“And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’ For thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones.””
II Kings 3:16-19 NKJV
a. You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water: This was a strange promise from God. Water would be provided, but without any apparent rain or storm.
b. Make this valley full of ditches: God promised to send water to the valley, but they had to dig the ditches to catch what God would provide. They had to dig the ditches before the water was apparent, so they could benefit from it when it came.
i. “The dried-up river bed was to have many trenches (Hebrew ‘trenches trenches’) dug to retain the flash flood.” (Wiseman)
ii. When the kings returned from their visit to Elisha and told their commanders to have the men dig ditches, it must have been hard to hear. Thirsty, near-dead men in the middle of the desert don’t look forward to the hard work of digging ditches in dry ground. Yet this work was essential.
iii. This demonstrates the principle that God wants us to prepare for the blessing He wants to bring. Listening to Him, we are to anticipate His working and to get ready for it.
iv. Digging ditches was something the people of God could do. God didn’t ask them to do more than they were able to do. When God wants us to prepare for the blessing He will bring, He gives us things that we can really do.
v. “If we expect to obtain the Holy Spirit’s blessing, we must prepare for his reception. ‘Make this valley full of trenches’ is an order which is given me this morning for the members of this church; make ready for the Holy Ghost’s power; be prepared to receive that which he is about to give; each man in his place and each woman in her sphere, make the whole of this church full of trenches for the reception of the divine water-floods.” (Spurgeon)
vi. “But the most of people say, ‘Well, you know, of course, if God sends a blessing, we must then enlarge.’ Yes, that is the way of unbelief, and the road to the curse. But the way of faith and the road to the blessing is this: God has promised it – we will get ready for it; God is engaged to bless, now let us be prepared to receive the boon. Act not on the mere strength of what you have, but in expectation of that which you have asked.” (Spurgeon)
c. This is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD: The kings came to Elisha inquiring about water. God wanted to give them more than their immediate need. God wanted to give them more than immediate provision; He wanted to give them complete victory over their enemies. (Guzik)
Make Ready!
“If we expect to obtain the Holy Spirit’s blessing, we must prepare for his reception…..be prepared to receive that which he is about to give” (Spurgeon)
Praying and preparation is the key that unlocks the power of the Holy Spirit!
If you pray for work but sit at home are you preparing?
If you pray for food but don’t leave your door open, will your table be filled?
Like the preparation of trenches for the water we need to be proactive and prepare for the power of the Holy Spirit!
Make ready because the Holy Spirit is willing!
Blessings
No comments:
Post a Comment