May the mumbling commence!
Sooner or later, the consequences of our bad behaviors
will catch up with us. Though we may
think we are “getting away with something”, we will find that we are getting
away with nothing. Read the final
chapter of the life of Jezebel from Second Kings chapter nine:
When Jezebel, the queen mother, heard that
Jehu had come to Jezreel, she painted
her eyelids and fixed her hair and sat at a window. When Jehu entered
the gate of the palace, she shouted at him, "Have you come in peace, you murderer? You are just
like Zimri, who murdered his master!"
Jehu looked up and saw her at the window
and shouted, "Who is on my side?" And two or three eunuchs looked out
at him. "Throw her down!" Jehu
yelled. So they threw her out the window, and some of her blood spattered
against the wall and on the horses. And Jehu trampled her body under his
horses' hooves.
Then Jehu went into the palace and ate and drank.
Afterward he said, "Someone go and bury this cursed
woman, for she is the daughter of a king." But when they went out to bury her, they
found only her skull, her feet, and her hands.
When they returned and told Jehu, he stated, "This
fulfills the message from the Lord,
which he spoke through his servant Elijah from Tishbe: 'At the plot of land in
Jezreel, dogs will eat Jezebel's flesh. Her
body will be scattered like dung on the field of Jezreel, so that no one will be able to recognize her.'"
(Verses 30-37)
Even at the end, Jezebel was trying to ply her womanly
trade. She tried to influence Jehu by
dolling herself up, but her rotten nature rose to the surface. She remained in her room, above Jehu. She talked down to him. She insulted him, calling him a murderer.
Jezebel had long since worn out her welcome. Her own servants betrayed her. They pushed her to her death. Jehu only made certain that she was indeed
dead.
In the end, Jehu remembered that Jezebel was the
daughter of a king, so he wanted to see that she got a proper burial. But it was too late. The body was already torn to meaningless
shreds by dogs – just as the Lord had predicted through Elijah the
prophet. In the end, rottenness will
catch up with us. So let’s purge all rottenness
and evil from our lives.
But, sometimes, we are forced to trust our lives to
corrupt power, because the alternative is immediate death at the hands of
religious fanatics. Read about Paul’s
appeal to Caesar from Acts chapter twenty-five:
Eight or ten days later he returned to Caesarea, and on
the following day Paul's trial began. On Paul's
arrival in court, the Jewish leaders from Jerusalem gathered around and made many serious accusations they couldn't
prove. Paul denied the
charges. "I am not guilty," he said. "I have committed no crime against the Jewish laws or the Temple
or the Roman government."
Then Festus, wanting to please the Jews, asked him, "Are you willing to go
to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there?"
But Paul replied, "No! This is the official Roman court, so I ought to
be tried right here. You know very well
I am not guilty. If I have done
something worthy of death, I don't refuse to die. But if I am innocent, neither
you nor anyone else has a right to turn me over to these men to kill me. I
appeal to Caesar!"
Festus conferred with his advisers and then replied, "Very well! You
have appealed to Caesar, and to Caesar you shall go!" (Verses
6-12)
Paul is ready to accept the consequences of his
behavior, but he wants to consequence to match his actual behavior. He knew that he would not get a fair trial –
if he got any trial at all – in Jerusalem.
So he appealed to the protection of Caesar. May we be such an effective witness to God in
such high places.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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