Though evil kings reign; what God says will happen through his prophets—happens! Not matter what is occurring in our world today, what God still says about keeping our hearts fixed on Him still stands as truth. Are we for God and all He says to be Truth or not? There are only two choices. God or the Enemy. God is most assuredly for, not against, those whose hearts are fully committed and surrendered to Him and His will. Committed hearts seek God, consult Him to know His will then trust and obey what He says no matter what is happening around them. Jehu has become that person who knows what God said through the prophet of Elijah and now Elisha. Jehu is standing up for the cause of God and obeying what has been commanded for him to do—rid God’s people of evil kings.
The Hit and Run—
It is a bit amusing for a prophet to declare God’s message with oil in hand to anoint the next king of Israel and then run from the room as fast as he can! But that’s what God told him to do as He declared Jehu as the next chosen king. What God says—happens!
Dressed to Kill—
It is downright odd to us, but in character for Jezebel to get “dressed to kill” as she applied her makeup and did her hair just before being tossed off the balcony by her own servants! But, this is what mattered to her—to look good at all costs which showed the shallowness of her heart! Years earlier, God had proclaimed the demise of Jezebel who was so full of evil that her behavior was notorious down through the ages! Her name is still used today to call a person out for being evil! “You, Jezebel!” Everyone knows what they mean. Her name is synonymous with disgusting evil practices just as Judas is synonymous with betrayal. These are two names to avoid when naming your children!
What God says, happens. It would wise to trust and obey Him alone!
2 Kings 9
Jehu Anointed King of Israel
The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of olive oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead. 2 When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room. 3 Then take the flask and pour the oil on his head and declare, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run; don’t delay!”
4 So the young prophet went to Ramoth Gilead. 5 When he arrived, he found the army officers sitting together. “I have a message for you, commander,” he said.
“For which of us?” asked Jehu.
“For you, commander,” he replied.
6 Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil on Jehu’s head and declared, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anoint you king over the Lord’s people Israel. 7 You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the Lord’s servants shed by Jezebel. 8 The whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. 9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. 10 As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’” Then he opened the door and ran.
11 When Jehu went out to his fellow officers, one of them asked him, “Is everything all right? Why did this maniac come to you?”
“You know the man and the sort of things he says,” Jehu replied.
12 “That’s not true!” they said. “Tell us.”
Jehu said, “Here is what he told me: ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’”
13 They quickly took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!”
Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah
14 So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth Gilead against Hazael king of Aram, 15 but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in the battle with Hazael king of Aram.) Jehu said, “If you desire to make me king, don’t let anyone slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.” 16 Then he got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel, because Joram was resting there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him.
17 When the lookout standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, he called out, “I see some troops coming.”
“Get a horseman,” Joram ordered. “Send him to meet them and ask, ‘Do you come in peace?’”
18 The horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do you come in peace?’”
“What do you have to do with peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.”
The lookout reported, “The messenger has reached them, but he isn’t coming back.”
19 So the king sent out a second horseman. When he came to them he said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do you come in peace?’”
Jehu replied, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”
20 The lookout reported, “He has reached them, but he isn’t coming back either. The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a maniac.”
21 “Hitch up my chariot,” Joram ordered. And when it was hitched up, Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him at the plot of ground that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?”
“How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”
23 Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!”
24 Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot. 25 Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his father when the Lord spoke this prophecy against him: 26 ‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, declares the Lord, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the Lord.’ Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the Lord.”
27 When Ahaziah king of Judah saw what had happened, he fled up the road to Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him, shouting, “Kill him too!” They wounded him in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam, but he escaped to Megiddo and died there. 28 His servants took him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his ancestors in his tomb in the City of David. 29 (In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king of Judah.)
Jezebel—Dressed to be Killed!
30 Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup, arranged her hair, and looked out of a window. 31 As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, you Zimri, you murderer of your master?”
32 He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. 33 “Throw her down!” Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot.
34 Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of that cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.” 35 But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands. 36 They went back and told Jehu, who said, “This is the word of the Lord that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh. 37 Jezebel’s body will be like dung on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, ‘This is Jezebel.’”
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
Where we might think of sin as slipups or missteps, God views sin as a godless attitude that leads to godless actions. “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way” (Isaiah 53:6). As each king of the divided kingdom of Israel and Judah “followed their hearts” instead of the heart of God; chaos ensues because of satisfying their own selfish desires. God’s people are caught in the crossfire of evil kings and their queens. God chooses Jehu to do what He says for what God says, happens. Jehu had remembered the words of the Lord through the prophet Elijah!
Max Lucado writes this perspective from this passage which gives us hope and encouragement to consistently seek the heart of God, turn our hearts toward God and trust God no matter what—
“The sinful mind dismisses God. His counsel goes unconsulted. His opinion, unsolicited. His plan, unconsidered. The sin infected grant God the same respect middle schoolers give a substitute teacher—acknowledged, but not taken seriously.
The lack of God-centeredness leads to self-centeredness. Sin celebrates its middle letter—sin. It proclaims, “It’s your life, right? Pump your body with drugs, your mind with greed, your nights with pleasure.” The godless lead a me-dominated, childish life, a life of “doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it” (Ephesians 2:3 MSG).
God says to love. I choose to hate.
God instructs, “Forgive.” I opt to get even.
God calls for self-control. I promote self-indulgence.
Sin, for a season, quenches thirst. But so does salt water. Given time, the thirst returns, more demanding and demanding more than ever. “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed” (Ephesians 4:19).
We pay a high price for such self-obsession. “God isn’t pleased at being ignored” (Romans 8:8 MSG).
Are you troubled by the evil that surrounds you? Leaders or managers who don’t honor God? The suffering of the innocent? The influence of sin? All of these can weigh you down and make you doubt God’s ability to intervene. Remember: God has perfect timing. He has a plan to judge and punish evil. Bring your discouragement to him and rely on his victory.” –Lucado, The Encouraging Word Bible
No matter what is happening in our world today; God has not given up His authority over the world and its inhabitants. God will intervene as He sees fits in His timing. I read the end of the book—God wins. Jesus already gave us the victory over death.
Believe, repent, trust, and obey!
There’s just no other way to be at peace with the King of kings and Lord of lords forever!
Lord,
Thank you for your message that restores our joy and peace this morning. Thank you for being with us always and knowing all that we need and providing it. Thank you for cleansing our hearts, renewing our minds, refreshing our souls, and restoring the joy of you in us and us in you.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 