1 & 2 Kings

2 Kings Chapter 9

Jehu Anointed King of Israel

• 2Kings 9:1  And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead: 
• 2  And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber; 
• 3  Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not. 

One commentator of this verse wrote that there was writings that claimed the prophet Elisha asked to anoint Jehu was Jonah. Here though he is not named by Elisha. Elisha is probably getting too old to travel or else he knew it was almost his time to depart from this life and wanted another prophet anoint Jehu to be king.

• 2Kings 9:4  So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramothgilead. 
• 5  And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain. 
• 6  And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel. 
• 7  And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel. 
• 8  For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel: 
• 9  And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah: 
• 10  And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled. 

Prophecy concerning the house of Ahab is coming to pass. God did not forget the sins of Ahab and Jezebel and it was time to bring vengeance because of the death of His prophets by their hand. If sin goes on and on and the people do not repent after God allows them to live long enough to repent, the hand of judgment does fall either in this life or the one to come after the second resurrection when all will stand before God. It's just not worth it to waste our lives here in greed, hate, violence, deceit and murder. We will not get away with it. There is a way out. Resist the devil and he will flee, draw close to God and receive the salvation He provided through Jesus the Son of God. So many do not heed but continue to steal, kill and destroy all that stand in their way.

• 2Kings 9:11  Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication. 
• 12  And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. 
• 13  Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king. 

Looks like they accepted him becoming king even though some thought the prophet was false and thought he was mad or what we would call crazy. The prophet though left quickly like Elisha instructed him to do. Perhaps because his tidings and his anointing Jehu as king might have caused him to be put to death. My speculation here. This was of God and He caused the men to accept Jehu and not oppose him or else Jehu was a tough strong person and they feared to oppose him.

Jehu Assassinates Joram and Ahaziah

• 2Kings 9:14  So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria. 
• 15  But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel. 

Jehu was going to kill Joram. Joram was trying to recover from his wombs which he got in the battle with the Syians. Jehu made sure the captains would not let anyone leave to allow Joram know that he was coming.

• 2Kings 9:16  So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram. 

Ahaziah the king of Judah had come to see Joram and happened to be there when Jehu arrived.

• 2Kings 9:17  And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace? 
• 18  So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again. 

Joram was warned by the watchman that a company of people were arriving. Joram told him to send a messenger to inquire of them if they came in peace. Jehu didn't tell any lies I notice. He could have pretended to come in peace but he just told the messenger to get behind him. So they preceeded forward. The watchman then told Joram that the messenger didn't return but stayed with Jehu.

• 2Kings 9:19  Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. 
• 20  And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. 

When the second messenger didn't return, the watchman recognized the actions of Jehu and reported that he was driving forth furiously like Jehu had a reputation of doing.

• 2Kings 9:21  And Joram said, Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. 
• 22  And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? 

Jehu didn't do any pretending but told Joram exactly why he was there. The whoredoms of Jezebel that was allowed to go on had to be judged and stopped. Not only witchcraft and idolatry but murdering the prophets of the real God. She also caused the murder of Naboth in order to give his vineyard to Ahab. This was the day of vengeance against all that Jezebel had done and the kings had done nothing to stop her previously so Jehu was the one God used to bring judgment.

• 2Kings 9:23  And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah. 
• 24  And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot. 
• 25  Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him; 
• 26  Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD. 

Joram was killed in the same place where Naboth and his family were murdered to take their land and give it to Ahab. What good does it do to steal, kill and destroy to take things away from the innocent? In the long run they lose it all. It is all for nothing. Politics causes this same type of spirit to arise. They might not do any actual murder but they will destroy reputations with lies using the news media to spread either false information or partly false information to deceive the public and ruin their political opponents. When others are paid to help do evil, they are the ones who will take the fall when the evil is exposed. The real ones behind it have a way to stay hidden while the patsies, take the blame. Yet God knows and sees it all. In the long run they too will be exposed and brought down. They will not get by with anything. Political power is not worth losing one's eternal soul.

Oh I cry that they might find peace with God and not be lost. I cry that they might do what they can to undo the evil they do and not influence their children to carry on the same evil ways. All the money and power is not worth it, if they get it by harming other people.

• 2Kings 9:27  But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 
• 28  And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. 
• 29  And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah. 

I wonder if Ahaziah would have not been killed if he had not been visiting the king of Israel that day. Joram was king over Israel and Ahaziah king over Judah when this happened.

Jehu Executes Jezebel

• 2Kings 9:30  And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window. 

This was an old custom mostly among the worshippers of idols and false gods, to paint the eyebrows or eyelids with black powder. They also adorned their hair in a way that they might appear important and full of pride. It was common among queens and women of importance.

Perhaps this is the reason some of our past Christian denominations frowned on the wearing of makeup. Even though I personally am not big on wearing makeup, it was the wickedness of Jezebel that caused her to be executed in the end. She ordered to false accusation of Naboth which caused him to be killed so that Ahab could take the vineyard of Naboth that he lusted after. So where did they get them in the long run?

This reminds me of all those that did everything they could to take down President Trump. In his second term someone even tried to kill him. Millions of tax payer's dollars is spent to go after one person who has done nothing but try to help the people in the United States. He is not perfect and makes mistakes but he is not guilty of anything they try to pin on him. In other words they look for a crime instead of seeing a crime and then find out who is guilty. This is not the way to have good law and order. Instead of fair law and order some have targeted a person they hate and look for a crime to accuse him of.  Those that are in authority to protect the citizens of any country should be fair. When a crime is committed search for the guilty but not go after someone and pin something on them because someone wants to take them down. God sees all this stuff.

Jezebel also killed many of the prophets of God. The prophets are with God now and will be resurrected. Jezebel had no time repented of her deeds. She will stand before God on judgment day. It's all worth nothing. No one gets by with anything. If only we could reach people with the gospel so that their end is not eternal damnation but the joy of having a new body that can never die that Jesus Christ will provide for all that believe and receive Him.

• 2Kings 9:31  And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master? 
• 32  And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs. 

Jehu asked who was on his side against Jezebel. She had no friends to help her in the end. Evil people are secretly hated by many.

• 2Kings 9:33  And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. 
• 34  And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now 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 her hands. 

This fulfills the prophecy of 1 Kings 21:23 given by Elijah the prophet of the Lord.

• 2Kings 9:36  Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: 
• 37  And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel. 

All the greed, hate, lust, murder, idolatry, plans, riches, pomp, and evil will be judged in the end. Dear people it is not worth it? God has a better way for us to live. DC

2 Kings Chapter 10