March 20, 2022 - 2 Kings 9-14

Elisha anointed Jehu as king of Israel with these words: “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord’” (9:6,7). You know, the Lord had said he would do this, and the announcement of it meant that it was as good as done. And so, Jehu struck down the entire house of Ahab along with Jezebel and the Baal prophets.

The take on the destruction of the Baal prophets: “And they demolished the pillar of Baal, and demolished the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day” (10:27). And so, Jehu almost wiped out Baalism from Israel, but not quite. He continued to keep in place the idols of Jeroboam. Evil is hard to root out! Things were ugly in the south, also, with Athaliah killing the royal family and setting herself up on the throne in Jerusalem. And there was this king and that king, and there was the death of Elisha (ch. 13). And then, there were more kings and more crises. Amazing that God could work his plans out in the midst of all that mess. But he did! And he does! He accomplishes what he pleases! And out of all this mess will come the Davidic King, the Redeemer, the Messiah.

Hallelujah they cry

To the King of the sky,

To the great everlasting I AM;

To the Lamb who was slain,

And liveth again,

Hallelujah to God and the Lamb. –Charles Wesley (18th century)