May the mumbling commence!
Shalom! It is the Hebrew word for peace. Shalom has a much deeper meaning than the absence of war. Shalom is caring for the well-being of all. Shalom requires a love for justice and forbids alliances based only upon might – because might does not equal right. King Ahab and his family made the assumption that might as the royal family equaled right. This fallacy would be their downfall, and the Lord knew it and spoke a prophecy through the lips of the prophet Elijah. In 2 Kings Chapter nine, we see how the tide begins to come in and destroy the family of Ahab. Read it below:
When Jehu went out to his fellow officers, one of them asked him, "Is everything all right? Why did this madman come to you?"
"You know the man and the sort of things he says," Jehu replied.
"That's not true!" they said. "Tell us."
Jehu said, "Here is what he told me: 'This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.'"
They hurried and took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, "Jehu is king!"
So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth Gilead against Hazael king of Aram, but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in the battle with Hazael king of Aram.) Jehu said, "If this is the way you feel, don't let anyone slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel." Then he got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel, because Joram was resting there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him.
When the lookout standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu's troops approaching, he called out, "I see some troops coming."
"Get a horseman," Joram ordered. "Send him to meet them and ask, 'Do you come in peace?'"
The horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, "This is what the king says: 'Do you come in peace?'"
"What do you have to do with peace?" Jehu replied. "Fall in behind me."
The lookout reported, "The messenger has reached them, but he isn't coming back."
So the king sent out a second horseman. When he came to them he said, "This is what the king says: 'Do you come in peace?'"
Jehu replied, "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me."
The lookout reported, "He has reached them, but he isn't coming back either. The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi-- he drives like a madman."
"Hitch up my chariot," Joram ordered. And when it was hitched up, Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him at the plot of ground that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. When Joram saw Jehu he asked, "Have you come in peace, Jehu?"
"How can there be peace," Jehu replied, "as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?"
Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, "Treachery, Ahaziah!"
Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot. Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, "Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his father when the Lord made this prophecy about him: 'Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, declares the Lord, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the Lord.' Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the Lord." (Verses 11-26)
What do you have to do with peace? It was a pertinent question for the family of Ahab. The question also falls at our feet. What do we have to do with peace? Seeking peace that God requires has great depth. It means more than being a conscientious objector to war.
Let’s ask the questions closer to home. How do we seek the well-being of our families, our neighborhoods, our cities..? We need to be honest with ourselves and with others. Domestic violence must be addressed as well as bullying and gang violence. And don’t neglect violence hidden through the privilege of influence and knowledge. Let’s not only speak for those that have no voice but let’s also instruct them and others so that everyone may have a voice in our society. It’s all about falling in behind the Lord.
May there no longer be invisible people!
Enough mumbling for today…
Peace Out
No comments:
Post a Comment