2 Kings 9 (Part 2) Bible Study (Jehu kills Joram, Ahaziah & Jezebel) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

I'm aware that our time together on Friday nights is a bible study format. And it's probably not the typical bible study format because we have quite a bit of people here, and usually bible study is a little more interactive, but it seems to be working for us so we're continuing in this format. But if this was a sermon that I was preaching, if this was the text that I would preach for a sermon, I would likely title it the following. Is it peace? Is it peace?

And the reason for that is because that is the recurring question that appears in the section of second Kings chapter nine. Is it peace? I want you to see it with me. Second Kings chapter nine seventeen, the second part. And Dorems said, take a horseman and send to meet them and let him say, is it peace?

Look at the next verse. So a man on horseback went to meet him and said, thus says the king, is it peace? Look at chapter nine verse 19, the very next verse. Then he sent out a second horseman who came to them and said, thus the king has said, is it peace? Look at verse 22.

And when Jerm saw Jehu, he said, is it peace, Jehu? Second Kings nine thirty one. And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, that being Jezebel, is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master? Although this repeated question is tied to a very specific situation, I am convinced that there is a deeper, more universal truth attached to it. Because you see, Joram, who is the son of Ahab, is obviously hoping that he is able to maintain and achieve this level of peace for his household and his kingdom in a time of great uncertainty.

But what Joerim failed to understand is what Isaiah declares in Isaiah forty eight twenty two. You don't have to turn there. You know it very well. There is no peace, declares the Lord. For who?

For the wicked. There is no peace, declares the Lord, for the wicked. Isaiah says this more than once in his writings and it essentially means that the godless are denied elevated, lasting, heavenly peace. Because that kind of peace is solely reserved for the righteous. And Joram was not righteous.

But he thought that he had the right to expect this kind of peace while living in defiance of the word of the Lord. And he's about to discover that this illusion was nothing short of deception. Living in sin forfeits heavenly peace. It does. Always.

And we can almost sense that Jerram is trying to manage this insecurity and this suspicion that's so suffocating. And whatever fears that he had, at least at this point of his reign, are going to be realized. Because there is another individual in this story named Jehu, who is one of his top commanders, who is not going to waste any time of fulfilling what he was anointed to do, and that was to bring complete destruction to the house of Ahab. And so that's what we're going to see today. The beginning of a campaign that has been foretold.

Judgment has arrived to the house of Ahab. And I want us to consider it in greater detail as we read now from verse 14. We concluded in verse 13 last week, so let's begin in verse 14 together. Thus, Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. Now Joram with all Israel had been on guard at Ramoth Gilead against Hazael king of Syria, but king Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.

So Jehu said, if this is your decision, then let no one slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel. This section begins by reminding us that Joram, who is formerly and commonly known as Jehoram, same individual, the king of Israel, was at war with Syria. And during one of the the scrimmages, he was injured and so he retreats to an area called Jezreel. And while he's there in Jezreel, we learned that Jehu was anointed to be the next king in Israel. And when he is anointed, he tells those who accept his anointing, let this news go nowhere.

We don't want it to reach Jezreel because we wanna catch this man by surprise. And so this is the goal. And here's the thing, you have this man Jehu, who is ready to come, he keeps it a secret, and Joram doesn't see it coming. Unsuspecting, completely unsuspecting. And he would say, yes, it's because it was concealed.

Sure, it's concealed. But he's so preoccupied with this enemy called Syria that he forgets that there's another danger just around the corner. And though we may forgive him for that, I believe Joram could have been better prepared. How? How could the king of Israel be better prepared for this potential threat?

Because God already foretold through the mouth of one of his prophets that destruction was coming to the house of Ahab. Let me show you that again in first Kings 21 when Elijah prophesied to Ahab. And look at verse 21 of first Kings 21. Elijah tells Ahab, behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free in Israel.

And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Ahasah, the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me because you have made Israel to sin. Note the judgment wasn't just for Ahab, it was to his household, for every male. They were to expect this kind of discipline. And this is a public prophecy. This is not something that was privately proclaimed.

We're gonna learn that even Jehu himself was in the presence of Elijah when he said this to Ahab. We're gonna see that later on in second Kings nine. So this was made known. So it's highly probable that Ahab's descendants, at least his close descendants, were aware of this declaration against their dynasty. So there's a a great chance that even Joram knew of what was going to take place.

At least what was predicted to take place. And if that is true, then what do we make of Joram? That he completely ignored this warning. He did not take heed. He did not take it seriously.

And it's so obvious here that he resembles the millions even today who will be caught by surprise when God's promise of judgment will come to pass. Sinners will not be caught by surprise because they are merely unaware. Like Elijah's prophecy, God's word has been given to us beforehand. Eve even the end of all things has been told in great detail. It's because people chose to ignore what God's word had to say.

And they chose not to apply it, they chose not to take it seriously. They chose like Joanne to get more caught up with what's in front of them, failing to realize what's looming over them. This man, yes, he was caught up in a real battle here with Syria, but there was something that was foretold that he had to be prepared for. And the best way to be prepared for was not to fight against Jehu, but to repent and get right with God. But he doesn't do that, does he?

Let's read on in verse 16 of second Kings nine. Then Jehu mounted his chariot and went to Jezreel for Joram lay there and Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to visit Joram. How tempting is it to read past this verse and just continue with this story? What question should you have in reading verse 16 alone? Here's my question.

What is the king of Judah doing visiting the king of Israel? That's a legitimate inquiry. What is Ahaziah doing making a friendly visitation to this rebellious king, Joram? You don't have to guess, but you do have to turn somewhere else. It's in second Kings chapter eight, just one chapter before this.

We learn of the relations between Ahaziah and Joram. Second Kings eight twenty six. Ahaziah was 22 years old when he began to reign and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athalia. She was a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.

He also walked in the way of the house of Ahab and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord as the house of Ahab had done for he was the son-in-law to the house of Ahab. There it is. He's related by marriage. And so there is friendly relations here. And Ahaziah is making his way to make a friendly visit to this king.

He's injured. He's sick. He's not doing well. And Ahaziah's destiny here is going to take a different route because of his association. The tragedy of this is not just that he was married into this family, it's that he imitated this family.

Did you catch how long he reigned in Judah for? How long was it? One year. Is that a long time? Not at all.

Do you know why he's only gonna reign for one year? Because he's gonna be killed alongside Joram. And there's a very important lesson here concerning the caution of who we yoke ourselves to. Pay very close attention to this. The associations you form with people can determine the destiny that you have and really shape the future that you will not foresee.

Ahaziah's premature death is not because he was at the wrong place in the wrong time. It was the consequence of a personal choice that he made to entertain a relationship that he should not have entertained. That's what's gonna happen here. It's the outcome of a former decision. And if we are not careful, you and I also can sabotage areas of our lives, even our life altogether due to being unequally yoked.

And when you hear unequally yoked, we tend to limit that to what? Marriage. That's not even the context of which Paul gave that instruction. It was towards all believers. Ungodly business relationships includes that.

Partnerships in terms of just friendships, colleagues, and of course, wrong romantic ties. It includes all of that. And from the very beginning of this book, you'll see over and over God providing warning and instruction of this truth in our lives. Even in the most subtle obscure ways. In fact, I'm gonna ask you to turn to a passage that is frequently quoted by skeptics to try to pin you as a Christian in a corner for being inconsistent in your walk with God.

Right? So if you're a Christian here who doesn't believe that a man should be in a relationship with a man in terms of romance or marriage or sexual relations. What tends to be the comeback from those who know very little the Bible? So do you wear different material clothings? Do you eat shellfish?

Have you heard those? Okay. Let's turn to that passage and see what God really meant for them for that. Look at Deuteronomy 22 verse nine. Here are a few instructions for the people of Israel.

And these are daily practices served as object lessons with spiritual significance for this nation. Look at Deuteronomy 22 verse nine. You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited, the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together.

So these are daily things that the Israelites would engage in. Everything from putting clothes on your back to working out in the field to putting together your instruments to accomplish certain tasks. And over and over we see this repeated theme in different spheres of life. What God is trying to teach his people through these objects lessons is a necessity of his people being separate, being consecrated, not mingling with that which is unholy. Now that's the moral lesson of these verses, but there are also practical lessons in them.

So you see here the instructions for not sowing your vineyard with two kinds of seed. And that might seem helpful, that might seem beneficial, effective, but there can be problems. When you have different kinds of plantation now that grow at different speeds, that demand different nutrients that might even rob one another of those nutrients, you get a hint of that in one of Jesus's parables. Right? Where you have the wheat and the tares growing together and how that made farming much more difficult.

So the the practical instruction here in many cases is that if you don't do this right, you can actually be inefficient. And this can be even more frustrating for you than it needs to be. Farming itself is difficult, don't make it more challenging. That practical wisdom continues with the next command. Don't put an ox with a donkey under one yoke.

Why? Those are two different beasts that that function differently. Right? Different strengths, different capacities, different abilities. You put them together, they're gonna get frustrated.

And that's gonna make your work inefficient and more frustrating. Okay. What about the last one? Don't mix wool with linen. Again, we gotta think deeply about this here, or else we're just gonna feel intimidated when people bring this up to us and say, I don't know what it means for me as a Christian.

No. No. No. You have to look deeper into this. Would you wear wool when it's hot or when it's cold?

Usually, when it's cold, you're wool wool. Right? What do you usually wear when it's hot outside? Would it be linen or wool? Okay.

So to mix wool and linen would do what? It would cause these materials to essentially work against each other. Wool is meant for one thing, linen is meant for another. That to put these things together would work against the purposes that they were designed for. So you have these bullet point form kind of illustrations, real instructions but deeper truths behind them and telling us, don't make life more frustrating for yourself as a Christian.

Don't. Don't do anything, don't mingle with individuals that make you fruitless, less effective, stronger. You want to be able to give all that you can and that includes being very wise in who you yoke yourself to, who you mingle your life with. And so you have Joram here, who has no problem yoking himself to Isaiah, but Isaiah from the line of David should have been much more cautious. Maybe it wasn't his choice to be mingled with his family, but he did have a choice of setting up the boundaries and not making his part, work against him by participating actively with this dynasty.

And so what you're gonna discover here is that this man is gonna get himself in trouble. He's gonna lose out so much. He only reigned one year. But here's the positive thing. In choosing to trust God's wisdom, the opposite will be true.

That you can position yourself for a more prosperous and protective flourishing of an abundant life. And that's actually what you see in a subtle way in the next few verses of this story. So you have Ahaziah who chooses to link himself with Joram, but notice what happens here in verse 17, in second Kings nine. 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 Jeram said, take a horseman and send to meet them and let him say, is it peace?

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's not coming back. Then he sent out a second horseman who came to them and said, thus says or 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. So two horsemen are sent from Joram to inquire of the suspicious arrival. You have Jehu coming with a band of soldiers. Joerim's a little nervous, maybe confused.

Remember, this is one of his commanders. Is he here to bring good news about the war with Syria? But he is more suspicious than that. He wants to know, hey, are are you coming with peaceful intent? And both times, Jehu answers the same way.

He asked the rhetorical question, what do you have to do with peace? Now this can be understood in two ways. The first way is that he is simply confirming that he is not coming with peace. He's not coming for peace. He's coming with justified violent uprising.

But the second meaning here, I believe, it's a it's a it's a personal question to challenge these individual horsemen. In other words, you can almost translate it in the following way. Why do you want to be a part of this kingdom that is superficial and sinful? Why do you wanna be at peace with this kind of a system? If that's hard for you to understand that this is a personal challenge, notice that he follows it with an invitation to do what?

Right behind me. Join this side. What what do you have to do with this? And these horsemen, they chose wisely. So again, you see this contrast.

You have this king in Judah who chooses unwisely and you have these subordinate men who choose wisely and they choose to side on God's anointed one. But what's interesting here is when we consider it more for our own lives and in the context of the church, Jehu's question is a valid one for every sinner to ask themselves. Every person who knows they might know about the Lord, they know they might know about Christ, but they themselves know I am not aligned with this king, with his kingdom. I am a part of the worldly system, a way of life and unbelief. Ask yourself this, if that's you, that's you listening, why?

Why are you there? Why do you choose to be a part of that? Why not come to the side of truth? Why not give your life to Christ? Sincerely ask yourself that question.

Why? Why are you at peace with that which is against God? In enmity with God. In defiance of God. Why?

Now this is not just a question that we should ask sinners. This is a question that from time to time believers should ask themselves especially when they find themselves tempted with sin. I wanna show you one of my favorite verses to wield in times of temptation. It's another question in the new testament that Paul asked believers. So Jehu asked these horsemen questions.

Paul asked the Corinthian church another question that if you answer honestly will give you the strength to know great strides in your sanctification, especially when you're facing any kind of seduction. The book of Romans chapter six verse 21. Oh, memorize this one. What does Paul ask the believers then and now? But what fruit were you getting at the time from the things of which you are now ashamed?

For the end of those things is death. Do you understand the question? He he's speaking about how believers go from death to life and how they should die to sin. But I think it's totally appropriate to take this verse and make it a perpetual question for your own life whenever you are being seduced by sin. Ask yourself this, because listen, one of the reasons many fall into temptation is that they only think of the moment.

Is that not true? You're only thinking about now, what this can offer you in the short term. How often do people in the midst of temptation ask what? What is the end of this thing? Because that's what Paul says, for the end of those things is death.

Death. Think beyond the moment. Think beyond a month from now. Think beyond a year from now. Think long term.

What is this leading to? Where is this taking me? And if you can answer that with sincerity, you will be a lot more sober in how you are engaging with temptation. There are clues throughout the bible that indicate this. There there are so many clues to tell us.

One of the most famous ones is Hebrews 11 where we're told that sin is pleasurable. If it wasn't pleasurable, you wouldn't be tempted. Right? Let's be honest. Sin does have a level of pleasure attached to it, but what does he say in Hebrews?

But a season. It's but for a season. And that's that's an obvious verse, but here all these different ideas connected to it. One of the greatest things about the book of Proverbs is how practical it is, but I think sometimes people miss great themes in it. One of the greatest themes in the book of Proverbs connected to wisdom is adultery.

And he says something quite interesting in Proverbs chapter seven verse 17 where he quotes in great detail the seduction of the adulteress woman. And in one part, you read something that is insightful. Not just about adultery, but about sin at large. Listen to these words from Proverbs seven seventeen. The woman says to the naive man, I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

Come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight ourselves with love for my husband is not at home. He is gone on a long journey. She continues and there's more even before that. So she is seducing this young man.

Right? And she does so successfully. But in it, you see that she exposes the nature of this lust. In what way? Look at verse 18 again.

Come, let us take our fill of love until when? The morning. It only last till the morning. It's not true love. It doesn't really satisfy.

It's not constant. It's not God's will. It it doesn't offer the pleasure you think it offers. So even in this where she seems to be painting this wonderful picture that we're gonna have this intense moment of ecstasy all night long, what she's really saying is it has an expiration date and it's it's a lot sooner than you imagine. Doesn't go beyond the morning.

Sin is short lived with its satisfaction. And see, you have to see this in the Bible and you have to from time to time, if not every day ask yourself, not what does it give me now, what does it give me for these next few hours or until the next day. What's the end of it? What will it produce? What will it unleash?

And here's what you'll discover, that the consequences of sin always outlive the pleasure it offers. Always. No matter what the sin is, whether it's cheating on your finances, whether it's being a vile person, whether it's being a bully in the workplace, no matter what it is, it will always, the consequences, outlive the pleasure or the prosperity you may promise. Always. And the Holy Spirit helps us overcome sin by encouraging us to reflect what this has actually produced.

What's the ultimate outcome? And it didn't take very long for these two horsemen to get it. We're on the losing side. So let's switch over here to Jehu who is the Lord's anointed. And they do that.

So let's come back now to second Kings nine and discover what happens next. Verse 20 of second Kings nine. Again, the watchman reported he reached them, but he is not coming back. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously. Wow.

This guy had a reputation. The way he's driving that speed, that looks like it's Jehu's car. Good watchman. Verse 21, Jerim said, make ready and they made ready his chariot. Then Jeram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out each in his chariot and went to meet Jehu and met him at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.

Wow. Poetic justice. Providential justice. The very area, the very plot of land where Elijah prophesied the downfall of this house is where one of Ahab's descendants is gonna lose his life, and it's gonna trigger the downfall of this household altogether. Verse 22.

And when Jeram 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? Notice that he doesn't necessarily accuse Ahab, at least upfront. Primarily, this was Jezebel's doing. Then Joram reigned about and fled saying to Ahaziah, treachery, O Ahaziah.

And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and shot Joram between the shoulders so that the arrow pierced his heart and he sank in his chariot. Jehu said to Bidkar, his aide, take him up and throw him on the plot of the ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his father, how the Lord made this pronouncement against him, as surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, declares the Lord, I will repay you on this plot of ground. Now, therefore, take him up and throw him on the plot of ground in accordance with the word of the Lord. So based on this text, what we learn is that in first Kings 21 when Elijah confronted Ahab, Jehu and his assistant, Bidkar, were there.

They heard it with their own ears. And as they are fulfilling what God had told Jehu to do, they're they're making the connection of how God is fulfilling his word every every detail of it. And he's gonna continue to discover that in the rest of this chapter. But what I want you to see is the last part. Now therefore take him up and throw him on the plot of ground in accordance with the word of the Lord.

Jehu had an intense zeal to fulfill the word of the Lord. He heard it, but he's like, I wanna do it. I want I wanna fulfill every part of it. And this zeal is admirable. It's it's wonderful to see.

But I wanna give you, a heads up because Jehu's story is gonna continue in the next chapter and what you're gonna discover in second Kings 10 is that this man's zeal waned over time. As incredible as his obedience is, I mean, this is a gruesome thing to accomplish, to slaughter an entire family as an act of justice. That's not easy. He does it but then you get this strange commentary when you read the review of this man's life. And it's just in the next chapter.

I want you to see it. Just to be prepared. And it teaches a wonderful thing about finishing well. Look at second Kings 10 briefly at verse 31. And consider this commentary about this king.

Second Kings ten thirty one, bay but Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel with all his heart. That's the key. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin. It's almost unthinkable. He was raised up by God to destroy the house of Ahab for it to become like the house of Jeroboam and the house of Baasha that promoted idolatry in the land and yet we're told about this very one that he did not separate himself from those very sins.

The Bible is very honest. Very honest. And this is meant to sober us. He started with incredible precise passion, but he didn't finish strong. Finish well.

Finish for his glory. Ask him day by day to supply the grace to end with a greater zeal than you had before. He's faithful to provide that. Verse 27 of second Kings nine. When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled in the direction of Beth Hagen.

And Jehu pursued him and said, shoot him also. And they shot him in the chariot at the ascent of Ger, which is by Ibliam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there. His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David. In the eleventh year of Joiim, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.

So Ahaziah dies. And you read these details associated with him and you might be wondering why why are we told about his lineage? It's not accidental. It's not just practice for historians. I believe it's also to remind us something about Ahaziah's heritage and how that did not shield him from God's wrath.

Does that make sense? He had a rich spiritual lineage, but that did not protect him from God's discipline. Why? Because God will evaluate your life on a personal level, on an individual basis. So you and I cannot claim the faith of our parents.

We cannot claim the faith of our spouses. We cannot claim the faith of our siblings who are spiritual and mighty examples. You you cannot hide behind the recommendation of your pastor or any other spiritual leader. The Lord will look at your life and mine and evaluate our decisions with whatever knowledge we had concerning his will. It's as simple as that.

So he was a descendant of David, but he only reigned one year. Was that God's will for him? It wasn't God's will for him. In fact, when you read the parallel account, we don't have to turn there in second Chronicles, what you learn is that for those who might think, and there are those who might think, I think Jehu went a little too far. Because he was instructed to kill the household of Ahab.

So why is he why is he assassinating Ahaziah, who's the king of Judah? And that debate is settled when you go to second Chronicles and realize that the Holy Spirit says this was approved by God. In other words, God ordained for Ahaziah to die in this way. But we're gonna spend most of our time in the last portions of second Kings nine. That's why I'm reading through these verses.

Verse 30. When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. Pause. So we have, Joram who's been put to death. You have Isaiah who's been killed.

But we realized that Jezreel is not emptied yet. Jezebel is in town. She didn't go away completely, did she? No. No.

No. She's here and that's no surprise to us. Why? Because Jezreel was where the palace of the royal family was. So Jezebel is here, the main troublemaker.

And what do we learn about Jezebel? How she responds to the news of Jehu coming into town as God's judgment. She painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window. She put on makeup. I'm not against makeup.

I just don't think this is the most appropriate time to put on eyeliner and concealer and whatever other things people put on their faces. She's putting on makeup for what? I'll tell you for what. This is a symbolic gesture of her defiance of God's word. For her to do this, for her to adorn herself and to put on all of this is meant to communicate that she is upholding her perceived dignity.

And that even though she heard that Jehu is coming, even though she likely heard that Jerram was put to death and Isaiah was killed, she wants to show that she is somehow still in control. You can even say she's trying to seduce him, but I don't think that's the case because of what she says. But more than anything else, this is her making a statement. I'm still the queen here. And it doesn't matter what God wants, I'm gonna just treat this like any other day.

So let me put on my makeup, let me put on my crown, and let me look out the window as I would any other day. And what happens? She's gonna have a confrontation with Jehu, but we're meant to see something about this woman's heart, the the extent of her calloused heart. Because this is not the only time where she received a visitation in Jezreel. So Mount Carmel where there's that awesome showdown between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, God unmistakably shows up with superior power.

Baalism is destroyed at least to an extent. And the people bow their knee and say, the Lord, he is God. And now, Elijah is gonna make his way to Jezreel and to announce this to Jezebel himself or at least to go to Jezreel to anticipate repentance. So go to first Kings 19. And just in case you need to see it, look at the last verse of first Kings 18, right before first Kings 19.

First Kings eighteen forty six, and the hand of the Lord was on Elijah and he gathered up his garment and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. So Elijah made his way to Jezreel. And what happens in verse one of the next chapter? Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.

So from the days of Elijah when he came to Jezreel to her last day on earth, this woman is determined to die before she submits to the truth. She didn't submit to it when Elijah came with grace. Was it not grace for God to come in the way that he came without destroying her and her husband? Yes, it was grace. It was a mighty move of God.

It did bring about some judgment on the prophets of Baal, but not on the instigator. And so she had a chance to see this display of majesty and for it to melt her heart and say, yes, the Lord he is a true God. What does she do? She says, you're a dead man. And I'm quick and I'm ready to die before I give in to you and your cause.

And then when God sends another man to Jezreel, Jehu, not with grace but with what? Judgment. It doesn't move her either. So no matter what you gave this woman, she would not budge and there are people like that. There are people like that.

Doesn't matter what kind of miracle of mercy. It doesn't matter what kind of thunderous warning. They will not give themselves over to the gospel. And that's just a tragic reality, a tragic truth that the Bible tells us of. So the Lord spares this woman before, she doesn't give in.

And time goes on, she doesn't repent. And now even on her final day, instead of preparing her heart, you know what she does? She prepares her face to look at this man and to say, what do you got for me? Now interestingly, she doesn't just do something with her eyes. If you're not convinced that this woman is diamond hard against the truth, look at her words in verse 31.

And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master? You can can't you feel the vitriol in that one sentence? It just feels mean and ugly and vicious because she is vicious. But I was curious when I read this. It sounds mean, but I don't wanna just go with how it sounds.

I wanna know what it means. Out of all the things that she she could have called Jehu, she calls him a Zimri. Any idea what a Zimri is? Well, it's not a thing. He's a person.

Have we ever read about Zimri before? If you've been with us in Kings, yes, you'll remember. If you don't remember, go back to the account of Zimri and we'll make sense of why she calls him this. So in first king 16, look at verse eight. This is a chapter where you see the sequence of kings, predecessors and those who succeed the former.

And we learn of this man, Zimri, how he came to the throne in Israel. Look at first Kings sixteen eight. It says here in the twenty sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah, the son of Baasha, began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots conspired against him. Then he was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arzah who was over the household in Tirzah.

Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him in the twenty seventh year of Asa king of Judah and reigned in his place. So you can actually answer this. What commonalities do you see between Zimri and Jehu? He killed the predecessor. Right?

He killed the king that was occupying the throne. Yes. True. What else? What was Jehu's occupation?

He was one of the commanders of the army. And what was Zimri's occupation? Also, he was also a commander of half his chariots. So both her commanders both murdered their way or killed their way to the throne. So it makes some sense at least to why she's calling out of all the things she could have called Jehu, Zimri.

You are a Zimri, but it's deeper than that. Because we learn more about Zimri in verse 15. Look at first Kings sixteen fifteen. In the twenty seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbon, which belonged to the Philistines.

And the troops who were encamped heard it said, Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king. Therefore, all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. So Omri went up to Gebethon and all Israel with him and they besieged Tirzah. And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house over him with fire and died. He commits suicide.

So Zimri was a self appointed king. The people learned that he conspired and they're like, we don't want Zimri, we want Omri. So they make Omri the king. Omri is ready now to remove Zimri from the throne and as he makes his way to Zimri, Zimri learns of this. He goes, this is a lost cause.

There's no way I have a chance. The nation's behind Omri, so he burns the house over him and he dies. Who's Omri? Who is he related to? Ahab.

Ahab is his son. Omri is the father of Ahab. So now, there's a deeper sting to Jezebel's words. When she calls Jehu Zimri, she's not just saying you're doing what Zimri did, she's also saying your fate is gonna be like Zimri's fate. Why?

How long did Zimri last for on the throne? Not a year, a week. So essentially, I believe what Jezebel is saying is, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. I see you're conspiring, but you're not gonna last very long and the house of Ahab is gonna make a comeback. A very vicious woman, clever, but vicious.

You're a Zimri. And this woman was not just angry, not just offensive. By saying this, she's also defying God's word concerning the fate of the house of Ahab. God said it's gonna be destroyed and she thinks it's not gonna last very long. And this reveals just how vile and rebellious she was.

And there's so much application that we can draw from this, but I wanna look at it from Jehu's perspective. Why? Because Jehu is doing what God told him to do. He's not on a personal vendetta here. He's he's not doing things on his own.

God told him to do what he's doing here. And as he seeks to obey the Lord and as he's making ground and as he's advancing, he is confronted with the threats of a woman who wants to make him fearful, one, two, doubt God's word for himself. By calling him as Zimmer, we're saying she's saying is your fate is gonna be like that man. There's gonna be no success to your campaign, at least long term. And so Jehu is hearing this and I think Satan's strategy is no different.

As you and I seek to obey the Lord with that zeal that we see in this man, you should expect also the amplifying lies of Satan to cause you to fear for yourself and to doubt God's word. Is that not a satanic strategy that we see here? Many people are fearful in their obedience. And many people even as they obey, especially when they're the threshold of obeying, they might be visited by doubts. Is this really what the Lord wants me to do?

Is this really the best option? Is this really, really what God asks of me? Even though it's clear. So Jezebel here is imitating the evil one where where she has no issue just like Satan. Right when you're about to do something for the Lord, to whisper in your ear and to convince you otherwise.

And where you're supposed to find inspiration is in this man. Yes, even though we learn in the next chapter that he he's not the greatest inspiration, we see at this point that he hears us and what? He's completely unfazed. How do we know that? Look at verse 32.

And he lifted up his face to the window and said, who is on my side? Who? Two or three eunuchs looked out at him. He doesn't even pay attention to her. He doesn't pay attention to her face.

He doesn't pay attention to her words. He is completely consumed with his mission. Unmoved. And this is something that you and I should strive for. That we should be rock solid in our confidence as we obey the Lord.

Nothing should make you afraid. Nothing should make you doubt. And so he just continues on. I wonder what she did pulling her hair because it didn't do anything to the man. Says, who's on my side up there?

Two or three eunuchs pop up their heads. You know, obviously unsatisfied with her reign and they're ready to betray her. So notice what he says in verse 33. He said throw her down. So they threw her down and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses and they trampled on her.

Now pause here for a moment. I'm about to read the next few verses, the concluding verses of this chapter. Very graphic. Very graphic. But the purpose of the nature of this is to show us the extent of God's displeasure with this woman, with the house of Ahab, and just how severe his judgment is on those who not just have sinned against God without repentance but have refused to repent though God has revealed himself in so many gracious ways.

So let me read this and then expound on it. Verse 34. Then he went in and ate and drank and he said, see now to this cursed woman and bury her for she is a king's daughter. But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. And when they came back and told him, he said, this is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite.

In the territory of Jezreel, the dog shall eat the flesh of Jezebel. And the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel so that no one could say this is Jezebel. So a lot of success in one day for Jehu in fulfilling his mission. He asked the eunuchs to push the woman off. She's thrown out of the window.

She falls and her blood splatters everywhere. And to ensure that she's dead, Jehu has the horse's trample on her body. He takes a time to refresh himself and to symbolize his achievement. He goes into the palace that was once occupied by these evil people and he he has a meal. And while he's eating inside the palace, the dogs are eating Jezebel outside the palace.

And it dawns on him, you know, she's technically still royalty and so by way of tradition, our culture would ask of this, let's bury her. Let's give her some kind of a proper burial. Send servants out, they go out and they recognize that she's virtually gone. Why? The dogs ate her flesh.

And The only thing that's left is her her her cranium, her feet and the palms of her hands. Why? I wouldn't allegorize it, but I think the best explanation is that God, in allowing this to happen, wanted to show that even these dangerous ravenous dogs that would eat anything to survive survive found Jezebel displeasurable. Even these beasts of the streets could not stomach her. And so he learns this and it dawns on him again.

This is what the Lord said. In the territory of Jezreel, the dog shall eat the flesh of Jezebel until she's not recognized. She would not have an honorable end. And so he realizes that God keeps his word. And there's much to say about this, but here's where I wanna end when we realize that Jezebel is no more.

Is this the last that we read of Jezebel? You know the answer very well. No, it's not. We don't find her again in the Old Testament, though we find her in the very last book of the New Testament library, where she, by name, is brought up by the Lord in one of the churches for being a false prophetess and seducing the people of God to sexual immorality and idolatry. And it's not that Jezebel was there in the church of Thyatira.

It's not like she reincarnated. But there was something so similar about this particular woman in that church that she was crowned with this name. And it wasn't an honorable crowning. She imitated this woman, she had the same spirit of this woman, and she was producing the same vile outcomes as Jezebel did when ruling in the kingdom of Israel. Here's what this tells me in our study of second Kings.

Jezebel was not just a threat to the kingdom of Israel, she's still a threat to the church. She is still a threat to the church of Jesus Christ. Say, what are you talking about? I'm talking about what the book of Revelation tells us. You can conclude in Revelation chapter two that she remains an ever present danger to believers.

And you might be wondering how that's possible. I'm here to explain it. Let's turn there as we close this bible study together, Revelation chapter two. And look there in verse 20. But I have this against you that you tolerate that woman Jezebel who calls herself prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual morality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.

I gave her time to repent. God even gives false prophetesses time to repent. But she refuses to repent of her sexual morality. Behold, I will throw her into a sick bed and those who commit adultery with her. I don't think this is necessarily speaking about physical adultery, but spiritual adultery.

And those who commit adultery with her, I will throw into great tribulation unless they repent of her works and I will strike her children dead. So here's the danger. There are individuals, particularly women, who will rise to positions of leadership in local churches. And because of their authority, they will seek to seduce God's servant through distorted teachings, leading them to violate God's word as a result. Don't think that Jezebel is just in the church of Thyatira.

The fact that she's mentioned in one of the churches after the resurrection ascension of Jesus means that you can expect her to pop up in different churches even in twenty twenty five. And there are some people who are tolerating Jezebels. They're not honoring God's structure of leadership in the church. And they're willing to receive words from someone who is charismatic enough, spiritual supposedly enough, where they are submitting to something that is ultimately satanic. And so what we learn of second Kings is that this is not just a study of ancient times.

This is also a study of what you and I should be mindful of even today. That there are people like Jezebel, not just men. There are women who are rebellious and hateful and long for authority where God told them that they don't have authority, so that they can implement things that God told them not to implement. And we should be aware of that. So let's end it this way.

If God is so willing to be patient with such a woman as this, how much more is he willing to be patient towards us? He is so kind and he is so loving and he is so patient and he calls us. So if you're here today even at this bible study and you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, can I ask you something? Why? Why?

Why are you at peace with that which is at war with God? Why do you stand on your feet before the cross and not bow your knee before the cross? Why have you not received forgiveness for your sins? Why have you not allowed the free gift of God in Christ Jesus to wash over you? Why do you still hold on to that which will condemn you?

Why? Ask yourself and think beyond the moment. Think for eternity. Think about why you were created. Think about God's purpose for your life and think is it worth forfeiting it for me being God of my life.

And me giving into the things that have never truly satisfied me. This will ultimately condemn me. Think. Think and ask yourself, why? You will never know true peace until you submit to the Prince of Peace.

And he's waiting for you to do that. Let's seek him together. Lord, we thank you. We thank you for this bible study. We thank you that even in a historical account you speak to us presently, we ask you from the bottom of our hearts that our zeal for your command would live with us and in us.

It would not dissipate. It would not weaken. Lord, help us to do everything that's in accordance with your word. Lord, we love you and we honor you. We wanna just throw our hearts afresh before you and say have every part of it.

Our will, our minds, our thoughts, we give it all to you. We say please, Lord, have it all. Take it all. Lord, we thank you again for you have spoken to our hearts. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen and amen. Let's stand and worship the Lord. So in twenty eleven twenty eleven, I remember, you know, sometimes people when they share their testimony, there's like one major turning point, and that's completely valid. And, I think most of us can identify that. Some can't.

Some are like, I don't know if I have a testimony. I was born in the Christian faith almost. But I remember that in my story, there were many turning points. One of them was when the guilt of sin began to mount in my own conscience and was piling up in my heart, I try to manage it. I try to medicate it in so many different ways.

And there's one particular time where it was so overwhelming. It was my conscience was so loud that I was almost talking to myself. It was that intense. In one particular moment, I remember I was somewhere I shouldn't have been with people I shouldn't have been with. And in the middle of the night, I go into the bathroom, and I close the door, and I look in the mirror.

I'm like, what are you doing? What are you doing? And I remember that question, that honest question, was one of the major turning points for me. They didn't get me saved in that moment. I wish I could say that on that black bathroom floor, I gave my life to Christ.

I didn't. It just started with an honest question. What are you doing, man? You know you know the truth. You know it.

Why are you fighting against it? Why are you living like this? Why are you indulging in this? I just stared at myself for a while. My heart was racing.

I just knew it. I was I was drowning in sin. Sometimes oftentimes, a good, honest look at yourself and asking, why am I here? What am I why am I doing this? How much longer?

It can do some good. It can do some good. You know, there's talk about this ban for TikTok. Right? I've met enough people to know that, god can even use TikTok to bring them to Christ.

So as much as I have my issues with TikTok, god can redeem anything. But if they do ban it, I I won't be too upset about it. I'll tell you why. Because I think Satan has done a wonderful job of distracting a generation so much that they don't even ask these questions anymore. They're just numbing their minds with entertainment.

You know, like, it's becoming more of a rarity for a message to be forty minutes, Forty five minutes. And these gurus and evangelicalism will say, you can't teach forty five minutes. People won't listen to you. You gotta bite size it, man. Twenty minutes, twenty five minutes tops.

Now if God's gift you to preach twenty five minutes, that's great. I just can't do it. I can't. I'm sorry. I I can't.

So I fail in that area. But don't get so distracted to the point where you don't ask the questions that matter most. And that's true for you if you're in here and you don't know Christ Jesus as your lord, and that's true for us as believers where we should continually ask questions, talk to the lord, examine our hearts, not in a way that kills you with introspection, but in a way that positions you to be where God wants you to be. Lord, we thank you for this time. Lord, I thank you for this church.

I thank you for my brothers and sisters in this place. I thank you that, Lord, even through difficult passages, we can rejoice together because it's your truth, It's your will. It's your mind. It's it's your word. Lord, we pray that you protect the the purity of this bible study.

Lord, the intimacy of it, the the hunger that we have, Lord, may it only intensify. Lord, help us help us ask the right questions at the right time using your word as the litmus test at all points. Lord, if there's even one person here who doesn't know you, may tonight be the night. And for us who know you but we're not supposed to be where we are, show us the answers, oh god, to bring us to the fullness of your purpose. We love you.

We honor you. Thank you for who you are. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.

And amen. Amen.