2 Kings 10

Introduction

When we studied chapter 9 a couple of weeks ago, I said that it was an unpleasant chapter. It was an unpleasant chapter because, after recording that Jehu was to be king of Israel in place of Joram, the newly anointed king went immediately to Jezreel, where he killed Joram and where he also killed Ahaziah, who was king of the southern kingdom of Judah. And then he also gave orders for Queen Jezebel to be killed. And after Jezebel died, dogs ate her body.

So, chapter 9 was an unpleasant chapter. And so is chapter 10, because Jehu continues to kill and destroy. There are three summary statements which sum up the contents of this chapter. The first one is in verse 11:

So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab….

The second one is in verse 17:

When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all who were left there of Ahab’s family….

And the third one is in verse 28:

So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel.

So, he killed everyone in Jezreel who remained in the house of Ahab. Then he killed all who were left of Ahab’s family in Samaria. And then he destroyed Baal worship in Israel.

Do you remember who Ahab was? He was a very wicked king in Israel. We first heard about in 1 Kings 16 where it said of him that he did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. Imagine that. The previous kings were bad. But Ahab was far, far worse. And it said about him that he considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam. Jeroboam was a very wicked king; but what Jeroboam did was nothing compared to what Ahab did. And we’re told that Ahab married Jezebel, who was the daughter of the king of Sidon. And Sidon at that time was the land of Baal. And so, because Ahab married Jezebel, he too began to serve Baal. He even built a temple for Baal in Samaria and set up an altar to Baal in that place. And therefore Ahab did more to provoke the anger of the Lord than all the other kings before him.

So, who was Ahab? He was a wicked king in Israel. And because of his wickedness — which he, in a sense, passed down to his descendants, who were as wicked as him — the Lord announced through Elijah that he was going to bring disaster on Ahab. The Lord was going to consume Ahab’s descendants and cut off every last male from Ahab’s family in Israel. The Lord was going to wipe them out.

And so, the Lord was determined to wipe out Ahab and his family. And that enables us to see that though chapters 9 and 10 of 2 Kings are unpleasant, Jehu was only fulfilling the word of the Lord. He was God’s instrument. He was the instrument in the hand of the Lord to carry out God’s will, which was to wipe out Ahab’s family. And in doing so, the Lord was cleansing Israel of Ahab’s wicked influence. The Lord used Jehu to restore the kingdom of Israel to what it was supposed to be. And so, as well as removing Ahab’s family, Jehu removed from Israel all those who still worshipped Baal. Israel was to be a kingdom where the people worshipped the Lord and where they loved and served him.

Of course, Jehu himself was far from being a perfect king. As we read near the end, while he destroyed the worship of Baal in Israel, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, who set up idols in Israel. He was far from being a perfect king. For that, they had to wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, because the Lord Jesus Christ is God’s perfect king. Before I say more about that, let’s turn to the chapter.

Verses 1 to 11

And we’ll begin with verses 1 to 11. Remember: Jehu has killed Joram king of Israel as well as Ahaziah king of Judah. He killed Ahaziah, because he had become just like Ahab. And at the beginning of chapter 10 we read that there were in Samaria 70 sons of the house of Ahab. The word ‘sons’ here probably means descendants. And it’s possible that the number 70 simply means that there were lots of them. In any case, Jehu wrote to the officials in Samaria challenging them to a fight. When they received the letter, they were terrified. They had heard what Jehu and his men had done to Joram and Ahaziah at Jezreel; and they certainly didn’t want to become his next target. So, they wrote back to say that they were ready to surrender to him: ‘We are your servants and we will do anything you say.’ We’ll do anything — just don’t hurt us!

And so, Jehu sent them a second letter. In this one he wrote that if they’re really on his side, then take the heads off Ahab’s descendants in Samaria and bring them to me in Jezreel. And take a look at verse 7: whenever the letter arrived and they read it, they took the descendants of Ahab and slaughtered all of them. They put the heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel. And when the heads arrived, someone announced the news to Jehu. Most of us are used to received packages from delivery companies. Fortunately none of us have ever received this kind of package.

Jehu then gave orders for all the heads to be put in two piles at the entrance to the city. And in the morning, he went out and said to all the people who had gathered there that they were innocent, because it was Jehu who conspired against Joram and killed him. ‘[But] who killed all these?’ And we can imagine him pointing to the two piles of dead heads at the entrance of the city. Who killed them? Well, we know who killed them. The officials in Samaria killed them under orders from Jehu. But by asking the question, it’s possible that Jehu is claiming that he has plenty of support. He’s perhaps saying to the people in Jezreel: See all the support I have? I have plenty of people who support me and who are prepared to fight on my behalf. So, don’t think about resisting me, because there are plenty of people who will fight for me.

So, he might be claiming that he has plenty of support. However, it’s also possible that he’s saying to the people: It was the Lord who killed all these men. That fits with what he goes on to say. So, take a look at verse 10:

Know then, that not a word the Lord has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail. The Lord has done what he promised through his servant Elijah.

He’s saying that everything that has happened — the deaths of Joram and these 70 descendants of Ahab — is all part of God’s plan to wipe out the house of Ahab. The Lord has done what he said he would do: he’s done it by the hand of Jehu and by the hands of the officials in Samaria.

And this part of the chapter ends with the summary statement in verse 11:

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.

That verse is a little confusing, because it says Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab. But the people who lost their heads in the previous verses were in Samaria, not Jezreel. How do we make sense of the verse? It seems that the 70 descendants of Ahab had fled from Jezreel to Samaria. And once they were killed in Samaria, their heads were returned to Jezreel.

Verses 12 to 17

Next we read in verse 12 that he set out for Samaria. On the way he met some of Ahaziah’s relatives. Ahaziah, you’ll remember, was the king of the southern kingdom of Judah; and Jehu had killed him when he killed Joram. When Jehu saw these people, he asked them who they are. They explained that they are relatives of Ahaziah and they have come to greet the king and queen mother. It seems that they haven’t heard what Jehu had done in Jezreel. So, they don’t seem to be concerned. But no doubt that all changed when Jehu gave orders to his men to seize these people. And having seized them, Jehu slaughtered them by the well of Beth Eked. We’re told in verse 14 that he killed all 42 of them. There were no survivors.

Why did Jehu kill these relations of Ahaziah, king of Judah, when the Lord’s prophecy was directed against the house of Ahab, who were kings in Israel? It’s because Ahaziah and his family had become like Ahab and his family. They were walking in the ways of Ahab; and therefore they too fell under the judgment of God.

And after he left there, Jehu met this man, Jehonadab. We don’t know anything about this man, except that he was willing to support Jehu. And because he was on Jehu’s side, Jehu invited him to come with him in order to see Jehu’s zeal for the Lord. And the summary statement in verse 17 shows us what Jehu meant by his zeal for the Lord, because when he arrived in Samaria, he killed all who were left of Ahab’s family. He destroyed them all, according to the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. Once again we’re reminded that he was the instrument in God’s hand. God was using him to fulfil his purposes and to do all that he foretold through Elijah. It was the will of the Lord for Ahab’s descendants to die, because all of them were wicked like Ahab.

Verses 18 to 28

And so, we come to verses 18 to 28, which tell us how Jehu, in his zeal for the Lord, destroyed Baal worship in Israel. And in these verses we discover that Jehu is not only a ruthless killer, but he’s also a bit of a schemer.

He said to the people in verse 18 that if Ahab served Baal a little, he will serve Baal much. When you first read that, you think: ‘Oh no! We thought Jehu was full of zeal for the Lord. But it turns out he’s just as bad as Ahab and he wants to worship Baal.’ But as we read on, we discover that he’s only pretending. He’s only pretending to worship Baal, because he wants to round up every last one of the ministers of Baal in Israel so that he can destroy them. And so, according to verse 19, he gave orders that all the prophets of Baal and his ministers and priests should be summoned together. See that no-one is missing, because I’m going to hold a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come will pay for it with their life.

And we read in verses 20 and 21 that he called an assembly to honour Baal; and all the ministers of Baal came, so that not one of them stayed away. So, the temple of Baal was packed. And then he instructed one of his servants to give all of them a special robe to wear. Why is he giving them a robe to wear? Well, it’s to make clear who the worshippers of Baal are. Putting on a robe was like putting on a target, because the robes marked them out for destruction. And when Jehu and Jehonadab went into the temple, he asked the ministers of Baal to make sure that only the worshippers of Baal were there. So, make sure there are no worshippers of the Lord here. We don’t want them ruining our worship service! And after speaking to the people inside, he told his men outside to make sure that no one got away.

We can imagine the people inside the temple thinking that this is great: ‘Here’s a king who is devoted to Baal. Now we’ll see Baal worship flourish throughout Israel with a king like this to help us. This is great.’ But as soon as Jehu finished making an offering to Baal, he ordered his men to go inside and to kill them all. Let no one escape. And so, we read in verse 25 that they cut them down with the sword. They threw the dead bodies out and then they burned and demolished the sacred stone in the inner shrine of the temple; and they tore the temple down. And look what is says at the end of verse 27: people have used the site as a latrine or a toilet up until the time of writing.

And in this way, Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel. He was the instrument in the hands of the Lord and the Lord used him to cleanse Israel of Ahab’s family and of the worship of Baal. The Lord used Jehu to restore Israel to the way it was supposed to be and to be a place where the people worshipped the Lord and walked in his ways.

Verses 29 to 36

However, there’s a ‘however’ at the beginning of verse 29. However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he caused Israel to commit. So, the people in Israel were meant to travel to Jerusalem in Judah to worship the Lord in his temple. That’s what they were meant to do. But Jeroboam told the people, not to go to Jerusalem, but to go to Bethel and Dan in Israel instead, where they could worship the two golden calves which Jeroboam had set up for them. And it seems that Jehu did not stop them from doing this, but he let them continue to worship those golden calves. And so, while Jehu was full of zeal for the Lord, he was not a perfect king.

So, there’s praise and there’s also criticism. And that’s repeated in verses 30 and 31. So, according to verse 30, the Lord acknowledged all the good he had done; and the Lord promised that one of Jehu’s descendants would sit on this throne for up to four generations. And yet, according to verse 31, he was not careful to keep the law of the Lord with all of his heart and he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam.

So, there’s praise and there’s criticism. And that’s true of every servant of the Lord. With the help of the Lord, we’re able to serve the Lord and bring honour to his name. But because we’re sinners, we’ll dishonour him in what we do and say. Because of Jehu’s sins, the Lord chastised him. That’s how we’re to take what we read in verses 32 and 33, where it says that in those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel. The Lord used Hazael, king of Aram, to punish Jehu and Israel for the ways they disobeyed him and for worshipping the golden calves. And so it is with us, because when we sin against the Lord, and continue in it, without confessing our sins or turning from them, then we can expect the Lord to discipline us, the way a parent will discipline a wayward child. But when we turn from our sin and ask the Lord for mercy, he is faithful and just and he will indeed forgive us for the sake of Christ who paid for our sins with his life.

And the chapter ends with the normal summary of a king’s life. So, all the other events of his life are written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel. And he rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. His reign lasted 28 years.

Explanation 1

And so, that’s Jehu. And as I’ve said, he was the instrument in the hand of the Lord to cleanse the kingdom of Israel by wiping out the wicked descendants of Ahab and by destroying the worship of Baal in Israel. Israel had become corrupt. Thanks to Ahab and his descendants, the people had turned away from the Lord. They were doing evil instead of doing good. They dishonoured the Lord by the things they did and said. And the Lord sent Jehu to cleanse the land.

And years afterwards the Lord sent another king to cleanse the world of sin and to restore it to the way it’s supposed to be. That king, of course, is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity. In other words, he is God himself. And so, God himself came into the world in the person of his Son. And he came as one of us.

But he was unlike Jehu in two significant ways. Firstly, unlike Jehu who did not keep the law of the Lord with all of his heart, the Lord Jesus kept the law of the Lord perfectly. He never did anything wrong. He never fell short or disobeyed or went astray. And so, unlike Jehu, he always did the will of the Lord. So, there are no ‘howevers’ when we describe the life and work of Christ. There are no ‘buts’. He did the will of God completely. Full stop.

And there’s another way he was different from Jehu. He did not come to kill and destroy, as Jehu did. He did not come to kill and destroy. Instead he came to be killed and to pay for our sins with his life. And so, he took the blame for us and for all that we have done wrong, so that all who trust in him for salvation receive forgiveness and peace with God forever.

And not only did he die for us, but he was raised from the dead for us and he ascended to heaven to be enthroned as king over all in heaven and on earth. And from his throne in heaven, he sends his Spirit to his people to renew us in God’s image and to enable us to do God’s will here on earth and to obey our Heavenly Father in our daily lives.

And it’s in this way that he cleanses the world of sin and he restores it to the way it’s supposed to be. He cleanses the world of sin by cleansing our lives of sin. He restores the world by restoring us. And so, he enables us by his Spirit to resist sin in our own lives. To fight against it. To say ‘no’ to it. And he enables us more and more to do God’s will and to obey his commands and to love and serve the Lord and one another.

The only way Jehu could wipe out sin was to wipe out the people who sinned. The only way Jehu could wipe out disobedience was to wipe out the disobedient. But Christ our King wipes out sin by renewing us more and more in God’s image and by helping us live a new and better life. And since he is king over all, then his royal influence extends over all of our lives and over all that we do: over what we do here in church; and over what we do at home; and over what we do at work. He gives us his gracious help to honour and obey him in all areas of our life, including what we do and say and think.

And so, we should look to him continually for the help we need to resist sin in our daily lives and to obey him more and more. We should look to him to cleanse our lives and to restore us to the way we’re supposed to be. And what he begins to do in our lives in this world, he will bring to completion when he comes again and we’re renewed completely in body and soul and made perfect forever. And when he comes again, he will hand over his kingdom to God the Father. And it will be a perfect kingdom, because we will be fully and completely cleansed of our sin. The thought of disobeying God will not even enter our mind in that perfect kingdom. And we will love and worship the Lord with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, which is what we were made to do.

Explanation 2

Christ our King begins to cleanse us in this life. And he will complete his work to cleanse us in the life to come. All of that is wonderful. But the most wonderful thing, the most amazing thing, is that none of us deserves it. None of us deserves it. What we deserve is to suffer the judgment of God. We all deserve to be destroyed, because all of us are sinners, who have sinned against the Lord continually. Every day we disobey him in thought and word and deed. Like the Baal worshippers, we have put other things before the Lord and we have loved and trusted those other things more than we have loved and trusted God. What we all deserve is to be condemned and to perish forever away from the presence of the Lord.

And so, the really amazing thing is that God so loved us that he sent his Only Begotten Son to be our Saviour-King and to save us from the condemnation we deserve and to cleanse us from all our guilt and to give us the hope of everlasting life in God’s presence. That’s the truly amazing thing. And for that, we should give thanks to the Lord every day of our lives; and we should make it our aim to serve him every day.