Second Kings 9:1

The Bible says in Second Kings 9:1-3, “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 Ramoth-gilead:[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.” God chooses every leader. Most of them do not do His will after they are put in place, but it is all part of God’s plan. The judgment is coming, and they will glorify His name when they bow before Him at the judgment and receive His just recompence for what they did as leaders. Jehu was a violent man. You would think that his rise to power by the hand of God would humble him, but it did not. He was so violent that Elisha told the prophet who would anoint Jehu that as soon as Jehu was anointed to “open the door, and flee.”

The Bible says in Second Kings 9:4-10, “So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramoth-gilead.[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.” God tells Jehu exactly why he was made king: to get rid of the house of Ahab and all that were related to Ahab. God always gives people a chance to repent, but if they do not take their chance, the end is coming. Everyone dies, and God decides when and how. God decided that “the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel.”

The Bible says in Second Kings 9:11-22, “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.[14] So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramoth-gilead, 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.[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.[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.[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.[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?” Verse twenty gives us a good picture of what Jehu was like and what kind of reputation he had. When the watchman looked at who was riding toward the city, the watchman said about the chariots, “the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.” Jehu was a man of action, energy, and violence. That was why God chose him for this task. We also see in verse twenty-two what kind of a person was Jezebel. Her “whoredoms” and “witchcrafts” are mentioned. Jezebel was known for her great immorality and her involvement in false religion. Everyone knew what Jehu and Jezebel were like. No one can hide from the truth. Everyone knows what you are like also. Make sure you walk in close fellowship with Jesus so that people can see Christ in you.

The Bible says in Second Kings 9:23-29, “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.[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.” And so Jehu kills both the king of Israel and the King of Judah in one day. Something interesting is the fact that Jehu knew the prophecies of the Lord. He knew the Word of the Lord, and Jehu put the Word of the Lord into effect at least in these situations. Find out what God says and do it. It is interesting that king Ahaziah fled to Megiddo where he died from his wounds. Megiddo was a small town that over-looked a great and broad plain where many battles have been fought. It gives its name to Armageddon where Jesus will win a great battle against the armies of the antichrist.

The Bible says in Second Kings 9:30-37, “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.[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.[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.[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.” Notice in verse thirty that it says that Jezebel “painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.” She was hoping to attract Jehu by her appearance and her outward beauty. She was an adulterous woman, so she knew how to do that very well. The problem was that inwardly she was not beautiful. She was evil. And now her evil has caught up with her. For those who do not turn to the Lord, judgement is always on the way. It is just a matter of when God decides to bring it.

The Bible says in Second Kings 10:1-11, “And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's children, saying,[2] Now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and armour;[3] Look even out the best and meetest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.[4] But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand?[5] And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes.[6] Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.[7] And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel.[8] And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning.[9] And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?[10] Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the LORD hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah.[11] So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.” We go from one gruesome scene to another. This Jehu was the man for the job, no doubt about that. We live in the time of the New Testament and not in the time of the Old Testament. Unfortunately, in this crazy world there are still people who find reasons to be like Jehu instead of being like Jesus.

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