Problem: The northern and southern kingdoms of Israel came to attack Moab. Right as they were going to capture Moab, we read that the king of Moab sacrificed his own son on the city wall! As a result of this, we read, “There came great wrath against Israel, and they departed from him and returned to their own land” (2 Kings 3:27). Patterson and Austel write, “The mention of great ‘fury’ against Israel is difficult.”[1] What do we do with this difficult passage?
Solution: We reject the notion that this verse means that God’s wrath came against Israel, because a Pagan king performed a human sacrifice. For one, why would God prophesy through Elisha that Israel should attack Moab—only to cause wrath upon them? Moreover, the Bible repeatedly condemns human sacrifice. In fact, both the Law and the Prophets banned this practice. The Law of Moses outlawed human sacrifice right from the beginning (Lev. 18:21; 20:2-5; Deut. 12:31) and the later prophets decried the practice, as well. Human sacrifice was one of the reasons that Israel was exiled from their land (Ezek. 16:20-21). In Ezekiel, we read, “When you offer your gifts, when you cause your sons to pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day” (Ezek. 20:31). Likewise, the prophet Jeremiah writes, “They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind” (Jer. 7:31). Micah writes, “Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” (2 Kings 3:27)
Patterson and Austel write, “Most commentators suggest that the word is to be understood in the sense of Israel’s personal indignation and sickening of heart at the gruesome scene.”[2] But we disagree. Typically, God’s solution to human sacrifice is killing the culprit who commits it—not running away from it.
Instead, we contend that “the great wrath against Israel” was the wrath of the Moabites. The text never says that the wrath was God’s wrath. Instead, after seeing such a great and terrible display of human sacrifice, this most likely galvanized the Moabites into fighting even harder against Israel, causing Israel to withdraw. After seeing the king’s son killed, they fought even more fiercely against Israel.
[1] Patterson, R. D., & Austel, H. J. 1, 2 Kings. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. 1988. 182.
[2] Patterson, R. D., & Austel, H. J. 1, 2 Kings. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House. 19
