“What should we do?” the king of Israel cried out. “The Lord has brought the three of us here to let the king of Moab defeat us.” 2 Kings 3:10
If you have kids, grandchildren, nieces, or nephews, you know that the “blame game” is too familiar. My niece and nephew are no exceptions. When something goes wrong, they are quick to blame each other. It is sometimes cute and funny when kids do this, but it is certainly not cute when grown adults play the blame game. Like kids need to learn to take responsibility for their actions, sometimes we as adults need to do the same thing.
2 Kings 3 tells us the story of when the King of Israel at the time, Joram, failed to recognize that some of his own actions had contributed to the situation he found himself in. He was in the position of the new king of Israel, and the king of Moab had decided to rebel against Israel by not paying the king an animal tribute of 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 lambs as he had customarily done (verse 4). As a result, he enlisted the kings of Judah and Edom to help him fight against Moab. They set out together to confront Moab until, after seven days of traveling, they ran out of water for themselves and their animals (verse 9). When Joram realized they were out of water, he lamented their situation and blamed God. He said, “Oh no! Certainly the Lord has summoned these three kings so that he can hand them over to the king of Moab!” (verse 10). Joram realized how dire their situation was. They were thirsty and tired, and Joram was convinced that the Moabites would defeat them. Not only that, but he believed that this was all of God’s doing.
There is, however, much more to this story, and Joram was misplacing the blame. At the beginning of this chapter, we learn that Joram “did what was evil in the Lord’s sight” (verse 2). We do not have a lot of details about what he did, but we know that he did not lead the people of Israel toward God. Perhaps one of the reasons that he was in this desperate situation was to draw him away from his ungodly behavior and back to God. The King of Moab had also put them in this situation because he decided to rebel against Israel. Joram blamed God for his situation, but a deeper look into his story makes it clear that the blame was misplaced.
Have you ever been there before? Have you ever felt tempted to blame God when encountering a difficult situation? Maybe you are facing a challenging circumstance right now where you feel tempted to place the blame on God. Instead of blaming God, it is time to look at ourselves. Have we played a part in causing our situation? Even if we have not played a part in causing this situation, what is something you can do to navigate this situation and respond well? As we do these things, we find growth in our relationship with God and maturity as we seek to walk through these difficult seasons.
Take a few minutes to think about the difficult situation you are facing. Have you been blaming other people, other circumstances, or even God? What responsibility do you need to take in the situation you are facing? What steps do you need to take as you walk through this situation in a way that honors God? Commit to taking one step today.
2 Kings 3:1-10 (NLT)
"Ahab’s son Joram began to rule over Israel in the eighteenth year of King Jehoshaphat’s reign in Judah. He reigned in Samaria twelve years. 2 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, but not to the same extent as his father and mother. He at least tore down the sacred pillar of Baal that his father had set up. 3 Nevertheless, he continued in the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had committed and led the people of Israel to commit.
4 King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. He used to pay the king of Israel an annual tribute of 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. 5 But after Ahab’s death, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. 6 So King Joram promptly mustered the army of Israel and marched from Samaria. 7 On the way, he sent this message to King Jehoshaphat of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you join me in battle against him?”
And Jehoshaphat replied, “Why, of course! You and I are as one. My troops are your troops, and my horses are your horses.” 8 Then Jehoshaphat asked, “What route will we take?”
“We will attack from the wilderness of Edom,” Joram replied.
9 The king of Edom and his troops joined them, and all three armies traveled along a roundabout route through the wilderness for seven days. But there was no water for the men or their animals.
10 “What should we do?” the king of Israel cried out. “The Lord has brought the three of us here to let the king of Moab defeat us.”
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