2 Kings 9:30-37--Jehu Executes Jezebel

2 Kings 9:30-37
English Standard Version

Jehu Executes Jezebel
30 When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. And she painted her eyes and adorned her head and looked out of the window. 31 And as Jehu entered the gate, she said, “Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master?” 32 And he lifted up his face to the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him. 33 He said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down. And some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses, and they trampled on her. 34 Then he went in and ate and drank. And he said, “See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter.” 35 But when they went to bury her, they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. 36 When they came back and told him, he said, “This is the word of the LORD, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite: ‘In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, 37 and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as dung on the face of the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.’”

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We have been longing for this end to the story since we first heard of Jezebel in 1 Kings.  There were only two options--she was going to repent and become one of the people of God (God takes people we think are beyond salvation and saves them all the time--just look at Saul of Tarsus in the New Testament as one example) but also the LORD does not let the wicked go unpunished, and He brings severe judgment on those who lead His people Israel into sin--especially sins of rebellion, idolatry, witchcraft, sorcery, and the like.

Jehu is already at Jezebels proverbial doorstep as he's in Jezreel, where she has been living.  She heard of what Jehu had done to the kings of Israel and Judah and so she starts to adorn herself knowing that she's getting dressed for her funeral.  She also asks a questions she knows the answer to, "Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master?"  She knows it's Jehu and that he is not seeking peace, but she wants to take the opportunity to call him by another name--the name of of the one who assassinated king Asa of Judah, he too was the commander of the king's chariots, and that man was a murderer seizing the throne for himself.  Jezebel is trying to tell Jehu that she knows his identity and that he's just as bad as she is and that he too deserves to die alongside her.

Jehu did not reply to her charges or accusations, but instead asked, "Who is on my side?" and two or three eunuchs looked at him.  Then he said, "Throw her down," and they did so that he blood splattered all over the wall and the horses and the horses trampled on her.  He went in to eat and drink, and by the time he had thought that she deserved the respect of a proper burial, there was nothing left of her other than her skull, her feet, and the palms of her hands, for the wild dogs had come and devoured her, just as the word of the LORD had said when He spoke through the prophet Elijah.

There would be nothing left of her body other than that which came out as excrement of the dogs which would become fertilizer in the nearby fields.  That way no one could point to her dead body and say, "This is Jezebel," and see where she lay.  Part of the judgment on her was to show the people that she would have no resting, even in death.  Letting the unclean dogs eat her was also a sign to all the people that she was cursed by God, and that no one should follow in her footsteps.  Unfortunately, there are many today that still do follow in her footsteps.  Some who desire to be wicked and rebellious look to her as an example an desire for the same spirit or spirits that led her to lead them.  If those who practice these things do not repent, then their end too will be utter destruction just like her end was.