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Do You Come in Peace?

2 Kings 9:22

When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Do you come in peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace can there be as long as there is so much prostitution and witchcraft from your mother Jezebel?”

Joram was the second son of Ahab who became king after his death. God had pronounced judgment on the house of Ahab for the abhorrent sin they committed in allowing Israel to fall to Baal worship and the injustice of killing an innocent man just because Ahab wanted his vineyard. Ahab did whatever Jezebel – an avid Baal worshiper – wanted, and the nation had turned from God. God had vowed to sweep away all the males from Ahab’s lineage and declared a violent death for Jezebel, where the dogs would eat her flesh. Without a doubt, Ahab’s house was one destined for disaster, and the question Joram asked Jehu was a very pertinent one indeed. Joram knew his days were numbered, even if he didn’t want to believe it. He was biding his time while keeping a watch for the shoe of judgment to fall.

“Do you come in peace?” asked Joram, who was very comfortable occupying the throne of a sin-filled nation who had turned from God. Joram might very well have asked his question this way: “Are you going to allow us to continue living as we are – in the middle of degradation and debauchery?” Perhpas, he could have worded his inquiry this way: “Have you come to tear away what is wrong in our lives so we will turn to God and live according to His will for us?” Joram clearly wanted things to stay the same as they had always been for him so he and his mother would be happy and comfortable. In his eyes, there was no need to change anything because Baal worship was working just fine for them. What it did for the nation and in God’s eyes did not matter. To Joram, peace was keeping the status quo of his corrupt condition.

When God takes over a life to transform it from a corrupt nature, He may very well send a Jehu to destroy the old order and create a new one. He will not allow us to live for Him and keep the sins of a past life that abhorred Him. He loves us too much to leave us in a sinful condition that will only disrupt and delay His perfect will and plan for us. He wants to trade our illusion of peace for His peace, which is lasting and productive. This might require the shaking or sifting of things that hinder our relationship with Him and could be uncomfortable, disappointing, or even downright painful to endure. One thing is for certain: it will require we leave the throne of our life and make Christ king.

Jehu’s response to Joram explained the situation well. There could be no real peace in Israel as long as God’s people engaged in prostitution and witchcraft, which were characteristic of Baal worship. They could no longer appease or arouse Baal and expect God to tolerate them. He had come to take over! No longer would they believe the lie that Baal blessed them because of their ungodly acts of illicit sex, manipulation, intimidation, and domination. In order to have real peace, they would have to give up the sins they had come to accept and enjoy.

Regardless of what the world may say, God determines what is sin and what is not. Jehu came to take away the reign of the ungodly in Israel, and Jesus came to free us from the bondage of sin. Breaking the chains of sin includes permanently forsaking the besetting sins we have befriended. Total transformation requires we completely turn to Christ and live for Him. We cannot live for Him and keep allegiance to a lesser god by practicing the things God clearly forbids in His word.

A Jezebel spirit compromises God’s word with the world. Jezebel places self on the throne and rules from what pleases her flesh while trying to appear good and acceptable to those who follow God. Selfishness never produces peace; it stirs up strife because it serves self at the cost of others. There can never be peace as long as a Jezebel is on the throne, and God has declared to permanently remove her. Christ has not come for the peace of Jezebel; He has come to give us peace. Rejoice today that He has the power to overthrow evil in your life and give it the godly order that will truly bless you, keep you, protect you, sustain you, provide for you, and make you victorious over the enemy. Christ, alone, is worthy of your worship, and until He is all that you worship, you will have no real peace.

Have a blessed day!

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