"What hast thou to do with peace."--_2 Kings 9:18._
[Illustration]
THE Sunday before last you heard how King Ahab was killed in battle,
though he had fancied that he could hide from God. His wife, Queen
Jezebel, was left; and she had always been worse than he was, and she
had brought up her son Joram to be very wicked too. When Joram had
reigned as king for twelve years, God told His Prophet Elijah to send a
young man to anoint a captain called Jehu to be king instead of Joram.
So the young man took some oil, and went to the town where Jehu was,
and said, "I have an errand to thee, O captain." Then he poured the oil
on Jehu's head, and told him that God made him king of Israel.
The other captains were glad to make Jehu king, and they made him sit
on the top of a flight of steps, and blew with their trumpets, and
shouted, "Jehu is king." Then they all set out to conquer King Joram.
Joram had his chariot made ready, and went out in it to meet Jehu; but,
as soon as they came in sight of one another Jehu shot an arrow, and
it struck Joram, so that he sank down in his chariot and died.
Then Jehu went on into the town; and Jezebel thought she would still
try to make friends with the people; so, instead of mourning for her
son, she painted her face, and put on a headdress, and looked out at a
window. Jehu said, "Who is on my side? who?" And some of the servants
looked out. He said, "Throw her down." So the servants threw Jezebel
out of the window, and her blood sprinkled on Jehu's horses. But he
went on, and went into the palace, and was made king, and had a feast.
[Illustration: JEZEBEL EATEN BY DOGS.--2 Kings 9:32, 33.]
Then he sent out, and said that he would have Jezebel buried, for she
was a king's daughter. However, when his men went out to look for her,
they found that the wild dogs that ran about the streets had eaten up
every bit of her, so that there was nothing left of her but her skull
and her feet, and the palms of her hands.
You remember that God's prophet Elijah, had told Ahab that the dogs
should eat Jezebel, because she was so cruel. She worshipped idols,
and killed God's prophets, and had poor Naboth put to death that Ahab
might have his vineyard. So God punished her. People need not hope that
God will not punish what they have done wrong, for He will be quite
sure to punish unless they are very sorry, and pray to Him, to pardon
them for Jesus Christ's sake.