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Speaker 1: Life Audio. For more resources to help you in your

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Speaker 1: walk with Christ, please visit us at Bible Study Headquarters

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Speaker 1: dot com. You're listening to the Chapter a Day Audio Bible.

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Speaker 1: I'm John Stanghi, and today we're in Second King's chapter three,

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Speaker 1: and this is what we read. Ahab's son Joram, began

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Speaker 1: to rule over Israel in the eighteenth year of King

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Speaker 1: Jehosaphat's reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria twelve years.

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Speaker 1: He did what was evil in the Lord's sight, but

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Speaker 1: not to the same extent as his father and mother.

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Speaker 1: He at least tore down the sacred pillar of bail

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Speaker 1: that his father had set up. Nevertheless, he continued in

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Speaker 1: the sins that Jeroboam, son of Nebat, had committed and

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Speaker 1: led the people of Israel to commit. King Misha of

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Speaker 1: Moab was a sheep breeder. He used to pay the

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Speaker 1: King of Israel an annual tribute of one hundred thousand

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Speaker 1: lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams. But

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Speaker 1: after Ahab's death, the King of Moab rebelled against the

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Speaker 1: King of Israel. So King Joram promptly mustered the army

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Speaker 1: of Israel and marched from Samaria. On the way, he

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Speaker 1: sent this message to King Jehosaphat of Judah. The king

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Speaker 1: of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you join me

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Speaker 1: in battle against him? And Jehosaphat replied, why, of course,

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Speaker 1: you and I are as one. My troops are your troops,

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Speaker 1: and my horses are your horses. Then Jehosaphat asked, what

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Speaker 1: root will we take? We will attack from the wilderness

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Speaker 1: of Edom. Joram replied The King of Edom and his

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Speaker 1: troops joined them, and all three armies traveled along a

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Speaker 1: roundabout root through the wilderness for seven days, but there

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Speaker 1: was no water for the men or their animals. What

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Speaker 1: should we do? The King of Israel cried out, The

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Speaker 1: Lord has brought the three of us here to let

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Speaker 1: the King of Moab defeat us. But King Jehosephad of

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Speaker 1: Judah asked, is there no prophet of the Lord with us?

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Speaker 1: If there is, we can ask the Lord what to

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Speaker 1: do through him. One of King Joram's officers replied, Elisha,

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Speaker 1: son of Shafat, is here. He used to be Elijah's

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Speaker 1: personal assistant. Jehosephat said, yes, the Lord speaks through him.

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Speaker 1: So the King of Israel, King Jehosephad of Judah and

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Speaker 1: the King of Edom went to consult with Elisha. Why

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Speaker 1: are you coming to me, Elishah asked the King of Israel.

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Speaker 1: Go to the pagan prophets of your father and mother.

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Speaker 1: But King Joram of Israel said no, for it was

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Speaker 1: the Lord who called us three kings here, only to

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Speaker 1: be defeated by the King of Moab. Elishah replied, as

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Speaker 1: surely as the Lord Almighty lived, whom I serve, I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't even bother with you, except for my respect for

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Speaker 1: King Jehosaphad of Judah. Now bring me someone who can

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Speaker 1: play the harp. While the harp was being played, the

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Speaker 1: power of the Lord came upon Elisha, and he said,

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Speaker 1: this is what the Lord says. This dry valley will

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Speaker 1: be filled with pools of water. You will see neither

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Speaker 1: wind nor rain, says the Lord. But this valley will

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Speaker 1: be filled with water. You will have plenty for yourselves

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Speaker 1: and your cattle and other animals. But this is only

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Speaker 1: a simple thing for the Lord, for he will make

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Speaker 1: you victorious over the army of Moab. You will conquer

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Speaker 1: the best of their towns, even the fortified ones you

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Speaker 1: will cut down all their good trees, stop up all

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Speaker 1: their springs, and ruin all their good land with stones.

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Speaker 1: The next day, at about the time when the morning's

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Speaker 1: sacrifice was offered, water suddenly appeared. It was flowing from

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Speaker 1: the direction of Edom, and soon there was water everywhere. Meanwhile,

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Speaker 1: when the people of Moab heard about the three armies

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Speaker 1: marching against them, they mobilized every man who was old

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Speaker 1: enough to strap on a sword, and they stationed themselves

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Speaker 1: along their border. But when they got up the next morning,

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Speaker 1: the sun was shining across the water, making it appear

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Speaker 1: red to the Moabites like blood. It's blood, the Moabites exclaimed,

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Speaker 1: the three armies must have attacked and killed each other.

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Speaker 1: Let's go, men of Moab and collect the plunder. But

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Speaker 1: when the Moabites arrived at the Israelite camp, the army

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Speaker 1: of Israel rushed out and attacked them until they turned

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Speaker 1: and ran. The army of Israel chased them into the

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Speaker 1: land of Moab, destroying everything as they went. They destroyed

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Speaker 1: the towns, covered their good land with stones, stopped up

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Speaker 1: all the springs, and cut down all the good trees. Finally,

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Speaker 1: only kir Harriseth and its stone walls were left, but

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Speaker 1: men with slings surrounded and attacked it. When the King

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Speaker 1: of Moab saw that he was losing the battle, he

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Speaker 1: led seven hundred of his swordsmen in a desperate attempt

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Speaker 1: to break through the enemy lines near the king of Edom,

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Speaker 1: but they failed. Then the King of Moab took his

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Speaker 1: oldest son, who would have been the next king, and

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Speaker 1: sacrificed him as a burnt offering on the wall. So

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Speaker 1: there was great anger against Israel, and the Israelites withdrew

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Speaker 1: and returned to their own land. Let's pray, Lord, we

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Speaker 1: thank you for your word, and we thank you for

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Speaker 1: the privilege of being able to look at it today.

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Speaker 1: And Lord, as we look at this example from history,

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Speaker 1: we can see a variety of things taking place. Here.

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Speaker 1: We could see that when times were difficult, the heart

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Speaker 1: of the kings were turned to seek counsel from you

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Speaker 1: through your prophet. And likewise, Lord, we could see the

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Speaker 1: desperation of the conquered king as he sacrificed his son

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Speaker 1: in a detestable fashion, doing something that shows that his

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Speaker 1: mind and his heart were not on you. Lord. It's

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Speaker 1: interesting to think just how much we think we need

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Speaker 1: to do what only you could do. We could see

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Speaker 1: the King of Moab trying to accomplish something in his

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Speaker 1: own strength that he was incapable to accomplish. But Lord,

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Speaker 1: we're grateful for the fact that your son was sacrificed

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Speaker 1: for us, the innocent son of God, Jesus Christ, given

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Speaker 1: for the sins of humanity, so that through faith in

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Speaker 1: him who rose from death, we can live forever, enjoy forgiveness,

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Speaker 1: and be welcomed into your family and into your presence. Lord,

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Speaker 1: we're grateful for these things, and we're grateful for the

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Speaker 1: fact that we can communicate with you, that we can

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Speaker 1: listen to your voice, that we could look at your

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Speaker 1: word and we could see what you have revealed, and

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Speaker 1: that our in our lives can be impacted as a result. Lord,

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Speaker 1: we pray that throughout the course of this day that

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Speaker 1: we would honor you, that we would put you first

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Speaker 1: in all things, and that we would walk by faith

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Speaker 1: in you as you empower us through faith in your son,

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Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. We thank you, Lord for all of these things,

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Speaker 1: and we commit this day to your care and pray

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Speaker 1: this all in Jesus' name. Amen.