2 Kings iii. 27. Then he took his eldest so7i that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a htirnt-offering upon the tvall.
GOD delights to honour prayer ; and often with- holds the blessings which he has purposed to bestow, till he shall have been " inquired of by us concerning them^" In the preceding context we are informed that Moab had rebelled against Israel, and that the kings of Israel, of Judah, and of Edom united their forces in order to reduce them to their former state of subjection. In prosecution of this purpose they were left of God to adopt such measures as nearly
•1 Ezek. xxxvi. 37.
proved fatal to the confederate armies. They at- tempted to pass through the wilderness of Edom, where they were in danger of perishing for want of water. Then, but not till then, did they think of making their application to Jehovah. Jehoshaphat, a pious king, proposed it, and the other two from the pressure of their necessity united in it. Ehsha, doubtless by the gracious appointment of Provi- dence, was in the camp at the time; and at the request of the three kings, undertook to lay their case before the Lord. The Lord bade him inform them that he would not only give them a miraculous supply of water, but would deliver the Moabites into their hands. The supply of water, without the intervention of any natural cause, was given ; and the Moabites, mistaking the reflection of the sun upon the water for blood, supposed that the confe- derate armies had destroyed each other ; and going therefore securely to take the spoil, were themselves destroyed. The remnant of them with their king- taking refuge in a fortress, the king brought forth his eldest son, and offered him for a burnt-offering in the sight of all his enemies. We shall,
L Inquire into the reasons of this extraordinary act —
Reduced to the greatest extremity, he resorted to this expedient,
\. To propitiate his gods —
[The gods of the heathen are supposed to delight in sacri- fices, and to regard them in proportion to the worth and estimation of them in the minds of the offerers. Hence they are supposed above all to be pleased with human sacrifices : and hence their votaries have offered to them even their own sons and daughters, with the hope of conciUating their favour. Even the Israelites themselves, when they had departed from their God, practised these impious and cruel rites*'. The king of Moab, now looking to his gods for help, presented to them as an offering his own, his eldest son, as being con- fessedly of more value, and dearer to himself, than all that he possessed. Whilst we lament that Satan should have ever so blinded the eyes of men, we cannot but be filled wdth
^ Ps. cvi. 37, 38.