Strange story in the book of II Kings (prophet, Israel, quote)

[InsaneInDaMembrane]

After the death of Ahab, king of Israel, the king of Moab decided it was a great time to stop paying tribute to Israel. The tribute was in the form of sheep. Ahab's heir, Jehoram, saw this as a sign of rebellion and declared war against Moab. For assistance he turned to his southern neighbor, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah and also the king of Edom whose land he had to go through to get to Moab.

Jehoshaphat, being a righteous king, wanted to hear from a prophet of God before preceding into battle. A suggestion was made to consult the prophet Elisha. Elisha only decides to oracle God because of Jehoshaphat. Jehoram, on the other hand, was repulsive to him because of his connection to the hated Ahab and Jezebel.

Elisha predicts a victory for the alliance against Moab. He predicts Moab would fall into their hands, however, what happens on the way to this victory is where it gets wierd. When the Israel-Judah-Edom alliance was at the point of striking the final blow on Moab, the king of Moab, seeing the advancing army against him, decided to sacrifice his son on the city wall of his kingdom. We are then told that as a result, "... there was great indignation against Israel." This led to the alliance aborting the mission and returning home without the ultimate victory promised by God's prophet.

What happened? What happened to the victory predicted by the prophet of god?

[Chango]

They lost. Moab is now a trendy resort town where people go jeeping and mountain biking, and Israel became a permanent war zone for her sins.

[Fred314X]

II Kings 3:27 "And there came great wrath upon Israel; and they departed [from him] and returned to their own land."

The wrath was on the part of Israel, not against it. That is to say, they were offended at the actions of the Moabite king, and went home--but not before the battle had ended, a victory for the alliance.

So where's the problem? Elisha predicted a victory, and there was a victory.

[InsaneInDaMembrane]

Originally Posted by Fred314X

II Kings 3:27 "And there came great wrath upon Israel; and they departed [from him] and returned to their own land."

The wrath was on the part of Israel, not against it. That is to say, they were offended at the actions of the Moabite king, and went home--but not before the battle had ended, a victory for the alliance.

So where's the problem? Elisha predicted a victory, and there was a victory.

Hmm....interesting observation. Did not look at it like that as the language indicates otherwise.

[Memphis1979]

Originally Posted by Fred314X

II Kings 3:27 "And there came great wrath upon Israel; and they departed [from him] and returned to their own land."

The wrath was on the part of Israel, not against it. That is to say, they were offended at the actions of the Moabite king, and went home--but not before the battle had ended, a victory for the alliance.

So where's the problem? Elisha predicted a victory, and there was a victory.

The word Wrath doesn't indicate disgust, or fear. If wrath comes "upon" you, it means that you did something wrong.

If your boss puts his wrath upon you, it might mean you were fired.

What the story indicates to me, is that the Israel King cared little for Gods blessing, and this angered God. Therefore, when Moab sacraficed his son, God turned against the Israel King as punishment for not caring in his blessing.

Does this mean that the Israel God accepts human sacrafice? Of course it does, just ask Abraham. Sure he stopped him, but how many others did he not stop?