Read: 2 Kings 3:1-4:17; Acts 14:8-28; Psalm 140:1-13; Proverbs 17:22
Jehoram, son of Ahab was king over Israel and he was evil. Jehoshaphat was king over Judah and he was good and honored God. They teamed up with the king of Edom to fight the king of Moab because he had refused to send tribute sheep to Israel. On their way they ran out of water and thought they were doomed. Jehoshaphat knew they needed God’s heart in the matter so he asked if their was a prophet in Israel. One of the king’s servants knew about Elisha and how he had taken Elijah’s place. So the three desperate kings went to find Elisha.
Elisha told the king of Israel that he should ask his false prophets but since Jehoshaphat had asked and he was a righteous man, Elisha promised to help them. He asked for a minstrel because music has the potential to woo the spirit of God. After he soaked in this, he knew what to do. He told them to dig ditches and that God would fill them with water though they wouldn’t see rain. He added that this was a small thing but through this he would deliver the Moabites to them.
The next morning, a meat offering was offered to the Lord and water started flowing from Edom and the country was fill of water. Where this water came…no one knew. When the sun hit the water it looked like blood to the Moabites. So instead of charging for war, they charged for spoil. Israel, Judah and Edom charged for war and totally defeated the Moabites.
In Chapter Four, we transition to the land of the prophets. A prophet’s widow comes to Elisha with her problem. Since her husband died, she had not been able to pay her bills so the creditors were going to take her two sons into slavery. Elisha asked her what she had in her house. She told him she only had a pot of oil. So Elisha told her to borrow a bunch of pots from her neighbors then bring her and her sons into her house, shut the door and start pouring. Her little pot of oil filled all the pots. Then she was able to sell the oil and get out of debt and live off the rest.
God used Elisha to provide for a woman, so God used a woman to provide for Elisha. This woman was a wealthy woman who always had Elisha over to eat whenever he was passing her way. She asked her husband to build an addition to their house for Elisha to stay with them when he passed by. She furnished it with the things he would need. He wanted to bless her back so he asked what she might need. She had the money to buy anything she needed, but what she wanted couldn’t be bought with money. She wanted a son so Elisha told her she would have a son in the time it takes to have a son. It happened just as he said.
When we do the things for others to meet their needs, God will make sure our needs are taken care of too. He will give us the desires of our heart.
Lord, help us to pour out our life as a sacrifice of praise to you.
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