Image: Gustave Doré, “The Death of Jezebel” (1866)
Note: Devotion taken from last Sunday's sermon on 2 Kings 9.
2
Kings 9:6b ….Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have appointed 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 the servants of the LORD, at the hands of Jezebel.
The apostle Paul taught: “Dearly beloved, avenge
not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance
is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Rom 12:9).
2
Kings 9 illustrates that point, as it describes how Jehu was appointed as an
instrument of God’s wrath to punish evil doers.
I
want to suggest three applications:
First,
this chapter ought to bring comfort to those who have suffered at the hands of
the wicked.
Dale
Ralph Davis observed, “Sometimes it seems that throughout their blood-red
history [Jehovah’s] worshippers have been bludgeoned into oblivion, but the
text says that there is an eye that sees and a Judge who takes note” (2 Kings,
153).
One
day the Lord will set all things right!
Second,
this chapter ought to bring fear and dread to those who have committed
injustices.
Those
who have brought pain and suffering to God’s servants should read with trembling.
One day the piper will have to be paid.
Third,
this chapter ought to bring joy to the heart of the believer.
The
commentator Davis notes that after he shared the story of the death of Jezebel
at the hands of Jehu in 2 Kings in devotions with his family that one of his
sons prayed, “Dear God, thank you for letting Jezebel die” (2 Kings,
158)!
Every
time we read a chapter like this one, we should remember that we are sinners who
deserve God’s wrath and punishment. In Colossians 3:6 the apostle said that
because of their sin, “the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.”
In Acts 17:31, Paul told the men of Athens that God had appointed
“a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by than man whom he
hath ordained.”
But the good news is that this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, said,
“he that believeth on him is not condemned” (John 3:18).
Every time a believer reads an account of divine wrath and
judgement rightly poured out on sinners like the wicked kings of Israel and
Judah, and upon wicked women like Jezebel, he ought to think, “There but by the
grace of God in Christ go I.”
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
2 comments:
Generally attributed to John Bradford, as he watched a line of prisoners being taken to the executioner.
There but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford.
Thanks MJ! Hope you are doing well.
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