2 Kings 3:7-9

2 KINGS—NOTE ON 2 Kings 3:7 Confronted with the Moabite rebellion, Jehoram, like his father Ahab before him, seeks help from Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. Jehoshaphat responds to Jehoram just as he did to Ahab: I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses (compare 1 Kings 22:4). However, unlike on that earlier occasion, this time Jehoshaphat fails to seek the Lord’s will (contrast 1 Kings 22:5). They plan to attack Moab from the south, through the wilderness of Edom, rather than from the north. This is possible because Edom is under Judean rule (1 Kings 22:47) and her king is Jehoshaphat’s deputy rather than an independent monarch. The combined armies get lost, however, caught in a circuitous march. Not surprisingly, a military venture undertaken without prophetic advice faces disaster.