2 Kings chapter 10, we meet the end completely of Ahab's house. All of his descendants are slaughtered by Jehu. Remember last week in 2 Kings chapter 9, Jehu is installed or ordained or crowned as the king. in the northern kingdom, and his first order of business is to kill Joram of Israel, and then he kills Ahaziah of Judah, and then Jezebel. This in accordance with the word and the promise of God.
God made a promise to Elijah in 1 Kings 19, 15 to 17, that God would bring judgment upon the northern kingdom because of their idolatry. And he would do so via Elisha, the prophet, Hazael, the king of Syria, and through Jehu, the king of Israel. Elijah himself also pronounced this upon, or declared this too, Ahab in 1 Kings chapter 21, especially verse 21, where he told him that God would indeed eliminate all those males in the house of Ahab. We come to conclude that section tonight with the death of everybody connected to Ahab via Jehu.
So I'll begin reading in verse 1 of chapter 10. Now Ahab had 70 sons in Samaria, and Jehu wrote and sent letters to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to those who reared Ahab's sons, saying, Now as soon as this letter comes to you, since your master's sons are with you, and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city also, and weapons, choose the best qualified of your master's sons, set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house. But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Look, two kings could not stand up to him. How then can we stand?
And he who was in charge of the house, and he who was in charge of the city, the elders also, and those who reared the sons, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants, we will do all you tell us, but we will not make any one king. Do what is good in your sight. Then he wrote a second letter to them saying, if you are for me and will obey my voice, take the heads of the men, your master's sons, and come to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow. Now the king's sons, 70 persons, were with the great men of the city who were rearing them.
So it was when the letter came to them that they took the king's sons and slaughtered 70 persons, put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel. Then a messenger came and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning. So it was in the morning that he went out and stood and said to all the people, You are righteous.
Indeed, I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these? Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of the Lord which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the Lord has done what he spoke by his servant Elijah. So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his close acquaintances, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.
And he arose and departed and went to Samaria. On the way at Beth-Ached of the shepherds, Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and said, who are you? So they answered, we are the brothers of Ahaziah. We have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.
And he said, take them alive. So they took them alive and killed them at the well of Beth-Ached, 42 men, and he left none of them. Now when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, coming to meet him. And he greeted him and said to him, Is your heart right, as my heart is toward your heart?
And Jehonadab answered, It is. Jehu said, If it is, give me your hand. So he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. Then he said, Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.
So they had him ride in his chariot. And when he came to Samaria, he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Elijah. And Jehu gathered all the people together and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little, Jehu will serve him much. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests.
Let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live. But Jehu acted deceptively with the intent of destroying the worshippers of Baal. And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal.
So they proclaimed it. And Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. So they came into the temple of Baal, and the temple of Baal was full from one end to the other. And he said to the one in charge of the wardrobe, bring out vestments for all the worshipers of Baal.
So he brought out vestments for them. And Jehu and Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, went into the temple of Baal and said to the worshipers of Baal, search and see that no servants of the Lord are here with you, but only the worshipers of Baal. So they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had appointed for himself eighty men on the outside, and had said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escapes, whoever lets him escape, it shall be his life for the life of the other.
Now it happened, 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 kill them, let no one come out. And they killed them with the edge of the sword. Then the guards and the officers threw them out and went into the inner room of the temple of Baal. And they brought the sacred pillars out of the temple of Baal and burned them.
Then they broke down the sacred pillar of Baal, and tore down the temple of Baal, and made it a refuse dump to this day. Thus Jehud destroyed Baal from Israel. However, Jehud did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin, that is, from the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan. And the Lord said to Jehu, because you have done well in doing what is right in my sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in my heart, your son shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.
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. In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel, and Hazael conquered them and all the territory of Israel from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh, from Aror, which is by the river Arnon, including Gilead and Bashan. Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, all that he did and all his might, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Jehu rested with his fathers and they buried him in Samaria.
Then Jehoahaz, his son, reigned in his place. And the period that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was 28 years. Amen.
Introduction
Well, just by way of a refresher, I alluded to it, but turn back for just a moment to 1 Kings chapter 19. There are a couple of instances in chapter 10 here where we are told that this is a fulfillment of God's Word, and it's important to keep that before our eyes and in our minds. In 1 Kings chapter 19, it's at Horeb after Elijah goes there, the Lord ministers to him, and the Lord comforts him by giving him a promise concerning the judgment of God upon the northern kingdom for idolatry. And in 1 Kings 19.15, the Lord said to him, go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus.
And when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. Also, you shall anoint Jehu, the son of Nimshi, as king over Israel. And Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel Mahola, you shall anoint as prophet in your place. It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill.
And whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. Yet I have reserved 7,000 in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him. And then over in 1 Kings chapter 21. 1 Kings chapter 21, the situation is the murder of Naboth. Ahab is instigated by Jezebel to execute this man Naboth so that Ahab could take his property.
And so Elijah promises God's judgment upon the house of Ahab. And if you notice specifically at verse 21, it says, Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Basha, the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger and made Israel sin." Now going back to 2 Kings chapter 10, there are some pretty difficult things as we read through this chapter.
We need to remember that this is God's judgment as a result of idolatry. The Lord God does not take kindly to those who turn away from Him and to those who follow after other gods. And that is precisely why Jehu is raised up. We see that Jehu, according to the divine commentary here in 2 Kings 10, did not wholly follow the Lord.
He was not committed in art to following God Almighty. So Jehu was an imperfect instrument in the hands of a perfect God to bring about the Lord's will in the execution of judgment upon the house of Ahab.
Three Considerations in Chapter 10
I want to look at chapter 10 under three considerations. First, the destruction of the house of Ahab in verses 1 to 17. Secondly, the destruction of the worshipers of Baal in verses 18 to 28, and then the decline of the house of Israel in verses 29 to 36.
Destruction of the House of Ahab
But in the first place, let's look at the death of these 70 sons. Now, it might not necessarily be direct sons. It could also include grandsons. And essentially what we have is 70 sons or grandsons of Ahab living in Samaria.
And then notice that Jehu writes a letter to them. This isn't the first time that letters are written to the rulers of Jezreel. It sort of harkens back to that instance in 1 Kings 21 when Jezebel instigates Ahab to go ahead and take Naboth's land. The way that she orchestrates that is by writing letters to the rulers of Jezreel to indicate that Naboth was a blasphemer.
Now ultimately Naboth was executed for the crime of blasphemy and the land was seized and turned over to the crown. So there's sort of that reminiscent feel here. So Jehu writes and sent letters to Samaria to the rulers of Jezreel. Now that makes perfect sense. more than likely the rulers of Jezreel knew exactly what Jehu was doing, or had done, rather, in Jezreel.
It is there he kills Joram, the king of the north, and it is there that he's going to kill, or that he kills, or it's from there that he flees and he kills Ahaziah. So they probably fled to Samaria. And so Jehu writes this letter and essentially challenged them. It's a bold challenge by Jehu to the leaders to put forth their best man to fight for the kingship.
Remember, he's been anointed, he's taken out Joram, he was the king at that particular time, and now he issues this challenge to these men of Jezreel. He says, as soon as this letter comes to you, since your master's sons are with you, and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city also, and weapons, choose the best qualified of your master's sons, set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house. I don't think that he's really serious in terms of wanting to follow this through. Rather, he is provoking them.
He is challenging them. He is going to indeed kill those 70 sons, and he's going to ultimately use these men to facilitate that. John Gill says, all which he did not desire might be, but in this sarcastic and sneering manner, he dares them to do so. Now note their response in verses 4 and 5.
They are fearful of this man Jehu. More than likely, this is why they flee from Jezreel to Samaria. They're fearful because they have heard of what has happened to Joram and to Ahaziah. Jehu didn't mess around.
Jehu rode furiously, Jehu drew back his bow, and Jehu killed the sitting king of the northern kingdom. He then takes out Ahaziah, the king of Judah. So they know this, and then notice what they go on to say. They claim to be Jehu's servants.
Notice in verse 4, look, two kings could not stand up to him. How then can we stand? And he who is in charge of the house, and he who is in charge of the city, the elders also, and those who reared the son, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants. We will do all you tell us, but we will not make any one king do what is good in your sight.
So you see, his challenge has worked. He has put them back into a corner, and this will indeed bring about the desired result of sending the 70 heads of these heirs to the throne to him at Jezreel. They assert their fidelity to his rule, and so Jehu now sends another letter, and that's verse 6. He wrote a second letter to them saying, if you are for me and will obey my voice, take the heads of the men, your master's sons, and come to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.
So you got to see what Jehu's doing. He's consolidating power. He's asserting himself as the anointed king of Israel. He has killed the sitting king of Israel, Jorah.
Now he is going to deal with the household of Ahab. So there's no heir to the throne. And he does this so that they will participate in this and this will give him the opportunity to assert that he is indeed the rightful heir to the throne of Israel. If you are for me and will obey my voice, take the heads of the men, your master's sons, come to me at Jezreel by this time tomorrow.
Now notice that they comply with this. Verse 7. Certainly his reputation had gotten around. they knew what manner of man he was. So it was when the letter came to them that they took the king's sons, slaughtered 70 persons, put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel." And I don't know that this is the kind of stuff that we in the church typically celebrate or rejoice in, but we need to keep it in that context.
Ahab, the king of Israel, in 1 Kings chapter 16, institutionalized Baal worship. What he did was create a people, ultimately, that bowed the knee to Baal. And so this is God's judgment as a result of that sin, and he has raised up Jehud to deliver the death blow to the house of Ahab. So they lop off the heads of these 70 persons, they put their heads in baskets, and they sent them to him at Jezreel.
Now note the instruction concerning the heads. I don't know how better to say that. It certainly sounds a bit odd, but the instruction concerning the heads. Verse eight, they have brought the heads of the king's sons.
And he said, lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning. Now this was something that was done by ancient near Eastern kings. The heads would be placed at the gate to intimidate the inhabitants of the city. Suppose you could see how that might happen, right?
You've got two baskets of heads. Certainly it would cause you a bit of consternation about how they got there and the man responsible for putting them there. As well, it would discourage rebellion. The whole idea being that if you go the route of these particular fellows, then your heads will accompany their heads in the same sort of baskets.
As well it would assert the authority of Jehu and highlight that a counterattack would be useless with reference to any opposition to his rule and reign as the king over Israel. Now note, Jehu addresses the city of Jezreel. Remember the gates of the city is where the business is conducted. This is where the governors, the rulers, the leaders, the magistrates, the elders, those who are, you know, sort of the higher-ups, the muckety-mucks, they hang out there at the gate of the city.
And so Jehu addresses this particular situation as he's looking at these baskets of heads, and no doubt everybody else is looking at these baskets of heads. Notice what he does in verse 9.
Jehu's Argument from Widespread Support
There is an argument here from widespread support in terms of his rightful kingship. Remember, that's what this is about. He first challenges them, put up a man, we'll fight, whoever wins becomes the king. They fear, they know what he's capable of and they say, no, we're your servants.
So he said, if you're my servants, then I want you to take the 70 sons of Ahab, I want you to lop off their heads, I want you to put them in baskets and send them to the city. And so now he is going to use this to communicate to the people of Jezreel. Remember, Jezreelites don't know the particulars of what has happened. They don't know what's going on in terms of the power play that's going on behind the scenes.
They see baskets of heads. And it's Jehu who's going to interpret the baskets of heads for them. And he does that with two particular arguments. First, the argument from widespread support.
Verse 9. So it was in the morning that he went out and stood and said to all the people, You are righteous. Indeed, I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these?
You see what he's saying here? He owns the fact that he did destroy Joram. But these other men, the persons, the rulers over Jezreel, are the ones who killed these 70 other men. Essentially, what he is saying, I'm going to quote Davis here, who sort of paraphrases it.
Sure, I knocked off Joram, but this can't be my work. The heads in the baskets were not his direct responsibility. Certainly he instigated it, but it was the rulers of Jezreel that put the heads in the basket. So back to Davis.
Surely I knocked off Joram, but this can't be my work. These heads arrived via the postal service. Someone else did this. There is widespread support for me.
These are royal heads. I have the loyalty of the folks at the highest levels. You see, these heads proved that Jehu was, in fact, supported by the rulers of Jezreel, which would then incline the people of Jezreel to be behind him as well. He is consolidating his power base.
Now, brethren, as we move through the passage, Jehu, in many respects, is a wonderful individual because he's an instrument in the hand of God Most High. But never forget the comment in verse 31. He is not a follower of Yahweh. He is an opportunist.
And I believe in many respects that opportunity is what benefits Jehu first and foremost. And we need to keep that in mind. He is consolidating power. He is orchestrating events so that he will be indeed the rightful king.
Now,
Jehu's Argument from Theology
the second argument is the argument from theology, and that's verse 10. Now essentially what he does here is quote what was promised to Elijah or rather by Elijah in 1 Kings 21, 21. Verse 10, know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of the Lord which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab. For the Lord has done what he spoke by his servant Elijah.
So not only does he have the widespread support of the rulers of Jezreel who put the heads in the bags or in the baskets, but he's also got the support of God Most High. In other words, Jehu is the Lord's servant. Jehu has been raised up for this particular function. Again, in light of verse 31, this is very somewhat disingenuous.
He's invoking the written word of the living God to sort of validate and legitimize his place in God's historical plan, but at the same time, he doesn't follow Yahweh. He is doing this certainly as an instrument of God, but nevertheless, he is not doing it out of love for God. And then we have a summary of the narrator in verse 11. So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his close acquaintances, and his priests, until he left none remaining.
So everybody that was connected to Ahab that lived in Jezreel is now dead. So now he moves on to Samaria. He goes to Samaria, according to verse 12, and we see the death of the 42 brothers. I mean, this man definitely brings the judgment of God to bear upon those who are not rightly connected to Yahweh.
So he arises, he departs, he went to Samaria on the way at Beth-Aked of the shepherds. Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and said, Who are you? Now, 1st or 2nd Chronicles tells us that the Arabians killed the brothers. These are probably, you know, the word isn't so confined to that physical person that lives next to you that has the same blood, has the idea of relatives.
It could be his brother's sons. It could be any number of things. But he met with the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and said, Who are you? We are the brothers of Ahaziah.
We have come down to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother. Obviously, they had not heard. I doubt they were going to the city of Jezreel to greet the heads in the baskets. These sons are dead.
These men don't know this at this particular time. Now it is intriguing because there was no divine mandate for Jehu to kill the descendants of David. In fact, House says that he's stepping outside the boundaries here and House argues that Hosea 1, 4 and 5 specifically refers to this. House says, the prophecies of Elijah and Elisha say nothing about killing David's descendants.
And that's who these are. This is Ahaziah of Judah. Now, I think the more persuasive argument comes from this. Davis connects this with the intermarriage between Israel and Judah.
Remember that Ahaziah was connected by marriage to the house of Ahab. And most likely that's what's in view here. Davis says, the royal houses of Israel and Judah had intermarried. And so Jehu probably assumed that having the golden opportunity, he must decimate the pro-Ahab contingent in Judah as well.
Again, this is going to help Jehu ultimately. This idea to get rid of any heirs to the throne with reference to the house of Ahab brings further security to Jehu. Again, he's doing it for God as a servant, as an instrument to kill the house of Ahab for the idolatry, but he's got a vested political interest in this as well. And I will submit that this is probably the driving factor in the next section when he destroys all the worshipers of Baal.
It's probably not religion that motivates him, but more likely it is politics that motivates him, at least at that particular time. So then notice they take them alive, verse 14, probably indicating they were not armed. They were unarmed at this particular point. They had not heard of what had happened to the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother.
So they took them alive, killed them at the well of Beth Ached, 42 men, and he left none of them. And then notice the death of all who remained. Anyone remotely connected to Ahab is dead by the end of verse 17. Now this man, Jehonadab, the son of Rechab.
Rechab you'll read about, or Jehonadab and the Rechabites you'll read about in the book of Jeremiah the prophet. Now most of the commentators indicate that they were, well the text in Jeremiah indicates that they were ascetics. Now, an ascetic was somebody that was typically removed from society in a religious sort of way. They wouldn't eat certain things, they wouldn't drink certain things.
It was an attempt to keep oneself pure. And so, most commentators associate this Jehonadab the Rechabite with sort of an old-school loyalist to Yahweh movement. In other words, Jehonadab represented what was best about Israel. And so here you've got Jehu wanting Jehonadab to go along with him.
In fact, Jehu says in verse 16, come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. So that would have gotten Jehonadab on board. And it would have certainly played out well for Jehu to have a Jehonadab with him to sort of instill in the folk that there was this old school element that was pro-Jehu within the nation of Israel, within the Northern Kingdom. So when we see this here, what we have is what John Gill says, that Jehu saw that the company of such a man, so famous for wisdom and goodness, he knew would give him much countenance among the people and sanctioned to what he did.
So there's a couple things. I'm trying to bring this out. He is an instrument in the hand of God to bring judgment and destruction upon the house of Ahab, but he's also a king who's trying to secure his political power base, and he's trying to make it such that he has reign and rule, and he does a very effective job. You know, he's the longest reigning king in the north up until this point.
He reigns 28 years. So somehow he did something right along the way. I mean, that's a pretty significant thing when you consider that U.S. presidents will last no more than eight years. I think the same is true for the prime minister in Canada.
Hopefully not, but anywhere near eight years. But what you find is that somebody who can run a country for 28 years has to have something on the ball. I mean, even if it's not the best regime, nevertheless, to administrate a kingdom for 28 years indicates that somebody is doing something right. to some degree or other. So Jehu is building his power base.
He is basically politicizing at this particular point, inviting Jehonadab to accompany him on these exploits. And then we have another summary in verse 17. And when he came to Samaria, he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed them according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Elijah. Now by way of a practical application, that statement oftentimes punctuates the narrative in 1 and 2 Kings, as well in 1 and 2 Samuel, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to Elijah.
If you ever doubt for a moment that God is not going to bring to pass one of the things He promises, read these Old Testament books. See for yourself how 1 Kings 19 is promised to Elijah the prophet, how 1 Kings 21, Elijah the prophet promises Ahab, and here in 2 Kings 10 at verse 17, we have the utter fulfillment of that promise. He killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria till he had destroyed them according to the word of the Lord which he spoke to Elijah. This is historical narrative, but it's theological historical narrative.
It's about God. It shows us how God raises men up. It shows us how God puts men down. It shows us how God executes judgment upon those who are placed in positions of high government. and then who lead the country into total apostasy from the living God.
This is a great illustration of what Proverbs says, righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. You see that over and over again in the book of 1st and 2nd Kings, when these men rise up and they oppose the living and true God, God ultimately opposes them and puts them down with great vengeance.
Destruction of the Worshippers of Baal
Now note, the destruction of the worshippers of Baal in verses 18 to 28. Now he has a plan and then he executes that plan. Note his plan. Verse 18, Jehu gathered all the people together and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little, Jehu will serve him much.
At this point we're not expecting that, but the author will go on to tell us that he is acting deceptively. He is trying to rope the people in. He is trying to get them to lower their guard. Perhaps at this particular time, the popular word is going out about Jehu's great animosity toward the house of Ahab.
How he acted in accordance with the promise of God to Elijah, and now he wants to assuage the fears of those Baalists within Israel. He wants them to think that he is a friend to Baal. That though he has opposed Ahab, he hasn't opposed Ahab's God. And so he says, Ahab served Baal a little, Jehu will serve him much.
Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Let no one be missing, for I have a great sacrifice for Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live. House makes this observation.
Ironically, Jehu threatens to kill any Baelish who does not come, when in fact he intends to kill them if they do appear. I mean, he's not an idiot. He knows exactly what he is doing. We know, again, based on the divine commentary, he's not a godly man in the sense of worshipping Yahweh, but he certainly knows how to deal with idolatry, at least in terms of Baal worship.
So, the author tells us that he is acting deceptively. Notice in 19b. But Jehu acted deceptively with the intent of destroying the worshippers of Baal. Now, again, the reason here may be more political than religious.
If we didn't have verse 31 in this section, if we didn't have this statement in verse 29 concerning Jehu's religious affinity or Jehu's spiritual condition, we might be tempted to think that he was doing this because he detested Baalism. Now, maybe he did, the text doesn't tell us, but the fact is that he wants to eradicate any Ahab supporters out of Israel. And by killing Baalists, he is eradicating Ahab supporters. You see, if you were a Baalist, you loved Ahab.
And now Jehu has come and killed Ahab and taken over the throne from his son Joram. And so what he is doing here definitely has a religious effect upon Israel by getting Baal out, but it has a salutary political benefit for Jehu. So the reason may be more political than religious, but either way it does comply with the mandate of Deuteronomy 13. I realize I'm throwing out a lot of text tonight.
Deuteronomy 13 says that you are to tolerate no apostasy in Israel. you are not to engage, you're not to allow those who seduce to idolatry, you're not to allow them to live, whether they are close family members, whether they are false prophets, or whether they are cities given over to the crime of idolatry. You're not supposed to have any truck with such in Israel, you're supposed to eliminate that. Now, that's really what Deuteronomy 13 says. Kill the false prophet, kill the family member, and kill the city that is given over to the worship of idols.
So, in that sense, Jehu is acting in accordance with the Word of God here. So that's his plan. Get them all together in one place, and then kill them.
The Solemn Assembly for Baal
Notice, there's a solemn assembly for Baal according to verse 20. Jehu said proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal, so they proclaimed it. Verse 21 to 23, the gathering in the temple of Baal. Notice that all the worshippers of Baal came.
They probably thought this was a good thing. In fact, Matthew Henry says, and I quoted this just because I loved his alliteration, the bigoted, besotted Baalites began to think themselves very happy that now they should see golden days again. I mean, as far as they were concerned, this was a party. This was a state-sanctioned party.
They hadn't had anything like this since the days of Ahab and Jezebel. Certainly, they've been allowed to exist. They've been allowed to worship. They've gone to the Temple of Baal.
But nobody's thrown them a bash quite like this until Jehu. And he has come along, and he has done this. Notice that he provides vestments to the worshippers of Baal in verse 22. Matthew Henry again says this is where the devil learned to put his followers in vestments.
Probably a dig on the Church of England because that was always a problem for the Puritans and the Evangelicals that that opposed the Church of England were the vestments. And then notice in verse 23, Jehu and Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, went into the temple of Baal and said to the worshippers of Baal, Search and see that no servants of the Lord are here with you, but only the worshippers of Baal. Hence, the vestments. See, he's not a fool.
He knows exactly what he is doing. He's orchestrating a slaughter of those who worship Baal. He clothes them in vestments and then tells them to make sure there's no worshippers of Yahweh within the confines. Well, it would be quite easy at that particular time if you weren't wearing a vestment, you weren't of Baal, so therefore get out.
So everybody who got out was safe and protected from the slaughter that was going to ensue, which does occur in verses 24 and following. He tells his 80 men on the outside that if anyone escapes, then it will be your life for their lives. And that brings in
Execution and Desecration of the Temple
the destruction in verses 25 to 27. The execution of the worshipers in verse 25. It happened 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 kill them, let no one come out. And they killed them with the edge of the sword.
Then the guards and the officers threw them out and went into the inner room of the temple of Baal." You see, they were deceived by Jehu. Matthew Henry says, no marvel if those that suffer themselves to be deceived by Baal, as all idolaters were by their idols, are deceived by Jehu to their destruction. You're not dealing with the brightest folk when you're dealing with people that worship Baal. And so they were easy captive at this particular point.
He appeals to their vanity. He throws a solemn assembly for bail. He puts them investments. He shuts the doors and he commands that all of them are slaughtered and executed.
And then he desecrates the sacred pillars and the temple and he reduces it literally to a refuse dump, to a latrine, to a toilet. Jonathan Jones just recently sent me an article from a newspaper online. It was an article about excavation showing that what happened at one particular dig or one particular site was that it had been a previous temple to an idol and it was turned into a latrine, essentially. And that is the commentary by Jehu on Baalism.
He turned it into a latrine. That's precisely what the text says. Then they broke down the sacred pillar of Baal, tore down the temple of Baal, and made it a refuse dump to this day. Now the new King James smooths it out a little bit.
Refuse dump sounds a whole lot better than toilet, I guess, but that's pretty much what we have. John Gill says, a common sewer, a jakes, a fit place for dunghill gods to be thrown into, and an idle temple to be turned into. So that's how Jehu dealt with Baalism in Israel, and verse 28 tells us, thus Jehu destroyed Baal from Israel. Something that the Israelites, the faithful in Israel, probably thought they would never see.
They thought that Ahab was such and his dynasty was such that Baal was always going to be part and parcel of Israel's religious life. We'll always have to contend with these persons who have gone a whoring from Yahweh and bowed the knee to Baal. But they saw it. And brethren, I think that ought to encourage us.
Thus, Jehu destroyed Baal from Israel. It at least is typical of what our Lord Jesus Christ will do with all false religion and all idols and anything that tries to rise up in competition to the living and the true God.
Decline of the House of Israel
Now notice, thirdly and finally, the decline of the house of Israel. We see the spiritual condition of Jehu, and I think that's connected to what we find in terms of Israel. Note the contrast between 28 and 29. 28 tells us, Thus Jehu destroyed Baal from Israel. Verse 29, However, Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin, that is, from the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan.
He destroyed Baal, but he didn't turn away from the calves. Now, here again, and I'm just suggesting this, I cannot be dogmatic, but it may be more political than it is religious. Remember that Jeroboam instituted calf worship in 1 Kings 13 for a specific reason. Now, Jeroboam was an idolater.
The son of Nebat was a wretch. But one of the reasons why he set up those worship centers for these calves was to protect his kingdom. Remember that when Jeroboam takes the Northern kingdom, he is afraid that at feast time, his people are gonna go down to Jerusalem in order to worship Yahweh. And he knows that if they go down to Jerusalem to worship Yahweh, they may just as well return to the house of David or to the Southern tribes.
And so part of the driving force behind the calf worship was political stability or political control. Set up these worship centers so that these people don't have to go down to Jerusalem. We will declare that these calves are Yahweh your God that brought you out of Egypt. Go ahead and worship there.
Now perhaps that's what's driving Jehu. It's probably, I mean, it could be the case that he's a devout worshipper of the golden calves, but it might be that he's trying to maintain hold on his political power, and so calf worship is the way to ensure that. So none of the persons in the north travel back down to the south and rejoin the house of David. So the goal here may have been political, but either way it's certainly religious.
The king of Israel, when he makes political decisions, they certainly have religious significance. And so the contrast is he destroys Baal, but he doesn't destroy the calves. So he sins the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, though he does take exception to the sins of Ahab, who caused the nation to plunge into Baalism. So in that respect, it's a good thing.
And in fact, God commends him in verse 30. And this is one of those sorts of things where we see oftentimes in the book of Kings, God gives a positive assessment to a very imperfect man. A positive assessment to a very imperfect man. Notice in verse 30, And the Lord said to Jehu, Because you have done well in doing what is right in my sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in my heart, your son shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.
He commends him. using language that is somewhat conspicuous as it's applied to David and to those who are like David. I mean, he commends him very well for doing what he did with reference to Baalism. He promises that his sons will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. This is an eternal kingdom, like God promises David in 2 Samuel 7.
But nevertheless, the Lord takes notice of the fact that Jehu did what Jehu was supposed to do. It's a beautiful thing, and God commends him for it. God says, good job, Jehu, with reference to rooting out Baalism from Israel. But then the condemnation of verse 31, 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.
Listen to Matthew Henry here. He says, the worship of Baal was indeed the greater evil and more heinous in the sight of God, but the worship of Calves was a great evil. And true conversion is not only from gross sin, but from all sin. This is where we're going to get a little more practical.
I know a lot of that stuff was heads and, you know, Jehu and power base and politics, but we're going to try to get a little more practical from this point out. The worship of Baal was indeed the greater evil and more heinous in the sight of God, but the worship of the calves was a great evil, and true conversion is not only from gross sin, but from all sin. So Jehu, if he was truly converted, wouldn't have only put away Baal, he would have put away the calves. True conversion isn't just about stopping gross sin.
It's about stopping all sin. It's about having a change of heart about sin. Not just the big sins, but the little sins. Not just the little sins, but the big sins.
It is to see sin the way God sees it. It is to see sin as something vile and heinous and wretched and to oppose it with every fiber of our being. It is to see it as that which is contrary to God and which ought to be contrary to the godly. He says, not only from false gods, but from false worships.
And then Matthew Henry goes on to comment on the political expedience. I've already mentioned that Jehu may have been driven the way Jeroboam was. It was politically expedient to set up these shrines to these calves to keep persons from going back to Jerusalem. So just carry that thought for a moment and listen to Matthew Henry here.
He says, the worship of Baal weakened and diminished Israel and made them beholden to the Sidonians, and therefore he could easily part with that. In other words, Baal brings nothing but subjugation to the Sidonians, so therefore Baal's got to go. He says, but the worship of the calves was a political idolatry, was begun and kept up for reasons of state, to prevent the return of the ten tribes to the house of David, and therefore Jehu claimed to that. Let's follow what he's saying here.
Baal brings subjugation to Sidon. Bad. The calves bring unification to the northern kingdom. That's okay.
As long as it's politically expedient, we can allow the calf shrines to stand because it benefits Jehu, just like it benefited Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. Now, listen to him, Matthew, Henry.
True Conversion from All Sin
True conversion is not only from wasteful sins, Baal, but from gainful sins, the calves. True conversion doesn't say, oh, but this benefits me, so I'm gonna leave it untouched. This idol doesn't bring me into subjection to the Sidonians, so I'm gonna allow it to flourish. I think this is masterful.
True conversion is not only from wasteful sins, but from gainful sins. Not only from those sins that are destructive to the secular interest, but from those that support and befriend it in forsaking which is the great trial whether we can deny ourselves and trust God. In other words, with reference to this true conversion, we get rid of something that previously benefited us. Jehu doesn't do that.
This secures the power base. This keeps everything tickety-boo in the Northern Kingdom. This precludes anybody from going back and joining the house of David when they go down to Jerusalem to worship. You see, there is in this passage something taught to us concerning true conversion.
If you are still holding on to a particular idol that benefits you, that prospers you, that gives you some degree of comfort and stability, you need to get rid of it. The way Jehu needed to get rid of the calves, he needed to forsake that, he needed to rip them down, and he needed to build refuse dumps right where they stood. But he wasn't willing to do that. This was a political expediency that benefited him and the crown, so he was going to keep it.
Baal, bad, nothing but bad, it's okay to get rid of Baal. The true test of a man's salvation is what does he do with those things that benefit him. Are we going to get rid of those and trust God? Or are we going to hang on to those and have it and God?
That's what we attempt, but it will never work. I think that's a very valuable lesson that 2 Kings 10, with reference to Jehu, holds out to us. So notice what we find, considering that
Jehu's Spiritual Condition and Israel's Decline
the spiritual condition of Jehu affects the spiritual condition of Israel. Notice in verse 32, in those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel. Why? Because they're wretched.
That's easy, right? Again, Matthew, Henry, they were short in their duty to God, and therefore God cut them short in their extent, wealth, and power. You see this. God raises up one to judge someone, and then that one is judged by another.
You see the same thing in Isaiah 10. God raises up Assyria to do what? To bring judgment upon Israel. Assyria then boasts about what they've done, and so God judges Assyria.
That's the Jehu-Hazael factor going on in microcosmic form in 2 Kings 10. We see that they were conquered, and more than likely this is what had happened. There was the rising Assyrian power at this particular point, and at one point Syria and Israel were unified in their fight against Assyria. But then Assyria begins to make inroads against Syria.
And in fact, there's actually an obelisk with an image of this Jehu bowing down to Shalmaneser III of Assyria. So what had happened is at one time, Israel was with Syria. Now Assyria starts to invade Syria and Israel's on their side. So no doubt, Hazael didn't receive that very kindly.
Here he was, a former ally, now opposed, bowing to the very king of Assyria. So Jehu had his problems, to be sure, and Israel reaped the consequences as a result. So the list of lands are given to us all east of the Jordan, and then in verses 34 to 36 we have a summary statement concerning Jehu, his death, and the fact that his son Jehoahaz is his successor. He won't come until chapter 13.
As I said, this is the longest reign thus far in the Northern Kingdom, 28 years for Jehu.
Application and Conclusion
Well, in conclusion, we see the fulfillment of God's Word, we've already seen that, the testimony of Jehu, the affirmation by the narrator, and then the means of God's judgment. I suppose if you had never read 2 Kings 10 and you met these baskets of heads, It might alarm you just a bit. I'm certain it alarms those outside the church, those who have any contact with Scripture, and they see a chapter like chapter 10, and they say, horror of horrors, how in the world could we ever sanction such a thing or ever condone such a thing? Or how in the world could Christians carry a book that carries such devastation, decimation, and flat-out brutality?
I mean, we live in a day and age where you can't do anything without offending the mass of humanity. I mean, baskets of heads certainly wouldn't go over well in the 21st century. I mean, we've got the Boy Scouts now accepting girls. I mean, that's what's happened today.
The Boy Scouts now accept girls. Because we don't want to offend anybody. So persons come to 2 Kings 10, and I have to think they're offended by baskets of heads. So how do we work through this reality of God's just judgment?
The chapter indicates that a king that was not committed to Yahweh was the means of fulfilling Yahweh's word, and that he did so in a most unsanitary way. Again, baskets of heads. I can't even conceive of baskets of heads, personally. Seventy heads, to be exact.
That's a lot of heads in baskets. I'm going to quote Davis again because I think he nails it with reference to what appears to be the unsanitary ways of God's judgment. He says, first, the Bible shows that God frequently works, we might say, indirectly through human instruments. He does, right?
I mean, there are times when He sends hailstones out of heaven, or He dispatches a lion, or a couple she-bears, or even then it's indirect. I mean, He can stop a man from breathing in his tracks, but God uses indirect. He uses means. She-bears, hailstones, Jehus, Hazaels, Elishas.
He uses means. So the Bible shows that God frequently works, we might say indirectly, through human instruments. And unlike surgeons, God has no sterilized instruments. You get that, right?
If God's going to use a human, By virtue of necessity, they're not sterilized human. There's no human that's going to carry out the judgment of God in a perfect way. I mean, they're going to collect heads and put them into baskets. God has no sterilized instruments.
All of them are flawed and many of them are opportunistic, self-serving Jehus. So God uses wicked people to carry out his divine design. Now, that may trouble us, but that is the consistent message that we've seen in 1st and 2nd Kings. We've seen it in 1st and 2nd Samuel, and if you care to open your eyes, you will see it from Genesis to Revelation.
It can be no other way. God takes crooked things and makes straight things happen. God uses these instruments and they're not sterilized. And then Davis says, second, this is a situation involving the judgment of God and it is very difficult to make judgment pleasant.
That's it. Sorry, when you commit the kinds of sins that Ahab and his family committed, your head may end up in a basket. That is life in a moral universe governed by a holy, righteous, just God. He does not take idolatry lightly.
He will raise up Elisha, he will raise up Hazael, he will raise up Jehu, and he will devastate and destroy those engaged in persistent idolatry. And then as I said, this chapter at least gives us some typical significance of the reign of Christ, the Messiah. Verse 28, thus Jehu destroyed Baal from Israel. We're looking forward to a day when a much, much, much greater than Jehu will ultimately destroy Baal from Israel.
He will destroy all of his enemies. He will subdue each and every one and he will enter in or usher in a blessed eternal state wherein there is no unrighteousness, no bails, no asherah, no abortion, no sodomy, no sins, nothing that defiles will be in that place. So Jehud at least points us to our Lord Jesus Christ in a most wholesome way. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your justice, your righteousness, your holiness. And God, as we see such a passage, may we take heed and may we fear and tremble. For certainly, God, we want to follow you wholly.
We want our hearts to be committed to you. And yet we, with the hymn writer, say that we're prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love. Help us to relinquish not only Baal but the calves. Help us to get rid of those things that comfort us that are not right.
Help us to be a faithful people that serve you, that love you, that fear you, that honor you. And God, how we look forward to that day when Jesus does in fact rid the world of all idols and all competitors, all rivals. We look forward to that day when God is all in all. Go with us now, we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.