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Artwork for Is There Not Here a Prophet?

2 Kings 2:19-3:27

Is There Not Here a Prophet?

Lyrics · 2 Kings

Is There Not Here a Prophet?

2 Kings 2:19-3:27

Lyrics

About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the 2 Kings collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
2 Kings
Collection
2 Kings
Musical styles
Uncategorized
[Verse 1] Jericho's men describe a pleasant city whose water causes barrenness. He casts salt into the spring and declares the waters healed. Elisha pronounces a curse, and two bears tear forty-two of them. Jehoram begins reigning and removes Baal's image while retaining Jeroboam's sin. [Pre-Chorus] The line drew close, the watch was nearly done, Then courage rose before the rising sun. [Chorus] Is There Not Here a Prophet, let the trumpet answer clear, Not by number, not by sword, not by fear. The faithful moved where the battle line was drawn, And the purpose of the LORD kept moving on. [Verse 2] After seven days the host and its animals have no water. Jehoshaphat asks whether a prophet of the LORD is available. Elisha rebukes Jehoram but receives the kings for Jehoshaphat's sake. The valley is ordered full of ditches though no wind or rain will appear. [Bridge] Water fills the country at the time of the morning offering. Moab sees the red reflection and assumes the allied kings have killed one another. The Moabites rush to spoil and are struck by the waiting Israelites. Mesha sacrifices his eldest son on the wall. [Final Chorus] Is There Not Here a Prophet, let the trumpet answer clear, Not by number, not by sword, not by fear. The faithful moved where the battle line was drawn, And the purpose of the LORD would still move on. [Outro] The field grew still; the record kept the name. Courage passed onward through the fading flame.

Named in this songJerichoElisha

About the passage

2 Kings 2: The mantle falls, and the work continues

Elijah's departure begins as a journey Elisha refuses to abandon. At Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho he is invited to stay behind, yet he follows to the Jordan, crosses on dry ground, and asks for the double portion associated with an heir. The fiery chariot separates the men, but Elijah goes up by the whirlwind, leaving Elisha grieving and the mantle behind. What follows is not a costume change mistaken for succession. The Jordan divides again when Elisha appeals to the LORD God of Elijah, and the sons of the prophets recognize that Elijah's spirit rests on him. Their three-day search for the departed prophet finds nothing. Elisha's first public acts then pull the extraordinary into ordinary life: Jericho's dangerous water is healed at its source, while the severe episode at Bethel shows that the authority now resting on Elisha cannot be reduced to a harmless badge of office.

Study 2 Kings 2 in depth

2 Kings 3: Water in the wilderness and an unresolved ending

Jehoram is better than Ahab in one specific respect and still remains within Jeroboam's condemned pattern. His campaign against rebellious Moab quickly turns three kings and their animals into a thirsty force in the wilderness. Jehoram announces disaster; Jehoshaphat asks for a prophet. Elisha receives the kings with no reverence for Jehoram's rank, yet announces water without visible rain and a military victory beyond it. The same water that saves the allied force appears red to Moab in the morning light, and a mistaken interpretation sends the defenders toward what they think is an abandoned camp. The campaign then becomes systematic destruction, just as Elisha had announced. But the ending resists a clean victory paragraph. Mesha sacrifices his heir on the wall, "great indignation" comes against Israel without a named source, and the allies withdraw. The chapter ends with success, horror, and unresolved meaning occupying the same battlefield.

Study 2 Kings 3 in depth