God doesn’t always pay up for sin every week, but in the end, He pays. He is known by His judgments.
II Kings 1
1 And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead:
2 And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber;
3 Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.
4 ¶ So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead.
5 And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain.
6 And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel.
7 And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.
8 For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:
9 And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah:
10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.
11 ¶ Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication.
12 And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel.
13 Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.
14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria.
15 But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.
16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.
17 And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?
18 So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again.
19 Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.
20 And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.
21 And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.
22 And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?
23 And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah.
24 And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.
25 Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him;
26 Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD.
27 ¶ But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.
28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.
29 And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.
30 ¶ And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.
31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?
32 And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.
33 And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.
34 And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king’s daughter.
35 And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.
36 Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:
37 And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
II Kings 1 – J. Vernon McGee
2 Kings 9:1-13 – The Avenger of Blood Anointed.
Youth is always being called upon to gird up its loins, and dare to fulfil its commissions without fear of man. We are not to tarry to hear what men say of us. The King’s business requires haste. Do your work and flee, before the world can scare you by its threats or cajole you by its blandishments. You have one Master, one errand: do it, and get back into his presence!
God has his appointed instruments to carry out his plans (1 Kings 19:17). The King will avenge his own elect, though he bear long with their oppressors. Sooner or later his sentence will be executed. His servants are often accounted mad, but whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God (2 Corinthians 5:13)! Naturally his fellow-officers were astonished that Jehu should have dealings with one whose garb and bearing indicated his religious character. It is not usual for God’s servants to penetrate a camp with such a message; and yet how striking would be the effect if only we could announce to the strong, swift-acting, vehement-hearted leaders of the age, that a higher vocation awaited them than they had ever conceived, and that God’s anointing was within their reach. “I have anointed thee king.”
2 Kings 9:14-26 – ”The Driving of Jehu.”
Many times in this chapter the question is asked, though in varying tones, “Is it peace?” The horsemen ask it of the furious driver; the king asks it of his captain; Jezebel asks it of the executioners of her son. Is not the human heart always asking the same question? If there is the slightest tremor in the air, the inquiry is at once started, “Will this make or mar our peace?” The heart of man is ill at ease. Deeply conscious that all is not right between itself and God, anxious that its efforts to reassure itself should not be disturbed, dreading lest an earthquake or a flood may detect the foundation on sand, the soul asks eagerly, “Is it peace?”
There can be no peace for man till he has put away the evil things associated with the name of Jezebel. Let us not forget those solemn words of the Holy Spirit, “I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel.” We have to do with One who searches the reins and hearts of professing Christians (Revelation 2:18-29). We are all in danger of being seduced by the soft caresses of the world and the honeyed flattery of false professors. There is no peace apart from true repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus (Romans 5:1).
2 Kings 9:22—Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace?
We all want peace. Of every telegraph messenger, as he puts the buff-colored envelope into our hands, we ask almost instinctively, Is it peace? If there is a rumor of war, a depression in trade, a bad harvest, a sudden calamity in our neighborhood, we instantly consider the effect it may have on the tranquillity and prosperity of our life.
By peace we too often mean the absence of the disagreeable, the unbroken routine of outward prosperity, the serene passage of the years: not always eager for anything deeper. And if other and profounder questions intrude themselves, we instantly stifle or evade them. Like Herod, we shut up the Baptist in the dungeon. Like the Roman general, we make a desert and call it peace. Men will flee from a Gospel ministry which pursues them into close quarters, and arouses unwelcome questions that break the peace.
There cannot be true peace so long as we permit the infidelities and charms of some Jezebel of the soul-life to attract and affect us. Jezebel may stand for the painted world, with its wiles and snares, or for the flesh, or for some unholy association of the past life, like that which clung to Augustine. But there must be no quarter given to the unhallowed rival of our Lord. Whatever its charms, it must be flung out of the window before we can be at peace.
“Then, and not till then, we shall see Thee as Thou art;
Then, and not till then, in Thy glory bear a part;
Then, and not till then, Thou wilt satisfy each heart.”
If you are entirely surrendered to the Lord, “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
2 Kings 9:27-37 – ”The Word of the Lord by Elijah.”
Let us read again 1 Kings 21:23. How those words came back to the two men, who had heard them from the lips of God’s servant years before! God’s mills grind slowly, but to powder. In a deep sense Ahab’s blood was licked by dogs, as it flowed from the gaping wounds of his son. As a man sows he reaps, and when his children follow his steps, they too reap. But Ezekiel makes it perfectly clear that a godly son may break the entail of his father’s iniquities. See Ezekiel 18, which has a most important bearing on the modern doctrine of heredity.
Jezebel’s heart was proud and unbroken. She thought to make the conqueror the slave of her charms. When these failed, she taunted him with the fate of Zimri, so closely associated with the rise of Ahab’s family to the throne. His reign of seven days was thrown in Jehu’s teeth (1 Kings 16:15, etc.). But Jezebel could not avert her fate. Her very chamberlains turned against her. How often does God’s representative ask the same question, “Who is on my side?” Let us heed the challenge and dare to “look out” in answer! There is service appointed for us all, and we must not fail to render it.