2 KINGS‬ ‭9‬:‭3‬ ‭‬‬

It is a curious thing that God sends a younger prophet into the soldiers den with the instruction to perform his task and then run for his life. This moment in Israel’s history was a bittersweet one. Though filled with bloodshed and intrigue, it was also a necessary moment of justice and wrath. God had stayed the hand of quick execution on Ahab because of a half hearted repentance, but a price needed to be paid. That price, due to the enmeshed nature of the politics, needed a deeply surgical approach. Here we see how it is impossible to stay the hand of God. Using his prophet to set flick the first domino, he instructs him to flee. It is as if he had lit the fuse on dynamite. The explosion would be all consuming for Israel. In this case, we see that the prophets haste and orientation toward God might have saved his life in the ensuing bloodbath. Lot’s wife illustrates what happens when we remain in the destruction of God’s judment long enough to be caught in its wake. We must follow carefully and with urgency when given the will of the Lord. These commands can seem strange or difficult but they are meant to give us grace in what is to come.