — I keep myself separate from the sins of this world and set-apart for your use, just as Jesus did — so that they too may be sanctified in the truth”?

You see; good King Jehoshaphat was not careful to keep himself separate from the ungodly. He drew close to them, and so affiliated himself to them, that he became an enabler of their sin. And this not only cause him to suffer loss, it brought a terrible impact upon his son Jehoram.

Let’s look together at this story that the Bible tells us of Jehoshaphat in the context of his son Jehoram. And then, afterwards, let’s consider what kind of an impact it had on Jehoram himself.

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This particular story of King Jehoshaphat is found in the third chapter of the Old Testament book of 2 Kings. And I have to warn you in advance that you’re going to have to work hard at keeping the names straight. At the time of this story, Jehoshaphat was co-regent of the southern kingdom of Judah with his son Jehoram. But this same story involves the king of the northern kingdom of Israel; and the name of that king also happened to be Jehoram (although the Bible, in some places, calls him Joram)! So; if you’ll just remember that the “Jehoram” that we read about in this story is the king of the northern kingdom of Israel — and not the son of Jehoshaphat — then you’ll do alright. (I’ll do my best to help.)

Jehoram king of Israel was a very wicked man. That’s not really a surprise, because he grew up in a very wicked family. His father was wicked King Ahab, and his mother was the notorious woman Jezebel. Together, Ahab and Jezebel had spread the worship of the false god Baal throughout the northern kingdom of Israel.

The Bible tells us that Jehoram king of Israel wasn’t quite as bad as his father. In 2 Kings 3:1-2, we’re told;

Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel at Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, but not like his father and mother; for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made (2 Kings 3:1-2).

But even so, he was still a wicked man; because it goes on to say,

Nevertheless he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; he did not depart from them (v. 3).

He walked in the ways of Jeroboam — the first king of the northern kingdom, and the prototype for all the evil kings of the northern kingdom that would come after him. This was not the kind of man with whom godly Jehoshaphat — or anyone from the godly line of the southern kingdom of Judah — should have had any kind of association. And yet — sadly — Jehoshaphat entered into affiliation with him.

And here’s how it happened. We’re told;

Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheepbreeder, and he regularly paid the king of Israel one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. But it happened, when Ahab died, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.

So King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. Then he went and sent to Jehoshaphat king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” (vv. 4-7a).

The reason Jehoram king of Israel turned to Jehoshaphat king of Judah with this request is because Jehoshaphat had entered into alliances with the ungodly kings of Israel on two separate occasions before — once with his father Ahab, and later on with his brother Ahaziah. In both of those cases, it turned out to be a disaster for everyone; and it resulted in painful rebukes from God for Jehoshaphat. But sadly, Jehoshaphat was a godly man who didn’t seem to know how to say “no” to the ungodly. And so, Jehoshaphat said something to the king of Israel that he once said to his father Ahab — “I will go up; I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses” (v. 7b).

It’s pretty sad when a man of God gains a reputation of going along with the ungodly!

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Now; it may have been that Jehoshaphat thought that such an alliance would be beneficial to him. After all, if you read the story of Jehoshaphat from 2 Chronicles, you find that the Moabites once tried to destroy his kingdom. But in that case, Jehoshaphat cried out to God; and God performed a great miracle, and delivered Jehoshaphat and his people without their even having to go to battle (2 Chronicles 20:1-29). He didn’t need to be in affiliation with the ungodly. And of course, neither do we.

But Jehoshaphat said ‘yes’. He committed his people and his horses and his troops to help the king of Israel put down the rebellion of the people of Moab. And so, they planned together. Jehoram asked Jehoshaphat what he thought the best battle plan would be; and so Jehoshaphat — a far older and more experienced king — suggested that they come upon Moab from underneath — that is, through the wilderness of the kingdom of Edom. This would have both the advantage of surprise against the Moabites, and of securing the aid of the king of Edom (who perhaps thought that he had a score to settle with Moab because of a previous conflict [see 2 Chronicles 20:23]).

The problem was, however, that this was a dry region;

So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days; and there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. And the king of Israel said, “Alas! For the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab” (vv. 9-10).

Have you ever found yourself stuck in a situation in which you regretted that you ever got into partnership with the ungodly? Jehoshaphat must have been kicking himself by this point; and thinking to himself, “What a mess we’re in! Why did I do this again?”

But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?” (v. 11a).

Perhaps you’ll remember that, once before, Jehoshaphat asked a similar thing of Jehoram’s father Ahab (see 1 Kings 22:7). It’s too bad that Jehoshaphat didn’t seek the Lord’s counsel before he got into ungodly affiliations!

Jehoram king of Israel didn’t exactly jump in with an answer. But his servant did.

So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.” And Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the LORD is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him (vv. 11b-12).

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It may be that Jehoram wasn’t too eager to go see Elisha. It may be that he felt about Elisha the way his father Ahab felt about another prophet of God; “. . . I hate him, because he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil” (2 Chronicles 18:7). And if that was Jehoram’s concern, it was well-founded; because Elisha didn’t greet him warmly.

Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” And Elisha said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you. But now bring me a musician (vv. 13-15a).

A musician was called for — not because there was any special mystical or magical power in the music, but simply because it brought a calming influence on Elisha. It probably brought a calming influence on everyone else as well. After all, this was not a very friendly ‘meet and greet’.

Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. And he said, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’ For thus says the LORD: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ And this is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones” (vv. 15b-19).

Not only would God provide for the immediate need for water; but He would also deliver the Moabites into the hands of the three kings. And I suspect that this was an act of mercy on God’s part because of the presence of godly Jehoshaphat. The fact is that the presence of God’s people does have a beneficial impact on everyone else.² But we need to say that this ‘time of need’ would never had occurred had Jehoshaphat refrained from entered into an affiliation with the ungodly in the first place.

The Bible tells us what happened next;

Now it happened in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water (v. 20).

It may have been that, far away, God caused a sudden rain storm to occur that brought water in to fill the ditches that were dug at the prophet’s command. So that’s how God provided for the first need. And it was through that same provision that He provided for the second need.

And when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to bear arms and older were gathered; and they stood at the border. Then they rose up early in the morning, and the sun was shining on the water; and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood. And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely struck swords and have killed one another; now therefore, Moab, to the spoil!” (vv. 21-23).

The Moabites thought that what God had done against them in a former battle was now being done for them in this present battle. Back then, we’re told that God miraculously defended Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah by causing Moab and her allies Ammon and Edom to turn their swords on one another.³ Perhaps they thought that this same thing is what had happened to the three kings of Israel, Judah and Edom; and that all they now needed to do was go down and gather up the spoils.

But when they did so, what a surprise it was that was waiting for them!

So when they came to the camp of Israel, Israel rose up and attacked the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they entered their land, killing the Moabites. Then they destroyed the cities, and each man threw a stone on every good piece of land and filled it; and they stopped up all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees. But they left the stones of Kir Haraseth intact. However the slingers surrounded and attacked it (vv. 24-25).

Kir Haraseth was the only fortification left to Moab; and so all of the forces of the king of Moab were forced into that one spot; and all of the pressure of Israel brought to bear upon them there. And it’s then that things took a disturbing and gruesome turn.

And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew swords, to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not. Then he took his eldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him as a burnt offering upon the wall; and there was great indignation against Israel. So they departed from him and returned to their own land (vv. 26-27).

The fierceness of the counter-attack of Israel became so great, and the king of Moab so desperate, that he sacrificed his oldest son on the wall — before everyone — to the false god Chemosh, “the abomination of Moab” (1 Kings 11:7). And scholars are of mixed opinion if there was great indignation against Israel for this on the part of the other two kings for pushing this pagan king to such a desperate act, or great indignation from God Himself. Perhaps it was both. But in any case, the battle was brought to a shocking end.

Human sacrifice is about as deep into abomination as the fallen human heart can sink. And to see it put on such display because of his own involvement with the king of Israel must have been a dreadful thing for Jehoshaphat. Perhaps he went home with the remorseful thought, “What have I done? I — a man of God — in getting so deeply involved with something that turned out so horrifically wicked!”

But that’s what happens when we affiliate ourselves with the ungodly. We soon become affiliated with the acts of ungodliness.

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And the irony of this, if I may put it this way, is that there’s a sense in which Jehoshaphat ‘sacrificed’ his own son Jehoram through his affiliations with the wicked.

The Bible tells us that Jehoshaphat was a godly king. In spite of his regretful habit of affiliating himself with the ungodly, his story ends with the record that he himself walked in the ways of his father David and did what was right in the sight of the Lord. But the record of his son Jehoram — who we’ll study next — could not have been more to the contrary!

We’re told that Jehoshaphat’s alliances with the kings of Israel demonstrated its impact on his son by the fact that he “walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done” (2 Chronicles 21:6). Jehoshaphat sought an alliance with Ahab king of Israel by marrying Jehoram to Ahab’s daughter. And that woman — along with his own father’s unwise example — taught Jehoram to worship the false gods of Ahab and Jezebel; so that “he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit harlotry, and let Judah astray” (2 Chronicles 21:11). He learned from his father how to affiliate with the ungodly. But he didn’t learn from him how to walk in the ways of David. And Jehoshaphat’s failure to live a truly ‘set-apart’ life not only brought harm to himself, but it had such a negative impact on his son that it made Jehoram’s end one of the most tragic of all the kings of Judah. What a horrible thing to have on one’s record before God!

Dear brothers and sisters; the Bible says, “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Corinthians 5:6); and that “Evil company corrupts good habits” (1 Corinthians 15:33). Let’s ask God to show us how we may be allowing ourselves to form an alliance in some way with the ungodliness of this world; and how that alliance may not only be bringing us down, but also be having a destructive influence on those who are looking at our lives and are experiencing the impact of those affiliations “second hand”.

May God help us to have a truly ‘set-apart’ walk before Christ that not only benefits us, but also those who watch us. May we truly “sanctify” ourselves before our Lord, that others who look up to us may be “sanctified in the truth”.

Compare 2 Kings 1:17 with 3:1 and 8:16.

See 1 Corinthians 7:14.

See 2 Chronicles 20:22-23