Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

The prophet Elisha summoned a man from the company of the prophets and said to him, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take this flask of olive oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead. When you get there, look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi. Go to him, get him away from his companions and take him into an inner room. Then take the flask and pour the oil on his head and declare, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run; don’t delay!”
So the young prophet went to Ramoth Gilead. When he arrived, he found the army officers sitting together. “I have a message for you, commander,” he said.
“For which of us?” asked Jehu.
“For you, commander,” he replied.
Jehu got up and went into the house. Then the prophet poured the oil on Jehu’s head and declared, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anoint you king over the Lord’s people Israel. You are to destroy the house of Ahab your master, and I will avenge the blood of my servants the prophets and the blood of all the Lord’s servants shed by Jezebel. The whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab every last male in Israel—slave or free. I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah. As for Jezebel, dogs will devour her on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and no one will bury her.’” Then he opened the door and ran.
When Jehu went out to his fellow officers, one of them asked him, “Is everything all right? Why did this maniac come to you?”
“You know the man and the sort of things he says,” Jehu replied.
“That’s not true!” they said. “Tell us.”
Jehu said, “Here is what he told me: ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’”
They quickly took their cloaks and spread them under him on the bare steps. Then they blew the trumpet and shouted, “Jehu is king!”
So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth Gilead against Hazael king of Aram, but King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in the battle with Hazael king of Aram.) Jehu said, “If you desire to make me king, don’t let anyone slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.” Then he got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel, because Joram was resting there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him.
When the lookout standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, he called out, “I see some troops coming.”
“Get a horseman,” Joram ordered. “Send him to meet them and ask, ‘Do you come in peace?’”
The horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do you come in peace?’”
“What do you have to do with peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.”
The lookout reported, “The messenger has reached them, but he isn’t coming back.”
So the king sent out a second horseman. When he came to them he said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do you come in peace?’”
Jehu replied, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”
The lookout reported, “He has reached them, but he isn’t coming back either. The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a maniac.”
“Hitch up my chariot,” Joram ordered. And when it was hitched up, Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him at the plot of ground that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?”
“How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”
Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!”
Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot. Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his father when the Lord spoke this prophecy against him: ‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, declares the Lord, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the Lord.’ Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the Lord.”
When Ahaziah king of Judah saw what had happened, he fled up the road to Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him, shouting, “Kill him too!” They wounded him in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam, but he escaped to Megiddo and died there. His servants took him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his ancestors in his tomb in the City of David. (In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king of Judah.)
Then Jehu went to Jezreel. When Jezebel heard about it, she put on eye makeup, arranged her hair and looked out of a window. As Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, you Zimri, you murderer of your master?”
He looked up at the window and called out, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked down at him. “Throw her down!” Jehu said. So they threw her down, and some of her blood spattered the wall and the horses as they trampled her underfoot.
Jehu went in and ate and drank. “Take care of that cursed woman,” he said, “and bury her, for she was a king’s daughter.” But when they went out to bury her, they found nothing except her skull, her feet and her hands. They went back and told Jehu, who said, “This is the word of the Lord that he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite: On the plot of ground at Jezreel dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh. Jezebel’s body will be like dung on the ground in the plot at Jezreel, so that no one will be able to say, ‘This is Jezebel.’”

• 2 Kings 9:1-37

Now there were in Samaria seventy sons of the house of Ahab. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria: to the officials of Jezreel, to the elders and to the guardians of Ahab’s children. He said, “You have your master’s sons with you and you have chariots and horses, a fortified city and weapons. Now as soon as this letter reaches you, choose the best and most worthy of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne. Then fight for your master’s house.”
But they were terrified and said, “If two kings could not resist him, how can we?”
So the palace administrator, the city governor, the elders and the guardians sent this message to Jehu: “We are your servants and we will do anything you say. We will not appoint anyone as king; you do whatever you think best.”
Then Jehu wrote them a second letter, saying, “If you are on my side and will obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me in Jezreel by this time tomorrow.”
Now the royal princes, seventy of them, were with the leading men of the city, who were rearing them. When the letter arrived, these men took the princes and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel. When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, “They have brought the heads of the princes.”
Then Jehu ordered, “Put them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.”
The next morning Jehu went out. He stood before all the people and said, “You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? Know, then, that not a word the Lord has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail. The Lord has done what he announced through his servant Elijah.” So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his chief men, his close friends and his priests, leaving him no survivor.
Jehu then set out and went toward Samaria. At Beth Eked of the Shepherds, he met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, “Who are you?”
They said, “We are relatives of Ahaziah, and we have come down to greet the families of the king and of the queen mother.”
“Take them alive!” he ordered. So they took them alive and slaughtered them by the well of Beth Eked—forty-two of them. He left no survivor.
After he left there, he came upon Jehonadab son of Rekab, who was on his way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, “Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?”
“I am,” Jehonadab answered.
“If so,” said Jehu, “give me your hand.” So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot. Jehu said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.” Then he had him ride along in his chariot.
When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all who were left there of Ahab’s family; he destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord spoken to Elijah.
Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. Now summon all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests. See that no one is missing, because I am going to hold a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come will no longer live.” But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.
Jehu said, “Call an assembly in honor of Baal.” So they proclaimed it. Then he sent word throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one stayed away. They crowded into the temple of Baal until it was full from one end to the other. And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring robes for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them.
Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look around and see that no one who serves the Lord is here with you—only servants of Baal.” So they went in to make sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had posted eighty men outside with this warning: “If one of you lets any of the men I am placing in your hands escape, it will be your life for his life.”
As soon as Jehu had finished making the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and officers: “Go in and kill them; let no one escape.” So they cut them down with the sword. The guards and officers threw the bodies out and then entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. They brought the sacred stone out of the temple of Baal and burned it. They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day.
So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel. However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.
In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory east of the Jordan in all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh), from Aroer by the Arnon Gorge through Gilead to Bashan.
As for the other events of Jehu’s reign, all he did, and all his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
Jehu rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son succeeded him as king. The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

• 2 Kings 10:1-36

Noted Biblical Scholars, Teachers, and Preachers Comments

2 Kings 9:1-9 ‘Jehu to Rule Israel’: “In 2 Kings 9:1 Elisha sends one of his associates in the prophetic guild on a mission to the military garrison at Ramoth-Gilead. The prophet is to search out one of Israel’s military commanders, Jehu, anoint him as the future king of Israel, charge him with the destruction of Ahab’s dynasty, and then effect a hasty escape. The prophetic proclamation and anointing of Jehu is fulfilled as Jehu and his men carry out a coup against the king of Israel (9:14-28). The condemnation of Ahab’s dynasty echoes Elijah’s previous prophecy of divine condemnation against Ahab’s dynasty (1 Kings 21:21-22). Ahab’s 70 sons are later assassinated by Jehu, and the entire royal dynasty is cut own (2 Kings ro:7-17).”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

2 Kings 9:1-4 ‘The Rise of Jehu’: “The time had finally come for the Lord to eradicate the descendants of Ahab and Jezebel from Israel. Years before, God had told Elijah to anoint Jehu as the king of Israel for this stated purpose (see 1 Kgs 19:16-17). But, the assignment of anointing Jehu actually fell to Elisha, who sent one of his student prophets to meet with Jehu son of Jehoshaphat (not Jehoshaphat the former king of Judah) in a private ceremony and anoint him as king over Israel in place of the wounded King Joram (9:1-3; see 2 Kgs 8:28-29). Elisha warned the young prophet to run for his life after the anointing to escape any possible reprisal that his act might generate (9:3).”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 9:2 ‘Jehu’: ”The Lord had previously told Elijah that Jehu would become king over Israel and kill those involved in the worship of Baal (cf. 1 Kin. 19:17). The fulfillment of the prophecy is recorded from 9:1-10:31. inner room. A private room that could be closed off to the public. Elisha commissioned one of the younger prophets to anoint Jehu alone behind closed doors. The rite was to be a secret affair without Elisha present so that Jehoram would not suspect that a coup was coming.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 9:7 ‘avenge the blood’: “Jehu was to be the Lord’s avenger (cf. Num. 35:12) for the murders of the Lord’s prophets (1 Kin. 18:4) and of people like Naboth who served the Lord (1 Kin. 21:1–16).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 9:10 ‘Dogs Eat Jezebel’: “This is Elisha’s recapitulation of a prophecy Elijah gave earlier (1 Kings 21:23). Along with the prophet’s anointing of Jehu and prediction of ruin for Ahab’s dynasty, the prophet also includes the prediction that Jezebel, Ahab’s wicked queen, would be eaten by dogs in Jezreel, adding the detail that her corpse would not be buried. Jezebel’s grisly end is recorded in 2 Kings 9:30-37.”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

2 Kings 9:13 ‘they blew trumpets’: ”Having laid their cloaks under Jehu’s feet with the steps of the house serving as a makeshift throne, the officers blew trumpets acclaiming Jehu as king. A trumpet often heralded such a public proclamation and assembly, including the appointment of a king (cf. 11:14; 2 Sam. 15:10; 1 Kin. 1:34).”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 9:16-20 ‘Jehu approached the two kings’: “Jehu had nothing to worry about because God was working his sovereign plan behind the scenes. Jehu made his way to Jezreel, where King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah (both members of Ahab’s house) were together (9:16). The watchman … on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s rapid approach and told them, I see a mob! (9:16-17). Joram sent a rider to see if the mob was peaceful (9:17). But, when the horseman relayed the question, Jehu essentially said, ‘If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop talking and join us’ (9:18). This happened a second time before the watchman realized that the leader appeared to be Jehu (9:19-20).”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 9:21 ‘Naboth the Jezreelite’: “Providentially, the kings of Israel and Judah met Jehu at the very place where Ahab and Jezebel had Naboth killed (1 Kin. 21:1–16). The alarmed king, aware by then of impending disaster, summoned his forces and, accompanied by Ahaziah, met Jehu as Jehu’s men ascended the slope up to the city from the northern side.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 9:22 ‘What peace’: “Joram wished to know if Jehu’s coming meant peace, apparently unsure of Jehu’s rebellious plans. Jehu replied that there could be no true peace in Israel because of Jezebel’s influence. ‘Harlotries,’ a common biblical metaphor for idolatry, and ‘witchcraft,’ i.e., seeking information from demonic forces, described the nature of Jezebel’s influence. Idolatry had lured Israel into demonic practices.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 9:27 ‘Ahaziah king of Judah … died’: “Ahaziah fled by way of the road to Beth Haggan, a town 7 mi. SW of Jezreel. Jehu and his men pursued Ahaziah and wounded him at the Ascent of Gur by Ibleam which was just S of Beth Haggan. According to 2 Chr. 22:9, Ahaziah reached Samaria, about 8 mi. S of Beth Haggan, where he hid for a while. Ahaziah then fled N to Megiddo, about 12 mi. N of Samaria, where he died.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 9:32 ‘eunuchs’: “Some of Jezebel’s own officials threw her out of a second-story window, after which Jehu drove his horses and chariots over her body.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 10:1 ‘seventy sons’: “These were the male descendants of Ahab, both sons and grandsons. Ahab had a number of wives (1 Kin. 20:5) and therefore many descendants. Since these living relatives could avenge a dead kinsman by killing the person responsible for his death (cf. Num. 35:12), Jehu’s life was in jeopardy while Ahab’s male descendants survived. Samaria. Ahab’s surviving family members were living in the capital city of the northern kingdom, located about 25 mi. S of Jezreel. Rulers … elders … those who reared. Jehu sent the same message (vv. 2, 3) in a number of letters to: 1) the royal officials, who had probably fled from Jezreel to Samaria; 2) the leaders of the tribes of Israel; and 3) those appointed as the custodians and educators of the royal children.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 10:4-8 ‘Jehu complete victory’: “These leaders had heard of what happened to Joram, Ahaziah, and Jezebel, and they wanted no part of Jehu’s fury. So they promptly agreed to join his side and obeyed his grisly order to slaughter Ahab’s sons and deliver their heads to him (10:4-7). Jehu displayed them until morning as silent but effective evidence that he had succeeded in conquering the dynasty of Ahab once and for all. Moreover, any resistance against him was futile (10:8).”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 10:5 ‘he who was in charge of the house … city’: “These two officials were the palace administrator and the city governor, probably the commander of the city’s fighting force. We are your servants. These officials and leaders transferred their allegiance from the house of Omri to Jehu.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 10:15 ‘Jehonadab the son of Rechab’: ”This man was a faithful follower of the Lord and a strict observer of the Mosaic law, leading a life of austerity and abstinence. According to Jer. 35:1–16, the Rechabites did not plant fields or drink wine. They shook hands, indicating a pledge of support for Jehu from this influential man.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 10:21 ‘temple of Baal’: “The idolatrous worship center that Ahab had built in Samaria (1 Kin. 16:32). All the worshipers could fit into that one edifice because the number of Baal devotees had been reduced by the influence of Elijah and Elisha and by the neglect and discontinuance of Baal worship under Joram.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 10:28 ‘destroyed Baal from Israel’: “Jehu rid the northern kingdom of royally sanctioned Baal worship. It was done, however, not from spiritual and godly motives, but because Jehu believed that Baalism was inextricably bound to the dynasty and influence of Ahab. By its extermination, he thought he would kill all the last vestiges of Ahab loyalists and incur the support of those in the land who worshiped the true God. Jehonadab didn’t know of that motive, so he concurred with what Jehu did.”

• John MacArthur, John MacArthur Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 10:30-36 ‘Four Generations’: “Because of Jehu’s obedience in the matter of Ahab, however, God did promise him a dynasty of four generations of sons who would rule in Israel (10:30). Yet, God also demonstrated his displeasure with the idolatrous northern kingdom by allowing their land to be reduced through conquests by King Hazael of Aram during Jehu’s reign of twenty-eight years (10:32-36).”

• Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (quoted Scripture without bold/italics)

2 Kings 10:30-31 ‘The Prophecy of Jehu’s Dynasty’: “The Lord reveals to Jehu chat his dynasty will continue for four generations (10:30-31). This is fulfilled in 2 Kings 15:8,12.”

• Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson, Exploring Bible Prophecy

2 Kings 10:31 ‘destroyer but no builder’: “Jehu was raised up by God to be a great reformer in the kingdom of Israel. No sooner did he receive his commission than he was at his work with a daring and perseverance never excelled. He was commanded to cut off the whole house of Ahab, and the task was a congenial one-he slew right and left and spared none. When full vengeance had been worked on Jezebel and all Ahab’s brood, he scarcely paused but proceeded at once to gather together all the priests of Baal and to annihilate them at a blow. He was a thorough root­ and-branch reformer in this matter and cut off the Baalites without remorse and without exception. He accomplished the work for which he was raised up with the most wonderful thoroughness and zeal. But-oh, that but!-though he was ready and earnest in a work that suited his furious taste, he had no true heart toward God. While he was a destroyer of Baal, he was not a servant of Jehovah; he was an iconoclast of the first order, breaking idols right and left, but he was no builder up of the house of the Lord. He did not yield his mind reverently and obediently to the worship of Israel’s God, neither did he care to know his mind and law. He followed a sort of animal impulse, which drove him forward in opposition to Baal and to Ahab’s race, but he knew nothing of that spiritual force that would have led him to inquire, “What more would God have me to do?” May the Holy Spirit enable us all to search ourselves, whether we have received from the Lord by faith in Jesus a renewed heart that is anxious to know and to do the will of the Lord, or are mere creatures of impulse, picking and choosing as to our Lord’s commands, and obeying or disobeying according as the circumstances of the hour may influence our thoughtless spirit.“

• Charles H. Spurgeon, from sermon notes

My Thoughts

The heading for these two chapters should simply be: Jehu Killed a lot of People.

The story begins with his anointing.  Elisha sent one of the prophets in his “guild.”  The instructions were to get Jehu alone, anoint him king, declaring him king of Israel, and then open the door and run.

The prophet did as instructed, but he said a lot more than what Elisha had instructed him to say.  Was this added wording not recorded in his initial charge in Scriptures?  Did he add it on his own?  Or did God inspire him to add it?  What was said was what happened, and it had been prophesied by Elijah.  But true to his instructions, he anointed Jehu and ran.

Jehu had been with his other officers.  When Jehu exited the house where he was anointed, the others asked what the crazy person had just said.  Jehu said that he had just been anointed king of Israel.  At this news, his fellow officers immediately changed their tune.  The crazy old man must have suddenly become a wise prophet of God most high.  Jehu was given a throne made of the robes of the other officers.  To emphasize his anointing they blew a trumpet, which is often done at such times.

Joram, king of Israel, had retreated to Jezreel to rest from wounds in the war against Hazael, king of Aram.  He was visited there by Ahaziah, king of Judah, who was Joram’s nephew.  Joram was a son of Ahab, and Ahaziah was a son of Athaliah, daughter of Ahab.  Jehu ordered that no one should leave to warn Joram.  He rode by chariot to Jezreel.

Since they were at war with Aram, an approaching chariot would raise an alarm.  Joram sent a horseman, but Jehu told him to join him.  The same thing happened to the second horseman.  When Joram recognizes the wild style of charioteering, he knows it is Jehu, so he goes out to meet him.  Joram asks if Jehu comes in peace, and Jehu replies that there can be no peace as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of Jezebel abounds.”  Joram called an alarm to Ahaziah, but Jehu fires an arrow into Joram’s heart.  Ahaziah turns to escape.  Jehu orders him killed, but Ahaziah, wounded, gets away, later dying at Megiddo.  But when Jehu saw that they were near Naboth’s vineyard, he instructed his men to throw Joram’s body into the vineyard to avenge the blood of Naboth and his family.  Joram was not buried with his ancestors.

Then, Jehu went into Jezreel and Jezebel, from an upper window, asked if he came in peace, mentioning that he had killed his master.  Jehu said nothing to her, but asked if there was anyone who was with him.  Two eunuchs threw Jezebel down.  She died in the street and the dogs ate her body, just as it had been prophesied.

Jehu then wrote a letter to the guardians of Ahab’s sons in Samaria.  He instructed them to take the most worthy of those that were left and make him king and then defend Samaria from Jehu’s attack.  But these officials were afraid for their lives.  Jehu sent another message that if the people of Samaria were with Jehu, they would deliver the heads of the sons of Ahab by the next morning.  Jehu made two piles of heads the next morning.

Jehu then went to Samaria and killed the rest of Ahab’s family.

Then, Jehu attacked the priests of Baal, but he lures them with cunning.  He says that he will worship Baal more than Ahab.  He lures the priest into a banquet, putting robes on them.  He ensured no worshipper of the Lord was at the banquet.  Then as he left, he instructed his officers to kill them all and let no one escape.

In so doing, Jehu had killed the family of Ahab, Jezebel, and the priests of Baal.  But he did not return to the worship of God.  He left the two golden calves, one in Dan and one in Bethel.

God spoke the Jehu and commended him for doing what had been prophesied, but due to not returning to God, Jehu would lose his dynasty after four generations.

God allowed Hazael to capture the land east of the Jordan, the Gilead.  Jehu would die, replaced by Jehoahaz, his son.

Some Serendipitous Reflections

2 Kings 9:1-13 Jehu Anointed King of Israel 1. Are you eager for big assignments from God? What holds you back? What propels you on?
“2. Have you had to downplay your faith to fit in with your peers? Is this sometimes necessary, or always a compromise?
“3. Does the group recognize your gifts in any way? What contributions are often overlooked? How can the group better call out and honor the gifts of its members?
2 Kings 9:14-29 Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah 1. Is treason sometimes okay? Under what circumstances? With what support? What are the risks? Does the driving force of revolution help leaders perform more benevolently or viciously?
“2. The people rallied around Jehu before knowing what kind of king he would be. Have you ever done that with a boss, whom you later regretted choosing?
“3. What’s the root cause of the troubles you face? Can you blame anyone (such as your dad)? What’s to be done?
“4. Is there a role for righteous madmen today, like the prophet and Jehu? Can you exhibit wild abandon for the Lord? How so?
2 Kings 9:30-37 Jezebel Killed 1. How do you face confrontation: (a) Guns blazing? (b) Peace at any price? (c) Change the subject? (d) Armed with words to twist emotions? Which ways are healthy?
2 Kings 10:1-17 Ahab’s Family Killed 1. What would you have done if you were raising Joram’s children?
“2. What does ‘zeal for the Lord’ (v.16) mean today? How is it expressed? How can zeal get a person in trouble? How can zeal cloud good judgment? How can ‘good judgment’ squelch zeal?
“3. Is anyone completely ‘right’ when they use violence? What side do you think God takes in the current wars of your country?
2 Kings 10:18-36 Ministers of Baal Killed 1. Is covert action okay? Should honest alternatives take priority over complex plots and deceptive means?
“2. Do true worshipers seem less forceful today than in Jehu’s time? What’s the modern equivalent of Jehu’s purge in the church?
“3. What internal purge might help your worship become more pure, less tainted with Baal-like impurities?”

• Lyman Coleman, et al, The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups

Second Kings 9 have three sets of questions as noted. There are two sets of questions for 2 Kings 10 as noted.

Substitute whatever group for any reference to a small group or ask who could come to your aid.

If you like these Thursday morning Bible studies, but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Thursday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.