Single lesson
Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign
2 Kings 3:1–27
When three kings ran out of water on the way to fight Moab, Elisha brought Yahweh’s message and the valley filled unexpectedly.
Before you teach
King Jehoram of Israel ruled after Ahab. He did evil in Yahweh’s sight, though not in exactly the same way as his father and mother. Mesha king of Moab had been supplying Israel with many lambs and much wool, but after Ahab died he rebelled. So Jehoram gathered Israel, asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah for help, and they went by the wilderness route of Edom with the king of Edom. After seven days on the march, there was no water for the soldiers or the animals. Jehoram feared that Yahweh…
Explain the central teaching of Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign, using two details from the reading. When three kings ran out of water on the way to fight Moab, Elisha brought Yahweh’s message and the valley filled unexpectedly.
Welcome: Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign
5 minIntroduce “Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign” and locate 2 Kings 3:1–27. When three kings ran out of water on the way to fight Moab, Elisha brought Yahweh’s message and the valley filled unexpectedly. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
2 Kings 3:1, 2 Kings 3:14, 2 Kings 3:27
Read and explain the passage
12 minKing Jehoram of Israel ruled after Ahab. He did evil in Yahweh’s sight, though not in exactly the same way as his father and mother. Mesha king of Moab had been supplying Israel with many lambs and much wool, but after Ahab died he rebelled. So Jehoram gathered Israel, asked Jehoshaphat king of Judah for help, and they went by the wilderness route of Edom with the king of Edom.
Elisha rebuked the king of Israel and said he would only speak because of his respect for Jehoshaphat. Then, as music was played, Yahweh’s hand came on him. Elisha said the valley should be made full of trenches. They would see no wind or rain, yet the valley would fill with water for people and animals. Yahweh would also give Moab into their hand.
Instead, Israel rose up and struck the Moabites, and the Moabites fled. The attackers beat down cities, ruined fields with stones, stopped springs, and cut down good trees, just as Elisha had said. At Kir Hareseth the fighting continued. Then the king of Moab, unable to break through with seven hundred men, took his oldest son and offered him on the wall. Great wrath came against Israel, and they withdrew and returned home.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
2 Kings 3:2, 2 Kings 3:4, 2 Kings 3:1, 2 Kings 3:17, 2 Kings 3:14, 2 Kings 3:13, 2 Kings 3:25, 2 Kings 3:27, 2 Kings 3:26
Discuss the details and their meaning
8 minUse the three questions below. Begin with ““After seven days on the march, there was no water for the soldiers or the animals.” Which details explain how the account reaches this point?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. When three kings ran out of water on the way to fight Moab, Elisha brought Yahweh’s message and the valley filled unexpectedly. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
2 Kings 3:13, 2 Kings 3:11, 2 Kings 3:9, 2 Kings 3:17, 2 Kings 3:14, 2 Kings 3:25, 2 Kings 3:27, 2 Kings 3:26
Make and respond: Choices and outcomes evidence map
12 minWork on “Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign: Choices and outcomes evidence map”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
2 Kings 3:1, 2 Kings 3:14, 2 Kings 3:27
Closing: return to Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign
3 minRevisit 2 Kings 3:1–27. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
2 Kings 3:1, 2 Kings 3:14, 2 Kings 3:27
Questions to explore
“After seven days on the march, there was no water for the soldiers or the animals.” Which details explain how the account reaches this point?
After seven days on the march, there was no water for the soldiers or the animals. Jehoram feared that Yahweh had brought the three kings together only to hand them over to Moab. But Jehoshaphat asked whether there was a prophet of Yahweh nearby. A servant said Elisha was there, and the three kings went down to him.
2 Kings 3:13, 2 Kings 3:11, 2 Kings 3:9
How does this moment affect the rest of the account: “Elisha rebuked the king of Israel and said he would only speak because of his respect for Jehoshaphat.”?
Elisha rebuked the king of Israel and said he would only speak because of his respect for Jehoshaphat. Then, as music was played, Yahweh’s hand came on him. Elisha said the valley should be made full of trenches. They would see no wind or rain, yet the valley would fill with water for people and animals. Yahweh would also give Moab into their hand.
2 Kings 3:17, 2 Kings 3:14, 2 Kings 3:13
“Instead, Israel rose up and struck the Moabites, and the Moabites fled.” How does this ending connect with the beginning?
Instead, Israel rose up and struck the Moabites, and the Moabites fled. The attackers beat down cities, ruined fields with stones, stopped springs, and cut down good trees, just as Elisha had said. At Kir Hareseth the fighting continued. Then the king of Moab, unable to break through with seven hundred men, took his oldest son and offered him on the wall. Great wrath came…
2 Kings 3:25, 2 Kings 3:27, 2 Kings 3:26
Make, think or respond
Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign: Choices and outcomes evidence map
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- a Bible or the source reading on this page
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “Words or actions”, “What happens next”, “Verse reference”.
- Read 2 Kings 3:1–27. Use “Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Compare your notes with a partner. Check that every quotation is accurate and every conclusion has support in the passage.
- Compare two actions or statements in the account and explain their different outcomes.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For learners who need more support, prepare the reading headings “Water in the Valley during the Moab Campaign” and let them match short quotations to the correct heading.
- For confident readers, compare two sections of 2 Kings 3:1–27. Ask for a written explanation with two supporting references and one question that the text leaves open.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read 2 Kings 3:1–27. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
2 Kings 3
1 Now Jehoram the son of Ahab began to reign over Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and reigned twelve years.
2 He did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, but not like his father and like his mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.
3 Nevertheless he held to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, with which he made Israel to sin. He didn’t depart from them.
4 Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder; and he supplied the king of Israel with one hundred thousand lambs and the wool of one hundred thousand rams.
5 But when Ahab was dead, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel.
6 King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel.
7 He went and sent to Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, saying, “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me against Moab to battle?” He said, “I will go up. I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”
8 Then he said, “Which way shall we go up?” Jehoram answered, “The way of the wilderness of Edom.”
9 So 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.
10 The king of Israel said, “Alas! For Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”
11 But Jehoshaphat said, “Isn’t there a prophet of Yahweh here, that we may inquire of Yahweh 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.”
12 Jehoshaphat said, “Yahweh’s word is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.
13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father, and to the prophets of your mother.” The king of Israel said to him, “No, for Yahweh has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”
14 Elisha said, “As Yahweh of Armies lives, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I respect the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward you, nor see you.
15 But now bring me a musician.” When the musician played, Yahweh’s hand came on him.
16 He said, “Yahweh says, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’
17 For Yahweh says, ‘You will not see wind, neither will you see rain, yet that valley will be filled with water, and you will drink, both you and your livestock and your other animals.
18 This is an easy thing in Yahweh’s sight. He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.
19 You shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’ ”
20 In the morning, about the time of offering the sacrifice, behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
21 Now when all the Moabites heard that the kings had come up to fight against them, they gathered themselves together, all who were able to put on armor, young and old, and stood on the border.
22 They rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone on the water, and the Moabites saw the water opposite them as red as blood.
23 They said, “This is blood. The kings are surely destroyed, and they have struck each other. Now therefore, Moab, to the plunder!”
24 When they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and struck the Moabites, so that they fled before them; and they went forward into the land attacking the Moabites.
25 They beat down the cities; and on every good piece of land each man cast his stone, and filled it. They also stopped all the springs of water and cut down all the good trees, until in Kir Hareseth all they left was its stones; however the men armed with slings went around it and attacked it.
26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was too severe for him, he took with him seven hundred men who drew a sword, to break through to the king of Edom; but they could not.
27 Then he took his oldest son who would have reigned in his place, and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. There was great wrath against Israel; and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.