# 2 kgs 3:27: Wrath Against Israel?



## RamistThomist (Aug 15, 2015)

Given how abhorrent child sacrifice is and how much Yahweh hates it, 2 Kings 3:27 suggests a problem.



> 26 When the king of Moab saw that the battle was going against him, he took with him 700 swordsmen to break through, opposite the king of Edom, but they could not. 27 Then he took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land.



Who or what is the source of the "wrath against Israel"?

1. Yahweh? Certainly not, for obvious reasons.
2. Moabitic army? Possibly, but it doesn't make sense in the context. Yahweh was routing Moab for Israel and the rout was almost complete. In any case, the question remains: what is the relationship between the sacrifice and the inexplicable and sudden Moabitic courage?
3. Dark powers? Possibly. We know today from victims of Satanic cults that blood sacrifice is key to their rites. Further, this does connect the narrative with Moloch and Chemosh, the patron gods of Planned Parenthood and the Temple of Satan in Detroit, for instance. So a connection can be made. I am not necessarily making it, however. However, the problem with this suggestion is that it has the dark powers negating Yahweh's route.


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## Contra_Mundum (Aug 15, 2015)

The whole context proves great confusion among the people of God in those days of declension.

As had been in the days of Ahab, the rebellious northern tribes (Israel) and their king, Jehoram, are in the lead, with Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom in tow.

Nevertheless, God does not abandon this cause, perhaps once more standing by insouciant Jehoshaphat and for the people as a whole, as evidenced in 1Ki.22. This is plain from the word of the Lord given to Elisha, 2Ki.3:14ff.

There are a number of questions and explanations that have arisen over the language of v27. Is this wrath/indignation primarily a strong feeling of revulsion, of disgust with the scene _on the part of Israel?_ In this scenario, the three kings and their armies are all viewed under one primary designation, "Israel." This does not seem consistent with the separate designations used in the passage. "Israel" most likely refers to the part of the northern tribes, specifically.

Moab is not encouraged to "wrath"--as in "courage" or "berserking"--by the event. Not in the sense that evil powers lent them their aid and actually pushed the alliance from the field (when previously nothing else worked).

Most likely, the appalling scene affected the Edomites of the alliance above all, and they are the branch of the alliance last mentioned in the text. This does not detract from a general feeling of horror that might have gripped all who saw the event, regardless of their affiliation. Those who knew the Law, knew that this action was abominable: read particularly Lev.20:1-5.

But I interpret the "wrath" against Israel as a breach within the alliance. The Edomites in particular, being rank idolaters, turn their fears against the king of Israel and his army; and by extension their closer, clan-tied brothers from Judah. This new hostility disrupts the (unholy) alliance, and so the whole force each returns to his own place.

In any case, I do not interpret this outcome as a "supernatural" result of the demonic sacrifice. It was a "psychological" result, which Satan is not powerless to employ for his ends. But I do not think that Jehovah was in any way withdrawing from the fight, or restraining his promised aid, v18f, on account of this demonstration of "power."


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