Evil Knows No Peace

2 Kings 9:14-37
    14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had been defending Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, against Hazael king of Syria. 15 But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds which the Syrians had inflicted on him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, "If you are so minded, let no one leave or escape from the city to go and tell it in Jezreel." 16 So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram was laid up there; and Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.
    17 Now a watchman stood on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came, and said, "I see a company of men."  And Joram said, "Get a horseman and send him to meet them, and let him say, 'Is it peace?'"  18 So the horseman went to meet him, and said, "Thus says the king: 'Is it peace?'"  And Jehu said, "What have you to do with peace? Turn around and follow me."  So the watchman reported, saying, "The messenger went to them, but is not coming back."  19 Then he sent out a second horseman who came to them, and said, "Thus says the king: 'Is it peace?'"  And Jehu answered, "What have you to do with peace? Turn around and follow me."
    20 So the watchman reported, saying, "He went up to them and is not coming back; and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously!"  21 Then Joram said, "Make ready." And his chariot was made ready. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out to meet Jehu, and met him on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 Now it happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?"  So he answered, "What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?"
    23 Then Joram turned around and fled, and said to Ahaziah, "Treachery, Ahaziah!" 24 Now Jehu drew his bow with full strength and shot Jehoram between his arms; and the arrow came out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot. 25 Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, "Pick him up, and throw him into the tract of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember, when you and I were riding together behind Ahab his father, that the LORD laid this burden upon him: 26 'Surely I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,' says the LORD, and I will repay you in this plot,' says the LORD. Now therefore, take and throw him on the plot of ground, according to the word of the LORD."
    27 But when Ahaziah king of Judah saw this, he fled by the road to Beth Haggan. So Jehu pursued him, and said, "Shoot him also in the chariot." And they shot him at the Ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. Then he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 28 And his servants carried him in the chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the City of David. 29 In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king over Judah.
    30 Now when Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she put paint on her eyes and adorned her head, and looked through a window. 31 Then, as Jehu entered at the gate, she said, "Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of your master?"  32 And he looked up at the window, and said, "Who is on my side? Who?" So two or three eunuchs looked out at him. 33 Then he said, "Throw her down." So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses; and he trampled her underfoot. 34 And when he had gone in, he ate and drank. Then he said, "Go now, see to this accursed woman, and bury her, for she was a king's daughter." 35 So they went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. 36 Therefore they came back and told him. And he said, "This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; 37 and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as refuse on the surface of the field, in the plot at Jezreel, so that they shall not say, "Here lies Jezebel. "'"

Joram the king of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah were killed by Jehu, and Jezebel who moved Ahab against the LORD and into covetous murder met her prophetic end as well.  The two kings were together in Jezreel where Joram was recuperating from battle injuries when Jehu came in quickly and without warning by chariot.  The king sent out two messengers to intercept and question Jehu, but they joined him when he made it clear there was no peace to report back.  Then the kings themselves came out to ask if Jehu brought peace, but Joram was quickly reminded that the many harlotries and witchcraft of Jezebel had been allowed to flourish, and there could be no peace with her still living.  The kings fled and were killed, and Jezebel was thrown out the window to be eaten by dogs and excreted over the fields as Elisha prophesied.  This gruesome end was a result of her life set in action against the LORD and His people, and this account was to show that God is not mocked; He executes judgment in the end.  This is a warning for the world who is set against God and His Christ who offers forgiveness and reconciliation, but who will enact just punishment for those continuing in their opposition to Him in the final judgment.  How much better to turn from sin to Him now than face torment far worse than that of Jezebel!  All will be raised in the end and face Him (Hebrews 9:27-28), some to a fate much worse (John 3:18, 36, Daniel 12:2), eternal and without joy or peace as the messengers heard from Jehu here.  There is no peace for those continuing in the rebellion of disbelief and disobedience to the gospel hope of life and peace, but in Him is an everlasting life of peace.