Wednesday, November 6 – 2 Kings 10, 11 – Additional Reading: Prophets and Kings, last part of Chapter 16, “The Fall of the House of Ahab”
1. Until which generation did the Lord tell Jehu that his house would reign over Israel? (2 Kings 10:30)
2. How did Jehu end Baal worship in Israel? (2 Kings 10:21-28)
Commentary and Reflection:
In 2 Kings 10, we read about Jehu, a servant of Joram, who was chosen by God to be king over Israel and to destroy the house of Ahab. We see that Jehu killed Joram, Jezebel, and Ahaziah and acted against Baal worship in Israel. This confirms that the Lord is a God of mercy, but He is also a God of judgment. When the time comes to eliminate evil, He acts decisively.
Ahaziah of Judah was Joram’s nephew, the king of Israel. His mother, Athaliah, was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. The immoral and degrading worship of Baal, under the influence of Jezebel and Ahab, had been introduced into Israel and Judah. Jehu did much to correct this evil but exceeded in violence, going beyond the divine mandate. The Lord told the prophet Hosea about one of his sons: “Then the Lord said to him: ‘Call his name Jezreel, for in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel.’” (Hosea 1:4)
2 Kings 10:31 states, “But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin.” Jehu did not fully commit his heart to obeying God. He fulfilled some mandates but in his way. It is good to serve the Lord wholeheartedly. He commanded through Moses: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). A divided heart cannot honor God.
Jehu’s zeal for the Lord did not lead him to eliminate the sin of Jeroboam. The Andrews Bible Commentary explains:
“However, Jehu’s zeal against the ferity cult of Baal did not extend to the worship of the golden calves Jeroboam had set up al Bethel and Dan (1 Kin. 12:28-29). That wor-ship, though it used forbidden idols in the conduct of its rituals, still had pretensions of being directed to Yahweh, the true God of Israel, because the nation had strayed so far in their understanding of what true worship was. Thus, despite Jehu’s vigorous and violent actions to cleanse Israel of the worship of false gods, he failed in his obligation to end false worship of the true God. The spiritual lesson we can learn from this applies both personally and corporately. Our zeal for reform against obvious wrong can create false confidence and self-satisfaction that blind us to other commonly accepted, and equally dangerous, impediments to our relationship with God, Despite Jehu’s failings in this regard, God commended him for bringing the house of Ahab to an end and promised him a son on the throne to the fourth generation. Jehu’s was the most enduring dynasty of the Northern Kingdom, and Jehu was the only northern king who is described as having made any attempt to fulfill God’s purposes. For him, that purpose was to bring justice to the family of Naboth for the atrocious way in which Ahab and Jezebel had confiscated Naboth’s property after arranging for his death (1 Kin. 21:13-16). Jehu’s destruction of Ahab’s dynasty was a judgment of God and a reminder that God ultimately settles the score of all the injustices that the innocent have suffered throughout history.” The Andrews Bible Commentary, 2 Kings 10:1-36
The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary adds: “The work of Jehu was a mixture of good and evil. To a certain extent, he had done the work of the Lord, but there were also serious evils in his methods which did not have the approval of Heaven. His descendants who ruled upon the throne of Israel were Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zachariah. Shallum brought an end to Jehu’s dynasty by slaying Zachariah (2 Kings 15:10, 12). The house of Jehu ruled Israel for about a century—longer than any other dynasty. The house of Jeroboam ruled 22 years and that of Omri 44 (24 and 48 inclusive; see p. 145; see also pp. 136, 138).” (SDA Bible Commentary, 2 Kings 10:30)
May the Holy Spirit guide us today to serve the Lord with all our hearts.