This is Spoken Gospel.

We’re dedicated to seeing 
Jesus in all of scripture.

In each episode, we see what’s 
happening in a Biblical text

and how it sheds light
on Jesus and his gospel.

Let’s jump in.

Infamously wicked Ahab has died, and 
his son, Jehoram, has taken the throne.

While he’s a marginal improvement on his father, 
he's still at odds with God and his prophets.

His father had annexed the neighboring 
nation of Moab and exacted steep taxes.

But with Ahab dead,
Moab’s king rebels.

So, Jehoram forms a coalition with Edom and 
Israel to march on Moab and quell the uprising.

But, seven days into the march, there
is no water for their troops or animals.

One member of the coalition believes God is trapping
them—and in fact, he will very soon.

But for now, at the coalition’s insistence, 
Jehoram seeks out a prophet for guidance.

Providentially, Elisha is nearby.

But concerningly for the coalition, 
he also helps set God’s trap.

Elisha prophesies that God
will miraculously provide water  

in the wilderness and will 
give Moab into their hands.

But Elisha also predicts the coalition will cut down
Moab's trees, plug its rivers, and pollute its farmland.

This is a prediction of disobedience. God’s law specifically
forbids this type of scorched-earth warfare, 

and it comes with
steep consequences

But these kings have forgotten this and don’t 
think to interpret this prophecy any further.

God’s traps are set.

The next morning the
desert fills with water.

But the red sand and the desert sun 
make the miracle lake look like blood.

The Moabites assume this
means Israel’s fragile coalition

has violently imploded, and
moved to collect the spoil.

But Israel and Edom are waiting, and 
the Moabites are easily ambushed.

Israel marches on, fells Moab’s 
trees, and razes its farmland.

Elisha’s prophecies have all come true.
But the battle isn’t over.

Cornered, Moab’s king
burns his oldest son  

as a human sacrifice to his gods 
in hopes for a miraculous victory.

Moab’s gods don’t respond,
but Israel’s God responds

by attacking Israel
forcing them to retreat.

What should have been an easy
victory, turns into a humiliating loss.

Furious at the coalition’s selective 
hearing and neglect of his law,  

God uses Moab’s idolatry and infanticide to judge
the ambitions of Ahab’s son.

[music]

Jehoram is the second king in
Ahab’s family to be humiliated

by an under-interpreted and
therefore misleading prophecy.

It’s an uncomfortable
thought that God can  

trap and trick not only his 
enemies, but his own people.

It’s even more disconcerting
to think that God’s  

prophet speaking God’s word doesn’t 
guarantee we know what God is up to.

But a God of surprise endings 
is ultimately a good thing.

God is a God who upsets our expectations and
turns things on their head.

This isn’t because he’s malicious or because 
he enjoys watching people like Jehoram squirm.

No, God is good, loving, and life-giving.

God wants the best for his people,
but God is also a God of the unexpected.

We should expect
to be surprised by him.

I mean, we barely know
what’s going on in our own lives, 

much less how to interpret how each part of
our own personal histories impacts the next.

Besides, God's plans
for us are as big as he is.

God is able to do immeasurably 
more than we can ask or imagine.

If God has not surprised you yet,  perhaps
you haven’t met God.

While God’s surprises in this story serve to trap evil kings, the apostle Paul tells us that God is working

all things, including unexpected 
suffering and painful misunderstandings.

He's working those for our good.

God will surprise the corrupt and 
wicked with their own humiliation.

But for those that love God,
we will not be trapped by our sin 

but surprised by God’s
loving and sacrificial care.

Unlike the Moabite king who sacrificed his 
son to coerce the gods and save his people,  

Jesus is the Son of God who saves
his people by freely sacrificing himself.

Jesus’ death is not a
manipulation of the divine,  

but the self-humiliation of God so that forgetful,
disobedient, and selectively-hearing people,

like us, might be given surprising, unexpected,
and undeserved victory over their enemies.

If nothing in your life is going the way you 
expect, trust that God will soon surprise you.

I pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes
to see the God who sets traps for his enemies.

And may you see Jesus as the
one who surprises us with love,

sacrificial care, and
resurrection from the dead.