Reading in 2 Kings chapter 3 brought back a lot of memories for me last weekend. I remember writing about it at length in a 2010 journal, and then I preached a message about it in my home church on the first Sunday of January 2011. Although it's an account of three kings going to war with the Moabites, there are so many principles in the story that have relevance for our own lives as believers.
verse 9 - a long journey, no more water, and no clue of what to do
After trekking for seven days into the desert, the three armies came to the point where they had no more water, either for the men or for the animals. They simply didn't know what to do. There are times in ministry, or just in life, that are like that. Times when we've put in a lot of effort, but we find ourselves in a hard place and we don't see any way forward. The current coronavirus crisis is a time when governments and health services have given all that they have, and many feel they've come to the end of their resources and see no solution ahead.
vs 15 - the solution often only comes in God's presence
The kings had come to the end of their own wisdom and an answer was only found when they called a musician to worship and lead them into God's presence. It's the same for us; we can think and worry all we like and still not come up with an answer; we need to recognise our own limitations and take time to wait in God's presence. It's been interesting to note over the past weekend the way various presidents around the world have called their nation to prayer, recognising publicly that we're not going to win this health battle without God's help.
vs 16 - 17 - a costly obedience
God spoke through the prophet Elisha to give them these instructions: "Make this valley full of ditches." Tired and thirsty, this was probably the last thing these kings and their armies felt like doing; it seemed totally unrelated to defeating the Moabites, or even to getting water for their soldiers and animals to drink. But they were thirsty, and the prophet warned them that water would not come in the usual way - with wind and rain. Instead, God was going to do a miracle and their part was to prepare the ground (literally) for that.
I don't know if they kept digging ditches all through the night, or if they finished digging in the evening and went to bed still thirsty - maybe even more thirsty after hard physical labour. Sometimes the fruits of our obedience are not seen right away. We need to keep trusting that God will be true to His character and to His promise. All that these kings had to hold on to were the words of the prophet: this valley will be filled with water.
vs 20 - sometimes the breakthrough only comes when we're willing to sacrifice
I find it interesting that the miracle happened right at the time they were getting ready to offer a sacrifice of worship to God. It would have been so easy for these kings to say, "Well, God didn't deliver the goods. We dug all those ditches and He didn't do what He promised, so why should we give Him an offering?"
But it was at the very moment of sacrifice that the promise was fulfilled, their work and obedience was rewarded, and refreshing water was miraculously provided.
God sees our hearts; He sees if we are willing to worship Him quite simply because He deserves it. He's watching to see if have the disposition of those three young men in Daniel chapter 3, who said, "No matter what happens, we will worship God anyway."
Perhaps it will be the same for us in this coronavirus situation. We're currently having to make a lot of sacrifices: sacrificing our freedom to go outdoors and our right to meet together for church services. Our Father is also calling us to give ourselves sacrificially to prayer. Are we, in the Body of Christ, willing to pay the price? This time of sacrifice could turn into a time of victory and revival if we are faithful to persevere in prayer and not simply be passive.
vs 18 - sometimes there's more at stake than you realise
Providing water in a dry land seemed an impossible task for these men, and it was. But Elijah told them that it was "just a simple thing" in God's eyes and that He had something even bigger in mind: the defeat of their enemy. It turned out that miraculously filling those ditches with water was the answer to both of these needs: the refreshing of the troops and the defeating of the enemy.
Sometimes, our trusting God to sustain us in the desert is only the first step... and trusting Him to defeat the enemy on our behalf is the second step. And sometimes these two victories are one and the same thing: it was the reflection of the sunrise on the water that won the battle for these guys (although they still needed to do some fighting after it happened.)
Let's face it, eradicating the coronavirus would be "just a simple thing" for the all-powerful God of the universe. But perhaps He has something even bigger and better in mind. Perhaps He's going to use this crisis to make millions around the world realise their own limitations and cry out for help to the God that they've previously been ignoring or taking for granted. Perhaps He plans to use it to bring a huge defeat of the enemy in this generation. Let's not set our sights too low; let's not pray only for the end of the virus, but also for the bigger and better outcomes that God can bring from this season.
vs 23 - it's often true that it's darkest before the dawn
It was precisely at the point when the enemy thought they had the victory (when the Moabites thought they saw pools of blood and went rushing in for the plunder) that the real victory began. Let's be people of discernment, who don't waver and doubt when things appear to be getting darker. Often that's a clear sign that victory is just around the corner.
All that these guys had to do was to put aside their own tiredness and thirst, be obedient to God and start digging ditches. It was God who provided the water; it was God who caused the sun to rise red and strong, so that the pools of water looked like pools of blood. And in a wordplay that only works in English, it's when the risen Son is reflected in our lives, even in the dry and desert place, that the enemy begins to be defeated.
Whenever God plans to do a miracle, His people always have a part to play. They need to cooperate and do their part to prepare the ground. When I preached on this passage on the first Sunday of 2011, I asked the congregation what ditches God was asking them to dig - in their personal lives or in their ministry situations.
So, what about this Covid-19 season of our lives? What is God asking us to do now that will prepare the way for what He wants to do in the future? It might be to pray, to reach out to those in need, to use our lockdown time to study the Word, to demonstrate the peace of God when everyone else is battling the fear of the virus.... Let's get digging!
After that account of Elijah and Elisha's final journey together, the last few verses of that chapter begin to tell us of some of the miracles in Elisha's lifetime. It's interesting to me that the very first miracle recorded for us after Elisha has walked through the parted waters of the Jordan involves purifying a spring of bitter water. (2 Kings 2: 19 - 22) Hundreds of years earlier, after Moses had walked through the waters of the Red Sea, the first miracle we're told about is when he purified the bitter water a Marah. (Exodus 15: 5)
In both cases, what happened was counter-intuitive and clearly of the Lord. Moses took something that was "dead" - a piece of dry wood - to make the spring of water life-giving again. And Elisha took something salty to make the water sweet again. To this day, Jericho is an oasis town watered by what is still known as "Elisha's Spring."
It's a reminder that God is a master in turning things around; He can take something that appears negative and use it to bring about something good - like using the violent shaking of the coronavirus to unleash a tsunami of His love and grace, a huge wave of people coming into the kingdom of God.
Elijah and Elisha had travelled a long way together. And even on their final journey that we read about in 2 Kings chapter 2, they've gone all the way from Gilgal to Bethel and down to Jericho. Elisha has hung in there, right to the end of the journey, even though it would probably have been easier to opt out when he had the opportunity. Now the two men head down towards the River Jordan, and when they get there (vs 8) the older prophet folds his cloak and strikes the water with it. The river divides and the two men walk across on dry ground.
It must have been a memorable moment, calling to mind the previous times that God had parted the water like this for His people: first of all at the crossing of the Red Sea, and then forty years later at this very same Jordan river where they now walked.
We read about it in Joshua chapter 3. After years of wandering in the wilderness, the people of Israel found the Jordan to be the place of new beginning and the place of new anointing. A new beginning for all the people because, as they courageously stepped into that flooding river, they were about to enter their Promised Land. God told them, "You have never been this way before," because that generation had never known a land of their own. It truly was a brand new beginning.
And for Joshua, the Jordan was also a place of new anointing and spiritual authority. We read (Josh 3: 7) that God told Joshua He would "begin" to make him a great leader from that point forward. It was to be a new beginning with new anointing and authority.
Now Elijah and Elisha have just walked across that very same river, also on dry land. The time has come to say goodbye, and this is the moment where Elisha speaks out his heart's desire to have the double portion anointing. He has persevered at each stage of the journey and now, as the story unfolds, he sees Elijah being taken from him into heaven.
Elisha is left alone, and now the moment of truth has come. He picks up Elijah's cloak and strikes the water with it, just as he had seen his mentor do. As the Jordan waters part, Elisha walks through to a new beginning, and a new and double anointing.
Note: although the double portion is not primarily about quantity of ministry or number of miracles, it's kind of interesting that in the following chapters of 2 Kings, we'll read about twice as many miracles in Elisha's life as we read of in the life of Elijah.
In my ongoing reflection on the second chapter of 2nd Kings, yesterday I wrote about the first two places that the older and younger prophet passed through on their final journey together. Today I was thinking about the third location where Elisha was given an opportunity stop his journey, instead of continuing right to the end. That place was Jericho - the place of humility, faith and obedience.
It was a downhill journey from Bethel to Jericho, because Bethel was up in the hills, while Jericho was down below sea level. That's why, in the New Testament, we always read of people going "down to Jericho" (like in the story of the good Samaritan) because although Jericho was north of Jerusalem, there was a difference of around a thousand metres in altitude. Jerusalem is around 750m above sea level, and Bethel even higher at around 860m, while Jericho is around 250m below sea level.
You'd think that walking downhill would make the journey easier for Elijah and Elisha, but this wasn't the case. The change in elevation was so dramatic and the environmental conditions were so radically different that the journey would have been exhausting. While the higher cities probably received around 50 cm of rainfall a year and had what we might describe as a "Mediterranean" climate, Jericho received only 20 cm of rainfall a year and was therefore more desert-like, what we sometimes think of as an "African" climate. The journey is through what today we would call a "rain shadow zone," formed by the steep and confined slope. In fact, Jericho was, and still is, an oasis in the middle of a desert.
The geographical conditions alone - with a tiring journey into a wilderness region - would be enough reason for a traveller like Elisha to feel worn out and tempted to end his journey in the oasis town of Jericho. But when Elijah gave him that option for the third time, we see in 2 Kings 2: 6 that Elisha chose not to give up, and instead committed himself to continuing the journey.
What is our response when life's journey is exhausting and everything seems to be going downhill? How do we react when our surroundings start to feel wilderness-like and the ministry isn't as successful or fruitful as we hoped for? If we didn't learn the Bethel lesson well (see yesterday's post), we might be inclined to renew our efforts and struggle to improve things in our own strength, pushing ourselves towards exhaustion and burn out. Or we might be tempted to throw in the towel and simply give up our journey at that point.
It might not mean that we abandon the ministry - although that does happen for some people in tiring and testing times. A more subtle danger, however, is that we "plateau" in ministry - that we stay where we are, safely within our comfort zone, safely within what we ourselves can accomplish; doing the same things in the same old ways, instead of stepping out in faith to do the new things that God may have on His heart for us.
The opposite can also be a danger, though: that when the "now" things don't seem to be bearing fruit yet, we abandon them and launch into new and different things... but things that aren't quite as faithful to our God-given values. One of our challenges as leaders will often be knowing how to embrace the new things without throwing out our old and eternal values. That's why our value of hearing and obeying God's voice is so important: He is the One who is able to show us the right "new" things, and how to do them in a way that still reflects the values He taught us in the early years of our journey.
No matter how tired and weary he felt, Elisha didn't give up or compromise when he got to Jericho. It became a place where he renewed his commitment for the rest of the journey ahead.
Read on below for more about the significance of "Jericho" on our journey of following God's calling.
In 2 Kings chapter 2, we see Elijah and Elisha journeying together from Gilgal, up to Bethel, and then down to Jericho. Despite having several opportunities to give up, Elisha keeps choosing to continue the journey, even when he arrives in Jericho, probably tired from the long downhill journey and the harsh and hot desert environment. Today, I've been considering what symbolic significance Jericho might have as we reflect on our own journey with the Lord.
Every Sunday School child is probably familiar with the story of the battle of Jericho (or more accurately, the non-battle of Jericho) but not everyone remembers a little episode that happened just before that and was what really made all the difference.
Shortly after the Gilgal consecration, the people's leader, Joshua, begins to contemplate the conquest of the city of Jericho. As he draws near to it, he sees another man standing there with a sword in his hand. Joshua's natural reaction is to ask the man, "Are you with us or against us? Whose side are you on?"
The man's reply is, "Neither. I am the Commander of the Lord's army." In other words, "I haven't come to take sides; I've come to take over."
Joshua had a choice to make at that point. He could cling to his own leadership role and his right to make decisions about what his "team" was going to do... or he could humble himself and acknowledge that God was completely in control of the battle strategy and what the outcome would be. He made the right choice and we see him falling with his face to the ground in reverence. "I am at your command," he says. "What do you want your servant to do?"
It's a real life outworking of the Gilgal consecration and humbling; it's a re-solidifying of the Bethel decision to do things God's way. The Jericho encounter is a re-affirming, from our place of leadership, that God is in charge and we're going to do things His way. If we don't, we may forfeit that double anointing that we might otherwise enter into.
So it's interesting that the first thing the Commander tells him is not so much something to do as something to remember; not so much about an action as about an attitude: "Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground." Never forget that God is holy and deserves our complete allegiance and respect.
Removing his sandals was a further step of humility on Joshua's part: standing there without any footwear was a very vulnerable position for a soldier to be in. If an enemy came along, it would be very difficult for Joshua to run away or to defend himself from an attack. By removing his sandals, he was entrusting himself completely into God's hands.
When we begin to move into leadership roles, it's all too easy to start giving too much importance to our own vision and strategies, instead of helping the whole team to discern what is on the Commander's heart for us. It's all too easy to allow a competitive spirit to creep in - either within our own team or with other leaders of ministries who do things differently. The lesson of Jericho is that God is in charge and it doesn't matter who gets the credit. Instead of comparing ourselves with others, we can joyfully collaborate and partner with them. God is holy and it's ultimately about His glory, not ours.
So, Jericho is the place of humility, but also the place of obedience and faith. We all know the story of Joshua chapter six: all that silent marching around Jericho, day after day. It made no sense to a trained soldier like Joshua; this was not the battle strategy he would have come up with. He simply had to obey God's instructions, even if he felt a bit foolish (that's where humility comes in) and he needed to have faith that the outcome was in God's hands. As we read further, we see that Jericho, the place of humility, faith and obedience, ultimately became the place of victory, the place of emerging anointing.
Centuries later, when Elisha reached Jericho, I wonder if he remembered those events, if he remembered that great humility, faith and obedience would be needed if he was to continue with God's call on his life and inherit the double anointing. Elisha, tired as he probably was from that long downhill hike, chose not to end his journey in the comfortable oasis of Jericho, but to meet the challenges and continue with the journey that still lay ahead.
Tomorrow I'll be reflecting on the last location in Elijah and Elisha's journey: the Jordan.
Reflecting on 2 Kings chapter 2, I mentioned in yesterday's posts that Elisha had several opportunities to turn back, but chose not to. I find kind of a symbolic significance in the places where that happened.
The first of those places (verse 1) was at Gilgal. The two men had been journeying together, and then Elijah gives Elisha an opportunity to opt out of the journey ahead.
"You can stay here," he says.
I always think of Gilgal as the place of sacrifice and consecration. Gilgal is mentioned several times in the Bible (and it may not always refer to exactly the same place) but the one that stands out for me is in Joshua chapter 5. (See Joshua 4: 19 - 20.) The people of Israel had been journeying in the wilderness for 40 years - because of their own unbelief and disobedience - and now they were on the verge of something new: they were about to claim the Promised Land, but it would require effort, courage and consecration.
They had to renew their covenant with God, committing to follow Him wherever He led them... and they did that by circumcision. (Joshua 5: 4 - 8)
Was it painful? Of course it was.
Did it make them feel vulnerable? No doubt about that.
But it was sort of a first step into the new calling of the new generation: a way of saying, "Here we are, Lord. We're going to do things your way, no matter what the cost."
One of the times when the next generation could be tempted to turn back and miss out on the double portion is at the place where sacrifice and consecration are required; where you feel vulnerable and on the verge of the unknown. It might be a call to give up paid employment and live completely "by faith," trusting God for provision. It might be a challenge to step out of your comfort zone and leave behind something that feels familiar and safe (either physically or spiritually.)
On that day when he slaughtered his oxen and burned his plough (1 Kings 19: 19 - 21), Elisha had already demonstrated that he was willing for that kind of sacrifice. Here again, at Gilgal, Elisha was not going to be someone who would fail the test and stay behind at the place of sacrifice.
What about you and me?
Read on below for the second location in Elisha's journey.
The second place where Elisha had the opportunity to hold back and opt out of the journey was at Bethel - the place of encounter and transformation.
Bethel is mentioned quite a number of times in the Old Testament, but one of the early mentions that stands out for me was that it was the setting for Jacob's dream in Genesis 28. Jacob had been a very ambitious young man, with a tendency to do things his own way, instead of doing them God's way. But that kind of ambition can only be fruitful for a limited time before it becomes a trap for us. Jacob had finally come to the end of himself and his own resources... and that's when he arrives at a place called Luz (the name means separation) and there he has a dream and a personal encounter with the presence of God. He sets up a memorial stone and changes the name of the place to Bethel (which means house of God.)
It's not wrong to be ambitious for ministry, to want success and fruitfulness in the things God has called us to. It's not wrong to long to see our ministry impact the lives of many young people and families. But one of the dangers that every young leader will face is the danger that the ministry will become more important than the One we should be ministering to; the danger that ministering to people, to children, becomes more important than ministering to the Lord; the danger that we get so busy with programmes and activities that we don't leave enough time and energy for our levitical calling; the danger that we mistake God's early anointing on our life as the fruit of our own efforts and achievements. That's when we'll begin to depend on our own talents and giftings instead of on the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit. It's when we'll catch a glimpse of what's on God's heart, but fall into the trap of trying to make God's will happen in our own way and strength.
That's where Jacob was at, at the time of his first Bethel encounter, and it was only the first step in a journey of transformation where Jacob was learning to do things God's way instead of insisting on doing things the way he wanted or thought best.
It wasn't a short journey for Jacob. Twenty years later, we see him still struggling with God. But whenever God takes Jacob a step further, He often refers to Himself as, "the God of Bethel." (For example, in Genesis 31: 13) The Bethel encounter had been the start for Jacob in the journey of transforming personal ambition into godly motivation. And once a place of breakthrough had been reached, what did God ask Jacob to do? To get rid of all idols, to go back to Bethel, and build an altar to the Lord, the God who revealed Himself at Bethel.
That was Jacob's story, not Elisha's. But when I read in 2 Kings 2: 2 - 4 that Elisha refused to stop his journey in Bethel, it reminds me that this is a milestone all leaders must pass, a hurdle that aspiring leaders must overcome: will my ministry be based on self and on what I think is best, or will it truly be built on bringing joy to God's heart?
Hopefully we have that encounter and make that crucial decision when we are young; it can be painful to be confronted with it when we are older. Elisha didn't turn back at Bethel, but chose to continue on for the next leg of the journey.
Check in again tomorrow for the third location in Elisha's journey.
