Last week I finished off what many consider to be the greatest western novel of all time, Lonesome Dove. At a thick 900 pages, it is quite the saga indeed. At its center, an epic 3,000 mile cattle drive to inhabit an unclaimed land. And along the way, love, loss, death, and drama occur to men and women searching for adventure. But at the true core of the book is the characters. Any well written, timeless novel must be able to establish colorful, vibrant, individuals. And they must do it with only words on a page. A tough feat to be sure. But the characters did indeed leap off the page, developed all the way from the tiny little Texas border town of Lonesome Dove to the wide-open plains of Montana. Gus, Captain Call, Newt, Bol, Dish, Lorrie, Jake and Blue Duck. Just typing their names stirs the memories in my mind. I recall the struggles, the triumphs, and the heartbreaks they each experienced on that long trail of life.
But why do we approach our Bible so differently? We’ll read a good book and invest time into getting the know the characters, but in the Bible we’ll speed read a complicated chapter and then quickly put it down, ready to easily concede that we are confused and have no idea what is going on. And some will repeat this so much that they feel the entire Bible is outdated, irrelevant and so difficult they give up forever. The old adage rings true here, you get out what you put in.
Marge and I are enjoying being university students again. Seminary is challenging yet rewarding. It brings to the forefront again the harsh reality that you do indeed get out what you put in. We just had our fist mid-term exam in Hermeneutics and the test was 80 questions that covered 18 hours of lectures. Although it sounds difficult, the formula for success in school is tremendously simple. Watch all the lectures, take great notes, study those notes ad nauseum and then take the test. If you do these steps well, you will do well on the test. If you don’t, well, you’ll get some grades like I did back in the day. Whether you’re studying Hermeneutics, Business Law, or God’s Word, the formula doesn’t change.
Today we see a chapter of historical narrative in God’s Word that takes some effort. The books of Kings both move quickly, one evil king killing the next only to be murdered by someone else in the next paragraph. And their names are not quite what 21st century Americans are familiar with. Combine all of this together with a text that was translated from 800 B.C. Aramaic and Hebrew and you’ve got a challenge on your hands. But don’t give up, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Attack it small piece by small piece and with the aid of the Holy Spirit and proper effort and resources, you’ll glean amazing wisdom and Godly principles out of passages that most will quickly give up on. And also, keep this in mind as you’re ready to quickly dismiss difficult or seemingly unimportant passages… God put them in the Bible for a very specific reason.
Today in 2 Kings chapter 9 we have a cast big enough to fill a Broadway stage. Jehu, Jehoshaphat, Joram, Jezreel, Jezebel, Naboth, Elisha, Ahaziah, Ahab and Judah. (No shortage of the letter J, right?) As I studied this morning I made a list of the characters to better understand them and the narrative. So, I thought, why not just share the list with you? Kind of me pulling back the curtain on a study method. Let’s look at the action of 2 Kings 9 through a character study.
Jehu – The son of Jehoshaphat, the grand son of Nimshi. He was a commander of the army under evil king Ahab and his (also evil) son Joram. God will anoint him as the new king of Israel in this chapter, causing him to lead a revolt that will, as a judgement of God, kill king
Joram of Israel, king Ahaziah of Judah, and queen Jezebel.
Jehoshaphat – The father of Jehu, the son of Asa. He reigned as king of Judah for 25 years and was one of the very rare, good kings over Israel.
Joram – The son of evil king Ahab and super evil queen Jezebel. (Considered to be one of the most evil couples in history.) Joram is the current king of Israel, an evil king that God will remove in His judgement.
Ahab – The father of Joram, the husband of Jezebel. Considered one of the most evil kings in Israelite history.
Jezebel – The mother of Joram and the wife of Ahab. She is considered one of the most evil women in God’s Word. 19 verses are committed to discussing Jezebel and her evil deeds including one condemnation in the New Testament. (Revelation 2:20) It has been 14 years since her husband Ahab was murdered and she has escaped the judgement of God for the duration since. In our chapter, God’s prophecy concerning her will be fulfilled, her body will be “eat by dogs within the walls of Jezreel. (1 Kings 20:23)
Jezreel – The city in which Joram, Ahaziah, and Jezebel are residing in the chapter.
Naboth – This was the man Jezebel had murdered in order to take his vineyard for her husband Ahab who coveted it but could not get it.
Elisha – The mighty prophet of God that took the mantle from Elijah. He commissions one of his anonymous students to anoint Jehu in the city of Ramoth-Gilead. Jewish history books describe this anonymous student as being Jonah but this info is not in our canonized Bible.
I can only imagine the scene as it plays out today in our text. The long running evil dynasty of Ahab and Jezebel continues to rule through their son Joram. An iron fist of evil ungodly oppression. Murder, suppression, idolatry, and the worship of false god’s are par for the course in this dynasty. The people of Israel are trapped. But God sends a message to Elisha, the time is right, anoint Jehu and give him this message. Go to Jezreel where you will find king Joram, Jezebel and king Ahaziah, and strike them all down. Jehu rides down upon Jezreel in a fury and calls out both kings. In a fiery and tense moment, Joram senses the eminent conflict and flees only to have Jehu draw back his bow to full strength and release an arrow, that with God’s help, would reach it’s mark. It pierces the very heart of Joram, also piercing the dynasty of Ahab and Jezebel. In the moment of chaos, king Ahaziah flees in the opposite direction, but not quick enough to outpace the next arrow, which finds it home and sends him into eternity. One last task sits before Jehu, dealing with queen Jezebel. He finds her on a rooftop, protected by height as well as her servants. But Jehu simply calls to the servants to throw her over the edge and they happily comply. Apparently so ready to be rid of her evil heart that they saw no problem with the deed asked of them. She violently meets the ground, her blood splayed on the wall of her home. Before they can bury her, the prophecy is delivered, she is consumed by dogs, only a skull, hands and feet left.
As you approach your daily time in the Word of God, don’t just read it…study it. There is a whole new world that will be opened to you if you simply give God the time and spend it with Him in His Holy Words. Through the power of His holy Spirit and some good Bible study resources, you can experience the living Word of God in just that way...living.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
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