5/1/2011 7:43:13 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My Worship Time Focus: The swiftness of God’s judgment
Bible Reading
& Meditation Reference: 2Ki. 9:14-37; 2Chron. 22:1-9
Message of the verses: This final section in Warren Wiersbe’s
commentary on 2Kings & 2Chronicles has three sub-sections in it. At the beginning of his commentary Wiersbe
writes the following: “Both kingdoms
were rebellious against the Lord and
polluted by idolatry, but now the day of judgment had arrived for Ahab’s
dynasty, the day that the Prophet Elijah had predicted (1Kings 21:21,29).”
When
Jehu began as king of Israel the situation was as follows Ahaziah was reigning
in Judah and he has been following the advice of his wicked mother Athaliah,
who was the daughter of Jezebel and Ahab.
Ahaziah had gone to Jezreel to visit his uncle the king of Israel who
was recovering from wounds so they both ended up together which made it easier for
Jehu to kill them.
The death of Joram (verses 16-26): “14
So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against
Joram. Now Joram with all Israel was defending Ramoth-gilead against Hazael
king of Aram, 15 but King Joram had
returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted
on him when he fought with Hazael king of Aram. So Jehu said, "If this is
your mind, then let no one escape or leave the city to go tell it in
Jezreel."
“16 ¶ Then Jehu rode in a chariot
and went to Jezreel, for Joram was lying there. Ahaziah king of Judah had come
down to see Joram. 17 Now the watchman
was standing on the tower in Jezreel and he saw the company of Jehu as he came,
and said, "I see a company." And Joram said, "Take a horseman
and send him to meet them and let him say, ’Is it peace?’" 18 So a horseman went to meet him and said,
"Thus says the king, ’Is it peace?’" And Jehu said, "What have
you to do with peace? Turn behind me." And the watchman reported,
"The messenger came to them, but he did not return." 19 Then he sent out a second horseman, who came
to them and said, "Thus says the king, ’Is it peace?’" And Jehu
answered, "What have you to do with peace? Turn behind me." 20 The watchman reported, "He came even to
them, and he did not return; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the
son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously." 21 Then Joram said, "Get ready." And
they made his chariot ready. Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah
went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu and found him in the property of
Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 When
Joram saw Jehu, he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?" And he answered,
"What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her
witchcrafts are so many?" 23 So
Joram reined about and fled and said to Ahaziah, "There is treachery, O
Ahaziah!" 24 And Jehu drew his bow
with his full strength and shot Joram between his arms; and the arrow went
through his heart and he sank in his chariot. 25 Then Jehu said to Bidkar his officer,
"Take him up and cast him into the property of the field of Naboth the
Jezreelite, for I remember when you and I were riding together after Ahab his
father, that the LORD laid this oracle against him: 26 ’Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of
Naboth and the blood of his sons,’ says the LORD, ’and I will repay you in this
property,’ says the LORD. Now then, take and cast him into the property,
according to the word of the LORD.’”
Both
kings eventually ride out to meet Jehu to find out what is going on and they meet
him on the property that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite whom Ahab and
Jezebel had killed because he would not sell his property to them. The prophecy of this happening is found in
1Kings 21:18-24 and this prophecy was given to Elijah. Jehu shoots Joram through his heart probably
because he was healing from wounds and did not want to wear his armor. The statement did you come in peace seems to
me that Joram had an idea that Jehu was about to kill him and so he told his
nephew to run for it, but that would do him no good as seen in the next
section.
The death of Ahaziah verses 2Kings 9:27-29;
2Chronicles 22:1-9): “27 When
Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And
Jehu pursued him and said, "Shoot him too, in the chariot." So they
shot him at the ascent of Gur, which is at Ibleam. But he fled to Megiddo and
died there. 28 Then his servants carried
him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his grave with his fathers in
the city of David. 29 Now in the eleventh
year of Joram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah became king over Judah.”
“1
¶ Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made
Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men who came with
the Arabs to the camp had slain all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of
Jehoram king of Judah began to reign. 2
Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned one
year in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of
Omri. 3 He also walked in the ways of
the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly. 4 He did evil in the sight of the LORD like the
house of Ahab, for they were his counselors after the death of his father, to
his destruction. 5 He also walked
according to their counsel, and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of
Israel to wage war against Hazael king of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. But the
Arameans wounded Joram. 6 So he returned
to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which they had inflicted on him at Ramah,
when he fought against Hazael king of Aram. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram
king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he
was sick. 7 Now the destruction of Ahaziah was from God,
in that he went to Joram. For when he came, he went out with Jehoram against
Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom
the LORD had anointed to cut off the house of Ahab. 8 It came about when Jehu was executing
judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the princes of Judah and the sons of
Ahaziah’s brothers ministering to Ahaziah, and slew them. 9 He also sought Ahaziah, and they caught him
while he was hiding in Samaria; they brought him to Jehu, put him to death and
buried him. For they said, "He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD
with all his heart." So there was no one of the house of Ahaziah to retain
the power of the kingdom.”
I
think it best if I just copy the short commentary from Dr. Wiersbe so that all
of this will make more sense. “The
reports of Ahaziah’s death in 2Kings 9:27-29 and 2Chronicles 22:7-9 aren’t easy
to harmonize, but we suggest a scenario.
Ahaziah was wounded as he fled from Jezreel (v-27). He made it to Beth-haggan and then turned
northwest at the Ascent of Gur and headed for Megiddo where he hide from
Jehu. But Jehu’s men tracked him down
and killed him at Megiddo. Ahaziah’s
servants carried his body from Megiddo to Jerusalem where he was buried with
the kings, for he was a descendant of David.
Had he not compromised with Joram, worshiped Baal, and followed his
mother, Athaliah’s counsel, he would have been spared all this shame and
defeat.”
The death of Jezebel (verses 30-37): “30 ¶
When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes
and adorned her head and looked out the window. 31 As Jehu entered the gate, she said, "Is
it well, Zimri, your master’s murderer?" 32 Then he lifted up his face to the window and
said, "Who is on my side? Who?" And two or three officials looked
down at him. 33 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 trampled her under foot. 34 When he came in, he ate and drank; and he
said, "See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king’s
daughter." 35 They went to bury
her, but they found nothing more of her than the skull and the feet and the
palms of her hands. 36 Therefore they
returned and told him. And he said, "This is the word of the LORD, which
He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ’In the property of
Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; 37 and the corpse of Jezebel will be as dung on
the face of the field in the property of Jezreel, so they cannot say,
"This is Jezebel.’”
I
will say one thing for Jehu, and that is he knows what the Lord has prophesied
about the things concerning the house of Ahab, which is the Word of God.
Dr.
John MacArthur writes the following about verse 31: “Zimri. In referring to Jehu by that name, Jezebel
sarcastically alluded to the previous purge of Zimri (1Kings 16:9-15). Since Zimri died 7 days after beginning to
reign, Jezebel was implying that the same fate awaited Jehu.”
Now
as far as what happened to her body this was also spoken of by the Lord through
the prophet Elijah in 1Kings 21:23: “’Of
Jezebel also has the LORD spoken, saying, ’The dogs will eat Jezebel in the
district of Jezreel.’”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I see in this bloody passage that the justice
of the Lord will take place, that He will keep His Word, and that it is good to
know the Word of the Lord. “For whatever was written in earlier times was
written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement
of the Scriptures we might have hope (Romans 15:4).
This is surely a great and true
statement, for I am to know what the Word of the Lord has to say and that is
why I am to read it and studied it every day.
Jehu knew the Word of the Lord and he was used to fulfill it. When I think about certain passages that
refers to the Church and that I am a part of the Church then I am a fulfillment
of the Word of God, and this humbles me and also makes me want to praise the
Lord, for my name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
My Steps of
Faith for Today:
1.
Continue to read and study the Word of God, and be
blessed by it.
2.
Continue to learn contentment.
3.
Remember the spiritual battle that I face each day
and be prepared with the spiritual armor.
5/1/2011 8:42:50 AM
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