Water in the Desert

INTRODUCTION

(Life of Elisha)

Good morning! My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor here at Renovation Church

Hope you’re having a great summer so far.

I was out of town last week on my 21st Annual Weekend getaway with my best friends & college roommates…down in the Southeastern corner of MN.

We hang out, play board games, eat a lot of snacks, and each person shares an update about their past year, and we pray for them.

And on Saturday, a few of us went on a 7-mile run together.

And it as my job to come up with a route.

And it’s quite hilly down there, so I made sure to pick a route that was almost all downhill.

But not long into our actual run, I realized that I had actually gotten my starting and stopping points inverted when creating the run…

…so, in actuality, we were running the entire route backwards, and it was 7 miles, of mostly uphill!

Which…is just…good training I told my friends!

But do you ever get yourself in a jam, or a tough place?

And maybe it wasn’t your fault, or…maybe…it was??

Either way, we’re going to talk about that today.

We are in week 3 of our Summer Series on the Life of Elisha the prophet.

So go ahead and grab a Bible

2 Kings 3:1-8

If this is your first time here, or you missed out on the first two weeks, we are about 850 years or so before Jesus came to earth

We’re going to get some lesser-known Bible stories this summer, but they are just as awesome. Seriously!

I just know you’re going to love this series.

Let’s start reading.

(2 Kings 3:1-8) - NIV

Joram son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made. 3 Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them.

4 Now Mesha king of Moab raised sheep, and he had to pay the king of Israel a tribute of a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams. 5 But after Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 So at that time King Joram set out from Samaria and mobilized all Israel. 7 He also sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?”

“I will go with you,” he replied. “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”

8 “By what route shall we attack?” he asked.

“Through the Desert of Edom,” he answered.

(water in the desert)

Okay, let’s talk through these first 8 verses there are a lot of historical kings & geographical places to sort through.

And so I think this is a really good time for a map!

Let’s take a look!

(Moab Map)

So God’s people are now in two kingdoms:

Israel is the northern Kingdom, Judah the Southern Kingdom.

Verse 1 tells us that Joram, the King of Israel, is the son of Ahab.

Ahab was one of Israel’s most wicked kings, and the same king that often sparred with Elisha’s mentor, Elijah the prophet.

And King Joram’s mother was the evil Queen Jezebel, so he does not come from a great family here

But, the Bible says that the King of Judah, Jehoshaphat, was actually a good King, who honored God.

Now war is going to break out because the Moabites had been paying tribute to Israel, but now that King Ahab his dead, Mesha, the King of Moab decided to rebel and he refusing to pay.

So the Israelite Army & King Joram are going to travel south to Jerusalem and meet up with army from Judah & King Jehoshaphat.

They’re then going to go south of the Dead Sea, and meet their friends from the Army of Edom.

And they’re going to get just about to the southern border of Moab.

And you know what’s really fascinating about the Moabites and 2 Kings chapter 3?

The Moabite Stone!

(Moabite Stone)

You ever heard of the Moabite Stone??

Well you have now!

The Moabite Stone (an incredible archaeological discovery) was discovered in 1868 by a French Missionary, and the Moabite Stone is comprised of writings from King Mesha of Moab, the exact same king mentioned in our passage today

And the stone verifies many of the details of 2 Kings 3 (the kings listed and the situation they were in), but, of course it tells the story from a Moabite perspective.

You can even see the Moabite Stone with your own eyes at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

And so when someone tells you the Bible is just fairy tales, you tell them about the Moabite Stone! 😊

So these now 3 armies (Israel, Judah, and Edom) are on a journey to attack Moab, but something’s about to go wrong.

Let’s keep reading

GO TO GOD FIRST

2 Kings 3:9-14

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(2 Kings 3:9-14) – NIV

9 So the king of Israel set out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. After a roundabout march of seven days, the army had no more water for themselves or for the animals with them.

10 “What!” exclaimed the king of Israel. “Has the Lord called us three kings together only to deliver us into the hands of Moab?”

11 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?”

An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.”

12 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.

13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why do you want to involve me? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.”

“No,” the king of Israel answered, “because it was the Lord who called us three kings together to deliver us into the hands of Moab.”

14 Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not pay any attention to you.

(Moab Map)

And so after 7 days of marching, and making it just about to the Moab border, the troops run completely out of water…in the desert no less!

And maybe that’s where you find yourself right now…in a tough place…and you’re needing God…to lead you to some water in your desert.

Well, how do you find it?

I’m going to give you 3 Biblical principles.

How to Find Water in the Desert

#1: Go to God

Now, if you were to read all of 1 Kings & 2 Kings straight through, one of the things that would jump out to you about today’s passage is that the Kings never consulted a prophet before they set off to fight Moab

They never even asked God if that’s what they were supposed to go.

But look at verse 10 for a second.

Ahab & Jezebel’s son, King Joram says, “What!” exclaimed the king of Israel. “Has the Lord called us three kings together only to deliver us into the hands of Moab?”

He says, “Has the Lord called us…”….

But wait a second, the Lord never called them together in the first place!

They didn’t ask Him!

But we do this all the time!

So often we get an idea, or an urge, and we act on it, and, honestly, it was quite foolish, and so we get ourselves into a mess, and then we say:

“God, how could you let this happen to me?!”

“God, do something about this!”

And so the first principle of finding water, is don’t go to the desert.

If you’re already in a tough spot, this first principle may feel like ten thousand spoons when all you need in a knife…

But hear me:

One of the ways you can avoid the desert is by consulting God first. Go to Him first. Consult his word.

We studied a big chunk of Proverbs last Fall, which is a big book dedicated to wisdom, wisdom that leads to water, to life.

It’s obvious these Kings didn’t consult God or His Wisdom.

Here they are, 7 days into a journey, in the desert no less, and they run out of water.

It’s hard to know what they were thinking.

But notice, God still gets blamed for it.

But in verse 11, it appears that they are starting to do the right thing.

Look at verse 11:

11 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?”

And when they find out Elisha is with them, verse 12 says the 3 kings actually went down to see him.

Now listen, kings don’t usually go down to see anyone…people come to them.

So they are humbling themselves here.

They’re going “to God”

Which is what you need to do when you get yourself stuck.

And you find yourself in the desert, and maybe, just maybe, it was your fault, not God’s.

You need to humbly…Go to God.

But notice, Elisha is not having it when the King of Israel comes to him.

Look at verse 13. Elisha says to Joram, the King of Israel:

Why do you want to involve me? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.”

It was his Joram’s parents (Ahab & Jezebel) that led the people, en masse, to follow the false & demonic god, Baal.

And so why is Elisha talking to the King like this?

It’s because as a prophet, he can see the king’s intent.

He knows that King Joram of Israel had no interest in God’s direction, or he would’ve asked for it at the beginning.

And the only reason that Joram is asking God now is because he’s in a jam, and he just wants to get out of it.

And Elisha says the only reason I’m going to help you is because Jehoshaphat is here!

And we ought to let passages like this convict us.

What do you want more?

God to fix your situation or God himself?

So the first principle of finding water in the desert, is simply “Go to God first”

And if you didn’t, like a lot of us don’t, remember, it’s never too late.

But when you come to Him, come with the right heart…

…one ready to surrender to His will, not just to use Him to accomplish your will.

BRING A HARP TO WAR

We’re going to see a second principle in the next verse, so let’s go back to the text.

Elisha is still talking to the 3 kings, and he says:

2 Kings 3:15

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(2 Kings 3:15) – NIV

15 But now bring me a harpist.”

While the harpist was playing, the hand of the Lord came on Elisha

And he’s going to give them a message from God.

So here’s our 2nd principle for finding water in the desert:

How to Find Water in the Desert

#1: Go to God

#2: Bring a harp to war

I was reading this text through like the 3rd or 4th time this week, and it just hit me…

…and I thought, “Wait a second, someone thought to bring a harp to war!”

That’s amazing.

We see several times in the Old Testament that the prophets used music to help them hear God better.

There is just something about music that opens up our hearts to God.

So when you’re stuck in a desert in your life, you’ve got to have a harp.

If you’re needing direction from God right now, I cannot urge you enough to add worship music to your daily time of seeking Him.

Read, pray, but open up your heart and worship Him.

I think you’ll find it a powerful way, like Elisha, to turn up the volume knob of God’s voice.

This is an important principle even for Sunday mornings

There is a growing contingent of American Christians who only want deeply theological worship songs, and they don’t care much for how the music sounds.

Their focus is just on the words.

But really, both sides of the coin matter.

Biblically accurate worship music matters.

It’s incredibly important.

But the music also matters.

And we see it here in 2 Kings.

Music isn’t just about words.

There is an “art to music;” an emotional/spiritual connection that happens.

I think it’s really helpful to look at the Psalms, which are the actual, Biblical examples we have for worship songs

The Psalms don’t read like Doctrinal statements

They’re emotional, and expressive, and sometimes, they’re super repetitive.

The goal of worship is to ascribe worth to God, not just by mentally assenting to truths, but also by opening up our hearts to him.

And music, good music, helps with that.

And we just read that truth right in the Bible

DIG A DITCH

Okay, let’s keep reading and we’ll see another principle.

Elisha is still talking to the 3 kings:

2 Kings 3:16-19

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(2 Kings 3:16-19) – NIV

16 and he said, “This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water. 17 For this is what the Lord says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. 18 This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; he will also deliver Moab into your hands. 19 You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones.”

(water in the desert)

Now, this is kind of a tricky one because of our NIV translation of the Bible.

And I LOVE the NIV, but the grammar of Hebrew of verse 16 is kind of tricky, and can be translated in two different ways, and our NIV translates it in a way that most other translations don’t, and while it’s accurate, I think it misses a key part that most scholars do point out.

A very literal translation of verse 16 is:

כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה עֲשׂוּ הַנַּחַל הַזֶּה גֵּבִים גֵּבִים

Make this valley full of ditches

So the Lord is telling the people to go out, preemptively, and dig ditches.

And then, when He floods the land with water, water could then collect in the ditches and the people (and their animals) could easily drink it.

Otherwise, if they don’t dig ditches, the water is just going to float on by

But think about this because this is a common theme in the Bible.

God often asks His people to step forward in faith before they see Him move.

The Israelites had to march around Jericho IN FAITH…before the walls fell down.

Noah had to build the ark in FAITH…before the rain came

The Priests in Joshua had to step into the Jordan River in FAITH…before the river actually parted.

The man with the shriveled hand had to stretch out his hand…in FAITH… …before Jesus healed him.

It’s the same here.

Elisha says God is gonna send the water, but the people are going to have to …in FAITH…make the valley full of ditches first.

And so if you want to find water in your desert, you’ve gotta start digging ditches!

This is our 3rd principle

How to Find Water in the Desert

#1: Go to God

#2: Bring a harp to war

#3: Start digging ditches

I think there are too many people out there just waiting on God to show them His power, but they haven’t shown Him any faith that they believe His power is coming!

For example, there is a fast-growing group of young adults here…

…and maybe you’re praying for God to bring you a spouse.

And He can…if it’s His will.

But listen, if you want to see the miracle of His provision, you’re probably going need to dig a ditch.

And like, you know, actually ask someone on a date, even try and meet another Christian online.

You gotta dig a ditch…believing God will move

Or, if you are married, and you’re in a dry season in your marriage, don’t JUST pray for God to change things… (too many Christians get stuck right here)

Start digging ditches!

Check out a book on marriage from our library, get Christian counseling, go on more dates.

Dig a ditch, expecting that God’s gonna fill it.

Others of you, are praying so hard for your family to know Christ, but you’ve never shared the gospel with them.

You’ve never dig a ditch for the water to flow into.

I just talked to a guy two weeks ago who gave his life to Christ here 4 months ago, and he said, “Pastor David, I’ve brought 4 people with me to church in the past 3 months.

3 months ago, I brought my brother and he got saved.

2 months ago, I brought my cousin, and he got saved.

And then he said, today, I brought my two friends, and they both got saved.

4 out of 4.

But He didn’t sit at home and pray that God would strike them with spiritual lightning.

He got on his feet and started digging ditches, like he was expecting God to move.

Where do you need to start digging?

Part of what makes your faith, “Real Faith,” is when you move even when the outcome isn’t visible yet.

This is why one of our Core Values is to “Pray the Impossible.”

We pray with Faith that God can do anything, and we trust Him with the same faith, even if, in His wisdom, He chooses to do nothing.

But the Bible tells us to pray in faith anyway! With radical faith!

To dig ditches and pray!

And then, sometimes, God will even bless us with grace on top of grace as John 1 says.

I wish I had more time to take you through every verse and nuance of this amazing chapter, but I have to summarize the rest.

I encourage you to read it at home.

But verses 20-23 tell us that Moabites look out in the next morning at sunrise, and the redness of the sunrise shines on these new ditches of water…

…but the Moabites didn’t know about the ditches…

…so they mistakenly think that the 3 kings must have turned on each other, and that it must be pools of blood out there in the desert

So without thinking, they run out (presumably without armor) to collect the spoils, only to be surprised by these 3 Kings and their armies.

And so the Lord’s provision of water not only saves His people from dying of thirst, but also gives them victory in battle as well.

So, I want you to go TO the Lord this week…

and bring a harp to the war you’re fighting…

And Ask God (IN FAITH) to bring water to your desert

And then start digging ditches like He’s actually going to move!

In fact, I want many of you to start this, even this morning.

At this time, I’m going to invite up our prayer team and some of our elders to the front, and our worship band as well.

And if you need to tell God in faith that you need Him to send some water on your life (maybe it’s a medical thing, or something’s going on with your family, or your kids, or at work)…

…I urge you, let the people of God pray for you this morning.

If the whole prayer team is full, you can wait in line, or you can just kneel at the altar yourself if that’s what you prefer.

We’re here at church to hear the word of God, to worship God, and to ENCOUNTER the Living God!

So let’s do that.

And if you’re here, and you want to give your life over to God for the very first time…to believe that Jesus came and died for your sins…and you’re ready to receive His gift of eternal life and surrender everything to Him…

…I want you to go see our follow-up team in the very front right, against the wall.

All right, at any time during this last song, you can come.

Let’s pray for each other.