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We read that the three kings went to the tent of Elisha. This not merely from
apprehension that he might refuse to come to them, nor yet from humility; but
probably because they may have dreaded the effect upon the host of such words as
formerly Micaiah had spoken in similar circumstances (1 Kings 22:17-28). The
reception which this incongruous company of kings met at the hands of the prophet
was certainly not encouraging. On the other hand, an appeal for help addressed to the
prophet of Jehovah by the heathen king of Edom and the son of Ahab seemed to treat
the prophetic office as if it had involved heathen magic and divination, just as Balak
of old had sought to employ Balaam against Israel. To an appeal of such a character
Elisha could not have listened; it should - as he told the king of Israel - be addressed
to the prophets of Baal. How truly Elisha had judged Joram appears from his answer,
when with almost incredible dullness, he once more urged - presumably as the reason
for his coming - that Jehovah, the God of the prophet, and the old enemy of the house
of Ahab, had brought these kings together for their destruction. With such an one it
was impossible to argue, and the prophet turned from him to the king of Judah, for
whose sake alone he would consent to continue the interview, or would seek the
guidance and help of the LORD.
It has been assumed by a certain school of critics that when Elisha next called for a
minstrel, it was to rouse in himself the prophetic faculty, or else that such was the
common mode of producing prophetic inspiration. But for the latter assertion there is
not a tittle of evidence,^154 while, as regards the former, alike Biblical (1 Samuel
16:16) and heathen testimony^155 go to prove that the purpose for which music was
employed was to soothe, not to excite the mind.
It was not otherwise in the present instance. From the agitation of his interview with
Joram Elisha was restored by the minstrel to quietness, and thus prepared for
receiving the Divine communication. This was twofold: it gave promise of
deliverance from the present straits and of complete victory over Moab. The people
were directed to make the Wady full of pits - and then, without sound of wind, or
sight of rain, would the Wady be filled with water, and the host set free from their
present straits. But this was only preparatory. A complete victory would be granted
to them, and in their victorious progress they would destroy all fenced cities and
absolutely lay waste the enemy's country. It is not ours to vindicate the work of
warfare here indicated, although not prescribed (v. 19).^156
It seems to be opposed to the express Divine direction in Deuteronomy 20:19, 20. In
judging of it some considerations must, however, be kept in view. First and foremost
we have to remember the spirit of the times. Nor is the time so far distant when a
mode of warfare not very unlike this was common in an enemy's country. As a matter
of fact, this mode of laying waste a hostile country seems to have been general at that
(^)