2 Kings 3:21-2721And when all the Moabites heard that the kings were come up to fight against them, they gathered all that were able to put on armor, and upward, and stood in the border. 22And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, and the Moabites saw the water on the other side as red as blood: 23And they said, This is blood: the kings are surely slain, and they have smitten one another: now therefore, Moab, to the spoil. 24And when they came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and smote the Moabites, so that they fled before them: but they went forward smiting the Moabites, even in their country. 25And they beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone, and filled it; and they stopped all the wells of water, and felled all the good trees: only in Kir-haraseth left they the stones thereof; howbeit the slingers went about it, and smote it. 26And when the king of Moab saw that the battle was too sore for him, he took with him seven hundred men that drew swords, to break through even unto the king of Edom: but they could not. 27Then he took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land. (2 Kings 3:21‑27)
Is God’s Word true? What an all-important question! Can I, dare I, take the Bible and say confidently, I believe it all? In these latter days the Holy Scriptures have been exposed to a torrent of unfriendly criticism. Men have tried to find flaws in them and have endeavored to hold them up to ridicule and contempt. But God has had His answer all ready. Silent witnesses have, during the last century, borne their incontrovertible testimony to the truth of the eternal Word. To one of these witnesses we now turn our attention.
For thousands of years, there had been in God’s Book the history of Mesha, king of Moab. But did such a man ever exist? Or was this story in 2 Kings 3 a mere fabrication? Who could tell whether Mesha ever reigned and whether he fought with the king of Israel? Those who believe in the truth of the Bible receive the history, as they receive all other portions of Holy Scripture. The Bible is the only perfectly accurate statement of history ever written. Man must continually update his history books as he learns more even about current events. God who alone knows all never changes what He has inspired to be written.
However, from time to time God has allowed man to discover bits of history which give witness to the truth of His Word and which show the folly of doubting it. We thank God for such things, for they encourage us and often help us to understand a portion of the Word better. But we also know that a person with a heart of unbelief, when proven wrong in one point, will only find something else to doubt, unless He repents of His rebellion of heart against the God who cannot lie.
For several thousand years God preserved a hidden witness to what happened when the armies from Israel attacked Mesha, king of Moab. In 1868 God gave a German missionary named Mr. Klein the privilege of finding that witness in the land of Moab. Mr. Klein crossed the Jordan into the land of Moab under the guardianship of an Arab chief named Ngattam. In the course of their journey they visited a place named Diban. The sheik of Diban welcomed them; carpets and cushions were spread in his tent for them to sit on and cups of black coffee were handed around for them to drink.
As they sat, Ngattam, who knew that part of the country well, mentioned that, lying among the ruins, only about ten minutes’ walk from where they were, there was a curious old stone with letters upon it, which no one had ever been able to read. “Let’s go see it,” Ngattam suggested.
Mr. Klein was excited and wished to set off at once. But Ngattam was relaxing on his soft couch and was in no hurry to leave yet. Besides, the old sheik expected “backsheesh” — a tip of some money to be given to him. Finally Ngattam rose and took Klein to the spot.
There, among the rubbish, lay the stone. It was oblong, rounded at both ends, 3½ feet high, 2 feet wide and 2 feet thick. It was in splendid condition with not one single piece broken off. All over the stone was strange writing, which Mr. Klein could not read. There were thirty-four lines of these curious characters. Sitting down at once, he drew a careful picture of the stone and copied part of the inscription that he might be able to discover in what language it was written.
When Mr. Klein returned to Jerusalem, he showed his sketches to the German consul. The Royal Museum at Berlin was contacted. He was instructed to buy the stone and authorized to pay a hundred napoleons for it. Ngattam’s father promised to help influence the chiefs who owned the stone to sell it, but nothing came of his efforts. A second messenger with money was sent to Diban to buy the stone, but he too failed. He reported that the Arabs who owned it had hidden it. And having discovered that the Europeans badly wanted to get possession of their stone, they said they would not sell it for less than 1000 napoleons.
The German government got the old sheik on whose property the stone rested to agree to sell it for 120 napoleons. Then other chiefs appeared, who claimed also to have an interest in it and who refused to let it be transported through their country. An Arab, acting for the French government, arrived and offered more money. While viewing the stone, he was able to make an impression on paper of the letters inscribed on it.
While he was hurriedly pressing his damp paper against the stone, two parties of Arabs stood by, quarrelling with each other as to which party the stone belonged. They shouted and shook their fists at each other. Then they turned upon the unfortunate Arab, and he barely escaped with his life. His paper impression was torn and crumpled, but he managed to bring seven fragments of it safely away.
The Turkish Government ordered the Arabs to give up the stone at once. So they lighted a huge fire around it till they had made it red-hot. Then they poured cold water on it and broke it to pieces, after which they distributed the fragments among the different families of the tribe. In time and after much negotiation, six-sevenths of the stone fragments were obtained and a translation made.
They concluded that the stone was carved about 890 B.C., making it over 2500 years old. The inscription was in the Moabite language, which is similar to Hebrew. This is not surprising since the Moabites are the descendents of Lot, the nephew of Abraham. The author of the stone turned out to be Mesha, the king of Moab.
The inscription said:
“I, Mesha, am son of Chemoshgad, king of Moab, the Dibonite. My father reigned over Moab thirty years, and I reigned after my father. And I erected this stone to Chemosh at Korcha, for he saved me from all despoilers and let me see my desire upon all my enemies. Now Omri, king of Israel, he oppressed Moab many days, for Chemosh was angry with his land. His son succeeded him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab. In my days he said, Let us go, and I will see my desire on him and his house, and Israel said, I shall destroy it forever. Now Omri took the land, and occupied it in his days and in his son’s days forty years.”
Does this date agree with the Scriptural record? It does exactly, for we read Omri reigned twelve years, Ahab twenty-two and Ahaziah two, making a total of thirty-six, and we find that early in Jehoram’s reign the Moabites revolted. He would be some little time making ready to attack them, so that four years of his reign may be allowed before they threw off his yoke altogether, which would bring the Bible account exactly to the forty years of the Moabite stone.
Since we know the Bible is always true and accurate, we conclude that Mesha was telling the truth on his stone. The stone does not show us the Bible is true; rather, the Bible shows us that the stone record is true.
We saw in the last chapter that Omri and Ahab his son oppressed Moab. When the Moabites rebelled against Ahab’s son, Jehoram, the armies of Israel and Judah set off to punish Mesha for his revolt. We noticed that the nearest and easiest way into the land of Moab was by the Jericho road at the north of the Dead Sea, but that the kings decided to take a roundabout course through a terrible wilderness rather than to go by the ordinary route. No one knew why until the Moabite stone was discovered. Then it was shown that there were wise heads in that council of war.
From the stone, it appears that as soon as Mesha rebelled he strongly fortified all his towns north of the Dead Sea in order to prevent the entrance of the king of Israel. Had the armies from Israel gone that way, they would have been stopped by fortress after fortress. The walled cities of Nebo, Baal-meon, Astaroth and Kirjathaim would all have impeded their progress. It would have been most unwise for the army to attempt to enter the country by that road. The Israelites certainly showed their wisdom by going south around the Dead Sea, where Mesha had no strong fenced city and where there were no fortresses into which his soldiers might retreat.
We saw the Israelites, by the power of God, win a wonderful victory in the Valley of Salt.
We read, “They beat down the cities, and on every good piece of land cast every man his stone.” That land is covered with stones, and the first thing in cultivation is to gather out the stones. (See Isaiah 5:22And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. (Isaiah 5:2).) These stones are left in heaps at the edge of the field, and it is very easy therefore to spoil the fields by knocking down the heaps and throwing the stones once more over the field. We also read, “They stopped all the wells of water” so the Moabites would have no water supply. And they “felled all the good trees,” so there would be no lumber for construction or for fuel.
Only one place was now left to be taken, the fortress of Kir-haraseth. Here King Mesha made a last effort to withstand them. The armies of Israel surrounded the fortress, occupied by Mesha and his troops. He tried with 700 warriors to break through their hosts, but he tried in vain.
Then a horrible thing happened. Thinking to appease the Moabite god called Chemosh and to ensure his help, Mesha offered a human sacrifice upon the walls, and the offering was no other than his son and heir. At that point the Israelites, instead of following up their victory, left Moab. “They departed from him, and returned to their own land.”
Did Israel go home victorious? The Bible does not tell us; it only gives us a hint. It says, “There was great indignation against Israel.” What does that mean? The Moabite Stone explains it all. Evidently, there was such a storm of indignation against Israel among the besieged men after the dreadful sacrifice of Mesha’s son to Chemosh that the Moabites, roused to desperation, drove the Israelites from their walls and sent them back to their own country.
King Mesha on his stone says not a word about his defeats but only gives the account of his victory. He says, “The king of Israel fortified Jahaz and occupied it when he made war against me, and Chemosh drove him out before me.” He goes on to tell of the cities he took and the towns he fortified after the Israelites had left his country.
The Bible is the Word of God. Let us firmly anchor all our hopes on that unerring Word. Our hopes for time, our hopes for eternity, our hopes of salvation, our hopes of heaven, our hopes of all that is bright in eternity — all these hopes are safe if they hang on the Word of Truth. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”
Is there anything in God’s Word which puzzles you? Is there anything in God’s ways with you which seem mysterious and altogether inexplicable? If so, be patient. God will make it all plain someday. Just as now, after more than 2000 years, we can see the difficulties with regard to this chapter cleared away, so the day is coming when every difficulty in God’s Word and in God’s providence will be made plain.
Always remember this: We may judge the accuracy of man’s history books by the Bible. If they disagree, then man’s record is wrong. We know God always tells the truth, but man’s knowledge of events is often incomplete and motivated by his sinful heart. Sometimes he intentionally gives a false report.
Meanwhile,
Take it on trust a little while,
Soon shall you read the secret right,
In the full sunshine of His smile.