2 Kings 10

Jehu kills all of Ahab’s descendants

And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria.

And Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders and to those who brought up Ahab’s children, saying, 2 “Now as soon as this letter reaches you, since your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, also a fortified city and weapons, 3 choose the best and most worthy of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house”.

10:3 The meaning was “Submit, if you are not willing to fight”.⚜

4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, “Look, two kings did not stand before him. How then shall we stand?”

5 And the one who was in charge of the house, and the one who was over the city and the elders, and those who brought up the children, sent word to Jehu, saying, “We are your servants and will do all that you tell us. We will not make any king. You do what is good in your eyes”.

6 Then a second time he wrote a letter to them, saying, “If you are mine, and if you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by this time tomorrow”. Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the chief men of the city who brought them up. 7 And it came about, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and killed the seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel. 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 morning”.

9 And in the morning it came about that he went out and stood, and said to all the people, “You are righteous. See, I conspired against my master, and killed him. But who killed all these?

10:9 He put the responsibility for these murders on the leading men of Samaria.⚜

10 Know now that not a word of the LORD, which the LORD spoke concerning the house of Ahab, will fall to the earth; for the LORD has done what he said through his servant Elijah”. 11 So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his chief men and his relatives and his priests, until he left no one remaining to him.

12 And he arose and departed and came to Samaria. And when he was at the shearing house on the way, 13 Jehu met with the relatives of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and said, “Who are you?”

And they answered, “We are Ahaziah’s relatives, and we are going down to greet the children of the king and the children of the queen”.

14 And he said, “Take them alive!” And they took them alive, forty-two men, then killed them at the pit of the shearing house. He did not leave any of them.

15 And when he left there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him, and he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?”

And Jehonadab answered, “It is”. Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand”. And he gave him his hand, and Jehu took him up to him into the chariot. 16 And he said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD”. So they had him ride in his chariot.

10:16 1 Kings 19:10 – it would seem from Jehu’s later actions that his “zeal for the LORD”, which he apparently so much wanted others to see, was more for his own advancement than for God’s glory. Let us be careful against using the service of God for selfish ends.⚜

17 And when he came to Samaria, he killed all who were left of Ahab’s family in Samaria, until he had destroyed him, in accordance with the saying of the LORD which he spoke to Elijah.

10:17 Verse 10.⚜

Jehu destroys Baal worship in Israel

18 And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests. Do not let one be missing. For I have a great sacrifice to make to Baal. Whoever is missing will not live”. But Jehu did this deceptively, for the purpose of destroying the worshippers of Baal.

10:19 Men often think (mistakenly) that they must use deceitful means to accomplish God’s purposes. Compare Gen 27:18-26; Josh 2:4-6; 1 Sam 21:2, 13.⚜

20 And Jehu said, “Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal”. And they proclaimed it. 21 And Jehu sent word through all Israel. And all the ministers of Baal came, so that there was not a man who did not come. And they came into the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. 22 And he said to the one in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out robes for all the worshippers of Baal”. And he brought out robes for them.

23 And Jehu and Jehonadab the son of Rechab went into the house of Baal, and said to the worshippers of Baal, “Search and see that there are none of the servants of the LORD with you here, but only the worshippers of Baal”. 24 And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed eighty men outside, and said, “If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escapes, the life of the one who lets him go will be required for his life”.

25 And it came about, as soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, “Go in, and kill them! Do not let anyone get out”. And they struck them with the edge of the sword, and the guard and the captains threw them out, and went into the inner shrine of the house of Baal. 26 And they brought the images out of the house of Baal and burned them. 27 And they broke down the image of Baal, and tore down the house of Baal and made it a latrine, as it is to this day.

28 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.

10:28 The worship of this false god was a disgrace to the people of Israel, and Jehu did well to root it out. But the people did not turn back to the Lord. A work of destruction is not the same as a work of creation.⚜

Jehu’s failure, sin, and death

29 However Jehu did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin, that is, the golden calves at Bethel and at Dan.

10:29 1 Kings 12:26-32; 1 Kings 13:33-34. Jehu himself, though professing great zeal for Jehovah, was guilty of false worship and of following the evil Jeroboam.⚜

30 And the LORD said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab in accordance with all that was in my heart, your offspring will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation”. 31 But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart, for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who caused Israel to sin.

10:31 Jehu showed great energy in destroying evil, but was not equally concerned in building up what was good. There is an important principle here. God’s servants are called not only to condemn error, but to follow and encourage what is true and edifying. A mainly negative ministry is of little lasting value.⚜

32 In those days the LORD began to cut away parts of Israel, and Hazael defeated them in all the territories 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, Gilead and Bashan.

34 Now 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 Annals of the Kings of Israel?

35 And Jehu slept with his ancestors; and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place. 36 And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.