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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. 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. 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. 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. 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, 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. 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. 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 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. 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 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 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. 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. 
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.