2 Kings 9:21,24: “Then Joram said, ‘Make ready.’ And his chariot was made ready. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out to meet Jehu, and met him on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite . . . Now Jehu drew his bow with full strength and shot Joram between his arms; and the arrow came out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot.”

August 3rd, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Neither Joram king of Israel nor Ahaziah king of Judah were walking in the ways of the Lord, but were following the ways of Ahab, who had led the people of Israel into false idol worship, and whose wife, Jezebel, had killed many of the Lord’s prophets. Ahaziah, king of Judah, was the son of Ahab’s daughter, and 2 Chronicles 22:3 tells us that “he walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother advised him to do wickedly.”

God told the prophet Elisha to go and anoint Jehu, a captain in Israel’s army to be king over Israel. And then Jehu went out to meet Joram, king of Israel, and Ahaziah was with him. God providentially brought the two current kings to meet Jehu at the very spot where Ahab and Jezebel had Naboth killed in 1 Kings 21. Jehu obviously saw himself as righteously doing God’s work since the prophet Elijah had foretold these events (1 Kings 19). King Joram tried to flee but Jehu was very skilled with the bow. Jehu was responsible for the deaths of Joram, Ahaziah, and Jezebel, thus fulfilling Elijah’s prophecies. These events serve to remind us that God will eventually bring judgment on all those who reject His rule over their lives.

Sometimes judgment comes here on planet earth, and sometimes it will not come until the last judgment, but God will judge all of humanity at some point. How we need to throw ourselves on the mercy of God here and now. As Jesus said so clearly in Matthew 21:44, “And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” It is our choice to fall on the rock and be broken before God, or for the rock to fall on us and be “ground” or destroyed. If we will fall on the cornerstone of salvation, Jesus, He will break us for our good. That breaking brings us to repentance, faith, healing, and freedom. But when the judgment of God falls on someone who has rejected Him, it will grind that person to powder without hope.

There is an illustration of being hidden in Christ that comes from the days of the pioneers as they made their way across one of the central states. They traveled in covered wagons and progress was slow. One day they were horrified to note a long line of smoke stretching for miles across the prairie. The dried grass was burning fiercely and coming toward them rapidly. They had crossed a river the day before but it would have been impossible to get back to it before the flames would be on them. A man gave the command to set fire to the grass behind them. When a space was burned over, the whole company moved back upon it. As the flames roared on toward them from the west, a little girl cried out, “Are you sure we shall not all be burned up?” The leader replied, “My child, the flames cannot reach us here, for we are standing where the fire has been!” What a perfect picture of the believer, who is safe in Jesus Christ!

“Thank You, LORD, for taking on the cross the punishment we deserved. Amen and amen.