2 Kings 9:18-22: in context

As Jehu drives furiously toward Jezreel to execute judgment on the house of Ahab, King Joram sends messengers to ask, is it peace? Twice the question comes, and twice Jehu turns the messengers aside. Finally Joram himself rides out and asks, is it peace, Jehu? And Jehu answers with a question that exposes the folly of the request: what peace, so long as the prostitutions and witchcrafts of your mother Jezebel are so many? There could be no peace while such flagrant, unrepented wickedness abounded.

Jehu's answer, what peace while Jezebel's wickedness abounds, states a truth that reaches far beyond this scene. Joram wanted peace, reassurance, the assurance that all was well. But all was not well; flagrant, unrepented wickedness filled the land, the idolatry and evil of Jezebel unchecked. And Jehu's reply exposes the folly of seeking peace while such wickedness continues: there can be no true peace while unrepented sin reigns. To ask is it peace while clinging to wickedness is to seek a peace that cannot be had; real peace requires that the sin be dealt with, not ignored. This exposes a false peace that we too can seek. We can crave reassurance that all is well, peace of mind, the sense that everything is fine, while clinging to sin we have not dealt with, wickedness we have not repented of. And such peace is false; it is the peace Joram sought while Jezebel's evils abounded. There is no peace, the LORD says, for the wicked; the one who clings to unrepented sin cannot have true peace, however much they crave the reassurance that all is well. The false peace that ignores sin is no peace; it is a papering over of a breach that remains. To seek peace while refusing to deal with our sin is to seek what cannot be had. And this points us toward where true peace is found. True peace is not the false reassurance that ignores our sin, but comes through our sin being dealt with, through repentance and reconciliation with God. There is no peace while wickedness reigns unrepented; but there is peace for those who turn from sin and are reconciled to God. Being justified by faith, Paul says, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. True peace comes not by ignoring our sin but by its being dealt with in Christ, through whom we are reconciled to God. This searches the peace we seek. Do we crave a false peace that reassures us all is well while we cling to unrepented sin, as Joram sought peace while Jezebel's evils abounded? Or do we seek the true peace that comes through our sin being dealt with, through repentance and reconciliation with God? What peace, Jehu asks, while wickedness abounds; and the answer is that there is none, until the sin is dealt with. True peace is found not in ignoring our sin but in turning from it and being reconciled to God through Christ, in whom alone the peace that our unrepented sin makes impossible is truly given.

Do I crave a false peace that reassures me all is well while I cling to sin I have not dealt with or repented of, and can Jehu's answer, what peace so long as Jezebel's wickedness abounds, expose the folly of seeking peace while unrepented sin reigns, so that rather than papering over the breach I seek the true peace that comes through my sin being dealt with, turning from it and being reconciled to God through Christ, in whom alone real peace is given?