|
|
|
Cause of Death
Thrown from her window and run over by King Jehu's chariot
(2 Kings 9:33).
Last Words
Spoken to King Jehu: "Have you come in peace, you murderer?"
(2 Kings 9:31, NLT).
Words to Live By
"Do not imitate what is evil but what is good."
3 John 11, NIV
|
| |
|
BOOK EXCERPT
All Dressed Up and No Place
to Go
By Lynn Lusby Pratt
CBN.com – Here
Lies Jezebel, a most wicked queen.
One minute she was fixing her hair and putting on eye makeup (2 Kings 9:30).
The next minute (v. 33) Queen Jezebel’s blood was splattering on the
wall. It gets worse. When they went to bury her, well … uh … the
dogs had already been at the body. All that remained were her skull, hands,
and feet. Gag!
What a terrible way to die. But, you see, God will put up with evil for only
so long. And that’s what Queen Jezebel was: pure evil.
She was first a pagan princess. When Ahab became king of Israel (and he was
no saint himself!), he married her, making her the queen over God’s
people. Bad move. She brought in all the false religions with their wicked
ceremonies. Knowledge of the true God may have been lost forever, if it hadn’t
been for the prophet Elijah’s work.
Jezebel sponsored nearly 1,000 prophets of false gods; she killed people
to get what she wanted (1 Kings 21:17, 13, 14). When Elijah called down God’s
fire from Heaven (1 Kings 18) – proving that Jezebel’s gods were
fake – everyone was scared to death … except Jezebel. She went
after Elijah. And she swore by the false gods that she’d kill him (1
Kings 19:2). But God didn’t let her. Hee, hee.
On this day she had made herself up and sat in her windown acting all gorgeous
and important. Her husband had died; so maybe, having heard King Jehu was
on his way, she planned to flirt with him. Or maybe she was simply feeling
powerful. Whatever her motives, maybe God just couldn’t take it anymore.
There was a purpose in not having enough left of Jezebel’s body for
a proper burial. We get a kind of peace by going to the cemetery where our
loved ones are buried. We can stand there, where their bodies are, and remember
them as they were. But in Jezebel’s case, there was so little left,
no one would be able to stand at her grave without remembering this gruesome
story. They would be thinking. Here lies the body … or at least
the feet … that is, I guess it’s her feet …
No glory, no honor, no peace.
Never mind that Jezebel’s body wasn’t left behind. She didn’t
leave anything else behind either. No legacy, nothing good to be remembered
for. There are no schools named after her, no hospitals, no scholarships.
There’s no indication anyone was sorry she died. Her goal seemed to
be to wipe out everyone who believed in the true God. But God didn’t
let her. Hee, hee.
I guess Jezebel did leave us something after all: She left us a model of
how not to live.
The next time you’re upset because the bad guys seem to be winning,
take heart. Bad plans may succeed for a while, but only for a while.
In Memory of Jezebel
“The wicked are crushed by their sins, but the godly have a refuge when
they die.” Proverbs 14:32, NLT
Excerpted from Devotions
by Dead People © 2004 by Lynn Lusby Pratt, Standard Publishing.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
CBN IS HERE FOR YOU!
Are you seeking answers in life? Are you hurting?
Are you facing a difficult situation?
A caring friend will be there to pray with you in your time of need.
|