May '26
It was a dire situation. The Moabites, led by King Mesha, were picking a fight with Israel (2 Kings 3:4-5). A war isn’t fun at the best of times, but to make matters worse, Jehoram, the son of Ahab, was king over Israel (2 Kings 3:1). He was an evil king, and the son of Israel’s worst king (2 Kings 3:2). What was to be done? Why should the LORD listen to him? Jehoram sent for Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, who was a righteous king (2 Kings 2:7). Remarkably, the generous king joins forces with him, and binds himself to him, sealing their fates together as it were: “I will go. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses” (2 Ki 3:7). All of Jehoshaphat’s resources and means will be working in the favour of Jehoram.
The plot thickens: Jehoram, Jehoshaphat, together with the king of Edom, make their way through Edom. In the wilderness of Edom, they face a severe drought, and their men are at risk of dying from thirst (2 Kings 3:9). They need an audience with the Lord, so they can appeal to him to deliver them. They need a prophet. As it happens, Elisha the prophet was with them. That he was a powerful prophet, there was no doubt. But why should the prophet of God help King Jehoram? There had been a whole history between Jehoram’s father and Elisha’s mentor (see 1 Kings 17-18). Why would Elisha want to help him?
Well, he wouldn’t. And he says as much when the kings approach him: “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I have regard for Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would neither look at you nor see you” (2 Kings 3:14). In other words, Jehoram gained access to Elisha, and to the favour of the Lord, through Jehoshaphat.
Thankfully, Elisha’s words are exactly what Jehoram needs to hear. Elisha promises that (1) In spite of there being no wind or rain, the streams in the wilderness will be filled with water and, (2) the Moabites will be given into the hand of Jehoram.
As I read this account of the great King Jehoshaphat, son of David, I can’t help thinking of the final King, the true Davidic Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jehoshaphat graciously promised to go with Jehoram into the wilderness. But Jesus is with us in the wilderness until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20), promising to never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
Jehoshaphat joined himself to Jehoram, promising him his men and horses, and access to them as though they were his own, interlocking their outcomes in this fight. But Jesus joins himself to us forever, treating us as his own body (Ephesians 5:23), and sharing with us his resurrection life and vindicated status.
Jehoshaphat ensured that Jehoram could access the blessing of God, which came through the prophet Elisha, who otherwise would not speak to Jehoram. But Jesus gives us “boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him,” (Ephesians 3:13) to approach the throne of God and make our needs known to him, even welcoming prayer to God in his name (John 15:16). “Put it on my tab,” says Jesus.
The blessings secured for Jehoram were (1) water in the wilderness and (2) defeat over enemies. Perishing in the wilderness is a covenant curse (Deut 32:24), linked with death, exile, and rejection from God. The book of Hebrews picks it up and amplifies it into eternal punishment (Hebrews 10:30). Jehoshaphat saved the people from dying of thirst in the desert that day, but King Jesus gives us something far better. He says: “…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:15). Similarly, being trodden over by your enemies is a covenant curse (Deut 28:25-26). Thankfully, Jehoshaphat ensured military success against the Moabites. But Jesus will put all evil under his feet (Psalm 110:1), the last of which is our greatest enemy, death itself (1 Corinthians 15:25).
"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16).