Digging Ditches
Elijah & Elisha • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 47 viewsWe are weak, but God is strong. Three kings begin a quest in their own might only to find despair. Their only hope is in Yahweh. The lesson for the church is clear- we cannot survive, let alone fight the battle in our strength. We need God.
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So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey, and there was no water for the army or for the cattle that followed them.
Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! For the Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.”
But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of the Lord by him?” And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.”
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.
Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do I have to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” And the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab.”
Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you.
“But now bring me a minstrel.” And it came about, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.
He said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’
“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 shall drink, both you and your cattle and your beasts.
‘This is but a slight thing in the sight of the Lord; He will also give the Moabites into your hand.
‘Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and fell every good tree and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’ ”
It happened in the morning about the time of offering the sacrifice, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
INTRO: Have you ever started doing something and you start off pretty confident only to find yourself in over your head?
ILL: There used to be a show we’d watch on HGTV where people would do a DIY renovation. They began confident, strong, and fast… and then, they accidentally cut the main power supply or took out a load-bearing wall, or whatever. The shows always ended with the humbling call to a contractor to rescue them from the mess they created.
As bad as some of these were, in our text today, we see a situation quite a bit more dire. Allow me to set the context:
Israel has a new king- if you remember Ahaziah died after falling from his 2nd floor balcony (2 Kings 1:17). He had no sons, so his brother, Jehoram assumed the throne as king. He too did evil in the sight of the Lord (2 Kings 3:2)… not quite as bad as Ahab, but that isn’t really saying a whole lot.
At any rate, all this change in leadership sent a signal to a neighboring nation, Moab, that the kingdom had become feeble. You see, Moab was a weak nation, and so in order to keep peace, there was an agreement in place back when Ahab was king for Moab to pay a tributary of sorts to Israel. You can see that alluded to in v. 4. But, with Ahab’s death and now Ahaziah’s death, the Moab king decided it might be a good time to stop that.
This angered Jehoram and he decided that it was necessary for him to put the king of Moab in his place. He wanted to send a message, so he called up his buddies (actually they were kings of smaller nations who had an alliance of sorts) and began the journey to Moab to teach them a lesson.
This was not a bad plan necessarily and it likely happened many times throughout history. If a nation’s rebellion is tolerated, it will soon push even deeper in rebellion. Parents are nodding along- you understand this, don’t you? This needed to be stopped and Jehoram was absolutely confident that he along with Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom would be able to go to Moab, intimidate them into obedience, and return -maybe without even lifting a sword.
That’s where we pick up in the Scriptures this morning. In our time together, I hope to extract some relevant points of connection between the church and the characters in this chapter. In doing so, I am praying for you and I to see a clear picture of the landscape both in the church and outside the church, and allow God’s word to be applied to us individually and corporately.
If you picked up a bulletin, I encourage you to use the sermon guide and follow along with me. The message is entitled “Digging Ditches”. Let’s learn together.
We begin by noting:
We Have A Parallel Position (9-12)
We Have A Parallel Position (9-12)
What do I mean? Well, let’s examine the position of these 3 kings and their armies: (READ 9-10)
Here we have this great multitude- armed for battle and they hit a snag. They have no water. Now, perhaps this was poor planning- maybe someone forgot to scout the trip and mark possible water supplies, maybe they took a wrong turn and the route ended up costing them extra time that they had not packed for, we don’t know.
BUT, we know that without water, they not only would not be able to fight the battle ahead, they might not survive the journey! This great military was as helpless as a maple leaf in a hurricane.
They took off thinking they had everything squared away only to be halted by a basic lack of water. This is frustrating. How could something like this happen?
Well, according to Jehoram, this is all God’s fault… God must be against them. Of course, this is interesting because ol Jehoram never mentioned God before. But, that’s not all that rare. You’ve probably talked to someone who isn’t a Christian, but they blame God for all that’s wrong in the world.
Yet, Jehoshaphat, perhaps realizing how arrogantly they took to this endeavor, realized the only hope was this very God whom Jehoram cast blame. NOTE: It took a crisis to get them to this point! but as we see in v. 11-12, these kings finally acknowledged their position of dependence upon the Living God and sought His wisdom and power.
So, how is the position of the church similar? Let’s draw a line.
We too are headed to battle. The world around us is hopelessly lost and sin is increasing. We come together and we talk about battling the woes of sin in our schools and in our communities. We draw our battle plans and march out; We speak at the school board, write letters to our congressman, and stand in protest at the abortion clinics. Yet, we somehow seem powerless against this evil.
And you know something: we are. Paul tells us in Galatians that we are in a spiritual war. Those who practice sin are not our enemies, but rather it is the enemy of sin. It’s the enemy named Satan and his kingdom of darkness. Our best laid plans are useless because we lack that which is basic to all Christian success.
Folks, we NEED the power of the Holy Spirit. And not just simply to fight the war, but folks, we need the Holy Spirit because in our very churches, we are weak!
Here’s the thing- I believe that the church universal is very much at a crisis point. We often get caught looking out and saying, “They need Jesus, they need Jesus.” This is true, but you know what? I need Jesus! You need Jesus! We are in a war against our pride and our desire to be our own gods as much as a war against the evil of the world.
We can barely fill the volunteer positions in our weekly ministries, much less launch out to battle on the front lines. Our personal walk with the Lord is littered with weaknesses and temptations. Our worship of God is stale and we somehow expect to march against the angel of darkness?
And we have a choice- we can be frustrated and angry or we can turn our eyes upon the One who reigns victorious! We can surrender to the doom of our churches or we can seek God who makes the dry bones live. We are in a position of need.
The church today stands in a parallel position as the kings and their armies here. So, we must look on and in so doing, we see another connection point. That is
We Have A Related Responsibility (13-17)
We Have A Related Responsibility (13-17)
Read 13-15
When the kings find Elisha, Jehoram’s attitude is still the same. He’s frustrated and convinced that Yahweh has set them up to die. Elisha candidly asks him why he’s not seeking a word from the false idols that he serves. Ultimately, I think Jehoram knows that these idols lack the power to help them. Thus, his words are words of despair… but he is seeking to hear from Yahweh.
If I’m Elisha, I’m a bit skeptical too. And if Jehoshaphat wasn’t there, I don’t know how seriously I would take Jehoram. Ultimately, Elisha honored the kings’ request- they wanted to hear from God and Elisha was the mouthpiece of God. Let’s look at the word that was delivered. READ 16-17
Dig ditches, and God will fill them with water.
As is the practice of God so often He requires them to demonstrate their faith. He didn’t tell them to dig wells or do a rain dance. He didn’t give them the location of a body of water they could visit. Digging trenches actually wasn’t a step that made a lot of sense practically.
God’s promise was that He would fill the ditches. Not by rain or any kind of storm because they might be tempted to credit coincidence or some idol. This feat would be accomplished in such a way that the only explanation is “God did it!”
These kings were given a responsibility to obey God’s word, demonstrating their faith. Let’s draw the line to the church today.
We need the hand of God to preserve and strengthen us. We need the Holy Spirit to convict our own sinful hearts and to transform us. We know that one sows and another waters, but it is GOD who gives the growth. (1 Cor. 3:5-11) So we need HIM to fill us and empower us.
So, what’s our responsibility? To dig the ditches. To demonstrate our faith as we anticipate the work of Almighty God.
We do this by:
Hiding God’s word in our heart. Paul actually lines this out in Ephesians 6:10-18 as he tells the church to put on the full armor of God.
Obeying God’s commands - we must act upon what we already know! We know we are to teach, to renew our minds in worship, to encourage one another, to GO and live out our identity as God’s own. DO NOT abandon this work! He tells us to obey and HE will do the hard part.
Interceding for the lost, refusing to be a stumbling block, giving sacrificially, etc.
Our responsibility is demonstrate our trust in God to meet our needs and equip us for the battle. Relying on God does not mean idleness nor simply being busy. It means that we acting on God’s promise.
So church, fill this valley with trenches and God will fill the trenches. Dig them deep and long- consider the great need we have for God’s Holy Spirit power! Do not fall short or get lazy- God will meet our needs in abundance!
The church is in a parallel position to the kings - WE NEED GOD. And we have a related responsibility - to demonstrate our faith. Finally, the final connection I’d like to make is:
We Have A Guaranteed Gospel (18-20)
We Have A Guaranteed Gospel (18-20)
Gospel means good news. For the three kings in our text, the good news is that miraculously and abundantly providing water was a “slight thing” for God. Let’s read v. 18 again (READ)
You see, the crisis point for the kings came when they realized their need. The good news is not simply that God can meet their needs and beyond. He didn’t have to do any of this, but what makes this so good is that God’s actions were not determined by merit, but rather by His own grace.
That God would look upon His people in the midst of their pride and rebellion and still offer grace that delivers from crisis and leads to victory- I’d say that’s pretty good news!
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
And here we are today with that same grace which was given through Christ. You see, God desires to bring the church to victory. Not only can He make us healthy, but He can shine through us the LIGHT that drives out darkness!
ILL: Haven’t you ever entered a room that is dark, but then you turn on the light and what happens? Darkness flees! That is how God works!
And folks, you and I should have the confidence that God will work in that same manner today.
“If the Christian Church universal were prepared for a blessing, God would not only give it a revival in its own border, but make short work, by its means, of all his enemies.” - Charles Spurgeon
If the church is cold and powerless, the sinful culture of the world will overtake her. Just like Moab became emboldened when Israel looked weak and rebelled, so we see that America has lost sight of God’s holiness and power.
But if the church is alive! And the Gospel is lived out, then sin will be put down! We need the power of the Holy Spirit because you and I cannot overcome darkness.
Folks, I lament that “We rely more upon the government to restrain sin than we do the Gospel to overcome it.”
But it is the GOSPEL, not government which is the power of God for salvation!
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
It is a slight thing for Almighty God to transform communities through His Gospel. And as sure as God brought sustenance and absolute and final victory at His word to these kings in our passage, God has promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against His church!
So, this morning I want to leave you with this:
The time is now for you and I to acknowledge our need for the Holy Spirit power IN us and THROUGH us!
The time is now to take hold of our spiritual shovels and dig ditches so that the grace of God will be abundantly supplied.
Haven’t you heard? - The gospel is still good news!
[PRAY]
Discuss: Describe the crisis facing the church today.
Discuss: What would digging a ditch look like in spiritual terms?
Discuss the power of God and the depth of His grace.
