Chapter 3 Wear Makeup/"WHY DON'T YOU"

THE DEATH OF JEZEBEL

2 Kings 9:30-37

30 When Jezebel, the queen mother, heard that Jehu had come to Jezreel, she painted her eyelids and fixed her hair and sat at a window. 31 When Jehu entered the gate of the palace, she shouted at him, "Have you come in peace, you murderer? You're just like Zimri, who murdered his master!" 32 Jehu looked up and saw her at the window and shouted, "Who is on my side?" And two or three eunuchs looked out at him. 33 "Throw her down!" Jehu yelled. So they threw her out the window, and her blood spattered against the wall and on the horses. And Jehu trampled her body under his horse's hooves. 34 Then Jehu went into the palace and ate and drank. Afterward he said, "Someone go and bury this cursed woman, for she is the daughter of a king." 35 But when they went out to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet, and her hands. 36 When they returned and told Jehu, he stated, "This fulfills the message from The Lord, which spoke through his servant Elijah from Tishbe: 'At the plot of land in Jezreel, dogs will eat Jezebel's body. 37 Her remains will be scattered like dung on the plot of land in Jezreel, so that no one will be able to recognize her."

Joram of Israel was wicked like his father and mother, Ahab and Jezebel; therefore, his body was thrown into the field that his parents had unlawfully taken. Jezebel had arranged the murder of Naboth, the previous owner, because he would not sell his vineyard which Ahab wanted for a garden (1Kings 21:1-24). 

Little did Ahab know that it would become a burial plot for his evil son. Why did Jezebel refer to Zimri? Zimri was an army commander who, some 40 years earlier, had killed Elah and then had declared himself king of Israel (1Kings 16:8-10). 

Jezebel was accusing Jehu of trying the same treachery. Jezebel's skull, feet, and hands were all that remained of her evil life no power, no money, no prestige, no royal finery, no family, no spiritual heritage. In the end, her life of luxury and treachery amounted to nothing. 

Power, health, and wealth may make you feel as if you can live forever. But death strips everyone of all external security. The time to set your life's course is now, while you still have time before your heart becomes hardened. The end will come soon enough.

Proverbs 6:24-26 

24 It will keep you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of a promiscuous woman. 25 Don't lust for her beauty. Don't let her coy glances seduce you. 26 For a prostitute will bring you to poverty, but sleeping with another man's wife will cost you your life.

Regard lust as a warning sign of danger ahead. When you notice that you are attracted to a person of the opposite sex or preoccupied with thoughts of him or her, your desires may lead you to sin. Ask God to help you change your desires before you are drawn into sin.

Ezekiel 23:40-49

40 "You sisters sent messengers to distant lands to get men. Then when they arrived, you bathed yourselves, painted your eyelids, and put on your finest jewels for them. 41 You sat with them on a beautifully embroidered couch and put my incense and my special oil on a table that was spread before you. 42 From your room came the sound of many men carousing. They were lustful men and drunkards from the wilderness, who put bracelets on your wrists and beautiful crowns on your heads. 43 Then I said, 'If they really want to have sex with old worn-out prostitutes like these, let them!' 44 And that is what they did. They had sex with Oholah and Oholibah, these shameless prostitutes. 45 But righteous people will judge these sister cities for what they really are adulterers and murderers. 46 "Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Bring an army against them and hand them over to be terrorized and plundered. 47 For their enemies will stone them and kill them with swords. They will butcher their sons and daughters and burn their homes. 48 In this way, I will put an end to lewdness and idolatry in the land, and my judgment will be a warning to others not to follow their wicked example. 49 You will be fully repaid for all your prostitution your worship of idols. Yes, you will suffer the full penalty. Then you will know that I am the sovereign Lord.

The Israelites went so far as to sacrifice their own children to idols and then to sacrifice to The Lord the same day. This made a mockery of worship. We cannot praise God and willfully sin at the same time. That would be like a person going to bed with a neighbor and then celebrating his or her wedding anniversary.