2 Kings 10:1-36

Jehu set out to clean up the house of Israel and clean house he did.  It was not just a superficial cleaning but a deep “spring cleaning.”  He set out to fulfill the Word of the Lord concerning the promise that God had made concerning Ahab and his descendants.  It is certainly amazing to see his zeal and courage in this matter.  Unfortunately he was not whole-hearted in his dedication to the Lord and continued to practice other forms of idolatry that displeased the Lord.  We often have a tendency to be very strongly convicted about certain areas in our lives where we are zealous to root out the sins we practice in those areas.  Unfortunately, we also have a tendency to tolerate sin in other areas of our lives and these areas often become our downfall.

JEHU ELIMINATES THE DESCEDANTS OF AHAB: There are still seventy sons of Ahab alive and they are being protected by a group of people.  Jehu tells these people to select one of these sons of Ahab to be king and then prepare to do battle with him.  The people are intimidated by Jehu and the fact that he has just killed both the king of Israel and Judah.  They write back to Jehu that they are loyal to him so he tells them to prove it by beheading all of the descendants of Ahab that are with them.  The next day the heads are piled up outside the gates of the city.  He then proceeds to totally eliminate all of the descendants of Ahab just as God had promised He would do through Elijah.  God’s judgment may not always be quick but it is always very complete and it is sure.  We must not be lulled into comfort with our sin because God does not judge it immediately.  God’s patience and mercy must never be mistaken for indifference towards sin. 

JEHU ERADICATES THE DISCIPLES OF BAAL: Jehu’s next act was to pretend to call a massive meeting to worship Baal with all of the priests as well as all of the followers of Baal.  He gathers all of these people in one massive temple on the pretense of making a sacrifice to this idol and then proceeds to slaughter every single person in the building once he makes sure that there are no followers of the Lord in this place.  This was a “house cleaning” very similar to what Elijah had done with the 400 prophets of Baal.  What is amazing is that so quickly after Elijah had proven that Baal was a fraud and killed so many of the prophets of Baal there are so many followers of Baal still in Israel.  Idolatry had polluted the hearts of Israel in a terrible way.  Sin is like that when we open ourselves up to its presence in our lives.  It infects us to our very core and is very difficult to eradicate from our lives.

JEHU IMITATES THE DISOBEDIENCE OF JEROBOAM: Unfortunately Jehu did not serve the Lord with his whole heart and continued to tolerate the worship of other idols such as golden calves and did not remove the high places.  He continued to imitate the type of idolatry that Jeroboam practiced in Israel and left himself open to judgment because of it.  God was pleased with much of what Jehu had done and promised to establish his descendants as kings for the next for generations.  However, he could have done so much more.  We must never become tolerant of sin in any area of our lives and must seek to imitate Christ alone in every area of our lives.  We must turn from every evil influence and allow Christ to reign supreme in our hearts.