30 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. v.30 by painting her face, jzebel was giving the impression to the very end that she was in control – which was always her desire.

 

31 And when Jehu came in at the gate, she said, Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of his master? v.31 her final words. insinuating that jehu was “just a phase” like the assassin zimri who killed baasha and reigned only seven days. But it wasn’t true… jehu had been annointed. Her final words were intended to inspire doubt.

 

32 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. v.32 Jehu is concerned about “his side”… what bout “the Lord’s side”? Exodus 32:26

 

33 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. v.33 “throw her down”… see II Cor. 10:5.

 

34 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. 35 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. v.35 The final judgment of babylon is so severe that nothing is left of her… Rev. 18:21.

 

1 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, 2 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, 3 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. vv.2-3 the letter sounded generous but was designed to engender fear and total surrender.

4 And they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings stood not before him; and how shall we stand? 5 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. 6 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. v.6 but the people were the Lord’s and should have hearkened to the Lord’s voice.

7 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. v.7 the use of baskets shows that they didn’t want to get anywhere near jehu themselves.

8 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. 9 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? 10 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. v.10 it is the way of men of the flesh to invoke the authority of God’s word to “stamp” approval on their bloody deeds.

11 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. v.11 here he goes beyond his commission. see hosea 1:4 to see what the lord thought of this bloodshed. Jehu was really trying to remove any threat to his own dynasty.

12 And he rose up and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shepherds’ meeting-place on the way, 13 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. 14 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. v.14 to ally ourselves with the world as amaziah + brethren did with jehoram + israel is to expose ourselves to the world’s impending judgment (Rev. 3:3)

15a And he departed thence, and found Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him; v.15a Jehonadab is a picture of a nazarite (Jer. 35:5). His heart was right unlike jehu’s. notice how Jehonadab is used neither to help hatch the plot nor to execute judgment but to separate the precious from the vile (v.23).

15b 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, v.15b that was the problem… jehu’s heart wasn’t right (v.31). Also, we should never make ourselves the standard for others, rather the law of Christ is our standard (Gal. 6:2). “he gave him his hand” – a symbol of fellowship. Jehu wanted to use Jehonadab.

16 and said, Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah. So they made him ride in his chariot. v.16 but it wasn’t truly zeal for the lord, it was zeal for Jehu.

17 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. 18 And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little: Jehu will serve him much. vv.18-28 It is possible to do a right thing in a wrong way. He is acting on the principle of deception. Like the Jesuits, “the ends justify the means”. The Lord could have provided another means to gather the prophets.

 

19 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. 20 And Jehu said, Hallow a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it. 21 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. 22 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. 23 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. 24 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. 25 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, 26 and brought forth the columns out of the house of Baal, and burned them; 27 and they broke down the column of Baal, and broke down the house of Baal, and made it a draught-house to this day. v.27 They broke the house down but still left it as a public restroom??       this was the house of baal in the land of israel… there was a second house of baal in Judah, broken down in II Kings 11:18.

28 Thus Jehu extirpated Baal out of Israel. v.28 This is the end of public baal-worship in Israel, but not in Judah.

29 Only, the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, from them Jehu departed not: from the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan. v.29 he was not willing to deal with sin across the board. He was willing to extirpate baal-worship because it didn’t conflict with his agenda but to destroy the calves (in his mind) would have weakened his hold on the northern kingdom (I Kings 12:26).

30 And Jehovah said to Jehu, Because thou hast executed well that which is right in my sight, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. 31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of Jehovah the God of Israel with all his heart; he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin. v.31 He did a great public work but there ought to have been a private work as well. The Lord still took issue with it (v.32).

32 In those days Jehovah began to cut Israel short; and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel; 33 from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, both Gilead and Bashan. v.33 the first tribes to be affected were those who refused to cross the Jordan.

34 And the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? v.34 “and all his might” – this statement characterizes Jehu’s tenacity. It was a family character because the same phase is said of his descendants: Jehoahaz (II Kings 13:8), Jehoash (II Kings 14:15), and Jerobaom II (II King 14:28).