I invite you to turn your Bibles this morning to 2 Kings 9. 2 Kings 9, page 399 in the Adoration Bibles. Here in 2 Kings 9, the Lord is finally bringing His Word to pass with regards to what He had said concerning the house of Ahab. Ahab, of course, has already died. But his wicked dynasty has thus far continued under the rule of his wicked wife Jezebel and his sons, Isaiah and Joram. And now God brings his word to pass. 2 Kings 9, beginning at verse one, this is God's holy and infallible word. Then Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, tie up your garments and take this flask of oil in your hand and go to Ramoth Gilead. And when you arrive, look there for Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, and go in and have him rise from among his fellows and lead him to an inner chamber. Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, thus says the Lord, I anoint you king over Israel. Then open the door and flee, do not linger. So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead. And when he came, behold, the commanders of the army were in council. And he said, I have word for you, O commander. And Jehu said, to which of us all? And he said, to you, O commander. So he arose and went into the house. And the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I anoint you king over the people of the Lord over Israel. And you shall strike down the house of Ahab, your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male bond or free in Israel. I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Neba, and like the house of Basha, the son of Ahijah. And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her. Then he opened the door and fled. When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, they said to him, it is all well, why did this mad fellow come to you? And he said to them, you know this fellow and his talk. And they said, that is not true, tell us now. And he said, thus and so he spoke to me, saying, thus says the Lord, I anoint you king over Israel. that in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, Jehu is king. Thus Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshik, conspired against Joram. Now Joram, with all Israel, had been on guard at Ramoth-Gilead against Hazael, king of Syria. But King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that the Syrians had given him when he fought with Hazael, king of Syria. So Jehu said, if this is your decision, then let no one slip out of the city and go and tell the news in Jezreel. Then Jehu mounted his chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there, and Ahaziah, king of Judah, had come to visit Joram. Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came and said, I see a company. And Joram said, take a horseman and send to meet him, and let him say, is it peace? So a man on horseback went to meet him and said, thus says the king, is it peace? And Jehu said, what do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride with me. And the watchman reported saying, the messenger reached them, but he is not coming back. Then he sent out a second horseman who came to them and said, thus the king has said, is it peace? And Jehu answered, what have you to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me. Again, the watchman reported. He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously. So Joram said, make ready. And they made ready his chariot. Then Joram, king of Israel, Nehuzai, king of Judah, set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu. and met him at the property of Naboth, the Jezreelite. And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, is it peace, Jehu? And Jehu answered, what peace can there be, so long as the whorings and sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many? Then Joram reigned about and fled, saying to Ahaziah, treachery, O Ahaziah. And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart. and he sank in his chariot. Jehu said to Bidkar, his aide, take him up and throw him on the plot of the ground belonging to Naboth, the Jezreelite. Remember when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab, his father, how the Lord made this pronouncement against him, saying, as surely as I saw yesterday, the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons declares the Lord, I will repay you on this plot of ground. Now therefore, take him up and throw him on the plot of ground in accordance with the word of the Lord. When Ahaziah, the king of Judah, saw this, he fled in the direction of Bethhagin. And Jehu pursued him and said, shoot him also. And they shot him in the chariot at the ascent of Ger, which is by Iblayim. And he fled to Megiddo and died there. His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him. in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David. In the 11th year of Joram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah. And when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out the window. And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master? And he lifted up his face to the window and said, who is on my side, who? Two or three eunuchs looked out at him. He said, throw her down. So they threw her down. And some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses and they trampled on her. Then he went in and ate and drank and he said, see now to this cursed woman and bury her for she is a king's daughter. But when they went out to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. When they came back and told him, he said, this is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite. In the territory of Jezreel, the dog shall eat the flesh of Jezebel and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field of the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say this is Jezebel. This is God's holy word. I draw your attention especially to verses six through ten. So he arose and went into the house, and the young man poured the oil on his head, saying to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. And you shall strike down the house of Ahab, your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Basha, the son of Ahijah. And the dog shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her. Well, dear congregation, I'm the Lord Jesus Christ. In the last number of months now, We've had these bold announcements concerning the persecuted church. Today's announcement tells us about an attack that took place in India just a few weeks ago. On February 12, villagers beat our Christian brother, Ayatollah Rahm, with rods for refusing to return to the Hindu religion. And when our brother fled for safety, the villagers turned on his brother and on his elderly father. And they beat them as well. And now all three of them are in the hospital. Beloved, what are we to make of this? And what's our brother, Christian brother, Ayintu Ram, to make of this? When we consider the world in which we live and we think about the wickedness that pervades our culture and society, when we ponder all the ways in which the church of Jesus Christ is despised by the world and persecuted by the world, perhaps we sometimes wonder, does God really see? Does he really hear? Does he even care? Is He really coming again to right every wrong and to bring about true justice once and for all? Because sometimes it seems as though God is being awfully slow. to fulfill his promises, doesn't it? Perhaps we sometimes share the sentiment of the God-fearing sons of Korah in Psalm 44, who cried out, yet for your sake we are killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. Awake, O Lord, why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself, do not reject us forever. Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust, our belly clings to the ground. Rise up, O Lord, come to our help. Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love. We long for the day of reckoning, don't we? We long for the day when God's justice shall finally be meted out. We long for the day when the church of Jesus Christ shall finally be vindicated in the sight of all. And this, no doubt, is what the faithful remnant in Israel must have been longing for as well. As the worship of the Lord was increasingly replaced with the worship of Baal, and as the prophets of the Lord were killed off one by one by the decree of Jezebel, you can imagine how How the 7,000 souls, the believing remnant, must have also wondered, does God really see? Does God really hear? Does He even care? They too must have cried out with the psalmist in Psalm 94, those words we just sang. How long will they boast in an arrogance mock, oppressing the people you take as your flaw? For the wicked say that God will not observe what they do, that He will not see the sins they pursue, the widows they murder, the fatherless snare, and strangers they kill, thinking God does not care. Here in our passage this morning, we discover that God really does see, and He really does hear, and He really does care. so much so that we can echo those words of the psalmist, the Lord is my rock, invincible, strong. He punishes all who perpetuate wrong. Our God will repay them for sins they have sown, but He will have mercy and love for His own. This beloved is what we see unfolding before us in our passage this morning. Here we see that the glimmerings of Judgment Day breaking through and here we are reminded that as surely as God came to judge the devilish dynasty of Aham, Song, and Go, he will likewise come to judge every devilish dynasty on the day of his return. Just as the Lord's servant Jehu rode upon his horse furiously to execute Jehoram and Ahaziah. Revelation 19 tells us that King Jesus shall likewise come down from heaven on a white horse to judge and to make war against our adversaries. John tells us that his eyes shall be like a flame of fire, his garments shall be dripped in blood, the blood of his enemies, and the armies of heaven shall follow him. From his mouth says John shall come. a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh, He shall have this name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And on this great and awesome day, every devilish dynasty shall be destroyed once and for all. And then shall finally come to pass the words of Isaiah in their fullest sense, of the increase of his government and of peace, there will be no end. On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. As we work our way through this passage together, I'd like for us to consider three things together, noting in the first place the Lord's avenging love, And then the second place, the Lord's swift and terrible judgment. And then in the final place, the Lord's faithful word. We noticed in the first place, the Lord's avenging love. Our passage begins with Elisha carrying out the tasks that God had set before his predecessor, Elijah, back in 1 Kings chapter 19. Elisha has thus far already been anointed, that first part of Elijah's task was carried out, and now Elisha has anointed Haziel to be king of the Syrians, and now the time has come for Jehu to be anointed king over Israel, and so Elisha sends out one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu, and he tells him to say, thus says the Lord, I anoint you king over Israel, and this is precisely what Elisha's servant does. He rides to Jehu, and he calls out to him, and he summons him into the inner chamber, and he pours oil on his head, and he says, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I anoint you king over the people of the Lord over Israel. And you shall strike down the house of Ahab, your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord. The Lord is going to avenge his people. by executing His divine vengeance on wicked Jezebel and on Ahab's devilish dynasty. You'll notice in these verses that Jehu is simply going to be the instrument. The vengeance is going to be the Lord's. In verse 7, God says, I will avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants. In verse 8, God says, I will cut off Ahab from every bond and free. In verse 9, God says, I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam. Jehu is simply the instrument, the vengeance is the Lord's. What we need to see here, beloved, is that the Lord's vengeance upon the wicked is an expression of His love for the righteous. Indeed, the Lord is our rock, invincible, strong. He punishes all who perpetuate wrong. Our God will repay them for sins they have sown, but he will have mercy and love for his own. The Lord's vengeance on the wicked is an expression of his love for the righteous. The Lord's vengeance assures the righteous that he does not simply turn a blind eye to the cruelty of the wicked, that God does not indeed intend to, it assures that God will indeed right every wrong in His perfect justice. And the dynasty of Ahab, we know, is more than worthy of God's justice. For it was said of Ahab that Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. Ahab rebuilt the walls of Jericho. Ahab married Jezebel. Ahab introduced Baal to Israel. And under his reign, the prophets of the Lord were killed with sword. Time and again, God confronted this dynasty with his word. Time and again, he summoned Ahab and his sons to repentance but time and again they refused to listen and now God's patience towards this dynasty has finally expired. Psalm 75 verse 8 says that in the hand of the Lord there is a cup of wrath and he pours out from it and all the wicked of the earth shall drink it down to the dregs. And now that the cup of God's wrath against the house of Ahab has been filled to the brim, the day of reckoning has finally come. And this, beloved, is good news for the people of God, because the people of God have been languishing under this evil regime for far too long. God's people have been tormented. His servants have been killed. And so Jehu is going to strike down Ahab's entire house, and in so doing, the Lord will avenge on Ahab and avenge on Jezebel, the blood of his servants. God, you see, he has kept track of every believer whose life has been taken at their hands. God has kept a tally of every prophet who has been killed. He has kept tally of every servant who's been mistreated and abused on account of their faith in him. And now as an expression of his love for them, God is going to avenge them. And this says Doroth Davis should not come as a great surprise to us since the Bible is clear that the vindication of his people is at the top of God's agenda. And their welfare is the constant anxiety of his heart. According to Deuteronomy 34, 43, God avenges the blood of his children and he takes vengeance on his adversaries. As Jesus assures us in Luke 18, God will give justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night. He will not delay long over them, but He will give justice to them speedily. And then we see the same thing in Revelation chapter 6. When the Lord Jesus opened up that fifth seal, the Apostle John saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for their holding fast to the Word of God. He heard them crying out, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then they were each given a white robe and they were told to rest a little while longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. Quote Delroff Davis once more, sometimes it seems that throughout their blood-red history, the Lord's worshipers have been bludgeoned into oblivion. But this passage reminds and assures us that there is an eye that sees, and there is a judge who takes note. Just imagine the 7,000 who had remained faithful to God, holding firm to this promise that God was not simply going to let wicked Jezebel off the hook. That God was not simply going to ignore or turn a blind eye to all the torments they had endured. And isn't this our consolation as well? That God is not going to let the wicked off the hook. Not only does God know our Christian brother who was beaten with rods a few weeks ago, but He knows the men who were holding those rods. And a day of reckoning is coming. God will avenge the blood of His servants. And so as Paul says in Romans 12, we don't need to avenge ourselves, we can leave it to the wrath of God, for vengeance is mine and I will repay, says the Lord. God's vengeance upon the wicked is an expression of his love for the righteous. And you shall strike down the house of Ahab, your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants. It was a long time coming, but God was not slow to fulfill his promises. Some had counted slowness, but God was being patient. not wishing that anyone should perish. God was being patient, not wishing that Ahab's house should perish, but wishing that Ahab's house would repent and believe. You see, God's warnings and pronouncements of judgment as sure and as certain as those pronouncements are, are always meant in the first place to bring sinners to repentance. And that's been the case these last number of years of the Omride dynasty. For years, the Lord has exercised great patience with the house of Ahab. And had the house of Ahab repented, had Ahab and Jezebel and Ahaziah and Joram cried out to God for grace, God would have relented from his wrath for sure. God would've been pleased to transfer his wrath onto another, onto his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his desire for us this morning as well, that if we have not repented of our sins, God would be pleased to transfer His wrath upon His Son. And he says, repent and believe and you shall be saved. But because the house of Ahab would not repent, vengeance is now coming. And it shall be as swift as it shall be terrible. Now when Jehu came out to the servants of his master, they said to him, is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you? Jehu's servants think the son of the prophets must have been some sort of madman. They had little respect, little to no reverence at all for the Lord's messenger. And Jehu didn't seem to have much reverence for God's word bearer either. He responds saying, oh, you know the fellow in his talk, or to translate it another way, you know the fellow in his babble. The servant of the Lord is referred to as a madman, a babbler, which again shows the miserable state of Israel's affairs. No regard for the word of the Lord. But Jehu will be the Lord's chosen instrument nonetheless. And he said, thus and so he spoke to me saying, thus says the Lord, I anoint you king over Israel. Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed Jehu is king. And from here the Lord executes his judgment swiftly. Thus we read, Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat conspired against Joram. Jorm, you remember from last time, was convalescing in Jezreel after having been wounded in the battle against Hazael and the Syrians. And this, we see, is all according to God's divine providence. And God's providence, Ahab's son Jorm, as well as his grandson Ahaziah, are in the same place at the same time they're in Jezreel. So Jehu mounts his chariot and he rides like a madman to Jezreel. Jehu is a man on a mission. The Lord had said, you shall strike down the house of your master, and this is what Jehu intends to do. Two times, Joram sends out messengers, watchmen on horses to meet Jehu, but each time, Jehu tells them to get behind him. And that's what they do, so that Joram is now concerned, for Jehu is writing furiously towards him. And so Joram says in verse 21, make ready. And they made ready his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel, Nehaziah, king of Judah, set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu and met him at the property of Naboth, the Jezreelite. And again, God's providence is so clear here. Here they all are, standing on the stolen property of righteous Naboth. And when Joram saw, Jehu said, is it peace, Jehu? Jehu answered, what peace can there be so long as the whorings and sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many? Then Joram reigned about and fled, saying to Ahaziah, treachery, O Ahaziah! And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart, and he sank in his chariot. And then Jehu said to Bidkar his aid, take him up and throw him on the plot of the ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. Don't you remember how when you and I rode side by side with Ahab his father, how the Lord made this pronouncement against him? As surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons declares the Lord, I will repay you on this plot of ground. I'll therefore take him up and throw him on the plot of ground in accordance with the word of the Lord." Beloved, God saw what Ahab had done. God saw what Jezebel had done to Naboth and to his sons. And when God saw it, he did not simply turn a blind eye towards it. He didn't simply shrug his shoulders with a sigh, but God avenged the blood of his righteous servant. God's judgment was meted out. And as I've said, this is our consolation as well. According to Article 37 of the Belich Confession, on the last day, all people will give account of all the idle words they have spoken, which the world regards as only playing games. and the secrets and hypocrisies of men will be publicly uncovered in the sight of all. Therefore, with good reason, the thought of this judgment is horrible and dreadful to wicked and evil people. But it is very pleasant and a great comfort to the righteous and elect, since their total redemption will then be accomplished. They will then receive the fruits of their labor and of the trouble they have suffered. Their innocence will be openly recognized by all. And they will see the terrible vengeance that God will bring on the evil ones who tyrannized, oppressed, and tormented them in this world. In short order, we read that Ahaziah is shot down as well. And then we come to Jezebel. When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel had heard of it. And so she paints her eyes, she adorns herself. She looks out the window, Jezebel thinks if she's going to go down, she is going to go down in style. And as Jehu enters the gate, she ridicules him, she taunts him. Is it peace? You, Zimri, murder of your master? You may recall that Zimri was the man who had betrayed King Elah and executed him, and he reigned for a short seven days in Israel. But Jehu lifted his voice to the window and said, who is on my side, who? And two or three eunuchs looked down at him and he said, throw her down. So they threw her down and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses and they trampled on her. Beloved God is faithful to his word. Verse 34, then Jehu went in and ate and drank, and he said, see now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter. But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. And when they came back and told him, he said, this is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the servant Elijah, the Tishbite, in the territory of Jezreel, the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel. And the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say this is Jezebel. God was faithful to bring his word to pass. Throughout this passage and throughout the course of all human history, God is the one who is behind the steering wheel. God is the one who is sovereignly, divinely bringing his word to pass, to quote one pastor, the word of God is the catalyst of human history. God is the one who has set up Hazael to be king of Syria to afflict the people of Israel. God is the one who has charged Jehu to cut off Ahab's house. God is the one who's ultimately going to destroy every devilish dynasty in accordance with his word. Jehu was anointed over Israel in accordance with the word of the Lord. Joram's body was thrown upon the plot of Naboth according to God's word. Jezbel's body was eaten by the dogs in accordance with God's word. The word of the Lord is the catalyst of human history. God is the one who's sovereignly working all things together according to His purposes for us and for the world. of His wrath is even now being filled to the brim. The day is coming when that cup is going to be poured out according to His Word. As I've said, congregation, this story is a picture, it's a picture of the last day. Yes, we sometimes wonder if God is being slow to fulfill His promises, some count slowness, especially when we consider the persecutions and the sufferings that God's people endure. But for the time being, God is being patient, patient towards you, patient towards me, and patient towards the world, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. Is God's judgment coming? It surely is. Does God delight in the death of the wicked? He surely does not. He would much rather the wicked turn from their evil ways and live. This we know is why God sent His Son into the world. The Lion of the tribe of Judah who comes to judge His enemies and our enemies is also the Lamb who was slain for sinners. And so while today is still a day of grace, the Lord Jesus bids us to love even our enemies and the hopeful prayer that the judgment they deserve might be answered at the cross just as the judgment we deserve was answered at the cross. For our sake, the judge became the judged. The righteous conqueror became the condemned as he hung upon the cross. And if we've come to faith in Him, we can be sure that the fate of Joram and Ahaziah and Jezebel need not be our own. To quote one pastor, as we witnessed the judgment of Joram and the extermination of his family, we should remember that we deserve the same judgment because of our own sins. And were it not for the fact that another king would come and take upon himself the judgment that we deserve, we would be lying dead next to Joram in the vineyard of Naboth. It is only by God's grace that we have escaped this judgment. So we must not despise those around us who persist in the sins of Ahab and Joram, but rather declare to them the hope God has granted to us through our own forgiveness. Jesus has changed the bad news of our judgment into the good news of our salvation. And he can do the same for anyone else who comes to him in repentance and faith. By faith in Christ, God's people are delivered from the devilish dynasty of this world, which is under the sway of the prince of the power of the air. And they're transferred into the kingdom of his own beloved son, the dynasty of King Jesus. And the day is indeed coming, coming soon when our confession says, that we as the faithful and elect will be crowned with glory and honor. The Son of God will confess our names before God his Father and the holy and elect angels and all tears will be wiped from our eyes. And our cause at present condemned as heretical and evil by many judges and civil officers will be acknowledged as the cause of the Son of God. And as a gracious reward, the Lord will make us possess a glory such as the heart of man could never imagine. So we look forward to that great day with longing in order to enjoy fully the promises of God and Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen, let us pray. Gracious God and Heavenly Father, we come before you and we marvel at your patience, at how patient you were with the dynasty of Ahab, how patient you have been with us, and how patient you continue to be with the world. Lord, we pray that you would bring even our enemies, those who persecute the Lord Jesus by persecuting his church, that they might be brought to repentance and faith. And yet, Father, we thank you also for the consolation the day of reckoning is coming, when we shall be vindicated. And when our cause at present condemned by the world shall be regarded and made known to be the cause of the Son of God. Lord, we thank you for your avenging love. You have not turned a blind eye to those who have persecuted your church. And Lord, we thank you for your swift judgment. And we praise you for your faithful word that you bring all things to pass according to your word. And that as surely as Christ came the first time, we can be sure he is coming a second time to ride upon the clouds of heaven, to condemn all his enemies and ours, and to take us up to be with him in everlasting life forever. We long for that day and so we pray that he would come quickly. We pray in his name and for his sake, amen.