The kings of both kingdoms, Israel and Judah, meet their
demise on the same day. Jehu, after his
anointing by the servant of Elisha, carries out his mission to kill Joram, king
of Israel, son of Ahab and Jezebel and it happens that the king of Judah,
Ahaziah, is there also. All this takes
place at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite.
Remember Naboth? He was the man who owned a vineyard in Jezreel who
would not sell it to Ahab, who wanted it for a garden, because the property was
his family’s inheritance from the original conquest of the land. Jezebel had two worthless men come forward to
accuse him of something and he was killed.
The killing of Ahab’s son on this ground redeems and avenges that event
but the entire redemption awaits the death of Jezebel. Fitting that two eunuchs, perhaps they were so
at her command, throw her down to her death.
In addition to the avenging of Naboth, when Jehu hears that the dogs
have eaten Jezebel’s corpse he sees that Elijah is also avenged on this woman
as his prophecy is fulfilled.
The model for prayer Jesus gives the disciples is
simplicity. There is depth in the prayer
that must be considered and I wonder why we so blithely repeat it in worship
when it was clearly intended for serious consideration. From the start, the prayer recognizes certain
things, that our relationship with God is Father but we hallow His Name and beg
for His kingdom to come and see the reunification of heaven and earth as the
place where His will is done. That is
recognition of the world’s problem, that His will isn’t being done, a reminder
that we live in a post-Genesis 3 world that needs redemption. We acknowledge then our complete dependence
on Him in all things, including our daily bread. We ask for Him to forgive us
because we know we need it but that forgiveness presumes that we are people who
forgive others, as though our forgiveness somehow serves as an example for Him
to follow. We know, however, that He
makes the first move in that regard and that there is promise of forgiveness,
right from Exodus 34 when He makes self-disclosure that He is a forgiving
God. We then recognize we have an enemy,
and we need protection and deliverance. The
prayer calls us to theological depth of understanding but it also keeps all
things simple. It is all based in His
Word but, like the commandments to love God and neighbor, requires us to
consider all He has said on the matter and all He has done to show us the
truth.
Paul reckons that the power of sexual desire is great and
can cause the downfall of a marriage. He
counsels that married people have a regular sex life and reminds each partner
that their body isn’t under their own authority, it is given to the other. His fear is that if sex is not a normal part
of married life the power of that desire will lead to immorality, sex outside
marriage. In all things, Paul counsels
self-control for those who are unmarried.
What he also says is that unmarried life and self-control are actually
preferable and only if you cannot exercise self-control should you get
married. Part of this is that he
believed in the imminent coming of the kingdom of God but he is also writing to
a sex-obsessed culture in Corinth and calling them to a different sexual ethic,
he is trying to say that sexual desire need not dominate our lives. It is possible to determine not to indulge
our passions and lusts and instead give ourselves fully to the Lord. Praying for the coming of the kingdom of God
is spiritual warfare against Jezebel’s kingdom in our world today.
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