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time among all nations. Accordingly it is frequently represented on the Assyrian
monuments,^157 and referred to in classical writings.^158
It may be of interest here to recall two points which might otherwise be overlooked.
It will be remembered that the inscription on the "Moabite stone" makes the
following special reference to this mode of warfare: "In my days he said, [Let us go,]
and I will see my desire on him and his house. And Israel (said), I will destroy with
an everlasting destruction." Thus the Moabite stone to a certain extent bears
testimony to the very words which Elisha had used. Again, it may be doubted
whether, if Israel had not adopted this mode of warfare, the retreat of the allied army
from Kir-haraseth would not have been followed by a most formidable Moabite
invasion into Palestine. As it was, the repair of the havoc wrought in his country
must have engaged all the energies of Mesha. And to this work of necessary
restoration and recuperation the closing part of the Moabite inscription bears
testimony.
We return to the narrative of what happened on the morrow of the interview with
Elisha. As directed by the prophet, pits had been dug - as we imagine, either in the
rear or along the sides of the camp of Israel, although we know too little of the actual
circumstances to venture on any more detailed statement. However it may have been,
the Divine prediction by Elisha was literally fulfilled. Once more it all happened in
the orderly succession of events, while, if viewed by itself, the issue would seem, as
in the highest sense it was, miraculous. And this indeed holds true of the record of
most Biblical miracles, that they are the statement of effects, without the assignment
or explanation of the causes that led up to them. In the present instance, it was no
doubt a sudden storm that had burst in the mountains of Moab which sent a rush of
water down the Wady by which Israel was camped. The prophetic historian, who
loves to connect Jehovah's deliverance with the loved services of the sanctuary,
reminds us that it was "when the meat-offering was offered," that "there came water
by the way of Edom," - to disappear as suddenly as it had come, when the object had
been served.
The Israelites in their camp had seen it, and hastened to quench their thirst. The
Moabites also saw it, but to them it seemed as the eastern sun shone on the water in
the pits, reddened as it was by the color of the soil, that they were gazing on pools of
blood. Their late expedition into Judah suggested a ready explanation of the strange
sight. Perhaps their superstition might lead them to imagine that Chemosh, of whose
help we read so much in the Moabite inscription, had now granted to Moab a success
precisely similar to that of Judah. The kings were destroyed - they had smitten one
another: now, therefore, Moab to the spoil!
(^)