King Jehoshaphat, King Jehoram,
King Mesha, and the king of the Edomites
And Mesha king of Moab was a sheepmaster, and rendered unto the king of Israel an hundred thousand lambs, and an hundred thousand rams, with the wool. But it came to pass, when Ahab was dead, that the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.-2 Kings 3:4-5
And king Jehoram went out of Samaria the same time, and numbered all Israel. And he went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, The king of Moab hath rebelled against me: wilt thou go with me against Moab to battle? And he said, I will go up: I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses. And he said, Which way shall we go up? And he answered, The way through the wilderness of Edom. So the king of Israel went, and the king of Judah, and the king of Edom: and they fetched a compass of seven days' journey: and there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them. And the king of Israel said, Alas! that the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab! But Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD, that we may enquire of the LORD by him? And one of the king of Israel's servants answered and said, Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, which poured water on the hands of Elijah. And 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.-2 Kings 3:6-12
And Elisha said unto the king of Israel, What have I to do with thee? get thee to the prophets of thy father, and to the prophets of thy mother. And the king of Israel said unto him, Nay: for the LORD hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab. And Elisha said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches. For thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, that ye may drink, both ye, and your cattle, and your beasts. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the LORD: he will deliver the Moabites also into your hand. And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.-2 Kings 3:13-19
And it came to pass in the morning, when the meat offering was offered, that, behold, there came water by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armour, and upward, and stood in the border. And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood: And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country. And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kir-haraseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it.-2 Kings 3:20-25
And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not. Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.-2 Kings 3:26-27
Background Information
The Moabites and the Ammonites descended from Lot and Lot's daughters. Moab, the forefather of the Moabites, was the son born to Lot and Lot's oldest daughter. Ben-ammi, the forefather of the Ammonites, was the son born to Lot and Lot's youngest daughter. Lot was born to Haran. Haran, Abraham (Abram the Hebrew), Nahor (Nachor), and Sarah (Sarai) were born to Terah. Isaac was born to 100-year-old Abraham and 90-year-old Sarah. When Isaac was 40 years old, he was married to Rebekah, Haran's great-granddaughter. Fraternal twin sons Esau (Edom) and Jacob (Israel) were born to 60-year-old Isaac and Rebekah. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that the Lord God gave Mount Seir to Esau, and the Edomites were ruled by kings, and the God gave Ar to the Moabites, and the Lord God promised to give Canaan to Abraham, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants. In Padan Aram, Haran, Jacob was married to Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian (Aramean). Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Gad and Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob and Rachel. During Jacob's 20th year in Haran, he began journeying home to Canaan with his family, servants, animals, and possessions. Near Bethlehem, Benjamin was born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel died. When Joseph was 17 years old, his brothers sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt and led Jacob to believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast, and Joseph was 30 years old when Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, proclaimed him second-in-command. After the 2nd time that Joseph's brothers were in Egypt during a famine to buy corn (grain), Joseph identified himself to them and told his brothers to move with their families, including Jacob, to Egypt. Pharaoh heard about the reunion and expressed his generosity and hospitality. In Beersheba, the Lord God spoke to 130-year-old Jacob. In Egypt, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons born to Joseph and his wife Asenath, to be his own sons, and the tribe of Joseph became the tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Ephraim. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt, and Jacob's family buried his body in Canaan, and 110-year-old Joseph and his siblings were dead, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were born into the tribe of Levi. When Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelite elders and Pharaoh. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egypt, across the divinely parted Red Sea, and into the desert wilderness of Shur. In the desert wilderness of Sinai, in the region of Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of the Lord God proclaim the Ten Commandments to them, and the Lord God began giving Moses judgments, statutes and laws for the Israelites, and the Lord God made a covenant with the Israelites. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam the prophetess died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. While in Kadesh, Moses sought permission to pass through the land of the Edomites, and the king of Edom refused them access, with the Edomites uniting in strength. The Israelites took a different route and did not harm the Edomites, according to the command that the Lord God gave Moses. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year-old Aaron the high priest died. When Moses went upon Mount Nebo, the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year-old Moses the prophet died, and was divinely buried. Joshua, Moses' aide and successor from the tribe of Ephraim, led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants. Over 300 years after 110-year-old Joshua died, and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, became the 1st king to rule over the Israelites. David, from the tribe of Judah, was the 2nd king to rule over all of the Israelites. Solomon, a son born to David and Bathsheba, was the 3rd king. Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to rule over all of the Israelites. After Rehoboam gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Judah was the nation in the south, Jerusalem was the royal city and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Israel was the northern nation, Samaria was the final royal city and Jeroboam, the son born to Nebat and Zeruah, was the 1st king to reign. King Ahab was the 7th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. During Ahab's 22-year reign, Elijah the prophet began proclaiming the words of the Lord God to the Israelites. Rehoboam's great-grandson Jehoshaphat was the 4th king to rule Judah. When Jehoshaphat was visiting Ahab, Ahab told Jehoshaphat about the Syrians (Arameans) and their control over Ramoth-gilead, a city of refuge among the Israelites on the other side of the Jordan River. Jehoshaphat responded affirmatively and told Ahab to seek the will of the Lord God. Ahab gathered approximately 400 prophets, and the prophets said that the Lord would deliver the victory to Ahab. Jehoshaphat told Ahab to seek the will of the Lord God from a prophet of the Lord God, and Ahab sent an officer to bring Micaiah to him. The officer told Micaiah to speak the same good words that the other prophets were speaking. After Micaiah repeated the words spoken by the other prophets, Ahab demanded the truth, and Micaiah revealed a message from the Lord God, and Ahab imprisoned Micaiah. As Jehoshaphat followed Ahab's plan, and was surrounded, Jehoshaphat cried out, and the Lord God helped Jehoshaphat, and caused the Syrians to see that Jehoshaphat wasn't Ahab. The Syrians stopped following Jehoshaphat, and an archer struck Ahab with a bow, and Ahab died in the evening. Ahaziah, a son born to Ahab and his wife Jezebel, became the 8th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. Ahaziah fell and was injured during his 2-year reign and died. Ahab and Jezebel's son Jehoram (Joram) was the 9th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. Meanwhile, Elijah went up into heaven by a whirlwind, and Elijah's aide and successor Elisha began proclaiming the words of the Lord God to the Israelites. Notably, during his 12-year reign, Jehoram sent a message to Jehoshaphat about the king of Moab. Over 750 years after Jehoshaphat's son Joram (Jehoram) was the 5th king ruling Judah and was married to Ahab's daughter Athaliah, and Elisha the prophet died, and a dead man began living again after contact with Elisha's bones, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born in Bethlehem into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 13:1-14:45, 20:1-29, 26:1-27:23, Deuteronomy 31:1-34:12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26
Reference Information
fell = tappilu = naphal = cut down, to fall
fetched a compass = wayyasobbu = cabab = encircle, encompass, surround
minstrel = menaggen = nagan = musician, play a stringed instrument
mustered = wayyipqod = paqad = mustered
rendered = wehesib = shuwb = regularly paid
sheepmaster = noqed - sheepbreeder
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