And Jehu came to Jizreel; and Jezebel heard of it, and she put paint to her eyes, and decked her head, and looked out at the window.
A prophet had already said that dogs would eat Jezebel in Jezreel, and now Jehu is at the gate of that city. Her answer is paint, styled hair, and a window — a gesture commentators read in more than one way.
The verse says more than that she made up her face. A dictionary of Bible words explains what she used:
Jezebel "painted her eyes," as 2 Kings 9:30 should read. Israel is compared to an immoral woman who painted her eyes (Ezekiel 23:40)... The eyelids and eyebrows were painted with antimony or some other pigment. This made the eyes look larger. Small bottles and the short sticks used to apply the moistened powder have been found in the tombs of Egypt.
She had time to prepare for what was coming, and she spent it on the wrong thing:
Her innate vanity showed itself right up to the last. She probably knew her end had come. But instead of preparing her soul, she adorned her body — soon to be eaten by dogs. She darkened her brows and eyelashes with antimony, as was the Eastern custom, so that she might look queenly and beautiful even in death.
Commentators differ on her motive. One reads the paint as an attempt at influence over the man riding into the city:
When she heard that Jehu had come to Jezreel she put paint on her eyes, adorned her head and looked through a window. Did she think she could impress Jehu this way?
Another rules that out on grounds of her age, and reads the paint as a gesture of rank:
She painted her face to make herself look beautiful. Did she try to attract Jehu? Hardly that, for she was an old woman, having a grandson twenty-two years old (2 Kings 8:26). It was a proud defiance — she would meet death like a queen.
The paint and the window belong with the words she throws down in the next verse. She acts as though she still holds power:
Jezebel hears of it and paints her face and decks her head in savage confidence of triumph. She wants to show him that she does not fear him or his company, for she still has authority and power. From high up in the window she flings these mocking words down at him: "Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of his master?" Is it peace for you? You are worth no more than Zimri, Baasha's assassin. He managed to reign for seven days after his conspiracy; then he perished.
After she is dead, Jehu softens and orders a burial. What happens next shows whose sentence was actually standing:
Jehu, now at the height of his power, relents a little toward this wicked woman Jezebel... But what had God said? The prophet had said, "The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her." Jehu had heard that word only a short time before... Now the old respect for a queen — a king's daughter — seems to rise in his mind. He says, "Bury her, for she is a king's daughter." But the word of God had already given its own command. And they went to bury her. Their purpose was to obey him. In vain.
Her name and her look reappear in the New Testament:
This New Testament Jezebel matches the woman of 2 Kings 9:30 with the painted face and styled hair, who mixed heathenism with Israel's pure religion. And in her the depths of Satan were to be found!
- Paint. The verse should read that she painted her eyes: lids and brows darkened with antimony to make the eyes look larger.
- Pride. She probably knew her end had come, and she used that time to decorate a body about to be eaten by dogs. She left her soul unprepared.
- Posture. Commentators differ on her motive. Did she hope to impress Jehu, or to die looking like a queen? Either way, the window and the Zimri taunt show defiance, not repentance.
- Powerless. Her old tricks could not save her, and even Jehu's order to bury her came to nothing.
- Pattern. The painted face returns in the New Testament, on a Jezebel who mixed heathenism with pure religion — and in her the depths of Satan were found.
And when Jehu came in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of his master?
Jehu rides into Jezreel to finish the judgment on Ahab's house. The last of that house waits for him at an upstairs window, and she meets her killer not with a plea but with a jeer — a jeer that names an earlier assassin whose reign lasted a week.
News of Jehu's arrival reached her, and she spent the time on her appearance. One writer sets what she could have done beside what she chose:
Her natural vanity showed itself right up to the end. She probably knew her end had come; but instead of preparing her soul, she adorned her body — soon to be eaten by dogs — darkening her brows and eyelashes with antimony, as was the Eastern custom, so that she might look queenly and beautiful even in death.
Commentators differ on what she hoped to gain by it. One reads it as plain vanity. Another reads it as defiance — a queen refusing to look afraid.
Her words are not a greeting. "Zimri" was a name every Israelite knew, and she chose it with care:
As Jehu came in the gate, she insolently called him Zimri, asking him if it was peace. Zimri had killed Elah the son of Baasha while Elah was drinking himself drunk. He seized the throne of Israel. He reigned only seven days and killed himself. Jezebel called Jehu "murderer of your master," but she ignored her own guilt in murdering many people.
So the taunt carries a threat inside the insult. She is not only calling Jehu a traitor; she is reminding him how short a traitor's success lasted last time.
"Is it peace?" sounds like an enquiry. In her mouth it is the opposite. It is sarcasm thrown down from a window:
Jezebel hears of it and paints her face and decks her head in fierce confidence of triumph. She wants to show him that she does not fear him or his company, for she still has authority and power. From high up in the window she flings these mocking words down at him: "Is it peace, you Zimri, murderer of your master?" Is it peace for you? You are worth no more than Zimri, who assassinated Baasha's son. All this contempt echoes in these few words.
Jezebel is the last person with a right to speak about murder. But the man she taunts was serving himself as well as God:
To reach the throne fitted Jehu's own ambitions exactly. To strike the house of Ahab would look to Jehu like sound policy for securing himself as king. So he carries out the Lord's instructions with the greatest possible energy and zeal. But 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.
The same writer notes that Jehu destroyed Baal worship but left the golden calves standing. He fought evil when it suited him, and ignored it when it did not.
Her jeer did not shake him. Later, with Jezebel dead, Jehu softened and ordered a royal burial — and could not have it:
Jehu would not be frightened or turned aside from the dreadful commission God had given him... Now the old respect for a queen — a king's daughter — seems to rise in his mind. He says, "Bury her, for she is a king's daughter." But the word of God had already given its own command... They went to bury her. They meant to obey him. It was no use. They found nothing left of her but the skull, the feet and the palms of her hands.
One writer links her with a woman who bears her name in the New Testament:
This New Testament Jezebel is the counterpart of the woman with the painted face and adorned head of 2 Kings 9:30, who mixed heathen religion with Israel's pure religion. In her the depths of Satan were to be found! This need not surprise us. At the end she changes her character somewhat. In Revelation 17 and 18 she comes forth as the woman with Babylon on her forehead, and the enormous evils in her come to the surface.
- Paint — With death at the gate, she dressed her body and left her soul untouched.
- Pride — She chose to meet judgment looking like a queen instead of preparing her soul. That was defiance, not fear.
- Projection — She calls Jehu the murderer of his master and says nothing of the many she murdered herself.
- Precedent — "Zimri" was a threat as much as an insult: seven days on a stolen throne, then ruin.
- Prophecy — God overruled both the taunting queen and the ambitious general. Even Jehu's order to bury her could not undo what God had spoken.
And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And two or three chamberlains looked out to him.
Jehu has just killed two kings and is riding into Jezreel, and Jezebel is watching him come from an upper window. He does not answer her. He shouts past her, to whoever is standing behind her in the palace. The words he picks reveal the man.
The face Jehu lifts his eyes toward belongs to a queen who has dressed for the occasion. One writer reads her paint and her hair as the last act of a life spent on the wrong things:
Her deep-seated vanity showed itself right to the end. She probably knew her end had come. But instead of preparing her soul, she adorned her body — soon to be eaten by dogs. She darkened her brows and eyelashes with antimony, as was the eastern custom, so that she might appear queenly and beautiful even in death. Her daring spirit, even with her last breath, taunts her killer by reminding him of Zimri's end.
Zimri had murdered his master and then held the throne for only seven days. The taunt is meant to tell Jehu that his own reign will be as short.
Jehu's words have an obvious echo in Scripture, and the echo is not flattering. Moses once called the people to choose a side — and the side he named was not his own:
Jehu called out, "Who is on my side?" (v. 32). Moses had said, "Who is on the Lord's side?" (Ex. 32:26), a much more fitting word than Jehu's. Two or three eunuchs looked out of a window, and he told them, "Throw her down" (v. 33).
He changed one word, and that word changes everything. The men who answer are Jezebel's own attendants. Her household gives her up the moment a stronger man calls.
Jehu was not acting on impulse. He was carrying out a sentence God had already passed. One writer points out what is missing from his shout:
Here we see how much Jehu is a stranger in his thoughts to the honour and the glory of the Lord. All the while he knows the divine decree, and he knows that he is the one carrying it out. One might have expected the words "Who is for the Lord?" to come out of his mouth. But God had little place in the thoughts of this violent and ambitious man.
A man can do the right thing, at the right moment, with the right authority behind him. He can still have himself at the centre of it.
Jehu was no idolater. One writer ties his clear sight about idols to where his own interest lay:
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. He was perhaps sincere in the conviction that the Lord was God. He was quite ready to honour Him when his interest agreed with his convictions. Ahab's religion had no charm for him.
Here, obedience cost him nothing.
There is a test hidden in this scene. It falls on the man in the chariot, not on the woman at the window. One writer shows that God weighed the motive behind the obedience — and later judged Jehu's own house for this blood:
God, in His righteous judgment, uses Jehu to deal with the wicked house of Ahab. Yet He does not overlook the mixed motives that drove Jehu. In carrying out the vengeance of the Lord, Jehu was simply 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 while God uses Jehu to carry out judgment on Jezreel, 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" (Hosea 1:4).
- The question. Jehu shouted "Who is on my side?" Moses had shouted "Who is on the Lord's side?" One word changed, and that word exposed a whole heart.
- The knowledge. He knew the decree and knew he was its executor, yet God had almost no place in his thoughts while he carried it out.
- The interest. He was glad to honour the Lord here, because honouring the Lord and gaining a throne pointed the same way.
- The pleasure. Judgment is God's strange work. Jehu enjoyed it — and God later judged his house for this blood.
- The warning. Zeal against evil proves nothing on its own. The test is whose side you name when you call for help.
And he said, Throw her down! And they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses; and he trampled on her.
Queen Jezebel leans from an upper window as Jehu rides into Jezreel. Three words end her life: "Throw her down." Her own servants obey. The verse raises two hard questions. Why did God wait so long? And why does the man carrying out His sentence never once mention Him?
Jehu looks up to the window and calls for anyone on his side. The servants beside Jezebel answer by throwing her down. One writer notices what Jehu did not say, and what he does with the prophecy later:
Here we see how far Jehu's thoughts are from the honour and the glory of the Lord. He knows the divine decree, and he knows that he is the one carrying it out. You might have expected the words "Who is for the Lord?" to come out of his mouth, but God had little place in the thoughts of this violent and ambitious man. Even what Elijah had prophesied about Jezebel — a scene he had been present at — does not come back to his memory. Later his men return, having found nothing but some wretched dog-eaten remains. Then he recalls the prophecy — but only when it agrees with his passions. If it is a matter of governing his conduct by the prophecy, he pays it no attention.
The sentence carried out here was not new. Elijah had announced it years earlier, and nothing had seemed to come of it.
More than fifteen years had passed since the Lord, through Elijah, had announced the doom of the house of Ahab and the doom of Jezebel. And now the hour of execution had come. God will judge in the end, though He is never in a hurry to carry out the judgments He has threatened.
Once Jezebel is dead, Jehu sends servants to bury her — she was, after all, a king's daughter. But God had already spoken about her burial, and the servants fail.
The will of man has very little to do with the accomplishing of the word of God. Jehu, now at the height of his power, softens a little toward this wicked woman Jezebel. But what had God said? The prophet had said, "The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her." Jehu had heard that word only a short time before, and he showed that he meant to carry out his commission exactly. But how little any man, good or bad, carries out the word of God! Now, it seems, the old feeling of respect for a queen rises in his mind. He says, "Bury her, for she is a king's daughter." But the word of God had already given its own command... They went to bury her. Their intention was to obey him. It was useless.
God had truly commissioned Jehu. That did not make his motives clean. One writer weighs the man as well as the work.
God used Jehu to deal with the wicked house of Ahab. But in His righteous judgment He was not unaware of the mixed motives that drove Jehu. In carrying out the Lord's vengeance, Jehu was simply 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."
One writer sees Jezebel's evils reproduced in a later religious power, and follows that power to its end.
Revelation shows us "Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations," riding on a scarlet beast. This woman is the final development of Jezebel... She rides on the beast, and this suggests that the religious power will gain considerable influence over the governments at the time of the end. But the harlot's supremacy will be short-lived. The infuriated kings will, when the moment is right, turn on her... Ahab's Jezebel had a gruesome end. That which has reproduced her enormous evils, and practised them in the name of "the holy one, the true one," will have a terrible end also.
- Sentence. Elijah had spoken this verdict more than fifteen years earlier. God is never in a hurry to carry out what He has threatened, but He does carry it out.
- Standing word. Jehu later ordered her buried; God had said none would bury her. Man's intention failed; the word held.
- Servant. Being God's instrument did not clear Jehu's motives. God still judged Jehu's own house for the blood of Jezreel.
- Shadow. Jezebel's evils live on in a later religious power, and her end is a preview of its end.
And he came in, and ate and drank; and he said, Go, look, I pray you, after this cursed [woman], and bury her; for she is a king's daughter.
Jezebel's body lies in the street outside, and Jehu walks inside to eat. Only after the meal does he think of burial. His reason is that she was a king's daughter. Can a man honour the dead while ignoring the God who sentenced them?
The order of Jehu's actions matters as much as the actions themselves.
Not many men would feel like eating after such work. But Jehu went inside to eat and drink, leaving Jezebel's body lying on the street. Only after satisfying his own appetite did Jehu think of burying Jezebel. His reason now was that she was a king's daughter (v. 34).
In one breath Jehu calls her cursed and orders a royal burial. Old deference to rank stirs in him, and it runs straight against the sentence already spoken over her.
The will of man has very little to do with the carrying out of the word of God. Jehu is now at the height of his power, and he softens a little towards this wicked woman Jezebel. He does say, "See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter." But what had God said? The prophet had said, "The dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her." Jehu had heard that word only a short time before... Now, it seems, the old respect for one who was a queen — a king's daughter — rises in his mind. So he says, "Bury her, for she is a king's daughter." But the word of God had already given its own command. And they went to bury her. Their purpose was to obey him. It was useless.
Jehu knew the decree. He had stood there when Elijah spoke it. Yet as he carries it out, the Lord's name never reaches his lips.
Here we see how far Jehu's thoughts are from the honour and glory of the Lord. He knows the divine decree. He knows that he is the one carrying it out. One might have expected the words "Who is for the Lord?" to come from his mouth, but God had little place in the thoughts of this violent and ambitious man. Even what Elijah had prophesied about Jezebel — a scene at which he had been present — does not come back to his memory. He does recall the prophecy afterwards — but only when it agrees with his passions. If it comes to governing his conduct by it, he pays it no heed.
The same stroke can serve two purposes at once. What Jehu did matched the command; why he did it did not.
To reach the throne was entirely in line with Jehu's ambitions. To strike down the house of Ahab would look to Jehu like sound policy for establishing himself as king. So he carries out the Lord's directions 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 everyone who could oppose his ambitions. He is very zealous against evil when it suits his own purpose, but 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.
One writer looks past Jezebel's own death to what it pictures.
So this wretched woman came to a miserable end. She was a foreigner in Israel. She did everything she could to make her Tyrian Baal worship the established religion of her husband's kingdom. She did not hesitate to kill anyone who dared oppose her campaign, or who got in the way of her desires and designs in any way... Her tragic death is like a shadow thrown ahead of a coming event foretold in Rev. 17:17. That event is Babylon's end, "the judgment of the great whore," whose idolatries and crimes have stained the earth.
- Appetite first. Jehu ate and drank while the body lay in the street. Only afterwards did he think about burial. Self came before the task.
- Rank second. His stated reason for burial was Jezebel's royal birth. Human deference, not the fear of God, moved him at that moment.
- God's word above both. The sentence had already said there would be none to bury her. The servants set out to obey Jehu and could not. Man's will adds nothing to the word of God and takes nothing from it.
- Energy is not obedience. Jehu carried out the command with full force. But God's motives were not his. God was dealing with evil and guarding His own glory. Jehu was clearing rivals from his path.
- Shadow ahead. Her end points past itself. One writer reads it as the shadow of Babylon's judgment foretold in Rev. 17:17.
And they went to bury her; but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of the hands.
Jehu ordered a proper burial for Jezebel because she was a king's daughter. His men went out to bury her and found almost nothing left — which answers the question this chapter keeps raising: whose word decides what happens in Israel?
Jehu gave an order, and his servants set out to obey it. But God had spoken first, and His word had already settled the matter.
The will of man has little to do with the accomplishment of the word of God. Jehu, now at the height of his power, softens a little towards this wicked woman Jezebel. He says, "Go, see now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter." But what had God said? ... But the word of God had already spoken its own command. And they went to bury her. Their purpose was to obey him. In vain. They found no more of her than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands.
Only three parts of her were left. One writer reads them as a summary of the life that ended there.
Her body had been eaten by dogs, even her bones taken away! The skull would remind us of the imaginations of her head. The feet would remind us that her feet had been swift to shed blood. The palms of her hands would remind us that her works were wicked. Who would envy a remembrance of this kind? Her end was swift and terrible, just as the Lord had predicted through Elijah.
Long years passed between the sentence and this scene. One writer counts the delay and traces it back to the blood of Naboth.
At last, after more than fifteen years' delay, the blood of Naboth, crying like Abel's for vengeance from the ground, was about to be repaid. God, when judging men, is never in haste. He allowed Jezebel to outlive not only her husband, but his two successors.
The delay was never forgetfulness. Another writer draws the same lesson from Jehu's own words over the remains:
Jehu entered the royal palace to feast and afterwards gave command to bury the cursed woman. But little was left of her. And Jehu said, "This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite." ... God's judgments are often slow, but they are sure.
Jehu knew the decree and was the man carrying it out. That is not the same as caring what God cares about.
Here we see how far Jehu's thoughts are from the honour and the glory of the Lord. All the while he knows the divine decree, and knows that he is the one carrying it out. ... Even what Elijah had prophesied about Jezebel, a scene at which he had been present, does not come back to his memory. He says, "Go, see now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter." When the men return, having found nothing more than some wretched dog-eaten remains, he recalls the prophecy — but only when it agrees with his passions. If it is a matter of governing his conduct by the prophecy, he pays it no attention.
Being God's instrument did not make Jehu clean. God saw the motives behind the sword.
In His righteous judgment God uses Jehu to deal with the wicked house of Ahab. But He is not unmindful of the mixed motives that drove Jehu. In carrying out the vengeance of the Lord, Jehu was simply 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 while God uses Jehu to carry out judgment on Jezreel, 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" (Hosea 1:4).
Jezebel's story does not end in this street. One writer sees in her the pattern of something still to come.
She is made, as we believe, a type of papal Rome. History does not supply a more suitable character to represent that system of idolatry, corruption and murder. Her tragic death casts a shadow forward to a coming event foretold in Revelation 17:17. That event is Babylon's end — "the judgment of the great prostitute," whose idolatries and crimes have stained the earth.
- Word spoken. Elijah announced Jezebel's sentence years earlier. This verse is that word arriving.
- Word delayed. She outlived her husband and two kings after him. "God, when judging men, is never in haste" — yet Naboth's blood was still counted.
- Word performed. Jehu ordered a royal burial; the servants found nothing left to bury. Their intention could not change one word of what God had said.
- Word forgotten. Jehu heard the prophecy in person, yet only remembered it when the report came back. God used him, and later judged his own house.
- Word extended. One writer sees her end as a shadow cast forward to Babylon's judgment in Revelation.
And they came back and told him. And he said, This is the word of Jehovah, which he spoke through his servant Elijah the Tishbite saying, In the plot of Jizreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel;
Jehu is in Jezreel, and the report reaches him. The servants sent to bury the queen found almost nothing left of her. He does not comment on the horror. He quotes. He names what God had spoken through Elijah, and points to the ground as the proof.
The judgment quoted here was not invented on the spot. It had hung over Jezebel for years. One writer counts the years between the threat and the day it landed.
More than fifteen years had passed since the LORD spoke through Elijah. He had announced the doom of the house of Ahab and the doom of Jezebel. And now the hour of execution had come. God will judge in the end, though He is never in haste to carry out the judgments He has threatened.
The charge behind the sentence was blood. The messenger who anointed Jehu came with a commission: strike the house of Ahab and "avenge the blood of the servants and prophets of the Lord, shed by the wicked Jezebel" (Hamilton Smith).
Jehu had ordered a burial. His own order ran against the word of God, and it failed.
The will of man has very little to do with the carrying out of the word of God. Jehu is now at the height of his power. He softens a little towards this wicked woman Jezebel. He says: "Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her, for she is a king's daughter." But the word of God had spoken its own command first. And they went to bury her. They meant to obey him. It was useless. They found no more of her than the skull, the feet and the palms of her hands. So they came back and told him. He was now convinced how mighty the word of the Lord was, and he said, "This is the word of the LORD, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite."
Jehu quotes the prophecy word for word. The writers here do not treat that accuracy as faith. One notes that God weighed the executioner even while He used him.
If God has to deal in judgment, it is His strange work. If Jehu takes on the job of dealing with evil, the task suits him. So while God uses Jehu to carry out judgment on Jezreel, 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."
Another writer points to what Jehu did not say when he called for allies: "One might have expected the words 'Who is for the LORD?' to come from his mouth. But God had little place in the thoughts of this violent and ambitious man" (H. L. Rossier).
The servants brought back an inventory instead of a body. One writer reads the three surviving parts as a record of the life they belonged to.
When his servants went to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet and the palms of her hands. Dogs had eaten her body, and even her bones were gone. The skull would remind us of the thoughts of her head. The feet would remind us that her feet were swift to shed blood. The palms of her hands would remind us that her works were wicked. Who would want to be remembered like that? Her end was swift and terrible, exactly as the Lord had said through Elijah.
The prophecy named a place. Blood had already stained that ground.
So God carried it out, and the LORD avenged the blood of Naboth most sternly. The field was bought at a heavy price, and it was taken from the family. Had Naboth been killed? Had his sons failed to inherit? In every part sin meets its punishment.
One writer sums up the life that ended here, and what it points to.
There would be no tomb to mark the place where her remains lay. So this wretched woman died a miserable death. She was a foreigner in Israel. She did all she could to make the Baal-worship she brought from Tyre the official religion of her husband's kingdom. And she did not hesitate to kill anyone who dared oppose her campaign or get in the way of her plans. Her tragic death throws a shadow ahead of a coming event foretold in Revelation 17:17 — Babylon's end.
- Word spoken. God spoke this sentence through Elijah. The charge behind it was the blood of God's servants and prophets.
- Word delayed. More than fifteen years passed between the threat and the day it came. God is never in a hurry, and the delay changed nothing.
- Word unstoppable. Jehu ordered a royal burial and his men set out to obey — and could not. Human will cannot cancel the word of God, and God does not need it to carry that word out.
- Word exact. Skull, feet, palms — dogs took the rest, and her end came just as the Lord had said through Elijah.
- Word ahead. The same word reaches on to Babylon's fall in Revelation. And judgment fell on Jehu's own house too, because the work suited his own ambition.
and the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the open field in the plot of Jizreel, so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
This verse closes the story of Jezebel. Her body lies on open ground with no grave to carry her name, and that raises two questions: why God waited so long, and why this field.
Jehu had heard Elijah's sentence, and still he ordered a burial. One writer notes how little that order counted.
What is remarkable is this. The will of man has very little to do with the carrying out of the word of God. Jehu, now at the height of his power, relents a little toward this wicked woman Jezebel. He says, "See now to this cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king's daughter" — but what had God said? But the word of God had already given its own command. And they went to bury her. Their purpose was to obey him. It was in vain.
Years passed between the sentence and the execution. Nothing seemed to happen.
More than fifteen years had passed. Through Elijah, the Lord had announced the doom of the house of Ahab and the doom of Jezebel. And now the hour of execution had come. God will judge in the end, though He is never in a hurry to carry out the judgments He has threatened.
The field was not a random patch of ground. It had belonged to a man named Naboth.
In those days Naboth of Jezreel stood as the righteous one in the land. Even to please the king he would not turn aside from the law of the Lord and sell his inheritance. But for his righteousness' sake he is called to suffer. Jezebel schemed, certain worthless men shed his blood in Jezreel, and Ahab seized his inheritance, the inheritance of his fathers. For this deed the Lord, through His prophet, pronounces judgment on Ahab and his house. Blow upon blow, He makes a full end of them. Blood flows in the portion of Jezreel — the blood of Ahab, the blood of Joram his son, and the blood of Jezebel.
The servants went to bury her and came back with a report instead of a body.
But when his servants went to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet and the palms of her hands. Dogs had eaten her body, and even her bones were taken away. The skull reminds us of the thoughts of her head. The feet remind us that her feet were quick to shed blood. The palms of her hands remind us that her works were wicked. Who would want to be remembered like that?
Knapp notes what she chose to get ready in her last hour:
She probably knew her end had come; but instead of preparing her soul, she adorned her body.
The last words of the verse point to something missing from the ground itself.
There should be no tomb to mark the resting place of her remains.
A comment on Proverbs sets the two possible legacies side by side.
"The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot." So Abraham, Moses, Samuel, David, Daniel, Paul, Peter, John and many others are still honoured through the ages in the hearts of multitudes. Meanwhile the names of many godless opponents of the truth of God are forgotten like rotted refuse. Or if people do remember some names, such as Ahab, Jezebel, Athaliah, those names only stir up disgust and horror.
Jehu carried out the sentence, but God still weighed his motives.
In His righteous judgment God uses Jehu to deal with the wicked house of Ahab. But He does not overlook 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 also 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" (Hosea 1:4).
Her end previews a judgment still to come.
Her tragic death is like a shadow thrown ahead of the coming event foretold in Revelation 17:17. That event is Babylon's end, "the judgment of the great prostitute," whose idolatries and crimes have stained the earth.
- Word — The sentence stood as Elijah spoke it. Jehu's late order to bury her changed nothing. Human will has very little to do with carrying out what God has said.
- Waiting — More than fifteen years lay between the threat and the execution. God is never in a hurry, and delay is not escape.
- Where — The field was Naboth's. God repaid murder in Jezreel with blood in the same field; the place itself is the verdict.
- Whitewash — She knew her end had come, yet she adorned her body instead of preparing her soul. All that remained told her story: head, feet, hands — and no tomb to carry her name.
- Wider — God judged even the executioner for the blood of Jezreel. Her end throws a shadow forward to the judgment of Babylon.
Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the princes of Jizreel, to the elders, and to Ahab's guardians, saying,
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And now, when this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots, and horses, and a fortified city, and armour,
Jehu has just taken Israel's throne, and the house of Ahab is falling. He writes to Samaria, where the city's leaders were raising Ahab's seventy sons, and his letter counts up their strength before it dares them to use it.
One writer hears pressure in that list of assets, not courtesy:
The letter looks generous. Underneath, it breathes the threat of a man sure of himself — or at least of a man who wants to look sure. As we go on, we discover several traits of this remarkable man. He is remarkable at least by the world's standards. He is impulsive and quick to decide. He has a political eye, a knowledge of men and a contempt for them. He is skilled at using situations, or at creating them. He forces himself on others, or uses them for his own purposes. He has no scruple at all when an obstacle has to be removed. All of it rests on his awareness of being the Lord's instrument in His work of destruction.
Seventy heirs, a walled capital and an armoury made Ahab's line look permanent. One writer weighs that against what came next:
But this dreadful work was not all over, for Ahab had seventy sons. It seemed unthinkable that such a family could fall — seventy sons. Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu had to deal with them, and he was just the man to do it without a feeling.
Jehu invites them to fight; they answer by surrendering everything. One commentator sets this letter beside an earlier one these same men obeyed — Jezebel's order to kill Naboth:
It looked like a bold challenge. In reality it was only his way of frightening them into submission. He knew well the character of the men he was dealing with. There also does not seem to have been much love or loyalty toward the ruling dynasty. So the fervent reformer knew he had little to fear from them. … These spiritless elders and rulers of Jezreel tamely hand over everything to Jehu. Jezebel once sent them a high-handed letter. It ordered them to falsely accuse Naboth and then murder him. They gave in meekly, without the slightest sign of resistance or conscience.
Jehu did not strike the seventy himself. Making the city's own leaders do the killing served his position:
It was a crafty stroke of policy by Jehu. He had the leading men of the capital kill the rest of Ahab's descendants. Their act, he shrewdly judged, would open a split between them and anyone who still supported the fallen dynasty, or its royal relatives across the border. That destroyed the last opposition to his plans and to his taking the throne. True, his motives were purely political. Yet he gives his mass executions a religious colouring. He turns God's word about Ahab and his house, and God's principle of retribution, to his own advantage.
God had already spoken against Ahab's house. But God and Jehu wanted different things from its fall:
To reach the throne was entirely in line with Jehu's ambitions. To strike down the house of Ahab would look to Jehu like sound policy for establishing himself as king. So he carries out the Lord's directions 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 who could oppose his ambitions. He is very zealous against evil when it suits his own purpose. He is quite indifferent to evil when he decides it pays to leave it alone.
The chapter never tells us whether the letter was honest. That silence is deliberate:
When the Word sketches characters like this, let us remember one thing. God often leaves us without any word of approval or disapproval about the instruments that serve His purposes. He tells us where Jehu did his task well, and goes no further. He leaves the weighing of his conduct to our spiritual judgment, so that we may draw instruction for ourselves. … God may use a Jehu or a Samson to carry out His judgments. That in no way means there is living faith in these men, or that the state of their heart had His approval.
- Sealed — The letter offers a fight it never intends. Under a generous surface it carries the threat of a man sure of himself. It works by fear, not argument.
- Counted — The letter lists chariots, horses, walls and weapons on purpose. Seventy sons made the fall of Ahab's house look unimaginable, and none of it held.
- Surrendered — These men had already obeyed Jezebel's letter against Naboth without a flicker of conscience. Now they hand Jehu everything without a fight.
- Shifted — Jehu had the capital's own leaders do the killing. That cut them off from the old dynasty's friends. Then he gave his political move a religious colouring.
- Weighed — God's motive was to avenge His servants' blood and guard His glory; Jehu's was to clear away rivals. Scripture records what he did well and leaves the rest of his character for the reader to discern.
look out the best and worthiest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.
Jehu has just seized the throne. He killed two kings and Jezebel, and Ahab's seventy remaining sons are still in Samaria, where the city's leading men are raising them. His letter to those men sounds like an open invitation to crown a successor and defend the family by force. Did he mean a word of it?
On paper, Jehu is inviting a war. One writer sees no real contest here. Jehu had already measured these men, and his letter was pressure, not a fair fight.
It looked like a bold challenge. In reality it was only his way of frightening them into submission. He knew exactly what kind of men he was dealing with. Besides, there does not seem to have been much love or loyalty toward the ruling family. So the zealous reformer knew he had little to fear from them. "But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings did not stand before him; how then can we stand?"... So these spineless elders and rulers of Jezreel meekly hand everything over to Jehu.
On the surface the letter is generous. It even lets them pick the "best and fittest" son. One writer hears something very different underneath it.
Under its generous appearance, this letter breathes out the threat of a man sure of himself, or at least wanting to look that way. As we read on, we discover several traits of this remarkable man — remarkable at least by the world's standards. He acts on impulse and decides fast. He has a political eye. He knows men and despises them. He is skilled at using situations, or at creating them. He forces himself on others, or uses them for his own ends. He has no scruples at all when an obstacle has to be overcome. And all of this rests on his sense of being an instrument of the Lord in His work of destruction.
These officials had taken orders by letter before. Jezebel once wrote to them to strip Naboth of his inheritance. Now another letter reaches the same men.
Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. Jehu has to deal with them, and he was just the man to do it without any feeling. So he sent word to the elders of Samaria. Jezebel had written a letter to those same elders on another errand — to take Naboth's inheritance from him. God now judges that deed with great solemnity. Jehu writes to the elders of Samaria so that Ahab's line would be completely wiped out... So he wrote a letter the second time, and now his full and true meaning became evident. "If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey me, take the heads of your master's sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time."
The first letter forced the surrender; the second collected the heads. God and Jehu were doing the same work, but not for the same reason.
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. But he is quite indifferent to evil when he decides it is good policy to leave it alone. So he takes ruthless vengeance on the sins of the house of Ahab, while leaving the sins of the house of Jeroboam untouched. He destroys the worship of Baal; he preserves the golden calves.
The chapter reports what Jehu did and never says whether God approved. That silence is worth learning from.
When the Word portrays such characters for us, let us remember that God is far from always expressing to us His approval or disapproval of the instruments that serve His purposes. He tells us where Jehu did his task well, and says no more. He leaves us to weigh Jehu's conduct spiritually, so that we may learn from it ourselves... God may use a Jehu or a Samson to carry out His judgments. That in no way means there is living faith in these men, or that the state of their heart had His approval.
- Bluff. The invitation to crown a son and fight only looked like a challenge. It was a way of frightening men Jehu had already sized up.
- Politeness. Under its generous surface the letter carries the threat of a man sure of himself, or wanting to look that way.
- Pattern. Jezebel had once written to these same elders to destroy Naboth. God was now settling that account.
- Motive. Jehu's zeal ran hot against Ahab's sins and cold toward Jeroboam's. He tore down Baal and kept the golden calves.
- Verdict. God can use a man without approving of him. Scripture reports what Jehu did well and leaves us to weigh him.
And they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings stood not before him; and how shall we stand?
Jehu's letter to Samaria was a dare: pick the best of Ahab's sons, crown him, and fight. The men who received it counted out loud: two kings had already failed against this man. Their fear settled the fate of the whole royal house without a blow.
The rulers were not guessing. They knew how Jehu had dealt with Joram and Ahaziah.
When Joram saw Jehu, he said, "Is it peace, Jehu?" He had his qualms. Well he might. Jehu answered that there could be no peace while his mother Jezebel's immorality and witchcraft went on. Joram turned and fled, calling to Ahaziah that this was treachery. Jehu drew his bow with full strength and struck Jehoram between the arms. The arrow came out at his heart, and he sank down in his chariot. But it did not end there... Jehu followed after Ahaziah and said, "Strike him also in his chariot," and so he too dies at Megiddo.
Jehu's invitation to fight was never a real offer of battle. He had measured the men he was writing to.
It looked like a bold challenge, but it was really only his way of frightening them into submission. He knew well the character of the men he was dealing with. Besides, there does not appear to have been much love or loyalty to the ruling family. So this fiery reformer knew he had little to fear from them.
The letter's generous tone hides the kind of man who wrote it.
Beneath its generous appearance, this letter breathes out the threat of a man sure of himself, or at least wanting to appear so. As we read on we discover several traits of this remarkable man — remarkable, at least, by the world's way of thinking. He was impulsive and quick to decide. He had a political eye. He knew men, and he despised them. He was skilled at taking advantage of situations, or at creating them. He imposed himself on others, or used them for his own purposes. He had no scruples at all when an obstacle had to be removed. And all of this rested on his sense that he was the Lord's instrument in His work of destruction.
This was not the first letter from a palace to reach these officials. The earlier one cost a man named Naboth his inheritance, and God has not forgotten it.
Jezebel had written a letter to the elders on a different errand — to take Naboth's inheritance away from him. God now judges that deed with great solemnity. Jehu writes a letter to the elders of Samaria so that Ahab's family line would be completely wiped out.
Their fear gave Jehu more than submission. It gave him other men's hands for the killing, and a defence to use afterwards.
The rulers of Samaria become frightened. They show that they are ready for treachery and murder that the Lord had not commanded them... So Jehu gains the advantage of having this massacre carried out by others, and their act clears him before the people of Jezreel. He says, "You are righteous! I conspired against my master and killed him; but who struck all these?" He boasts openly of his conspiracy and his crime. But his accomplices are all the great men and captains of Israel, whom he had forced to serve him by his boldness and arrogance.
Jehu carried out what the Lord had said. His reasons and God's were not the same.
Reaching the throne fitted Jehu's own ambitions. Striking the house of Ahab would look to him like a sound way to make himself king. So he carries out the Lord's directions 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.
- Bluff. The offer of battle was a tactic, not a real chance to fight. Jehu knew there was little loyalty to the ruling house, so he had little to fear from these men.
- Fear. Two dead kings supplied the evidence. Joram fell with an arrow through his heart, and Ahaziah died at Megiddo. The rulers applied that to their own case.
- Precedent. These same officials had received a palace letter before. Jezebel wrote to strip Naboth of his inheritance, and God now judges that deed with great solemnity.
- Complicity. Their fear made them do the killing. So Jehu could stand before Jezreel and ask who struck all these, with his crime shared out among the leaders he had forced into his service.
- Purpose. God was avenging the blood of His servants and maintaining His own glory. Jehu was clearing away everyone who could block his throne. One letter, two purposes — and only one of them was God's.
And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, and the elders, and the guardians sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any one king; do what is good in thy sight.
Jehu had dared the leaders of Samaria to crown one of Ahab's seventy sons and fight him. They sent back total surrender instead: a promise to obey a man in anything, whatever God had or had not commanded.
The letter reads like an invitation to civil war, but the men who received it understood it as pressure. One writer notes that Jehu knew exactly who he was writing to, and that loyalty to Ahab's dynasty was thin:
It looked like a bold challenge. In reality it was only his way of frightening them into submission. He knew the character of the men he was dealing with. Besides, there does not appear to have been much love or loyalty to the reigning dynasty. So the fervent reformer knew he had little to fear from them.
Their calculation was military, not moral. They measured Jehu against the two kings who had already fallen to him and concluded they had no chance.
This proposal terrified the rulers, for they knew Jehu would beat them with ease. So they decided to be the servants of Jehu. They sent word to him that they would not make anyone king, but would submit to his authority.
"Do what is good in your eyes" places everything at Jehu's discretion. One writer sketches the man behind that letter:
The letter looks generous. Underneath, it breathes out the threat of a man sure of himself, or at least wanting to appear so. As we go on we discover several character traits of this remarkable man — remarkable at least by the world's standards. He was impulsive and quick to decide. He had a political eye, a knowledge of men and a contempt for them. He was skilled at taking advantage of situations, or at creating them. He forced himself on others, or used them for his own purposes. He had no scruples at all when obstacles had to be overcome. And all of it rested on his sense of being an instrument of the Lord in His work of destruction.
The message came from every part of the city's leadership: the palace steward, the governor, the elders, and the men raising Ahab's sons. Not one of them held out. This was not the first letter they had obeyed. Jezebel had once ordered them to accuse Naboth falsely and put him to death. Now a second letter comes to the same class of men, and the link is not accidental:
Jehu has to deal with them, and he was just the man to do it without any feeling. So he sent to the elders of Samaria. Jezebel had written a letter to the elders on another errand — to take Naboth's inheritance from him. God judges that deed now in the most solemn way.
Men who once obeyed a letter ordering judicial murder are now easy to command. As Knapp puts it, they "tamely surrender everything," and "a cringing obedience might well have been expected by Jehu from such men."
Verse 5 is a blank cheque, and the next letter cashes it. Their promise to do whatever he ordered committed them in advance to a crime:
The rulers of Samaria become frightened. They show that they are ready for treachery and murder that the Lord had not commanded them… So Jehu gains the advantage of having this massacre carried out by others. Their act justifies him before the people of Jezreel.
Jehu also gained cover. The killing was theirs, so he could stand before the people and ask who had struck them down.
Jehu's rise was God's doing, and the surrender of Samaria carried His judgment forward. That fact settles nothing about Jehu himself.
God's use of a man is by no means the seal of God's approval of his person. We see it in the case before us. Jehu was a man in whom God had no pleasure, nor could He have. For there is one feature that belongs to the family of faith. Without it there is no communion with God: repentance toward God. And Jehu had not this. He had zeal. His action even had a certain rightness under the sovereign will of God. But he had no brokenness of spirit.
Zeal carried out God's sentence on Ahab's house. It never brought Jehu himself to God.
- Bluff. The dare to crown a son of Ahab was never a real offer; it was a way of frightening weak men into submission.
- Fear. They did the arithmetic — two kings had already fallen — and surrendered to the stronger arm, not to God.
- Habit. These were the same ranks of men who had obeyed Jezebel's letter against Naboth. Practice in obeying made them easy to command.
- Complicity. "Do what is good in your eyes" was a blank cheque, and the next letter spent it on treachery the Lord had never commanded.
- Verdict. God can use a man without approving him. Jehu carried out the judgment, but he never came to repentance.
And he wrote a letter the second time to them saying, If ye are mine, and will hearken to my voice, take the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jizreel to-morrow at this time. Now the king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who brought them up.
Ahab's seventy sons were alive in Samaria, raised by the city's leading men, when Jehu's second letter demanded their heads. God had promised to end Ahab's house, yet the man doing it looks more interested in the throne than in God's word.
The rulers had just surrendered to Jehu. His second letter shows what he was after all along. One writer sets it beside another letter once sent to the same officials.
It seemed far beyond anything a man could imagine that such a family could fall — seventy sons... Jehu has to deal with them, and he was just the man to do it without any feeling. Jezebel had written a letter to the elders on another errand — to take Naboth's inheritance from him. God judges that deed most solemnly now. Jehu writes a letter to the elders of Samaria to have Ahab's line completely wiped out... So he wrote a letter the second time, and now his full and true meaning became clear.
The demand opens with a test of allegiance — but notice whose side is in view. It is not the Lord's.
The rulers of Samaria become frightened. They show that they are ready for treachery and murder that the Lord had not commanded them. They obey Jehu when he says, "If you are on my side... take the heads of your master's sons." Always the same thought as before: Who is for me? Who is mine?
Jehu never touched these seventy himself. He made the men who had raised them do the killing.
It was a crafty stroke of policy on Jehu's part. He had the leading men of the capital kill the rest of Ahab's descendants. Their act, he shrewdly judged, would create a rift between them and anyone who sympathised with the fallen dynasty, or with their royal relatives across the border. That would destroy the last opposition to his course and to his settling on the throne. True, his motives were purely political. Yet he gives his mass executions a religious colouring.
The result was exactly what he wanted. He could stand before the people the next morning and ask who had killed them — knowing the answer was not him.
Jehu took full advantage of this situation and wrote to them again, telling them to bring the heads of the sons of Ahab to him the next day. So Jehu was spared the work of killing them himself, for the rulers cut off the heads of these 70 sons and brought them in baskets to Jehu.
Jehu read these officials correctly. Their track record made his letter safe to send.
His first letter looked like a bold challenge, though in reality it was only his way of frightening them into submission. He knew well the character of those he was dealing with. Besides, there does not appear to have been much love or loyalty to the reigning dynasty... So these spineless elders and rulers of Jezreel surrender everything to Jehu without a fight. Jezebel had once sent them a domineering letter, ordering them to falsely accuse Naboth and then murder him. They complied without the slightest show of resistance or conscience.
God's judgment on Ahab's house fell. That does not mean God approved of the man who carried it out.
God, in His righteous judgment, uses 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 simply 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."
The account passes no verdict on the killing. One writer explains why.
When the Word portrays such characters for us, let us remember this. God is far from always telling us whether He approves or disapproves of the instruments that serve His purposes. He tells us what Jehu did well, and goes no further. He leaves the assessment of his conduct to our spiritual judgment, so that we may draw instruction for ourselves.
- Letter — The first letter only looked like a challenge; it was meant to frighten them into submission. The second made Jehu's real aim plain.
- Loyalty — His test was "if you are on my side" — loyalty to Jehu, not to the Lord, who had never commanded this killing.
- Leverage — Making the guardians do the killing tied them to him and destroyed the last opposition to his taking the throne.
- Lackeys — These officials had obeyed Jezebel's letter against Naboth. Now they obey Jehu's. A conscience that folds once folds again.
- Ledger — God's word against Ahab's house came true to the letter. Yet He later charged the blood of Jezreel to Jehu's house. Being used by God is not the same as being right with Him.
And it came to pass when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slaughtered seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jizreel.
Jehu's second letter reaches Samaria. Seventy heads arrive in baskets at Jezreel — the town where Naboth was murdered. The verse raises hard questions. Why did judgment on Ahab's house reach this far? Why did Jehu make other men do the killing? And what does God's use of such a man prove about the man?
This is not the first letter those elders received. William Kelly sets the two side by side.
It seemed far beyond anything a man could imagine that such a family could fall — seventy sons. Jehu had to deal with them, and he was just the man to do it without a feeling. Jezebel had written a letter to the elders on another errand — to take Naboth's inheritance from him. God now judges that deed most solemnly. Now Jehu writes a letter to the elders of Samaria, to wipe out the whole line of Ahab.
The same men who handed Naboth over now hand over the king's sons. Knapp traces the pattern in their character.
These spiritless elders and rulers of Jezreel hand everything over to Jehu without a struggle. Jezebel once sent them an overbearing letter. She ordered them to bring a false charge against Naboth and then murder him. They obeyed without the slightest show of resistance or conscience, and put to death their righteous fellow-townsman. Jehu might well have expected a cringing obedience from such men.
Fear moved them, not obedience to God. Rossier says no command from God lay behind what they did.
The rulers of Samaria are frightened. They show they are ready for treachery and murder — and the Lord had not commanded them to do it.
Why did Jehu not kill them himself? Knapp names the calculation behind it.
It was a crafty stroke of policy on Jehu's part to have the leading men of the capital kill the rest of Ahab's descendants. He calculated that their act would open a breach between them and anyone who still favoured the fallen royal house, or their royal relatives across the border. That destroyed the last opposition to his course and to his settlement on the throne. It is true that his motives were entirely political. Yet he gives these mass executions a religious colouring.
Why was Jehu so energetic? Hamilton Smith shows the same act serving two very different aims.
Reaching the throne fitted Jehu's own ambitions exactly. Striking the house of Ahab looked to him like sound policy for making himself king. So he carries out the Lord's directions with the greatest energy and zeal he has. 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. Jehu is full of zeal against evil when it suits his own purpose. He is quite indifferent to evil when he decides it is wiser to leave it alone.
That double motive has a sequel. God later holds Jehu's own house answerable for what happened here.
God, in His righteous judgment, uses Jehu to deal with the wicked house of Ahab. Yet He is not blind to the mixed motives that drive Jehu. In carrying out the vengeance of the Lord, Jehu is only 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 to him a congenial task. So God uses Jehu to execute judgment on Jezreel. Yet through the prophet Hosea He says, "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" (Hosea 1:4).
So what does God's use of Jehu tell us about Jehu? Rossier answers with care.
The Word paints such characters for us. Let us remember that God is far from always telling us whether He approves or disapproves of the instruments that serve His purposes. He tells us where Jehu did his task well, and goes no further. He leaves the assessment of Jehu's conduct to our spiritual judgment, so that we may draw instruction for ourselves… God may use a Jehu or a Samson to carry out His judgments. That in no way means that there is living faith in these men, or that the state of their heart had His approval.
- Word. God judges Ahab's house to the last branch. Seventy sons fall at once.
- Letter. These same elders once obeyed Jezebel's letter against Naboth. Now they obey Jehu's letter without a word of protest.
- Hands. Jehu makes others do the killing. The move ties the city's leaders to him and leaves no one able to oppose his throne.
- Motive. One act, two purposes. God avenges the blood of His servants; Jehu clears away rivals. Hosea later charges the blood of Jezreel to Jehu's own house.
- Verdict. God can use a man without approving of him. Scripture records what Jehu did well and leaves us to weigh the rest.
And a messenger came and told him saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.
The heads of Ahab's seventy descendants arrive from Samaria, and Jehu does not bury them. He has them stacked at the city gate until morning, and the question is whose purpose that display serves.
The seventy "sons" were not Ahab's own children. Piling up their heads followed the custom of that day.
There were seventy sons. In Hebrew usage that means his grandsons and their children. He devises a clever scheme that forces the elders of Samaria and the guardians of Ahab's grandsons to kill the seventy. This was probably done to head off a rebellion against him. Then, following the custom of those days, they piled the grim evidence of the deed in two heaps at the entrance of the gate.
Jehu chose the spot with care, and left the heaps there till daylight.
Jehu gave orders to lay the heads in two heaps until morning (v.8), at the entrance of the gate. This was the most public place in the city, where all who entered or left the city would see them. Jehu did not shrink from causing such a display. One would think at least that the heads should have been buried.
Jehu had not killed the seventy himself. He had made Samaria's leaders do it — and the display at the gate turned their obedience into his defence.
The rulers of Samaria become frightened. They show that they are ready for treachery and murder that the Lord had not commanded them… So Jehu gets the advantage of having this massacre carried out by others. Their act justifies him before the people of Jizreel. "You are righteous! behold, I conspired against my master and killed him; but who struck down all these?" He boasts of his conspiracy and crime. But he has as accomplices all the great ones and captains of Israel.
The plan went further than covering himself.
It was a crafty piece of policy on Jehu's part. He had the leading men of the capital kill the rest of Ahab's descendants. He shrewdly judged that their act would open a breach between them and anyone who still favoured the fallen royal house, or its royal relatives across the border. So it destroyed the last opposition to his course, and to his settling on the throne.
Jehu said his own zeal was for the Lord. Commentators read that claim as a cover for his hunger for power.
Many make religion a cloak for their ambition. "Come… see my zeal," says Jehu, "for the Lord." 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.
Seventy heirs looked impossible to remove. The heads at the gate said otherwise.
Ahab had seventy sons. No one could have imagined that such a family could fall. Jehu has to deal with them, and he was just the man to do it without any feeling… "Know now that nothing of the word of the Lord shall fall to the earth, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab. For the Lord has done what He spoke by His servant Elijah." So the word of the Lord was most fully accomplished.
The record leaves us to weigh the man.
When the Word shows us such characters, let us remember something. God does not always tell us whether He approves or disapproves of the instruments that serve His purposes. He tells us where Jehu did his task well, and goes no further. He leaves the weighing of Jehu's conduct to our spiritual judgment, so that we may learn from it ourselves… God may use a Jehu or a Samson to carry out His judgments. That in no way means these men have living faith, or that the condition of their heart had His approval.
And the same hand that used Jehu later reckoned with him.
God is righteous in His judgment. He uses Jehu to deal with the wicked house of Ahab, yet He is well aware of the mixed motives that drove Jehu… So God uses Jehu to carry out judgment on Jezreel. And still He says, through the prophet Hosea, "I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu; and will cause the kingdom of the house of Israel to cease."
- Command — The seventy were Ahab's grandsons and their children. Jehu forced Samaria's leaders to kill them and send the heads.
- Display — The gate was the busiest spot in the city. Jehu left the heaps unburied there, so every passer-by would see.
- Cover — Making others strike the blow gave Jehu accomplices and a defence, and cut the last ties to Ahab's line.
- Claim — Jehu called it zeal for the Lord, but he made religion hold the stirrup until he had the crown.
- Reckoning — Elijah's word came true in full. Yet God still avenged the blood of Jezreel on Jehu's own house. Being used by God is not the same as having His approval.
And it came to pass in the morning that he went out; and he stood, and said to all the people, Ye are righteous! behold, I conspired against my master and killed him; but who smote all these?
Seventy heads from Ahab's family lie at the gate of Jezreel, and Jehu steps out in the morning to speak to the crowd. His short speech raises two questions: why does he call the people innocent, and can a man quote God's word while serving only himself?
Jehu picked the one spot in Jezreel where nobody could miss what had happened.
Jehu gave orders to lay the heads in two heaps until morning (v.8), at the entrance of the gate. This was the most public place in the city, where everyone going in or out would see them. Jehu did not shrink from putting on such a display. You would think that someone should at least have buried the heads. But Jehu went out in the morning and said to the people, "You are righteous. Indeed I conspired against my master and killed him; but who killed all these?"
(The ESV reads "You are innocent" where older versions have "You are righteous.")
Jehu admits the one death he cannot deny — his master's. Other hands killed the seventy, and he had forced those hands.
It is always the same thought as before: Who is for me? Who is mine? So Jehu gains the advantage of having this massacre carried out by others. Their act justifies him in front of the people of Jezreel. He boasts of his conspiracy and crime. But he has accomplices: all the leading men and captains of Israel. He had forced them to serve him by his boldness and arrogance. It is he who by his skill gets all the leaders of this people on his side.
Another writer traces the calculation behind it.
It was a crafty stroke of policy on Jehu's part to have the leading men of the capital kill the rest of Ahab's descendants. He calculated that their act would split them off from anyone who still sympathised with the fallen royal family, or with their royal relatives across the border. That would destroy the last opposition to his course and to his settling on the throne.
What Jehu says next about God's word is true. Commentators point out the mix: the statement is sound, the speaker's aim is not.
He appeals to the certainty of God's word to justify his own conduct.
Jehu implicated the people in this killing to unite them all under his authority. But what he added was certainly true. Nothing the Lord spoke about the house of Ahab would fail, because He had already done what He had said through Elijah.
Behind Jehu's politics, something else was being settled. Elijah had announced this judgment years before, and the heaps at the gate were the receipt.
And there they were found, and Jehu goes to justify the bloody deed… "Know now that nothing of the word of the Lord shall fall to the earth, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for the Lord has done what He spoke by His servant Elijah." So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his relatives, and his priests, until he left him none remaining. So the word of the Lord was fully accomplished.
Jehu was carrying out a judgment God had announced. That did not cover everything he did with the sword.
As far as the Lord's stated purpose went, the sword of judgment should have struck the house of Ahab and no one else. But a reckless and ambitious hand was holding it, and it cut beyond the limits set for it.
The same energy that wiped out Ahab's house left other evils standing — the ones that suited Jehu.
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 good policy to leave it alone. So he takes ruthless vengeance for the sins of the house of Ahab, while leaving the sins of the house of Jeroboam untouched. He destroys the worship of Baal; he keeps 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.
The warning here is personal.
Judgment against wickedness is a sad necessity. Yet God calls it His strange work. Jehu proved expert and thorough in executing judgment on Ahab's house. There are those today who are glad to walk in his footsteps. Beware that you are not glad to be a Jehu!
- Stage. The gate was the busiest place in the city. Jehu piled the heads there so nobody could miss them before he spoke.
- Accomplices. He made other men do the killing. Their act justified him before the crowd and tied them to his side.
- Mouth. His claim was true: nothing the Lord spoke against Ahab's house would fail. He used a true word to cover his own ends.
- Hand. His orders covered Ahab's house. A reckless and ambitious hand carried the sword past that limit.
- Heart. He struck the evil in his way and kept the evil that served him. Writers treat him as a warning, not a model.
Know now that nothing shall fall to the earth of the word of Jehovah, which Jehovah spoke concerning the house of Ahab; for Jehovah has done that which he said through his servant Elijah.
Jehu has just piled seventy severed heads at the gate of Jezreel, and now he turns to the crowd to explain them. He claims that Elijah's words against Ahab's family have come true to the letter, and commentators weigh both the claim and the man who makes it.
Elijah spoke against Ahab's house long before Jehu drew a sword. One writer counts the years.
At last, after more than fifteen years, the blood of Naboth was about to be repaid. Like Abel's blood, it had cried out from the ground for vengeance. God, when judging men, is never in haste. He let Jezebel outlive not only her husband, but his two successors.
Seventy sons looked like a family line no one could end. One writer moves from that fact to God's promises.
Think of seventy sons of one family! and the apparent moral certainty that that line must be carried on for ever! But no — it was put out in one day! Who could have thought of it beforehand? And this too in the royal city, and by the royal servants. Such is man; such is the world. The word of the Lord had said it. Oh, what foolishness is ours that could ever doubt a word of God! And what has God given us all this for, but that we may know that if that word stands in what is evil, how much more in what is good? If God accomplishes His threats to the letter, can His promises fail for an instant? I admit His promises often seem to fail. That is exactly the purpose: our faith should not rest on appearances, but on the word of God. All appearance is against it, but God is still watching.
What Jehu says is accurate. Why he says it is another matter. He had made the leading men of Samaria do the killing themselves.
It was a crafty stroke of policy for Jehu to have the leading men of the capital kill the rest of Ahab's descendants. He calculated that their act would open a breach between them and anyone who still favoured the fallen dynasty, or their royal relatives across the border. That would destroy the last opposition to his course and to his hold on the throne. True, his motives were political and nothing more. Yet he gives his mass executions a religious colouring. He turns God's word to his own advantage, along with His principle of repaying Ahab and his house.
Right after appealing to God's word, Jehu kills Ahab's officials, friends and priests too. One writer measures that against what God had said.
He appeals to the word of God, which cannot fail, to justify what he does. Then he kills all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, his close friends and his priests, until none were left. That was not strictly what the Lord had said. Jehu goes beyond his orders and his commission, but it was in the interest of his rule.
The overreach did not stop there. Jehu went on to kill relatives of Judah's king as well.
It was no part of the Lord's commission to Jehu to kill these, or any of the descendants of king Jehoshaphat. God had not asked this of him. By this unjustified killing of Ahaziah's brothers he almost wiped out the house of David. He left the rule of the kingdom to the infamous Athaliah.
God worked through Jehu, and Jehu knew his commission. That is not the same as saying his heart was right.
In his conscience he had felt the power of Elijah's testimony. He knew it was madness to fight against the Lord, whose side he had taken. What he did for the Lord, he did well, with his usual energy. Still, his vengeance has no fear of the Lord in it; it is carnal.
The Bible itself says nothing about Jehu's heart here, and that silence has a purpose.
When the Word shows us characters like this, remember one thing. God often does not tell us whether He approves or disapproves of the instruments that serve His purposes. He tells us where Jehu did his task well, and says no more. He leaves us to weigh his conduct spiritually, so that we may learn from it ourselves.
- Word delayed — more than fifteen years passed between Naboth's murder and this day. God is never in haste when He judges.
- Word performed — seventy sons looked like an unbreakable line, yet royal servants ended it in one day, in the royal city.
- Word trusted — if His threats land to the letter, His promises cannot fail for a moment.
- Word misused — Jehu's words were true, but his motive was political. He gave a religious colouring to a move that secured his throne.
- Word exceeded — he killed friends, officials and Judah's princes whom God never named. The Bible records the fulfilment and leaves us to weigh the man.
And Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jizreel, and all his great men, and his acquaintances, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.
This verse ends Jehu's slaughter at Jezreel. The killing reaches past Ahab's family to his leading men, his friends and his priests. Was this God's word being carried out, or one man's ambition running past it? Commentators find both here.
Jehu tells the crowd that nothing the Lord spoke against Ahab's house will fail. Commentators grant that his claim was true, while also noting how he used it.
They were killed because of Jehu's word, but Jehu made the people share in this slaughter to unite them all under his authority. He added what was certainly true: nothing would fail of all that the Lord spoke about the house of Ahab, for He had already done what He had spoken through Elijah.
Read as fulfilment, the verse is a plain closing of accounts. One writer sums up the scene in a single line:
So the word of the Lord was most fully accomplished.
Other writers look at the list of victims here. They find it longer than the sentence God had announced.
He appeals to the word of God, which cannot fail, to justify his conduct. Then he "struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and his close friends and his priests, until he left him none remaining" (v. 11). This was not exactly what the Lord had said. Jehu goes beyond his orders and his commission. But it served his own rule to have everyone who supported Ahab disappear from Israel.
So commentators differ over what the verse records — obedience completed, or obedience overshot.
As far as the Lord's stated purpose went, the sword of judgment should have struck only the house of Ahab. But a reckless and ambitious hand was wielding it, and it devoured beyond the limits set for it.
Jehu was thorough here. He was not thorough everywhere. He wiped out Ahab's household, but left the golden calves standing — the idol-worship set up by an earlier king, Jeroboam.
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 policy to leave it alone. So he avenges the sins of the house of Ahab without mercy. But 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 cared nothing at all for the law of the Lord.
One writer weighs where that zeal never reached, and what it finally earned him.
Jehu's zeal consumed and destroyed everybody and everything that stood in the way of his own advantage or advancement, but never touched himself. He appears to have been a complete stranger to any real searching of his own soul. And he had his reward. It was for this world alone, and the fourth generation of his children saw its end.
God and Jehu did the same work with very different feelings about it.
If God has to deal in judgment, it is His strange work. If Jehu undertakes to deal with evil, it is to him a task he enjoys. So God uses Jehu to execute judgment on Jezreel. Yet He 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" (Hosea 1:4).
This verse states what happened and adds no verdict. That silence teaches us something.
When the Word describes such men, let us remember this. God very often does not tell us whether He approves or disapproves of the instruments that serve His purposes. He tells us where Jehu did his task well, and goes no further. He leaves us to weigh his conduct by spiritual judgment, so that we may learn from it.
- Word kept. What Elijah announced against Ahab's house did not fail. Jehu said so himself, and commentators agree he was right.
- Word borrowed. Jehu quotes that true word to justify himself. Some writers note that the victims listed here go past what God had said.
- Zeal aimed. His energy struck Baal and Ahab, spared Jeroboam's calves, and never once turned on himself.
- Instrument judged. Judgment is God's strange work, but Jehu enjoyed it. Hosea says God would punish Jehu's own house for the blood of Jezreel, and his line ended in the fourth generation.
- Reader tested. The passage reports the deed and gives no verdict. We must weigh it — and see that God can use a man He does not approve.
And he rose up and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shepherds' meeting-place on the way,
Jehu is on the road from Jezreel to Samaria, destroying the house of Ahab and making himself king. He stops at a roadside place whose name translators read two ways, and what he does there almost wipes out the house of David.
The verse names the spot Beth-eked of the Shepherds. One reference work notes what happened there and gives the other reading of the name:
The place where Jehu killed forty-two of the royal family of Judah. 2 Kings 10:12, 14. Some translate "shepherds' meeting-place."
Another writer names the pit and says who died beside it:
Then forty-two princes and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers (2 Chron. 22:8) were killed. They were on the way to Jezreel, which showed their guilty association with the wickedness of Jezebel. They were taken alive, and then killed at the pit of the shearing house, probably a cistern called Beth Eged.
The men Jehu met were on a family visit. They were taking a road that had already killed one of their own:
What a solemn sight — the hand of God stretched out! Their father, the king's brother, had gone down with the king, and he met his death there. Now his brothers of the same royal line had gone down to that same house — bad company ruins good morals.
These men were not Ahab's descendants. Jehu treated them as if they were:
They were the brothers of Ahaziah, the king of Judah, who had recently been killed, and they were coming to greet others of their family. They were not direct descendants of Ahab. But Ahaziah was Ahab's grandson, so Jehu counted them all as sharing in Ahab's sin, and ordered all 42 to be taken and killed.
God sent Jehu to destroy the house of Ahab. Judah's princes were never part of that order, and one writer shows how close their deaths came to ending David's line:
The Lord's commission to Jehu gave him no order to kill these men, or any of the descendants of king Jehoshaphat. God had not asked this of him. By this unjustified slaughter of Ahaziah's brothers he almost wiped out the house of David, and left the rule of the kingdom to the infamous Athaliah. Jehu probably cared little about that. His aim, most likely, was to stop any uprising against himself from the royal family of Judah. What his ruthless act might cost the line of David, all the way down to the Messiah, gave him no concern.
Destroying Ahab's house also suited Jehu's own ambition. One writer sets the two motives side by side:
Reaching the throne fitted Jehu's own ambitions exactly. Striking down the house of Ahab looked to him like sound policy for making himself king… But 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. He is very zealous against evil when it suits his own purpose, and quite indifferent to evil when he decides it is smarter to leave it alone.
Jehu went beyond his orders, and yet nothing here fell outside what God had decided. One writer turns that into a warning for the reader:
The Lord had not ordered this action of Jehu's, yet it is just as true that God had decreed it. This passage gives us a serious lesson. To join yourself to a world with God's wrath hanging over it, as Ahaziah did, is to open yourself to the sudden ruin that will overtake it. And those who give no thought to the holiness of God, and go to that same world only to strengthen ties of friendship, meet the same fate. Ahaziah's brothers suffered deadly consequences.
Another writer presses the same warning from the other side, and ends with a plain command:
As for the murdered princes, they reaped the sad consequences of their closeness to a family God had doomed to destruction for turning away from Him and for their wickedness. Let Christians take warning, and obey God's call to His own people — a call that is plain and leaves no room for doubt: "Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord" (2 Cor. 6:17).
- The road — A stop on the way to Samaria, at a place named either a shearing house or a shepherds' meeting-place. A pit stood beside it.
- The visit — Forty-two men on a friendly family errand. They took the same road down to Ahab's house that had already cost their king his life.
- The overreach — Judah's princes were never part of Jehu's commission. Killing them almost wiped out the house of David, the line that ran down to the Messiah, and left the throne to Athaliah.
- The motive — Jehu removed everyone who could threaten his rule. God was dealing with evil. The two aims ran together, but they were not the same.
- The warning — The visit was casual; the cost was not. Those who strengthen ties with what God has condemned share what falls on it.
Jehu found the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they said, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and have come down to salute the children of the king, and the children of the queen.
Jehu is on the road to Samaria, destroying everyone tied to Ahab's house. He meets forty-two travellers, asks who they are, and their answer alone costs them their lives.
They name themselves by their link to Judah's king, not to Ahab. Jehu saw a link to Ahab anyway.
They were the brothers of Ahaziah, the king of Judah, who had recently been killed. They were coming to greet others of their family (v.13). They were not the direct descendants of Ahab. But Ahaziah was the grandson of Ahab, so Jehu counted all of them as identified with Ahab's sin, and he ordered all 42 taken and killed.
This verse calls them Ahaziah's relatives, and one writer counts the sons of his brothers among them. Their road told its own story.
Then forty-two princes and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers (2 Chron. 22:8) were killed. They were on the way to Jezreel. That showed their guilty connection with the wickedness of Jezebel. They were taken alive, and then killed at the pit of the shearing house, probably a cistern called Beth Eged.
Their answer names where they were going. A man of their own family had already gone down that road and died there.
How solemnly God stretched out His hand! Their father, brother of the king, had gone down with the king, and he had met his doom there. Now his brothers of the same royal line had gone down to that house — bad company ruins good morals.
Kings alone leaves the timing unclear. Chronicles fills it in.
Compare 2 Kings 9:27-29 with 2 Chronicles 22:7-9. Before he was struck down near Megiddo, Ahaziah had fled to Samaria for safety. He was still in hiding there when his brothers came to visit the sons of the king. Only after the killing of his brothers was Ahaziah brought to Jehu.
They were paying a family visit to a house already under sentence. The lesson drawn reaches past open alliance with the world.
Ahaziah allied himself with a world that God's wrath hangs over. To do that is to open yourself to the sudden ruin that will overtake it. Others go to that same world only to strengthen the bonds of friendship, with no thought for the holiness of God. They suffer a similar fate. Ahaziah's brothers suffer fatal consequences.
Jehu's commission covered Ahab's house. These men belonged to David's line, and writers judge this killing as Jehu's own act, not God's.
Killing these men was no part of the Lord's commission to Jehu. God had not asked him to touch any of king Jehoshaphat's descendants. This slaughter of Ahaziah's brothers had no warrant, and it all but wiped out the house of David. It left the rule of the kingdom to the infamous Athaliah. Jehu probably cared little about that. He probably wanted to stop any uprising against himself from the royal family of Judah. He gave no thought to David's line, which was to continue down to the Messiah. The murdered princes reaped the sad results of being close to a family that God had doomed to destruction for its turning away and its wickedness. Let Christians take warning, and obey God's clear and plain call to His own: "Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them" (2 Cor. 6:17).
The same man who carries out God's word against Ahab also serves himself.
Jehu is very zealous in dealing with evil when it suits his own purpose. He is quite indifferent to evil when he decides it is good policy to leave it alone. So he takes ruthless vengeance on the sins of the house of Ahab, 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 completely indifferent to the law of the Lord.
Jehu never lacked power for his task.
When God lays a responsibility on anyone, He does not withhold the power needed to carry it out. But we must look to that power and count on it. Power by itself does not set us in communion with God, or keep us in His presence. We see this in the history of Jehu… Yet the spirit in which he fulfilled his mission was most offensive to God.
- Company — Ahaziah's brothers were not Ahab's descendants. Jehu still counted them one with Ahab's sin, because of the family link.
- Direction — their answer named the road. They were going down to a doomed house, as their father had gone before them.
- Friendship — the warning covers more than alliance with a condemned world. A visit to keep a friendship warm can cost as much.
- Excess — the commission covered Ahab's house alone. Jehu's sword ran past it and nearly ended David's line, handing the kingdom to Athaliah.
- Heart — Jehu had power, zeal and results. God was still not pleased with the spirit behind them.
And he said, Take them alive! And they took them alive, and slew them at the well of the meeting-place, forty-two men; and he left not one of them remaining.
Jehu is new on the throne of Israel, and he is wiping out Ahab's house. On the road he meets forty-two relatives of Judah's king, takes them alive, and kills them at a well. Two questions follow. Why did a family visit end in mass killing? And had God asked for it?
The spot where they died has a name. So does the place they were heading for.
Then forty-two princes and the sons of the brothers of Ahaziah (2 Chronicles 22:8) were slain. They were on the way to Jezreel, which showed their guilty connection with the wickedness of Jezebel. They were taken alive and then were slain at the pit of the shearing house, probably a cistern called Beth Eged.
These men belonged to Judah, not to Israel. Jehu did not treat them as outsiders.
Jehu then, going to Samaria, met 42 men whom he asked who they were. They were the brothers of Ahaziah, the king of Judah, who had just been killed. They were coming to greet others of their family. They were not the direct descendants of Ahab. But Ahaziah was Ahab's grandson, so Jehu counted all of these men as one with Ahab's sin. He commanded that all 42 be taken and killed.
Commentators differ on who exactly these men were — Ahaziah's brothers, or royal princes and sons of his brothers. On their mother's side the record was dark too.
She had other sons, and most of these, no doubt, were from other mothers, since there were forty-two of them (2 Kings 10:14). Here is what we are told about them and their mother: "For Athaliah and her sons had broken into the house of God, and had used all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD for the Baals" (2 Chronicles 24:7). Is it surprising that God allowed Jehu to wipe them out?
Jehu had orders from God. These deaths were not part of them.
The LORD's commission to Jehu did not include killing these men, or any of the descendants of king Jehoshaphat. God had not asked this of him. In this unjustified slaughter of Ahaziah's brothers he almost wiped out the house of David, leaving the kingdom in the hands of the infamous Athaliah. Jehu likely cared little about that. He was probably thinking only of preventing an uprising against himself from the royal family of Judah. His cruel act could have ended David's line, from which the Messiah would come. That gave him no concern.
God did not order this killing. But He had still decreed it, and it carries a warning about friendship with a world He has already condemned.
If Jehu's action had not been ordered of the Lord, it is no less true that God had decreed it. This passage affords us a serious lesson. Ahaziah joined himself to a world with God's wrath hanging over it. To do that is to expose yourself to the sudden ruin that will overtake it. Others go to that same world with no thought for the holiness of God, even if they go only to strengthen ties of friendship. They suffer a similar fate. Ahaziah's brothers suffer fatal consequences.
C Knapp looks at the victims, then turns to the reader.
The murdered princes reaped the sad consequences of their close ties with a family that God had doomed to destruction for its turning away and wickedness. Let Christians take warning, and obey God's call to His own, so clearly urgent and plain: "Go out from their midst, and be separate from them" (2 Corinthians 6:17).
Using a man is not the same as approving him. God's motive and Jehu's motive were not the same. That difference came back on Jehu's own family.
In His righteous judgment God used Jehu to deal with the wicked house of Ahab. But God did not overlook the mixed motives that drove Jehu. In carrying out the vengeance of the Lord, Jehu was only 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 to him a welcome task. So God uses Jehu to execute judgment on Jezreel. Yet through the prophet Hosea He still says, "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" (Hosea 1:4).
- The road — Forty-two royal men of Judah were on the road to Ahab's family. That road showed where their loyalties lay.
- The link — They were not Ahab's own descendants. Jehu still counted them as one with Ahab's sin, and their mother's sons had used God's house for Baal.
- The excess — God never asked for these deaths. Jehu went far past his orders, almost ended David's line, and left Athaliah on the throne.
- The decree — God did not command it, yet He decreed it. Friendship with a doomed world draws you into its ruin, so God calls His own to come out and be separate.
- The reckoning — God used Jehu's zeal and still charged him with the blood he spilled, ending his dynasty for it.
And he departed thence, and found Jehonadab the son of Rechab [coming] to meet him; and he greeted him, and said to him, Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab said, It is. -- If it be, give [me] thy hand. -- And he gave [him] his hand; and [Jehu] took him up to him into the chariot,
Jehu is on the road with blood on his hands, commissioned by God to punish the evil in Israel. A stranger comes out to meet him, and their short exchange puts two very different religious men side by side.
Jeremiah later records the rule of life Jehonadab gave his family, and why he gave it.
Jeremiah 35:6 tells us that Jehonadab commanded his sons not to drink wine, not to build houses, not to sow seed or plant a vineyard, but to live in tents. The reason for this is clear. He saw that the state of Israel under Ahab was offensive to God. He wanted to keep himself and his family separate from it.
Who was this man, and what became of the family he instructed?
He was not an Israelite but was of Kenite background, living among the Israelites. He was a true stranger in the land. Hundreds of years later his descendants were still obeying what he had commanded them... God commends them and promises them blessing for obeying their forefather's command. Oh, that we too might learn to be strangers and pilgrims on this earth, obeying God's Word from the heart!
Jehu's question is about one heart matching another. But the two hearts were not right in the same way.
Jehonadab can answer, "It is." But there is a difference here. His heart was upright with respect to the Lord; his principles have shown us this. Jehu's heart was upright toward Jehonadab, the man he trusted with his plans. But was it upright toward God? ... If zeal for the Lord is wholehearted, the servant of God hardly speaks of it. There was more true zeal, more understanding, and more power in Jehonadab's holy separation than in the impulsive walk of Jehu.
Jehu does not only agree with him. He pulls him up into the chariot and takes his hand.
Jehu shows his self-satisfaction when he meets Jehonadab the son of Rechab. He took him into his chariot with an air of superiority and gave him his hand. In the East that hand signified a pledge (see Ezra 10:19). Then he said, "Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord." His showy display of reforming zeal revealed how little he had God's glory in mind in all his feverish activity and tearing down. What a sad contrast to Him who always hid Himself and sought only His Father's glory.
His own words show what his heart lacked, and what he wanted from Jehonadab.
When he goes to meet him (v. 15), Jehu at once displays his true character. "Come with me and see my zeal for Jehovah" is the language of a man whose heart was empty of faith and piety toward God. It was empty of love and pity for man too. His methods were brutal and treacherous. Yet he longed for the approval of man, especially a man like Jehonadab, who no doubt had a reputation for religion.
What did Jehonadab expect as he climbed up?
Jehu appeared like a great revivalist in the middle of the evil, commissioned by God to punish Israel for their sin. Jehonadab may have thought: "Here comes the change I have longed for. Now the worship of Jehovah will prosper. Now the people will learn God's righteous ways." Jehonadab was clearly known as a man who would rejoice to see God's glory displayed, and Jehu invited him to ride in his chariot. So he gave him both heart and hand, to see his zeal for Jehovah.
Yet inside the chariot Jehonadab kept to his own work. He sorted the true from the false.
Jehu had told him his plan. He went with Jehu, but he did not appear (v. 23) except to make sure that no servant of the Lord was counted among the servants of Baal. Is this not a beautiful role, similar to that of Jeremiah: "If you take out the precious from the worthless, you shall be as my mouth" (Jer. 15:19)?
- Separation first. Jehonadab lived in tents because he saw that Israel under Ahab offended God.
- Heart, then hand. Two men can agree and still not be right with God. Jehonadab's heart was upright toward the Lord; Jehu's only toward Jehonadab.
- Hand as pledge. The given hand sealed an agreement, and Jehu used it to show himself off, not to honour God.
- Zeal advertised. Jehu's boast about his own zeal marks a busy, self-assertive service that wants the approval of religious people.
- Obedience outlasts. Jehu's reforming fire burned out. Jehonadab's quiet command still shaped his descendants centuries later, and God commended them for it.
and said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah. So they made him ride in his chariot.
Jehu has just met Jehonadab the son of Rechab on the road. He tests the man's heart, then pulls him up into the royal chariot to watch him work. His words raise a hard question. When is energy against evil real service to God, and when is it something else wearing God's name?
Jehu calls this zeal for the Lord. One writer weighs how much of it really was.
Jehu's heart was upright toward Jehonadab, and he told him his plans. But could anyone say it was upright toward God? What follows will show us: "Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD." Yet how greatly divided was this zeal! If zeal for the Lord is wholehearted, the servant of God barely speaks of it. He is more likely to say, "I am an unworthy servant." No one can doubt that Jehu was zealous. But how much of that zeal was for the Lord?
One writer compares Jehu with another king, Josiah, and finds a different force driving each man.
With Josiah the Word of God was the governing factor... But in Jehu we see a great deal of activity that came from 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 the LORD." True souls do not parade their good deeds like this. They care little about people's approval and admiration. It is enough that the Lord sees their zeal in His service.
One writer holds Jehu's zeal up against the zeal of Christ.
His showy display of his reforming zeal revealed how little he had God's glory in mind in all his feverish activity and tearing down. What a sad contrast to Him who always hid Himself and sought only His Father's glory! He too had a zeal; but oh, of what a different character from Jehu's! "Zeal for Your house will consume me," He could say. But Jehu's zeal consumed and destroyed everybody and everything that stood in the way of his own advantage or advancement. It never touched himself.
The same campaign served two very different aims.
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 wise to leave it alone.
The judgment on Jehu is not all one way.
He was perhaps sincere in believing that the Lord was God, and quite ready to honour Him when his own interest agreed with his convictions... Still, his vengeance has no fear of the Lord in it; it comes from the flesh. At the same time the golden calves still existed... This Jehu did not care to touch. God recognises a zeal which had judged evil uprightly.
Jehonadab was faithful and set apart for God, yet he climbed in and shared Jehu's joy in the work. One writer compares him with the prophet Elisha.
It is not that Jehonadab was not faithful. It is not that he was not a separated one, a saint of God... Jehonadab has not this divine sense of what Jehu was. He gets up into his chariot. He joins hearts with him, if I may put it that way. He rejoices in his work. But Elisha and the Lord have no delight in him.
One writer sets two kinds of service against each other. Jehu's words sum up the first.
We have here two distinct types of service contrasted... The one is all fire — zealous, energetic, and self-assertive. It seeks 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.
- Zeal shown. Jehu does not just act for God. He asks a godly man to come and watch him do it, and that invitation is the problem.
- Zeal divided. His heart was right toward Jehonadab, but not toward God — real zeal for the Lord says little about itself.
- Zeal selective. It struck evil where that suited him, spared the golden calves, and never once turned on Jehu himself.
- Zeal credited. God still owned the judgment as rightly carried out, but not the self-serving spirit behind it.
- Zeal joined. Jehonadab was faithful, yet he climbed in and rejoiced in the work — and neither Elisha nor the Lord delighted in him.
And he came to Samaria, and smote all that remained to Ahab in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke to Elijah.
Jehu reaches Samaria, the capital, and kills the last of Ahab's family. The verse does more than record a massacre. It ties the sword to a sentence God had spoken years earlier through the prophet Elijah. That raises two questions: why the sentence took so long, and how far it reached.
The killing in Samaria was not a sudden political upheaval. It closed a sentence that had hung over Ahab's family since Elijah's day. The long gap between the threat and the deed says something about God.
Jehovah had announced the doom of the house of Ahab and the doom of Jezebel through Elijah. More than fifteen years had passed since then. And now the hour of execution had come. God will judge in the end, though He is never in haste to execute His threatened judgments.
The delay had a reason. Elijah's sentence shook Ahab. God noticed even that short-lived change in him.
But the prophet's words rang in his soul like a funeral bell. They reached his natural conscience, at least, and produced a repentance that did not last. Who can fathom the depths of the Lord's patience and mercy! "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? says the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?" His word came to Elijah, "Do you see how Ahab humbles himself before Me?" Because of this, God postponed the judgment on Ahab's house until his son's days, even though the humbling was only passing. (We are here in the sphere of God's government on earth.) He still carried out the personal judgment on Ahab himself and on Jezebel to the letter. So there was a day of grace even for Ahab.
Elijah's part in this goes beyond the sentence he announced. He had also brought a complaint to God at Mount Horeb.
It was the fulfilment of Elijah's prophecy, and the answer to Elijah's complaint on mount Horeb.
The words "according to the word of the LORD" also mark a boundary. That word set the limit of what Jehu was sent to do. He had already run past it when he cut down the visiting brothers of Judah's king.
As far as Jehovah's stated purpose went, the sword of judgment should have struck the house of Ahab and no one else. But a reckless and ambitious hand was wielding it, and it devoured beyond the allotted limits.
Those deaths came close to ending the royal line of Judah. The same writer also draws a lesson from the company those princes had been keeping.
God had not asked this of him. In his unjustified slaughter of these brothers of Ahaziah he almost wiped out the house of David... As for the murdered princes, they reaped the sad results of their close friendship with a family that God had doomed to destruction for turning away from Him and for their wickedness.
Jehu could quote Elijah. But that was the whole of what he knew of God. Carrying out a word of judgment is not the same as knowing the God who spoke it.
It is not that Jehu did not appreciate the word of God spoken by Elijah, but he went no further. Apart from the prophet's word about himself, he had no real understanding of God's thoughts. He quotes only Elijah; he does not know anything except the judgments of God. He does not even mention Elisha, whose career he had been able to follow from its beginning. Grace has no hold upon his heart. Nothing is more dangerous than a partial understanding of divine principles... Jehu thought his work of extermination had achieved everything. He did not understand that all the zeal imaginable was not worth a single act of obedience — the obedience that would have separated him from the religion of Jeroboam, who made Israel sin.
The same gap appears in his motives. God and Jehu were doing the same deed for opposite reasons.
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 he is quite indifferent to evil when he decides it is good policy to leave it alone. So it comes about that he ruthlessly avenges the sins of the house of Ahab, while leaving untouched the sins of the house of Jeroboam.
- Word spoken — Elijah announced Ahab's doom. More than fifteen years later, it fell in Samaria.
- Word delayed — God is never in haste. Ahab humbled himself for a moment, and his house got a day of grace.
- Word fulfilled — This day answered both Elijah's prophecy and his complaint at Mount Horeb.
- Word bounded — The sentence covered Ahab's house alone. Jehu's sword ran past that limit and almost ended David's line.
- Word only — Jehu obeyed one word and knew no more. He quoted Elijah and never Elisha. All his zeal was not worth one act of obedience.
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.