2 Kings 9-10

April 23

2 Kings 9-10

Jezebel was a wicked woman and really the leader over Israel for many years. Her husband, Ahab, cowered to her and allowed her to bring make Baal worship, sexual promiscuity and many sinful lifestyles to prominence in Israel. People living in that time probably wondered why God would allow such actions. Why did God allow Jezebel and Ahab remain on the throne in Israel? Why, after the death of Ahab and his son Ahaziah, did God allow Joram, Ahab’s next son, to reign as king with Jezebel the queen mother?

We cannot always understand why God allows certain people to rise to leadership. Paul wrote to the church in Rome, probably during the reign of Nero, a wicked leader of the Roman Empire; "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." (Romans 13:1, NIV) Why would God establish leaders like Hitler, Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and so many others?

Israel and Judah had many bad kings and relatively few good kings. We look around and wonder if God has fallen asleep while our world seems to spiral out of control. Many look at our own nation and the great divide within the country and among our government officials and wonder if God cares. But as we look back in scripture, we see that God allows evil kings to rise to power. There are killings, power struggles, and chaos within the country as kings come and go.

We have to remember that God is not contained in time. God is outside of time. What seems like a long time to us is nothing in scope of eternity. Good kings and evil kings come and go. God uses the evil kings to bring upon Israel and Judah the discipline they needed. The people often got the king they deserved.Though it seems like evil wins out during certain stages of history, God eventually makes them pay for their rebellion against Him. Just as Elijah had said, Jezebel’s body was devoured by dogs in Jezreel.

We do not need to get discouraged our wonder if God knows what is going on in our world. We need only to pray and stand up for the truth of the Gospel. We may have evil leaders and we may have good leaders, but ultimately God is in control and He will bring about the discipline that is appropriate for each of us.