THE WORD OF THE LORD WILL REIGN SUPREME

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth Gilead against Hazael king of Aram, but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in the battle with Hazael king of Aram.) Jehu said, "If this is the way you feel, don't let anyone slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel." Then he got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel, because Joram was resting there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him.

When the lookout standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu's troops approaching, he called out, "I see some troops coming."

"Get a horseman," Joram ordered. "Send him to meet them and ask, 'Do you come in peace?' "

The horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, "This is what the king says: 'Do you come in peace?' "

"What do you have to do with peace?" Jehu replied. "Fall in behind me."

The lookout reported, "The messenger has reached them, but he isn't coming back."

So the king sent out a second horseman. When he came to them he said, "This is what the king says: 'Do you come in peace?' "

Jehu replied, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me."

The lookout reported, "He has reached them, but he isn't coming back either. The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi — he drives like a madman."

"Hitch up my chariot," Joram ordered. And when it was hitched up, Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him at the plot of ground that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite.

When Joram saw Jehu he asked, "Have you come in peace, Jehu?"

"How can there be peace," Jehu replied, "as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?"

Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, "Treachery, Ahaziah!"

Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot. Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, "Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his father when the Lord made this prophecy about him: 'Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, declares the Lord, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the Lord.' Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the Lord."

When Ahaziah king of Judah saw what had happened, he fled up the road to Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him, shouting, "Kill him too!" They wounded him in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam, but he escaped to Megiddo and died there. His servants took him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his fathers in his tomb in the City of David. (In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king of Judah.)`

Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she painted her eyes, arranged her hair and looked out of a window. As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, "Have you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?"

He looked up at the window and called out, "Who is on my side? Who?" Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. "Throw her down!" Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot.

Jehu went in and ate and drank. "Take care of that cursed woman," he said, "and bury her, for she was a king's daughter."

But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands.

They went back and told Jehu, who said, "This is the word of the Lord that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel's flesh. Jezebel's body will be like refuse on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, 'This is Jezebel.' "

2 Kings 9:14-37

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Before we delve into this passage from 2 Kings, Chapter 9, we need to do a review.

Rewind to 1 Kings, Chapter 21, verses 17 through 23. God’s word told us this:

Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite: “Go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who rules in Samaria. He is now in Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood – yes, yours!’”

Ahab said to Elijah, “So you have found me, my enemy!”

“I have found you,” he answered, “because you have sold yourself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. I am going to bring disaster on you. I will consume your descendants and cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel – slave or free. I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat and that of Baasha son of Ahijah, because you have provoked me to anger and have caused Israel to sin.”

“And also concerning Jezebel the Lord says: ‘Dogs will devour Jezebel by the walls of Jezreel.’

Back to today’s passage.

At the end of 2 Kings, Chapter 8, you’ll recall that Joram, king of the northern kingdom of Israel and son of Ahab, was wounded by the Arameans during a battle at Ramoth Gilead. Joram had returned to Jezreel along with Ahaziah, king of the southern kingdom of Judah.

So after Jehu is anointed as Israel’s future king at the beginning of Chapter 9, we find him set out to carry out the Lord’s order as issued through Elisha…to “destroy the house of Ahab” and “avenge the blood” of the Lord’s prophets and servants that had been shed by Ahab’s daughter, Jezebel. Jehu was to ensure that “the whole house of Ahab” would perish to include cutting off “every last male in Israel – slave or free”. And as for Jezebel, the Lord predicted that dogs would “devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel” so that “no one would bury her”.

Or in other words, through Jehu, we will see the word of the Lord reign supreme.

After gaining the respect of his fellow officers (you’ll recall that they all bowed down before him as he proclaimed himself as the anointed king of Israel), we read where Jehu asks for them to keep his going to Jezreel confidential. For if they truly acknowledged him as king, then they would not “slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel."

And so Jehu “got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel” where he would first go after Ahab’s son Joram…the king he would relieve.

Scripture tells us that as Jehu and his troops approached Jezreel, a “lookout standing on the tower” called out, "I see some troops coming."

Joram then sent a horseman to meet Jehu and ask, “Do you come in peace?" And so the horseman did as he was ordered, riding out to meet Jehu and asking whether he had come in peace. We read where Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace?" before telling the horseman to "Fall in behind me." And the horseman did as Jehu asked, an act observed by the watchman who made the report.

So Joram sent a second horseman to Jehu only to see the same results. By now, the watchman, who had been reporting on everything taking place, had a better look at who was advancing and recognized from the driving style that it must be Jehu advancing.

With this, Joram gave the order to “Hitch up my chariot" and rode out with Ahaziah to meet the advancing Jehu and his forces. Scripture tells us that they met “at the plot of ground that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite”. Going back to the verses from 1 Kings, Chapter 21, the location should come as no surprise.

Again, the word of the Lord was reigning supreme.

Well…as Joram and Ahaziah reached Jehu, we see Joram ask, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?" to which Jehu replied, “How can there be peace…as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?"

And with these words, we sense Joram knew he was in grave danger for he turned around and fled while “calling out to Ahaziah”, ‘Treachery, Ahaziah!’ “

Joram was correct in his assessment for we read where “Jehu drew his bow and shot (him) between the shoulders” with the arrow piercing his heart and killing him. Joram’s body “slumped down in his chariot” and Jehu called for his body to be thrown upon “the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite”. And so Ahab’s son laid dead in the place where he had killed Naboth…all “in accordance with the word of the Lord”…which again reigned supreme.

Well, Ahaziah had watched what had happened to Joram and so he “fled up the road to Beth Haggan” with Jehu chasing him and urging him to be killed as well. And so, Jehu’s forces also wounded Ahaziah in his chariot but he was able to escape to Megiddo where he then died before being taken “by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his fathers in his tomb in the City of David”.

So Joram and Ahaziah, who had married into Ahab’s family, were now dead. Now Jehu turned his attention toward Jezebel.

We read where Jehu finds her in Jezreel. And Jezebel, hearing about what had transpired, “painted her eyes, arranged her hair and looked out of a window”, watching for Jehu’s arrival.

As “Jehu entered the gate”, Jezebel called down to him mockingly from the window saying, “Have you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?" You’ll recall Zimri was a former king of Israel who assumed the throne after murdering King Elah. He also killed the entire family of Baasha. (1 Kings 16:8-20) And so Jezebel’s words were meant to insult and incite Jehu.

Well, scripture tells us that Jehu “looked up at the window” before calling out, "Who is on my side? Who?" And when “two or three eunuchs looked down at him”, Jehu ordered them to "Throw her down!"…an order that they obeyed. The eunuchs cast Jezebel out of the window to her death as the horses “trampled her underfoot” and “some of her blood spattered the wall”.

And that’s where Jehu left her as he “went in and ate and drank”. After his meal, Jehu told his servants to "Take care of that cursed woman…and bury her, for she was a king's daughter." But when the servants went outside to bury Jezebel, “they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands.” In other words, there was no Jezebel to bury…just as had been predicted. So the servants went back and told Jehu what had happened to which he said:

"This is the word of the Lord that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel's flesh. Jezebel's body will be like refuse on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, 'This is Jezebel.' "

Indeed…the word of the Lord had reigned supreme.

Friends, the Lord is speaking to us loudly in this scripture.

For as we delve into His scriptures daily, we must always remember that His words are truth. The 119th Psalm tells us as much:

“All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.” (Psalm 119:160)

We also must remember that His words are perfect. Solomon, in all his wisest splendor, told us as much:

“Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.” (Proverbs 30:5)

Finally, the Lord’s word is our very subsistence…our sustenance…our daily bread and spiritual nutrition. Jesus, His one and only Son, told us as much when He said:

“Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)

Friends, God’s word…true, flawless and sustaining…will never fail to feed us…to instruct us…and to lead us. We need only trust in it and obey it unconditionally.

For it has…it is…and it will reign supreme…forever.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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