2Kings
10:1 ¶ And Ahab had seventy sons in
Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of
Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab’s children,
saying, 2 Now as soon as this letter
cometh to you, seeing your master’s sons are with you, and there are
with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and armour; 3 Look even out the best and meetest of your
master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your
master’s house. 4 But they were
exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then
shall we stand? 5 And he that was
over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the
bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy
servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do
thou that which is good in thine eyes. 6
Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be
mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men
your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the
king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of
the city, which brought them up. 7 And
it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons,
and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them
to Jezreel. 8 And there came a
messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king’s
sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate
until the morning. 9 And it came to pass
in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be
righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew
all these? 10 Know now that there shall
fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spake
concerning the house of Ahab: for the LORD hath done that which he spake
by his servant Elijah. 11 So Jehu slew
all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and
his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining. 12 And he arose and departed, and came to
Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house in the way, 13 Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of
Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the
brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the
children of the queen. 14 And he said,
Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the
shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.
The
prolific Ahab had a great many sons who could lay dynastic claims to authority
not only over Israel but over Judah as well. Every one of them was a threat to
Jehu’s rule and carried with their lives a promise of unending civil war. Jehu
sent the rulers, the elders of Jezreel who had brought up those seventy sons, a
terrifying letter with an implicit threat. When they responded submissively he
sent them the fatal command, which they followed. I am reminded that in 1212,
King John of England had 28 sons between the ages of 12 and 14 of prominent
Welshman who had given them as hostages for good behavior hung. One chronicler
noted that their pitiful cries rang around the castle at Nottingham.
This is a
horrific act much like the movie-ish Mafia threat of, “I’m not only going to
kill you but I’m going to kill your family, friends, and everyone you’ve ever
met.” The house of Ahab’s nobles, his relatives, and even his priests are executed.
Finally, in this passage it is reported that Jehu executed the brethren of
Ahaziah who had come to do him honor but with no internet or even newspapers
were unaware of the coups d’etat.
This
bloody event is God settling accounts through Jehu, something He has done
throughout history at various times in various places. If you view history from
a big picture perspective it consists of nations and people groups swirling
around as Satan tries to unite them in empire, either physical or economic, to
stand opposed to God. God then splits and divides until He is ready for the end
of human history. But Satan always has a man or men in play, ready to lead them
in that final rebellion that God will destroy as we read in Revelation.
2Kings
10:15 ¶ And when he was departed thence,
he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he
saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with
thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand.
And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.
16 And he said, Come with me, and see my
zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot. 17 And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that
remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the
saying of the LORD, which he spake to Elijah. 18 And Jehu gathered all the people together,
and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him
much. 19 Now therefore call unto me all
the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be
wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be
wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent
that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal. 20 And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for
Baal. And they proclaimed it. 21
And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came,
so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the house of
Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to another. 22 And he said unto him that was over the
vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought
them forth vestments. 23 And Jehu went,
and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the
worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the
servants of the LORD, but the worshippers of Baal only. 24 And when they went in to offer sacrifices and
burnt offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men without, and said, If any
of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that letteth him
go, his life shall be for the life of him. 25 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made
an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the
captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them
with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them
out, and went to the city of the house of Baal. 26 And they brought forth the images out of the
house of Baal, and burned them. 27 And
they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made
it a draught house unto this day. 28
Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.
Jehonadab
is a good man whose posterity honor his commitment.
Jeremiah
35:5 And I set before the sons of the
house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them,
Drink ye wine. 6 But they said, We will
drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of
Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor
your sons for ever: 7 Neither shall ye
build house, nor sow seed, nor plant
vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may
live many days in the land where ye be strangers. 8 Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all
that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our
sons, nor our daughters; 9 Nor to build
houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:
10 But we have dwelt in tents, and have
obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.
He will
join with Jehu in doing God’s work.
1Kings
21:21 Behold, I will bring evil upon
thee, and will take away thy posterity, and will cut off from Ahab him that
pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, 22 And will make thine house like the house of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for
the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to
sin.
Jehu will
now deceive the servants of Baal. A national holy day for Baal was declared and
they are told to come to the house of Baal that Ahab had raised up an
altar in.
1Kings
16:31 And it came to pass, as if it had
been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and
went and served Baal, and worshipped him. 32
And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had
built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made a
grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all
the kings of Israel that were before him.
You can
see from the passage how he identified the worshippers of Baal and how he
destroyed them, burning their idols, and turning Baal’s house into public
toilet. Jehu has wiped out Baal worship from Israel where Jeroboam had led them
to sin against God years ago. But it was not a complete overthrow of idolatry
and Jehu’s heart was not right with the Lord God as it should have been.
2Kings
10:29 ¶ Howbeit from the sins of
Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after
them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were
in Dan. 30 And the LORD said unto Jehu,
Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine
eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was
in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the
throne of Israel. 31 But Jehu took no
heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he
departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin. 32 In those days the LORD began to cut Israel
short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel; 33 From Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead,
the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is
by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan. 34
Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his
might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
of Israel? 35 And Jehu slept with his
fathers: and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his
stead. 36 And the time that Jehu reigned
over Israel in Samaria was twenty and eight years.
1Kings
12:25 ¶ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in
mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now
shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the
house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again
unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and
go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 28
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said
unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O
Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other
put he in Dan. 30 And this thing became
a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. 31 And he made an house of high places, and made
priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the
eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in
Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the
calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places
which he had made. 33 So he offered upon
the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even
in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto
the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
Because of
Jehu’s obedience in the prosecution of the house of Ahab as God had instructed,
Jehu is promised a dynasty through four generations. He then led Israel into further
apostasy and idolatry with Jeroboams’ golden calves. Israel was doomed.
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