pits had been dug - as we imagine, either in the rear or along the sides of the camp of Israel, although we know too little

of the actual circumstances to venture on any more detailed statement. However it may have been, the Divine

prediction by Elisha was literally fulfilled. Once more it all happened in the orderly succession of events, while, if

viewed by itself, the issue would seem, as in the highest sense it was, miraculous. And this indeed holds true of the

record of most Biblical miracles, that they are the statement of effects, without the assignment or ex lanation of the

p

causes that led up to them. In the present instance, it was no doubt a sudden storm that had burst in the mountains of

Moab which sent a rush of water down the Wady by which Israel was camped. The prophetic historian, who loves to

connect Jehovah's deliverance with the loved services of the sanctuary, reminds us that it was "when the meat-offering

was offered," that "there came water by the way of Edom," - to disappear as suddenly as it had come, when the object

had been served.

The Israelites in their camp had seen it, and hastened to quench their thirst. The Moabites also saw it, but to them it

seemed as the eastern sun shone on the water in the pits, reddened as it was by the color of the soil, that they were

gazing on pools of blood. Their late expedition into Judah suggested a ready explanation of the strange sight. Perhaps

their superstition might lead them to imagine that Chemosh, of whose help we read so much in the Moabite inscription,

had now granted to Moab a success precisely similar to that of Judah. The kings were destroyed - they had smitten one

another: now, therefore, Moab to the spoil!

Meantime, the commanders of the allied army would naturally keep their men within their camp, so as to allow the

disorderly rush of Bedawin, intent on spoil, to cross the Wady and approach them quite closely, before suddenly

sallying forth to inflict indiscriminate slaughter. Mesha was too wary to risk another defeat of the same kind. He

retreated before Israel, evacuating every fortified town, till he reached the stronghold of Kir -haraseth, where he

resolved to make a final stand. The Jewish army slowly followed the retreating enemy, destroying every town and

laying waste the country around. Their progress was arrested at the walls of Kir-haraseth. As we consider the situation

of that fortress, we scarcely wonder that the allies found themselves unable to do more than harass the garrison by

posting sharpshooters on the hills around ("the slingers went about it"), and attempt to reduce it by h unger. The position

of Kir -Moab, "the fortress of Moab," (Isaiah 15:1),159 Kir -hareseth (Isaiah 16:7), Kir-haresh (Isaiah 16:7), or Kir-

haraseth ­ for it bears all these names, which seem to mean "fortress of brickwork," - has been ascertained beyond

reasonable doubt.

The Chaldee paraphrast designates it (Isaiah 15:1) Keraka deMoabh, which exactly answers to the modern name Kerak.

A continuous ascent from the south, amidst Alpine scenery, leads up to Kerak, which lies 3,720 feet above the

Mediterranean. From the last crest, whence there is a magnificent prospect far away, we look down into the "Wady of

Kerak, some 1800 feet of nearly sheer precipice on the opposite side."160

Along that Wady winds among rocks the road, so narrow that a few resolute men could hold it against an army. As the

Wady widens, the ground is cultivated "with olives, figs, pomegranates, and a few vineyards and patches of corn."

Soon Kerak itself is seen, towering high aloft. To reach it, we must first descend into the valley. Then an hour's climb

up the opposite cliff brings the traveler to an arched tunnel of about eighty yards in length, through which he emerges

into the city of Kerak.

The plateau on which the town stands is almost level, and measures from 800 to 1000 yards on each face of the triangle

which the city forms, and of which the north-eastern side is the longest. Here, and to a less degree at the south-west

angle, the plateau is connected with the heights which surround Kerak on every side. But everywhere else the town is

cut off from the encircling range by "Wadies (in part) from 1000 to 1500 feet deep, with steeply scarped or else rugged

sides."  161 If we imagine this isthmus of rock, jutting into and rising above a sea of deep Wadies, itself surrounded by a

broad wall with towers and other defenses, and crowned by a city to which there were only two entrances, each through

a tunnel in the side of the cliff - we can form a picture of Kir -haraseth, as it appeared to the Jewish host that gazed on it

from the heights around.

But although the allied army could not reduce the city, "the slingers" posted on the overlooking heights might inflict

serious losses on the garrison. In fact, the place would soon have become untenable. In these circumstances Mesha

endeavored, at the head of 700 swordsmen, to cut his way through the besieging army in the direction where the king of

Edom was posted - either because this was the weakest point in the camp of the allies, or probably because he may

have expected less resistance in that quarter. Driven back into the city, the frenzy of despair seized him. The idea