the king's justice

Good evening friends,
Today's reading is a prayer for Israel's King. Reading a prayer like this gives us a sense for how the writer imagines power should be used. The king should promote justice for all with special attention to those in need. When we think about Jesus as the King of creation, we see these same traits. How do we live these values in our lives and as a community?

God bless,
Sam

Psalm 72:1-9
¹Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to a king’s son.
²May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.
³May the mountains yield prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness.
⁴May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the needy, 
and crush the oppressor.
⁵May he live while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
⁶May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth.
⁷In his days may righteousness flourish and peace abound, until the moon is no more.
⁸May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
⁹May his foes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust.

Jehu is King!

Good morning friends,
Yesterday we read about how one of the young prophets working with Elisha anointed Jehu, a military commander, as King of Israel. Today we see what happens as a result. The passage starts out with the other officers asking what the prophets wanted. Even though they call him a "madman," as soon as Jehu tells them he has been anointed King, they accept that word and begin a rebellion. Jehu sees God's hand in his calling as he becomes king.

God bless,
Sam

2 Kings 9:11-26

¹¹When Jehu came back to his master’s officers, they said to him, “Is everything all right? Why did that madman come to you?” He answered them, “You know the sort and how they babble.” ¹²They said, “Liar! Come on, tell us!” So he said, “This is just what he said to me: ‘Thus says the Lord, I anoint you king over Israel.’” ¹³Then hurriedly they all took their cloaks and spread them for him on the bare steps; and they blew the trumpet, and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.”

¹⁴Thus Jehu son of Jehoshaphat son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. Joram with all Israel had been on guard at Ramoth-gilead against King Hazael of Aram; ¹⁵but King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him, when he fought against King Hazael of Aram. So Jehu said, “If this is your wish, then let no one slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.”

¹⁶Then Jehu mounted his chariot and went to Jezreel, where Joram was lying ill. King Ahaziah of Judah had come down to visit Joram. ¹⁷In Jezreel, the sentinel standing on the tower spied the company of Jehu arriving, and said, “I see a company.” Joram said, “Take a horseman; send him to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’” ¹⁸So the horseman went to meet him; he said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’” Jehu responded, “What have you to do with peace? Fall in behind me.” The sentinel reported, saying, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.” ¹⁹Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’” Jehu answered, “What have you to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”

²⁰Again the sentinel reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. It looks like the driving of Jehu son of Nimshi; for he drives like a maniac.” ²¹Joram said, “Get ready.” And they got his chariot ready. Then King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu; they met him at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. ²²When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace can there be, so long as the many whoredoms and sorceries of your mother Jezebel continue?”

²³Then Joram reined about and fled, saying to Ahaziah, “Treason, Ahaziah!” ²⁴Jehu drew his bow with all his strength, and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart; and he sank in his chariot. ²⁵Jehu said to his aide Bidkar, “Lift him out, and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember, when you and I rode side by side behind his father Ahab how the Lord uttered this oracle against him: ²⁶‘For the blood of Naboth and for the blood of his children that I saw yesterday, says the Lord, I swear I will repay you on this very plot of ground.’ Now therefore lift him out and throw him on the plot of ground, in accordance with the word of the Lord.”

Elisha continues the work

Good morning sisters and brothers,
We skip ahead in our story, but you'll notice that today's passage follows up on the events we've been reading about. We read how much injustice Ahab and Jezebel encouraged as King and Queen of Israel. We also saw how the Prophet Elijah opposed them. God told Elijah to anoint Elisha as his successor and told him he would also anoint Jehu as King of Israel. In today's reading Elijah has gone to heaven and Elisha has taken over his ministry. Elisha sends a younger prophet on a stealth mission to anoint Jehu as King of Israel.

Like when Samuel anointed David, there's great danger in anointing the next king while the current king is still ruling. In this case, part of the reason for anointing Jehu is to bring God's punishment on Ahab and his family. The best example of how Ahab and Jezebel earned God's anger is the story of Naboth's vineyard in 1 Kings 21, in which they take a vineyard from an innocent man by having him killed. The story continues in the passage below.

God bless,
Sam

2 Kings 9:1-10

Then the prophet Elisha called a member of the company of prophets and said to him, “Gird up your loins; take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth-gilead. ²When you arrive, look there for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi; go in and get him to leave his companions, and take him into an inner chamber. ³Then take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee; do not linger.”

⁴So the young man, the young prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead. ⁵He arrived while the commanders of the army were in council, and he announced, “I have a message for you, commander.” “For which one of us?” asked Jehu. “For you, commander.” ⁶So Jehu got up and went inside; the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, “Thus says the Lord the God of Israel: I anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. ⁷You shall strike down the house of your master Ahab, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord. ⁸For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. ⁹I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. ¹⁰The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and no one shall bury her.” Then he opened the door and fled.