King Ahab of Israel humbled himself in response to God’s judgment against him and his family following his appropriation of Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 22).

Ahab’s elder son Ahaziah succeeded him but died two years later after falling through the lattice of an upper room of his palace in Samaria.  Whether Ahaziah’s fall was a true accident or not, 2 Kings 1 does not say, and further speculation belongs to the realm of fiction.

Ahab’s younger son Joram inherited Ahaziah’s place and his father’s enemies, notably Ben-Hadad and then Hazael, kings of Aram (Syria).  Joram and the king of Judah joined forces to attack Hazael at Ramoth Gilead, possibly on the same battle ground where Ahab died in action (1 Kings 22:29-40). When the Arameans wounded Joram, he returned to his palace at Jezreel to recover (2 Kings 8:28-29).  King Ahaziah of Judah followed Joram while the armies of Judah and Israel stayed behind to defend Ramoth Gilead.

The prophet Elisha, Elijah’s successor, chose this opportunity to send a younger prophet to anoint the Israelite commander, Jehu, king over Israel in Joram’s place. Once anointed, Jehu wasted no time in leading his troops to Jezreel to carry out Elisha’s command to wipe outAhab’s family,  Joram went to meet him, accompanied by Ahaziah of Judah, each in his own chariot,

The three met at the plot of ground that had belonged to Naboth the Jeszreelite.

When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?”

“How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”

Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!”

Then Joram drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot.

Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. …”

Amaziah of Judah fled west, pursued by Jehu and his men.

They wounded him in his chariot on the way up to Ibleam, but he escaped to Megiddo and died there.

Jehu meanwhile returned to Jezreel to dispose of Jezebel. He ordered her servants to throw her out of her palace window. Horses trampled her underfoot and dogs devoured her remains, leaving nothing but a skull, hands and feet.

For Joram and Jehu, as Jehu said, their grisly deaths came about according the the word of the Lord that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite.

The ancient battle ground of the plain of Meggido thus became a place of reckoning–a place where injustice and evil meet final defeat,  The deaths of Joram, and Jezebel anticipate the outcome of the final battle at Armageddon.

Taste and see that the LORD is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
– Psalm 34:8 (NIV)

Psychologists tell us that fragrances arouse deep emotions in the olfactory regions of our brains. The smells of Christmas cooking made a believer out of me at an early age—in the Dickensian style of Christmas. The way to a small boy’s heart and soul leads through his nose to his stomach, and I became a devotee of traditional English Christmas fare.

Belief in Jesus Christ was different. Our parents never took us to church. They had forsaken their upbringing in Christian homes that were too devout for my mother’s liking. They called the Nativity accounts in the gospels fairy tales.

That life lasted until I visited a church on my own at the age of nineteen. Discovering the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God weaned me from my allegiance to the secular Christmas and replaced it with commitment to the Christ of Christmas.

Christmas without Christ amounts to a commercial winter festival that invites overindulgence. I could not bear the emptiness of life without Jesus Christ and the blessings he brings throughout the year.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for opening my eyes to the light of your salvation. Amen

Thought for the Day
Seek the blessings of life in Christ rather thanReflection
the cultural attractions of religious holidays.

Prayer Focus: WORKERS WHO MUST GIVE UP THEIR HOLIDAYS TO GET BY