Elisha and the Conquest of Moab

Lance Sparks
Transcript
Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for your word and all that you do and the chance to study your word in the middle of the week that we might understand your plan for our lives. Teach us, Lord, about Elisha and how you used him in a powerful way to represent you and to bring others to the understanding of the great God of Israel, Jesus Christ our Lord. We pray in your name, amen. Second Kings chapter 3 is where we are tonight.
Second Kings chapter 3 and Elisha and his conquest of Moab. I'm going to read to you those 27 verses and then we're going to spend some time looking at them together. Second Kings chapter 3, verse number 1, Now Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel and Samaria in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah and reigned 12 years.
He did evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and his mother, for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal, which was, which his father had made. Nevertheless, he clung to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Dabat, which he made Israel sin. He did not depart from them. Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder and used to pay the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. But when Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel and king Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel.
Then he went and sent word to Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, saying, the king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab? And he said, I will go up. I am as you are, my people, as your people, my horses, as your horses. And he said, which way shall we go up? And he answered the way of the wilderness of Edom. 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 servant 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, 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. And 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 the valley, 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 the offering of the sacrifice that behold water came by way of Edom and the country was filled with water. Now all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them and all who were able to put on armor and older were summoned and stood on the border. They rose early in the morning and the sun shone on the water and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood. Then they said, this is blood. The kings have surely fought together and they have slain one another.
Now therefore Moab to the spoil. But when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites arose and struck the Moabites so that they fled before them and they went forward into the land slaughtering the Moabites. Thus they destroyed the cities and each one through a stone on every piece of good land and filled it. So they stopped all the springs of water and felled all the good trees until Kiriatheth only they left it stones. However, the slingers went about it and struck it when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too fierce for him.
He took with him 700 men who drew swords to break through to the king of Edom, but they could not. Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him as a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel and they departed from him and returned to their own land. So having seen 42 young lads being spread all across the forest outside of Bethel, we move now to the slaughter of the Moabites. And Elisha plays a major part in this whole scenario. Remember Elijah, by Elisha was called my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen.
He was the provider and protector of Israel. Elisha now is stepping into that role as a provider and protector of all Israel. For now the kings will come to him and the kings will request from him what it is they should do next. So we have here a situation in Israel, a situation that caused for a battle. That situation leads to the utilization of Elisha the prophet. And thus it leads to the destruction of Moab in the summation for all of us as we begin to understand what this miracle of water means for you and me.
How do we take this into the 21st century and understand what it is we should learn from this story of Elisha and his destruction of those at Moab. Let's first begin with the first three verses, okay?
Because it tells us that Jehoram became the king of Israel. He is the second son of Ahab. Ahab's first son Ahaziah reigned for two years, he died.
So Jehoram now becomes the king over Israel. He reigns for 12 years. And notice that he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
You know the Lord always sees your evil. You can never hide your evil from the Lord. In fact, Proverbs 15 verse number three says these words, the eyes of the Lord are in every place watching the evil and the good.
Well, Jehoram could not hide his evil from the Lord. He did evil in the sight of the Lord, but he did not do evil like his father and his mother, Ahab and Jezebel, okay? So his evil was still evil, but it wasn't as evil as his father and his mother. Because you see in the kingdom of God, there are degrees of evil and degrees of punishment for that evil. It's important to realize that God keeps a register, keeps a record of all the evil deeds of every sinner. That's why in Revelation 20 at the great white throne judgment, he opens the books and in those books are written all the deeds of those sinners.
And unless you've been washed in the blood of the land, all your evil deeds will be exposed at the great white throne judgment. But God keeps a register. He keeps a record. Jehoram did evil in the sight of the Lord, not like his father and mother, because he set aside the pillar of Baal that his father had erected. And the question comes for us, why did he do that? You'll see in a moment. Because it's a political move, not a spiritual move. And I'll show you that. And so he set that aside, but he still followed in the footpath of Jeroboam.
Now, remember, Jeroboam was the first king of 19 kings of the northern tribe Israel. Southern tribe was Judah, but the 10 northern tribes are called Israel. And Jeroboam was that first king and he led them into idolatry, into immorality, into all kinds of iniquity.
And so Jehoram would follow in the footsteps of Jeroboam. But note, he still did evil. And you must always understand that just because someone does evil, and it might look really bad to us, it doesn't mean that the punishment for that sin will be as bad as something else. For instance, our Lord God said to Capernaum, his home-based ministry in Galilee. Woe to you, Capernaum. Woe to you, Bethsaida. Woe to you, Chorazin. For if the miracles had happened in Sodom and Gomorrah that happened here, they would still be alive this day.
But the difference is you will suffer a greater condemnation than Sodom and Gomorrah. Capernaum was a city that never, never rebelled outwardly against Christ. Never wanted to throw him out of the synagogue. Never wanted to stone him. That was Nazareth, okay? But not Capernaum. See, the problem with Capernaum is that they saw the miracles. They heard the messages. They just were indifferent to the gospel. And Jesus says to Capernaum, your indifference to the gospel in light of all the miracles and all the messages is going to be a greater condemnation than all the homosexuality of Sodom and Gomorrah.
You see, your condemnation for being in a church that preaches the gospel and not responding to that, just being indifferent to the gospel, will cause you to face a greater condemnation in hell than all the homosexuals and all the people who commit immorality in the world. We don't see it that way. That's how God sees it. Indifference to the gospel when faced with it daily, brings the worst condemnation possible. Worse than any of the most heinous sins you can ever imagine. Because God takes special interest in those who once have heard the gospel, have seen the miracles of the gospel, and yet treated as if it doesn't really make that much different.
And so the Lord would keep track of everybody's sin because that's what he does. Because there are degrees of sin, because there are degrees of punishment in hell. And therefore, when you read the first three verses, you begin to understand the evilness of Jehoram, because it just continues in the nation itself.
And that leads us to a situation, because the king of Moab, Mesha, decides that, you know what? For 150 years, we have been the servant of Israel. I'm going to stop all that. It happened under King David, when King David in 2 Samuel 8, won a victory over the Moabites. And he made them his slaves. And they were to serve Israel. And they've been doing it for 150 years. And all of a sudden, the king of Moab now says, you know, Ahab's dead. His son Ahaziah is dead. And now his other son, Jehoram, is the king.
Guess what? I'm just going to stop giving them 100,000 lambs, than 100,000 lambs. I'm not doing that anymore. I'm done. And Jehoram, he has a problem with that. Why? Because he's the king. And if he doesn't show some kind of action, or take action against the Moabites, he will show himself a weak ruler, a weak king. So he must do something. He must come against Moab. After all, they had served us for 150 years. Now, all of a sudden, they're not going to serve us. We're just going to let that pass by?
100,000 lambs, 100,000 rams every year. Is this going to stop now? Not going to happen under my watch. So Jehoram has a plan. Jehoram is the king of Israel, the 10 northern tribes. And so what he does is he goes to Jehoshaphat, who's the king of Judah, the two southern tribes. Because Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20 already won a battle over the Moabites. So he wants Jehoshaphat on his side. By the way, this is why he sets aside the pillar of Baal. Because the Bible says in the book of Exodus, the book of Exodus, the 23rd chapter, 24th verse, you shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces.
He did not break the sacred pillar. He just moved the sacred pillar because Baal worship was going to continue. But he would move it so that he could tell Jehoshaphat that things have changed in Israel. And you know that because it's all been moved. The pillar that my father set up, Ahab, the wicked king, we moved away. And so he would begin to gain a foothold with Jehoshaphat. And Jehoshaphat, by the way, had a son. That son was married to the daughter of Jehoram. So now you have a family issue.
So you have a family issue. You got a political issue. And now Jehoram thinks, you know what, Jehoshaphat, we can get together and we can go against Moab because for 150 years, they've been our servants. So he begins to muster all of Israel, gather the armies of Israel together. And it's going to go to war. Isn't it interesting that when we do something to God, we will sometimes, most times, find others doing the same thing to us. Here's the example. Israel had rebelled against God. God says, you shall serve no other God.
You shall serve me. And Israel had gone the way of idolatry and iniquity and they had turned their backs on God and rebelled against God. They had revolted against God. And now the king of Moab is going to revolt against them and rebel against their authority and rebel against what was due to them. You find this in your home. Do you ever have children that are not very submissive to their parents? Parents must always ask, where am I unsubmissive to my God? Because if I'm unsubmissive to my God, rebelling against his authority in any area, you're going to reap the repercussions by your children wanting to rebel against your authority.
The same is true in the husband-wife relationship. I have found that over the 35 years that I've been doing marital counseling, that men who do not submit to the authority of God in their lives find at times their wives not willing to submit to their authority as their head. It's a repercussion. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. Israel is reaping the repercussions of their rebellion against God by Moab now rebelling against them and none willing to serve them as they have been ordered.
It happens. So think about that in your own life. And it usually happens in the realm of submission and authority. When we find ourselves unsubmissive to God in whatever area it may be, a lot of times that will manifest itself in those closest to us unwilling to submit and follow our authority in our direction. And so instead of getting mad at them, look in the mirror. Ask yourself some very serious questions. Where am I not following God and his word? Where am I unsubmissive to God? Because if you are, that must be rectified first.
And that's what's happening here in Israel. That's the situation in Israel. And so they devise a plan. They know that the northern border is completely fortified. So they're going to go around the eastern side of the Dead Sea in the land of Edom. They're going to pick up the king of Edom. And they're going to find themselves at the southern end of the Dead Sea. It'll take them three days to gather the armies of Judah and four days to make their way down to the southern end of the Dead Sea. Seven days.
The one thing they didn't do, Jehoshaphat should have done, was consult God. He did not. And so when they get there, they realize there's no water. They had nothing to drink. Everybody's thirsty. The cattle are thirsty. They've been carrying things there. Everybody, all the beasts are thirsty. All the soldiers are thirsty. And there is absolutely no water. They're in the middle of the desert. It's hot. If you've ever been down to the southern end of the Dead Sea, it's dry. It's hot. It's dusty. There's nothing there.
There is no water. And so now a crisis happens. There's a crisis. So what do you do in times of crisis? You search. For a man of God. Interesting that Jehoram comes to the conclusion when he says in verse 10, Alas, for the Lord has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab. Isn't it interesting that Jehoram served Baal? Baal was the rain god. Why not, if you're really committed to Baal worship, call upon the rain god? Because he knows that his father Ahab served the same god. And during the three-year drought of Elisha, there was no rain, no matter how much he called upon Baal, the rain god.
And so therefore, he realizes that his god is insufficient to cause it to rain. To bring water when they so desperately need water. So he says, Alas, the Lord has brought us down here that we might die. Interesting that in his desperation, where he believes that it's all over, he calls on the Lord. The Lord has brought us down here and we are going to die. What does it say in Proverbs 19? Proverbs 19, verse number three, the foolish man ruins his way and his heart rages against the Lord.
He's angry at the Lord. But Jehoshaphat, verse 11, but Jehoshaphat said, is there not a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire the Lord by him? You know what, if you had done that seven days earlier, you probably wouldn't be in this predicament. It's a lot like you and me. We face a crisis. We face a situation. And all of a sudden, we want to go in operation mode. We want to go in handle mode. And so we do. And so we run off to handle a situation, not ever consulting the Lord, never ever talking to the Lord.
And then we find ourselves in a crisis. And then we decide to call upon the name of the Lord. Then we decided to go to our pastor for counseling. Instead of going to him before we make the decision, before we make the seven day journey, before we say, hey, you know what? Moab has rebelled against us. What should we do? Let's consult the Lord. Let's ask the Lord what to do. No, no, we're going to war. We're going to war. We're going to tear him limb from limb. We're going to destroy him. That's what we're going to do.
Okay, let's get together. Let's go to war. Everybody likes going to war. But nobody wants to consult, by the way, the Lord of armies, the Lord of hosts, the King of Israel. So they go to war, but they're out of water. They're thirsty. They can't function. They can't, they can't operate. Now what? We can't go to war. We're not going to make it. We're too weak. So Josaphat says, is there a prophet of the Lord among us? Now, the key thing about this is how did Elisha ever get there? How did Elisha decide to go with the armies of Israel?
But he's there. Why is he there? And how did he get there? Baba didn't tell us, but he's there. And so Josaphat says, 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 answers him, Elisha, the son of Shethot is here, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah. The servant of Elijah is here. That's the servant of the King of Israel, who is the Jehoram, the evil king from the Northern tribes. Josaphat said, verse 12, this is very important.
The word of the Lord is with him. You need to circle that phrase in your Bible because that is how you need to be described by people who need you. The word of the Lord is with him. Josaphat knew that. And that is the essential character quality of the man of God. If the word of the Lord is with you, the Prince of God is with you. And this is what marked Elisha out from everybody else. That the word of the Lord was with him. And so they would go to Elisha. So you go from the situation in Israel to the utilization of the great prophet Elisha.
So the King of Israel and Josaphat and the King of Edom went down to him. Isn't it interesting? They didn't call for Elisha to come to them. They went to him. They went to him. When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Elisha was a man who pleased the Lord. He was a prophet of God. They came to him. They didn't say, send for Elisha. Tell Elisha to get up here. No, they went to him. They were desperate. They were in need of water. So it says, now Elisha said to the King of Israel.
Who's that? That's Jehoram, King of the 10 Northern tribes, right? So 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. Why are you coming to me? You don't worship my God. Why are you here? Don't you love the courage of Elisha? He's fearless. Oh, by the way, he was trained by Elijah who, when he went to the King, stood before the King undaunted, fearless. A lot like Moses with his mother and father. The Bible says in Hebrews 11, mother and father did not fear the King's edict.
King said all babies two and under in the river, they got to go. But Amram and Jacob did not fear the King's edict. They did not. They were not going to kill their son. By the way, it says later on in Hebrews 11, Moses not fearing the King. Like father, like children. You must model to your children a fearless, undaunting spirit in the face of evil, in the face of difficulty, in the face of hardship. You must teach your children to only fear the Lord and fear nothing else. If you are a man who is fearless, if you are a man who is courageous, if you are a man who is strong, you will instill that in your children.
But if you're weak and you're not very strong at all, your children will pick up on that as well. And so you need to model the way to your children. We talked about this with our young family get together last Sunday evening, that if you want your boys to grow up and be strong initiators, leaders and aggressive, you must model that to them. Because if you model passivity, guess what? They in turn will be passive. You must model to them strength, spiritual strength, how to be strong in the Lord and the power of his might.
That's Elisha. So these three kings come and he says, hey, you, Jehoram, King Jehoram, why is it you don't call upon the God of your father and mother? He's the rain God. Why are you here coming to see me? Why? And listen to what he says. He says, no, for the Lord has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab. See, he wants to blame the Lord. He wants to blame Elisha's God on their negative circumstances. He wants to blame Elisha's God, the God of Israel for their condition, their predicament, their situation.
He brought us down here to kill us. No faith because he's not a believer in the Lord God of Israel. Elisha said in verse 14, as the Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand, where were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you.
I have no time for you, Jehoram. I have no word for you, Jehoram. I don't want to look at you. I don't want to see you, hear you, smell you, feel you, touch you. I don't want you in my presence. But for King Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah, the King who when in second Chronicles 20 went to go to war to Moab said, Lord, we do not know what to do, Lord, but our eyes are upon you.
And Jehoram, he would take that King, the King who falls in the line of David because of the covenant of God made with Israel through David because of King Jehoshaphat, because of him, I will do a great work, not because of you, but because of the King of Judah. It says in verse 15, but now bring me a minstrel. And it came about that when the minstrel played that the hand of the Lord came upon him. That was happened in, let me see.
First Chronicles 25, verse number one, Ezekiel chapter one, Ezekiel chapter three, Psalm 98. Many times the prophecy was given when someone would play the harp or play some stringed instrument, the prophecy was given. So Elisha called the minstrel in to play because he was going to give a prophecy from the Lord. So he says, thus says the Lord, make the valley full of trenches. For this says the Lord, you should not see wind nor shall you see rain, yet the valley shall be filled with water so that you shall drink both you and your cattle and your beasts.
This is what we're gonna do, dig trenches. What? Dig trenches. You're not gonna see any wind, feel any wind. You're not gonna see any rain, feel any rain. You're not gonna see any clouds, anything. But there's gonna be water. People are thinking, you gotta be kidding me. Dig trenches? We are so thirsty, it's so hot out here. How can we possibly dig trenches? We're worn out. We've been traveling for seven days in the hot sun. Now you want us to dig trenches and we have no water? Dig the trenches. Dig the trenches and there's gonna be water.
They will be filled with water. Where's the water gonna come from? Not your problem, just dig the trenches. Just do what you're told. If you obey the Lord, there will always be blessing. But you gotta obey. And then he says this, this is but a slight thing in the sight of the Lord. This is no big thing for my God. No big thing. You dig the trenches, they're gonna be filled with water. That's not a big thing. Because what he's about to do is this. He will also give the Moabites into your hand. That's the big thing.
I'm going to supply. God's gonna supply so you can go to war. God's gonna supply so you can serve. You see, we miss that. We forget that the reason God takes care of us is so that we can better serve him. Remember over in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God of all comfort, the Father of mercies, who comforts us in all of our tribulations. Why? So that we can comfort those who go through like situations. Why does God comfort you in your trial?
So that you will learn how to comfort others in their trial. Remember Peter's mother-in-law in Mark chapter 1? In Mark chapter 1, it says, immediately after they came out of the synagogue, they came to the house of Simon and Andrew and James and John. Now Simon's mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever. It's not like she had some kind of cold and had a temperature of, you know, 101.2. No, she had a fever. She was sick. She was dying. And it says, these words, and immediately they spoke to Jesus about her.
He came to her. He raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her. Next phrase, very important. And she served them. She served them. She didn't say, wow, Lord, I am so glad. I was so hot, man. I thought I was going to die, but now I'm good. Thank you. No, she got up then. She went right to work because the Lord supplied in order for her to serve. Now think about this. Ephesians chapter 4, verse number 28. He who steals must steal no longer, but rather he must labor performing with his own hands so that he will have something to share with the one who has a need.
In other words, go to work. And when God gives you a job or gives you a raise in your job, the reason God gives you a job and gives you a raise in that job is not so now you can refinance your home and buy a bigger home or so you can buy another car or a bigger car. God gives you more money so that you can give it away to somebody else. See, we forget that. We forget that God supplies so you can better serve your fellow man. We think I got a raise. I can go on vacation this year. I got a raise. I can buy a car.
I got a raise. I can do what I want to in the house now. No, God gives you a raise because he wants you to know what you can do with the extra money to see if you're going to give it to somebody who has a need. Because if you don't, guess what? You're going to lose that money. See, we forget that. See, we think that God supplies so that my needs are met. No, God supplies so you can better serve him to do his will. So here is Israel and God says dig the trenches.
All right, so dig trenches. Water's going to come but you got to dig the trenches. If you dig the trenches, the water comes but there's not going to be any clouds, any rain, any wind. No one's going to know about it. All of a sudden, the ditches will be filled with water. Wow, okay, why? So that you can be refreshed, so you can go to war because you got to go to war against Moab. That's why. God supplies so you can serve him and his purposes. If you can learn that lesson, everything about your life will begin to turn for the better.
And see how God wants to use you in someone else's life. And so Elisha tells him exactly what's going to happen. This is a small thing because you're going to go against the Moabites, you're going to win. He tells them exactly what they need to do. All of a sudden at the morning sacrifice, that's exactly what happens. And it says this, it happened in the morning about the time of the offering sacrifice that behold, water came by way of Edom and the country was filled with water. Wow, never before had that land ever been filled with water till now.
Never after this would ever be filled with water. But on this day, it was with no rain, no clouds, no wind. Wow. Why? Because you see Moab was going to be defeated. So you move from the situation in Israel to the utilization of Elisha to the destruction of Moab. So Moab knows they've come to war. They heard the Kings had come to fight against them. Verse 21. And all who were able to put on armor and order were summoned and stood on the border. They rose early in the morning and the sun shone on the water and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood.
They look out as the sun begins to rise and shines down on the water with that red terrain like sandstone all around them. It looks like blood to them. See, there were no clouds. There was no rain. So no one was thinking there was going to be water anywhere because there's never water there. So as they look out, they see what they think is blood and they come to the conclusion, the conclusion, this is blood. The Kings have surely fought together and they have slain one another. They're all dead. Let's go gather all the spoil.
Look how rich we are. No discernment whatsoever because they had no one with them that had the word of the Lord with them. They were pagans. So they go down to where the King of Israel, the King of Judah and the King of Edomar and they get destroyed because they think they're home free. But alas, they rise up and they slay them. They kill them. And the King of Moab, Mesha, is so distraught that he gathers 700 of his best swordsmen to go against the King of Edom. He cannot win. So he has one last resort.
What's he going to do? He's going to sacrifice his son on the altar to his God, Kemesh, in order to think that somehow he can gain the victory. So he burns him on the wall so that everybody can see his sacrifice only to realize, only to realize that they still go down to defeat. And that's why the text concludes with and there came great wrath against Israel. They were so angry with Israel. They were so mad at Israel. Why? Because the King sacrificed his son. They weren't necessarily mad at Israel per se.
They were so mad that their God could not save them because their God can't because he is no God. That they went down to defeat and the only way to solve that was to redirect their wrath to Israel and Israel's God. But they were destroyed. Why? Because of Elisha. The word of the Lord was with him. Jehoshaphat knew that. Jehoram didn't really care until it served his own purposes. But God was good to Jehoram. Maybe this would be that which would turn him because he would be without excuse to realize that the God of Elisha was the true God.
It did not turn him from his evil ways, unfortunately. He still would lead Israel down the primrose path of destruction. But Elisha, the word of the Lord was with him. I wonder tonight if someone would say that about you. That the word of the Lord is with that person. That's a great way to be described. That's a great way to be characterized. Because that means that God's presence is seen in and through you. That there's something so unique about your life that you cannot be mistaken. In fact, if you read over in 2 Kings 4, it says in verse 8, Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to Shinnom, where there was a prominent woman and she persuaded him to eat food.
And so it was as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat food. And she said to her husband, Behold, now I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. How does she know that? All he did was eat food. That's all he did. But some way, somehow, the word of the Lord was on that man. So much so that from his being emanated holiness, emanated God likeness. Because the word of the Lord was with him. We must ask ourselves, is the word of the Lord with us? The New Testament equivalent that is Colossians 3 verse 16.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. The word dwell is the word that means to be at home. Let the word of Christ be at home in your hearts. In other words, don't let God's word become a stranger to you. Let God's word be so at home in your heart, so welcome in your heart, such a part of your life, like things are a part of your home. It characterizes who you are. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let it dwell in you abundantly. Let it overflow in your life. Why? Because we need to be the kind of people where the word of the Lord is upon us.
You see, Elisha presents for us in the 21st century the character quality that characterizes the man and woman of God. The word of God is upon him and the word of God needs to be upon us. How do we make sure that the word of God is upon us? Let me give you some principles real quick.
I got eight minutes. Okay, here we go. Number one, you must hear it continually. If the word of Christ is going to dwell in you richly, if you're going to be characterized as a man or a woman that the word of the Lord is upon, you must hear it continually. You can't hear it on Sunday and that be it. You can't hear it on Wednesdays and Sundays and that be it. You got to hear it continually. Blessed are those who hear the word of God, Revelation 1-3. He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches, Revelation 2-3.
Christ said in the book of Matthew, be careful how you hear. Then he says, be careful what you hear. And then he says, be careful when you hear. Because you got to hear it. You got to listen.
That's why it says in Ecclesiastes 5, that when you go to the house of God, you go there to listen, hear it continually. Then you must heed it completely. You must heed everything you hear. That is, you must do everything that you hear. You see, Elisha would listen for the voice of God. And when God would speak, he would do. He would obey. That's why the word of the Lord was upon him. But we don't have to wait for God to speak. He's already spoken. We have his written word. The God-breathed word.
And so we hear it continually and we heed it completely. Revelation 1-3. Blessed are those who hear the words of this book and do them. Do them. Put them into action. Obey them. So you hear it continually. You heed it completely. And you handle it carefully. You handle it carefully. 2 Timothy 2-15. Study to show yourself approved unto God. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of God. Cutting it straight. You must handle it carefully. You must make sure that when you speak it, you speak it properly.
When you study it, you study it carefully. When you speak it, you speak it appropriately. Make sure you handle God's word carefully. And then number four, you must hide it closely. Psalm 119 verse 11. Thy word I have hidden in my heart. I have treasured in my heart that I might not sin against thee. Can you imagine Elisha not having these 66 books in his hand, but having to wait for the Lord to speak? Having to wait for the Lord to say his word and then to hide it so closely in his heart, to treasure it as the most valued possession in his life because he would never hear it again that way.
He would hear it again in another way, but not that day in that manner. So he would hang on every word that was spoken. He would hear it continually. He would be the kind of man who would heed it completely. He would be the kind of man who would want to handle it carefully, make sure he dispensed it properly to those who needed to hear it. He would hide it closely. And then number five, you hold it forth clearly. You hold it forth clearly. Philippians chapter two, verse number 16 says this, Philippians two, verse number 16.
Hold fast the word of life so that in the day of Christ, I would have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. We are to appear as lights in the world, Paul says. And the way we are lights in the world is to hold forth the word of light. And we hold it forth clearly. So there's nothing mistaken about what it is. We believe in what is the way to heaven. And then you must honor it consciously. You must honor it consciously. That is in my conscience every single day. I must ever be aware that God's word is magnified even as his very name.
Psalm 138, verse number two. And I will honor that word. I will cherish that word. I will lift that word up. And then lastly, you are to hope in it constantly. Hope in it constantly. Psalm 119, Psalm 119, verse number 43. Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth for I hope in your ordinances. Verse number 74. May those who fear you see me and be glad because I hope in your word. Psalm 119, 114. You are my hiding place, my shield. I hope for your word. You want to be a man and a woman where the word of the Lord is on you.
You need to hope in it constantly. Letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let it be at home in your heart. My prayer for us as a church that when people talk about Christ's community church, they would say that's a church filled with people where the word of the Lord is upon them. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this day. We cherish the opportunity to be in your word and to study about you, the miracle working God. And every little phrase, every tidbit speaks volumes to our hearts as to how we should live in this present day.
Help us, Lord, to be people that magnify your name, that make your word preeminent in our lives. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.