Here’s a quick heads up for you: If you have been following the names of the kings from the north and south and trying to keep them straight (like I have), then today’s reading may have you as confused as I was….until I did some quick research and found out that there were kings of the same name in the north and south (like Ahaziah). And, Jehoram and Joram might be the same person….wow.
Happy 4th of July to all of you! Here in the United States we are celebrating our independence today, this being the day our forefathers signed their “Declaration of Independence”. I was thinking recently that in my spiritual life there is no such document. I have no “spiritual independence day” because I am completely dependent upon God. The very problem that the nation of Israel is having (as we read) in both the northern and southern parts of the kingdom is due to independence. Once we become independent from God we begin to drift, become less wise, less flexible, less alive. Our decisions begin to lead us further away, which in turn makes us even worse off. It’s called the downward spiral, and it probably begins with pride and self confidence, which leads to our “declaration of independence”. “Lord, as I celebrate the independence of this country, and thank you for the many blessings that you have given me, my family and this nation, I am reminded of my complete dependence on you. I don’t want to be independent of you, ever. Please continue to bless our country as we do everything in our power to turn our ways back to your ways…and keep each of us who live here, and serve you, safe in your arms.”
Well now, let’s see what our friends in ancient Israel are doing today.
We read about how Jehu took over the kingdom once anointed by the prophet. I contrast his violent overthrow of the king and his family to the way that David refused to touch God’s anointed. In this case, Jehu was told to completely wipe out Ahab’s family…remember, God isn’t unjust or cruel in doing this…Ahab led the entire nation deeper into idol worship than they had been before. He was truly an evil king and a wicked leader. I find it just that his body falls dead in Naboth’s vineyard. in 9:26 it mentions that Naboth’s sons were also killed at that time, and for what? a plot of land? I seriously am looking forward as I read to the account of Jezebels “fall” from grace. Ha! “fall” get it?
Ahaziah (the king in the south) is riding along with Ahab’s son king Joram (king in the north) when Jehu catches up with them. By the way, I’m thinking that it takes a real scholar to keep these names straight. Jehu is the son of Jehoshaphat, but not the same one that was a king. And Joram is also spelled Jehoram, and there was a king in both the north and south with that name. And, guess what? Yes, there was a king in both the north and south called Ahaziah. So don’t kick yourself for not being able to keep the names straight. Neither can I.
Anyway, Ahaziah South is riding with Joram North and they are both killed by Jehu who is now filled with the confidence and boldness of the Holy Spirit to execute his mission. If Ahaziah had refused to associate with the corrupt and evil Joram his life would have been spared, but when you associate with bad people, you receive their punishment along with them.
I notice that Jehu runs his chariot wheels over Jezebel after she is thrown to the ground. The fall almost certainly killed her, so this is simply termination with extreme prejudice. I have to suspect that the anger Jehu is showing is a reflection of the anger God feels. It reminds me of a passage in Revelation that says that the wicked will one day drink God’s anger full strength from His cup wrath. (The exact quote can be found in Revelation 14:10). Just another example of how God hates false worship, and punishes those who do so.
One more quick note on Jehu: In almost every way that you can think of, Jehu appears to be a righteous king. However he never removed the golden calves that Jeroboam had set up. I understand that he left them there for the same reason that Jeroboam created them…he didn’t want the people to be reunited into one kingdom (since that would be the end of his reign). I wonder how different society would be today if one of those kings had been selfless enough to destroy the calves and move the nation to reconciliation? How many millions of lives would have been saved? I guess there’s no way to know for sure. One author says that Jehu made a terrible error in the way that he tricked the prophets of Baal into coming to the temple. You will remember that he said he wanted to worship Baal even more than Ahab. This commentator said that Jehu should never have spoken those words aloud, because what we say has power over us. Jehu’s comments revealed that he would worship false gods, and the fact that the calves remained are the proof. Personally, I don’t think that Jehu had any intention of ever worshipping Baal, and I think he feared and respected God, but not as completely as David had. If he had consulted with the prophets and priests he would have known to remove the calves and finish the job.
I wonder what our “golden calves” are today. What keeps us from unity with our friends and neighbors, both in the United States and abroad? What things are we hanging onto that God would tell us to discard? I wonder if our leaders have done the same thing that Jehu did….kept some things around so that we won’t all become one “big family”…since that would mean they would be out of a job?
I think governments largely misrepresent other governments to their people, and to some extent instill fear of others…because they don’t want to be out of power themselves. Certainly every nation has enemies, but if you talk to the common person on the street you will find that they generally don’t prefer war. They would rather live in peace. It’s the governments that stir people up and move us into conflict. (again, this certainly isn’t true every time, but it is true often. For instance, without Adolf Hitler that country would never have gone to war)
Joash is mentioned here briefly, more on him in the coming days.
Faithfully,
PR