Dave's Diary

Daily Reading: 2 Kings 9:1-13

One of Elijah’s final acts in 1 Kings 19 had been to anoint the military commander, Jehu, as the future king of Israel who would overthrow the wicked, murderous dynasty of Ahab. Jehu had not acted on that prophecy yet, and by now Ahab’s son Joram was king. But now, Elisha (who had been anointed as Elijah’s successor at the same time) sensed that God’s moment for Jehu to rise up had arrived. He assigned one of his apprentices to bear a prophetic message to Jehu. This message had to be delivered with great care, for the king would seek to destroy Jehu if he caught the slightest hint of a looming “rebellion”.

After the prophet’s message was delivered, Jehu, still drenched in anointing oil, tried to shrug the encounter off as the work of a “maniac”, but his companions were having none of that. There was to be no more hiding for Jehu as his fellow officers threw their cloaks down as an impromptu “red carpet”, blew the trumpet call and cried out victoriously: “Jehu is king!”

There is much in this reading that foreshadows Jesus’ “triumphal entry” (which is the “encounter” we’ll consider next Sunday). One important aspect to notice, though, is that Jehu was very hesitant and wanted to remain in the shadows even longer out of a very reasonable sense of fear. He knew that once his comrades proclaimed him as king, there would be no turning back and he would be headed for a showdown with the full might of the ruling king, who would fight with everything at his disposal to retain power.

I think this offers us insight into the temptation that must surely have come to Jesus in the moment He realised His time had come. Jesus would lay down a dramatic, public claim to be God’s King in the face of the full might of the Roman Empire! Yet, despite the danger, Jesus Himself took the initiative and entered Jerusalem in a very deliberate, very public, prophetically enacted claim to be God’s True King. Jesus acted with great courage in entering Jerusalem the way He did. While His disciples and others might not have realised the events they would unleash by hailing Him as the “Son of David”, Jesus certainly did. His time had come and there would be no hiding in the shadows for the Son of God.

Are you tempted to “stay in the shadows” in some way, rather than step out and take a stand for the Kingdom of God? May Jehu and Jesus inspire you today to “come out of the shadows” into the light and to accept your true calling to reveal Jesus and His Kingdom to the world around you.

Jesus, make me brave, and help me to step out of the shadows for Your kingdom’s cause today! Amen.