Lessons Drawn from Flawed Rulers and their Thoughtless Plans [ 35:25 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (55)Lessons Drawn from Flawed Rulers and their Thoughtless Plans: 2 Kings #03
This is an exposition of 2 Kings 3:1-27. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, June 5, 2016.
Intro:
Have you ever gone on a trip and forgot to bring something that was important? I remember saying to a friend once, “A trip just does’t feel right if I’ve not forgotten something.” I went to speak at a conference once and got there and realized, “I forgot to pack my pants!” If you’re going to bring the Word of God to a group you should probably wear pants. I found out in time and was fully clothed for the conference. In 2 Kings 2 Kings 3 we have three kings who go into battle. They have their armies. They have horses, swordsmen, weapons but they soon realize, “Maybe we should have made sure the Lord was with us on this.” Our text is found in 2 Kings 2 Kings 3.
Text: 2 Kings 3:1-27
The apostle Paul told the Corinthian Church that they Old Testament was written for their benefit. While we are New Testament believers that does not mean the Old Testament is on no interest to us. We are not just New Testament believers we are Bible people. We embrace both the Old and New Testaments. The God of the Hebrews is our God. The God who spoke to Abram and called him out of Ur is the same God who called us out of darkness and into the light. The God who rescued Israel from Egyptian bondage is the God who delivers us from the slavery of sin. As Gentiles we have been grafted into the tree and those Israel’s story is our story. As we explore the stories of the Old Testament we see glimpses of the glory of our God. We learn from the failure of those who have gone before us just as we learn from the obedience of the faithful. As we approach 2 Kings 3, Elisha has taken up the mantle of Elijah. He is now God’s prophet to the Northern kingdom of Israel. We also find that Jehoram the son of Ahab is king in Israel and Jehoshaphat is king of Judah. Mesha, king of Moab has been a vassal of Ahab; paying tribute in lambs and wool. Now that Ahab has died he no longer wants to pay the price and thus he refuses. Jehoram enlists Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom to “go up” with him against Moab. The intent is to put Moab back in its place. That is the backdrop of our text.
As we work our way through the text I want to draw 4 lessons from these flawed rulers and their thoughtless plan. Billy Sunday was famous for saying, “God can hits some straight licks with some pretty crooked sticks.” That’s what is happening in 2 Kings 3. God is saying something to Israel and in turn to us.
Lesson #1 – Sophisticated idolatry is still idolatry. (3:1-3)
Lesson #2 – The foolishness of turning to God as a means of escape rather then the object of your devotion. (3:4-14)
Lesson #3 – The surprising mercy of God abundantly blesses the undeserving. (3:15-25)
Lesson #4 – The desperate nature of pagan religion. (3:26-27)