Moab Rebels Against Israel – Bible Story for Kids

This is a simplified version of the Bible story found in 2 Kings 3, written for children to understand. For the original version, please refer to the Bible passage.

Once upon a time, there was a king named Jehoram who became the king of Israel after his father Ahab died. Jehoram was not a good king, and he continued to let the people of Israel sin. In a neighboring land called Moab, there was a king named Mesha who had to give the king of Israel a lot of sheep and wool. But when Ahab died, Mesha didn’t want to do it anymore, so he rebelled against Israel.

Jehoram was angry about this and decided to go to war against Moab. He asked his friend Jehoshaphat, who was the king of Judah, to come and help him in the battle. Jehoshaphat agreed to help, and they marched with another king from a land called Edom. They walked for seven days, but they couldn’t find any water for themselves or their animals.

Jehoram was scared that they would lose the battle and said that God had called them to be defeated by Moab. Jehoshaphat asked if there was a prophet they could ask for help, and one of Jehoram’s servants said that Elisha, a prophet of God, was there.

So the three kings went to Elisha, but he didn’t want to help Jehoram because he wasn’t a good king. Elisha said, “What do I have to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.”

But Jehoshaphat urged Elisha to help, saying, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?”

Elisha agreed to help and asked for a musician to play music. When the musician played, Elisha said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘I will make this dry streambed full of pools.’ For thus says the Lord, ‘You shall not see wind or rain, but that streambed shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, you, your livestock, and your animals.’ This is a light thing in the sight of the Lord. He will also give the Moabites into your hand, and you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree and stop up all springs of water and ruin every good piece of land with stones.”

Elisha’s message gave the kings hope, and they followed his instructions. The next morning, water came from the direction of Edom, and the country was filled with water. The Moabites heard that the kings were coming to fight them, so they got ready to fight too. But when they saw the water, they thought it was blood and that the kings had fought each other. They went to the camp of Israel to take the spoil, but the Israelites fought back and won.

The Israelites threw stones on every piece of good land, stopped the water springs, and cut down all the good trees. All that was left in one city was just stones. The king of Moab was losing the battle, so he tried to escape with his swordsmen, but they couldn’t break through. The king of Moab then did a very bad thing. He sacrificed his oldest son by burning him on a wall. God was very angry about this, and it caused problems for Israel. So, they left Moab and went back to their own land.

Biblical Lessons

Trusting in God’s power is more important than relying on our own strength.
God can do miraculous things, even in the midst of difficult circumstances.
God may use even difficult situations to bring about His plans and purposes.

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