JEHU, KING OF ISRAEL
II Kings 9:1-13
Jehu's anointing as king came with some direct orders from God. The orders essentially were to clean up Israel and to rid the land of the terrible evildoers that had so crippled the land during the rule of evil kings. That began really with the great Solomon's forsaking of God by taking many foreign wives who influenced him. He built altars for them to worship their gods and whereupon to make sacrifice to them. Because of Solomon's great sins, the Lord stirred up adversaries against Solomon (See I Kings 11:14 and following and I Kings 11:23 and following.) Thereafter, the kingdom was divided into Judah and Israel. Afterwards the evil spread and grew through the evil rulers in both Israel and Judah. There was the horrible reign of Ahab whose wife Jezebel compounded the evil. Following were Joram, Jeroboam, Rehoboam, Abijah, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri and Omri in both Judah and Israel. Ahab had passed on much evil along with his wife Jezebel. Evil became rampant. I Kings 16:28 and following going into II Kings to chapter 9, the terrible reign of Ahab carried through during the lives of the two prophets Eiljah and Elisha. Finally, through Elisha Jehu was called to take over in II Kings 9:1-13.
Verse 6: "And he (the young prophet) arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his (Jehu's) head, and said unto him, 'Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: I have anointed thee king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel.' "
A young prophet sent to Jehu by Elisha the prophet anointed Jehu as king and gave him the words from the Lord, Jehu's calling. Jehu is anointed with oil as King of Israel. The declaration is made that he has been made king over Israel, not by the young prophet's word and not anyone else's, but by the Word of the Lord.
Verse 7 - "And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab, thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants, the prophets and the blood of all the servants of the Lord at the hand of Jezebel."
The Lord God tells him why and that is to attack the house of Ahab because of all God's servants Ahab has killed, even prophets! Also, to avenge the blood of all God's servants Ahab's wife Jezebel had caused to die.
Verse 8 - "For the whole house of Ahab shall perish;...
The Lord says the whole house of Ahab shall perish and every male shall be cut off from Ahab. No man will stand by Ahab and all his evil deeds. There will be none to support Ahab's progeny. Ahab will be wiped out.
Verse 9 - "And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like Baasha, like the son of Ahijah."
Because Jeroboam, after seeing great illustrations of God's power and word, still did not cease from evil and worship of other gods. The defiance became sin to his whole house which cut it off and destroyed it from off the face of the earth. Sin is bad in any form, but none seems to be worse than when one turns back to the same sins over and over after the Lord has tried over and over to woo that one back to Himself. It was the same with Baasha in the end, for he did much evil especially worshiping other gods which amounts to the same as in marriage when one partner is unfaithful to the other. In the Old Testament Israel was a type, God's wife and in the New Testatment the Church is the Bride of Christ. Thus, for Israel to worship any other gods amounts to adultery, and for the Church unfaithfulness to one's intended.
Verse 10 - "And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled."
The Lord states that Jezebel will die for it details how her body will not be buried but will be consumed by dogs. It is no wonder that the young prophet fled after delivering all of the Lord's strong message to Jehu. Jehu was anointed and was made ready. The prophet's work was done. It would be up to Jehu to face those in his company to explain. He was soon following his calling as he faced them announcing that he had been anointed King of Israel.
Then, he followed in the execution of God's orders regarding Jehorum, Ahaziah, Jezebel, all of the house of Ahab and a host of others till all were gone and Israel was free of them. I will stop here for the story is too large and too long to cover here. I hope you will continue with the reading and study of the times of the kings. The verses show the great forebearance, mercy and patience of our God in dealing with His people, because of his promise to King David that he would not lack a man on the throne of Israel. It becomes clearer and clearer that there is only One Way to save mankind. How it must have hurt and torn at the very heart of the Father to come to the realization that the only way would be to sacrifice His Only Son for the sins of the world - that means for the sins of you and me, and for everyone who will accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Jehu reigned for 28 years. He, too, still allowed the golden calves that were in Bethel and Dan. However, Jehu did what the Lord had in His heart for the despicable Ahab dynasty and the like. God promised Jehu that his children to the 4th generation would sit upon the throne of Israel (II Kings 11:29-31) thus that was the longest that any one person and his family ever ruled the Northern Kingdom.
What a mighty and powerful message does this call of Jehu convey to us. After receiving such a staggering call to such mighty acts, he arose alone and announced it to those there with him. Then proceeding, he had success after success. How? Why?
1. God was with him, because he obeyed His will by ridding the land of evil rulers.
2. He answered quickly and believed he could do what he was told, because of the Lord's backing, and because it was in the Lord's heart for it to be done.
3. In spite of his sins, he was blessed, because he obeyed the Lord in what the Lord wanted done.
The Lord spoke through the prophet as Lord God of Israel. In the old texts of the Old Testament this is Jehovah Elohim. Jehovah is the Hebrew Yahweh. He is the great "I Am" the same as He who spoke to Moses in Exodus 3:14 "I AM THAT I AM". Elohim is a plural noun. Its meaning though is single. It refers to God's total being. This is used in the very first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1 and shows the presence of the Trinity from the beginning. The easiest way I have found to try to understand this is to remember that the Bible tells us that we are made in His image. That being so I think of my self as body, mind and spirit. Then I think of the mind of God, Jesus who came to earth and lived in a body such as ours. I think of our spritis and I think of the Holy Spirit. I used this successfully to witness to two people who did not believe in the trinity as a part of their religion.
See what happens in every case of good kings, good prophets, good ministers and good people who choose from the first words of a call to follow the Lord? They are blessed in their callings, they have support from many around them and when they die they are exhalted, they are loved, they are missed and their future generations are blessed. The blessings are passed on down through generations. Sadly, evil is passed down, also. Therefore, God has reserved judgment for the end.
He who longs for a good life will do well to first make sure that his salvation is secure under the blood of Jesus Christ, the one true sacrifice for the sins of the world. Then, at the beginning, one should seek the Lord, ask what He would have him do, and then listen! The Lord never wants anything but good for His people. Thus, if you want a good life consult with the Lord, make your whole heart and life available and leave room beside you for Him to walk along with you.
This brings me to this day and time wherein we live. There is much confusion among people about what to do about evil in the world. I would say first, consult long and carefullly with the Lord about what should be done. Second, do not be surprised if the Lord wants a leader to get rid of evildoers who do evil and condone all manner of evil that is a poison to the whole world. When God has had enough and patiently waited with no response or turning from the evil, the Lord God will move, and He will not leave the evildoers, nor anyone who helped them, standing. God is still in control. God gave people free will. If the people do not choose to humble themselves, live good lives and go about doing His will, then it is not the Lord's fault. It is the people's fault. There do come times that the Lord has enough and takes matters into His own hands. Those times are to be feared! He is all powerful. He is true to Himself and to His Word. He knows who will do His will. He will never fail.
The only peace there is comes when His people stand up for what is right. We, who believe in Him, never have to fear death, for our eternal life has already begun when we accepted the Lord. As Paul said in Philippians 1:21, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." So whether we live or die we are with the Lord, and we are the Lord's. It is indeed a straight and narrow path. It is a sure path to eternal life filled with joy. So, we must stand up and be counted for our Lord God laying aside all fears. The Bible plainly tells us that fear is not of the Lord. He has us in His hand. He will never loose any of His children. We are here to serve Him. Let us all be about the Father's business and be much in prayer, without ceasing.
God bless this study for His glory and honor.
Copyright Marjorie 2003
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Let us go to the Lord now in prayer. Pray with me the prayer that is set forth, and also add to it the prayers you have. I will be praying that your prayers added to mine, with all of us praying for each other and together, will cause the Lord to know our hearts regarding our pleas and answer our prayers. God bless you...Marjorie