Jehu wrote letters and sent to Samaria. 2 Kings 10:1-17 Jehu M. G. Pearse. Jehu. He did not rest until he had destroyed the house of Ahab and the worship of Baal. There are many Jehus to-day and there is much Jehuism: religion that goes a long way, and is very earnest and zealous — only there is a fatal but in it. I. JEHU SPENDS ALL HIS TIME IN HACKING AT OTHER PEOPLE'S SINS. Perhaps it is too much to expect a man to do more than one thing well, but somehow one does expect that when a man is so tremendously in earnest against other people's sins he should occasionally see to his own. Have we not often met the man? Have we not heard him denouncing the dreadful heresy of other people: storming them with hard words — papist, heretic, infidel — and then he goes down to his Bethel? "See my zeal for orthodoxy." Yet he goes hard, loveless, unbrotherly, the day through. And Jehu is not always in a carriage driving furiously. I have met him sometimes with shuffling steps, whining and whimpering about other people's dreadful doings, holding up hands of pious horror and shaking the head sternly in an agony of concern as to what will become of them! And yet he too has his calves at Bethel My dear sir, what will become of you? Your Jehu comforts himself that his zeal against Baal will be set over against the little matter of Bethel and the golden calves, as if the Almighty kept a debit and credit account, and that the balance will come out on the right side. Never, Jehu — never. You are not only omitting some trifling detail of religion, — it is the undoing of it all. And look again. There was a terrible danger that Jehu should be satisfied with what he had done. If anybody spoke to him about the calves at Bethel, he would take refuge at once, "But see what I did to Baal." If any one called him an idolater he would say. "See how I served God in the matter of Ahab." Ah, it is a terrible thing to cheat even ourselves thus. II. JEHU SERVED GOD JUST SO FAR AS HE COULD SERVE HIMSELF, AND NO FURTHER. If Jehu was going to be king, then of course he must get rid of Joram: and if he meant to keep the throne, then his safety will be to get rid of the whole house of Ahab; for so long as one was left there would be a centre for disturbance and plots. His safety depended upon the clean sweep that he made. And the priests of Baal would be another source of mischief. So Jehu cried, "Come, see my zeal for the Lord." And the whip cracks and the horses gallop and not a prince of Ahab's house or a priest of Baal is left. Then Jehu goes down and worships the calves at Bethel, and worships them for the same reason — that it served his purpose. Yes, Jehu, we have seen thy zeal — thy zeal for thyself. The calves at Bethel were put up at the first as a matter of policy. When the two kingdoms were rent in twain, by possessing Jerusalem Judah had the advantage of the temple and its holy associations. So the king of Israel said, "It will never do to let my people acknowledge the supremacy of. Judah by going up to .worship. To expose them to this temptation to return to Judah is too much." So he set up the calves at Bethel and at Dan, and cried, "These be thy gods, O Israel." Now the same policy that prompted Jeroboam to put them up, prompted Jehu to keep them up. I know that he could explain it all and satisfy everybody — except those that were stupidly particular, you know, and quite ignorant of the ways of the world. "You see I did not set them up; I would not have done such a thing on any account, and I cannot, but wish that they never had been set up. Of course Jeroboam is to blame, very much to blame. But now that they are set up and the people are accustomed to them, it would never do for me to interfere. They would not understand it. Really, it may seem otherwise to you, but a man in my position has to be very careful — very." It is an utterly mean and despicable kind of religion this, serving God just as far as it serves our own purpose. To be religious, chiefly on Sundays, not because sin is hateful, but because it is the proper thing; — religious not from many love to holiness, but because it may be expedient in the long run. True religion may have its source in selfish motives, as great rivers may have their rise in marshy swamps — but Jehuism ends there. It is all through a subtle self-service. What suits me and my interests, that decides the whole duty of man. III. THEN AGAIN, JEHU GOES SO FAR IN SERVING GOD AS IT SUITS HIS TASTES. He liked furious driving and fierce excitements. Set him up behind a pair of wild horses and he was in his element. He was a soldier, and such cruel and bloody horrors were what his nature and his calling inclined him to. But when Ahab's household was slain, and Jezebel was dead, and the worshippers of Baal murdered, and the image burned, and the temple of their foul idolatry left for ever defiled — then it was quite a different thing for him to go troubling himself about pleasing God in the thousand little matters of everyday life. Some people will be religious so far as it suits their tastes. "I like it" settles everything. We cannot help our tastes and preferences — they are gifts of God like our instincts, of which they are indeed part. But the danger is when we exalt our tastes into that which regulates our duty. Many a course has for its only reason and its bit of poor defence, this — I like it. Now if religion mean anything at all, it means that I am bound to consider first and foremost in everything what God likes, and to serve Him: and I am bound to consider my likes in reference to my brother and see that I offend him not; to consider his preferences and his claims; to stay myself in my furious driving and fierce destruction, lest I should ride over him. Religion is not a system provided only to quiet my uneasy fears, and to put into me happy feelings, and to tell me not to worry myself — a ministry to our selfishness and indolence — vices that no religion need fatten, they know how to take care of themselves, and failings that no religion can satisfy. If religion mean anything it means this, and if it have any reality in it, it will show itself thus — I am bound to deny myself wherever I can really help any man in God's world. And to us workers in the Church is there not here a word of warning? All that Jehu did was done by him as the servant of the Lord — yet the very bustle and energy of the service shut out the times of meditation and waiting upon God by which he was to learn what he had to do and to find the fitness for doing it. The work, however well done, is but very ill done which steals from us the time of quiet communion with God. The reason of Jehu's failure is not far to seek. He walked not in the way of the Lord with all his heart, because his heart was not in it. There is the secret. Let Jehu be handling the reins, or in the excitement of the battle, and there all the man appeared. No task was too difficult for this determined man; no position was too exposed for his courage; nothing was too much to expect of him. But when it was to do the will of God in other things, then Jehu had excuses and hindrances ready by the score. Then the strong man was really so weak and helpless. Ah, so it is that to-day there are many Jehus — men who have a whole heart for anything, everything, but the service of God. Here is a man of business — how he can stick at it, grudging no labour, sticking at it day and night in the hope of increasing his returns — "a smart fellow," men say, "and very clever." But for the Lord this man can only sigh. Here this earnest man can content himself with excuses. Once more Jehu's name is mentioned — And Jehu slept with his fathers. The .restless energetic life was over. The furious driver could not escape the old enemy. He lies and looks back upon his course, and looks forward into that dread world which is opening before him. The coveted crown is passing to another head; the sceptre is falling from the trembling grasp. ( M. G. Pearse. ) The scavenger of God Lord Rosebery. By the philosopher, and still more by the philosopher who believes in the Divine guidance of human affairs, the true relation of Napoleon to the world's history will be reduced to a very simple conception: that he was launched into the world as a great natural or supernatural force, as a scourge and a scavenger, to effect a vast operation, partly positive, but mainly negative; and that when he has accomplished that work he is withdrawn as swiftly as he came. Caesar, Attila, Tamerlane, and Mahomet are forces of this kind; the last a much more potent and abiding factor in the universe than Napoleon; another proof, if proof were needed, of how small is the permanent effect of warfare alone on the history of mankind. These men make great epochs; they embody vast transitions; they perplex and appal their contemporaries; but when viewed at a distance they are seen to be periodical and necessary incidents of the world's movement. The details of their career, their morals, their methods, are then judged, interesting though they may be, to be merely subordinate details. Scavenger is a coarse word, yet it accurately represents Napoleon's first function as ruler. The volcano of the French Revolution had burned itself out. He had to clear away the cold lava; the rubbish of past destruction; the cinders and the scoriae; the fungus of corruption which had overgrown all, and was for the moment the only visible result... Then he is a scourge. He purges the floor of Europe with fire. ( Lord Rosebery. ) Who slew all these? 2 Kings 10:9 The wholesale slaughter T. De Witt Talmage, D. D. I see a long row of baskets coming up towards the palace of king Jehu. I am somewhat inquisitive to find out what is in the baskets. I look in and I find the gory heads of seventy slain princes. As the baskets arrive at the gate of the palace, the heads are thrown into two heaps, one on either side the gate. In the morning, the king comes out, and he looks upon the bleeding, ghastly heads of the massacred princes. Looking on either side the gate, he cries out with a ringing emphasis: "Who slew all these?" There is no use of my taking up your time in trying to give you statistics about the devastation, and the ruin, and the death which strong drink has wrought in this country. When I look upon the desolation I am almost frantic with the scene, while I cry out: "Who slew all these?" I can answer that question in half a minute. The ministers of Christ who have given no warning; the courts of law that have offered the licensure; the women who give strong drink on New Year's Day; the fathers and mothers who have rum on the sideboard; the hundreds of thousands of Christian men and women in the land who are staled in their indifference on this subject — they slew all these! I am now going to tell you what I think are the sorrows and the doom of the drunkard, so that you to whom I speak may not come to the place of torment. 1. The first suffering of the drunkard is in the loss of his good name. God has so arranged it, that no man ever loses his good name except through his own act. All the hatred of men and all the assaults of devils cannot destroy a man's good name, if he really maintains his integrity. If a man is honest, and pure, and Christian, God looks after him. 2. Another loss which the inebriate suffers is that of self-respect. Just as soon as a man wakes up and finds that he is the captive of strong drink, he feels bemoaned. 3. I go further, and say that the inebriate suffers from the loss of his usefulness. Do you not recognise the fact that many of those who are now captives of strong drink, only a little while ago were foremost in the churches and in reformatory institutions? 4. I go on, and say that the inebriate suffers from the loss of physical health. 5. Again: the inebriate suffers through the loss of his home. I do not care how much he loves his wife and children, if this passion for strong drink has mastered him, he will do the most outrageous things, and if he could not get drink in any other way, he would sell his family into eternal bondage. How many homes in our city have been broken up in that way, no one but God knows. 6. But my subject takes a deeper tone, and that is, that the inebriate suffers from the loss of the soul. ( T. De Witt Talmage, D. D. ) Is thine heart right. 2 Kings 10:15 The right state of the heart R. Watson. For the sake of order I bring the subject before you under four general heads of discourse. If our hearts be right, they will be right. I. IF THE STATE OF OUR HEARTS BE RIGHT, THEN WILL THEY BE RIGHT WITH GOD. A heart truly right with God implies, 1. That we venerate Him. 2. That we entirely submit ourselves to Him. 3. That by the cultivation of a devotional spirit, we maintain a sacred intercourse with Him.We ask, then, Is thine heart right with God? Does it venerate Him? submit to Him? aspire after Him? You know the state of your own heart: Answer these inquiries as before God. II. IF OUR HEARTS BE RIGHT, THEY ARE RIGHT WITH CHRIST. Till this be the case, the heart cannot ever be right with God. 1. When it accepts His sacrifice as the only ground on which to claim the remission of sins. 2. The heart is not right with Christ unless it loves Him. 3. When the heart is right with Christ, there is an habitual confidence in His intercession. Is thine heart thus right with Christ? Dost thou thus believe in Him? thus love Him? thus habitually confide in Him? III. IF OUR HEARTS BE RIGHT, THEY ARE RIGHT WITH THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. I mean, by this expression, the whole company of his militant and professing people here on earth; the spiritual Israel of God. Now, when the heart is in a right state, 1. The Church is avowed. 2. Its members are loved. 3. When our heart is right with the Church, we feel that we are identified with it. Here, too, let me ask, "Is thine heart right?" Dost thou avow thyself a member of Christ's church? love its members? identify thyself with its interests? and labour to promote them? IV. IF THE HEART BE LIGHT, IT WILL BE RIGHT WITH ITSELF. There are strange oppositions and divisions in the heart; and this cannot be a right state of it There is opposition between conviction and choice. Many know the good, who choose it not, who make no effort for its attainment. There is opposition between Will and power. To Will is indeed present with them, but how to perform they find not. There is the struggle between the flesh and the spirit; the counteraction of graces by opposite evils There is the stunted growth. The seed is at least so far choked, that there is no fruit unto perfection. When it is thus with us, the heart is manifestly wrong. When it is right, it exerts an enlightened sway over the whole man: All its powers are in obedient order, all its graces fruitful and abundant. We therefore again ask, Is thine heart right With itself? Is it divided, and therefore faulty? or has God united it, that it may fear His name? 1. Perhaps our heart is wrong. 2. Perhaps it is in part right. 3. Know and use the means by which this may be accomplished.Exercise faith in the Saviour, live in habitual watchfulness and self-denial, "keeping the heart with all diligence, for that out of it are the issues of life." ( R. Watson. ) Is thine heart right J. Jowett, M. A. ? — Those were the proud words of one, who little knew what was in his own heart. But they contain an inquiry, of no small importance to every fallen child of Adam. "Is thine heart right" — I. IN ITS VIEWS OF RELIGIOUS TRUTH? Has it formed a right judgment concerning thy natural condition, as a sinner against God; and respecting the way of bettering that condition? I am aware that many regard this as the proper business of the understanding, rather than of the heart. Hence they excuse their erroneous views in religion, by pleading want of ability to discover the truth. Hence the poor think it enough to say, "I am no scholar!" And persons, far Wiser than they in worldly wisdom, have pretended, "that a man is not responsible for what he believes, and that it is not his fault if he be mistaken." On the one hand we are informed, that "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness." II. IN ITS DEPENDANCE? On what is it actually resting, as the ground of its hopes for eternity? "Other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." III. IN ITS CHOICE? In what does it delight? what does it esteem to be the chief good? IV. IN ITS INTENTIONS AND PURPOSES? Having discovered the truth — rested on Christ — chosen the Lord for your welcome portion — what is now your object in life? V. IN ITS ACTUAL INFLUENCE ON THY CONDUCT? Many, alas, woefully deceive themselves, by forming excellent resolutions — never to be put in practice. In such a ease, let self-flattery pretend what it may, the heart must be wrong. Remember, in conclusion, that if the heart be not right, nothing else is right. Even the better parts of your conduct, for want of this, will still be offensive in the sight of that God, who "seeth not as man seeth." If you be conscious that your heart is not right, then remember that "God is greater than your heart, and knoweth all things." It may be safe from human scrutiny — but not from his eye. If you would have your heart set right, bring it to God in faith and prayer. He will give you a "new" one — a "clean" one — a "perfect" one. ( J. Jowett, M. A. ) A right heart C. E. Crosthwaite. The first theory of the Gospel is, that the heart of man is all wrong. God said to Noah, "The imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth" ( Genesis 8:21 ). David says, "They are all gone aside; they are altogether become filthy." Jeremiah says, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Christ gives some terrible pictures of the human heart; He likened it to a sepulchre full of corruption. I. A HEART THAT IS RIGHT IS A TRUSTFUL HEART. The Christian life begins With faith in Christ, and is all through sustained by faith in Christ. Faith in Christ leads the anxious, inquiring heart into rest. A triple foundation: the promises of God, the witness of the Spirit, and the testimony of experience. II. A HEART THAT IS RIGHT IS A CONSECRATED HEART. A heart that is not wholly Christ's cannot be right Consecration is the way to purity. It is the full surrender of ourselves to God. The giving up of everything that would hinder the Divine life in the soul. Many Christians are not happy because there is something they keep back from God. There must be a giving up of self. The whole question is, self or Christ. There is a voice coming from Calvary's Cross, which tells us we must not live unto ourselves, but unto Him who loved us, and gave Himself for us. III. A HEART THAT IS RIGHT IS A PURE HEART. The Saviour's teaching was always toward the heart. Out of the heart are the issues of life. He said little about the intellect; but a great deal about the heart. IV. A HEART THAT IS RIGHT IS AT REST. That which the soul needs is rest; it needs to feel that it is God's, and that God is its possession. ( C. E. Crosthwaite. ) The evil heart Samuel Marsden, the New Zealand missionary, well known for his piety and humility, when told one day by a friend how he was slandered, exclaimed: "Sir, these men do not know the worst. Why, sir, if I were to walk through the streets with my heart laid bare, the very boys would pelt me!" Heart right R. Steele. "When Sir Walter Raleigh had laid his head upon the block," says an eloquent divine, "he was asked by the executioner whether it lay aright. Whereupon, with the calmness of a hero and the faith of a Christian, he returned an answer, the power of which we all shall feel when our head is tossing and turning on death's uneasy pillow, — 'It matters little, my friend, how the head lies providing the heart be right:'" ( R. Steele. ) Purity of heart R. South. It does not consist in the external exercise of religion; the heart does not always write itself upon the outward actions. These may shine and glister, while that in the meantime may be noisome and impure. In a pool you may see the uppermost water clear, but if you cast your eye to the bottom, you shall see that to be dirt and mud. To rate a man's internals by his externals, and what works in his breast by what appears in his face, is a rule very fallible. For we often see specious practices spread over vile and base principles; as a rotten, unwholesome body may be clothed with the finest silks. There are often many leagues' distance between a man's behaviour and his heart. ( R. South. ) Acquaintance with our own heart A. Maclaren, D. D. I remember once holding on by the ground on the top of Vesuvius, and looking full into the crater all swirling with sulphurous flames. Have you ever looked into your hearts like that, and seen the wreathing smoke and the flashing fire that are there? ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) Give me thine hand Christian hand-shaking T. De Witt Talmage. Jehu had been making an exterminating assault upon the idolatry of his day, and Jehonadab conies out to offer him congratulation. They meet half-way: and one exclaims to the other, in all the ardour of friendly recognition, "Give me thy hand!" The mode of salutation is different in different countries. In some lands they kneel before the visitor. In some, fall on their faces; in others they stand upright and give a slight bend to the neck. But when two persons, believing in the same thing, and working for the same object, and trusting in the same God, and hoping for the same heaven, come face to face, look each other in the eye, and cross palms with a tight grip, and shake hands, that is human equality and Christian brotherhood. I fall down before no man in obeisance: I gaze down upon no man in arrogance; but, looking into the face of friend and foe, I am ready to exclaim in the words of Jehu to Jehonadab, "Give me thy hand!" Come, now, and let us get near to each other in a plain, loving, Christian talk. My brother! my sister! my child! I. LET US JOIN HANDS IN CHRISTIAN WELCOME. II. AGAIN: LET US CROSS HANDS IN CONGRATULATION. III. AGAIN: LET US JOIN HANDS OF CHRISTIAN SYMPATHY. IV. AGAIN: LET US JOIN HANDS IN A BARGAIN. ( T. De Witt Talmage. ) The hand-grip of loyalty L. A. Banks On drove Jehu, determined to get the lines of government into his hands and make sure of his standing ground. On his way to Samaria, the true capital of Israel (for Jezreel was the seat of the summer palace only), he met Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, on the highway. Now Jehonadab was a respectable, conservative sort of a citizen, with a good name for quiet steady purpose, the kind of man who would be of the greatest help to Jehu if only he were thoroughly committed to him and could be counted upon for loyal support. Jehu did not purpose to be in any doubt as to where people stood. He must know whether they were for him or against him. One cannot help but admire that in Jehu. There was no neutral ground in him, and he would not endure it in others. So when he met Jehonadab he stopped his horses and saluted him, and said, "Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?" And Jehonadab looked straight back into his eyes and said, "It is." Jehu said, "If it be, give me thine hand." And as Jehonadab reached out his hand Jehu took it with a warm, strong grip that lifted him right up into his chariot beside him, and they drove on together in the young king's chariot to Samaria. From this story of Jehu there are some pertinent and helpful lessons to be drawn. 1. God's call is personal. When the young prophet came to Jehu, and standing before the group of captains said he had a message for one of them, and Jehu asked which one, the prophet answered, "To thee, O captain. It was a personal message, and when Jehu followed him away he knew nothing except that he was following the prophet of the Lord God to receive a message from God, and thus he was called to His kingdom. So God sends personal messages to every one of us. The call to salvation is personal to you. God has made us as individuals, Each has his own personal mind and heart, his own personal needs, his individual requirements. Each of us has ability and talent that are peculiar to ourselves. 2. There is no peace save in goodness. When King Joram came out to meet Jehu he was very anxious to have peace, but Jehu could still feel the oil of God upon his head and hear the words of the prophet in his ears commanding him to stamp out the wickedness that had devastated the land. So Jehu answered that there could be no peace while Jezebel with her witchcrafts and her wickedness lived. 3. Only by giving our whole selves to God and throwing our full force on the Lord's side can we please Him. See Jehu as the wicked king turns to fly. A weak turning back now will mean failure and overthrow. He has been called upon for serious and solemn work, and he must not hesitate. Many of our attacks on evil are of no avail, and the arrows fall harmless against the enemies of God and man, because we pull with a faint heart and a weak hand. 4. We must choose sides for or against Jesus. We cannot be neutral. When Jehu stood under the window of the summer palace in Jezreel, with painted Jezebel leaning out in accusation, he cried aloud, so that all the officers of the palace could hear, "Who is on my side? Who?" There could be no neutrality after that. They had to choose between Jezebel and Jehu, and it did not take them long to make the choice. They east out that old painted viper who had brought such sorrow on the land. So our King Jesus, who has the right to be your King, is saying.to you, "Who is on My side? Who?" You must choose between your sins and Jesus 5. It is loyal hearts that Christ wants. Everything else is secondary. "Are you loyal to Me?" that is the question of Jesus. When Jehu met Jehona-dab he said to himself, "Ah, there is Jehonadab. A very nice kind of a man. He could be worth a great deal to me. But it all depends on whether he is loyal or not. If his heart is with me, he is worth more than a regiment of soldiers; but if he is not for me, loyally, he might do me a great deal of damage." So when he is close enough to Jehonadab he stops and calls to him, saying, "Jehonadab, is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?" And Jehonadab looks back with honest eyes and says, "It is." And Jehu answers, "If it be, give me thine hand." And out comes the hand of the other man, and Jehu takes it in a great strong grip, and not only by the strength of his grasp, but by the look in his eyes, he makes Jehonadab know what he means. And he steps right up in the chariot, and rides on with the king in honour and peace. What a suggestive illustration is this of what Jesus Christ is saying to every one of you who have not yet given Him assurance of your earnest loyalty. He is knocking at the door of your heart. It is your heart He wants; your loyal and loving service. And He is saying to you, "If you will but make up your mind, if you will but open your heart to Me, if you will but give Me your loyal hand-grip, then we shall go on the way together." Jehonadab was safe in the king's chariot. You shall be safe when the King's loving strong hand lifts you up in the chariot beside Himself and you ride onward in peace and honour towards heaven. ( L. A. Banks , D.D ). Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. 2 Kings 10:16 The nature of Christian zeal J. Jones. Truly it is delightful and instructive to see any creature exhibiting the proofs of an ardent zeal for the glory, of the great Creator, and directing the energies of his nature to this one object as the chief end of existence. Then, and then only, may it be said that he fills and adorns the station allotted to him in the scale of being; and he becomes sublimely associated with Deity when every selfish consideration is absorbed by an intense desire that God may be all in all. Such character and conduct Jehu affected to exhibit in this history, And in the person of Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, he found a witness of his deeds the most suitable he could have desired. Our object in selecting the passage is not to hold out an example, but a caution. The light of sound instruction is to be found here. Let us reflect on the indications of a zeal essentially defective, and on those of one permanently influential. I. THE INDICATIONS OF A ZEAL ESSENTIALLY DEFECTIVE. It will be proper here to notice — 1. The motives which usually prevail. They are such as are accordant with the reign of selfishness. Of course, it is not intended to enter into a minute and extended investigation of the various motives which may be brought into play, in connection with the exhibitions of religions zeal. A few may suffice which are known to have an influence on the minds of men with regard to missionary operations. For instance, natural compassion for the temporal miseries of our species. Far be it from us to speak in terms of disparagement of such a feeling, it is excellent, so far as it goes; as on its influence, in a great measure, depends the preservation of the general framework of society. It need scarcely to be remarked, that, however excellent this feeling of compassion may be, it may exist, and in a strong degree, apart from any concern for the glory of God or the welfare of men's souls. A desire to propagate our own opinions and practices in matters of religion has often produced considerable effect on the minds of men. The vanity to be esteemed benevolent may also prove a powerful motive to exertion. 2. The degree of excitement produced by an appeal to such motives may be as strong as any of which nature is capable. Such as we have referred to evidently animated the Arabs in the infancy of the Moslem faith, and fined them with a vigour and a daring that scorned all opposition and difficulty, and that resulted in wonderful success. And were not these the motives co which appeal was made, when by the preachings of Peter the Hermit, and of the Pope, the indignation of Europe was roused; and when her potent states vied with each other in pouring forth their armed multitudes to meet the Saracens in the Holy Land — when the victorious soldiers waded through the blood of their foes to sing praises to Christ at His altar, as if in defiance of the precept which He had enjoined on His followers — "Bless them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you"? 3. There are certain limitations, by which such motives will be necessarily restrained. The coincidence of the gratification of self-love with the claims of philanthropy will ever determine the extent of activity. And this coincidence we cannot expect to be of long continuance. Some novel and therefore more popular cause will divert the attention. 4. The improbability of enjoying the Divine blessing while actuated by such motives. That God may bless, notwithstanding their influence, we are not inclined to doubt, but certainly, we are not warranted to expect a blessing, unless taught to act on higher principles. Let us therefore seriously examine ourselves with regard to our real motives. II. THE INDICATIONS OF A ZEAL PERMANENTLY INFLUENTIAL; of which it may be predicted at the outset of its career that it will prove co-extensive with the energies of life. 1. Such zeal must arise, we apprehend, from the effectual application of the Gospel to the heart. Without this, we cannot conceive how a man can really desire the increase of true religion, as he can have no just idea of its nature. 2. Motives corresponding with this experience will incline the believer to seek the conversion of sinners in the heathen world. Such we conceive the following to be. A desire to promote the glory of God, whose character is dishonoured by the practices of idolatry. 3. Universality and permanence of zeal are thus secured. Selfish zeal is partial; in the case of Jehu, the idolatry of Baalim is overthrown; but an idolatry equally offensive is countenanced at Bethel and Dan. He who acts under the influence of the motives peculiar to a renewed mind, is likely to aim at universality of obedience to Divine directions; and as He who has begun a .good work in him, .will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ; his zeal, allowing for some variations of intensity and modes or exercise, will continue till time is exchanged for eternity. 4. Some important illustrations of the zeal which springs from the power of religion within. Our Lord Jesus Christ gave a perfect exemplification of this zeal. Of course His zeal was displayed under very different circumstances from ours, and was free from the internal counteraction that we too often feel; b

Benson Commentary 2 Kings 10:1 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 Kings 10:1 . Ahab had seventy sons — Grandsons are probably comprehended here under the name of sons, as is usual in the Scriptures: though, by several wives, he might have as many sons as Gideon had. These sons or grandsons were now in Samaria, either because they had been bred up there, that being the chief city of the kingdom; or because they had fled thither, upon receiving tidings of the slaughter of Joram; or had been conveyed thither, from different parts, by their friends, as to the strongest place. Here, as appears probable from Jehu’s message, they intended to defend themselves and Ahab’s children, and to set up one as king in Joram’s stead. Jehu wrote letters unto the rulers of Jezreel — Hebrew, the princes of Jezreel, that is, the great persons and officers of the court, which then was, and for some time had been, at Jezreel. These, it seems, had either fled to Samaria upon the news of Jehu’s actions and successes, or had been sent thither by Joram with his sons, to take care of them there. To the elders — Termed such from their age, or rather from their office, being the magistrates or senators of Samaria. And to them that brought up Ahab’s children — That had a more particular care of the several children under the inspection of the princes and elders here mentioned. 2 Kings 10:2 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; 2 Kings 10:3 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. 2 Kings 10:3 . Fight ye for your master’s house — This he said, because, perhaps, he had received notice of their intentions to do so, and that they were consulting about a successor to Joram: or to try them, whether they would do so, or would be true to him and his designs: or, which is still more likely, he insults over them, and denounces war against them with scorn and derision, being secure of the event, and knowing that they were not able to oppose him. 2 Kings 10:4 But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand? 2 Kings 10:4 . Behold, two kings stood not before him — All the power and interest of two kings, either in Jezreel or in the army, could not prevent his executing his design, his killing them both, and invading the kingdom of one of them. It is true, he surprised these kings, which considerably weakens their argument; but fear and self-love made them easily yield to it. 2 Kings 10:5 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. 2 Kings 10:5 . He that was over the house — The chief governor of the king’s palace. He that was over the city — The chief magistrate, or military governor. We will do all that thou shalt bid us — They propose no conditions or delays, but submit all to his mercy. 2 Kings 10:6 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. 2 Kings 10:6 . He wrote a letter the second time — Thus Jezebel is requited for her letter, directed in like manner to the elders of Naboth’s city, whereby his life was wickedly taken away: and it is probable that some of these elders were concerned in that very business, which makes the judgment of God more remarkable. Take ye the heads of the men — This word, men, seems to imply that some of them, at least, were grown up, who doubtless trod in their parents’ steps: and those that were younger were justly cut off for their parents’ sins; of which see on Exodus 20:5 . “Besides the accomplishment of the divine decree,” says Dr. Dodd, “Jehu had a further design in requesting this cruel service of the rulers, and elders, and great men of the nation, namely, hereby to involve them in the same crime and conspiracy with himself; for, by prevailing with them to murder Ahab’s kinsmen in this manner, he bound them so closely to his interest, that if any of the inferior people had been inclined to oppose his designs, they were, by this means, deprived of any man of distinction to head them; and not only so, but, by this expedient, Jehu thought that he might in a great measure lessen, if not entirely remove the odium of his own cruel and perfidious conduct.” 2 Kings 10:7 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. 2 Kings 10:7 . They took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons — Having been wickedly obsequious to Jezebel’s order for the murder of Naboth, now, by the same base spirit, they are as pliable to Jehu, and as ready to obey his orders for the murder of Ahab’s sons. From this example, princes may learn two important lessons: 1st, Not to place any dependance on the attachment or fidelity of those who are not influenced by the fear of God, and the dictates of conscience: for who can reasonably expect him to be true to his prince who is false to his God? 2d, Not to aim at arbitrary power, lest they be found rolling a stone, which, some time or other, will return upon themselves. Princes that make their people slaves, take the readiest way to make them rebels; and by forcing men’s consciences, as Jezebel did, they lose their hold of them. 2 Kings 10:8 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. 2 Kings 10:8 . Lay them at the entering in of the gate — The place of judicature, to signify that this was an act of God’s righteous judgment: and this being the place of public concourse for justice and other business, and where people were continually passing and repassing, the laying them there was to expose them to public view, that all might know there was no one left of Ahab’s posterity to reign over them. 2 Kings 10:9 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? 2 Kings 10:9-10 . He said to all the people, Ye be righteous — This is spoken ironically: as much as to say, You may look upon me as a very wicked man, for rebelling against my master and killing him: but look here; see, your chief men, the confidants and favourites of Joram, have slain seventy of his sons committed to their custody! Know now, &c. — As if he had said, The truth is, neither I nor they are to be blamed, nor you, that assisted and encouraged me herein; for this is not man’s work, but God’s, and done at his command. The Lord hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah — Whom he mentions rather than Elisha; partly because Elijah was now dead, and therefore his name and memory were more sacred than Elisha’s, who was yet alive; it being the general practice and folly of mankind, to value and honour, after their death, those whom they contemned while they lived; and partly because Elijah’s prophecy was known and famous, while Elisha’s was delivered in a corner, and that not from his own mouth, but by one of the sons of the prophets. 2 Kings 10:10 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. 2 Kings 10:11 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. 2 Kings 10:11 . So Jehu slew all his great men — Whom Ahab had advanced and made great in wealth, or honour and quality; who had been partners with him in his sins, and were likely to avenge Joram’s death. And his priests — Who had served him in his idolatrous worship, and confirmed him in it. Or, his chief officers of state, as the word rendered priests sometimes signifies, and is translated: see 2 Samuel 8:18 ; 1 Chronicles 18:17 . Until he left him none remaining — To wit, in that place: but there were still some remaining in Samaria, ( 2 Kings 10:17 ,) whom he afterward destroyed, and some of the royal seed of Judah, descended from Ahab’s daughter. 2 Kings 10:12 And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house in the way, 2 Kings 10:12-14 . And he arose, and came to Samaria — Having finished his work in Jezreel, he went to prosecute it in the chief city of his kingdom, which most needed reformation. Jehu met the brethren of Ahaziah — Not strictly such; for his brethren, properly speaking, had been carried captive, and, it seems, killed also, before this time, as we read 2 Chronicles 21:17 . Therefore, by brethren here, we must understand his brother’s sons, as is explained 2 Chronicles 22:8 , or others of his near kinsmen, such being often called brethren in Scripture. We go down to salute the children of the king, &c. — They undoubtedly had set out from Jerusalem for this purpose, before they knew any thing of Joram’s being killed, and Jehu’s having seized the kingdom: and it appears by their answer, that they did not yet know any thing of it. And he said, Take them alive, &c. — They were allied to the family of Ahab by the mother’s side, ( 2 Kings 8:18 ,) and therefore being afraid lest, if they were suffered to live, they might find means to be avenged of him for the death of Joram, Ahaziah, Jezebel, and their children, whom they were going to visit, he ordered them to be slain; perhaps under pretence of fulfilling Elijah’s prophecy, 1 Kings 21:21 . It seems, however, evident, that prediction did not extend so far, but would have been amply fulfilled by cutting off all of his family and blood within the kingdom of the ten tribes. 2 Kings 10:13 Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen. 2 Kings 10:14 And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them. 2 Kings 10:15 And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot. 2 Kings 10:15-16 . He lighted on Jehonadab — A Kenite, ( 1 Chronicles 2:55 ,) and a man of singular prudence and piety, as appears from this history, and from Jeremiah 35:6 ; from him descended the race of the Rechabites. And he saluted him — That is, Jehu saluted Jehonadab. It is likely Jehonadab was in great favour with the people, on account of the strictness of his life and virtue, and that this, in part, induced Jehu to speak so kindly to him, and court his friendship. And said, Is thy heart right, &c. — Dost thou love me as sincerely and fervently as I love thee, and approve of my present proceedings, as I approve of thy institutions? If it be, give me thy hand — As a sign of friendship and fidelity. These seem to be the words of Jehu. And he said, Come, and see my zeal for the Lord — For the vindication of his honour, and the execution of his commands. Do not believe my words, but mine actions, which thine eyes shall behold. So they made him ride in his chariot — The servants opened the door of his chariot, and Jehu took him up into it. And while he thus put some honour upon Jehonadab, he received more honour from him. For all pious and sober people would think the better of Jehu when they saw Jehonadab in the chariot with him. “This is not the only time,” says Henry, “that the piety of some has been made to serve the policy of others; and that designing men have strengthened themselves by drawing good men into their interests.” 2 Kings 10:16 And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot. 2 Kings 10:17 And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the LORD, which he spake to Elijah. 2 Kings 10:17 . He slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria — Either all his household, or, rather, all his kindred and relations, though more remote from him. This he did, no doubt, under pretence of zeal for God, and to fulfil the prophecy of Elijah; but there is too much reason to apprehend, from several of his actions, and, indeed, his general conduct, that in this, as well as in several of the other slaughters which he made, his chief motive was to secure the kingdom to himself and his posterity. 2 Kings 10:18 And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much. 2 Kings 10:18 . Jehu gathered all the people together — By their representatives, their elders, or rulers, as was usual, to whom he imparts his mind, and who, being generally corrupt, and mere time-servers, and such as had no sense of religion, made no opposition to his resolution, but seemed to comply with it. Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu shall serve him much — As if he had said, My quarrel is only with Ahab’s family, and not with Baal, which my actions shall show: which words, being manifestly false, and spoken with a design to deceive, cannot be excused from sin; this being an immoveable principle, that we must not do the least evil, that the greatest good may come. Though it was lawful, and even commendable, to slay the worshippers of Baal, God’s law having enjoined that idolaters should be put to death, yet it was by no means lawful to use treachery, and to deceive them to their destruction, on the faith of false pretences. These were actions no way suitable or agreeable to the God of truth, and such as ought never to have been practised by any that desired to please him. 2 Kings 10:19 Now therefore call unto 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; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal. 2 Kings 10:19 . Call unto me all the prophets of Baal, and all his servants — Either, 1st, All his ministers, of whom it seems there were several sorts, of which two are here distinctly mentioned, his prophets and priests; and the rest, of the inferior sort, may be comprehended under the general title of servants, because they were to attend upon the others in their ministrations. Or, 2d, All his worshippers, as the word here rendered servants is translated in the close of this verse. If it be inquired how all these could be contained in one house of Baal, it may be answered, that the number of the worshippers of Baal had been greatly diminished by the ministry of Elijah and Elisha, and the rest of the prophets; and by Joram’s neglect and disuse of that worship. Besides, this house or temple of Baal was probably very large and capacious, being in the royal city, nigh the king’s palace, and intended for the use of the king, queen, and whole court, and for great and high solemnities, and therefore was the chief building of the sort in the kingdom. Moreover, as by the house or temple of God, at Jerusalem, we are frequently to understand, not only the principal building, but all the other buildings or courts belonging to it, in which the worshippers stood when they worshipped, so it might be here; and in that case there would be space sufficient for all the worshippers of Baal that can reasonably be thought to have been at that time in Israel. 2 Kings 10:20 And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it . 2 Kings 10:20-21 . Jehu said, Proclaim, &c. — Hebrew, sanctify. Prepare yourselves and all things necessary for this solemn day, and sacrifice, and feast, which I intend to keep. There was not a man left that came not — It may seem strange, after what Jehu had done in destroying the family of Ahab, that the worshippers of Baal could be induced to assemble together. But it should be observed, that as Jehu was a person of known indifference in matters of religion, who in this respect had always conformed to the humours of the court, and in the reign of King Ahab had been a strenuous worshipper of Baal; the people could not tell, when they read his proclamation for a great feast to Baal, but that he had returned, in good earnest, to the religion which he once embraced, and only deserted for a while, in complacency to others. But whether they deluded themselves into this persuasion or not, they knew by experience that Jehu was a man of a fierce and bloody temper, who would not fail to put his threats in execution; and, therefore, reading in the same proclamation, Whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live, ( 2 Kings 10:19 ,) they found themselves reduced to this sad dilemma, either to go or die. Hence they thought it the wisest method to run the hazard, and throw themselves upon his mercy; having this, at least, to plead for themselves, that they were not disobedient to his commands. See Poole and Dodd. 2 Kings 10:21 And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to another. 2 Kings 10:22 And he said unto him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments. 2 Kings 10:22 . He said, Bring forth vestments — Sacred garments, such as were used by the priests, and others of God’s ministers in his service; whence idolaters borrowed the custom of using such garments in the worship of their false gods. For all the worshippers of Baal — It can hardly be supposed, that absolutely all the people that worshipped Baal, and were now assembled, are included here, and had vestments brought them; because the people in general wore no distinct garments in their worship, whether of Jehovah or Baal, but the priests and other ministers only. 2 Kings 10:23 And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but the worshippers of Baal only. 2 Kings 10:23 . And Jehonadab — Whom the Baalites, possibly, did not know, and therefore suspected nothing inimical to their worship: or, if any of the more sagacious began to suspect any thing, it was now too late to amend their error. Look that there be here with you none of the servants of the Lord — Intimating that their presence would offend Baal, and pollute his worship. Jehu’s real intention, however, was, that none but the worshippers of Baal should be slain, and therefore he caused this search to be made, lest any other Israelite, out of curiosity, or from any other motive, should have entered the temple. 2 Kings 10:24 And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men without, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that letteth him go , his life shall be for the life of him. 2 Kings 10:24-25 . When they went in to offer sacrifices — When some went to the altar to offer in the name of the rest. Jehu appointed fourscore men without — Far more being, doubtless, in readiness to assist them in case of any opposition. As he had made an end of offering — That is, as the chief priest of Baal had made an end. So far Jehu suffered them to proceed, either because till then they were not all come into the house; or because, being taken in the very act of gross idolatry, their punishment would appear to be more just and reasonable. Jehu said to the guard and the captains — To the fourscore men and their officers. The guard, &c., cast them out — Cast their carcasses out, of the house. And went to the city of the house of Baal — To some buildings belonging to that house; which may be here called the city, because they were very numerous and capacious. For as there were divers chambers and rooms built without the temple, belonging to it, for the use of the priests and Levites; so it may probably be conceived that this famous temple of Baal had many such buildings, in some of which the priests of Baal, or of the groves, (whereof there were numbers belonging to the king’s court, 1 Kings 18:19 ,) peradventure might dwell; and others of them might be for divers uses, belonging to the house and service of Baal: and to these buildings the guard might hastily go to surprise and put to death these inferior ministers of Baal, who were there employed in services belonging to that house, or that solemnity. 2 Kings 10:25 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal. 2 Kings 10:26 And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them. 2 Kings 10:26-27 . The images of the house of Baal — A collection of different images. The image of Baal — The chief image, which they worshipped more than the rest. And brake down the house of Baal — As, no doubt, they did the rest of the houses of Baal in Israel. And made it a draught-house — A sink or common shore; that the remembrance of it might be blotted out or made infamous. Thus was the worship of Baal quite destroyed, at least for the present, out of Israel, though it had once prevailed so far, that there were but seven thousand, of all the thousands of Israel, that had not bowed the knee to Baal. Thus will Jehovah, sooner or later, triumph over all the gods of the heathen. 2 Kings 10:27 And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day. 2 Kings 10:28 Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel. 2 Kings 10:29 Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit , the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan. 2 Kings 10:29 . Jehu departed not from them — He was partial in his reformation, and did not put away all the evil, because his heart was not right with God. He departed from the sins of Ahab, but not from the sins of Jeroboam: discarded Baal, but adhered to the calves. The worship of Baal was indeed the greater evil, and more heinous in the sight of God, but the worship of the calves was a great evil; and true religion not only implies conversion from gross sin, but from all sin, and not only from false gods, but from false modes of worshipping the true God. The worship of Baal, being upheld by the house of Ahab, also contributed to uphold that house, the numerous ministers of that idolatry being, of course, engaged to support the family which supported them, and with which they must stand or fall; hence Jehu could easily part with that worship, and labour to destroy it; but the worship of the calves was a politic idolatry, begun and kept up for reasons of state, to prevent the return of the ten tribes to the house of David, and therefore Jehu clave to it. But true religion is not only a conversion from those sins which are hostile to our secular interests, but from those that appear to be friendly to them; in forsaking which is the great trial, whether we can deny ourselves For God, and trust in him. 2 Kings 10:30 And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. 2 Kings 10:30 . The Lord said unto Jehu — By some prophet. Because thou hast done well, &c. — That is, in part. The extirpating of idolaters and idolatry was a thing so far right in God’s eyes, idolatry being an iniquity which he visits as surely and severely as any other, and which is a source of a variety of other abominations. Thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne — Which they did, namely, Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam, and Zachariah. This was more than took place in any of the other royal families of that kingdom. Of the house of Ahab, indeed, there were four kings, but the last two, namely, Ahaziah and Joram, were brothers, so that its reign reached only to the third generation, and that whole family continued but about forty-five years in all: whereas Jehu’s house continued in power for four generations after himself, and in all about a hundred and twenty years: for no services done for God shall go unrewarded. 2 Kings 10:31 But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin. 2 Kings 10:31 . But Jehu took no care to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel — He abolished the worship of Baal, but did not keep up the worship of God, nor walk in his law. He showed great zeal and care for the rooting out of a false religion; but in the true religion he showed no care, took no heed: was not solicitous to please God and do his duty. With all his heart — His heart, his whole heart, was not engaged in, nor influenced by religion; nor was he truly zealous for the glory of God, and the advancement of true and genuine piety in himself and others. It is evident his own religion was very superficial, and yet God made use of him as an instrument of effecting some reformation in Israel. It is a pity that those who do good to others, are not always good themselves. 2 Kings 10:32 In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel; 2 Kings 10:32 . In those days — In the time of Jehu’s life and reign, 2 Kings 10:34 . The Lord began to cut Israel short — Either to diminish the number of the people by cutting them off, or to straiten their borders. Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel — In their borders, or the outermost part of their land, beyond Jordan, as it is explained 2 Kings 10:33 ; and at this time, probably, he executed the cruelties predicted by Elisha, 2 Kings 8:12 . 2 Kings 10:33 From Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan. 2 Kings 10:34 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 chronicles of the kings of Israel? 2 Kings 10:35 And Jehu slept with his fathers: and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead. 2 Kings 10:36 And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty and eight years. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 2 Kings 10:1 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, JEHU ESTABLISHED ON THE THRONE 2 Kings 10:1-17 B.C. 842-814 "The devil can quote Scripture for his purpose." - SHAKESPEARE. BUT the work of Jehu was not yet over. He was established at Jezreel: he was lord of the palace and seraglio of his master: the army of Israel was with him. But who could be sure that no civil war would arise, as between the partisans of Zimri and Omri, as between Omri and Tibni? Ahab, first of the kings of Israel, had left many sons. There were no less than seventy of these princes at Samaria. Might there not be among them some youth of greater courage and capacity than the murdered Jehoram? And could it be anticipated that the late dynasty was so utterly unfortunate and execrated as to have none left to do them reverence, or to strike one blow on their behalf, after nearly half a century of undisputed sway? Jehu’s coup de main had been brilliantly successful. In one day he had leapt into the throne. But Samaria was strong upon its watchtower hill. It was full of Ahab’s sons, and had not yet declared on Jehu’s side. It might be expected to feel some gratitude to the dynasty which Jehu had supplanted, seeing that it owed to the grandfather of the king whom he had just slain its very existence as the capital of Israel. He would put a bold face on his usurpation, and strike while the iron was hot. He would not rouse opposition by seeming to assume that Samaria would accept his rebellion. He therefore wrote a letter to the rulers of Samaria-which was but a journey of nine hours’ distance from Jezreel-and to the guardians of the young princes, reminding them that they were masters in a strong city, protected with its own contingent of chariots and horses, and well supplied with armor. He suggested that they should select the most promising of Ahab’s sons, make him king, and begin a civil war on his behalf. The event showed how prudent was this line of conduct. As yet Jehu had not transferred the army from Ramoth-Gilead. He had doubtless taken good care to prevent intelligence of his plans from reaching the adherents of Jehoram in Samaria. To them the unknown was the terrible. All they knew was that "Behold, two kings stood not before him!" The army must have sanctioned his revolt: what chance had they? As for loyalty and affection, if ever they had existed towards this hapless dynasty, they had vanished like a dream. The people of Samaria and Jezreel had once been obedient as sheep to the iron dominance of Jezebel. They had tolerated her idol-abominations, and the insolence of her army of dark-browed priests. They had not risen to defend the prophets of Jehovah, and had suffered even Elijah, twice over, to be forced to flee for his life. They had borne, hitherto without a murmur, the tragedies, the sieges, the famines, the humiliations, with which during these reigns they had been familiar. And was not Jehovah against the waning fortunes of the Beni-Omri? Elijah had undoubtedly cursed them, and now the curse was falling. Jehu must doubtless have let it be known that he was only carrying out the behest of their own citizen the great Elisha, who had sent to him the anointing oil. They could find abundant excuses to justify their defection from the old house, and they sent to the terrible man a message of almost abject submission: - Let him do as he would; they would make no king: they were his servants, and would do his bidding. Jehu was not likely to be content with verbal or even written promises. He determined, with cynical subtlety, to make them put a very bloody sign-manual to their treaty, by implicating them irrevocably in his rebellion. He wrote them a second mandate. "If," he said, "ye accept my rule, prove it by your obedience. Cut off the heads of your master’s sons, and see that they are brought to me here tomorrow by yourselves before the evening." The ruthless order was fulfilled to the letter by the terrified traitors. The king’s sons were with their tutors, the lords of the city. On the very morning that Jehu’s second missive arrived, every one of these poor guiltless youths was unceremoniously beheaded. The hideous, bleeding trophies were packed in fig-baskets and sent to Jezreel. When Jehu was informed of this revolting present it was evening, and he was sitting at a meal with his friends. He did not trouble himself to rise from his feast or to look at "death made proud by pure and princely beauty." He knew that those seventy heads could only be the heads of the royal youths. He issued a cool and brutal order that they should be piled in two heaps until the morning on either side the entrance of the city gates. Were they watched? or were the dogs and vultures and hyenas again left to do their work upon them? We do not know. In any case it was a scene of brutal barbarism such as might have been witnessed in living memory in Khiva or Bokhara; nor must we forget that even in the last century the heads of the brave and the noble rotted on Westminster Hall and Temple Bar, and over the Gate of York, and over the Tolbooth at Edinburgh, and on Wexford Bridge. The day dawned, and all the people were gathered at the gate, which was the scene of justice. With the calmest air imaginable the warrior came out to them, and stood between the mangled heads of those who but yesterday had been the pampered minions of fortune and luxury. His speech was short and politic in its brutality. "Be yourselves the judges," he said. "Ye are righteous. Jezebel called me a Zimri. Yes! I conspired against my master and slew him: but"-and here he casually pointed to the horrible, bleeding heaps-"who smote all these?" The people of Jezreel and the lords of Samaria were not only passive witnesses of’ his rebellion; they were active sharers in it. They had dabbled their hands in the same blood. Now they could not choose but accept his dynasty: for who was there besides himself? And then, changing his tone, he does not offer "the tyrant’s devilish plea, necessity," to cloak his atrocities, but-like a Romish inquisitor of Seville or Granada-claims Divine sanction for his sanguinary violence. This was not his doing. He was but an instrument in the hands of fate. Jehovah is alone responsible. He is doing what He spake by His servant Elijah. Yes! and there was yet more to do; for no word of Jehovah’s shall fall to the ground. With the same cynical ruthlessness, and cold indifference to smearing his robes in the blood of the slain, he carried out to the bitter end his task of policy which he gilded with the name of Divine justice. Not content with slaying Ahab’s sons, he set himself to extirpate his race, and slew all who remained to him in Jezreel, not only his kith and kin, but every lord and every Baal priest who favored his house, until he left him none remaining. But what a frightful picture do these scenes furnish us of the state of religion and even of civilization in Jezreel! There was this man-eating tiger of a king wallowing in the blood of princes, and enacting scenes which remind us of Dahomey and Ashantee, or of some Tartary khanate where human hands are told out in the market-place after some avenging raid. And amid all this savagery, squalor, and Turkish atrocity, the man pleads the sanction of Jehovah, and claims, unrebuked, that he is only carrying out the behests of Jehovah’s prophets! It is not until long afterwards that the voice of a prophet is heard repudiating his plea and denouncing his bloodthirstiness. {Hos 1:4} "An evil soul producing holy witness Is like a villain with a smiling cheek- A goodly apple rotten at the core." 2 Kings 10:12 And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house in the way, FRESH MURDERS-THE EXTIRPATION OF BAALWORSHIP 2 Kings 10:12-28 B.C. 842 " Jehu, sur les hauts lieux, enfin osant offrir Un temeraire encens que Dieu ne peut souffrir, N’a pour servir sa cause et venger ses injures Ni le coeur assez droit, ni les mains assez pures ." - RACINE AFTER such abject subservience had been shown him by the lords of Samaria and Jezreel, Jehu evidently had no further shadow of apprehension. He seems to have loved blood for its own sake-to have been seized by a vertigo of blood-poisoning. Having waded through slaughter to a throne, he loved to wash his footsteps in the blood of the slain, and to stretch to the very uttermost-to stretch until it cracked all its raveled threads-the Divine sanction claimed by his fanaticism or his hypocrisy. When he had finished his massacres at Jezreel, he went to Samaria. It was only a journey of a few hours. On the high road he met a company of travelers, whose escorts and rich apparel showed that they were persons of importance. They were about to halt, perhaps for refreshment, at the shearing-house of the shepherds-the place in which the sheep were gathered before they were shorn. "Who are ye?" he asked. They answered that they were princes of the house of Judah, the brethren of Ahaziah, on their way to see the two kings at Jezreel, and to salute their cousins, the children of Jehoram, and their kinsfolk the children of Jezebel the Gebirah. The answer sealed their fate. Jehu ordered his followers to take them alive. At first he had not decided what he would do with them. But half measures had now become impossible. This cavalcade of princes little knew that they were on their way to greet the dead children of a dead king and a dead queen. Jehu felt that the possibilities of an endless vendetta must be quenched in blood. He gave orders to slay them, and there in one hour forty-two more scions of the royal houses of Judah and Israel were done to death. With the usual reckless insouciance of the East, where any tank or well is made the natural receptacle for corpses regardless of ultimate consequences, their bodies were flung into the cistern of the shearing-house, in which the sheep were washed before shearing, just as the bodies of Gedaliah’s followers were flung by Ishmael into the well at Mizpah, and the bodies of our own murdered countrymen were flung into the well of Cawnpore. He did not leave one of them alive. Thus Jehu "murdered two kings, and one hundred and twelve princes, and gave Queen Jezebel to dogs to eat; and if priests had but noticed how even Hosea condemns and denounces his savagery, they would have abstained from some of their glorifications of assassins and butchers, nor would they have appealed to this man’s hideous example, as they have done, to excuse some of their own revolting atrocities." But "Crime was ne’er so black As ghostly cheer and pious thanks to lack, Satan is modest. At heaven’s door he lays His evil offspring, and in Scriptural phrase And saintly posture gives to God the praise And honor of his monstrous progeny." One cruel deed more or less was nothing to Jehu. Leaving this tank choked with death and incarnadined with royal blood, he went on his way as if nothing particular had happened. He had not proceeded far when he saw a man well known to him, and of a spirit kindred to his own. It was the Arab ascetic and Nazarite Jehonadab, the son of Rechab (or "The Rider"), the chief of the tribe of Kenites who had flung in their lot with the children of Israel since the days of Moses. It was the tribe which had produced a Jael; and Jehonadab had something of the fierce, fanatical spirit of the ancient chieftains, who, in her own tent, had dashed out with the tent-peg the brains of Sisera. His very name, "The Lord is noble," indicated that he was a worshipper of Jehovah, and his fierce zeal showed him to be a genuine Kenite. Disgusted with the wickedness of cities, disgusted above all with the loathly vice of drunkenness, which, as we see from the contemporary prophets, had begun in this age to acquire fresh prominence in luxurious and wealthy communities, he exacted of his sons a solemn oath that neither they nor their successors would drink wine nor strong drink, and that, shunning the squalor and corruption of cities, they would live in tents, as their nomad ancestors had done in the days when Jethro and Hobab were princes of pastoral Midian. We learn from Jeremiah, nearly two and a half centuries later, how faithfully that oath had been observed; and, how, in spite of all temptation, the vow of abstinence was maintained, even when the strain of foreign invasion had driven the Rechabites into Jerusalem from their desolated pastures. Jehu knew that the stern fanaticism of the Kenite Emir would rejoice in his exterminating zeal, and he recognized that the friendship and countenance of this "good man and just," as Josephus calls him, would add strength to his cause, and enable him to carry out his dark design. He therefore blessed him. "Is thine heart right with my heart, as my heart is with thy heart?" he asked, after he had returned the greeting of Jehonadab. "It is, it is!" answered the vehement Rechabite. "Then give me thy hand," he said; and grasping the Arab by the hand, he pulled him up into his chariot-the highest distinction he could bestow upon him-and bade him come and witness his zeal for Jehovah. His first task on arriving at Samaria was to tear up the last fibers of Ahab’s kith and destroy all his partisans. This was indeed to push to a self-interested extreme the denunciation which had been pronounced upon Ahab; but the crime helped to secure his fiercely founded throne. One deep-seated plot was yet unaccomplished. It was the total extermination of Baal-worship. To drive out forever this orgiastic, corrupt, and alien idolatry was right; but there is nothing to show that Jehu would have been unable to effect this purpose by one stern decree, together with the destruction of Baal’s images and temple. A method so simply righteous did not suit this Nero-Torquemada, who seemed to be never happy unless he united Jesuitical cunning with the pouring out of rivers of massacre. He summoned the people together; and as though he now threw off all pretence of zeal for orthodoxy, he proclaimed that Ahab had served Baal a little, but Jehu would serve him much. The Samaritans must have been endowed with infinite gullibility if they could suppose that the king who had ridden into the city side by side with such a man as Jehonadab-"the warrior in his coat of mail, the ascetic in his shirt of hair"-who had already exhibited an unfathomable cunning, and had swept away the Baal priests of Jezreel, was indeed sincere in this new conversion. Perhaps they felt it dangerous to question the sincerity of kings. The Baal-worshippers of former days were known, and Jehu proclaimed that if any one of them was missing at the great sacrifice which he intended to offer to Baal he should be put to death. A solemn assembly to Baal was proclaimed, and every apostate from God to nature-worship from all Israel was present, till the idol’s temple was thronged from, end to end. To add splendor to the solemnity, Jehu bade the wardrobe-keeper to bring out all the rich vestments of Tyrian dye and Sidonian broidery, and clothe the worshippers. Solemnly advancing to the altar with the Rechabite by his side, he warned the assembly to see that their gathering was not polluted by the presence of a single known worshipper of Jehovah. Then, apparently, he still further disarmed suspicion by taking a personal part in offering the burnt-offering. Meanwhile, he had surrounded the temple and blocked every exit with eighty armed warriors, and had threatened that any one of them should be put to death if he let a single Baal-worshipper escape. When he had finished the offering, he went forth, and bade his soldiers enter, and slay, and slay, and slay till none were left. Then flinging the corpses in a heap, they made their way to the fortress of the Temple, where some of the priests may have taken refuge. They dragged out and burnt the matstseboth of Baal, broke down the great central idol, and utterly dismantled the whole building. To complete the pollution of the dishallowed shrine, he made it a common midden for Samaria, which it continued to be for centuries afterwards. {Comp. Ezr 6:11; Dan 2:5} It was his last voluntary massacre. The House of Ahab was no more. Baal worship in Israel never survived that exterminating blow. Happily for the human race, such atrocities committed in the name of religion have not been common. In Pagan history we have but few instances, except the slaughter of the Magians at the beginning of the reign of Darius, son of Hystagpes. Alas that other parallels should be furnished by the abominable tyranny of a false Christianity, blessed and incited by popes and priests! The persecutions and massacres of the Albigenses, preached by Arnold of Citeaux, and instigated by Pope Innocent III; the expulsion of the Jews from Spain; the deadly work of Torquemada; the murderous furies of Alva among the hapless Netherlanders, urged and approved by Pope Plus V; the massacre of St. Bartholomew, for which Pope Gregory and his cardinals sang their horrible Te Deum in their desecrated shrines, -these are the parallels to the deeds of Jehu. He has found his chief imitators among the votaries of a blood-stained and usurping sacerdotalism, which has committed so many crimes and inflicted so many horrors on mankind. And did God approve all this detestable mixture of zealous enthusiasm with lying deceit and the insatiate thirst of blood? If right be right, and wrong be wrong, the answer must not be an elaborate subterfuge, but an uncompromising "No!" We need be under no doubt on that subject. Christ Himself reproved His Apostles for savage zealotry, and taught them that the Elijah-spirit was not the Christ-spirit. Nor is the Elisha-spirit the Christian spirit any the more if these deeds of hypocrisy and blood were in any sense approved by him who is sometimes regarded as the mild and gentle Elisha. Where was he? Why was he silent? Could he possibly approve of this murderer’s fury? We do not, indeed, know how far Elisha lent his sanction to anything more than the general end. Ahab’s house had been doomed to vengeance by the voice which gave utterance to the verdict of the national conscience. The doom was just; Jehu was ordained to be the executioner. In no other way could the judgment be carried out. The times were not sentimental. The murder of Jehoram was not regarded as an act of tyrannicide, but of divinely commissioned justice. Elisha may have shrunk from the unreined furies of the man whom he had sent his emissary to anoint. On the other hand, we have not the least proof that he did so. He partook, probably, of the wild spirit of the times, when such deeds were regarded with feelings very different from the abhorrence with which we, better taught by the spirit of love, and more enlightened by the widening dawn of history; now justly regard them. No remonstrance of contemporary prophecy, however faint, is recorded as having been uttered against the doings of Jehu. The fact that several centuries later they could be recorded by the historian without a syllable of reprobation shows that the education of nations in the lessons of righteousness is slow, and that we are still amid the annals of the deep night of moral imperfection. But the nation was on the eve of purer teaching, and in the prophets Amos and Hosea we read the clear condemnation of deeds of cruelty in general, and specially of the king who felt no pity. Amos condemns even the idolatrous King of Edom, "because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever." {Amo 1:11} He condemns no less severely the Chemosh worshipping King of Moab even for an insult done to the dead: "Because he burned the bones of the King of Edom into lime." {Amo 2:1} Jehu had warred pitilessly upon the living, and had shamelessly insulted the dead. He had flung the heads of seventy princes in two bleeding heaps on the common road for all eyes to stare upon, and he had polluted the cistern of Beth-equed-haroim with the dead bodies of forty-two youths of the royal house of Judah. He might plead that he was but carrying out to the full the commission of Jehovah, imposed upon him by Elisha; but Hosea, a century later, gives God’s message against his house: "Yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel." {Hos 1:4} Nay, more! If, as is possible, the ghastly story of the siege of Samaria, narrated in the memoirs of Elisha, is displaced, and if it really belongs to the reign of Jehoahaz ben-Jehu, then Elisha himself brands the cruelty of the rushing thunderbolt of vengeance which his own hand had launched. For he calls the unnamed "King of Israel!" "the son of a murderer." Men who are swords of God, and human executioners of Divine justice, may easily deceive themselves. God works the ends of His own providence, and He uses their ministry. "The fierceness of man shall turn to Thy praise, and the fierceness of them shalt Thou refrain." {Psa 76:10} But they can never make their plea of prophetic sanction a cloak of maliciousness. Cromwell had stern work to do. Rightly or wrongly, he deemed it inevitable, and did not shrink from it. But he hated it. Over and over again, he tells us, he had prayed to God that He would not put him to this work. To the best of his power he avoided, he minimized, every act of vengeance even when the sternness of his Puritan sense of righteousness made him look on it as duty. Far different was the case of Jehu. He loved murder and cunning for their own sakes, and, like Joab, he dyed the garments of peace with the blood of war. How little was his gain! It had been happier for him if he had never mounted higher than the captaincy of the host, or even so high. He reigned for twenty-eight years (842-814)-longer than any king except his great-grandson Jeroboam II; and in recognition of any element of righteousness which had actuated his revolt, his children, even to the fourth generation, were suffered to sit upon the throne. His dynasty lasted for one hundred and thirteen years. But his own reign was only memorable for defeat, trouble, and irreparable disaster. For Hazael, who had seized the throne of his murdered lord Benhadad, was a fierce and able warrior, he held his own against the overweening might of his northern neighbor Assyria; and whenever he obtained a respite from this desperate warfare, he indemnified himself for all losses by enlarging his dominion out of the territories of the Ten Tribes. "In those days the Lord began to cut Israel short, and Hazael smote them in all the borders of Israel." Jehu had the mortification of seeing the fairest and most fruitful regions of his dominion, those which had belonged to Israel from the most ancient times, wrenched out of his grasp. From this time forwards Israel lost half the fair Promised Land which God had given to their fathers. It was the beginning of the end. Henceforth the tribal inheritance of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh was an oppressed dependency of Aram. Hazael overran and annexed the land of Bashan from the spurs of Mount Hermon to the Lake of Gennezareth; Gaulan, and volcanic Argob, and Hauran the entire ancient kingdom of Og, King of Bashan, with all the herds and pasture lands. Southward of this he seized the whole forest-clad plateau of Gilead, with its lovely ravines, north of the Jabbok, the territory of Gad; and pushing still southward, established his sway over the district of the Ammonites and the tribe of Reuben, as far as the city of Aroer, on the other side of the great chasm of Arnon (Wady Mojib). All the fatness of Bashan and Rabbah with her watery plain of the Beni-Ammon, and the grass-covered uplands which fed the enormous flocks of Mesha, the great Emir and sheep-master of Moab, passed from Israel to Syria, never to be recovered. What made the humiliation more terrible was that the invasion and conquest were accompanied with acts of unwonted cruelty. Elisha had wept to think what evil Hazael would do the children of Israel {2Ki 8:12} -how he would set their strongholds on fire, and slay their young men with the sword, and dash in pieces their little ones, and rip up their women with child. These atrocities were in those horrible days the ordinary incidents of warfare; {Isa 13:11-16 Hos 10:14; Hos 13:16 Nah 3:10} but Hazael seems to have been preeminent in brutal fierceness. It was this which called down on him and his people the "burdens" of Amos. "Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad." {Amo 1:3-4} We can imagine rather than describe the anguish of Jehu when he was compelled to look impotently on, while his powerful Syrian neighbor laid waste his dominion with fire and sword, and the cry of his despoiled and slaughtered subjects was uplifted to him in vain. Nor was this all. Emboldened by these reverses, a host of other enemies, once subjugated and despised, began to wreak their revenge and insolence on humbled Israel. The Philistines eagerly undertook the sale of the wretched captives who were brought to them in gangs from the burnt Trans-Jordanic towns. {Amo 1:6-15} The old "brotherly covenant" with the Tyrian, which had once been formed by Solomon, and had been cemented by the marriage of Jezebel with Ahab, was cancelled by Jehu’s insults, and the Tyrians emulously outbid the Philistines in the purchase of Israelitish slaves. The Edomites and the Ammonites also helped Hazael in his marauding raids, and enlarged their own domains at the expense of Samaria. Such insults and humiliations might well go far to break the heart of an impetuous and warrior-king. Of Jehu the Books of Kings and Chronicles have no more to tell us, but we gain fresh insight into his degradation from the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser II (860-824), now in the British Museum. From the inscription we find that, in 842, Jehu-"the son of Omri," as he is erroneously called-was one of the vassal kings who subjected themselves to the Assyrian conqueror, and sent him tribute, which may have euphemistically passed under the name of presents. The despot of Nineveh twice speaks of it as a tribute. On this obelisk we see a picture of Jehu’s ambassadors-perhaps of Jehu himself. On the left stands the Assyrian King with the winged circle over his head. He holds a beaker of wine in his hand, and two eunuchs stand behind him one of whom covers him with a sunshade. Before him kneels and grovels in adoration the Jewish King, with his beard sweeping the ground. In long array behind him come his servants-first two eunuchs, then a number of bearded figures, who carry the tribute. They are dressed in long richly fringed robes, exactly resembling those of the Assyrians themselves, and they wear shoes which turn up at the toes. They are carrying figures of gold and silver, goblets, golden vessels, ingots of precious metals, spear-shafts, a kingly scepter, baskets, bags, and trays of treasure, the contribution of which must have fallen with crushing weight on the impoverished kingdom. This tribute must have been sent in 842, the eighteenth year of Shalmaneser II’s reign. Doubtless Jehu thought he might be delivered from his furious neighbor Hazael by propitiating the Northern tyrant, who at the same time received the submission of the Tyrians and Sidonians. But if so, Jehu’s hopes were dashed to the ground. Shalmaneser was the enemy of Hazael ( Ha-sa-ilu ), who had gone out to meet him at Antilibanus, and there had fought a desperate battle. The Syrian King was routed, and driven back, and Shalmaneser had besieged Damascus. But he had failed to take it, and indeed had not troubled Syria again till 832, when he made an excursion of minor importance. His troubles on the north and east of Assyria had diverted his attention from Damascus; and this, together with the inferiority of his son Samsiniras (d. 811), had given Hazael a free hand to avenge himself on Israel as the ally of Assyria. Of Jehu we hear no more. After his long reign of twenty-eight years he slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, and Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead. Savage as had been his measures, his victory over alien idolatries was by no means complete. What Micah calls "the statutes of Omri, and the works of the House of Ahab," {Mic 6:16} were still kept; and men, both in Israel and Judah, walked in their old sins. Even in the reign of Jehu’s own son Jehoahaz there still remained in Samaria the Asherah, or tree consecrated to the nature-goddess, which Jehu seems to have put away, but not to have destroyed. {2Ki 13:6} As he groveled in the dust before Shalmaneser, did no memory of his own ferocities darken his humiliated soul? Must not he, like our Henry II, have been inclined to utter the wailing cry, "Shame, shame on a conquered king!" The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.