Year 1, Week 52, Day 3 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 52, Day 3

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 2 Kings 9-10.

Today’s reading, which finds parallel information from our earlier reading of 2 Chronicles 22, describes the work of Jehu, who was appointed to judge the house of Ahab. 2 Kings 9 notes the assignment that Jehu was given: “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, I anoint you king over the people of the LORD, over Israel. And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master…For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah” (2 Kings 9:6b-9). Joram, the King of the Northern King of Israel (and not to be confused with Joram, aka Jehoram, the King of the Southern Kingdom of Judah), was with Ahaziah, King of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Each of these kings were killed by Jehu: “Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart, and he sank in his chariot” (2 Kings 9:24); and “When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled…And Jehu pursued him…And they shot him in the chariot at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there” (2 Kings 9:27). Then Jehu had Jezebel, wife of Ahab, thrown down to her death. 2 Kings 10 records the continued efforts of Jehu to rid Israel of any further connection to the house of Ahab: “So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and his close friends and his priests, until he left him none remaining” (2 Kings 10:11); as well as those related to Ahaziah: “We are the relatives of Ahaziah, and we came down to visit the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother.” He said, “Take them alive.” And they took them alive and slaughtered them” (2 Kings 10:13-14). Jehu also destroyed anyone and anything he could find that was associated with the worship of Baal.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the great irony found in the life of Jehu: “Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin—that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan” (2 Kings 10: 28-29). Jehu radically eliminated the worship of Baal from Israel; but Jehu failed to truly worship the LORD. Jehu was commended by the LORD: “And the LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel” (2 Kings 10:30). But Jehu also dishonored the LORD: “But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin” (2 Kings 10:31). Jehu rejected the false god of Baal worship, but he practiced the false worship that Jeroboam had created. Jehu overthrew the worship of a false god, but clung to false worship. Jehu appeared to have a zeal for the LORD, and he did in some sense; but Jehu’s zeal did not penetrate his own heart. Jehu did not really have a zeal for the LORD Himself. This should be something of a haunting thing: displaying a zeal for the LORD does not always translate into a zeal for the LORD: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness” (Matthew 7:21-23). Perhaps Jehu was more anti-Ahab and anti-Baal, than he was pro-LORD. The LORD carries out His holy plans through unholy instruments, who are, at the appropriate time, held accountable to the LORD.

The LORD promised Jehu a four-generation dynasty over the Northern Kingdom of Israel, but the era of the Jehu dynasty would be marked by chastening: “In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel” (2 Kings 10:32a). Jehu would rule over Israel for twenty-eight years, but it would be a diminished rule: "Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the Valley of the Arnon, that is, Gilead and Bashan” (2 Kings 10:32b-33). Hazael was mentioned in yesterday’s reading. The LORD used him as an instrument of judgment already; and now he was an instrument once again. These are sobering statements, for we are seeing that Hazael, one instrument of the LORD’s judgment, was raised up to bring judgment, Jehu, another instrument of the LORD’s judgment. One can be used by God and also be judged by God.

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe