2 Kings 10:1-5: a reflection

1Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, even the elders, and to those who brought up Ahab’s sons, saying, 2“Now as soon as this letter comes to you, since your master’s sons are with you, and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city also, and armor, 3select the best and fittest of your master’s sons, set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.” 4But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, “Behold, the two kings didn’t stand before him! How then shall we stand?” 5He who was over the household, and he who was over the city, the elders also, and those who raised the children, sent to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants, and will do all that you ask us. We will not make any man king. You do that which is good in your eyes.”

When Jehu challenges the guardians of Ahab's seventy sons to set one of them up and fight for their master's house, their response reveals how shallow their loyalty was. They were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings didn't stand before him! How then shall we stand? And at once they submit: We are your servants, and will do all that you ask. Their loyalty to Ahab's house, it turns out, was only skin-deep; at the first threat, afraid for themselves, they abandon it entirely and switch sides. Their allegiance, based on fear and advantage, collapsed the moment it was tested.

Notice how quickly a loyalty based only on fear and advantage collapsed. As long as it was safe and advantageous, these men served Ahab's house; but the moment a real threat appeared, afraid for themselves, they abandoned it and submitted to Jehu. Their allegiance had no depth of conviction; it was based on what was safe and profitable, and so it collapsed when the wind changed. Fear for themselves overrode any loyalty they professed; their allegiance lasted only as long as it cost them nothing. A loyalty grounded in fear and advantage cannot stand when it is tested.

That is worth taking to heart, for a loyalty, or a faith, based only on fear and advantage will collapse when tested, unlike one grounded in true conviction. We can profess loyalty, to people, to causes, even to God, while our allegiance is really based on what is safe and advantageous; and such loyalty, like that of Ahab's servants, collapses the moment it costs us something. True conviction holds when tested; fear-based allegiance folds. Examine whether your loyalties, and your faith, are grounded in true conviction or only in what is safe and advantageous, for the latter collapses under pressure, as Ahab's servants abandoned his house at the first threat. Let your allegiance to God be grounded in true conviction, not merely in what is safe and advantageous, so that it holds when tested, unlike the servants of Ahab's house who folded at the first threat; for a loyalty based only on fear and advantage collapses under pressure, and only conviction stands when allegiance is truly tested.

Lord, when Jehu challenges the guardians of Ahab's seventy sons to set one of them up and fight for their master's house, their response reveals how shallow their loyalty was. They were exceedingly afraid, and said, behold, the two kings didn't stand before him! How then shall we stand? And at once they submit: we are your servants, and will do all that you ask. Their loyalty to Ahab's house was only skin-deep; at the first threat, afraid for themselves, they abandon it entirely and switch sides. Show me how quickly a loyalty based only on fear and advantage collapsed. As long as it was safe and advantageous, these men served Ahab's house; but the moment a real threat appeared, afraid for themselves, they abandoned it and submitted to Jehu. Their allegiance had no depth of conviction; it was based on what was safe and profitable, and so it collapsed when the wind changed. Fear for themselves overrode any loyalty they professed. Take that to my heart, for a loyalty, or a faith, based only on fear and advantage will collapse when tested, unlike one grounded in true conviction. I can profess loyalty, to people, to causes, even to you, while my allegiance is really based on what is safe and advantageous; and such loyalty collapses the moment it costs me something. Help me examine whether my loyalties, and my faith, are grounded in true conviction or only in what is safe and advantageous, Lord. Let my allegiance to you be grounded in true conviction, not merely in what is safe, so that it holds when tested, unlike the servants of Ahab's house who folded at the first threat.