The Lord's Vengeance Brings Peace
The Lord will always have the final say on truth and justice. And that should give great comfort to all who live in a world filled with lies and injustice. But how will this happen? How did it already happen in one way? 2 Kings shows us a picture.
Israel and Judah, the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel are in a terrible place. The bitter root of sin has defiled many as the house of Ahab has infected through unholy marital alliances not only Israel to the North which had long been apostate but now recently in the south where Judah has been far more faithful to the Lord.
It is important that we remember the root of all this immorality. Ahab married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians.
1 Kings 16:31 (ESV) And as if it had been a light thing for him (Ahab) to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.
However, the root of this immorality traces back to Solomon who "loved many foreign women." And the text reveals one of the nations into which Solomon joined in unholy matrimony:
1 Kings 11:1 (ESV) Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
What began as a seemingly innocuous political alliance for Solomon ended with apostasy in the generations that followed. We can see the same thing happen throughout history. Righteousness in one generation does not guarantee fidelity to the Lord in the next. Individuals, communities, and nations have a way of deteriorating over time when they allow small compromises that seem harmless at the moment.
So now a few generations later, Israel and Judah have both plunged into Baal worship and national immorality. But the Lord STILL has His prophet, Elisha. To that end, Elisha sends his student to go anoint a man named Jehu, who we should remember was supposed to be anointed by Elijah after he ran from Jezebel. Elisha, the student of Elijah is finishing up the unfinished business of his mentor...
2 Kings 9:1–2 (ESV) Then Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tie up your garments, and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. 2 And when you arrive, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. And go in and have him rise from among his fellows, and lead him to an inner chamber.
You have to appreciate what happens here. The nation's kings have abandoned the Lord. It seems apostasy will win the day. The evils of one generation have multiplied in others. But the Lord will have the last word. Jehu is anointed to thoroughly wipe out the entire family of Ahab. No one will be spared.
2 Kings 9:7–8 (ESV) And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD. 8 For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel.
Just as is predicted, Jehu will fulfill the Lord's anointing on his life. Now we may struggle with the ways of the Lord in the Old Testament concerning vengeance and deadly retribution on the immoral behaviors of the nation. But we have to remember the high cost of sin. Sin brings death. Any death of the immoral is only a hastening of the inevitable. God gives time to repent, but when there is no response, there comes a recompense for everyone who continues in unbelief and wickedness.
Jehu summarizes this in his response to the king wonders what his intentions are at the beginning of his expedition:
2 Kings 9:22 (ESV) 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?”
There is no peace when sin is allowed to reign over people. God is in the business of taking sin away. That is what He ultimately does through His anointed Son who dies for our sins and buries our sins in the grave. Because there is no peace, the King of Heaven came down and bore sin's curse upon Himself to bring us peace with God.
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