2 Kings 10 - Jehu's Purge

LINK: 2 Kings 10

BACKGROUND
In this chapter Jehu continued to fulfill the prophecy against the house of Ahab. There were 70 male descendants (sons and grandsons) of Ahab, and Jehu had them all killed. Jehu went beyond killing Ahab's sons, though, and also killed all of his leaders, acquaintances, and priests.

In chapter 9, Jehu had also killed Ahaziah king of Judah. Now he encountered a group of Ahaziah's relatives who claimed to be coming to visit Ahaziah and Jezebel. Jehu was suspicious of their motives and had them all killed. Commentators give two reasons why Jehu would have been suspicious. (1) It's not likely that they wouldn't have heard of the death of Ahaziah and Jezebel by this time. (2) They were north of Samaria, which is not on the path from Jerusalem to Jezreel.

Then Jehu went on a mission to destroy Baal worship in Israel, and he took Jehonadab the son of Rechab along with him. Jehonadab was the leader of a conservative group of Israelites who strongly opposed Baalism. Jehu gathered all the priests of Baal by staging a great sacrifice for Baal. He made sure all the priests and nobody else were present, surrounded them, and killed them all. Then he demolished the Baal temple and turned it into a latrine. He destroyed Baal worship to demonstrate his great zeal for the Lord. Unfortunately, Jehu's zeal for the Lord was limited to his opposition to Baalism. He did not turn away from the sin of idolatry as far as other gods were concerned.

Because Jehu destroyed Baalism in Israel, God promised that his desendants would sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. This would be the longest ruling dynasty in the history of Israel (841-752 B.C.).

The final verses of this chapter tell of the reduction in size of the nation of Israel. The land on the east side of the Jordan was lost. Outside of scripture this is recorded on the Black Obelisk of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, where it says that the "son of Omri" (believed to refer to Jehu, even though Jehu wasn't Omri's son, as identifying Jehu with Samaria/Israel) paid tribute to the Assyrians shortly after coming to the throne of Israel.

REFLECTION
Jehu's "zeal for the Lord" led him to obedience in destroying the Baal worship in Israel. However, Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord. His obedience to the Lord was partial. What he did was great, and he was rewarded for it. But he didn't go far enough, and Israel was decreased because of it.

APPLICATION
Zeal is no substitute for obedience. We must be obedient to the Lord, guided by His Word. In Romans 10:2, Paul praised the Jews for their zeal for God, but their zeal was not in accordance with knowledge. Zeal by itself is not enough. When Jesus cleared the temple, his disciples associated his action with the Psalm that says, "zeal for your house will consume me." Jesus was zealous, but controlled by the Holy Spirit. In Romans 12:11, Paul exhorts us to maintain our zeal as we serve the Lord. Zeal with obedience is a very powerful combination!

PRAYER
Lord, help us to be zealous for You, to be passionate toward you. At the same time, teach us Your ways and let our zeal and obedience work together to honor You. Amen.