GET IN THE CHARIOT
GET IN THE CHARIOT
2 Kings 10:15 Now when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab, coming to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is toward your heart?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” So, he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot.
King Jehu isn’t remembered as a good king like many in Israel, but he overthrew the wicked dynasty of Ahab and brought about a period of spiritual reform in Israel. Here we see that he was going around getting people into the chariot and seeing if their heart was as his heart was. Jehu is complex in that he ultimately wasn’t good. However, he’s seen as a type of Christ. He was obedient, brought destruction to evil and brought judgement but also showing mercy to those who would climb into the chariot. For us we have been spared the judgement of God and shown mercy in that we are in Christ. We don’t need to jump into a literal chariot but we are to be in Christ and we desire for more people to be in Christ. 2 Kings 9:19 Then he sent out a second horseman who came to them, and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is it peace?’ ”And Jehu answered, “What have you to do with peace? Turn around and follow me.” In the same way, we turn around and follow Christ.
Just as Jehu reached out his hand and asked is your heart right, so Christ has reached out His hand of mercy. If we believe in Jesus, we grab a hold if his hand to escape the judgement to come. Ezekiel 1:20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. This describes a chariot but also a picture of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We go wherever the Holy Spirit leads us and like Jehu our aim is to reach out to the lost and get them into the chariot and to be in Christ so they too can now go wherever the Spirit leads. Time is short and there will be a greater destruction more so than Ahab and Jezebel, God will judge the world and so we need to get busy bringing as many as we can into the chariot to receive mercy.