Why did a victory that seemed certain slip away, allowing the enemy to escape? How did an unreliable king miss the triumph promised by God? In this chapter, the teacher will share the key to success in spiritual warfare.

Questions for Reflection:

What is the essence of warfare?

Joram was not a good king, so why did God promise him victory?

Why did Joram still fail to achieve victory?

When facing a battle, what insights do you gain from King Joram's failure?

The Essence of Warfare

2 Kings chapter 3 discusses the spiritual essence of warfare. There are many battles in this world: battles between individuals, between groups, and between nations. This chapter examines the question: Who will win a war between someone who provokes much of God’s anger and someone who provokes a little of God’s anger? The answer is: the one who provokes a little of God's anger will win.

People are divided into many kinds, and so are nations. Ahab was a very unsuccessful king who did much evil in the eyes of the Lord. However, King Mesha of Moab was even more unsuccessful than Ahab. Therefore, King Mesha submitted to Ahab, paying him tribute. This is the spiritual essence. Later, the King of Moab refused to pay tribute to Joram, the son of Ahab, and war broke out. Here, God promised that King Joram’s side would be victorious in this battle.

What did the Lord say? He said, “'Make this valley full of ditches.' 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.' This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; he will also deliver Moab into your hands. 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.” (2 Kings 3:16-19)

King Joram Was a Bad King, So Why Did God Promise Him Victory?

Before the Israelites possessed the land of Canaan, what was God’s word at that time?

After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, 'My own righteousness has brought me into this land to possess it'; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the Lord your God is driving them out before you to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people. (Deuteronomy 9:4-6)

Originally, God gave that land to the Israelites, not because of their righteousness, but because of the wickedness of the Canaanites.

God's promise of victory to King Joram was not because of Joram's righteousness, but because of the wickedness of the Moabites. In fact, many brothers and sisters need to be vigilant here. Do not think that your spiritual life is very remarkable just because you have received many blessings from God in your job or in life. Brothers and sisters, it is best not to say, Because I am doing well, I am blessed in the eyes of God. Often, blessings are simply due to the wickedness of others.

Wrong Perceptions and Attitudes Towards the Spiritual World

The King of Israel allied with the King of Judah and the King of Edom to wage war. Halfway there, they ran out of water. The soldiers were very thirsty, and the King of Israel had a bad feeling. Although the King of Israel was basically ignorant of the spiritual essence of war, he still had some superstitious ideas. He decided to consult the great prophet among them.

Because people do not understand the spiritual world, they develop superstitious thoughts when they encounter difficulties they cannot overcome. Many people who have received traditional Chinese education have some of these ideas. Worshipping during festivals might bring good luck. If we tell them the spiritual truth, that continuing to worship idols will suffer the attacks of evil spirits, they will reply, Don't curse me. Not understanding, yet being superstitious, is in itself a very unscientific attitude.

As Christians, we must understand the spiritual essence. Those who grasp the spiritual essence are not superstitious. Rather, they are people who understand the God they worship and rely on.

God Who Shows Favoritism

After finding Elisha, Elisha helped the King of Israel out of consideration for the King of Judah. This is a miraculous thing. Our God is a God who shows favoritism. If one day, God favors some others because of you, that is truly a great grace! Although we may not be righteous in our actions, if we are willing to humble ourselves before God, willing to understand these spiritual essences, willing to draw near to God, and willing to obey God, God will value your face. God did not destroy the Israelites for the sake of Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What a great grace this is (see Exodus 32)!

Spiritual Warfare

When the Spirit of God came down, He gave Elisha a revelation, clearly stating that in this battle, the joint forces of the King of Israel, the King of Judah, and the King of Edom would destroy the King of Moab. But the ending was not like this. The ending was that the King of Moab sacrificed his eldest son to the powers of darkness, and as a result, the three kings withdrew (see 2 Kings 3:27). Without spiritual vision, when reading this passage, from a human perspective, one would not know what happened and would feel very confused.

Here, the spiritual essence of war is clearly demonstrated. After the King of Moab offered his eldest son as a living sacrifice, what happened in the spiritual world? The powers of darkness began to operate. When the powers of darkness began to operate, the army of God was repelled, and the angels and heavenly hosts of God were repelled.

The three kings, the King of Israel, the King of Judah, and the King of Edom, were all descendants of Abraham, but they did not inherit Abraham's spiritual heart. At that time, the three kings were spiritually blind and could not see that this was actually a spiritual battle. They thought it was a physical battle and just waited there. When the other side used the power of the spiritual darkness, human flesh could not resist it. The King of Israel, the King of Judah, and the King of Edom did not know the importance of sacrifice! Nor did they know the essence of war! Whichever side's spiritual power wins will win in the real battle. This is the most important principle of spirituality.

If at that time, the three kings had continued to pray, continued to offer the sacrifice of prayer, and continued to engage in spiritual warfare, the angels and heavenly hosts of God would have won the victory of this war for them. It was because the Israelites and Judahites did not offer the sacrifice of prayer, nor did they engage in spiritual warfare, that the angels and heavenly hosts whom God sent to fight for them in the spiritual world were repelled by the powers of darkness. Can God not be angry about this?

Many times, some brothers and sisters do not see the spiritual battle, but only focus on the physical battle. As Christians, we must always keep our spiritual eyes open. When we take exams, it is a worldly battle. However, if we are spiritually prosperous, it will enable you to perform exceptionally well in your exams, which means God is helping you fight and win.

If our spirit is strong, the angels and heavenly hosts fighting for us will have the power to win in battle, enabling us to prosper in all things. Conversely, if our spirit is weak, the angels and heavenly hosts fighting for us will not have the power, and many battles will be lost. Therefore, the ability to fight is directly related to our spiritual life. We have no reason to skimp on time in spiritual matters. Prayer, Bible study, and meeting attendance cannot be reduced! As church leaders, we must dare to demand and dare to insist on this spiritual truth. If everyone is saving time on spiritual matters, reducing meeting time, reducing Bible study time, and reducing prayer time, and then when this brother's or sister's life is a mess, we give them the sentence, This is what you deserve. This is absolutely the wrong approach!

But if we spend a lot of time on spiritual matters and pay a very heavy price, we will wonderfully discover that we have not lost anything. Because in our battles in the world, including interpersonal relationships, including learning, including work... if we are spiritually prosperous, we will naturally win! Moreover, we are even more surprised to find that in all aspects, we not only win, but also are above and not below, the head and not the tail.

The essence of life is spiritual. The most, most crucial thing is not our physical intelligence, our physical efforts, but whether our spirit is prosperous or not. Ecclesiastes says: I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Know that when you are strong in spirit, opportunities for victory will automatically come to you. This is also God's view.

The Israelites incurred God's great anger! A good battle that was supposed to be won turned out like this. It was because they did not know the spiritual essence of war! If the Israelites could know what their ancestors did, that is, what happened two or three hundred years ago, in the era of Joshua and Moses, what did they rely on to fight? On weapons? No! They relied on their God! The Israelites surrounded the city of Jericho, circling it seven times, and Jericho was opposite the land of Moab. The walls collapsed on their own (see Joshua 6). This was not relying on the sharp weapons and strong soldiers of the Israelites. It was the Lord God who fought and won before them.

We must never always look at problems with physical eyes, but with spiritual eyes. Since before, brothers and sisters relied on spiritual power to turn around from a miserable situation, can't we rely on the spiritual power from the Lord to continue to live a victorious and abundant life today? We certainly can.

Christians must not only have a religious appearance, but also master the spiritual essence. Only when we grasp the spiritual essence will God be pleased with us, and will we achieve an abundant life. It is not because we love money that we get money. It is not because we merely like miracles that miracles happen among us. It is because we love God that miracles happen among us. Heart disease is healed, cancer is healed. When the church constantly pays the price and lives a spiritual life for a long time, God will surely be with the church and will surely fight and win for the church!

Scripture

2Ki 3:1 In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned twelve years.
2Ki 3:2 He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
2Ki 3:3 Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it.
2Ki 3:4 Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder, and he had to deliver annually to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams.
2Ki 3:5 But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
2Ki 3:6 So King Jehoram marched out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel.
2Ki 3:7 And he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to war against Moab?” And he said, “I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
2Ki 3:8 Then he said, “Which way shall we march?” He answered, “By the way of the wilderness of Edom.”
2Ki 3:9 So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. And when they had made a circuit of seven days' march, there was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them.
2Ki 3:10 Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! The Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.”
2Ki 3:11 But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?” Then one of the king of Israel's servants answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.”
2Ki 3:12 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.
2Ki 3:13 And Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to your father's prophets and your mother's prophets.” But the king of Israel said to him, “No; it is the Lord who has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.”
2Ki 3:14 And Elisha said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you.
2Ki 3:15 But now bring me a musician.” And when the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him.
2Ki 3:16 And he said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’
2Ki 3:17 For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind or rain, but that valley shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals.’
2Ki 3:18 This is a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will also give the Moabites into your hand,
2Ki 3:19 and you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop up all springs of water and ruin every good piece of land with stones.”
2Ki 3:20 The next morning, about the time that the offering was presented, behold, water came from the direction of Edom, till the country was filled with water.
2Ki 3:21 Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, all who were able to put on armor, from the youngest to the oldest, were called out and stood at the border.
2Ki 3:22 And when they rose early in the morning and the sun shone on the water, the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood.
2Ki 3:23 And they said, “This is blood; the kings have surely fought together and struck one another down. Now then to the spoil, Moab!”
2Ki 3:24 But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose and struck the Moabites, till they fled before them. And they went forward, striking the Moabites as they came into their land.
2Ki 3:25 And they destroyed the cities, and every good piece of land they covered with stones. They stopped up every spring of water and felled all the good trees, till only the stones of Kir-hareseth were left, and the slingers surrounded and attacked it.
2Ki 3:26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom, but they could not.
2Ki 3:27 Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.