In those days Jehovah began to cut Israel short; and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel;
Jehu's reign ends with the borders of Israel shrinking. The commentators ask two questions here: who is behind Hazael's sword, and why a king so fierce against Baal could not hold the land God gave him.
Jehu's sword was one instrument in God's hand; Hazael was another. Removing the house of Ahab did nothing to put away the second.
In 2 Kings 9 the judgment on Ahab's house begins. But the man who carries out that judgment does not remove the rod God had lifted up against Israel: Hazael. By means of Jehu God judges the house of Ahab; but the Syrians oppressed Israel and overran their land throughout the whole of Jehu's reign.
The verse does not say Syria grew strong. It says the LORD began.
What righteousness and what perfect holiness there is in God! He uses Hazael, His rod, to strike Jehu. "In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel. Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel." During Jehu's lifetime his kingdom is cut short on all sides. The loss falls heaviest on the region of the tribes beyond the Jordan. These woes are God's judgment upon his conduct. Here God expresses His discontent, not by words, but by acts, which do not seem to have reached the conscience of the king.
Jehu's war on Baal was real. One commentator points to what stayed the same in the man.
Jehu destroyed Baal and his worship at the same time as the house of Ahab, but he did not return to the LORD. He saw the folly of idolatry. He was energetic and ambitious, and his own interest lay on the other side. His vengeance had no fear of the LORD in it; it came from the flesh (see Hosea 1:4).
Jehu could fight. He still lost ground to Hazael, and the reason given is not military.
We hear no more of Jehu's exploits, but rather that the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel through the attacks of Hazael, king of Syria (v.32). Jehu was a determined warrior, but he evidently could not stand up to Hazael. Why not? Because his protection of idolatry in Israel left him weak before the attacks of the outside enemy.
God still paid Jehu for the good he did — but paid him in the only currency Jehu valued.
But we have here a remarkable instance of God's government. The faithfulness of Jehu, as far as it went, brought him a measure of blessing in this world from God. Even a bad man, if faithful in certain things, may be owned by God, and God will never allow Himself to be in any man's debt. So if the faithfulness is only for the world, in the world the man will be paid. Jehu had no thought for eternity. It was plain that there could not be a blessing — a real true blessing. Jehu, still pursuing the road of Jeroboam, made it impossible; and this is how his reign closes.
Notice the map in the next verse: everything east of the Jordan goes first. Those were the tribes — Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh — who had settled east of the river, short of what God purposed for them.
When the two and a half tribes went back to their land, they built an altar by the Jordan. They were afraid that in time Israel would disown them as not belonging to God's people. This fear was one of the results of coming short of God's purpose. Another result was that they were the first to come under God's discipline when Israel turned away from Him. As it is written, "In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel. Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel" — from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, the Reubenites and the Manassites.
Compare the two ends of Jehu's reign, and a question about the man himself appears.
Jehu, though so "swift to shed blood" at the beginning of his reign, was slower to take up the sword in defence of the land and people of God toward its close. Men of this sort are seldom "good soldiers." They may be very active in getting the position they love and want, while careless about the true interests of the people of God. There is no hint that he even tried to resist these invasions of his territory by the king of Syria. Impetuosity is not courage, and we must not mistake excitement for real conviction.
- Cause. Jehu pulled down Baal but never returned to the LORD, and the idolatry he kept left him weak against the enemy outside.
- Hand. The borders did not just shrink. Hazael was God's rod, and God spoke His displeasure by acts, not words.
- Deafness. Those acts never reached Jehu's conscience. Discipline does its work only when the heart hears it.
- Edge first. The cutting started east of the Jordan, among tribes who had settled short of God's purpose. Ground chosen by preference is the first ground lost.
- Wages. Faithfulness that aims only at this world gets paid in this world. Jehu's road made real, lasting blessing impossible.
from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, both Gilead and Bashan.
Jehu's reign ends in loss, not victory. The verse names the ground Syria took, tribe by tribe: the whole eastern inheritance, from the Arnon valley in the south, through Gilead, up to Bashan.
The list ends at Bashan, the northern limit of what Syria took.
Now best known for the Golan Heights, it is a large district on the east of the Jordan. Gilead lies to its south. It reaches north to Mount Hermon and west to the Jordan valley. It is sometimes called the "land of Bashan," and it was the kingdom of Og the Amorite. Moses conquered it, and it became, with part of Gilead, the portion of the half-tribe of Manasseh… Hazael ravaged it in the time of Jehu.
Long before Jehu, Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh chose this eastern land for themselves. They did not cross the Jordan with the rest.
God's purpose was Canaan, which is beyond Jordan. The place of their choice was not Egypt. It was beyond the Red Sea, this side of the Euphrates, but not Canaan. What drew them was their many cattle, and the land of Gilead and Jazer gave wonderful opportunities for this. Blinded in this way, they lost sight of the call of God. Their choice comes out in these sad words: "Do not take us across the Jordan"… For in later days, Israel's sin and weakness left them an easy prey to their foes, the enemies of God. Then this lovely country was the first to pass into enemy hands.
The same choice can be made today, with the same result.
To settle down in the world, and to let selfish interests dictate our path and testimony, is to open the gates to the enemy's attack.
Jehu obeyed God in part, and God repaid him in part. The payment stopped at the edge of this world.
The faithfulness of Jehu, as far as it went, brought him a measure of blessing in this world from God. Even a bad man, if faithful in certain things, may be owned by God, and God will never allow Himself to be in any man's debt. So if the faithfulness is only for the world, then in the world the man will be paid. Jehu had no thought for eternity… It was plain that there could not be a blessing — a real, true blessing. Jehu still pursuing the road of Jeroboam made it impossible, and this is how his reign closes.
Hazael looks like the aggressor. He is the tool, not the cause.
On the other hand, what righteousness and what perfect holiness in God. He uses Hazael, His rod, to smite Jehu… During Jehu's lifetime his kingdom is cut short on all sides, and especially in the region of the tribes beyond Jordan. These troubles are God's judgment on his conduct. Here God expresses His displeasure, not by words, but by acts — acts which do not seem to have reached the conscience of the king.
Jehu had been quick with the sword when his own throne was at stake. He did nothing while Syria took God's land.
Jehu, though so "swift to shed blood" at the beginning of his reign, was slower to take the sword in defence of the land and people of God toward its close. Men of this kind are seldom really "good soldiers." They may work hard to get the position they love and want, while very careless about the true interests of the people of God. There is no hint that he made the slightest effort to resist these invasions by the king of Syria into his territory.
The loss went deeper after Jehu. Even so, this is not the end of the land's story.
In the days of Ahab, Ramoth-gilead was in Syrian hands, and after that all Gilead and Moab fell to them… Later Tiglath-pileser conquered the region and carried the Israelites into captivity. In the restoration of Israel their border eastward will extend to Damascus and Gilead. Ezekiel 47:18. This ancient possession will therefore be brought into blessing.
- Ground chosen. Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh chose this land for their cattle instead of crossing the Jordan.
- Ground exposed. Self-interest chose it, so it fell first when Israel grew weak. Comfortable ground is undefended ground.
- Ground taken. Hazael's sword was God's rod. God answered Jehu's half-obedience with acts, not words.
- Ground undefended. Jehu was quick to kill for his own throne and slow to fight for God's land — energy for self is not courage for God.
- Ground restored. Gilead's loss is not the end. This same eastern border sits inside Israel's future blessing.