2 Kings 9:18-22: a reflection

18So one went on horseback to meet him, and said, “the king says, ‘Is it peace?’” Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!” The watchman said, “The messenger came to them, but he isn’t coming back.” 19Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them and said, “The king says, ‘Is it peace?’” Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!” 20The watchman said, “He came to them, and isn’t coming back. The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.” 21Joram said, “Get ready!” They got his chariot ready. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him on Naboth the Jezreelite’s land. 22When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace, so long as the prostitution of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft abound?”

As Jehu drives furiously toward Jezreel to carry out God's judgment on a house given over to great evil, King Joram sends messengers asking, Is it peace? And Jehu gives a piercing answer: What peace, so long as the evil and the wickedness abound? There could be no true peace, Jehu says, while the evil that filled the land went unaddressed. To ask for peace while wickedness abounded was to ask for a false peace; true peace could not coexist with unaddressed evil.

Notice the principle in Jehu's answer: there is no true peace while evil goes unaddressed. To speak of peace while wickedness abounded, unrepented and unremoved, was to speak of a false peace, a mere absence of open conflict laid over a deep evil. True peace is not the mere absence of trouble while evil remains beneath; it requires that the evil be dealt with. A peace that ignores unaddressed wickedness is no true peace, but a false calm over a real corruption.

That principle applies, most of all, to our own hearts. We can seek a kind of peace with God, or peace of mind, while some evil in us goes unaddressed, unrepented, hidden beneath the surface; but such peace is false. There is no true peace with God while known sin abounds within us, unconfessed and unforsaken; the peace that ignores our unaddressed sin is a false calm. Do not seek a false peace that leaves the evil in your heart unaddressed; there is no true peace while known sin abounds within, unrepented. True peace comes not by ignoring the evil in us, but by dealing with it, bringing it to God in confession and turning from it. Seek the true peace that comes through dealing honestly with the sin in your heart, rather than the false peace that leaves it unaddressed; for there is no true peace, in us or with God, while known evil abounds unrepented within.

Lord, as Jehu drove toward Jezreel to carry out your judgment on a house given over to great evil, King Joram sent messengers asking, is it peace? And Jehu gave a piercing answer: what peace, so long as the evil and the wickedness abound? There could be no true peace while the evil that filled the land went unaddressed. To ask for peace while wickedness abounded was to ask for a false peace. Show me the principle in Jehu's answer: there is no true peace while evil goes unaddressed. To speak of peace while wickedness abounded, unrepented, was to speak of a false peace, a mere absence of open conflict laid over a deep evil. True peace is not the mere absence of trouble while evil remains beneath; it requires that the evil be dealt with. Let that apply, most of all, to my own heart. I can seek a kind of peace with you, or peace of mind, while some evil in me goes unaddressed, hidden beneath the surface; but such peace is false. There is no true peace with you while known sin abounds within me, unconfessed and unforsaken. Keep me from seeking a false peace that leaves the evil in my heart unaddressed. True peace comes not by ignoring the evil in me, but by dealing with it, bringing it to you in confession and turning from it. Help me seek the true peace that comes through dealing honestly with the sin in my heart, Lord, rather than the false peace that leaves it unaddressed.