Read chapter in full: biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=2Kings+009
2 Kings Chapter 9 (ESV)
11 When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, they said to him, “Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” And he said to them, “You know the fellow and his talk.”…
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 to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’” 18 So a man on horseback went to meet him and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.” And the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.” 19 Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them and said, “Thus the king has said, ‘Is it peace?’” And Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.”…
22 And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?” …
31 And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master?”
REFLECTION:
- If time permits, please read the whole chapter on Jehu.
- “How can there be peace as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”(v22)? This verse lays out God’s issues with the Northern Kingdom: injustice and worship of false gods. Jehu’s actions serve as warning that there can be no true peace where there is injustice and idol worship.
- This chapter and next summarized God’s judgment and punishment against the family of Ahab and Jezebel. At the time of judgment, Jezebel and Joram were looking for peace, but peace could not be found. Jesus came to bring peace to this world so men and God can be reconciled. However, the second coming of Christ also represents God’s judgment and righteousness.
- Matt 5:9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” As a child of God, am I a peacemaker striving to bring people to reconcile with God?
PRAYER:
Jesus, help me to be a true peacemaker and bring people around me to be reconciled with You, to know and love You.
HYMN:
Make Me A Channel of Your PEACE – youtu.be/sE9std-lwXQ
