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Context No. 1104 of 4322 · 2 Kings

Context · Reflection

2 Kings 3:8-12: in context

8Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?” Jehoram answered, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.” 9So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom, and they marched for seven days along a circuitous route. There was no water for the army or for the animals that followed them. 10The king of Israel said, “Alas! For the LORD has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.” 11But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?” One of the king of Israel’s servants answered, “Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah, is here.” 12Jehoshaphat said, “The LORD’s word is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

Three kings, of Israel, Judah, and Edom, have marched out against Moab and gotten themselves into trouble: seven days into the wilderness, there is no water for the army or the animals. The king of Israel despairs, sure the LORD has gathered them only to hand them to Moab. But Jehoshaphat of Judah asks the right question: is there no prophet of the LORD here we can inquire of? A servant answers that Elisha is here, and describes him with a curious phrase, the one who poured water on the hands of Elijah.

The way Elisha is identified is worth catching: the one who poured water on Elijah's hands. That was a servant's task, the humble job of pouring water so a master could wash. Elisha, who would become the great prophet with a double portion of Elijah's spirit, is remembered and recommended here by his years of lowly service to his mentor. His credential, the thing that marked him as a real man of God, was not a resume of miracles but that he had faithfully served, doing the menial work of attending Elijah. There is a pattern in the kingdom of God: those who would lead first serve, and greatness grows out of a long apprenticeship of humble, unglamorous faithfulness. Before Elisha ever parted the Jordan or raised the dead, he poured water. And when Israel needed a word from God in a crisis, it was this servant-prophet they sent for. The one who had been faithful pouring water was the one entrusted with the word of the LORD.

Am I willing to be known, like Elisha, as one who poured water on another's hands, trusting that faithful lowly service is the soil out of which God grows real usefulness?

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