2 Kings 9:27-37

2 Kings 9:27-37 - Daily Devotion - 29 July 2026 St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield & Bossley Park 27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw this, he fled up the road toward Beth-haggan.And Jehu pursued him, shouting, “Shoot him too!”So they shot Ahaziah in his chariot on the Ascent of Gur, near Ibleam, and he fled to Megiddo and died there. 28 Then his servants carried him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his fathers in his tomb in the City of David.29 (In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king over Judah.)30 Now when Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So she painted her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down from a window. 31 And as Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, O Zimri, murderer of your master?”32 He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?”And two or three eunuchs looked down at him.33 “Throw her down!” yelled Jehu.So they threw her down, and her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses as they trampled her underfoot.34 Then Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of this cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was the daughter of a king.”35 But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing but her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands.36 So they went back and told Jehu, who replied, “This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke through His servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel the dogs will devour the flesh of Jezebel. 37 And Jezebel’s body will lie like dung in the field on the plot of ground at Jezreel, so that no one can say: This is Jezebel.’ ”REFLECTIONSWritten by Susan DucIn the lists of popular girls’ names across the world, ‘Jezebel’ has never done well. It’s probably because Jezebel is a name associated in the Bible with idolatry, wickedness and sexual immorality. We have seen why this is so throughout 1 and 2 Kings. With her husband King Ahab of Israel, Jezebel promoted the worship of Baal amongst God’s people, persecuted God’s prophets and orchestrated the murder of Naboth. We see even as Jezebel’s end draws near in today’s passage, that she remains unrepentant and defiantly anti-God. When Jehu, God’s appointed instrument for judgment, passes through the city gates, Jezebel flaunts herself and taunts him at her window (v 30-32). Jehu gives the order and the eunuchs by her side throw her down (v 33). Her death is a gruesome and just response for her sin (v 36-37).Jezebel’s infamy spread so far and wide that in Revelation 2:20, Jesus applies her name to the woman who led the church at Thyatira into sexual immorality and the worship of false gods. Like her predecessor, this New Testament ‘Jezebel’ was unwilling to repent and so Jesus “cast her onto a bed of sickness” (Rev 2:22).Have you been caught up in sins you are too ashamed to admit? Do you think your sins make you unworthy of love or acceptance? Look at Jezebel – even she was given time to repent. But don’t be like her – trust in God’s goodness, confess your sins and give them to Jesus. “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). ABOUT THE AUTHORSusan is one of our assistant ministers.