Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Bible Lesson: Miracles Of The Old Testament: Water Needed-Supplied By The Power Of God
Bible Lesson: Miracles Of The Old
Testament: Water Needed Supplied - By The Power Of God
Occasion: Answer To Prayer:
Location: Moab
Bible Text:
II Kings 3:13-20 NLT (Be sure to
read the whole chapter.)
13 “Why are you coming to me?”
Elisha asked the king of Israel. “Go to the pagan prophets of your
father and mother!” But King Joram of Israel said, “No! For it
was the Lord who called us three kings here..."
14 Elisha replied, “As surely as The
Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I wouldn’t even bother with you
except for my respect for King Jehoshaphat of Judah.
15"...the power of The Lord came
upon Elisha,
16 and he said, “This is what The
Lord says: This dry valley will be filled with pools of water!
17 You will see neither wind nor rain,
says The Lord, but this valley will be filled with water. You will
have plenty for yourselves and your cattle and other animals.
18 But this is only a simple thing for
The Lord, for He will make you victorious over the army of Moab!
19 You will conquer the best of their
towns, even the fortified ones. You will cut down all their good
trees, stop up all their springs, and ruin all their good land with
stones.”
20 The next day at about the time when
the morning sacrifice was offered, water suddenly appeared! It was
flowing from the direction of Edom, and soon there was water
everywhere.
The Moabite King Mesha, decided to stop
paying tribute to Israel's King Joram. King Joram enlisted the aid of
the King of Judah, King Jehoshaphat, and the king of Edom, to conquer
the Moabites.
The Edomites, and the people of Judah,
no doubt felt that they could be threatened as well by the rebellious Moabites.
They hatched a plan, to surround Moab,
and conquer them.
Unfortunately, they had not considered
very the cost of such actions.
What was it our Lord said....
Luke 14:28 KJV
For which of you, intending to build
a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he
have sufficient to finish it?
They had the
horses, the men, the military leaders, the perfect plans, but, they
had not considered, that much travel through arid terrain, meant the
need for, much water!
Water they were
without, yet not ideas.
They remembered
there was a man of God in Israel, by the name of Elisha. To Elisha
they went for a miracle!
I King 3:13 NLT
“Why are
you coming to me?” Elisha asked the king of Israel. “Go to the
pagan prophets of your father and mother!” But King Joram of Israel
said, “No! For it was the Lord who called us three kings here..."
King Joram
(Jehoram) was not a Godly king. He had destroyed the images of Baal,
but kept the worship of golden calves as a national religion.
And so Elisha's
question.
Isn't it
interesting, when the skeptic, the mocker, the atheist, runs into
serious trouble, the first thing they do, is seek out someone who
knows how to pray to The Living God.
An old saying that
every veteran is well aware of is “There are no atheists in a fox
hole.”
Why? Because in a
fox hole, in war, death is near, and the most hardened sinner will
pray!
No, King Jehoram,
knew only too well, his idolatrous golden calves, couldn't help him
now!
(Read I Kings 18:)
II Kings 3:14
NLT
Elisha replied, “As surely as
The Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I wouldn’t even bother with
you except for my respect for King Jehoshaphat of Judah.
Because Godly King
Jehoshapt, Elshia would seek The Lord.
II Kings 3:15-19
NLT
15"...the power of The Lord
came upon Elisha,
16 and he said, “This is what
The Lord says: This dry valley will be filled with pools of water!
17 You will see neither wind nor
rain, says The Lord, but this valley will be filled with water. You
will have plenty for yourselves and your cattle and other animals.
18 But this is only a simple
thing for The Lord, for He will make you victorious over the army of
Moab!
19 You will conquer the best of
their towns, even the fortified ones. You will cut down all their
good trees, stop up all their springs, and ruin all their good land
with stones.”
Three kings received the answer they were hoping for, springs of life
saving water.
II Kings 3:20
NLT
The next day at about the time
when the morning sacrifice was offered, water suddenly appeared! It
was flowing from the direction of Edom, and soon there was water
everywhere.
Genesis 18:14
KJV
Is any thing
too hard for The Lord?..."
The three kings went on in complete success, because God had provided
for them!
Now today, how many a dear soul, faint and weak in battle, thirsts
for life giving strength in a dry and lifeless land.
John 4:3-42 NLT
3 So He left
Judea and returned to Galilee.
4 He had to go
through Samaria on the way.
5 Eventually He
came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob
gave to his son Joseph.
6 Jacob’s
well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily
beside the well about noontime.
7 Soon a
Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please
give Me a drink.”
8 He was alone
at the time because His disciples had gone into the village to buy
some food.
9 The woman was
surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans.
She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why
are you asking me for a drink?”
10 Jesus
replied, “If you only knew The Gift God has for you and who you
are speaking to, you would ask Me, and I would give you living
water.”
11 “But sir,
you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is
very deep. Where would you get this living water?
12 And besides,
do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us
this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and
his animals enjoyed?”
13 Jesus
replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty
again.
14 But those
who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a
fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
15 “Please,
sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be
thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”
16 “Go and
get your husband,” Jesus told her.
17 “I don’t
have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right!
You don’t have a husband—
18 for you have
had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re
living with now. You certainly spoke The Truth!”
19 “Sir,”
the woman said, “you must be a prophet.
20 So tell me,
why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of
worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where
our ancestors worshiped?”
21 Jesus
replied, “Believe Me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will
no longer matter whether you worship The Father on this mountain or
in Jerusalem.
22 You
Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews
know all about Him, for salvation comes through the Jews.
23 But the time
is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will
worship The Father in Spirit and in Truth. The Father is looking for
those who will worship Him that way.
24 For God is
Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in
Truth.”
25 The woman
said, “I know The Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ.
When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus
told her, “I Am The Messiah!”
27 Just then
His disciples came back. They were shocked to find Him talking to a
woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want
with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?”
28 The woman
left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village,
telling everyone,
29 “Come and
see a Man who told me everything I ever did! Could He possibly be The
Messiah?”
30 So the
people came streaming from the village to see Him.
31 Meanwhile,
the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But Jesus
replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.”
33 “Did
someone bring Him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked
each other.
34 Then Jesus
explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who
sent Me, and from finishing His work.
35 You know the
saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say,
wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.
36 The
harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people
brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the
harvester alike!
37 You know the
saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true.
38 I sent you
to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the
work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”
39 Many
Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had
said, “He told me everything I ever did!”
40 When they
came out to see Him, they begged Him to stay in their village. So He
stayed for two days,
41 long enough
for many more to hear His message and believe.
42 Then they
said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you
told us, but because we have heard Him ourselves. Now we know that
he is indeed the Savior of the world.”
Jeremiah 2:13
For my people
have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me
The Fountain Of
Living Waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can
hold no water.
John 7:37-39 NLT
37 On the last
day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the
crowds,
“Anyone who is thirsty may come to Me!
38 Anyone who
believes in Me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare,
‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”
39 (When He
said “living water,” He was speaking of The Spirit, who would be
given to everyone believing in Him..."
Revelation 21:6
KJV
And He said
unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, The Beginning and The End.
I will give unto him that is athirst of The Fountain Of The Water Of Life freely.
Revelation 22:1
KJV
And he shewed
me a pure river of Water Of Life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of
The Throne Of God And Of The Lamb.
Revelation 22:17
KJV
And The Spirit
and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let
him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take The Water Of Life freely.