The Valley No.8 Facing Problems in the Valley

And we shall read the first 25 verses. Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria the 18th year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah and reigned 12 years. And he wrought evil in the sight of the Lord but not like his father and like his mother for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.

Nevertheless he cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat which made Israel to sin he departed not therefrom. And Misha king of Moab was a sheep master and rendered unto the king of Israel and hundred thousand lambs and a 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.

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 will 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.

The king of Israel said alas that the Lord hath called these 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 inquire 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.

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. Elijah 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 Elijah 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 will not 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 said the Lord ye shall not see wind neither shall you 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 you 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. 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.

When all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them they gathered all that they were able to put on armor 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 that the kings are surely slain and they have smitten one another now therefore Moab to the spoil.

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 Harseth left they the stones thereof.

Howbeit the slingers went about it and smote it. Amen. Now I would be grateful if you'll have your Bibles open at the third chapter of the second book of Kings.

One could very truly say that Christianity is not only a religion, it is a way of life. It is not just a set of propositions to be understood mentally or intellectually, but rather it is a teaching that affects our whole attitude and approach to the rough and tumble of daily living. A Christian is a completely different man because he has put his faith, his confidence in Jesus Christ.

He evaluates things differently. His Christianity does not make him immune from life's problems at all. In fact in some senses his very faith in the Lord Jesus may be the means of creating difficulty.

But as he is confronted with the anomalies, with the contradictions of life, so he approaches them in a much different fashion to that of the unbeliever, to that of the secularist. It was the teachings of the old philosophical school of Stoicism that when someone was confronted with a problem they were to grin and to bear it. And I suppose it's really that Stoicism that's the foundation of the typical traditional British stiff upper lip.

That's how we are to cope with the problems that beset us. But Christianity does not say this. Christianity does not agree with that attitude.

And neither does a Christian find any common denominator at all with the approach of the fatalist to life. Summed up in the phrase, whatever will be will be. It's no use getting concerned about what is happening, why things should fall out unevenly for me, why some people should have a greater amount of material wealth and enjoy greater health and strength than I do.

It's no use being concerned about this because well it's all in the lap of these so-called gods. It's all a question of something that's been determined for me. There's nothing I can do about it.

I must be a fatalist. Now again I say Christianity dissents from this attitude. The Christian combines neither Stoicism nor fatalism.

But rather when the believer looks upon his life, when he looks upon the problems and the anomalies that come, he recognizes that behind it all there is an underlying providence. He looks into the Psalms and there he will take the language of the inspired writer and with reference to his own life he will say, the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. Or in New Testament terminology he will employ the verse of the Apostle Paul when he writes, all things work together for good to them that love God, to those who are called according to his purpose.

You see it doesn't matter really what happens to you in life. The biblical teaching is this and therefore the Christian attitude is this, that God is involved, that nothing falls out in your situation that he is unaware of. And this is as you continue your journey through life, how you are to look upon the problems, the anomalies, the paradoxes that come into it.

This is how you are to face it. God is not removed from you. No, says the psalmist, as I reminded you last week, he is a help, a very present help in the time of trouble.

And when you can approach life from this point of view, when you can fully implement the teachings of Christian realism into your own philosophy, in your own approach to life, then there are some tremendous consequences which you will enjoy if you like as a spin-off. And I think I can illustrate those by referring you for the first example to that of Joseph. You remember how towards the end of the book of Genesis, indeed in the last chapter, Joseph is once again confronted by his brothers.

They're very concerned because their father has died and they feel that now as they're in Egypt, Joseph with his exalted position will use his power and influence to repay them for the harm that they did to him when he was much younger. They were scared for their own lives. But Joseph looks back and he evaluates what happened to him in these terms as he addresses his brothers.

I read to you the words of the 20th verse. But as for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much people alive. It says, Joseph, when I look back upon my life and I see all the twists and all the turns, all the downdale and the uphill that I've had to experience, I realize that God's hand was in it.

When you threw me into the pit, when you sold me to the Ishmaelites, when I was sold in the slave markets of Egypt, when I found myself rotting in some smelly Egyptian dungeon, nonetheless this is what I realized. God's hand was in it all. He was involved.

Joseph, I say, cultivated this biblical approach, this spiritual approach to life's anomalies. And a more modern example of this, a rather dramatic, astonishing one, I think, is found in the book written by Richard Wormbrown, Tortured for Christ, in which he refers to certain men who he confronted in prison, and these were Christian people, and he describes in the book that I have quoted their experience and what he witnessed. He says this, I have seen Christians in communist prisons with 50 pounds of chains on their feet, tortured with red-hot iron pokers, in whose throats spoonfuls of salt have been forced, being kept afterwards without water, whipped, starving, suffering from cold, and yet praying with fervor for the Communists.

This is humanly inexplicable, says Wormbrown. It is the love of Christ which was shed abroad in our hearts. In other words, there is a dramatic illustration of what I'm saying, that the man who cultivates the spiritual approach to life is a man who, when confronted with great difficulties, particularly difficulties on the physical plane, as well as difficulties on the psychological and spiritual plane, he can still cope.

He can still cope with all the anomalies, with all the pressures, because his problems are dwarfed when he relates to his problems the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. Not some abstract being in the starry heavens, but a God who is nigh. And I want to show you from this historical incident that I have read to you in the second book of Kings, a classic illustration of how to cultivate in the valley of life an attitude to your problems which will be helpful, indeed, which will cause you to be able to live successfully as a man or woman dedicated to God.

So with all this preamble in mind, let me direct your attention to this historical incident, and once again you'll realize that this whole thing takes place in a valley. And those of you who are not with us Sunday by Sunday, let me explain that I am engaged in a series of sermons on the God of the valleys, and I am trying to demonstrate that Christianity, far from making life easy, sometimes creates difficulties in our lives. But within the Christian gospel itself, there is a power, there is a blessing, there is granted to us by the Lord Jesus Christ an enabling to cope with all the problems that come along.

Well, let me read to you again the 16th and 17th and the first sentence in the 18th verse of 2 Kings 3. And the man who is speaking is a prophet, and he's directing these words to three kings. 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. And this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord.

Within that scripture there is, by implication, a problem. And I want to talk to you for a moment about the problem that exists in the experience of the three men to whom the prophet is talking. First of all, it involved two kings, one by the name of Jehoram, and the other by the name of Jehoshaphat.

They had heard that a country whose frontier was next to the frontier of Judah, a country by the name of Moab, had rebelled against the authority of the Hebrews. Now the Moabites were historic enemies of the Hebrews, and the two kings realized this, that unless they did something about putting down the rebellion, there would be much trouble in future months and years. So together they joined forces, and with their armies they go into another country by the name of Edom, and there they enlist the support of the king of Edom.

So you've got three men, three armies, forming an alliance, and they are going to attack the land of the Moabites. They don't approach the Moabites directly. If you could see a map you'd appreciate the geographical significance of this chapter, of some of the comments in this chapter, for they go in a circuitous route.

They don't want to attack the main cities of the Moabites, rather they want to come to them from the rear. And to do this they have to engage in a march of several days in duration, a march which will take them mile after mile into a scrubland, into a wilderness, a wilderness of valleys and plains, but a wilderness in which there is very little water. And that's where the problem starts.

The kings have underestimated the need that their men will have for water. They've misread the climate, and they have failed to appreciate that sooner or later a greater problem than that the Moabites would confront them with would be that of not having sufficient water. So these men come together and they try to discuss their problem, and this is what you find them doing in the verses preceding the ones that I have just read to you.

The problem, I say, is an enormous one. It is one that in one sense has been brought about by their lack of concern, by their lack of forethought. They have got themselves into difficulties, and it would be true to say that partly they are responsible for the difficulties that they're facing.

They've completely misread a situation, and here then is the crux of their problem. They haven't enough water, and the Moabites are over the other side of the valley, and before long they realise that they will be very vulnerable as the Moabite soldiers attack their men. And I put it to you that far from the historical importance of this chapter, there is a spiritual one that is relevant today for you and for me, because how often in our lives have we been confronted with a problem? We've come as it were to the end of our tether.

We don't know which way to turn. We can't go backwards, and we can't go forwards. We're just standing still, and it seems as though we have lost all sense of direction.

We just don't know what to do in a specific situation, and Christians are not immune from this type of problem. Let's say that immediately, they're not immune. In fact, many, many times this type of difficulty comes across our path as we go through the valley of life, and we wonder why God has allowed this to happen.

We haven't seen the route that He wants us to take. We feel that we're following His will as much as we understand it, but why in the name of sanity, why in the name of reason, does God allow these situations to break out, so that we're standing still not knowing where to go or what to do? Well, it's in circumstances like this that our faith is tried, that it's proved to be what it really is, a solid concrete faith in a God who is involved, in a God who is active. There is nothing like a problem to test the mettle of a person's belief in God, and this is precisely what happens in the experience of these kings who are in this dilemma, in this particular valley, and you can see the type of reaction that one has today, even by looking upon the characters whose story is here recorded.

Take, for example, Jehoram. Jehoram, he is the son of the infamous Ahab, the king of Israel, and his attitude to the problem is really that of a fatalist. He has come to the conclusion, and you find it in verse 10, that there's nothing really that can be done about it at all.

Surely enough, he employs the name of the Lord, but Jehoram didn't recognize any personal, vital relationship with God. No, the circumstances that have fallen out are very difficult, but there's nothing that can be done about it. It's no point asking why at all.

We must just grin and bear it. We must be fatalists. We must realize that we're going to be delivered into the hand of the king of Moab, and there is not one thing that we can do to alter the consequences of our own mistake.

So, that's a type of approach that some had in the days of Jehoram, the king of Israel, and that particular breed of fatalism is still with us today. But then you get, by way of contrast, the attitude of the king Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and he, in the 11th verse, is recorded as asking if there is not a prophet of the Lord that God might be inquired of, that the direction of God may be found, that his help might be enlisted in such a situation. Here is a spiritual man, you see, who's coming face to face with a very grotesque problem.

He realizes the enormity of it, but he's also relating his belief in God, and he's asking, is it not possible to contact God to bring him into the situation? And then, the other man who's involved, beside the king of Edom, is a prophet, a prophet who is well known by the name of Elisha. And it's very interesting to see how Elisha evaluates the situation, how he reads it. Look at the 14th verse, for example, and you find there the prophet saying, as the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand.

That's a very significant introductory comment that he makes as he's addressing King Jehoram. Why do I say it's significant? Well, you see, Elisha's on the scene, he's in the valley, he sees the problem, he appreciates that it's a very difficult one, that it's a very serious one, but his immediate reaction is to say this, God lives, and I stand before God. But Elisha is in the valley.

Yes, Elisha appreciates the problem that exists, but he is relating to the problem his own belief in a living God, the Lord before whom I stand. He can be contacted, I can inquire of him. And I put it to you, indeed I challenge you, from the word of God, when you approach similar problems, do you have an attitude that is more, that resembles that of Jehoram, or do you have an attitude that resembles that of Jehoshaphat or Elisha? Is there smuggled into your so-called belief in God a fatalism? You know, it doesn't really matter.

Oh, yes, I go along to the church on a Sunday, but when I'm confronted with difficulties in my business, in my family life, I don't relate those difficulties to my belief. I don't believe that God is really involved. In one sense, you know, it's possible almost to have a sort of spiritual schizophrenia, to be one thing on a Sunday and something else on a Monday and a Tuesday, as though this God is only alive on a Sunday, as though the principles that we believe from the word of God are applicable only on the Sabbath day, and not in terms of the rest of the days of the week.

I ask you, challenge yourself from the word of God, from an Old Testament illustration. What category, what type of character do you find yourself fitting into, that of Jehoshaphat or that of Jehoram, as you stand in your valley, confronted with your problem? But let me move on in my text, because having explained in some detail the nature of the problem, it seems to me also from these 16th to 18th verses, one sees something of what I will call the silent working of God. The silent working of God.

He's been confronted with the problem. God's been brought on the scene, so to speak. And we read in the 17th verse, for thus saith the Lord, ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain.

And this is what makes me think in terms of the silent working of God. And this is always a difficulty for us, isn't it? You know, when we've told God about the problems that we're facing, when we've told him about our situation, equivalent to the Hebrews' lack of water and their fear of the Moabites, he doesn't immediately react. He expects us to take his word and act on faith that God will involve himself in our situation, that he'll come to our aid.

Let me put it in terms of this historical incident a little more. The word of God to the Hebrews is to, and to the Edomites, is to make this valley full of ditches. Now here is this parched ground.

You're trying to imagine a very barren scene, you know, with very little grass, with only an occasional shrub, with lots and lots of sand, and lots of silt in a dry river valley. And that's the sort of situation in which the Hebrews and Edomites were in. And God says to them, make this valley full of ditches.

In other words, start to dig a hole, start to dig a small dam, and make preparation to collect the water. But you see, the water wasn't apparent. The Hebrews possibly anticipated the wind hurtling down the valley, bringing with it the rain clouds, and before long, watching the drops of water cascade down into the dam that they had prepared.

But this didn't happen. And God said it wouldn't happen. He says, make the valley full of ditches, but you will not see the wind, neither shall you see the rain.

In other words, God is not going to act. He's not going to respond to your problem in the pre-determined way that you anticipate. And you know, one of the difficulties today is that we tend to cultivate what I would call a Naaman attitude to life.

You remember Naaman, don't you? His story is also recorded in the historical books of the Old Testament. Here is this poor man. He's got a very serious skin condition, leprosy in effect.

His body is gradually being eaten away. He's heard of the miraculous ministry of one of the prophets of Israel. So he seeks out this prophet, and he asks for prayer.

And he's determined before he ever reaches the prophet, the activity that this man of God will have as he is informed of the dilemma in which Naaman finds himself. But you remember how the prophet doesn't even speak to Naaman. Rather, he sends him a message through his servant Gehazi, and tells him to go and dip himself seven times in the river Jordan.

And says, Naaman, but this is not what I anticipated. This is not what I expected. I thought the man of God would come down from his house.

He would smite the offending patches of leprosy. This is what I expected. I want action, not words.

But you see, my friend, this again is the teaching of Scripture that God inverts your plea. God gives words before he gives actions. He wants belief before he places into some activity his own response to your dilemma.

Let me give you this in the form of a New Testament illustration, in case you haven't got what I'm trying to bring before you. Remember the man, the noble man in John's Gospel, I think it's the fourth chapter, who comes to the Lord Jesus because he's concerned about his son. His son is dying.

And he wants Jesus to go home with him and to heal his son. But the Lord does not deal with the man as he had anticipated. In fact, the Lord seems, in one sense, to deal very harshly with him.

For speaking to him and to the crowd who have congregated, he says, unless you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. Unless you have activity, unless you see something remarkable demonstrated, you won't believe in me. And Jesus sends the man home and assures him that his child will recover from his sickness.

In other words, Jesus gives the man not an act, but a word. And this is exactly the same principle as you find in this historic incident. The Hebrews are not immediately given an act of God, they're given a word of God.

Make the ditches. Make a dam. Believe that I am going to act in this situation.

Believe first. Time and time again, I tell you, in your own life, and I'm preaching of course also to myself, it is necessary for us to realize that we have the Word of God and we are to believe the Word of God. And even when the activity of God seems to be delayed, and even when he seems to deal in a most extraordinary fashion with us, we are still to believe in a God who cannot lie, in a God whose word is constantly and consistently valid.

So here I put it to you. It is the silent working of God illustrated in the Scripture. For thus saith the Lord, ye shall not see wind, neither shall ye see rain.

But let me hasten on and bring another thought to your attention. And here let me employ a long word and then explain what it means, if you don't gather its immediate significance. In this passage of Scripture, you have an illustration of what I would call the perspicacity of God.

And that means that God understands the whole situation. He looks at something in depth. He doesn't just see one problem, he sees all the problems that are attached to the basic problem that is confronting the Hebrews at this time.

Again, let me explain what I mean. You see, as far as the Hebrews and the Edomites are concerned, the original reason for them going into Moab has been lost to some extent by the fact that they haven't got any water. The basic problem, the thing that caused them to go into the land of Moab by this circuitous route, was the rebellion of the Moabites.

But now you see another problem has cropped up. They've got no water. And it's always a tendency with us, because we're human frail creatures, to think in terms of what we need immediately, to make that the most important thing, the thing that is paramount in our mind.

But perspicacity means this, an ability to see not just one problem, an ability not only to see the here and now, but to see things in depth, to see things in terms of the future. And God is concerned not only about restoring the water supply to the Hebrews and Edomites, he's also concerned about quelling the problem that has been caused by the rebellion of the Moabites. And so what do you find happening? Well, a remarkable answer to the request of Elisha the Prophet, as he brings the problem before God.

The following day, mark that, the following day, after they've dug the trenches, you imagine troops digging trenches in a barren land with no water, with no anticipation of any break in the clouds, you imagine them doing that. And the sort of jargon, the sort of language that they must have engaged in, one towards another, doing something so absolutely ridiculous. But Elisha compels them, with the authority of the kings, to do this, to dig the dam, to dig the ditches.

And it's the following morning, when something remarkable happens. As they wake up at the time of the morning sacrifice, at the time of morning prayer, they discover that that dry river, that dry river course has been filled with water, and all the ditches, all the dams that they have dug, has been filled with water. It would appear as though there had been some rain that had fallen on the heights of the Edomite mountains, and this rain had come down into the valley during the early hours of the morning.

And of course the Hebrews and the Edomites had the water which they required for drinking. But, and here you'll see what I mean by the perspicacity of God. Something else is going to happen, because God has answered prayer.

The Moabites in the next valley realize the condition of the Hebrews, they've realized the difficulties, and from a vantage point on the valley, looking down to where the Hebrew and the Edomite camp is, so they determine they're going to invade the valley. They are going to completely reduce the Hebrews and the Edomites. But they come to the conclusion they've no need to do this.

They look into the valley, and there they see a red glow. They see what they wrongly conclude to be blood. And they make this deduction that the Hebrew kings and the Edomite king have all fallen out, and together there's been warfare in that valley.

And no longer do the Moabites have to use any vigilance at all as they enter into the valley, because they believe that it's a valley of death. The soldiers have fallen upon themselves. There has been a fight during the night.

But what really has happened is this. The valley has been filled with water. And maybe it's the red soil from off the Edomite mountains that has colored the water.

Or maybe it's the crimson glow of the early morning sun as it plays its reflection upon the river and upon the ditches that caused the Moabites to make the wrong conclusion that blood has been spilt. And thus they go down into the valley, and they're set upon by the Hebrews, and their army is rooted, and the promises of God are vindicated. And you see what's happened.

By one stroke of God's generosity, by one stroke of God's involvement, the water that was necessary for the Hebrews and the Edomites has been supplied. But even more than this, the greater problem, the one that they'd forgotten, the difficulty of the Moabites, that has been resolved too. And this is what I mean by the perspicacity of God.

He doesn't just deal with us in terms of the here and now. God always deals in the third dimension. He's concerned about the future.

And when you don't understand the delays of God in your own life, when he doesn't immediately come to your aid, when he doesn't immediately do the things that you anticipate him to do, at least stall your agnosticism for a moment. At least give God the, the liberty of redeeming the situation in future days, in future weeks, in future months. Believe that God sees things not just in terms of what's happening at the moment, but he's planning for your life in terms of eternity.

And I'm not even saying that the years to come will always explain God's dealings in your life. I would make this statement, I've made it before, that for some people I think it is only from the high places, the battlements of Emmanuel's land, as they look back upon the course that they have come across, as they follow again the route that God anticipated and directed them in taking, it is only from the battlements of Emmanuel's land that they will understand the reason why God led them in such a direction, in such a way. But notice this, that God, according to the prophet, is in control of our life circumstances.

He does come to our aid, even when we don't understand the way that he works. And what is more, says the prophet in the 18th verse, this is but a light thing in the sight of the Lord. God is so omnipotent, God is so sovereign, that for him to be involved in your life is not difficult.

It's something that he is well qualified to do, it's something that he's concerned to do. God is here, God is with you, he's with the Hebrews in that valley, he knows all about the Moabites, he knows all about their lack of water, he knows about you in the 20th century, he knows about the difficulty that you have as far as your health is concerned, he knows about the problems that face you in your business life, he knows about the pressures that are placed upon our young people in their schools, he's aware of all the temptations that an ungodly 20th century crowd in upon his church, and it is but a light thing for God to move into our situation, for God to manipulate events in our lives, so that they fall out according to his will and his purpose. And even when you don't fully understand the way that God moves in your life, you are to believe this, that what he does, he does for your good, and the way that things fall out are for your ultimate benefit.

Maybe you've forgotten about the Moabites over the hill, God has not forgotten, maybe you don't appreciate what might come into your life, God appreciates this, and he directs everything according to the counsel of his own will. We believe in a God who is concerned, a God who is capable of doing anything for us in our lives, but a God to whom we do not command, we do not presume upon him to implement just what we will, but rather we say of him, Lord would you take my life, and I'm going to praise you still, through good or ill, whoever lives. Well this is how to face the problems of life in the valley, to realize that God is there, that God appreciates the enormity of the difficulties that face you, and also to appreciate this, that God often works silently, and he brings about his most perfect will, looking not only at the immediate, but also at the future, and one day as he directs you through from this life, towards the end of the valley, and through into life abundant with him, in the eternal dimension, then you will fully understand all that fail, you fail to grasp, you fail to comprehend, in God's dealings with you, in this life, in the present.

Well, may our study have been of help and of value to us all this morning. Amen. And on that note, O Lord, we take our leave from one another, at this point in our worship this day, blessing thee that our Lord Jesus Christ is going to continue to lead us, though sometimes we cross some very barren areas spiritually, and in our life's experience, help us to realize that there is a God who fills the ditches with water, there is a God who is aware of every danger in our Christian pilgrimage, so guide us on, and deepen us in our faith, and grant to us always thy blessing, the blessing of the eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, until that moment in time when we are taken into our Father's house, there to live eternally, for the sake of Jesus we ask these things.

Amen.