Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 9

Elisha called one of the other prophets under him, and he said, "Take this box of oil to Ramoth-Gilead, and annoint Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, as king. Then run away as fast as you can."

So, he did as he was told. When he got there, the Captains of the host of Jehoshaphat's army were sitting outside. He said, "Captain, I have to do something for you."

Jehu said, "For who?"

The prophet said, "For you." He took him into the house and he told him, "God says, 'I have annointed you as king over my people. You shall rid Israel of the House of Ahab and avenge the blood of the prophets that were killed at the hand of Jezebel; and you will leave none of them, and Jezebel will be eaten by the dogs and no one will bury her." Then he ran.

When Jehu came out of the house, the other Captains said, "What was that all about? That man was crazy! What did he say to you?"

Jehu just shrugged and said, "Like you said, he's crazy." Then he told him what the prophet said. They all stood up and put on their garments and blew the trumpet and announced him King over Israel. And Jehu began to conspire against Joram.

Joram had gone to heal his wounds from the Syrians in Jezreel. So Jehu went to see him. Ahaziah, the king of Judah was also there to see Joram. A watchman saw Jehu coming in his chariot driving furiously and told Joram, who sent out a messenger asking, "Do you come in peace?"

Jehu told him, "What do you know about peace?" and kept driving. So they sent another, who got the same answer.

So Joram and Ahaziah went out to meet Jehu on the way and Joram said, "Do you come in peace, Jehu?" And Jehu answered and said, "As long as your mother continues to reak havoc on Israel, there is no peace!" Joram turned and fled away, yelling for Ahaziah to run. "It is treachery, Ahaziah!" he yelled. Jehu grabbed a bow and shot him between the shoulders.

Jehu told them to cast Joram in the field of Naboth. Then as Ahaziah was running away, they shot him, too. He went to Megiddo, where he died.

Jezebel heard of what happened and she painted her face. When Jehu got to Jezreel, she asked, "Did you have peace in your heart when you came to Joram?" as she leaned out of an upstair window. Jehu yelled to the servants in the house, "Who is on my side? Anybody?" Three Eunuchs came out and he said, "Throw her down!" So they went upstairs and threw Jezebel out the window. Then he ran over her with his horse and went into the house to eat.

When he had done eating, he told them, "You know, she was a king's daughter and we ought to bury her properly. Go get her." So they went out to get her, but the dogs had eaten all but her skull, the palms of her hands and her feet.

Jehu knew that it was the Lord, for he had been told by the prophet this would happen.

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When God annoints you to do something, it is what you should consistently work toward until it is finished. If you do, all that God promises for you will happen.


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Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 8

After Samaria was restored, Elisha told the woman, who's son he had brought back to life, to travel away from Israel because a famine was about to occur.

In the meanwhile, the king had spoken to Gehazi, who told the king about all he had witnessed that Elisha had done.

After seven years of living in the land of the Philistines, the woman came back, and she went before the king to petition that he give her her land and her home back. Gehazi informed the king that this was the woman he had spoke to him about.

The king asked her to tell her side of the story, and she did. So, he restored her property to her.

Elisha went to Damascus. The king of Syria was sick, and when he was told of Elisha's arrival, he sent a messenger to enquire as to whether or not he would recover.

So Hazael, the messenger, went to Elisha and asked. Elisha told him, "Yes," but he began to cry, trying to keep his composure, but failing to do so.

When Hazael asked, "What's wrong?" Elisha told him, "I see what you are going to do to Israel. You will slay all the men, all the children and all the women who are with-child brutally."

"Am I a dog that I would do such a thing?" Hazael protested. Elisha insisted that he would be king.

When Hazael returned to the king, the king asked, "Will I recover?" Hazael told him, "Yes." The next day, he took a cloth, dipped it in water, and put it over the king's face, smothering him to death. Hazael became king.

After Joram was king over Israel for five years, Jehoram became king of Judah. Jehoram was married to Joram's sister, and he reigned for eight years, doing evil in the site of the Lord, who would not destroy Judah for David's sake. God had promised that Israel would always have a light.

While Joram reigned, Edom and Libnah revolted. Joram defeated Edom in battle, and Ahaziah ruled in his stead. Ahaziah was Joram's son-in-law. Before Joram died, he was wounded in battle, so he went to Jezreel to recuperate, and Ahaziah went to see him.

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Shakespeare, one of the most notorius playwrites history has to give us, once wrote, "Oh what a wicked web we weave, when at first we practice to deceive!" One sin leads to another. It causes others to stumble and sin. Soon everyone is corrupt and the whole land is covered in sin. Sin is hard to purge. The stains are thick and heavy, and Israel is in despair in 2 Kings 8 because of it.

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