Jehu storms his way through 2 Kings 9 and 10 with fury and reckless abandon. He stands in history as one who did God’s will but with dangerous and ungodly means. The story illustrates God’s disdain of evil and idol worship when it ravages God’s people. In verse 20 we see that Jehu had a reputation of being a fast and furious driver. In our day, he’d be in the tricked-out sports car flooring the gas and refusing to signal his lane changes. His story lands him the reputation of a sports hero who paid fines which were almost half his salary. Although he fought valiantly for God, you kind of get the feeling as you read the story that Jehu wanted the story to be more about Jehu. It’s no wonder why Elisha gave his prophet apprentice the instructions for anointing Jehu to anoint him, tell him that he’s king and then run for dear life. This was one bad prince!
Choose a Side
Read 2 Kings 9:16-22
Joram, one of the sons of Jezebel found himself in a difficult position. The rebellion and witchcraft of his mother Jezebel caused him to be the focus of target practice. He enjoyed the life of power and passion in the company of demons, perhaps never considering that there would be a price to pay for his world view. No wonder he asked fearfully, “Do you come in peace?” He probably already knew that he was a dead man. This was, remember, Jehu. The fast and furious driver for God. God’s question to us at the end of our lives won’t be “were you passionate?” People are passionate for lots of things from football to funnel cake. Just because you live passionately doesn’t mean you have a free pass. Hitler was passionate. Charles Manson was passionate. Joseph Stalin was passionate. Kurt Cobain was passionate. The real question is- what is the source and purpose of your passion? As I think about this issue, I can’t help thinking of James Ray, the self-help spiritualist who motivated people to enter the sweat lodge in Arizona where three people died last year. He’s a passionate leader but a leader with no source of real godly guidance and is now paying the price for his pied piper philosophy. Our passion must be funneled into the right direction. And just so you know, there’s only one right direction.
A Friend in the Desert
Read 2 Kings 10:15-17
Jehu encountered Jehonadab whom was a leader of a nomad tribe, living in the desert and keeping the Hebrew traditions of his ancestors. Jehu recognized his faith and asked “Are you with me?” Jehonadab said yes and they joined forced. Jehu invited him to see His zeal for the Lord. Jehonadab is an archetype for accountability. When we are in a spiritual battle, we should never go it alone. We need people around us to evaluate our actions and to partner with us. Solomon recognized this when he said in Ecclesiastes that two are better than one. There is no room for spiritual loners.
- What person are you accountable to as you fight the good fight?
- Are you connecting authentically with someone?
If you aren’t, you’re missing the real excitement of life. God meant life to be a shared experience, especially when there is a battle to be fought.
Situational Ethics
Read 2 Kings 10:18-19
It’s the story of how Jehu punked the idol worshipers. Jehu gathered all the usual suspects of idol worship and led them to believe that he, too, was a Baal worshiper. He called them all to a worship celebration of Baal, and took on the disguise of a true Baal believer. Then at the opening chorus of the first act of worship he called on his army to mow them all down. This is what some professors would call situational ethics- the ends justifying the means. Is it OK to lie or deceive if it accomplishes a purpose? Is it OK to sleep with someone you love but aren’t married to? Is it OK to have an abortion if it will save your reputation? These efforts to grey the lines or to fudge the story always come back to bite you. (Ouch!) Christian character is telling the story straight and doing the right thing, even if it causes pain. How can God get the glory when we have a strong sense of ethics?
The Results of Strong Passion and Weak Character
Read 2 Kings 10:30-32
Verse 31 of this chapter tells the sad end to this incredible anti-hero. The bad boy Jehu who put the pedal to the metal, destroyed the Baal worshipers, and did away with old wicked Jezebel ended up not being true to the God that anointed him as ruler. How utterly common this is! Success often makes fools of believers. We are so easily tempted to believe that we can have a divided heart and still be a success as a believer. What can you do today to prevent such heartbreaks in the future?
Think about this
- In what areas of your life do you need to slow down?
- Are you listening closely to God’s instructions?
- Are you ready to confront the culture with the truth?
- What will your legacy be as a Christ follower?
This work by Matt Tullos is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International
App 3 years ago i was slain in the spirit by the hand of God knocked to the ground. The next day i felt the power of God like i never felt it before. With another worrier when ever i loosed., through the keys to his kingdom. His anointing would radiate of me it’s been about all about rutting up, tearing dow and overthrowing jezebel over this nation and after 2 years day in day out over the nation he is now doing over individuals. I have experienced warfare beyond, day in day out and still do, but God has purified me through it all. We asked for confirmation at the beginning and he lead me to rev 5:6 and said I’ve started the end time overthrowing of satan’s kingdom.
GLORY TO THE GOD OF ABRAHAM ISAAC AND JACOB!!!!!! My email is pompah59@yahoo.com. if anyone is interested in hearing more.
Just read the chapter with Jehu and he sounded like a psychopath! I’m really conflicted on these stories where every man, woman and child is executed. Guilt by association. It just seems too easy to paint the picture of them all being evil to justify the murder of civilians. I guess the point is we all deserve it, and thankfully eventually Jesus came and put a stop to this cycle.
Jehu also fell short of Gods glory. No surprise, it seemed he was doing the killing because he liked it, but because God told him to do it.
Edit, Jehu was doing the killing not because God told him to do it. Rather it seems God picked a guy who enjoyed killing to stop Baal worship.
I read the same passage and I thought he did his job. I hope you do your job at your work place. I am sure you do;I noticed that you may not be a Christian to understand Jehu! Who had to deal with evil(very evil people=devil) in the Old Testament, and that is how it was done.
Example, Baal and Jezebel, you needed a heavy hand but as I see your comment, you are seeing and thinking in the “ flesh “. You can not understand spiritual things in the flesh, Jesus said to Nicodemus, unless one is born again he can not Enter the kingdom of God; that is flesh is flesh, and that is born of spirit is spirit!
God hand picked a Good Soldier like Jehu!! to achieve His Goal, any one who is an obstacle to God’s purpose in the OT suffers death.
Great answer, you understand the time and season and how things were done in the OT.
God intentionally used Jehu to carry out a specific assignment which is the eradication of idol worshipers; and that assignment is not to be carried out by a gentleman. God knows Jehu’s nature as being violent and rugged,hence He used him.
Exactly. Who knows this may have been the literal ONLY way these idol worshipers could be taken out. The Lord would be the one to know that as well.
Who is to say that Jehu wasnt a gentleman anway? He took care of business where business was due but could have been the sweetest guy ever to innocents. We dont really hear about that part.