How I Mine for Gold in God's Word

The other day I was reading chapter 3 of 2 Kings and found it quite challenging to get all my facts about what was happening.  You know like who was king of what and who was going to battle where etc.  In years gone by, I don't know about you, but I would read those names, and places, and so on , so fast because it was too much work trying to really see what was happening and I really wanted to get to something that grabbed me. Again, you know like Elijah calling down fire or the Red Sea parting as Moses lifts his staff. Well, if you have been following the blog you will know part of this amazing journey God has me on is to dig and mine His word.  Trust me when I tell you that this fact alone has been life changing and makes the Word come to life in new and exciting ways...and the joy of discovering what images and thoughts God gives you is what the whole blog is about. Okay, now back to the chapter.
Please read it for yourselves and follow along with me as I try to give you a summary to save time.  This king of Moab, Mesha, has decided that he will no longer pay taxes or tribute to the king of Israel because the old king of Israel (Ahab) had died and Mesha decided not to pay anymore...kind of sounds like the way our country started. King Joram, Israel's new king, wasn't too thrilled with the idea and sought some allies to go fight the Moabites led by Mesha. King Jehoram gathers all the men he could, and he asked the king of Judah (Jehosophat),and the king of Edom to join him in battle against Mesha. Well vs 9-10 says that they wander around (the NIV version of the bible says "after a round about march; kind of sounds like a little "road trip") and after seven days the army is in deep trouble. No water for the men or the animals for this huge army. Didn't they kind of think about that as they were watching their canteens or whatever, run dry? Now the king of Israel proclaims that God has brought all of them out there to be killed. Please remember that Israel is not too credit worthy as far as saying what the Lord is going to do because they were still worshiping foreign gods.  Vs 12 says that Jehosophat (the King of Judah) inquires if there was not a  prophet of the Lord that they could go to?  Someone says that Elisha is here and Jehoshophat affirms that "The word of the Lord is with him."(vs 12)
Well as you read on you will see that the kings all go see Elisha and Elisha rebukes the King of Israel and tells him why doesn't he just go and get counsel from the prophets of his father and mother. This would be Ahab and Jezebel who are notoriously wicked and ruthless. "No," the king of Israel replied "The Lord has called us three kings to be handed over to Moab." Are you seeing this right? Joram was still claiming that he knew what the Lord was going to do even though I'm sure he has a bad track record. Stubborn or foolish...you decide.  vs 14 says basically that Elisha has had it! He tells Joram that if it wasn't for Jehoshophat (king of Judah) he would not have anything to do with him and he qualifies it by saying "As surely as the Lord Almighty lives" which is pretty harsh and strong words to tell Joram "You're wrong and shut up!  In vs15-16 we see that the word of the Lord comes to Elisha and he said to make this valley full of ditches and vs 17 you will not see or hear the wind of rain, but the valley will be filled with water which will allow you and your army and livestock to drink. Vs 18 in the NIV version says "This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; he will also hand Moab over to you."  I love this verse because it actually struck me as funny, not only because what is said, but also the order. It is an easy thing for the Lord? Do you know anything now or before or in the future that would be "hard" for the Lord. Interesting choice of words which is then followed by the statement oh, by the way I'll hand the Moabites over to you as well.  For some reason I just love that. In vs 18, God commands them to "Overthrow every fortified city and major town, and to chop down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones."  Let's look at this for a moment. They are to take over every fortified city and major town seems to indicate every place where they might be a substantial amount of people, not every little village or community.  Next they were to chop down every good tree which I don't think that it is talking about shade trees, but probably like fruit trees that would be a food source. In addition, to destroying the food sources line of thinking, they were now to stop up all the springs and ruin every good field with stones. Not good! They would have no water, and the "good fields" were to be covered over with stones which is not too conducive to crop yields and plentiful harvest.or pasture land.
The next few verses are some of my favorite as they tell about how the Moabite army which consisted pretty much of everyone in the land that could fight were called up to the battle front to get ready for the war because they had heard that the allied kings were there to fight them. Vs 22 says that they arose the next morning and looked out across the way and the reflection of the water looked like blood which they took as a confirmation that the opposing armies had turned against each other and basically, wiped each other out. Vs 23 "Now to the plunder, Moab".  This is so cool because don't you see that they wouldn't go and get the riches and spoils of victory with their full armor and gear because there would be no need. You won't need it guys and we can probably make less trips if we are not bogged down by the excess weight of our battle gear. Hang on. It gets better.
vs 24 relates that as the Moabites rush to get the booty the Israelites rose up and the battle was on. Can you imagine being one of the officers enthusiastically encouraging your men almost in a race like fashion to see who could get there first and you hear an OOPs from you commanding officer. It might kind of give you a very sudden sinking feeling.

Well the rest of the chapter tells of how they did chase and defeat the Moabites.  They did cut down the good trees and covered their fields with stones, and stopped up all the streams. The allies chased the Moabite king to Kir Hareseth which must have been one of the fortified cities. Israels men surrounded the city and threw stones at it using slings. This struck me as kind of odd because how would throwing small stones against a fortified city do much damage. Well the King of Moab decides that maybe he could break through the King of Edom's soldiers and still somehow turn this battle around. He gets 700 swordsmen to attempt to break through, but they fail and must retreat back into the city.
vs 27 says the Moabite king then sacrificed his oldest son, the one that was to succeed him, and SACRIFICED HIM ON THE WALL. This was such a horrific event that the fury against Isreal was "So great that they left and returned to their own land. This event that caused the allies to go home may have shown that the allies of Israel, Jehoshophat and the King of Edom were regretful of having helped Israel in the first place and now they witnessed and unbelievable murder that should have never have happened. You see the Moabites were never to be decimated and totally wiped out; only brought back under submission. This idea, and the idea that a defeat in battle was often seen as an affront to these foreign gods required horrific attempts to appease their god, up to and including human sacrifice.
Well, I wanted to share how as we read God's Word, I find it helpful to get some sort of meaningful  illustration and language that allow me to understand it and think about what it must have been like. I pray that you too will be able to find new appreciation for truly taking the time to get it straight in your mind as to who is doing what. etc and then be able mine the passage for a way that it really sticks with you and helps you enjoy God's wonderful Word even more.