Many of us are searching for true joy. Companies often tap into this desire, selling a feeling of happiness or joy through their taglines – think “free the joy” from Cadbury’s, “open happiness” from Coca-Cola, or simply “joy” from BMW. While many might not immediately associate joy with religion, the God of the Bible insists it really is so. A look through 2 Kings 3 reveals how we can experience true, unadulterated joy.
God’s Help is for God’s People (2 Kings 3:1-14)
The beginning and end of this section (vv. 1-3 and vv. 13-14) frame it: Joram, though slightly less idolatrous than his parents, continued in idolatry. Elisha has no time for Joram suddenly seeking God’s opinion because Joram is an idolater who doesn’t really worship Yahweh. The writer wants us to see that Joram is not a genuine disciple nor a faithful worshipper of the one true God.
This becomes relevant when Moab rebels against Israel. Joram calls on the kings of Judah and Edom to fight the Moabites. The three kings set out set out without consulting God and, failing to plan properly, run out of water in the desert at which point Joram blames God for the predicament he himself created (v10). Having not bothered consulting God beforehand, he now claims God is sovereign and is delivering them up to Moab. God is irrelevant in good times, but when there’s blame to be cast, the sovereign God is very much in Joram’s mind.
Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, suggests that consulting God might be a good idea and asks if there’s a prophet of the Lord. Elisha is there, and the three kings approach him. But Elisha’s response to Joram is blunt: “Why are you coming to me? Go to the prophets of Baal whom you prefer!”. Elisha sees that Joram’s sudden belief in Yahweh’s sovereignty is born out of desperation. Joram effectively views Yahweh as a “genie”, there to grant his wishes and resolve his problems only to be put back into his lamp when everything is fine again.
Elisha’s cutting remark in v14 makes it clear: if it weren’t for Jehoshaphat, he wouldn’t even acknowledge Joram. Joram’s disregard for God means God has no regard for him. Any hearing he gets is solely because of Jehoshaphat. The implication is profound: God’s help is for true disciples.
This shows us that it’s possible to put ourselves beyond the help of God. If we treat God like a “safety net” – ignoring him when life is good and only seeking him only when we’re in trouble – we are not true disciples. Just as Joram only cared about God when he was desperate, many people today similarly treat God as their personal genie; there to grant their wishes and then get back into his lamp to be ignored until the next hopeless situation. It is a pattern we can all fall into. If God is our last hope when desperate but otherwise meaningless to us, we cannot readily expect his help.
God’s Grace is Extravagant and for Undeserving People (2 Kings 3:15-25)
All Joram wanted wanted was water. Amazingly, Elisha states that God will provide it for him, but that’s all a bit easy for Him. So, God will also hand Moab over to them, granting both water and victory. Water miraculously appears from Edom, filling the hastily dug reservoirs and granting Joram’s main request. Then the sun shines on the water, making it appear red. The Moabites, thinking it’s blood, assume the three kings have turned on each other and decide to attack. However, they find all three armies alive and well and ready to fight. Israel gain victory as Elisha prophesied.
Two things are worth noticing here. First, Joram only asked for water, but God gave him both water and victory. God did even more than was asked. God’s way is often to do far more than we might ask or think. We often ask for too little, viewing God as a miser who must be cajoled, when in fact, he is eager to bless us beyond our imagination. As Ephesians 3:20 says, God is “able to do above and beyond all that we ask or imagine”. God is lavish and extravagant in His blessing, granting “grace upon grace” or “blessing upon blessing”.
Second, we must understand why this happened. Elisha stated that Joram, an undeserving idolater, wouldn’t even get a hearing from God. Yet, Joram received God’s grace and blessing. Why? Because of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat, the King of Judah in David’s line, believed in Yahweh and sought God. God showed grace and blessing to Joram because of his association with Jehoshaphat.
We are no more deserving of God’s blessing than Joram. We have worshipped other things and sinned against God; there is nothing in us that merits His blessing. Yet, God blesses us because of another righteous king. Like Joram, we are blessed because of our association with the King in David’s line – Jesus. Because of Jesus, God lavishes His blessing on us, giving “blessing upon blessing, grace upon grace, above and beyond all that we might ask or think”. God’s blessing comes by association with Jesus. It is only in and through Jesus that God’s people are blessed with every spiritual blessing.
God is for Our Joy and Grants Joy to Us (2 Kings 3:26-27)
The ending of this episode is striking. The King of Moab, facing defeat, makes a desperate attempt to kill the king of Edom. In his own “Joram moment” of desperation, he turns to his god, Chemosh. To get Chemosh to help, he sacrifices his firstborn son, burning him to death.
This acts as a parallel to Joram. Joram, when desperate, sought Yahweh. Yahweh didn’t ask Joram to do anything in particular and then blessed him in excess of what he asked. The King of Moab, when desperate, sought Chemosh. But for Chemosh to care, the King of Moab had to sacrificed his firstborn son and, even then, had no guarantee of help.
The writer’s point is clear: Yahweh asks nothing from you and blesses abundantly; pagan gods demand from you and deliver nothing in return. Idolatry is horrific. Yahweh will never ask you to do these kind of horrific things. He blesses without demanding anything in return.
This is the good news: we don’t have to coerce God into blessing us. While other religions say “do this, do that, and God might bless you,” Jesus declares, “I’ve done it all, and I will bless you”. The God of the Bible needs nothing from us; we need him to act for us. He will never demand the kind of heinous acts seen with pagan gods because He cannot be manipulated into acting. Our God is full of grace, eager to lavish it on us, and asks nothing from us to receive it. We receive it because of our association with His Son, Jesus.
Why would we pursue gods who demand work and offer nothing in return? A God who needs us to work for him is an impotent or an unwilling god. But our God blesses “beyond all you can ask or think”. He gives “grace upon grace, blessing upon blessing”. He created a world for us to enjoy, delights in our enjoyment, and wants to enjoy it with us, asking nothing from us before we can enjoy it.
Isn’t this a God worth worshipping? Doesn’t this make a genuine relationship with God credible, unlike the coercive servitude of other religions? The gospel message leads to real joy and satisfaction in worship. We follow a God who blesses abundantly and lavishes grace without demanding anything in return. We serve Him because we want to, not because we have to in order to get what we really want.
Biblical Christianity uniquely centres on joy. Jesus came to bring joy to the world. He calls us to enjoy God, and God blesses us so we can enjoy Him. We glorify Him as we enjoy Him, giving thanks that He brings joy, asks nothing for it, and then grants that joy in abundance. God is pro-joy, the Bible is about joy, and the Christian faith is about joy. The Protestant Reformation itself was a movement to reclaim the joy Jesus wants us to have, which had been lost.
This is how you can know true and lasting joy. By putting your faith in Jesus and associating yourself with Him and – without having to do anything at all – God will grant you joy and lavish His grace and blessing upon you.