And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little Jehu will serve him much.
Jehu has just destroyed the last of Ahab's family, and now he turns to Ahab's religion. His promise to outdo Ahab in serving Baal is a lie, and the rest of the chapter shows what his zeal is worth.
The gathering Jehu called sounded like a revival of Baal's cult. It was bait.
However, Jehu had not yet finished his work of destruction. He called the people together and told them, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much" (v. 18). So he ordered that all the prophets, servants and priests of Baal should come to a solemn assembly that promised a great sacrifice for Baal. The people had no idea that Jehu was lying. He wanted all Baal worshipers gathered in one place so that he could destroy them (v. 19).
Jehu had his own reasons for moving against Baal. Baal's priests were tied to the family he had just destroyed, so they were a danger to him.
He then turned his attention to the priests of Baal. Jehu was determined to root Baal-worship out of his newly-acquired kingdom. Baal had formed a powerful link between Ahab's family and his worshipers, and might be a threat to his hold on the throne. So his priests had to share the fate of that family. For the past thirty-six years they had flourished in safety under that family's powerful protection. He then gathers, by craft, all the priests and followers of Baal into their place of worship. There is a measure of righteousness in what he does, however. He takes care that none of the servants of the Lord are mixed up with the committed worshipers of Baal.
Elijah had faced these same priests, and he needed no scheme.
Here too we see human caution, leaving nothing to chance, joined with craftiness. That craftiness, however, is not the dominant trait of his character (v. 19). In any case, it is not the simple and courageous walk of faith according to the truth. How different Jehu's attitude is from Elijah's! Elijah stood alone in unshakeable confidence in the Lord. He faced the hostile power of the king, all the priests of Baal, and a people limping "between two different opinions." He stood alone against them all, because the God he trusted was with him. No subtlety in this scene at the brook Kishon! The authority of the prophet's word alone was enough to destroy all the priests of the false god!
Jehu's sword fell on the sins that stood in his way. Jeroboam, an earlier king of Israel, had set up golden calves for the people to worship.
Jehu is very zealous in dealing with evil when it suits his own purpose. But he is quite indifferent to evil when he decides it is smart policy to leave it alone. So he avenges the sins of the house of Ahab without mercy. Yet he leaves the sins of the house of Jeroboam untouched. He destroys the worship of Baal; he preserves the golden calves. His hand was ready to use the sword against the enemies of the Lord, when it suited his own ends. His heart was completely indifferent to the law of the Lord.
Jehu understood only part of what God had said, and that gap shaped everything he did.
Nothing is more dangerous than a partial understanding of divine principles. This always leads to a false application of these principles and a bad walk. Jehu thought his work of extermination had accomplished everything. He did not understand that all the zeal imaginable was not worth a single act of obedience. Such obedience would have separated him from the religion of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, the religion by which Jeroboam made Israel sin.
The type of servant Jehu represents did not die with him.
Here we see two very different types of service set side by side. Both have their counterparts today. The one is all fire — zealous, energetic, and self-assertive. It seeks the fellowship and approval of those known to be godly. But faith, obedience, and dependence are strangers to such men. "Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord" expresses their real character.
- Lie — His promise to serve Baal more than Ahab did was bait. It filled the temple with Baal's worshippers so that none escaped.
- Motive — Baal's priests were the last link to Ahab's house and a threat to the new throne. Killing them also made Jehu's own rule safe.
- Method — Elijah destroyed the same priests by the authority of God's word alone. Jehu needed craft and left nothing to chance. The results looked alike; the walk did not.
- Limit — Jehu destroyed the sins that blocked him and kept the golden calves that suited him. Zeal against evil is worth nothing when it never turns on itself.
- Warning — Loud, self-promoting service seeks out godly company but stays a stranger to faith, obedience and dependence. That is the Jehu pattern, and it is still with us.
And now call me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests let none be wanting; for I have a great sacrifice [to do] to Baal; whoever shall be wanting shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, in order that he might bring destruction upon the servants of Baal.
Jehu has destroyed the house of Ahab, and now he turns on the religion that house planted in Israel. His invitation to a great sacrifice for Baal is a lie, so what is God doing with a man who does right work by wrong means?
The promised festival was bait. The threat of death for anyone absent made sure the net would be full:
He ordered all the prophets, servants and priests of Baal to come to a solemn assembly. It promised a great sacrifice for Baal. The people had no idea that Jehu was lying. He wanted every Baal worshiper in one place so that he could destroy them.
The motive behind the trap was not only religious. Jehu had his own reasons for wanting Baal gone, though a measure of fairness still shows in how he did it:
Baal had formed a powerful link between Ahab's family and his worshipers. Baal-worship could also threaten Jehu's hold on the throne. So his priests had to share the fate of Ahab's family. Under that family's powerful protection they had lived in safety and prospered for the past thirty-six years... He then gathers, by cunning, all the priests and followers of Baal into their place of worship. Yet there is a measure of righteousness in what he does. He takes care to keep the servants of the Lord out of the crowd of devoted Baal worshipers.
Set beside Elijah, Jehu's method looks small:
Here too we see human caution that leaves nothing to chance, joined with a craftiness — though craftiness is not the main trait of his character (v. 19). In any case, it is not the simple and courageous walk of faith according to the truth. How different Jehu's attitude is from Elijah's! Elijah stood alone in unshakeable confidence in the Lord. He faced the hostile power of the king, all the priests of Baal, and a people limping between two opinions. He stood alone against them all, because the God he trusted was with him. No subtlety in this scene at the brook of Kishon! The authority of the prophet's word alone was enough to destroy all the priests of the false god!
Jehu's energy is real, but God and Jehu are not after the same thing. He strikes the evil that stands in his way and leaves alone the evil that suits him:
God's motives were not Jehu's. God was dealing with evil, avenging the blood of His servants, and maintaining His own glory. Jehu was getting rid of everyone who could oppose his ambitions. Jehu is very zealous about evil when it suits his own purpose, but quite indifferent to evil when he decides it is wiser to leave it alone. So he avenges the sins of the house of Ahab without mercy, while leaving the sins of the house of Jeroboam untouched. He destroys the worship of Baal; he preserves the golden calves. His hand was ready to use the sword against the enemies of the Lord, when it suited his own ends; his heart was utterly indifferent to the law of the Lord.
He presses the charge further:
Many make religion a cloak for their ambition. "Come… see my zeal," says Jehu, "for the LORD" (2 Kings 10:16). No, Jehu, your zeal was for the kingdom. It was not zeal, but state-policy. Jehu made religion hold the stirrup until he got possession of the crown.
The trap worked and Baal fell. Yet an older idolatry in Israel survived the purge:
Jehu had gathered all the people so that he could speak to them with cunning. No doubt he did not trust their attitude... Jehu's zeal destroyed Baal, but it did not restore the covenant, and it goes no further than that. He has rooted out the new idolatry, but the old idolatry, Jeroboam's calves, stays with him. It is always like this when the flesh has a part in reform... The natural man may well root out one idol, whether it be wine or any other vice. But he only puts the idolatry of self in its place, along with his own self-righteousness. He has no conscience toward God — a God whom he pretends, like Jehu, to serve with zeal.
- Summons — The call to a "great sacrifice" was bait. The death penalty for absence brought every Baal worshipper in Israel into one place.
- Motive — Baal-worship tied Ahab's house to its followers and threatened Jehu's throne. Removing it served God's purpose and Jehu's politics at once.
- Method — Cunning, not faith. Elijah faced the same priests with only the prophet's word. Jehu needed a scheme that left nothing to chance.
- Measure — Jehu's zeal ran only as far as his own interests: fierce against Ahab's evil, silent about Jeroboam's calves.
- Outcome — Baal fell, but Jehu's zeal never restored the covenant. Reform driven by the flesh can uproot one idol and still leave self enthroned.
And Jehu said, Hallow a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed [it].
Jehu had just posed as a greater servant of Baal than Ahab ever was. Now he calls for a holy festival in Baal's honour, and the announcement goes out across the land. The words sound like devotion. The plan behind them was slaughter. Can God's work be done by a man whose heart is not in it?
The call for a consecrated gathering was bait. The invitation sounded like the greatest Baal festival Israel had ever seen.
He called the people together and told them, "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much" (v.18). So he ordered all the prophets, servants and priests of Baal to come to a solemn assembly. It promised a great sacrifice for Baal. The people had no idea that Jehu was being deceitful. He wanted all Baal worshipers gathered in one place so he could destroy them (v.19).
Jehu planned this like a military operation.
Here too we see human caution. He left nothing to chance, and joined to this was a craftiness which, however, is not the main trait of his character (v. 19). In any case, this is not the simple and courageous walk of faith according to the truth. How different Jehu's attitude is from Elijah's! Elijah stood alone in unshakeable confidence in the Lord, against the hostile power of the king, of all the priests of Baal, and of a people torn "between two opinions"... No subtlety in this scene at the brook of Kishon! The authority of the prophet's word alone was enough to destroy all the priests of the false god!
Another king later swept idolatry out of the land. Josiah ruled Judah, and he acted after hearing God's law read aloud. Set the two kings side by side and their motives stand out.
God commissioned each of them to destroy the worship of Baal... but the motives of the two men were very different. With Josiah the Word of God was the governing factor... But in Jehu we see a great deal of activity of the flesh. Personal ambition had a large place in his mind, even when he was doing what was right in the eyes of God. When he met his friend Jehonadab the son of Rechab, he said, "Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah"... True souls do not parade their good deeds like this.
Baal's priests died either way — by Elijah's word or by Jehu's ambush. What looked the same was not the same.
Elijah had the Spirit of God. The Spirit separated him completely from evil, and His power filled the prophet with a holy zeal for the Lord. Jehu had zeal without the Spirit, a zeal using human means to answer to God's commands. What then will happen? On the surface the result is the same with both Elijah and Jehu: the priests of Baal are wiped out. In reality it is entirely different... Jehu carries out judgment fiercely on others, but never on himself.
Jehu's zeal ran out where obedience began to cost him something.
Jehu is very zealous in dealing with evil when it suits his own purpose. But he is indifferent to evil when he decides it is wiser to leave it alone... He destroys the worship of Baal; he preserves the golden calves. His hand was ready to use the sword against the enemies of the Lord, when it suited his own ends. His heart cared nothing for the law of the Lord.
This pattern did not die with Jehu.
It is always like this when the flesh has a part in reform. The flesh cannot cure the turning away from God that has marked it from the beginning. If it could, it would no longer be the flesh. The natural man... may well root out an idol, whether it be wine or any other vice. But he only puts in its place — and shows up all the more clearly — the idolatry of self, his own self-righteousness, and his lack of conscience about God. And this is the God whom he pretends, like Jehu, to serve with zeal.
- Proclaimed — The order for a consecrated feast gathered every Baal worshipper into one building. The people came expecting a great sacrifice. They knew nothing of the plan.
- Plotted — Jehu left nothing to chance, and that care counts against him. It was craft, not the simple and courageous walk of faith Elijah showed at Kishon.
- Paraded — The Word of God governed Josiah; ambition governed Jehu. He invited others to come and admire his zeal, and true souls do not parade their good deeds.
- Powerless — The same priests died in both cases. But Elijah had the Spirit, and Jehu had only human means. Jehu judged everyone except himself.
- Partial — Baal fell, the golden calves stayed. Reform run by the flesh removes one idol and sets up self in its place.
And Jehu sent into all Israel; and all the servants of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not and they entered into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to the other.
Jehu called for a great sacrifice to Baal, and it worked: every Baal worshipper in Israel came, and the temple filled from wall to wall. A full house raises two questions — how had Baal worship grown so large, and was Jehu's way of ending it right?
The crowd did not gather by accident. Jehu claimed to serve Baal even more than Ahab had. On that claim he called an assembly for worship.
However, Jehu had not yet finished his work of destruction. He called the people together and told them, "Ahab served Baal a little, Jehu will serve him much" (v.18). So he ordered all the prophets, servants and priests of Baal to come to a solemn assembly. It promised a great sacrifice for Baal. The people had no idea that Jehu was acting deceptively. He wanted every Baal worshipper gathered in one place so that he could destroy them (v.19).
The same act deceived the people who loved God.
So the worshippers were all gathered into the same building. Their hearts were as lifted up as the hearts of those who held to the Lord must have sunk within them — for a man so bloodthirsty and so determined seemed to be Baal's patron and the Lord's enemy.
A full temple says something about the nation. Baal worship was no fringe movement. Jezebel, Ahab's wife, gave it a place at the top, and the palace paid for it.
When Jezebel came into Israel, she put the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth on a firm footing. It became the religion of the State, with plenty of priests and prophets who ate at the royal table.
Jehu did not act alone. Jehonadab knew the plan, but he stayed in the background. He had one task in the crowded temple.
Jehu had told him his plan. Jehonadab went with him, but he did not appear (v. 23) except to check that no servant of the Lord was mixed in among the servants of Baal. Isn't this a beautiful role, like that of Jeremiah: "If you take out the precious from the vile, you shall be as my mouth" (Jer. 15:19)? Jehonadab acted as the mouth of the Lord. He separated first his own house, and then all the true servants of the Lord, from the corrupt, idol-worshipping crowd.
Note: Rossier quotes Jeremiah 15:19 from an older translation; the ESV words that verse differently.
Baal worship ended that day. Set the method beside an earlier day at the brook Kishon, when Elijah faced the prophets of Baal alone.
Here too we see human caution, which leaves nothing to chance, joined to a craftiness that is not, however, the main trait of his character (v. 19). In any case, this is not the simple and courageous walk of faith according to the truth. How different Jehu's attitude is from Elijah's! Elijah stood alone in unshakeable confidence in the Lord. He faced the hostile power of the king, all the priests of Baal, and a people who wavered between two opinions. He stood alone against them all, because the God he trusted was with him. There was no subtlety in that scene at the brook of Kishon! The authority of the prophet's word alone was enough to destroy all the priests of the false god!
Two purposes met inside that crowded temple.
God's motives were not Jehu's. God was dealing with evil, avenging the blood of His servants, and maintaining His own glory. Jehu was getting rid of all those who could oppose his ambitions. Jehu is very eager to deal with evil when it suits his own purpose. He is completely indifferent to evil when he thinks it serves him better to leave it alone. So he takes fierce vengeance on the sins of the house of Ahab, while he leaves the sins of the house of Jeroboam untouched. He destroys the worship of Baal; he preserves the golden calves.
Yet God's verdict on Jehu was not all negative.
He is a sad example of a man whom God may use while he is disobedient in his own life. He carries out God's plans, yet he knows nothing of real communion. But the LORD did not forget even this imperfect service (verse 30).
- Summons — Jehu posed as Baal's greatest patron. He called an assembly, and the worshippers came with no idea what the sacrifice was for.
- Scale — A temple full from end to end shows how far Baal worship had spread. Jezebel had made it the state religion, with priests and prophets fed at the royal table.
- Separation — Before judgment fell, Jehonadab checked that no servant of the Lord stood among the idol worshippers. He took the precious out from the vile.
- Style — Elijah met this same evil by standing alone on God's word. Jehu met it by strategy and deceit. The results looked alike; the spirit behind them did not.
- Shortfall — Jehu swept Baal away but kept Jeroboam's golden calves, because that suited him. God still did not forget the real part of a service that never reached his heart.
And he said to him that was over the wardrobe, Bring forth vestments for all the servants of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.
Jehu has destroyed Ahab's family, and now he turns on Baal's religion with a grand festival that is really a trap. The order to bring out robes for every worshipper of Baal is one small detail in that plan, and it raises the question the whole chapter presses: is this zeal for God, or zeal for Jehu?
The older translation calls the storeroom a "vestry," which one reference work simply defines by the ordinary word:
Vestry. Wardrobe.
The robes were not decoration. They were a marker, so that the crowd packed into the temple could be identified as Baal's people and no one else.
When the notice was sent out, the worshipers of Baal came from every direction to fill the temple of Baal (v.21). To be sure there were only Baal worshipers there, Jehu ordered them to wear vestments (v.22). Then he and Jehonadab went in. They told these people to search among them, to be sure there were no servants of the Lord there, but only worshipers of Baal (v.23).
One writer sees real fairness in the way Jehu sorted out who belonged to Baal. The same writer traces his political reason for wanting the priests gone.
Baal worship had formed a powerful link between Ahab's family and Baal's worshipers, and it could threaten Jehu's hold on the throne. So his priests had to share the fate of that family. Under that family's powerful support the priests had thrived in safety for the past thirty-six years... He then gathers, by cunning, all the priests and followers of Baal into their place of worship. There is a measure of righteousness in what he does, however. He takes pains to make sure that none of the servants of the Lord are mixed in with the devoted worshipers of Baal.
Elijah had faced Baal's prophets in the open. Jehu needs robes, a guest list and cunning, and that difference says something about the man.
Here too we see human caution, leaving nothing to chance, joined with a craftiness that is not, however, the main trait of his character (v. 19). In any case, it is not the simple and courageous walk of faith according to the truth. How different Jehu's attitude is from Elijah's! Elijah stood alone in unshakeable confidence in the Lord. He faced the hostile power of the king, all the priests of Baal, and a people wavering "between two opinions". He stood alone against them all, because the God he trusted was with him. No cunning in this scene at the brook of Kishon! The authority of the prophet's word alone was enough to destroy all the priests of the false god!
The same writer points to the one thing Jehu never gave up — the religion of Jeroboam:
Jehu thought he had accomplished everything by his work of extermination. He did not understand that all the zeal imaginable was not worth a single act of obedience — an act that would have separated him from the religion of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, by which he made Israel sin.
Jehu empties one temple and leaves another form of false worship standing. Commentators read that selectivity as the key to his character.
God's motives were not Jehu's. God was dealing with evil, avenging the blood of His servants, and maintaining His own glory. Jehu was getting rid of all those who could oppose his ambitions. Jehu is very zealous against evil when it suits his own purpose. He is quite indifferent to evil when he decides it is good policy to leave it alone. He destroys the worship of Baal; he preserves the golden calves. His hand was ready to use the sword against the enemies of the Lord, when it suited his own ends. His heart was completely indifferent to the law of the Lord.
Jehu destroyed the robed crowd, and Baal's worship in Israel ended with it. But the account of his reign does not end on a high note.
Then with great cunning Jehu destroyed the worshippers of Baal who appeared at his summons in their festive vestments. So Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. But the summary of Jehu's reign gives a mournful picture. Like Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Jehu did not depart from the golden calves at Bethel and at Dan. He was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart. He is a sad picture of a man whom God may use while he is still disobedient in his own life. He carries out God's plans, yet knows nothing of real communion. But the Lord did not forget even this imperfect service (verse 30).
- Robes — The garments from the wardrobe were a badge. They made sure the temple held Baal's worshippers and nobody else.
- Care — Jehu took pains to keep every servant of the Lord out of that crowd. Commentators credit him with a measure of righteousness for it.
- Craft — Elijah needed only the word of God. Jehu needed disguise and strategy, which is not the simple, courageous walk of faith.
- Limit — All the zeal imaginable was not worth one act of obedience. Baal's house fell; Jeroboam's calves stood, because politics allowed them.
- Verdict — A man can carry out God's plans and still know nothing of communion with Him. Yet God did not forget even this imperfect service.
And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab entered into the house of Baal, and said to the servants of Baal, Search, and see that there be here with you none of the servants of Jehovah, but the servants of Baal only.
Jehu has filled the temple of Baal with every worshipper in Israel, and the doors are about to close on a massacre. Before the sword falls, someone searches the crowd. Who is searching, what are they looking for, and why did all this still fall so far short?
The trap needed the building to hold one kind of person only, and the search was the last step in making sure of it.
When the notice was sent out, the worshipers of Baal came from every direction to fill the temple of Baal (v.21). To be sure there were only Baal worshipers there, Jehu ordered them to wear vestments (v.22).
Jehonadab had ridden with Jehu since verse 15 without a word. Here he finally acts.
Jehu had shared his plan with him; he went with Jehu, but did not appear (v. 23) except to check that no servant of the Lord was mixed in among the servants of Baal. Is this not a beautiful role, like that of Jeremiah: "If you take the precious from the worthless, you shall be as my mouth" (Jer. 15:19)? Jehonadab was as the mouth of the Lord in separating first of all his own house, then all the true servants of the Lord from the corrupt and idolatrous mass.
(The ESV reads that verse: "If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth." Older translations speak of taking the precious out from the vile, which is the sense used here.)
What made him the right man for this work?
He had no link with the evil which surrounded him. His principles were those of complete separation to God, as a true Nazarite. He could not teach these principles in the corrupt world around him, so he had at least taught them in his family and in his house. His testimony reached only a small circle, while unfaithfulness flowed like a rising tide over the two houses of Israel. But it was a testimony all the same, and God approved it.
Jehu's whole plan ran on deception. One part of it was still right.
Still, there is a measure of righteousness in what he does. He takes care that none of the servants of the Lord are mixed in with the committed worshipers of Baal.
Commentators note how differently the same result had been reached before. Elijah had destroyed Baal's prophets in the open.
Here too we see human caution that leaves nothing to chance, joined with craftiness — though craftiness is not the main trait of his character (v. 19). In any case, it is not the simple and courageous walk of faith according to the truth. How different Jehu's attitude is from Elijah's! Elijah stood alone in unshakeable confidence in the Lord. He faced the hostile power of the king, all the priests of Baal, and a people limping between two opinions. He stood alone against them all, because the God he trusted was with him.
Jehu tested a whole crowd for loyalty to the Lord. He never ran that test on himself.
Jehu had zeal without the Spirit, a zeal using human means to answer God's commands… Jehu carries out judgment on others with fire, but he never carries it out on himself. He does not turn away from evil and idolatry to serve God alone. The calves of Jeroboam — that national religion made respectable by long use — do not offend him. His politics and the human interests of his reign fit with them perfectly. In spite of that, how fair God's appraisal is! He credits Jehu with having "done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes" in judging the house of Ahab, and for this He gives him descendants on the throne to the fourth generation.
Two men walked into that temple together. They stand for two kinds of service.
Here we have two very different kinds of service side by side, and we see both of them in the Christian world today. The one is all fire — zealous, energetic, and self-assertive. It looks for the fellowship and approval of people known to be godly. But faith, obedience, and dependence are strangers to such men. "Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD" expresses their real character. In due time they will come under the just judgment of God. On the other hand, "whoever does the will of God abides forever."
- Search — Jehu sifted the crowd before judgment fell, so that no servant of the Lord stood among the worshipers of Baal.
- Separated — Jehonadab could sift others because he was already separate himself. He had taught his own household first.
- Right — even inside a plan built on deception, one thing counts as righteous: Jehu takes care to spare the Lord's servants.
- Craft — Jehu reached Elijah's result by strategy, not by the open walk of faith. That is zeal without the Spirit.
- Unsearched — the man who searched everyone else never searched himself. He left Jeroboam's calves standing, yet God still credited the good he did.
And they entered in to offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings. Now Jehu appointed eighty men without, and said, He that allows any of the men to escape that I have brought into your hands, his life shall be for the life of him.
Jehu's trap is now closed. The crowd he summoned to honour Baal steps forward to sacrifice, and eighty armed men wait outside. The scene raises a hard question: how can work this thorough be so far from the heart of God?
The invitation had looked like royal favour. Jehu planned the feast so that everyone inside the building would belong to Baal, and no one else:
There was more than this in the mind of Jehu. He did not only feel that judgment was needed in the royal houses. There was a worse evil against the name of the Lord in Israel — the worship of Baal. So he turns his skill to this. He proposes a grand feast for all the worshippers of Baal. He presents himself as if he were the patron of that worship. He calls for all the worshippers and priests of Baal, and he takes the greatest care that none of the worshippers of the Lord are among them.
These sacrifices are the last thing the worshippers ever do. Each of the eighty answers with his own life if one man escapes. Nothing of Baal is left — not the people, and not the fittings of their worship:
These worshipers began to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, but 80 of Jehu's guards and captains burst in and killed them with their swords. They also destroyed the idolatrous pillars by fire, then tore down the temple of Baal. Not only the people, but every detail of their idol worship must be destroyed. So Jehu destroyed the worship of Baal from Israel. No one could question his zeal!
Jehu leaves nothing to chance. That caution is itself the problem. Elijah had faced the same false worship before him, and he used no scheme at all:
Here too we see human caution. Jehu leaves nothing to chance, and he joins to this a craftiness which, however, is not the main trait of his character (v. 19). In any case, this is not the simple and courageous walk of faith according to the truth. How different Jehu's attitude is from Elijah's! Elijah stood alone in unshakeable confidence in the Lord. He stood against the hostile power of the king, against all the priests of Baal, and against a people who were limping "between two different opinions." He stood alone against them all, because the God he trusted was with him. No subtlety in this scene at the brook of Kishon! The authority of the prophet's word alone was enough to destroy all the priests of the false god!
One blow served two different purposes. God had one reason for it, and Jehu had another:
God was dealing with evil, avenging the blood of His servants, and maintaining His own glory. Jehu was getting rid of all those who could oppose his ambitions. Jehu is very zealous in dealing with evil when it suits his own purpose, but quite indifferent to evil when he thinks it is wise policy to leave it alone. … He destroys the worship of Baal; he preserves the golden calves. His hand was ready to use the sword against the enemies of the Lord, when it suited his own ends; his heart was utterly indifferent to the law of the Lord.
Jehu tore down the newer idolatry and left the older one standing. Rossier draws a lasting lesson from that:
It is always like this when the flesh has a part in reform. The flesh cannot cure the turning away from God that has marked it from the beginning. If it could, it would no longer be the flesh. The natural man may well root out an idol, whether it be wine or any other vice. We see this happen before our eyes every day. But he only replaces it with the idolatry of self, with his own self-righteousness, and with his lack of conscience about God — the very God he pretends, like Jehu, to serve with zeal. And that exchange only makes the idolatry of self stand out all the more.
The record does not simply condemn Jehu. It holds two things together — his failure and his service:
He is a sad illustration of a man who may be used of God and yet is disobedient in his own life; carrying out God's plans, yet knowing nothing of real communion. But the LORD did not forget even this imperfect service.
- Zeal staged — Jehu posed as Baal's patron to gather every worshipper into one building. The eighty already waited outside before the first sacrifice.
- Zeal thorough — the people, the pillars and the temple all went. Outwardly, Jehu left nothing of Baal in Israel.
- Zeal without faith — Elijah faced the same priests alone. He needed no scheme, only the word of the Lord.
- Zeal serving self — God was avenging His servants and His own glory. Jehu was removing rivals, so he left the golden calves he still found useful.
- Zeal weighed — reform from the flesh can uproot one idol and crown self instead. Yet God did not forget even this imperfect service.
And it came to pass as soon as they had ended offering up the burnt-offering, that Jehu said to the couriers and to the captains, Go in, slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the couriers and the captains cast [them] there. And they went to the city of the house of Baal,
The sacrifice ends, Jehu gives the signal, and his guard cuts down every worshipper of Baal in the building. Was this God's judgment falling, or one man's ambition wearing God's name?
Jehu had gathered the whole system of Baal into one building by pretending to be its greatest supporter. Everything in this verse is the spring of a trap laid earlier.
Judgment was needed in the royal houses, but there was a worse evil against the name of the Lord in Israel — the worship of Baal. To this, then, he applies his skill. He proposes a grand feast of all the worshippers of Baal. He gives himself out as if he were the patron of the worship. He calls for all the worshippers and priests of Baal, and takes the greatest care that none of the worshippers of the Lord shall be among them. So they all gathered into the same building. But here, at least, Jehu could keep his plan to himself. And Jehu brings into the house his soldiers, his captains, and men of war, and they struck them with the edge of the sword.
The order spared no one. Jehu also had reasons of his own for wanting this religion gone.
Jehu decided that the worship of Baal in his newly acquired kingdom had to be rooted out. Baal had formed a powerful link between Ahab's family and his worshippers, and might be a threat to his hold on the throne. So his priests had to share the fate of that family. Under its powerful protection they had flourished in settled security for the past thirty-six years.
Jehu did not act alone. A man named Jehonadab rode beside him, with one job in the scene.
Jehu had confided his plan to him. He went with Jehu, but did not appear except to check that no servant of the Lord was among the servants of Baal. Is this not a beautiful role, like that of Jeremiah: "If you take the precious from the vile, you shall be as My mouth" (Jer. 15:19)? Jehonadab was as the mouth of the Lord. He separated first of all his own house, and then all the true servants of the Lord, from the corrupt and idolatrous mass.
(Rossier uses an older translation. The ESV of Jeremiah 15:19 reads: "If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth.")
Jehu needed a trick to fill that room. Commentators compare him with Elijah, who long before destroyed the priests of Baal at the brook Kishon without any trick.
Here too we see human caution, leaving nothing to chance. It is joined with a craftiness, though craftiness is not the main trait of his character. In any case, it is not the simple and courageous walk of faith according to the truth. How greatly Jehu's attitude differs from that of Elijah! Elijah stood alone in unshakeable confidence in the Lord. He faced the hostile power of the king, all the priests of Baal, and a people limping "between two opinions." He stood alone against them all, because the God he trusted was with him. No subtlety in that scene at the brook Kishon! The authority of the prophet's word alone was enough to destroy all the priests of the false god.
Jehu was carrying out directions from the Lord. His own reasons for obeying were another matter.
To reach the throne was entirely in line with the ambitions of Jehu. To strike the house of Ahab would look to Jehu like sound policy to establish himself as king. So he carries out the directions of the Lord with the greatest possible energy and zeal. However, God's motives were not Jehu's. God was dealing with evil, avenging the blood of His servants, and maintaining His own glory. Jehu was getting rid of all those who could oppose his ambitions. He is very zealous in dealing with evil when it suits his own purpose, but quite indifferent to evil when he decides it is better policy to leave it alone. He destroys the worship of Baal; he preserves the golden calves.
Commentators draw a caution from Jehu's life, not a model to copy.
Here is the great lesson from this remarkable man's life. As servants of God, we must always be on our guard. The danger is that we do His work — in discipline, or in carrying out reform — with a spirit that has never been broken, and without proper exercise of heart and conscience before Him. He is "a God of judgment," and by Him "actions are weighed."
- Command — Jehu was carrying out the Lord's directions, and here he carried them out to the last man.
- Craft — Jehu gathered them by trickery; Elijah needed none, because the word of God alone was enough.
- Separation — before the sword fell, Jehonadab sorted the Lord's true servants out from the false: taking the precious from the vile.
- Motive — one act served two purposes. God was avenging His servants; Jehu was clearing rivals.
- Limit — Jehu destroyed Baal but kept the golden calves. Zeal against evil outside a man can leave the man untouched, so this scene is a warning, not a pattern.
and brought forth the columns out of the house of Baal, and burned them;
Jehu's purge of Ahab's family ends at the temple of Baal, where his men drag the pillar outside and burn it. Yet the same king who burned Baal's image kept Jeroboam's golden calves, and commentators press that contrast hardest.
Some translations read images or columns here instead of pillar. Jehu reached the temple by cunning, not by force.
He did not only feel the need for judgment in the royal houses. There was a worse evil against the name of the Lord in Israel — the worship of Baal. To this, then, he applies his skill. He proposes a grand feast for all the worshippers of Baal. He presents himself as if he were the patron of that worship. He calls for all the worshippers and priests of Baal. And he takes the greatest care that none of the worshippers of the Lord are among them.
God's reckoning separates the deed from the doer.
So Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel... He is a sad illustration of a man God may use while he is disobedient in his own life. He carries out God's plans, yet knows nothing of real communion. But the Lord did not forget even this imperfect service.
Another writer explains why God could credit such a man at all.
God recognises a zeal which had judged evil uprightly. The question here was His outward government, not His judgment of the secrets of the heart. And in fact Jehu acted faithfully in destroying Baal root and branch.
Baal's shrine was more than a religious offence to Jehu. It was tied to the family he had just destroyed.
Baal had formed a powerful link between Ahab's family and his worshipers, and he might be a threat to Jehu's hold on the throne. So his priests had to share the fate of that family. Under that family's powerful patronage they had flourished in settled security for the past thirty-six years.
Belief and ambition pointed the same way for him.
He saw the folly of idolatry: energetic and ambitious, his interest lay on the other side. When the prophet of the Lord announces to him the near possession of the throne, he listens to him. Sincere perhaps in the conviction that the Lord was God, he was quite ready to honour Him when his interest agreed with his convictions.
Elijah had done the same work before Jehu. Set the two men side by side and the likeness stops with the result.
Elijah had the Spirit of God, who produced a complete separation from evil in him. That same power filled the prophet with a holy zeal for the Lord. Jehu had zeal without the Spirit, a zeal using human means to answer God's commands. What then will happen? In appearance the result, the wiping out of the priests of Baal, is the same with both Elijah and Jehu. In reality it is completely otherwise... Jehu judges others fiercely, but he does not judge himself at all.
Jehu destroyed Baal's worship and left the golden calves standing.
Jehu had zeal against the guilty king of Israel, the guilty king of Judah, and the worship of Baal. But he held something back. There was an inner room of the heart that had not been reached yet. An idol stood there, and that idol was the old idolatry — the calves of gold. The reason is plain. Jehu cared for himself and not for God, and the golden calves were a political religion which it suited the policy of the ten tribes to maintain.
Stopping short cost Jehu more than he knew.
Jehu thought his work of destruction had achieved everything. He did not understand that all the zeal imaginable was not worth one act of obedience. That one act would have separated him from the religion of Jeroboam.
Jehu's half-reform repeats itself today.
The natural man may well root out an idol, whether it be wine or any other vice. We see this happen in front of us every day. But he only replaces it with the idolatry of self, his own self-righteousness, and his lack of conscience about God. He even throws all of that into sharper relief. And this is the God whom he pretends, like Jehu, to serve with zeal.
- Outside cleared. Jehu's men carried the pillar out and burned it, and Baal worship ended in Israel.
- Work credited. God did not forget the service, even though the man doing it knew nothing of real fellowship with Him.
- Motive mixed. Baal's shrine was a rival power centre tied to Ahab's house; removing it served Jehu's throne as well as God's word.
- Inside untouched. The calves of gold stayed, because Jehu's heart had an unreached room with an idol still in it.
- Power missing. Elijah reached the same result by the Spirit; Jehu reached it by human means. He judged everyone except himself, and one act of obedience would have been worth more than all his zeal.
and they broke down the column of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a draught-house to this day.
Jehu's campaign against Baal ends here. The pillar comes down, the temple comes down, the site becomes a public latrine — and commentators ask the harder question: what was in the heart of the man who did it?
The demolition was the last step of a plan. Jehu first gathered every priest and worshipper of Baal into one building.
He proposes a grand feast for all the worshippers of Baal. He presents himself as if he were the patron of the worship. He calls for all the worshippers and priests of Baal, and takes the greatest care that none of the worshippers of the Lord are among them. So they were all gathered into the same building. Their hearts were as elated as the hearts of those who clung to the Lord must have sunk within them — that a man so bloodthirsty and so determined was the apparent patron of Baal and the enemy of the Lord.
The method was deception. Commentators set it against Elijah, who faced the priests of Baal with no scheming at all.
Here too we see human caution, which leaves nothing to chance. It is joined with a craftiness that is not, however, the main trait of his character. In any case, it is not the simple and courageous walk of faith according to the truth. How greatly Jehu's attitude differs from that of Elijah! He stood alone in unshakeable confidence in the Lord, against the hostile power of the king, all the priests of Baal, and a people limping between two opinions. He stood alone against all, because the God he trusted was with him. There is no subtlety in that scene at the brook Kishon!
Destroying Baal cost Jehu nothing. In fact it served him.
The interests of Baal and his worshippers were not the same as his. Instead, he was served by the Lord's judgment on them. So he could break down the image of Baal and make his house a latrine to this day. But it was himself he was serving all the time; he took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord. The friendship of the world is enmity with God — and it is no less so when it dresses itself up as zeal for the Lord.
Jehu pulled down Baal's temple, yet left another false worship standing.
He served God's purpose as an executioner, but he stopped there. He could kill "with all his heart," but took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord with earnestness. He could break down the gross and vile worship of Baal, yet go on in the calf-worship of Jeroboam. It is easier to serve God in outward things than to gain the character He loves, enthroning Him in the heart.
God used Jehu's work and still held him answerable for the spirit in which he did it.
God, in His righteous judgment, used Jehu to deal with the wicked house of Ahab. Yet He is not unmindful of the mixed motives that drove Jehu. In carrying out the Lord's vengeance, Jehu was indulging his own cruel heart for his own ends. If God has to deal in judgment, it is His strange work. If Jehu undertakes to deal with evil, it is a task he enjoys. So God uses Jehu to execute judgment on Jezreel. Yet He still says through the prophet Hosea, "I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel."
Reform driven by human energy can remove an idol without changing the person.
It is always like this when the flesh has a part in reform. It cannot cure that abandoning of God which has marked it from the beginning; otherwise it would no longer be the flesh. The natural man may well root out an idol, whether it be wine or any other vice. This happens in front of us every day. But he only replaces it with the idolatry of self, and throws that idolatry into sharper relief — his own self-righteousness and his lack of conscience towards God, a God whom he pretends, like Jehu, to serve with zeal.
- Thorough — Jehu wiped Baal's pillar, temple and worshippers out of Israel in one stroke, and left the site in lasting disgrace.
- Crafty — Jehu worked by deception, not by the open confidence in God that Elijah showed at Kishon.
- Convenient — destroying Baal cost Jehu nothing; he was serving himself the whole time.
- Partial — he destroyed Baal's worship but kept Jeroboam's calf-worship. Outward service is easier than a heart set on God.
- Weighed — God used the work and still called Jehu to account. Zeal that never turns on self is the warning here.
Thus Jehu extirpated Baal out of Israel.
Here Jehu finishes his war on Baal: he empties the temple, burns the images, and leaves Baal worship dead in Israel. Yet he left one idol standing, and commentators weigh the gap between what he removed and what he kept.
Jehu did not fight Baal in the open. He trapped it.
He proposes a grand feast for all the worshippers of Baal. He presents himself as if he were the patron of that worship. He calls for all the worshippers and priests of Baal, and he takes the greatest care that none of the worshippers of the Lord are among them. So they were all gathered into the same building... And Jehu brings into the house his soldiers, his captains, and men of war, and they struck them with the edge of the sword.
One man in that scene comes out well. Jehonadab, who rode with Jehu, stayed out of sight except for one task.
Jehu had confided his plan to him; he accompanied Jehu, but did not appear (v. 23) except to verify that no servant of the Lord was confused with the servants of Baal. Is not this a beautiful role, similar to that of Jeremiah: "If you take forth the precious from the vile, you shall be as My mouth" (Jer. 15:19)?
Baal went; the golden calves stayed. The reason commentators give is political.
There was a reserve, there was an inner chamber of the heart that was not reached yet, and there was an idol there... Jehu cared for himself and not for God. The golden calves were a political religion, and it suited the policy of the ten tribes to keep them. If the ten tribes had no calves of gold, they would have returned to their allegiance to the Lord in Jerusalem.
The same hand that struck Baal spared what was convenient. That inconsistency shows what drove him.
Jehu is very zealous in dealing with evil when it suits his own purpose, but quite indifferent to evil when he concludes it is wise to leave it alone. So he avenges the sins of the house of Ahab without mercy, while leaving untouched the sins of the house of Jeroboam. He destroys the worship of Baal; he preserves the golden calves.
Jehu had even invited a friend to come and watch him work.
"Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord" (2 Kings 10:16). True souls do not parade their good deeds like this. Men's approval and admiration matters little to them (1 Cor. 4:3); it is enough that the Lord sees their zeal in His service.
Elijah had also destroyed Baal's priests. Put the two men side by side, and the same result comes from two different sources — yet God still weighs Jehu's work fairly.
Jehu had zeal without the Spirit, a zeal using human means to answer God's commands. What then will happen? If in appearance the result, the wiping out of the priests of Baal, is the same with both Elijah and Jehu, it is completely different in reality... In spite of that, what a fair appraisal on God's part! He credits Jehu with doing what was right in His sight when he judged the house of Ahab. For that He gives him descendants on the throne to the fourth generation.
God does not ignore what Jehu actually accomplished; the throne is promised to his sons to the fourth generation.
He is a sad illustration of a man who may be used by God and yet is disobedient in his own life; carrying out God's plans, yet knowing nothing of real communion. But the LORD did not forget even this imperfect service (verse 30).
The reward, though, is not the last word spoken over him.
He could slay "with all his heart," but took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord with earnestness... It is easier to serve God in outward things than to gain the character which He loves, enthroning Him in the heart... God did not forget his heartless slaughter, and He did not let Israel forget it. A hundred years later He said to the prophet Hosea, "Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel" (Hosea 1:4).
The pattern is not limited to kings. One idol can go while another takes the empty seat.
It is always this way when the flesh has a part in reform... The natural man may well root out an idol, whether it be wine or any other vice. But he only replaces it with the idolatry of self, his own self-righteousness, and his lack of conscience toward God. He even throws these into sharper relief. And this is the God whom he pretends, like Jehu, to serve with zeal.
- Removed — Jehu sprang a trap and wiped Baal's temple, images, priests and worshippers out of Israel.
- Retained — the golden calves stayed. That religion kept the ten tribes apart from Jerusalem and served Jehu's throne.
- Revealed — what a man spares exposes him: zeal against evil that suits him, indifference to evil that does not.
- Rewarded — God credited the work and gave Jehu's line four generations on the throne. The heart behind it was never His.
- Reckoned — a century later God avenged the blood of Jezreel on Jehu's house. Outward service never replaces a heart set on God.