2 Kings 9 O We Are Coming to the End of Elisha's Career As a Prophet To

____________________________________________________ VANTAGE POINT: 2 KINGS 2 Kings 9 o We are coming to the end of Elisha’s career as a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel o Elisha commands one of the young prophets to go to Ramoth Gilead, take a flask of oil and call Jehu, who was a captain in the Israeli army o He’s told to take Jehu into a room where they can be alone and to anoint him with oil to be King over Israel o Then he’s told to open the door and flee as fast as you can o So the young prophet follows Elisha’s instructions, anoints Jehu and prophesies over him 2 Kings 9:7–10 (NKJV) 7 You shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of 8 the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab all the males in Israel, both bond and free. 9 So I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah. 10 The dogs shall eat Jezebel on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her.’ ” And he opened the door and fled. o The young prophet gets out of dodge and the other soldiers ask Jehu, who was that madman and what was that little secret meeting about o Jehu is reluctant to say at first, finally tells them and now they are blowing trumpets and declaring Jehu is King o Jehu’s name means Yahweh is He o His father, Jehoshaphat, is not the same as the Judean king by that name and it appears that his grandfather Nimshi was more famous than his father because later Jehu is knows as the son of Nimshi o Jehu is mentioned twice in the cuneiform inscriptions on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III dating this period to around 841 B.C. o It’s the only mention of a Hebrew King ever discovered o Jehu was the only ruler of the Northern Kingdom to be anointed – which was a symbol of God’s blessing. o Jehoram’s failures showed that he was no longer blessed by God o The secrecy of the meeting give Jehu the advantage of choosing the right time to revolt without alerting Jehoram 2 Kings 9:14 (NKJV) 2 Kings 9-16 © 2012 Holland Davis ____________________________________________________ VANTAGE POINT: 2 KINGS 14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had been defending Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, against Hazael king of Syria. o Jehu conspires with the commanders of the Israeli Army to overthrow Joram and the success of this coup d’etat depeneded on secrecy o So Jehu tells his fellow soldiers, if you are really with me don’t let anyone leave Ramoth Gilead to warn Joram in Jezreel o Ramoth Gilead was on the northern border between Israel and Syria and Jezreel was 40 miles west, across the Jordan, near Megiddo Scattered around the city walls of Jezreel were watchtowers 2 Kings 9:17–18 (NKJV) 17 Now a watchman stood on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company of men.” And Joram said, “Get a horseman and send him to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’ ” 18 So the horseman went to meet him, and said, “Thus says the king: ‘Is it peace?’ ” And Jehu said, “What have you to do with peace? Turn around and follow me.” So the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger went to them, but is not coming back.” o The word company literally means dust, so the watchman most likely saw the dust cloud stirred up by Jehu’s approaching army o Two horsemen are sent out to investigate, but instead of returning they join Jehu’s army o Finally, Jehu gets close enough for the watchmen to recognize he’s driving like a madman and they say… that guy is driving like a Jehu!!! o When Joram finds out it’s Jehu, he goes to meet him o They meet on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite, the property that symbolized Ahab’s greed and apostasy 2 Kings 9:22 (NKJV) 22 Now it happened, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” So he answered, “What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many?” 2 Kings 9-16 © 2012 Holland Davis ____________________________________________________ VANTAGE POINT: 2 KINGS o Joram turns to get away and Jehu pulls out his bow and carries out the execution of the wicked king himself (Vs. 26) Jehu quotes Elijah… something he heard as a young soldier 2 Kings 9:26 (NKJV) 26 ‘Surely I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons,’ says the LORD, ‘and I will repay you in this plot,’ says the LORD. Now therefore, take and throw him on the plot of ground, according to the word of the LORD.” o (Vs. 27) Ahaziah, king of Judah hears what Jehu has done and goes into the witness protection program o Ahaziah is the son of Ahab, so he’s worried o Jehu tracks him down and shoots him gangland style in his chariot o Then he goes after Jezebel and finds her in her palace in Jezreel She looks out her window and accuses Jehu of murder 2 Kings 9:32–37 (NKJV) 32 And he looked up at the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” So two or three eunuchs looked out at him. 33 Then he said, “Throw her down.” So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered on the wall and on the horses; and he trampled her underfoot. 34 And when he had gone in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “Go now, see to this accursed woman, and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.” 35 So they went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands. 36 Therefore they came back and told him. And he said, “This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; 37 and the corpse of Jezebel shall be as refuse on the surface of the field, in the plot at Jezreel, so that they shall not say, “Here lies Jezebel.” ’ ” o Jezebel knows she’s about to die, so she adorns herself so she can die as a queen o She addresses Jehu as Zimri o Zimri was the one who murdered King Elah and the remaining family of Baasha in 1 Kings 16:10 o He held the throne for a few days and committed suicide 2 Kings 9-16 © 2012 Holland Davis ____________________________________________________ VANTAGE POINT: 2 KINGS o Jezebel is implying that Jehu will have the same fate o He calls for help, two eunuchs throw Jezebel out the window and Jehu drives his chariot over her dead body – a act of intentional humiliation o He then goes in to eat, but feels bad for her… after all she was royalty, but by the time he gets around to it her body is already eaten by dogs o Prophecy fulfilled 2 Kings 10 o By now, news is spreading to all the descendants of Ahab that Jehu has wiped out the king of Israel and Judah and Jezebel o Vs. 1, we are told that there are 70 sons of Ahab, which included grandsons and great grandsons o Jehu writes letters to those who raised the sons of Ahab, pick the best fighter and prepare to defend your house – it was a threat o Jehu’s intimidation works and they switch sides and pledge their allegiance to Jehu 2 Kings 10:6–7 (NKJV) 6 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, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were rearing them. 7 So it was, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons and slaughtered seventy persons, put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel. Jehu fulfills the word of the Lord spoken to Elijah 2 Kings 10:9–11 (NKJV) 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? 10 Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of the LORD which the LORD spoke concerning the house 11 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. o (Vs. 12) Jehu wipes out Ahaziah’s 42 brothers o (vs.

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