The Three Stooges (Part B)

When God shows grace and mercy, it is with the hope of, in return, gratitude that leads unto salvation and avoids judgment. So the prophet is saying here, when he says, I would not look at you nor see your face. I'm going to paraphrase this and see if you agree with me.

I can't stand the sight of your blatant, blasphemous, bloated face. I don't think Jehoshaphat brought his entire, of course he did not, he left garrisons behind to defend. He probably has 500,000 men on the battlefield, just his army.

A significant number to feed, and the livestock that you have to have to feed them, they need water too. So this started out as just a wonderful plan, it made sense, but the planning, the details, it failed them. And I've quoted this a lot because it's just a true part of life, you know. It's saying tactics are for amateurs, logistics are for pros. Now that's not entirely true, but there's truth in it, because you can have all the supplies you want and you don't have any tactics, you still lose.

You have to have them both. And I was just reading about, I can't remember the amphibious ship that burned up in San Diego. The ship burned up because nobody wanted to take command.

I mean, it's like, what? This is yours. No, the ship's in dock, it's not ours, it's yours. No, it's not ours, it's under yours. So these naval admirals are going back and forth, and the ship's burning in the meantime, they can't get a plan together.

And there's a total loss, billions of dollars. So as a Christian, we look at this and we say, okay, there are lessons here for me, with battle plans, with going forward in life, with organization. Even if it's not a fight, maybe it's just a fight of life to survive, to have resources, to not run out of water. Verse 9, So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom.

Now that makes three kings, three stooges. And they marched on a roundabout route seven days, and there was no water for the army nor for the animals that followed them. You know, it reads in the English as though the animals were just, hey, let's just follow them. But that, of course, this was food and supplies being carried by the animals. Also, not water, though. Nobody, if you've ever been out of water at the end of where you've got to have water, it is a mean situation. And it is a very volatile, at least my experience. I have had one experience that I can recall where there was no water and a lot of men and very hot. It was though you were walking through a minefield, the tension was very high. When the water showed up, everybody was controlled.

But you could see that it was very fragile. You better get your water and move so the next guy could get his water. And anyhow, there's a lot of tension going to be with it.

This is a 70-mile trip for part of the army even more. Edom doesn't have that far to go, but they're still out, verse 10. And the king of Israel said, alas, for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.

This is an insult. A very foolish man he is to make such a comment. He fails to make plans and he's blaming God. Jehoshaphat said, what's the battle plan? Well, he took the lead. He was supposed to do the whole thing. I mean, it's very simple. You're delegated to a junior officer and you say, put together a battle plan and I'll look at it.

And if I like it, we'll go with it or make adjustments or whatever. So it's all on him. No way is he going to admit that his false system of worship is going to work and Elisha is going to really take him to task on this. It's so easy to blame God for not answering prayer. I mean, amongst the righteous. Forget about this guy.

He's just a creepy guy. But even the Christian, it's so easy to blame God when something is really going bad and we have to sometimes fight it. Not all the time.

Sometimes we're there, but other times it's, you know, it can just be the wrong buttons or the right buttons. Whatever perspective you take have been pushed and it can be really tough. Anyway, his expression of dismay indicates that he considers Yahweh responsible for this situation that he got himself into. I wonder if God directed Elisha into that area of the world, which he would otherwise have no reason to be there. It's pretty much desert because the Lord is anticipating that this is going to happen and he puts the prophet on standby because he's going to be there. I mean, they came to this battlefield and this route on their own accord, guided by their own views, their own policies. God never spoke to the kings and said, I want you to go do this.

This is something that is all theirs. If Elijah is shadowing them following the army, the scouts would have reported it. If he's just in the area, they would have picked that up and that's how we get to verse 11. But Jehoshaphat said, Is there no prophet of Yahweh here that we may inquire of Yahweh by him? So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, Elijah, the son of Shephad, is here who poured water on the hands of Elijah. So Jehoshaphat is the one that wants prayer.

He's the godly man. He's the one that's got to be a prophet around. The kings could not get direct access to the Lord as routinely so, but the prophets could. And, of course, Jehoshaphat is totally uncomfortable with any other prophets than the faithful ones. He would not have been comfortable with, if they were prophets of the calf worshipers, he would not have recognized them. But he initiates the call, which makes you say, well, where are the calf worshiping prophets? You know, we never read of them really, not as prophets. They were false believers.

Christians should know how to reject those who are trying to sneak into the faith. Mormons, you know, the Mormons, when they first, anyway, they were very clear, we're not Christians. We are Mormons. We follow, you know, this additional information from this angel and all the other complications that go with their religion. Well, in time, they said, you know, recruitment is down.

We need to kind of rebrand ourselves, change our image a little bit. And so they became known as Latter-day Saints, still Mormons. And then they said, that's not enough, we'll go LDS. They're not Christians. And the Christians, you must classify them as hostile towards Christians. They are enemy combatants. They have a false gospel and their doctrine is out of hell.

And, you know, to think that, oh, but they're, you know, they're so this and that, yeah, stop it. 1 Kings 22, verse 5, and this is Jehoshaphat, the last time he was in this predicament with the father of this king, Ahab. Also, Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, please inquire for the word of Yahweh today. And that's when Micaiah comes forward and gives the prophecies. Everybody knew Elijah was the prophet.

There's no mistake about that. And so when it said Elijah, who faithfully poured water on Elijah's hands, that was automatic approval because he was appointed by God. Verse 12, and Jehoshaphat said, the word of Yahweh is with him.

And so, of course, Jehoshaphat knew this. So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. Now technically, Edom doesn't have a king, but we're not going to go into all of that. He's leader of the Edomites, and therefore he's a king. They didn't want to, you know, politically incorrect to say, we're kings and you're not. So they just, yeah, we'll make him a king too. Anyhow, kind of funny when you think about it. When you look at all the people who accommodate wrong things just so nobody's feelings gets hurt. So, I mean, what's that participation award?

What is that? I mean, who's the guy that, or the gal that thought of that? We need to give something to the losers. Well, they got something, some motivation to work harder next time. That's what they got. Jehoshaphat, of course, says the word is with Elijah.

God speaks through this man. We need to find out what to do because we're dying here. This is a serious situation. On the pages it seems like, well, they ran out of water.

No, this is death. They can't, they're at the point of no return. They can't make it back home to get water. The Dead Sea is there, but you can't drink any of it. So, verse 13, then Elijah said to the king of Israel, because they went down to him.

Again, pause there. How did they know he was there? The scouts had to have picked him up, and why was he there? God had to place him there.

The story just doesn't make sense because there's really nothing there. What are you doing down here? Well, I just wanted to kind of bathe in the Dead Sea. Look, you float in the Dead Sea for about a minute or two. Okay, let's do something else.

It's not very exciting because the whole time you're trying to keep it out of your eyes. Well, verse 13, and Elijah said to the king, what have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother? But the king said to him, no, for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. So, he's doubling down, but we'll get to this.

So, here, the prophet Elijah, he's zeroing in on this king. Zero tolerance, zero respect, zero ambivalence, zero neutrality. He said, look, I'm not neutral in this. You're guilty.

I'm not. He's just going to open this up. And he's going to say, and I don't even like you or your face.

He's coming to that. He says, go to the prophets of your father and your mother, and to the prophets of your mother. So, he says, go to mommy and daddy's gods. You want help. Their gods are from hell where you're from.

Go to them. Could you imagine standing in front of, let's say, a president of the United States, and he asks you, can you pray for me? And you say, no, I can't pray for you. You're a baby killer. You're perverted.

You've got like 40, 11 things wrong with you, and that's just at the beginning of the count. Well, that's what the prophet is doing to the king. He doesn't care if they don't like it or not. He evidently knows they're not going to kill him.

He's the most important man on earth to them right now. Go to your mommy and daddy's gods, not even acknowledging the calf worship that he now has revived. He hasn't completely put out the bowel worship. That won't come until Jehu comes along. Jehu kills this king, incidentally, and he gets rid of the bowel worship.

He does it very slick, too. Everybody who loves bowel, join me, and they come join him. He says, kill him.

We'll get to that. But what makes a false religion false is that they get their ideas from Satan, not God. That's what makes it a false religion. Incidentally, Judaism is not a false religion. It is just an obsolete religion by God's doing.

It is like the husk of the fruit. It served its purpose, and it's developed beyond Judaism. That's why the Old Testament is so powerful to us. It's just as valid as the New Testament, but we have to also understand at what point or where are the places that we're no longer obligated to practice. For example, if the Jews rebuilt their temple and re-instituted animal sacrifice in our day, it would be anathema for us as a Christian to offer anything on that altar, because Christ is our altar. We have the cross, and that's what the whole Hebrew letter is about, and that's where Paul says that Judaism is obsolete.

Those are the translated words into English from the Greek, and they are accurate. Well, back to this. But the king of Israel said to him, no. In other words, I'm not going to seek bowel or ashtoreth. When he tells him, go seek your mommy and daddy's gods, he says no. And then he now wants to say, this is Yahweh's doing, because in his little twisted head, he thinks he's worshipping Yahweh with these calves, and he doesn't appreciate that he's not accepted. It's sort of like, again, the Jehovah's Witnesses. If you told a Jehovah's Witness, I can't pray with you. No way, I can pray for you that you would abandon that satanic religion that denies the lordship of Jesus Christ, amongst other wacky things. But he is not a believer, this king, with his hybrid religion.

It says, bottom of verse 13, For Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab. So he's localizing the plight. This is Yahweh's doing.

This is his jurisdiction, for his own stupidity. Oh, one other thing. You know, maybe you're a voracious reader, and you're reading about The problem with being a responsibility of a voracious reader is after you run out of good things to read, that you don't start reading bad things, just because they've got to read something. That is how Satan twists people up. There are trees that you are not to eat from.

Stay away from them. There are very few who can enter into the cults and occult and come away unscathed. Walter Martin was one of them, Dave Hunt.

There have been other Ron Rhodes. There have been those that can read those satanic materials and not come away interested in those religions. But we have others who will read some of their materials and say, Well, you know, they make a good point. They don't make any good points. The whole premise is wrong, and it is a trap for you to admire anything about them. There's so much more in Christianity to admire. You're so smart.

What's the name of Hosea's wife? Yeah, so you got homework to do. They're acting like you're done with the Bible.

And then when we're finished with that, we're going to quiz you on Chronicles. So there's plenty to do in the Scriptures. Don't you dare let yourself get bored. I think a lot of good pastors start out good and become bad pastors because they get bored with the Bible.

They've read it so many times and studied it so much. Okay, it's just not doing it for me. Well, then you need to get on your knees. You need to overcome that. That is a trap. Okay, now we got that settled.

Fortunately, I'm speaking for myself because there's no body in the back of me. I've been there. I'm so familiar with this section. This is Satan. This is Satan trying to tell me that I'm so familiar with this section, I don't have to dig into it anymore. And that is, again, a critical feature of our faith. Verse 14, And Elijah said, As Yahweh of hosts lives, 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. Gosh. Now remember, this really isn't Elijah. This is God speaking, but Elijah likes it.

Put yourself in his spot. Wouldn't you relish the moment to be able to tell a diabolical president or a speaker of the house what you really thought of her, him, it, they? You know, you got your pronouns on. Ooh, look at you, the pronouninator. All right, anyway, the pronoun whisperer. It is the stupidest thing, and Satan is pulling it off.

These people are so dedicated to their debauchery that they'll kill you for not celebrating their insanity. Well, anyway, what is the first thing out of Elijah's mouth? Yahweh. As Yahweh of hosts lives.

I mean, he gets it right out. I am a Christian, as you know, the classic of Jonah. I am a Hebrew, and he comes right, you know, I serve Yahweh. He comes right out, even though he was on the lamb.

It's still, his identity was intact. It's kind of dumb of Jonah to boast about his faith while he's trampling his faith at the same time. Anyhow, Elijah is doing that, instantly running the flag of God up the pole in front of everyone. I am not the prophet of your God, king of Edom. I do not serve your God, king of Israel.

I serve, of course, the Lord of hosts, the real, the true God. And he is, right now, the great military force. Because of him, this invading army will reach Moab. Anyway, one other thing. Invading armies have to be very big.

I think today's calculation is 20 times the size of the force you're attacking because you're going to just suffer. My point is, there's a lot of thirsty men here, and their lives are in the hand of the man of God. Three kings and their armies depend on him. So he says, as Yahweh, before whom I stand. Now his teacher, Elijah, is said to have said these exact words twice. Well, we're going to read, when we get to chapter 5, he'll say it again.

He, too, is recorded to have used this twice, probably more likely in life, but it's recorded twice each. And what a testimony to both men, to the teacher, Elijah, who succeeded in transferring this to his student, and to the student, who is not trying to say, well, you know, I'm not Elijah, I'm going to blaze my own, I'll make my own ministry. You know, that's just, you know, some kids do that, you know, I'm going to go outside of my father's footsteps and show that I can be a man, too. Well, if that's your motive, that's probably not too good.

If your motive is, well, you know, dad likes, you know, I don't know, working on cars, but I prefer to steal them, then, you know, maybe that's the profession for you. All right, I don't even need to comment on that. Could you imagine somebody, what did you mean by that?

Give me your keys, I'll show you. Before whom I stand, surely, he continues here in verse 14, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see your face. For that thing that you said, blaming God, blaming God for what you did, trying to reduce Yahweh into this jurisdiction of, this is his territory, but, you know, the God of the golden calves, or whatever is happening here.

Who's got time to sort it all out? This is God's grace, and God's grace does not violate justice. God's grace, I think this is very important, God's grace never is a violation of justice, but the proper administration of mercy to hopefully cancel out judgment. That's why God gives mercy, and look, maybe you'll figure this out. I'm going, you know, in the story of the man that owed the great debt, and he was forgiven, the idea was that he would forgive the other man that owed him less amount of money, and he did not.

He was very violent towards that one, and unforgiving. So, when God shows grace and mercy, it is with the hope of, in return, gratitude that leads unto salvation and avoids judgment. So the prophet is saying here, when he says, I would not look at you nor see your face. I'm going to paraphrase this, and see if you agree with me. I can't stand the sight of your blatant, blasphemous, bloated face. Do you think he was meaning, is that the meaning behind this?

I appeal to your sense of reason. I think it is, he's saying you're a blasphemer, you follow Satan, and I don't want to look at you. And if it weren't for Joseph, I have nothing to do with you. John the apostle says, you know, don't let these people in your house, don't even say hi to them, when they're actively attacking the gospel.

As, you know, when the Jehovah Witnesses come around, they are actively attacking the gospel. And you don't owe them something. You can say to them, listen, would you like to hear the truth, or would you like me to chase you off my property?

Which one do you want? Because I'm not listening to your side. I have nothing to gain from you. You should see the look on their faces when you do that. How do I know? Call them devils.

Write out and see what happens. Anyway, and not a mean-spirited thing, but just no nonsense. They're not trying to just hurt their feelings.

They're trying to stir them up. Years ago in New York, I used to take them out all the time. I was just, you know, really waiting for Saturdays.

Saturday mornings, I'd camp out by the door. They're going to be here. And I remember this one young couple, and I just laid out about why Christ is the Son of God. I'm just chopping down there. I don't want to talk about all the blood transfusion stuff. Who do you say Jesus is?

You're not getting me all over the map just to be wrong there, too. Who is Jesus? Why is he worshipped? Worshiped. You do this to anybody else, it's wrong. Say the things about Jesus Christ, about an angel, you'll be blaspheming.

You know this. And at the end, they were speechless. And so I said to them, you're in a cult. You're a young couple.

You need to get out of this stuff. Of course, they probably got their mom and their dad in it, I don't know. But they were silent. They went away somber. I've often wondered what happened to them. You know, they didn't have tracking devices back then.

So, anyhow, back to this. All the characteristics of all the characters in the Bible are still active in people. And they have always been and they will always be until Christ buttons it all up. If someone is a heathen, if they're arrogant, if they're spiritually cowardly, if they're a savage, if they're a liar, if they're into self-worship, these are characters from the scriptures. They're alive today in other people, these characteristics. If a person is devout, if they're humble, if they're brave, if they're gracious and brave in Christ, true to the scriptures, loyal.

Well, these are characteristics of men like Daniel, for instance, and others. They are alive today in believers. That means scripture is relevant.

It will always be relevant. It has everything to do, these stories have everything to do with our lives. They're not just, you know, a lecture on what the Bible is doing or saying. Thanks for joining us for today's edition on Cross-Reference Radio. This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel Mechanicsville in Virginia.

We trust that what you've heard today in the book of 2 Kings has been something to remember. If you'd like to listen to more teachings from this series, go to crossreferenceradio.com. Once more, that's crossreferenceradio.com. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast, too, so you'll never miss another edition. Just go to your favorite podcast app to subscribe. Our time is about up, but we hope you'll tune in again next time as we continue on in the book of 2 Kings. We look forward to that time with you, so make a note in your calendar to join Pastor Rick as he teaches from the Bible right here on Cross-Reference Radio.