Back with Elijah in 2 Kings, 2 Kings chapter three. We're not actually gonna read it yet, we are gonna read it, but we're gonna read it as we go through it. So just have it open before you if you have your Bibles, or just listen when we do read it, either is fine. The Bible is the greatest literary document in the world. The greatest literary document in the world. It's the best book. It's the best set of books. It's the best everything. It's got the best poetry. It's got the best narrative. It has the best truth. And to top all that, it is all true. And it is essential for you to know. But when we look at a lot of good literature that's been written apart from the Bible, and even plays, which we're gonna talk a little bit about today, this literature, books, and plays that are written often contain principles and structures and ways of communicating information that we see in the Bible. Similarities, so we see the Bible doing something, oh, we see people doing it as well, usually the successful people. Because the Bible, like I said, is the greatest literary document in the world. It's hardly surprising that successful, popular, clever writers, either through reading the Bible themselves, or often just through natural light, through the light of nature, come to realize some of the same ways that the Bible reveals truth. And if you don't understand that at the moment, that'll become more clear as we go through. In our true account today, 2 Kings 2, 1 to 18, we can notice similarities between the way it has been presented. It's a true story, it's a true account narrative, but it's been presented in a certain way, and we can see similarities between the way it's been presented and the way that Greek tragic plays usually worked out. We see the similarities. We see things that are the same. Greek tragedy started to develop in the 6th century BC. And as far as I know, in Greece at that time, they didn't have any of the scriptures. So I'm not saying they were looking at the scriptures and then figuring things out, but just had come individually to realize, because Greek tragic plays were extremely successful, that this is a great way of setting up a story, of presenting information. It's interesting to see this. Of course, the Bible tells this true story in a much better way, to an infinitely greater effect. Nevertheless, there are similarities. Greek tragic plays contained an element of, as I've heard one author describe it, dark inevitability, dark as in sad, Miserable. Inevitability just means you can see it's going to happen a mile off. The train's going down that track. Trains don't change tracks. It's just, it is going to end somewhere and you know where it's going to end. It's going to end miserably. The main character of a Greek tragedy who would be considered the hero. That's the difference with our passage today. The main character is not a hero. Nevertheless, he would be considered a hero, and he would usually end up tragically failing because of a particular flaw that he has. It might be that he or she is egotistical, and that leads to their own downfall. The word they actually used in Greek tragedy to describe this fatal flaw is hamatia. Now I tell you that, not just for the sake of it, but because hahamatia is the word that the New Testament uses for sin. So there is an inevitability, you have a character, There is an inevitability about their downfall because of a particular flaw that they have. Everyone can see it coming. So it is with our passage. Let's unfold this true account given to us by God for our instruction. Now often in Greek tragic plays, you would start off with a prologue, setting the scene, explaining where we are for what's gonna happen. We have this here. Let's set the scene. Read 2 Kings chapter three, verse one to five. Now Jehoram, the son of Ahab, became king over Israel at Samaria in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and reigned 12 years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, but not like his father and mother, for he put away the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless, he persisted in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin. He did not depart from them. Now Mesha, king of Moab, was a sheep breeder, and he regularly paid the king of Israel 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. But it happened when Ahab died that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. This is part of our prologue. This is part of our setup for what is happening. Now, just glance your eyes back at 2 Kings chapter one, verse one. Same book, chapter one, verse one, just over the page. What does it say there? It says, Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. And then glance back at chapter three, verse five. But it happened when Ahab died that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. Now that's curious, isn't it? 2 Kings 1 verse 1, king of Moab rebelled against Israel when Ahab died. 2 Kings 3 verse 5, exactly the same thing is said. And after that's said in the first chapter, what more do we hear of Moab until this point? Nothing. We don't hear anything. What does this all mean? We know that things are not there randomly. That wasn't just shoved in at the beginning of Kings, accidentally, and then didn't realise that they should have cut it. No, no, things are there for a reason in the Bible. This is the inspired word of God. Well, to figure this out, we have to go even further back. 2 Samuel, chapter eight, and read from verse two. This is David. Then he, David, defeated Moab, forcing them down to the ground. He measured them off with a line. With two lines he measured off those to be put to death, and with one full line those to be kept alive. So the Moabites became David's servants and brought tribute. You see, this is why they were paying tribute in the first place. David had conquered them. Then 2 Samuel 8, same chapter, verse 5. When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezar, king of Zobar, David killed 22,000 of the Syrians. Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became David's servants and brought tribute. So the Lord preserved David wherever he went. Note two things from those verses. Syria or also conquered. Log that in your mind. That's gonna become important in a minute. Moab and Syria. But the other thing note, the end of verse six. The Lord preserved David wherever he went. And then look at the end of verse 14 as well. And the Lord preserved David wherever he went. Sometimes with the actions of David, it can be quite difficult to know, not always, but sometimes, it can be quite difficult to know whether what he was doing was of the Lord and good, or whether it was actually wrong. Usually it expects to be good, given that he was the righteous king. But this motif, the Lord preserved David wherever he went, tells us what David was doing was of the Lord. David was God's covenant king, and God was giving David the covenant blessings of victory over his enemies. Moab were given as a blessing to King David. God preserved them. The fact that Moab paid tribute to Israel was a sign of God's blessing. So we've logged all that, we've understood all that, then we go to 1 Kings 22, I mean, you don't actually have to turn there, because I'm not going to read from it, but in that chapter, Ahab, the king of Israel, wants to take back a territory that was given to Israel when they conquered all the land with their inheritance. Darren was talking this morning about the inheritance of the people of God. Well, Ramoth-Gilead was part of that inheritance, but it had been taken by Syria. So, the king of Israel, Ahab, goes to take it back from the Syrians. Does God preserve Ahab? Do you see, if God had preserved Ahab and given him victory over the Syrians, that would have shown that God's blessing was still on Ahab. But that isn't what happened. Not only did they lose the battle, but Ahab actually died. Do you see this? The line of Ahab, this is God's blessing slipping from their fingers. God is departing from them. They are receiving his curse, not his blessing. Do you see the momentum in the narrative now? The blessings of God have been slipping away from Ahab and his line. And then we come to Moab, chapter one, verse one of second book of Kings. Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. And then we have all these things in between, and then we have it again in three verse five. We're to ask ourselves this question. This is the flow of the narrative. King Jehoram, the king in chapter three, will God give him victory over Moab? Or will he lose this battle? Will God's blessing remain in any way upon Jehoram? Or will he just get God's curse? This is a key moment. This is like in a war, if you've got lots of battles being fought, sometimes there's a key battle. And if you lose that post, it's looking very bad. This is like that, it's a watershed moment. Will God give Moab back into Jeroboam's hands? Or will he take them away? Will he take away his blessing? Will he take away his covenant blessing? But we still haven't answered why this is mentioned in verse one of 1 Kings chapter one, and then verse five of 1 Kings chapter three with nothing in between. I think this happens because some of the events in between that are significant for our story. In chapter one, Ahaziah, also the son of Ahab, presumably his older son, does he go to fight Moab? Well no he doesn't, he seems to spend all his time falling through lattices. And then he sends word to the idols of a different nation and he ends up dying. Because Elijah says to him on behalf of God, is it because there's no God in Israel that you're going to these other false gods? You shall surely die. Then we have the story of Elisha taking over from Elijah, which is important. And then we have the story, what did we consider at the end last time? The story of the youths of Bethel, 42 of which were mauled by bears. Now Bethel was the place where a golden calf was erected. In chapter 12 of 1 Kings, Israel splits, it splits into Judah, Jerusalem, and then into the other 10 tribes of Israel. The king, which part was Ahab king of? He was king of the part of Israel. But the part of Judah was kinged by other men. But one thing that happened here, it was actually a man called Jeroboam, who split the northern kingdom of Israel off from the southern. And what he said was this, if the people in Israel, if the people in my bit of the land, keep going to Jerusalem, the bit of the other king's land, then what will happen is they'll decide they want to serve him instead of me. So what did he do? He erected two golden calves and said to the Israelites, Don't go to Jerusalem, worship these golden calves. Guess where they were? In Dan and in Bethel. So these youths who were so disrespectful of the man of God were an indirect or direct result of this idolatry. This situation is not looking promising. This adds to the dark inevitability. Is Jehoram gonna have victory or is God gonna judge him? It's looking bad. In fact, it's looking very bad. Furthermore, Jehoram's line, Ahab's line, is cursed of God. In 1 Kings 21 verse 21, Elijah says, in the name of God, behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. That's pretty damning. This is the setting of the scene. Now, if you struggled to follow that, it's a lot of information. Here's a summary. in just 30 seconds. Take these three points. Moab are rebelling. This is a time when we shall see if God's blessing will be taken away from Jehoram even more. Secondly, Jehoram's line is absolutely accursed of God. God has declared annihilation upon Jehoram's line. All the males shall be dead at some point or other. God has said, you're all gonna die. I'm gonna kill you all. And thirdly, his father, Ahab, had already lost to Syria, part of God's blessing. And his brother had died because he was an idolater. The downfall has started. Defeat seems inevitable. Surely it is only a matter of time before destruction comes upon Jehoram. But we ask ourselves, maybe he'll humble himself. Maybe he'll cast away the gods of his father and mother, and cast away these golden calves, and serve and worship God. And God will say, you've been righteous, so although your line is gonna be cut off, I'll deliver you. Maybe that will be the case. We shall see. So we come to our second point, is to take the rest of our time Well, apart from the application. Second point, episodes. In Greek tragedy, you have the prologue and then you have the episodes. This is where talking, singing, all the scenes and acts happen. Well, what do we see happen? We saw in verse three of our passage, the predictable sin of Jehoram. Nevertheless, he, Jehoram, King Jehoram, persisted in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin. He did not depart from them. These calves, he persisted in holding this idolatrous sin. Actually, you see in the verse before that he put away Baal. He didn't worship Baal, he didn't have Israel worship Baal like his father did. He's not actually as wicked as he could be, this Jehoram, but he's plenty wicked enough. This same sin of idolatry is rife in Israel. Remember what I said before about Greek tragedy? You have the hamatia, the sin, the flaw which leads to their downfall. Well, this is surely it. He's an idolater. This led to the youths of Bethel and their attitude and their mauling and the curse of God. Surely now we know God's judgment must be coming upon this man. Episode two. That was episode one, verse one to five. Episode two, verse six to eight. So King Jehoram went out to Samaria at that time and mustered all Israel. Then he went and sent to Jehoshaphat, 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. Then he said, which way shall we go up? And he answered, by way of the wilderness of Eden. Episode one was verse one to five, predictable sin. Episode two, the mustering of the troops. Jehoram gathers his forces. And he persuades Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah at Jerusalem, that area, he persuades him to bring his forces and fight as well. They decide to go via the wilderness of Edom. Possibly this is to collect the forces of Edom. Edom basically was a vassal of Judah. So King Jehoshaphat was really king of Edom. And in the passage it talks about the king of Edom, but he was more like a puppet king, a viceroy. Like Herod was in the New Testament. So they go via the wilderness of Eden to collect these forces, perhaps to make sure the forces of Eden don't get any ideas into their head and join the Moabites. So they muster their troops. That's the second episode. But then episode three, verses nine to 10. So the king of Israel said, So the king of Israel, sorry, went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched on that roundabout route seven days. And there was no water for the army, nor for the animals that followed them. And the king of Israel said, alas, for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. This episode is called The Inevitable Disaster. The inevitable disaster. We knew something was gonna go wrong, didn't we? This wicked king, under the judgment of God, things are not gonna go smoothly. It's an inevitable disaster. They became very, very, very thirsty. Thirst can be a powerful thing. Now adults around here perhaps, you've had this recently in your adult life or in your child life or children. Remember running round on a hot day, doing lots of playing in a very hot sunshine and then you go inside and all you want is a glass of water and you drink that water down like always never before. It's wonderful, it's fabulous. Well think of that first. But think of it times by a thousand, because they are walking around in the desert for seven days and they seem to have no water for a lot of that time. They were absolutely parched. So in verse 10, Jehoram says, the Lord has called these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab. They can't fight if they're parched of water. They might even give themselves up on the mercy of the Moabites saying, please just give us some water. That's what we want. That's what thirst does to you. What is Jehoram's response to this inevitable disaster? Is it to repent? No, it is to blame God. Alas, for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Mark. This is God's fault. Why has he done this to us? Do we ever do this? When problems arise of our own making, we blame God. Episode four, verses 11 to 13, the last hope. Verse 11, but Jehoshaphat said, is there no prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of the Lord by him? So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. And Jehoshaphat said, the word of the Lord is with him. So the king of Israel went to Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, what have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother. But the king of Israel said to him, no, for the Lord God, the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. Verse 11, Jehoshaphat's last hope, he asks, is there no prophet of the Lord here? He should have asked that at the beginning of their trip. But he didn't inquire of the Lord then. Nevertheless, he is a righteous man and he inquires now, better late than never. We should seek God so much more often before we run into difficulty, not just when we do. Jehoshaphat is a king who loves God. The three kings are told of Elisha and Jehoshaphat. A righteous, God-fearing king approves of the prophet. You see that in verse 12. The word of the Lord is with him. So they go down to meet Elisha. Usually kings would demand that people come up to them. But actually, they went down to Elisha out of respect. Wills, could you possibly open that window? They go down to Elisha out of respect. It is probably Jehoshaphat's respect for God and his prophets which leads them to do this. Sometimes nowadays, and I'm sure this has often been the case, people who call themselves Christians are loath to go to church. I can meet with God in my own house. No, we must go to God in humility, not expect Him to come to us. Well, what is Elisha's response? Well, we could have guessed it without looking. Verse 13, what have I to do with you, Jehoram? Go to the prophets of your father and your mother. Jehoram has spited God, he has hated God, he has despised God. He has continued in this idolatry of utter wickedness, not fearing God, not loving God, not worshipping God, and now Jehoram wants deliverance from God? Surely not. Jehoram has got himself in bother and now he wants God to bail him out. Why should God do that? Jehoram's father was a stench to God, Ahab, and so is Jehoram, this wicked king. And that leads us to the fifth episode and the final episode for today, verse 14 to 18. The Extraordinary Deliverance. I'll read from verse 14. And Elisha said, as the Lord of hosts live before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you. but now bring me a musician.' Then it happened when the musician played that the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he said, thus says the Lord, make this valley full of ditches, for thus says the Lord, you shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain, yet that valley shall be filled with water so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink. And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord. He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. This is remarkable. Why does this happen? How can it be that this man receives the deliverance of a holy God? You can imagine the sinking depression which must have come upon these parched kings when they went before Elisha and he said, what have I to do with you, Jehoram? Essentially, clear off. I'm not listening to you. What a depression must have come. They must have thought, this is the end. That's it. It's over. But then hope sparks. They hear Elisha say, Surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. The gratitude Jehoram should have felt for Jehoshaphat, because they will be answered because Jehoshaphat, the righteous king, is there. They are to be fully delivered, completely saved, not just saved from this parched, thirsty, horrible desert with water that comes out of nowhere. But actually, Moab will be delivered into their hands by God. All because Jehoshaphat is there. Because God and Elisha regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. This is the story. This is a tragedy But a tragedy gone wrong, because it is no tragedy at all in the end, is it? It looks like it will be. It seems inevitable. They must lose. They must be judged. All will be over. But know in the end, were it not that I regard the King Jehoshaphat, it ends in resounding victory against all the odds. And so we spend a short time considering how this is fulfilled in Christ. The scene was set with Jehoram and it looked bleak. His line was a curse of God. And he had seen in recent history the curse of God coming to fruition in his father's life. God had declared destruction upon his line. How do we apply this to ourselves? This is true of each and every one of us by nature. We are of Adam. And the pronouncement of God upon Adam, what was it? The day that you eat of this fruit, you shall surely die. You, we know from Romans 5, him and all his posterity, which is me and you. Our line is a curse, like that of Jehoram, and we are waiting for destruction by nature. There is an impending doom, a dark inevitability. God's curse is upon the human race. What can we do? But we also saw in our passage that Jehoram predictably sinned. We wondered if he might show humility, but no. And so it is with each and every one of us here. Have any here? Have any here shown themselves to be unlike Adam, shown themselves to be completely righteous, loving God, worshipping God, serving God in truth and in spirit? There are none here and there are none out there and there are none anywhere except one in heaven who can claim to that, Jesus Christ. We have continued in the idolatry of our mothers and our fathers and our grandmothers and our grandfathers. Jehoram served these golden calves. When they were first set up by Israel, you remember there was one set up by Aaron, just as Moses was up the mountain getting the Ten Commandments. We have set up idols in our hearts, which are a stench to God. Listen to that carefully. We have set up idols in our hearts, which are a stench to God. We have not loved Him as we ought, we have not worshipped Him as we ought. He created us so that we could love Him and find our joy in Him and be at peace with Him and commune with Him. But we have cast Him aside for the sake of worthless idols. We idolize ourselves, we put ourselves on the throne. I do what is right for me. Who do we think we are? There was a time when loving others was seen as a good thing to do. Now it is considered a good thing to love yourself more than any other. We idolise the pleasures this good God has given us. Instead of worshipping him, we worship them. This is twisted. What would you think of a wife whose husband gave her a beautiful jewel and then worshipped the jewel so much that she had no love left for her husband? That's what we're like when we worship pleasures. God has given them to us to enjoy, but then we worship them, we idolise them, and we forget the one who's given them to us. He gave them to us, yes, so we could enjoy them, but so that we can love him and find our joy in him. We are like Jehoram. Maybe you think you're not the most wicked, Neither was Jehoram, but like him, we are all plenty wicked enough to deem ourselves fit for God's judgment. Jehoram trudged about in the wilderness until he realized his need for God. He did not have a saving knowledge of God. That is not the point of this passage. He does not seem to be saved at all, but he is a picture for us. And as Christians, we all came to a point, didn't we? While we were despaired in ourselves as unbelievers and knew Christ was the only way. And Jehoram was saved by his association with Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat was the Davidic king, God's righteous king, God's loved king. He is a picture and a sign for the Lord Jesus Christ. Children, those who have the sheet, The only reason any of us are Christians delivered, saved here today, the only reason any of us Christians are saved today is because we know the Lord Jesus Christ through faith and he has pleaded for us. We know the Lord Jesus Christ through faith and he has pleaded for us. By faith we are united to him. You can see that in our Confession, chapter 11, paragraph 1. We are united with Christ by the Holy Spirit and we have deliverance because God loves His Son and we are in His Son. We read that earlier, didn't we, in John 17, but we also read in John 14, verse 6, what does Jesus say? the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jehoram was only saved because of Jehoshaphat. We are only saved because of Jesus. For each and every Christian here today, we have been saved by knowing the Lord Jesus Christ in faith. He is the reason, not us, and we have been saved against all the odds. As we conclude, if you haven't heard anything else, just hear this as Christians. Christians, we have been saved against all the odds. It seemed inevitable that we should perish. Yet here we are, in the glorious presence of God, with boldness, celebrating as we shall celebrate for all eternity, with the holy angels before the face of Saviour Jesus Christ. And it is against what seemed inevitable. Consider yourself, Christian, when you were an unbeliever, of the wicked line of Adam, a line that is doomed to destruction, You had entrenched yourself in sin, the sin of idolatry, failure to worship God. Even if you did not come before God, even if you did come before God, why should He look at you? Elisha says to Jehoram, doesn't he, why should I even look at you? Go to the gods of your father and your mother. The story has been told. When we see ourselves as unbelievers, it would seem inevitable. The end is nigh. Misery is coming. There cannot be any hope. We're of this doomed line. We're entrenched in sin. How are we gonna be saved? Judgment is almost here. You've been tramping about in the desert of sin, thirsty, shallow, just waiting for the inevitable end, when we shall all be condemned and the curtain shall come down, and that will be final. Surely if we went to God, he would say to us, go back to your idols. Why should he say otherwise? But into this blackest of nights, hope dawns. There is a man on a cross, and he is pleading for us. He is pleading for the human race, for His people, even though they are of that race that put Him on the cross. And what does He say? He says, Father, forgive them. He underwent the cross. He rose again, ascended, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. And it is right to imagine Him as interceding for us. We can imagine that God said to us as unbelievers, as it were, when we were delivered, Were it not for my servant Jesus, I would not even look at you. But he sees the nail prints in the hands of his son, and the hole in his side, and he forgives. We are delivered. He grants us eternal life on the basis of our Savior. Oh, how our Savior is wonderful. The inevitable tragic end is averted. It is turned around and we are blessed. How we praise Him, how we thank Him, how we love Him. Does our Saviour not cause us to want to cast away our idols? Do not make the Lord Jesus compete in your heart with idols. Amen.