Lesson 16 II Kings 9-14 Jehu, King of Israel, and his house Introduc)on Last week we studied the transition between Elijah and Elisha and the transitions of several kings of Israel and Judah. It is important to remember that the land of Israel has become a divided state following the reign of Solomon, Israel represents the ten northern tribes and Judah comprises the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the south. The Levites are dispersed among both regions as they received no tribal land under Joshua in the conquering of Canaan. Each area, Israel and Judah operated as independent monarchies. We haven’t spoken much of the time frame of the kings of Israel and the separation of Israel and Judah. This section of II Kings begins about 840 years before the birth of Christ and covers about 90 years. Chapter 9 The anointing of Jehu, king over Israel Vs. 1-3 Joram, son of Ahab, is king of Israel and has been wounded in battle against King Hazael of Aram. Elisha called for and sent one of his young prophets who served God to take a flask of oil, search out Jehu at Ramoth-Gilead. When Jehu is located, the prophet was to ask him to meet in a private place, anoint his head with oil to declare him the next king of Israel, then leave (flee) immediately. Jehu is an interesting character as verse 2 describes him as the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and yet he is serving as the commander of the armies of Joram, king of Israel. Vs. 4-10 The young prophet located Jehu at Ramoth-Gilead, and outpost of the military about 40 miles east of Jezreel, sitting in a house with his captains. The prophet asked for a private meeting with Jehu so they entered a back room where the prophet anointed his head with the oil and spoke these words, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, I have anointed you king of the people of the LORD, even all Israel. You shall strike 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 the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male person, both bond and free in Israel. 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. The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her”. When Jehu emerged from this meeting, the prophet had fled, and his captains asked the meaning of the meeting. When told of the anointing, his captains all pledged allegiance to the new king and proclaimed him king. It is interesting that back in I Kings 19:16 God sends Elijah to Damascus to anoint Jehu to be the king over Israel, but his service will come at a later time. We are reminded of the curse of Ahab and Jezebel located in I Kings 21:20-26. At !1 that time Ahab repented of his evil and the curse was put on hold till a later day. This is to be that day. Vs. 14-20 Jehu swore his men to secrecy and prepared t go to Jezreel where King Joram was recovering from battle wounds. At this same time King Ahaziah (Judah) was traveling to Jezreel to visit Joram. Vs. 21-26 After sending messengers to the approaching Jehu, King Joram himself rode out in his chariot to inquire of the meaning of this visit. When he realized Jehu was there for treachery, he turned his chariot around and fled, but Jehu shot him through the heart with an arrow and Joram died in the plot of land that had one time belonged to Naboth, the man killed by Jezebel so Ahab could have this vineyard for a garden (I Kings 21). Vs. 27-28 Jehu also struck Ahaziah, King of Judah, but the king managed to flee to Megiddo before he died. His servants carried his remains to Jerusalem where he was buried. Vs. 29-37 Jehu returned to Jezreel where Jezebel chided him from an upper window for his treachery against the king. Jehu ordered her attendants to cast her out of the upper window where she burst open and her blood was splattered on the wall and on the horses. Jehu had the horses trample her underfoot. He ordered his men to bury her since she was a king’s daughter, but when the men went to retrieve her body, it was not there, only her skull, feet and the palms of her hands could be located, for the dogs had eaten all the rest of her body, just as had been prophesied (I Kings 21:23). Chapter 10 Jehu begins to restore Israel Vs. 1-11 Ahab had 70 sons, scattered around Samaria with trusted caretakers. The curse on Ahab was that his entire house would be destroyed, all sons and all servants, both bond and free. His name would be blotted out. Jehu began by sending correspondence to all the caretakers of the 70 sons demanding that the sons be forced to fight for the throne of Ahab. The caretakers rejected this idea very respectfully so Jehu simply asked the caretakers to bring the head of each of the 70 sons to him at Jezreel the next day. The guardians of the sons complied with the request and brought the head of each son in baskets. Jehu had the heads placed in two heaps at the gates of the city until morning. The next morning Jehu killed all of those of the house of Ahab in fulfillment of the curses that were spoken by Elijah. Vs. 12-14 Jehu arose and went to Samaria, and along the way he met a traveling party, relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah who were on their way to visit the sons of Ahab and the queen mother, Jezebel. Ahaziah, though the king of Judah, was a relative of Ahab’s, and therefore these people fell under the curse spoken by Elijah, and therefore Jehu killed all forty two of them ( II Kings 8:24-27). Jehu had killed Ahaziah earlier. !2 Vs. 15-17 Here we are introduced to a new companion to King Jehu, Jehonadab, son of Rechab. The term “son of Rechab” does not seem to apply to the name of Jehonadab’s father but rather the people of whom he is descended. The Rechabites were an interesting, non-Jewish nomadic people who traveled throughout both north and southern Israel. The Rechabites were descendents of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, also known as the Kenites. History records that they were God-fearers, opposed to pagan deity worship, did not drink wine and maintained a unique relationship with God. History records a tie between the Rachabites and the Jewish Sanhedrin. They were thought to be the scribes of the Sanhedrin. Jehu meets Jehonadab and asked, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart”. With a positive response Jehu welcomed Jehonadab into the chariot, returned to Samaria and killed all the remaining descendents of Ahab. Vs. 18-27 Jehu called all the people together and announced that King Ahab had worshipped Baal, and he too planned a great sacrifice for Baal. Therefore, all, every single one of the priests of Baal were to appear before Jehu for this great sacrifice. Failure to show up for this event meant certain death. Not only did the priests of Baal show up, every Israelite man who worshipped the Baal showed up for this great sacrifice as well so that the entire House of Baal was filled from front to back, side to side. Jehu instructed the Baal worshippers to look around them and make sure there was no worshipper of Adonai amongst them, and if there was, they were to be pointed out and removed. And the worship of Baal was about to commence. Jehu appointed and placed 80 of his men outside the Baal temple with instructions that every man who came to worship Baal was to be killed. As soon as the animal offerings to Baal were completed, Jehu sent guards in to slay all the Baal worshippers, remove the pillars of the temple to burn them. A public latrine was made in the location of the Baal Temple. Vs. 28-33 Jehu eradicated the worship of Baal from all of Israel, yet he stopped short of destroying the temples and golden calves at Dan and Bethel that were erected by Jeroboam. However, God blessed Jehu for eradicating Baal worship, for fulfilling the curse against Ahab and his family, and the blessing is that Jehu’s sons would sit on the throne even to the fourth generation. Though Jehu destroyed the Baal worship, he continued leading Israel in the sins of Jeroboam and did not follow the statutes of God. Because Jehu did not follow in the ways of the LORD, God began to cut off portions of Israel by the hand of Hazael, King of Aram, Hazael captured and controlled all of Israel’s land east of the Jordan River, the tribes of Gad, Rueben and Manasseh. !3 Vs. 34-36 Jehu reigned over Israel for 28 years and died and his son Jehoahaz followed him on the throne. Note: This is an amazing story when you step back and look at it from a different angle or level.