The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 159

"Had Zimri pea.ea, who slew his master?" But J ehu is not a man to be trifled with. He finds willing helpers in her own servants. .At his command they threw her down into the ~treet, and she-the adulteress and the murderess, the woman whose name has become proverbial as a symbol of everything that is bad-is trampled under the horses' feet, and once more the doom of Heaven is fulfilled: "In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel." We learn from this narrative some important lessons. I. Sm, NOT REPENTED OF, MUST BE PUNISHED. This is a law of nature. It is a faot of history. It is the very essence of morality. It is the very essence of justice. It is at the basis of social order in a nation. It is at the basis of the moral government of the universe. Those who transgress the law of nations, those who transgress the laws of honesty or of morality, those who take away the life, or the property, or the character of others, must be made to suffer for it. This is necessary, that justice may be vindicated. It is necessary, in order that property and person and character may be safe. It is necessary, in order that other evil-doers may be deterred from crime. Even under our own national law, we feel that there is something wrong when an evil-doer escapes. We feel that it has a bad effect upon the community when crime goes unpunished. Now, what is sin in the Bible sense? Sin is tl,e transgression of the Law. It is a transgression of a far higher law than the law of nations, of that law on which the well-being of all nations depends-the eternal Law of God. 'l'he Law of God is at the foundation of all true well-being e.nd happiness in every nation and in every age. "This do, and thou shalt live." "The commandment is holy, and just, and good." It is, therefore, in the interests of every nation, it is in the interests, not of one generation of men merely, but of those who shall come after them, that those who transgress the Didne Law should suffer for it. Every violation of a Divine law must be followed by its corresponding punishment. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Look at your own lives in the light of this great truth. .Are there any sins in your lives unrepented of? Then be assured that the punishment, if it has not yet come, awaits you. Sins against God, against God's Law, against God's sabbath; sins against our fellow-man-sins of unfair dealing, sins of evil-speaking, or other and grosser sins; every one of these, if not repented of, is sure to bring its corresponding punishment, "Be sure your sin will find you out." II. PtrmsHMEh'T MAY BE DELAYED, BUT IT IS NONE THE LESS BURE. There is an old Irish proverb, "The vengeance of God is slow, but sure." We have many illustrations of that in history. It was long after Jezebel's great crime before her punishment over- took her. When the Israelites were journeying through the wilderness, the .Amalekites treated them with great treachery and cruelty, falling upon them in the rear, and when they were faint and weary. It was not until four hundred years afterwards that the sentence against .A.malek was executed; but it was executed at last. We may kill our enemies, we may seek to destroy all traces of our crime, but we can never destroy the 1rienwry and the gui1tLJj it by any acts ef ours. Charles IX. of France was led, by the importunity of another Jezebel, Mary de Medicis, to kill .Admiral Coligny, who was the great leader of the French l'rotestants. For a long time he refused, but at last he consented in the memorable words, ".Assassinate .Admiral Coligny, but leave not a Huguenot alive in France to reproach me." That was the origin of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. Ha"ing killed Coligny, he did not want any of his friends to remain to bear witness against him. How anxious men arc to destroy all traces of their crime I .And yet how vain all such efforts are! There is One whose eye sees every act of human life. We may escape the judgment of men, but we cannot escape the judgment of God. If not here, then certainly hereafter, every sin, not repented or, will receive its due reward. "For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." III. THERE 1B OFTEN A RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN THE PLACE AND HANNER OF THE SIN Ah"'D THE PLACE AND HANNER OF THE PUNISHMENT. 1. It was at Naboth's vineyard that the great sin of Ahab's house had been committed. There, too, at Naboth's vine- yard, Jehoram, .Ahab's son, was slain. It was outside the walls of Jezreel that the dogs licked the blood of Naboth. There, too, the dogs licked the blood and nto the fi•_•tih of J ezcbel his murderess. It would seem as if this was part of the Divine Law of OU. IX. 1-37.] 'I'HE SECOND BOOK OF 'I'HE KINGS. 201