In our last study we witnessed some of the outworking of the prophecy given to Joab by a young prophet, at the command of Elisha.
Read 2 Kings 9:6-10
the Lord, the God of Israel, says: “I anoint you king over the Lord’s people Israel. 7 You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the Lord’s servants shed by Jezebel. 8 The whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel – slave or free. 9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. 10 As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.”’
We have seen the destruction of Joram, king of Israel; Ahaziah, king of Judah; and Jezebel, wife of Ahab.
Unfortunately, there was still more to be done: Ahab had had many children . . . .
Read 2 Kings 10:1-4
1 Now there were in Samaria seventy sons of the house of Ahab. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria: to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders and to the guardians of Ahab’s children. He said, 2 ‘You have your master’s sons with you and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weapons. Now as soon as this letter reaches you, 3 choose the best and most worthy of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne. Then fight for your master’s house.’
4 But they were terrified and said, ‘If two kings could not resist him, how can we?’
Ahab had made provision for his many sons (obviously at that time, and in that culture, there was little interest in daughters). The boys seem to have been housed separately and schooled to be ready to take the throne when their turn came. Here their schoolmasters are told now is the time! But there was a big problem – the ‘him’ in verse 4 was Jehu – heading a military coup.
Effectively saying ‘if you believe that any of Ahab’s sons is worthy of the throne, you will have to fight me for it’.
Read 2 Kings 10:5
5 So the palace administrator, the city governor, the elders and the guardians sent this message to Jehu: ‘We are your servants and we will do anything you say. We will not appoint anyone as king; you do whatever you think best.’
How wise – although realistically they had no option!
Read 2 Kings 10:6-8
6 Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying, ‘If you are on my side and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.’
Now the royal princes, seventy of them, were with the leading men of the city, who were bringing them up. 7 When the letter arrived, these men took the princes and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel. 8 When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, ‘They have brought the heads of the princes.’
Then Jehu ordered, ‘Put them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.’
Are we shocked? Do we think ‘how cruel’? Was God justified in removing the descendants of Ahab who were being schooled in his ways – ready to continue to lead the nation in the worship of other gods? Is God justified in defending his right to receive honour and glory from his creation?
Read 2 Kings 10:9
9 The next morning Jehu went out. He stood before all the people and said, ‘You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these?
Perhaps Jehu is showing some remorse? – actually, no.
Read 2 Kings 10:9-11
10 Know, then, that not a word the Lord has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail. The Lord has done what he announced through his servant Elijah.’ 11 So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his chief men, his close friends and his priests, leaving him no survivor.
Now we need to recap a little. What do we know of Ahaziah, the king of Judah that Jehu had also killed? (In our last study) Let’s look back at 2 Kings 8:26-27
26 Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel. 27 He followed the ways of the house of Ahab and did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for he was related by marriage to Ahab’s family.
Which explains what follows. Read 2 Kings 10:12-17
12 Jehu then set out and went towards Samaria. At Beth Eked of the Shepherds, 13 he met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, ‘Who are you?’
They said, ‘We are relatives of Ahaziah, and we have come down to greet the families of the king and of the queen mother.’
14 ‘Take them alive!’ he ordered. So they took them alive and slaughtered them by the well of Beth Eked – forty-two of them. He left no survivor.
15 After he left there, he came upon Jehonadab son of Rekab, who was on his way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, ‘Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?’
‘I am,’ Jehonadab answered.
‘If so,’ said Jehu, ‘give me your hand.’ So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot. 16 Jehu said, ‘Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.’ Then he made him ride in his chariot.
17 When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all who were left there of Ahab’s family; he destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord spoken to Elijah.
Who was Jehonadab son of Rekab? The NIV Study Bible says ‘he was the leader of a conservative movement among the Israelites that was characterised by strong opposition to Baalism as well as to various practices of a settled agricultural society, including the building of houses, the sowing of crops and the use of wine. His followers still adhered to these principles over 200 years later and were known as Recabites (see Jeremiah 35:6-10)
At last we now come to the end of the slaughter. No – I spoke too soon.
But surely verse 17 says there was no-one left of the house of Ahab? True, but there were many priests of Baal still eagerly leading the people astray.
Read 2 Kings 10:18-28
18 Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, ‘Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now summon all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests. See that no one is missing, because I am going to hold a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come will no longer live.’ But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.
20 Jehu said, ‘Call an assembly in honour of Baal.’ So they proclaimed it. 21 Then he sent word throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one stayed away. They crowded into the temple of Baal until it was full from one end to the other. 22 And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, ‘Bring robes for all the servants of Baal.’ So he brought out robes for them.
23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the servants of Baal, ‘Look around and see that no one who serves the Lord is here with you – only servants of Baal.’ 24 So they went in to make sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had posted eighty men outside with this warning: ‘If one of you lets any of the men I am placing in your hands escape, it will be your life for his life.’
25 As soon as Jehu had finished making the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and officers: ‘Go in and kill them; let no one escape.’ So they cut them down with the sword. The guards and officers threw the bodies out and then entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. 26 They brought the sacred stone out of the temple of Baal and burned it. 27 They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day.
28 So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel.
Before we move on we need to understand something of the nature and character of Jehu. How would you describe him?
He was an army commander.
He never found killing people to be a problem.
In his mind ‘the ends justified the means’.
He happily entered the temple of Baal and offered sacrifices as a subterfuge.
There is nowhere recorded that he worshipped or prayed to God.
But he did believe that Jehovah God was Almighty and Baal was false.
But look back at verse 16 ‘Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord’. But also look forward to verse 31: ‘Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart’.
We might draw comparisons with the Pharisees of Jesus’ day who even announced with trumpets how very zealous they were for the Law of God (Matthew 6:2), and who would have happily joined in singing ‘I did it my way’
Read 2 Kings 10:29-31
29 However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit – the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
30 The Lord said to Jehu, ‘Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.’ 31 Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.
God rewarded Jehu, but his reward was limited.
Do we have a lesson to learn here concerning how our zeal for the Lord is measured by him? ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.’ (Luke 6:38)
Read 2 Kings 10:32-36
32 In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory 33 east of the Jordan in all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh), from Aroer by the Arnon Gorge through Gilead to Bashan.
34 As for the other events of Jehu’s reign, all he did, and all his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
35 Jehu rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son succeeded him as king. 36 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
Look at the map – the land to the east of the Jordan was now lost to him. Compare how much Joab now reigned over compared to the Kingdom ruled by David.
We will now skip chapters 11 and 12 – we are going to look at them next time. For now we will look at Jehu’s son.
Read 2 Kings 13:1-3
1 In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned for seventeen years. 2 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them. 3 So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad his son.
We can read these verses and despair over the kings who seemed blissfully unaware of God’s wishes. Again and again we have seen cause and effect – Love the Lord and he will bless you and your land. Turn your back on the Lord and you and your land will suffer.
But are we any different? How many of our laws based on Christian principles have been repealed? (1) How many new laws support practices opposed to God’s word? (2) And how many religions must we now actively encourage? (3)
Read 2 Kings 13:4-9
4 Then Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favour, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel. 5 The Lord provided a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. 6 But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole remained standing in Samaria.
7 Nothing had been left of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust at threshing time.
8 As for the other events of the reign of Jehoahaz, all he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 9 Jehoahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoash his son succeeded him as king.
- English common law, the law that the judge said was based on Judeo-Christian principles, “has been largely superseded” by “the enormous growth of statutory legislation,” he said. https://www.thetrumpet.com/7863-uk-judge-says-judeo-christian-values-are-obsolete
- Sexual Offences Act 1967, Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, Human Rights Act 1998, Sunday Trading Act 1994
- Freedom of Religion or Belief ( FoRB ) is a human right which has been guaranteed under international law within the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) since 1966.
