03.09. The Embarrassment of the Kings

The Embarrassment of the Kings

Jehoram is incited by a vexatious occurrence to prepare for war. The Moabites, a heathen people on the southern frontier of his kingdom, had raised the standard of revolt. This unruly people, whom God had given into the hands of the Israelites, and of whom David once triumphantly declared, "Moab is my washpot!" had again and again struggled to throw off the yoke; but had invariably experienced how vain it is to fight against God. Their rebellion, however, had now assumed a more important and alarming character. They had risen in mass, with king Mesha at their head, declaring themselves independent; and seemed resolved to perish, rather than to continue to pay the tribute that had been imposed on them by the princes of Israel. The revolt of Moab was unquestionably an act of national guilt; but it was no less a Divine chastisement upon Jehoram, who had forsaken the God of his fathers, and had addicted himself to the idolatry of the golden calves. Of this wickedness he was to be made sensible; and, therefore, God let loose the lion-like men of Moab, and permitted them to rebel.

Jehoram was not a little disturbed at the intelligence of this event; and, spurning negotiation, which he rightly considered derogatory to his dignity, he adopted the most energetic measures, and drew the sword. He had nothing to apprehend from other neighboring powers; nevertheless, he requested Jehoshaphat, the pious king of Judah, to render his important aid, and to conduct into the field a part of his own numerous army. "I will come up," replied Jehoshaphat to the king of Israel; "I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses." When the two princes had united their forces, it became necessary to deliberate on their line of march. Jehoram advised proceeding through the wilderness of Edom, and this route was the one which they adopted. When they arrived in Edom the king of that country, who was a tributary of Jehoshaphat, joined the army with his horsemen; they then advanced together through the desert to attack the enemy, who, drawn out upon the plain, and confident in their numbers and enthusiasm, were exulting in the anticipation of a glorious triumph. The three allies likewise flattered themselves with the same hopes. But they, or at least Jehoram and the king of Edom, had trusted in an arm of flesh. The admirable equipment and discipline of their troops had inspired them with a courage, which left them no room to doubt that the first encounter would be decisive in their favor, and open to them a way to the capital. But, as often happens in similar circumstances, Israel had miscalculated, as well as Moab. The affair takes quite a different turn from what either party had expected. Both the Israelites and the heathen were again to feel that whatever might be the issue, it was not to be brought about by an arm of flesh, or by human wisdom, but only by Him, who doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. He is the Dispenser of courage and of fear. He directs the arrow to its mark, or turns it aside. His alliance is victory, and his displeasure destruction. At His command the sun can put forth its hottest beams, and whole armies languish and pine away. He can send forth irresistible frost, and the limbs of his adversaries are fettered with invisible chains. He can bring pestilence and famine upon a country, and what then avails the warrior’s prowess, or the commander’s skill?

It was, indeed, an imposing force, at the head of which the two kings advanced against Moab, and the general impression was, that the sight of such an army would be sufficient to annihilate insurrection and revolt. But another enemy unexpectedly appears, against which none had calculated; and the combined armies of Israel, of Judah, and of Edom, were threatened with imminent destruction, before they had even reached the Moabitish frontier: for after they had advanced some days march through the wilderness, the heat had become intolerable, the waters in every direction had dried up, and the troops were exhausted and enervated. The increasing thirst of the soldiers soon consumed the supply of water in the camp; and now, weak, dejected, and languishing, they were in danger of perishing by a most terrible death. Their leaders would have pushed on, to reach, if possible, a more favorable and better watered region; but in vain. Nowhere was a spring or a supply of water to be found; nor even a shady wood, where they might take shelter and repose. On every side was only a flat and parched heath, swept by a burning and suffocating wind. After "fetching a compass seven days" their march is totally arrested. The fainting warrior falls gasping to the earth; the horse, overpowered with fatigue and thirst, can no longer proceed, and the camels sink exhausted under their burdens. In this extreme embarrassment and peril, the idolatrous Jehoram becomes uneasy on another account. His conscience, like a lion invigorated by sleep, awakens within him, and suggests to him something about the cause and consequences of this unforeseen emergency. It is natural for an evil conscience to give things a dismal tinge; for it is from conscience that every condition in this life borrows its coloring. Yes, and let it be only cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, and it sheds brightness upon whatever may happen to us; cheering interpretations are suggested by it, and it robs each affliction of its sting. On the other hand, the whole world cannot furnish a power equal to that of a condemning conscience. It is a power that can make the hero tremble, and deprive the most valiant of their courage; it can force its upbraiding through the plaudits of a world, so as to convert the choicest earthly possessions into dreariness and wretchedness. "An evil conscience," says Luther, "is like a tormenting spirit, it is alarmed in the middle of outward prosperity." Scripture also declares, that "the wicked flee when no man pursueth," and that "the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them."

"Alas!" cried the king of Israel, "that the Lord hath called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hand of Moab!" "With the pure," sings David, "thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself unsavory." Even when the designs of God are fraught with mercy, the surmises of an evil conscience are evil. In the Divine chastisements it discerns only a rod of anger; and in circumstances which He has brought about for the display of his power to save, it sees only preparations for destruction. "These three kings," says Jehoram; he considers not only the viceroy of Edom, but also the pious Jehoshaphat, as included with himself in the same condemnation. The great difference between his own character and that of the king of Judah, he entirely overlooks. That the sentence had gone forth against himself alone, he neither will perceive, nor suffer others to intimate Sinners imagine to themselves consolation from having companions in their guilt and punishment; but the Lord, who knoweth those that are his, will in due time cast down every such imagination.