Well, dear congregation, I would ask you now to please turn your very prayerful attention to that portion of God's Word that I read to you in your hearing there, 2 Kings 9. As we arrive in this chapter this morning in our week by week expository ministry, going through this book of 2 Kings, having gone through the Bible so far from the beginning of the book of Genesis, and working our way through after many years now, I began my ministry really in the book of Genesis. It's taken a long while to get here to this portion of 2 Kings chapter 9. And so we're making our way through 2 Kings now. So we arrive in chapter 9 this morning. One thing we'll consider this morning, I suppose, is this man, this king now, Jehu, who we may rightly call, I hope to be able to show you from scripture that he is what we will call and rightly call a nominal believer. We hear of that term so frequently used today, nominal Christians. Well that word nominal really comes from the Latin, nomi meaning name, and so you could say somebody who is a Christian in name only. And there are many people like that today. This man He knew even prophecy. He heard the word of the prophet. He saw prophecy fulfilled. But he was a lost man, as we will see. And there are many that are in the churches today that are nominal. That means they are notional. Some people just have a notion that they are saved. They may even know, as we thought, the law of God. It may be in their heads. but it's not in their hearts, and they're not Christians. We may even say this is a self-deluded person, and it's so easily to be self-deluded. The heart, you see, is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked, says the Scriptures. Who can know it? We can even deceive ourselves. So we come straight to the text. This morning we see such a man, as I hope to show in the Scripture. that he has all the outward appearances, very zealous in many ways, having even a profession to believe. And yet, a rank sinner lost. Jehu did many right things, as we will see. And there are people who do many right things, but they do them for the wrong motives. We could say this of Jehu, he did many right things. But it shows, the Scripture says that his heart was not right. So let us all examine our hearts as we come this morning to the Scriptures. These people, let me say by way of introduction, we talk about nominal believers here and we think of Jehu, are the greatest threat to the church today. There may be even people here sat this morning who are of the same spirit of Jehu and even Jezebel. Well, she was a rank unbeliever. We meet of two characters here. We meet here of... Of course, we've read of Jezebel, but we see her end in this chapter. As was prophesied, she would meet with a terrible end, and she does at the end of this chapter. There's the spirit of Jehu in the world, and even in the church, and there's the spirit of Jezebel. Remember who Jezebel is. The wife of King Ahab. And we will see in the next chapter of her daughter, Athaliah, a very wicked woman who followed in the spirit of her mother. And that name Jezebel is synonymous with ungodly woman in the church even today. We know in the book of Revelation chapter 2 how the church there at Thyatira, the Lord Jesus has to write concerning one there, a woman who sought to teach that she had the spirit of Jezebel, an ungodly woman. And so those terms are synonymous. It's a bad thing to be called a Jezebel. And I pray this morning that God will unmask those who perhaps are like Jehu, and those that have the spirit of Jezebel. How wicked was this other woman that we'll read, Athaliah. Well, if you just notice in the next chapter, 2 Kings 11, verse 1. When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. She killed her entire family. She wanted to be queen, just like Jezebel, a wicked spirit, a haughty, proud spirit of a woman who wants to lead She wanted to be queen and she was queen for a while and then she was eventually destroyed. If she was allowed to continue, the Lord Jesus would never have come into the world because he had to come through that line. He had to come through that lineage. And I warn you this morning, I must examine my heart as you must examine your own heart. There are in congregations people like this and we have to Be very careful. People who love to sing psalms, and who love to sing hymns, and who love to hear the Word of God preached, but they will be lost. This man Jehu, as I said, first of all, is a nominal believer. Not really a believer. Notional. No changed heart. Well, we come back to the period of history here now. What is the time? We see the judgment of God. falling upon this nation, Israel. When we speak of Israel here, we're speaking of the ten tribes in the north. They split during the days shortly after King Solomon, when Rehoboam, his son, didn't listen to the godly men. And then, of course, Jeroboam I, he was that military general of Solomon, and the kingdom was divided. And he began what we call that golden calf worship, There was a place set up in Bethel and then Dan. He didn't want the people of Israel to go down three times a year, the men of 20 years and up. They had to go three times a year to Jerusalem to worship. But he feared that if the men went to Jerusalem, there would be again an amalgamation of the 10 tribes in the north and the two tribes in the south. And so it was pragmatism. And he didn't care. He said, these golden calves are the ones that brought you out of Egypt, Israel. And we know from the second commandment, God is never to be represented by some image, by any figure. We know what happened there, do we not, in Exodus 32, when Aaron took all the woman's necklaces and earrings and cast them into the fire. He said, A golden calf came out. It wasn't so true, was it? He cast those things and then he, along with other men, formed a mold of a calf and then Aaron fashioned that calf. And what did God do? Well, thousands of people were slain as God's judgment came upon the people of Israel that day. God destroyed them because God will not be reduced to some image We're told in that second commandment, thou shall not worship, fall down, and bow down to a false and graven image. And the nation should have recalled back that great judgment that God brought upon the people. Now, what has happened? Israel has gone astray. They have not only gone after this golden calf worship, and continued on it, and perpetuated in that sin of Jeroboam, but it's also led to open Baal worship, has it not? And that was really under this wicked woman here, Jezebel and her husband Ahab. Now, we see prophesized and the fulfillment of this judgment upon Ahab's house finally coming to pass. That's what we see in this chapter. Do you remember last week we saw how the stage was being set for that final judgment that we see taking place. Remember Haziel, who was the servant of King Ben-Hadad of Syria. And of course God is working through these ungodly nations to bring an end to idolatry and judgment even in Israel. It's amazing how God works. Do you remember how even the Lord came through the prophet Elijah and spoke to Haziel, how Haziel came down, because even King Ben-Hadad, who had heard so much about Elisha, that prophet, he wanted to know whether he would survive, he had an illness, whether he would survive. So Haziel, the servant of Ben-Hadad, comes down to see him, and Elisha says to him, he won't die of that illness, but he will die. But Haziel, he goes back to King Ben-Hadad of Syria, and he only gives him half the truth. What does he say? He says, you'll live. You won't die of this disease. But he didn't tell him that he was going to die, because Haziel was the instrument of that death. Do you remember how the next day he went back, and as the king was lying down, he took a wet cloth and smothered The king to death, so that he suffocated. Of course, all of that was prophesied. That he would kill the king, that he would not only kill the king, but he would do terrible things to the children of Israel. All of this is fulfillment. Look back there last week, 2 Kings 8, 14. So he departed from Elisha and came to his master, who said unto him, What said Elisha to thee? And he answered, he told me, that thou shouldest surely recover. That's true. But he also said he was going to die. But he didn't announce this because he himself would put him to death, sadly, because Haziel wants to be king. He's got ungodly motives. He wants to be the king. And so Haziel, the next day he walks in and he takes this cloth And he spreads it over his face. It says, so that he died. And Haziel reigned in his stead. Now, not long after that, Haziel, the servant who is now king of Syria, he goes to war against Israel. And the men of Judah in the south, of course you've got the two nations now, Judah in the south, Israel in the north. The king of the south in Judah comes out to help against Israel. And of course, these two men are related. King Ahaziah in the south, son, wasn't he, of late Jehoram, and he was grandson of Ahab. These two men were related. The two kings were related from the different nations. You've got Jehoram in the north, king of Israel, and you've got King Ahaziah. It's his uncle. Joram is his uncle. Because remember, his father, King Ahaziah's father, married Athaliah. And they are related thus. And these men are wicked. God is going to bring them to an end. As he has said, Ahaziah here in this chapter, he comes, we saw it last week at the close of chapter 8, he comes to help his uncle. to fight. And you notice in verse 28 of chapter 8, how Joram was seriously injured in the battle there. Notice, and he took respite in Jezreel, the very place where, remember how Ahab few kings back in the north, how he slew Nahum, because he wanted that Vineyard, Naboth. He took his vineyard and he was slain there. Look at verse 28 of chapter 8. And he, that is Ahaziah, went with Joram, the son of Ahab, to war against Hesael, king of Syria, in Ramoth Gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram. And king Joram went back to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah. when he fought against Haziel, king of Syria. And Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram, the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick. So one thing we learned last week is that Haziel was the instrument in bringing these two men together. And as they brought together, both of them are going to be destroyed now in this next chapter by Jehu. As we saw in the providence of God, how he is working these things together. Here, Joram is in the royal palace in Jezreel. This was the place where Ahab was, remember, where the dogs licked up the blood, not only of the one whom he took the field from, but this is where, as God had prophesied, that not only Ahab would die, but also his wife Jezebel. That she will be eaten up even by the dogs, and we will see how this all comes to pass. My friends, we should be impressed with this. God's Word always comes to pass. Always. This was prophesied, if you just turn back to 1 Kings 21.19. Remember how the prophet was told and told Ahab this, and thou shalt speak unto him saying, thus saith the Lord, hast thou killed and also taken possession? Remember Naboth's vineyard was taken away from him. It was Ahab's wife that was behind all of this. She saw that her husband was upset because he couldn't get some man's property. Naboth's vineyard adjoined the king's palace and he sulked like a little boy because he couldn't have it. His wife wrote all these letters and got Naboth into great trouble with the authorities and they killed him. And even the dogs licked up his blood. Now the same is going to happen to not only Ahab but also Jezebel. Thou shall speak unto him saying, thus saith the Lord, Now, you remember that long ago, as we thought last week, the Lord had appointed Haziel and Jehu to be the instruments of God's judgment upon these wicked kings. The king in the north and also the king in the south. 1 Kings 19. The Lord here in the days of Elijah, and the Lord said unto him, Go return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when thou comest, anoint Haziel to be king over Syria, and Jehu the son of Nimishi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel. And Elisha, who would succeed Elijah, the son of Shaphat of Abel-le-Mohoa, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass that him that escapeth the sword of Haziel shall Jehu slay." And that we see fulfilled here. We see here Joram wounded in the battle, but Jehu is going to kill him. And not only that, we will see the king of Judah in the south, slain. And he too was ungodly king, just like his father. Do you remember last week we were considering the Joram in the south? And I didn't read this, but if you turn to 2 Chronicles 21, we read there how when Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, began to reign in his stead. 2 Chronicles 21 verse 1 we read. And Jehoram his son reigned in his stead. And he had brethren, the sons of Jehoshaphat, Azrael. And here they're all named, all these sons and brethren that he has. And their father gave them great gifts of silver. This is the father here, Jehoram, he gives his son great gifts of silver. He gives them the wealth of the land and precious things with fenced cities in Judah. But the kingdom gave he to Jehoram because he was the firstborn. Now notice, now when Jehoram was risen up to the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and slew all his brethren with a sword. He killed all of his brothers. all of his family. Now this is all, of course, fueled by the fact, remember who his wife is, Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel, an ungodly woman, a woman hell-bent on power and prestige. Now this is a warning woman. Scriptures tell us, do they not, in Genesis chapter 3 there, how the woman shall want for the husband, and that's not to be. And we see that terrible spirit permeating through this family and leading to the death. And we will see it even in this next chapter, how Athaliah, she kills all the seed royal except for one little boy that is spared. And because he is spared, the Savior would come into the world. Well enough said now about the background. The first thing I want us to see this morning As we come to verses 1 to 3, we are shown here of the Lord's appointment of Jehu to execute judgment upon both of these houses. Coming to an end now. The house of the wicked kings first. We know in the north Ahab's house must come to an end. Now by and large in the south they were godly kings. But here we have an ungodly line because of this mix with Ahab's house. And Jehu is the instrument, although he's a wicked man. And we should be greatly impressed with this, how God will use even wicked men to fulfill his great promises, my friends. Did he not do that with the Lord Jesus? It was by the hands of wicked men. that even our Savior was put to death. That unknown to men in those last few hours of our Lord's life, He would bear the iniquity of many. He would bear the sins of His people. And that is our blessed hope. God does only wondrous things, doesn't He? As Psalm 72 tells us. Now, notice verse 1 to the verse 3. We see of the Lord's appointment, of Jehu to execute judgment. Notice, and Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets and said unto him, gird up thy loins and take this box of oil in thine hand and go to Ramoth Gilead. And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimishi, and go in and make him rise up from among his brethren and carry him to an inner chamber. Now, he's no relation to the other Jehoshaphat. This is a captain of the army. We need to understand. And this young servant, the prophet, was told to take up this box of oil. It was that anointing oil that the king would be anointed with by the prophet, sent now on this errand And notice he is told, verse 3, take the box of oil and pour it on his head and say, thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door and flee and tarry not. Now here's the first lesson. It is God, my friends. Romans 13. The powers that be are of God. And God has ordained everything in this world. While men make elections, Everything is of God. Everything is ordered by Him and decreed by Him. And this prophet therefore, this young man is sent, one of the children of the prophet sent on this errand. Now Jehu here is a captain or general and here he is at Ramoth Gilead and he's with the troops and with the other officers there at Ramoth Gilead while the king is taking rest to recover in Jezreel. And so Elisha sends this young man on this errand and he says, do it, pour the oil upon him, declare the message and run, flee as quickly as you can. The young man faithfully does it in the fear of God. Verse four, so the young man, even the young man, the prophet went to Ramoth Gilead and when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting. So here's the picture, you've got all these military men, they're sitting, and there is Jehu right in the middle. And he gives a message to him, to Jehu directly. What does he say? I have an errand to thee, O Captain. And Jehu said, unto which of us, all of us? And he said, to thee, O Captain. And so what happens? He arose and went into the house and he poured the oil on his head. So this we take it perhaps to be some private place in the house, because the men don't know what the young man says until Jehu tells them. Now notice, he arose, went into the house, and we notice this prophecy and the words of the prophecy, thus saith the Lord. This young man says to Jehu, the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord even over Israel. And then he gives him the prophecy, verse 7, notice, And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants. So in other words, you're going to destroy this whole house. And here, Joram, his son, is going to be destroyed. That's the message. To completely get rid of this house of Ahab. Why? That I may avenge the blood of my servants, the prophets. Remember, it was Jezebel and Ahab that put to death the prophets of God in the land because they wanted to promote Baal worship and bull worship. And this is all part of the Lord's vengeance on this woman and Ahab's house. that I may avenge the blood of my servants, of the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the Lord at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish." Notice the words. And I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall. Now you might think that the language is crude here. But really what it's saying is those men who would literally urinate against the wall, it would make that sound. They had no respect for Jerusalem, no respect for the house of God. In a very polite way, this is what the word of God is saying. Those that don't honor King David's city. And of course, when we look to David, we look to the greater than David, the king of kings, David's greater son. They had no respect of that covenant. that God would send his son into the world. That God was preserving this nation until the Savior would come. They were interested in other religions. Bar worship and calf worship, which has nothing to do with God. And hear the word. And I will make, verse 9, the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. What did he do? He destroyed it. And like the house of Bashar, God destroyed that, the son of Ahijah. And the dogs, notice, shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel. Remember Naboth lost his life there because of Jezebel and her husband. And there shall be none to bury her. and he opened the door and fled. Now every detail, my friend, of this prophecy is fulfilled. So, through this young man, he's saying to this ungodly king even, this is the work God has called you to carry out, and he actually does it. And you know, there's a sense in which ungodly men do the will of God, but they do it for the wrong reasons. And he does it for the wrong reason. He does it because he wants to be king, just like Hazael. So this judgment because of the slaying, the butchering of innocent, God-fearing prophets who are gone now. Now, the first thing we are reminded of here is God does not forget the blood of those his people. We learn that, don't we, from the text. God is saying this is for the blood that was shed. While they're in heaven, God doesn't forget. And he says, vengeance is mine. I will repay. Now last week we spoke, didn't we, of the decreed will of God. God has decreed all things. We speak of his decreed will. But there's also, as we thought last week, of what God commands men to do. That we call his prescriptive will, what he prescribes, and we think of the law of God. What is the will of God? That we obey him. It's not as if God has two wills. One speaks of what he has determined shall happen. The other speaks of what he requires of men. Yet, despite what God has decreed, and although men do not do what God requires, God will still judge. Now the decreed will of God is what he has, as I've said, determined will happen. Haziel, we thought last week, he was told, what was he told? To go to Ben-Hadad, king of Syria, you will live. That was decreed. You're not going to die of this disease. But he was not told to kill him, was he? He went and killed him. So he did the very opposite the next day. And so we have it here. As I said, when we think of God's decree, and yet there is man's will, man is not somehow some innocent bystander of the events of history. Or though God decreed that Hazael would die, and that Ahab would die, and that Joram would die, and Ahaziah. God is not responsible for men's actions. Men do it for their own reasons. Now, we will think here of this nominal believer, Jehu. He is commanded to do many things here. And he does do that. He does many good things. But he does them all for the wrong reasons, my friends. And so it is even in the church today. Please, let us examine our hearts very carefully. Could I just ask that the curtain just be shut there? The light is reflecting from one of the cars. Thank you. Remember, Israel now has imbibed many religions. Terrible things have been taking place. Utter depravity. These things must come to an end. These false forms of worship. Now, we've been reminded, haven't we, from time past, how God judged this calf worship, even in the days of Aaron, how 3,000 men were destroyed in one day. Friends, God still is the same, isn't he? He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And God abhors anything that we try and do in the church that he has not prescribed. I want to lay that down firmly this morning as we seek to make application later on. I want you to see, first of all, Jehu's immediate response, verse 11. Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his Lord, and one said unto him, All is well. See, they haven't heard. They don't know what this young man has said. Wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, You know the man and his communication. Now that should be all telling to us straight away. You know this man. You've seen him before. He must have been well known. That's what they thought of the Lord's prophets, my friends. Little! When we come to preach God's Word here, we're not our own messengers. They had little respect for the Word of God and the men of God. And I want you to see, first of all, what little respect he had for the messenger. And that should never be true of us, friends. That we have little respect for the messenger. You see, I'm not free to say what I want to hear today. I will have to give an account to every answer that I give any of you, whether it's on a personal note, or here preaching to a congregation. Jehu had no respect. He says, oh well, you know the man. You know his, but look, And they said, it's false. Now, that's what they thought of the man. And then we notice, Elijah the prophet called one of the children, he's here called one of the children of the prophets. We read early in verse one. But notice, they press him. They press him. Tell us now, look at verse 12b. And of course, he wants to tell them. If it was bad news, he wouldn't have told them. But it's good news for him. Why? Because he's told he's going to be king. You see, unlike David, when David was told he was going to be king, he was very slow. He waited on the Lord. for the Lord's leading and direction as to what to do. But it doesn't take much for Jehu to respond. Tell us now, of course, yeah, well, I'm gonna be king. And so he gives the message, and he said, thus and thus spake he to me, saying, thus saith the Lord, I have anointed thee king over Israel. He couldn't hold it back, only a little pressing, but that's not what they expected, was it? But this is good news to them. I thought you said he's a liar. But we're close to this man who's going to be king now. You see how men behave and respond to the truth when it suits them? Now notice, then they hasted. Here and now are the future king's men. And they took every man his garment and put it under him on the top of the stairs and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king. There's no holding back here. They're excited, as excited as Jehu is. As I said, so unlike David. Remember, even after he was anointed by Samuel, and he could have slain Saul, who tried to take his life several times, He wouldn't. You see, David's heart was very different to Jehu's. The Christian will always be led of God's word. The unbeliever will be led and fueled by a lustful heart. There was no waiting. For these men neither for Jehu. They hasted and took every man his garment. They ready to make him king. Now you notice Jehu rushes to a very quick decision now to bring judgment, swift judgment. Look at verse 14. So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nemeshi conspired against Jehoram, he conspired rather than seeking the Lord. What's right? What's the right way? What's the proper way of going about this? He's not interested in that. Of course he will be king, but not in the right way. It's how you know when a man is not the right man for office in the church. When he's pushing himself forward, promoting himself. Christians should never put themselves forward. The Lord always opens the door for men. He didn't seek the Lord in prayer, but we read here, he conspired. Now friends, some things of the Lord, you don't need to conspire. You don't need to imagine up ways. He is not being led of the Lord here, but what he does is of his own volition, sinful volition. Whereas a believer walks cautiously and humbly by faith, Now, we notice now, Joram had kept Ramoth-Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Haziel, king of Syria. So there was a place that was guarded. But King Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him. We read of that in the previous chapter, when he fought with Haziel, king of Syria. Now this is quite bad, isn't it? Unlike David, He didn't take Saul at his weakest point, but he takes this king at his weakest point. And this is wrong, isn't it? So Ramoth Gilead is sealed, and no news is to be leaked, because the king is in Jezreel. And he says, don't let the word get out from here. Now he adds at the end of verse 15, and Jehu said, if it be in your minds, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel. Here he is in Ramoth Gilead and he's saying, don't let the word of God go out to Jezreel. Now he comes up with this plan to go out, look at verse 16, on a chariot and to take the king by surprise. We have the encounter in verse 16 to 20. And we notice there's a watchman and he's looking over. And he sees in the distance, perhaps a couple of miles away, we don't know, but he sees Joram riding at quite a pace and with great aggression. A rider is sent forth. He tells Joram. And Joram says, send out a rider. And the rider goes forth and meets with Jehu. And asks him, notice, is it peace? End of verse 17. And well, what does he say to the first rider? He says, get behind me. Don't go back. In other words, get in line. Join with me. And then he sends out another rider who asks the same question. Is it peace? Verse 19. And Jehu answered, Turn thee behind me. Same again. And now, surely the king knows that this spells danger. He can see Jehu riding on his chariot with great force. notices this aggressive riding of Jehu, and it spells danger. Verse 20, And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimishi, for he driveth furiously. He knows all is not well. And so what happens is the king, Joram, he goes out to meet Jehu, which really is a big mistake. But he does. And they providentially meet in the portion of Naboth. In that place there in Jezreel, remember where Naboth's field was, who was taken from him and he was killed. Now we notice verse 21, and Joram said, make ready, and his chariot made ready. And Joram, king of Israel, and Ahaziah, king of Judah, went out. So two kings go out, not just Joram here, but Ahaziah. King of Judah in the south. His nephew. And they meet in this place, face to face here with Jehu, who's been told he will be king. And notice what he says. It came to pass, verse 22, when Joram saw Jehu that he said, Is it peace? Jehu? And he, that is Jehu, answered, What peace? So long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many." Now what we notice here is he professes that his motive is righteous. Oh, look what you and your family have done. You've slain all the prophets. I've come out for a righteous cause. He was referring to Jezebel's not only her witchcrafts but her whoredoms of religion. And he makes a bold claim. And now what does Joram do, king of Israel? Well, he turns to his nephew and he warns him. And Joram, verse 23, turned his hands and fled and said unto Ahaziah, that's his nephew, there is treachery, O Ahaziah. He's warning him. Now, as he turns, Jehu, he draws a bow. and he strikes this king Joram in the heart and he falls to the ground. He sunks, sorry, rather down in his chariot. Verse 24, and Jehu drew a bow with his full strength and smote Joram between the arms. And the arrow went out at his heart and he sunk down in his chariot. So he had his back turned to him and he just shoots him down. Now you notice, that's not the end. He's also now after his nephew. Verse 25, And said Jehu to Bidikar his captain, Take up and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth, the Jezreelite, for remember how that when I and thou rode together after Ahab, his father, the Lord laid this burden upon him. Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his son, saith the Lord. And I will requite thee in this plate, saith the Lord. Now therefore, take and cast him into the plate or plot of ground according to the word. of the Lord. So he even fulfills Scripture. He sees all these things coming to pass. He seems to be doing everything right. But again, it's all for the wrong reason. All, may I add, in conscious fulfillment of the Word of God. And people can do that. And next coming, we notice that This nephew, now he turns around and Jehu orders pursuit of him, verse 27. But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house and Jehu followed after him and said, smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur. We know, if we're given a little bit more information, just briefly turn there to 2 Chronicles 22.9. Given a few more details in that portion of Scripture, 2 Chronicles 22.9. And he sought Ahaziah, and they caught him, for he was hid in Samaria, and brought him to Jehu. When they had slain him, they buried him, because they said he is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the Lord with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom. Of course, now it's going to be the queen, Athaliah, and she is a venomous woman. Now, we're told there there was a proper burial given to him because he was a king. We come back now to verse 30 of this chapter that we're in, 2 Kings 9 verse 30, and we close with Thoughts now on Jezebel in just a few points of application. And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, so here now they've killed Ahaziah, they've killed Joram, king of Israel. But now, when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. She'd heard of all that had happened. the slaying of her son Ahaziah, the slaying of the king of Israel also. What does she do? It says she painted her face and tied her hair, her head, and looked out of the window. She heard of her son's death. She heard all this judgment. What does she do? She gets herself ready. She paints her face. She does herself up. She wants to die as a queen, you see. And it's not as if when she meets Jehu that she has any humility in her heart. There's no remorse for her sin, for her life, and all the things that she's done. Notice what she says to Jehu. And as Jehu entered in at the gate, verse 31, she said, Had Zimri peace? Who slew his master? That is a slanderous remark. Because if we know anything of the history, back in first Kings, Zimri had no peace. Remember, Zimri was only king for seven days. Seven days. He slew godly king Asa. And that king Zimri, he ended up burning himself in the palace. He had no peace. And he's gone to a lost eternity. And she's saying, in effect, you're just like him. What have you done to your master? Well, she knows you killed him. But what of her own heart? Now notice how he responds. He's not bothered. He orders two eunuchs to kill her. He says, who is for me? Two eunuchs, perhaps it says here three, looked out the window. And he said to them, throw her down. And they threw her down. Verse 33. And some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses. And he trod her underfoot. She was left to nothing. And here she died in her pride. No remorse for her sin, for the blood that she shed, for the false religion that she propagated throughout the lands. No. Well, after she died, Great superstition comes over Jehu. This is why we also believe he's an ungodly man. Well, because he realizes she is not given a proper burial. That her body is left. Although she's a wicked woman. Look at verse 34. And when he was come in, he did eat and drink and said, go see now this cursed woman and bury her. Why? Because she's a king's daughter. superstition. But lo and behold, the prophecy is fulfilled. The dogs have eaten her. There's nothing left but her skull and her hands. God's Word is fulfilled just as the prophet said. You see, stunningly, it's even, it's interesting. Look at verse 36. Quoted the words of Elijah in first Kings 21 23 Wherefore they came again and told him that's Jehu and he Jehu said this is the word of the Lord which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite saying in the portion of in the very place This man has even seen scripture come to pass But you read on in the next chapter of this wicked man Don't think that he is a godly believer. He tears down all the places of Baal. But you know what? He continues on in the sin of Jeroboam. He heard the truth, but he's not interested in the truth. He allowed golden calf worship to continue. Now let me say this. God wants true worship. Everybody in this church should want what God says, not what the preacher says. If what I have said does not comport with the scriptures, get me out of here. You do not import into this church what you think is right. We do not come here to worship God in a way that we think will please Him. But what he says will please him. But what he says is right. He was not interested in what God thought. He wanted to be king, that's all he was concerned about. He tore down all the places of Baal worship, but he continued, as you will read in the things. Look, just turn over chapter 10, verse 26. We read there, and they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal and burnt them. You say, my, this king is on fire for the Lord. No, he's not. And they break down the image of Baal and break down the house of Baal and made it a draft house unto this day. Thus, Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. How be it the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin. Jehu departed not after them to wit the golden calves that were in Bethel and that were in Dan. He did not care. And that's what I mean about the nominal Christian. The true Christian says, Pastor, we want God's Word. That's it. We don't want worship. We don't want this. Contemporary worship, which is all about emotion. Music, music, music, that'll attract people. You'll be entertaining goats, my friends, for the rest of your lives, but you'll not be feeding the sheep with silly music and sentimental claptrap. We don't need it. See what it did to the church back then. If we don't do things God's way, my friends, God will bring destruction. Judgment must begin at the house of God. The Lord spoke to this man. He saw prophecy, but it was what Paul says is will worship. Paul speaks about this in 2nd in Colossians. He speaks about a form of worship that is will worship. And that's what we've got today. I will worship God how I want. Friends, I don't want to worship God how I want. I want to worship God how he wants and what pleases him and what is right in his eyes. Paul says there in Colossians 2.23, who have a show of wisdom in will worship. That's the contemporary church where things go wrong. The people say, I will worship God how I want. Some people are saying to the children this morning, all they want to do, they come to church for a musical high. They come for some euphoria. They come for feeling, but they don't come for truth. When we say worship, did you know that word worship means giving him his worthy ship. And if it's not worthy of him, we don't want it. We don't want it. When man comes away from God, he destroys himself. He destroys his family. He destroys his community. He destroys everything. See the state of Israel. Wrecked. Only God can revive. And only God does revive when we come back to his word. And we do everything his way. Otherwise it is ruin. There's much more to say. I always over-prepare, but never really say things the way I want, never really worship how I want, not perfectly. But I pray God will take something of the imperfections and write his word upon our heart. We sin not against him. Jesus said, blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it. Let us be very careful. What we examine, we have the right motive in everything to please Him, not ourselves. Amen.