Not getting what I deserve

 

READ 2 Kings 9–13

I keep asking the Lord to give me a single thought each day, something practical, but He continues to show me a pattern in these OT books, a large truth that brings either conviction or joy. Today, I see the trend of evil being thwarted by God often through others who often were just as evil. The stories are gross in detail yet I realize that apart from the saving grace of God, I am no less deserving of the same end.

First, Jehu came to Jezreel and Jezebel “painted her eyes and adorned her head” to address him from a high window. He told servants that were on his side to, “Throw her down and they threw her down. And some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled on her.” He had a meal then said she was a king’s daughter and should be buried, “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. 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 dogs 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 can say, This is Jezebel.’ ” (2 Kings 9:30–37)

As sickening as this is, I realize that apart from Jesus Christ taking my sin and dying for me, I should receive no less a fate. My sins are different from hers, but sin is sin and worthy of wrath.

Jehu wasn’t finished. He called for the death of all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and his close friends and his priests. He had Ahab’s sons beheaded, and left none remaining. (10:4–11) Then he “met the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah” and had all forty-two of them slaughtered. After that, he “struck down all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had wiped them out, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke to Elijah.” (10:13–17)

Then he tricked the prophets of Baal by pretending to align with them. He called for an assembly and when all of them “entered the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other” he said to the guard and to the officers, “Go in and strike them down; let not a man escape.” These pagan worshipers were killed and their place of worship burned and used as a latrine. (10:18–27)

Yet even in all this, “Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin. In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel. Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel.” (10:30–32)

Jehoiada the priest continued to deal with Baal worshipers and evil leaders, instructing Jehoash, the boy made a king in Judah, to do “what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days” because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. (12:2) But God’s anger was “kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael.” However . . .

Jehoahaz sought the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. (Therefore the Lord gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly. Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained in Samaria.) (13:3–6)

Then Elisha died but the power of God was with his remains. When a burial was interrupted by a marauding band of Moabites, the body was “thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.” (13:20–21)

I identify with the sinners in these accounts, but also realize the power of God to deal with sin and deliver His people according to His plan. No one earns or deserves mercy, yet because of Jesus, God will not have me thrown out a window, eaten by dogs, slaughtered by sword or spear, or given over to any enemies. He kindly convicts me of sin like a father corrects his child, and blesses me with the assurance that I am forgiven. Reading these stories brings me to worship and puts peace in my heart. I cannot think of anything more practical than that!