Throw her down!

“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. (2 Kings 9:33)

 

God gives man love but at the same time strictly practices justice. In general, people want to have love, but they don’t care much about justice. It is the justice that God, the perfect justice itself, is practically applied to human life. By accepting it, justice acts as judgement to a person. Speaking again, man is subject to judgment in the position of accepting God’s justice. Therefore, if you want to have God’s love, you have to keep faith in the attitude of respecting justice. We can understand God’s incredibly strict judgement, by seeing the miserable deaths of Ahab and Jezebel in the Bible. Be sure to know this one thing, “God’s judgment does not mean destruction but salvation through the execution of justice.”

 

Ahab reigned BC876 to 854, was the son of Omri the sixth king of northern Israel, and became the seventh king, as written in 1 Kings 16:28. In the eyes of the Lord, he did more evil than all who had done before, as in 1 Kings 16:30. And Jezebel the wife of Ahab served Baal, the daughter of Ethbaal the king of the Sidonians, killed many prophets of Israel, and even tried to kill Elijah the great prophet. She put Naboth to death by the stone of the crowd, by setting up a false witness to take away Naboth’s vineyard for Ahab. However, God justly punished Ahab and Jezebel for their sins and made them die.

God’s judgment is objectively fair, but it would be frightening and miserable for men. So people may usually think of God to be afraid of. The judicial power that people set and implement needs to be rigid and flexible. The rigor of justice requires fair performance, and recognition and circumstances must be accompanied by flexibility. The application of both the rigor and flexibility may vary slightly depending on the judge, because people are imperfect beings. But there can be no defect or error in God’s word and His practice. We need to have the faith able to see that God is so. It is a legitimate duty of faith to have a will to bear even fair punishment for one’s own wrongdoing, if we believe in God’s love.

What Jesus’ crucifixion shows is love and justice. The Lord sent the Son of God into the world to save people, because the Lord loved them. Jesus knew what His mission as the Son was, but He was afraid of the pain of death and punishment. So He prayed painfully that the sweat on His forehead would bleed in the Gethsemane. “Abba, Father,” He said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” in Mark 14:36. It was Jesus’ conclusion that He wanted the salvation of love to be achieved by the realization of justice. That is just the duty of Jesus’ crucifixion.

God used Jehu to punish Ahab and Jezebel. All creatures, including humans, belong in the hands of God and are mobilized for the execution of providence. Some people argue that it is unacceptable for a man of free will to be ruled by someone. Those who say so may appear to be very strong and cool to others. But they will also be weakened as time goes by, and one day they will die. And yet, they make excuses that it’s just natural destiny. If they believe in Christ and change their thoughts, everything will be understood and refreshed. But why are they being so stubborn?

Jehu was the army minister of King Ahab and a subordinate of King Joram son of Ahab. Jehu killed Joram and Ahab’s 70 sons, and Jezebel was thrown out of the window by her servants and killed miserably. The miserable situation of the Omri family was the result of God’s prophecy through Elijah. Nothing was found but Jezebel’s skull and feet and hands, when they found the body to bury her.

 

People usually follow the trend for their own benefit. When Jezebel’s servants knew the forces of Jehu who took a successful chance, being well aware of Jezebel’s evil deeds, they were relentless in betraying their hostess. All the world and histories are governed so strictly by God’s hand of justice. It has come true as the prophet prophesied, “On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh, and her body will be in the field like dung.” Not to be used as a tool of Satan, but to be a man captured by Jesus’ Spirit.

 

(Written by Koonoh, Pastor of JDO Presbyterian Church in Korea, on May 17th 2020)