Useful Bible Studies > 2 Kings Commentary > chapter 3
Israel’s armies were in the desert between Moab and Edom, when they ran out of water. However, God gave Elisha a message for them.
God would use this situation to show the greatness of his power. He did not need to send a storm, with wind and rain, in order to provide water for these vast armies. Instead, the soldiers should prepare for the water that God would send by some other method. That evening, they must dig holes in the earth, to contain the water, and where their horses would drink.
It is God’s pleasure to do more for his people than they can even ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). The attention of Israel’s rulers was entirely upon their present need for water. However, it would not benefit them to have water if they then suffered defeat in war. God completes the work that he begins (Philippians 1:6).
So, in the present situation, God declared that he would hand over their enemies’ army to Israel. By the same act that he supplied water, God would also defeat Moab’s army.
For Moab, that would be a complete defeat. This seems to be an act of God’s judgment against the nation that first taught Israel’s people to serve the false god Baal (Numbers 25:1-5). God described how Israel’s armies would ruin that country. They would spoil the good land; they would make it difficult for Moab’s people to find water. They would destroy the cities that had strong defences. They would even cut down the fruit trees, although that was against God’s law in Deuteronomy 20:19-20.
Next part: No rain – but water came (2 Kings 3:20)
Please use the links at the top of the page to find our other articles in this series. You can download all our articles if you go to the download page for our free 1000+ page course book.
© 2025, Keith Simons.