Through the Bible Study — 2 Kings 8:24–10:36

Good evening. How are y'all doing? Enjoying the heat? Happy to be in the air conditioning for a little bit this evening. Y'all want to stand with me and I'll open us up in a word of prayer?

Dear Heavenly Father, I just thank you so much for all of the blessings that you give to us each and every day. Some things that we don't even recognize as blessings at the time, God. I just thank you for always knowing what our next step is and what our next day looks like, even when we don't, Lord. I just pray that you would just take away all of our stresses and just help us just to lean on you.

I just pray that all of these songs that we're going to sing this evening, Lord, we would just open our heart to you and just listen. And any of the words that we speak, Lord, I just pray that they would be just direct. Directed straight to you.

All together we're all together wonderful to me.

He's oh so highly exalted, glorious in heaven worship. Here I am to bow and to say that you're my, you're all together love. All together, all together I sing.

You step down. Down into dawn.

How sweet the sound that saved like me.

My chains are. Heavenly Father, I just thank you for giving us this time just to have some one-on-one time with you, Lord. Just to sing you praises, Lord, to sing you the praises that you deserve, God. I just pray that you just use this time just to build our relationship with you, Lord, through the praises. That we sing and through the words that we hear, Lord, and I just pray that as Pastor Ryan comes this evening that you would just speak through him.

God, I pray that you would soften our hearts, Lord, that we wouldn't be thinking about how this applies to somebody else, Lord, but what you would speak to our hearts, that we would understand what you're saying to us tonight about us. I just pray this in your name.

Good evening. If you would open up in your Bibles to the book of Second Kings, Chapter eight, we'll be starting down in verse twenty four. Second Kings, Chapter eight. Tonight, we look at the judgment on the house of Ahab. We saw the end of Ahab himself at the beginning of Second Kings, but there was still this looming judgment out there that had been pronounced upon the house of Ahab.

And tonight, we find that God deals with not only Ahab, Jezebel, but also the descendants, or Ahab's family, Jezebel, and the descendants that had been ruled. So, we start in verse twenty four of Chapter eight, and this is what it says. So, Joram slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Ahaziah, his son, became king in his place. In the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, began to reign.

Okay, I need a little bit of a program here. Does everybody understand that there were two kings named Jehoram? Jehoram, one was in the northern kingdom, one was in the southern kingdom. The one in the southern kingdom died, his son Ahaziah became king in his place. His uncle, Jehoram, in the northern kingdom, is ruling there at the same time. Everybody with me?

I know, you need a little bit of a program to keep up with the kings, especially when they name them the same thing. That's where we are. Ahaziah, verse twenty six, was twenty two years old when he became king, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athaliah, or Athaliah, or Athaliah, I don't know how you pronounce it. The granddaughter.

The daughter of Omri, king of Israel, and he walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, like the house of Ahab had done, because he was son-in-law of the house of Ahab. Then he went with Jehoram, the son of Ahab, to war against Hazael, king of Aram, at Ramoth-Gilead, and the Arameans wounded Jehoram. So king Jehoram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans had inflicted on him at Ramah. When he fought against Hazael, king of Aram.

Then Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel, because he was sick. Now, I left off there last week because this sets the scene for what we'll move into with chapter nine of second kings, because it sets the scene. Because both of these two guys, Ahaziah, who was an evil king down in the southern kingdom, and also related to the family of Ahab, because he was... His mother was the daughter of Ahab, so related to that family as well.

And Jehoram are both together in Jezreel. They had gone to battle together against Hazael. And if you remember, Hazael was the one that Elisha... Came to Elisha because the king of Aram was sick, and he sent Hazael to Elisha to find out if he was going to recover from the sickness. And Elisha said, he'll recover from the sickness, but you're going to end up killing him.

And you're going to end up taking over the kingdom, and you're going to do evil to the children of Israel. Same Hazael, right? Same guy. Painting the picture here. And so they both had gone to war against Hazael. Jehoram of the northern kingdom was wounded. Ahaziah went to go visit him in Jezreel. Everybody with me so far? We following? We tracking? If not, you'll figure it out.

Now, Elisha, the prophet, called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, Gird up your loins and take this flask. Take this flask of oil in your hand and go to Ramoth, Gilead. When you arrive there, search out Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, and go in and bid him arise from among his brothers and bring him to an inner room. And take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, Thus says the Lord, I have anointed you king over Israel.

Then open the door and flee and do not wait. So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramoth. Now, this guy, Jehu, is going to be the guy that we focus on for the next two chapters. We've heard his name before because if we were to jump all the way back into 1 Kings, we would remember that Elijah went through a really hard time in his life. Not Elisha, but Elijah went through a really hard time in his life

and felt like he was the only one left. And God told him, you're not alone. I have lots who have not bowed the knee to Baal. And as a matter of fact, I have at least 70 prophets that are going to be there. But there's two things I need you to do. Number one, I need you to anoint Jehu as king over Israel because he will punish the house of Ahab. He will bring judgment on the house of Ahab.

And then I want you to choose Elisha to be the guy who will follow you. Well, he did the second thing. He chose Elisha to be the guy that was to follow him. But it would appear as though, according to Scripture, Elijah never actually anointed Jehu. He left that for Elisha to do. And this is exactly what Elisha is doing. Even though God had said way back when

that he would use this man Jehu to punish, to judge the house of Ahab, it hadn't happened yet. And this is what we have to remember about judgment. Judgment, in our eyes, is not always swift. But judgment, in God's eyes, is always right on time. Right? And so it's time now. So, Elisha calls aside one of the sons of the prophets, an unnamed young man, and says, this is what I need you to do.

Take a flask of oil. Find Jehu, who is one of the commanders of the army of Israel, and you're going to anoint him as king. And as soon as you anoint him as king, get the heck out of Dodge, right? Because business is about to go down, and you don't want to get caught in the crossfire. Essentially, that's what he told him. So, the young man does exactly what he's supposed to do.

He goes down to Ramoth Gilead, verse 5. And when he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting. He said, I have a word for you, O captain. And Jehu said, for which one of us? And he said, for you. And he arose, and he went into the house, and he poured oil on his head, and he said to him, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord,

even over Israel. You shall strike the house of Ahab, your master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants, the prophets, and the blood of the servants of the Lord at the hand of Jezebel. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male person, both bonds, and free in Israel. And we'll make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah.

The dog shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her. And then he opened the door, and he fled. And Jehu came to the servants of his master. And one said, is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you? He said, ah, you know the mad man that is talking. And they said, that's a lie. Tell us now. He said, thus says the Lord, thus and thus he said to me,

thus says the Lord, I have anointed you king over Israel. And they hurried, and each man took his garment and placed it under him on the bare steps and blew the trumpet, saying, Jehu is king. Can you imagine being Jehu in this moment? You're one of the leaders of the army of Joram. And probably you don't really like Joram all that much. After all, he's a pretty evil guy.

And perhaps Jehu did have a heart for the Lord because we do know that living in the northern kingdom at that point in time, even though there was a bad king in leadership, even though there was bad rulers over the land, there were still people that loved the Lord and cared about the things of the Lord. And perhaps Jehu was one who was zealous for the Lord. He just needed that kickstart. He needed that call from God.

And that's what God gave him. But did you take note of what Jehu told he was supposed to do? He was told that he was going to reign over Israel and that he was going to be an instrument of God's judgment and that God would avenge the righteous blood of all of his servants, the righteous blood that Jezebel had shed. Now, I remind us of this again because sometimes in the economy of the world, it feels like justice is not swift.

As a matter of fact, sometimes in the economy of the world, it feels like the evil people get away with evil and the good people just keep paying the price and the good people just keep being oppressed by the evil. And sometimes we can find ourselves in a place where we say God doesn't see, God doesn't know, God won't act. And we need to be reminded that God sees and that God knows, and that God will act. Every unjust act that is committed, every evil atrocity that is committed, God takes note and God will deal with those individuals.

And we can rest in that. We can rest in the fact that God will deal with the evil in this world and he'll deal with it in his time and he'll deal with it in his way. And probably for those who had stood under the rule and reign of Ahab and saw all of the evil perpetrated by Ahab and then also saw that Jezebel, his wife, is still alive and still promoting Baal worship and still housing the prophets of Baal and still doing all of these evil things and nothing's ever been done to her. They're going, Lord, when are you going to do something?

And God said, well, the time has come. So he anointed Jehu to do this job. And can you imagine, it's probably a little bit overwhelming. Like, first of all, this guy you've never met before comes to you and some prophet, probably dressed like a prophet, and we kind of know at this point in time those guys were a little bit eccentric. Like, God had them do really eccentric,

eccentric things, right? Probably a dude with a beard and leather belt, maybe kind of a hairy guy, right? That's how the other prophets are described. Comes to him and he gives him this word. And soaking it all in had to have been a little bit overwhelming. And I know that because when he was first asked, what'd that guy say to you? He was like, oh, it was really nothing.

And they're like, dude, you're lying to us. Like, the look on your face would tell us he told you something really intense. And he goes, okay, you guys aren't going to believe this. He told me that I've been anointed as king and that I'm going to take out the household of Ahab. And they respond immediately by showing their allegiance, by showing, you know what?

We're behind you 100%. Well, now it's time. Now that Jehu has been anointed as king, it's time to see what God is going to do with him. And so Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. And Joram, with all Israel, was defending Ramoth-Gilead against Hazael, king of Aram. But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to be healed of the wounds

which the Arameans had afflicted on him when he had fought with Hazael, king of Aram. So Jehu said, if this is your mind, then let no one escape or leave the city and go tell it in Jezreel. So Jehu rode in a chariot and he went to Jezreel and Joram was lying there. And Ahaziah, king of Judah, had come down. He had come to see Joram. And the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel

and he saw the company of Jehu as he came and he said, I see a company. And Joram said, take a horseman and send him to meet them and let him say, is it peace? Of course, it's a desert area so you can see someone coming in a chariot from a really long ways away and the watchman says, there's someone coming. It looks like it might be Joram. Go and see what's going on with him.

Find out if he brings a message of peace. Remember, or excuse me, Jehu, Joram is injured in this city trying to recover from it. Ahaziah is there with him and he needs to find out what's really going on. And so Jehu is on his way to handle the business that God has given him to do. And it says, verse 18, so a horseman went to meet him and he said, thus says the king,

is it peace? And Jehu said, what have you to do with peace? Turn behind me. And the watchman reported, the messenger came to him but he did not return. Then he sent out a second horseman who came to them and said, thus says the king, is it peace? And Jehu answered, what have you to do with peace? Turn behind me. And the watchman reported, he came even to them

and he did not return. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously. We'll get to the driving furiously thing here in just a second. So he starts sending out these horsemen to find out what Jehu's doing. And Jehu is focused, right? He has the eye of the tiger at this point in time, right? Like that song is playing in the background.

There's a training montage going on in the background of this entire thing and he is heading for battle. And horsemen are coming, are you coming in peace? He's like, what do you have to do with peace? Get behind me. And they're like, I'll follow this guy, right? So they're ready to ride with him because he just looks like he's a man on a mission. But everybody wants to follow a man on a mission.

And so finally, after these guys aren't coming back, the watchman says, no one's coming back of the horsemen. And the guy driving kind of reminds me of Jehu. You know why? Because he's driving furiously. How many of y'all need Jehu to be written across the side of your cars, right? Like, oh, I see him coming because he is driving furiously. Except for me, I drive aimlessly.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. So Jehu goes riding into town and it says in verse 21, then Joram said, get ready. And they made his chariot ready and Joram, king of Israel, and Ahaziah, king of Judah, went out to meet him, each in his chariot. And they went to meet Jehu and they found him in the property of Naboth, the Jezreelite. Now, up to this point in time,

Joram has no reason to believe that he is in any sort of danger. As a matter of fact, remember he's in this city because he's injured, but he has taken a chance because Jehu is one of his leading generals and he's not sending anyone back with a message. He's thinking something has gone bad in the battle and we need to find out what's going on. So he and Ahaziah, who had conspired together to go to war together, drive out to meet him, still thinking that there's nothing wrong.

But I want you to notice how Jehu is in this city. Jehu responds in verse 22. It says, When Joram saw Jehu, he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft are so many? It's quite an answer that he gives to him. And at that point in time, Joram probably knew this isn't good. As a matter of fact,

that's what he's going to say in the very next verse. But if I could just make a quick personal application point here that I think, needs to be made. And that's that what he says to Joram is true in our lives too. There can be no peace as long as sin is there. Now listen, I'm not saying every time that you struggle with having peace in your life, it means that there's sin in your life.

But I am saying if there's sin in your life, there's not going to be any peace in your life. If there's sin in your life, there can't be peace in your life. Because at that point in time, you're at war with God. He's already dealt with your sin. He's already covered your sin. But you have, brought it back to the surface. And now there is something between you and him.

There is something between you and God that needs to be dealt with. And there can't be peace in your life. There can't be peace in your relationships. There can't be peace at your job. There can't be peace in any of those situations as long as there's sin in your life. That's why the first place we come to when we come to know Jesus as our Lord and Savior is the first thing he brings us

is peace, right? It is because finally we gave up. We were at war with God. And unfortunately, because of our sin, he had to be at war with us. But he had made peace through the blood of his cross. And when we come to Jesus, he brings us so much peace because finally we've laid it all out before him. We've given him all of those sins. But you know as well as I do

that as you walk with Jesus, the longer that you walk with Jesus, the more we can allow sin into our lives if we're not careful. The more we can begin to compromise. You know, that's really not too big of a deal. I can allow a little bit of this in. I can allow a little bit of this in. I can allow a little bit of this in. I can allow a little bit of this in.

I can allow a little bit of this in. I can allow a little bit of this in. After all, I don't want to be legalistic, right? And we allow a little bit more sin into our lives. And the more sin that you allow into your life, the more turmoil you allow into your life. The less peace you allow into your life. And so what he was saying to Joe Ram was not a point of personal application.

It was just a point of reality. There cannot be peace as long as the sin of your mother and the sin of your family goes undealt with. You want that peace back in your life? You've got to deal with the sin. The only way that we can deal with the sin is to take that to Jesus and confess it to Him and deal with it. Put it on the cross. Crucify our flesh. Surrender those things to Him.

And the moment that we do, that peace begins to return because we now know that there's nothing between us and God any longer. But he says, how can there be peace as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many? So Joe Ram reigned about and fled and said to Ahaziah, there is treachery, O Ahaziah. And Jehu drew his bow with full strength and he shot Joe Ram between the arms.

And the arrow went through his heart and sank into his chariot. And Jehu said to Bidkar, his officer, take him and cast him into the property of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. For I remember when you and I were writing about the story of Jezreel. We were writing together after Ahab his father that the Lord laid this oracle against him. Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth

and the blood of his sons, says the Lord, and I will repay you in this property, says the Lord. Now take and cast him into the property according to the word of the Lord. Well, immediately when he yelled out what he did about there can't be peace as long as the harlotries of your mother are around, he knew, oh, this is a bad situation. I'm in danger. And so he tried to get away.

There was no getting away. So he shot him with that arrow and it went all the way through him into the chariot in front of him. So he died right there and his blood spilled into the chariot. And then he told him to do something interesting. He said, take his body and dump it in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. Now, if you remember, if we were to go all the way back to 1 Kings,

we would know that there was a story about Ahab and Jezebel and Naboth. You see, right next to where the winter home of Ahab was, was this beautiful, beautiful vineyard of a guy named Naboth. And Ahab wanted it so bad. And he kept telling Naboth, I'll give you anything that you want. I'll give you better fields. I'll give you all the money that you want. You name it.

I just want this vineyard. It's really beautiful. But Naboth, being the upstanding man that he was, said, this is my family property. This is my inheritance. I can't sell my inheritance. So Ahab was pouting one day about the fact that he couldn't have the vineyard that he wanted. And Jezebel comes into the house and she says, why do you look so sad today? And he said, well, I can't have the vineyard that I want.

And she said, would you stop whining? You're the king. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it for you. And she set up a conspiracy against Naboth so that people spoke badly against him and he was put to death for crimes that he did not commit. And she said, now you can have the vineyard of Naboth. But God saw what happened. And God was angry about what happened.

Because God was angry about what happened, he pronounced judgment on the house of Ahab. And as he pronounced that judgment on the house of Ahab, Ahab, for just a brief moment, repented and he said, Lord, I'm so sorry for what I've done. And God said, do you see that heart? Judgment will still have to come, but it will not come in the way that I've spoken in his lifetime.

But because there was not true repentance in the heart of Ahab, judgment still had to come. And even though it didn't come in his lifetime, God saw, God remembered, and God acted. And now Naboth has been justified, has been avenged because of what took place. Because he said, now take his body and throw it into the field of Naboth, just like God said. And so,

so Joe Ram is dealt with. Now it says, verse 27, When Ahaziah, king of Judah, saw this, he fled from the city of the garden house and Jahab pursued him and said, shoot him too in the chariot. So they shot him at the ascent of Ger, I don't know, it doesn't feel like the right way to say that, but whatever, which is at Ibleum. But he fled to Megiddo and died there.

And then his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in a grave with his fathers in the city of David. In the 11th year of Joe Ram, the son of Ahab, Ahaziah became king over Judah. And when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it. So Ahaziah, who really wasn't a part of this at all, other than the fact that he was a descendant of Ahab, simply because he was married to Ahab's daughter, even though he was a part of that family, really had nothing to do with this.

And if he had not found himself in this situation, might have escaped this sort of a death. But you know, there's something kind of interesting that happens when you find yourself in the company of sinners. A lot of times, you get swept up in their sin. When you find yourself in the company of evil men, sometimes you get swept up in the judgment of evil men.

We're told both in the Old and the New Testament, it says, don't be deceived. God is not mocked. Bad company corrupts good morals. Now, Ahaziah was not a moral man, but what he found is that he got caught up in the judgment of those that were sinful around him. And I think that there's always a lesson for us here. And that's that, who we surround ourselves with matters.

If you notice, this is the second week in a row we've talked about this. I didn't plan it this way. It's just what happened. Because another story came up just like it. It's almost like God's trying to get something across to us. I don't know who needs to hear this. I don't know who needs to hear this two weeks in a row. If it's you, pick up the lesson so I don't have to talk about it again next week.

Because the people that you spend time with matter. The people that you invest time with matters. Because you will always spend time with them. And that's exactly what happens to Ahaziah here. He gets swept up in the judgment and ultimately he gets taken out as well. Well, now it's time to deal with Jezebel. This is like sort of the end of the Mario Brothers game,

right, where you thought you defeated all of the really bad guys and now you're to the final really bad guy. Jezebel was the really bad guy. And I think that this is kind of interesting because we find that Ahab was a pretty evil guy, but he really wasn't the source of all of the evil. Joram was a pretty evil person, but he really wasn't the source of all of the evil.

Ahaziah was a pretty evil person. He wasn't really the source of all of the evil. Do you remember when we first read about Ahab that he added to the list of all of his sins that he married Jezebel, who was the daughter of the king of the Sidonians, and she's the one who brought Baal worship into Israel? Now, I tell you that because I think it's important for us to pay attention to, because if we were to jump all the way into the book of Revelation, we would find, I think it's the church, of, I think it's Thyatira, that's told that the biggest issue that they have is that they have allowed Jezebel to be in the church.

It's kind of interesting because at that point in time, we realize what's being talked about based upon this, that a source of evil had been allowed in the church, and the source of evil that had been allowed in the church had brought idolatry into the church. You see, what we have to realize is is that Jezebel, while a real person, is also very symbolic of something in our lives, is that you can see lots of symptoms of things in our lives. You can see lots of Ahabs, and Jorams, and Ahaziahs, but at the heart of all of those symptoms is one main problem, the idolatry that has been introduced into your life, or the idolatry that has been introduced into the church, or the idolatry that has been introduced into the movement.

Whatever it is, there's always a source of it, and what we find is that the source is Jezebel. And so, the first thing that we want to do, the first thing that we see is when Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her eyes, and she adorned her head, and she looked out the window. Now, I always pictured this one particular way, and one commentator that I read made me picture it a little bit of a different way, right? I had a little bit of a picture of sort of the Joker situation going on every time I read this, that she's like putting makeup on her face, only it looks a little bit crazy, like when all is said and done, you're like, aw, she's crazy, isn't she?

Right? Like, that's what I always had pictured, like lipstick smeared all over her face, and eyes done up all crazy, and you're just going, aw, she escaped the mental institution. But one commentator that I read said, Jezebel dressed herself up to try to seduce Jehu. And it's kind of an interesting thought, because according to church tradition, excuse me, according to Hebrew tradition, she was said to have been the most beautiful woman of her time.

Even as she got older, one of the most beautiful women of her time. And so she was ultimately trying to seduce Jehu. And can we just be honest and say that no matter what, when God is using you, there is always someone who wants to try to seduce you away from that. There will always be something that tries to pull you away from that. And that's exactly what Jezebel did,

because listen, that's exactly what sin does. That's exactly what the source of sin in our life does, is it tries to seduce us away from our main goal, our main goal. Away from our main mission, away from what God has called for us to do. And if we don't stay focused, we will allow the seduction of sin to pull us away from our main focus in life. And that's exactly what Jezebel tries to do to him here.

So she paints her face and she adorns her head and she looks out the window. And as Jehu entered the gate, he said, she said, "'Is it well, Zimri, your master's murderer?' He lifted up his face to the window and said, "'Who is on my side? Who?' Two or three officials looked down at him and he said, "'Throw her down.' So they threw her down and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses. He trampled her underfoot.'" It's interesting how she responds to him when he first rides into town.

She refers to him as Zimri. And that's not just some funny nickname that she had for him. Again, if we were to go back to 1 Kings, we would, it might have been the beginning of 2 Kings, we would find that there was a man named Zimri who killed another king of Israel whose name was Baasha. He conspired against him and he killed him. And essentially, she was saying,

"'You're a conspirator against the king just like Zimri.'" It was a term of criticism of Jehu. He didn't let the seduction pull him away from his focus. And he didn't let the criticism pull him away from his focus. He just stayed focused. And he looked up and he said, "'Who's with me?'' Isn't it amazing? A good leader can look at people and say, "'Who's with me?'

And immediately, several of the people around were like, "'Well, we are. "'You feel like the right guy to follow at this point in time. "'After all, you done killed everybody else, right? "'You done killed the rest of the leaders. "'We're with you.'" And so he said, "'Throw her down.'" And without hesitation, they threw her out. And can we just say that if you want purity in the church,

eventually you gotta throw out Jezebel. If you want purity in your life, eventually you gotta be willing to throw out Jezebel. Jezebel can't be something that you entertain. It can't be something that you're willing to live with. It's gotta be something that you put to death. And that's what they do. They throw her out, hits the ground, blood splatters. He rides over top of her, right?

And notice what he does, kind of funny. When he came in, he ate and he drank. And he said, "'Seeing out of this cursed woman and barrier, "'for she is the king's daughter.'" After all of this, he goes in and eats a quick snack, gets himself a drink, and then says, "'Someone should deal with her. "'After all, she is a king's daughter. "'She should be handled respectfully.'

"'They went to bury her, "'but they found nothing more of her than the skull "'and the feet and the palms of her hands. "'Therefore they returned and told him. "'And he said, "'This is the word of the Lord, "'which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, "'saying, "'In the property of Jezreel, "'the dog shall eat the flesh of Jezebel, "'and the corpse of Jezebel will be as dung' "'on the face of the field in the property of Jezebel.'" So they cannot say, this is Jezebel. Like I like to tell people, sometimes the Bible is sometimes rated PG-13, sometimes it's rated R, but it's a little bit of a rough ending for the life of Jezebel.

But that's how you gotta deal with sin. Sin can't be played with. It has to be put to death. Well, Jehu's not done yet. Chapter 10, it says, "'Now Ahab had 70 sons in Samaria. "'And Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria "'to the rulers of Jezreel, "'the elders and to the guardians "'of the children of Ahab, saying, "'Now when this letter comes to you,

"'since your master's sons are with you, "'as well as the chariots and the horses "'and a fortified city and the weapons, "'select the best and fittest of your master's son "'and set him on his father's throne "'and fight for your master's house.' "'But they feared greatly and said, "'Behold, two kings didn't stand before him. "'How can we stand?' "'And the one who was over the household, "'he who was over the city, "'the elders and the guardians of the children, "'sent word to Jehu, saying, "'We are your servants. "'All that you say to us we will do. "'We will not make any man king "'do what is good in your sight.'" That feels like a logical thing to do at this point in time.

He shows up to Jezreel where he knows the rest of Ahab's family is. Most think that this was like a winter place for Ahab's family. And these elders are the ones who were in charge of taking care of this winter place for Ahab's family. And he says, listen, you guys need to choose for yourself a leader. Get yourself an army together and come out and fight against this.

And the elders kind of huddle up and they're like, two kings have died and lots of other people are dying. This feels like it's not going to go our way. And they're like, yeah, yeah. Let's just ask him what he wants. That feels fair. Let's do that. Okay. So they say, what do you want us to do? So he wrote them another letter. Verse six. Wrote a letter the second time.

Said, if you're on my side and you will listen to my voice, take the heads of the men, your master's son. Come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at about this time. The king's son's 70 persons were with the great men of the city who were rearing them. When the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and they slaughtered them, 70 persons. And they put their heads in baskets

and sent them to him at Jezreel. And when the messenger came and told him, saying, they brought the heads of the king's son, he said, put them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate in the morning. And in the morning he went out and he stood there and said to all the people, you are innocent. Behold, I conspired against my master and killed him. But who killed all these?

Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab. For the Lord has done what he spoke through his servant, Elijah. So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel and all his great men and acquaintances and his priests until he left him without a survivor. Then he arose and he departed and he went to Samaria.

And on the way, while he was at Beth-Aked of the shepherds, Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and said, who are you? He answered, we're relatives of Ahaziah and we've come to greet the sons of the king and the sons of the queen mother. He said, take them alive. So they took them alive and killed them at the pit of Beth-Aked, 42 men, and he left none of them.

It's starting to feel a little bit like Jehu's getting out of control here, but we'll keep going and see what else he does. We'll keep going and see what else he does. We'll keep going and see what else he does. We'll keep going and see what else he does. It says, now when he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, coming to meet him. And he greeted him and he said to him,

is your heart right as my heart is right? And Jehonadab answered and said, it is. And Jehu said, if it is, give me your hand. And he gave him his hand and he took him up into the chariot. Now, sidebar, this guy Jehonadab's kind of interesting and he'll actually show up again somewhere around, I think it's chapter 34 of the book of Jeremiah as a guy who was really a pretty solid man of God

and who tried to really bring about reforms in the area that he lived. Anyway, we'll deal with him when we get to Jeremiah. So he pulls him up in the chariot and I want you to notice what he said. He said, come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. So he made him ride in his chariot. And when he came to Samaria, he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria

until he had destroyed him. According to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Elijah. Now, up to this point in time, it seems like Jehu's really been doing a good job because he's very zealous for the Lord. He's really doing what God has called for him to do and nothing's getting in his way. But in that last little set of verses, we saw two potential issues arise in the life of Jehu.

And we're gonna find that those issues will show themselves at the end of his life, especially in the summary of his life. And the two issues are these. Number one is that pride was starting to rear its ugly head. Did you notice what he said to Jehonadab? Did you notice what he said to Jehonadab? He didn't say, I'm on a mission from God. He didn't say, God has sent me to do this.

He said, come and see my zeal for the Lord. It's interesting how when God uses us, if we're not careful, pride will begin to creep in. And we will begin to tell people how great we are and all of the great things that we have done. And so it was a danger in his life because that pride is gonna cause issues for him later. But the other issue is that perhaps he is becoming a little too bloodthirsty.

Perhaps he is becoming a little too interested in his own agenda. And not just God's. And we know that because of a little place in scripture called Hosea. Matter of fact, you might just write Hosea 1, verse 4 in the margin of your Bible. I'm gonna read it to you. The beginning of Hosea, this is what God tells to Hosea. And the Lord said to him, call his name Jezreel.

For in a little while, I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu. And I will bring an end to the kingdom of Israel. Of the house of Israel. It indicates to us that maybe his own agenda was coming through more than God's at this point in time. And maybe getting just a little bit bloodthirsty. Couple of things to think about as we get ready to wrap up this story.

Verse 18. It says, then Jehu gathered all the people and said to them, Ahab, serve Baal a little. Jehu will serve him much. Now summon all the prophets of Baal and all the worshipers and all his priests and let no one be missing. For I have a great service for Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live. But Jehu did it in cunning so that he might destroy the worshipers of Baal.

And he said, sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it. And Jehu sent throughout Israel and all the worshipers of Baal came so that there was not a man left who did not come. And when they went into the house of Baal, the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. He says, the one who is in charge of the wardrobe, bring out garments for the worshipers of Baal.

So he brought out garments for them. And Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab, the son of Rechab. And he said to the worshipers of Baal, search and see that there is with you none of the servants of the Lord, but only the worshipers of Baal. So they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. And Jehu had stationed for himself 80 men outside.

He said, the one who permits any of the men whom I bring into your hands to escape shall give up his life in exchange. They came about. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the royal officers, go in, kill them, let none come out. They killed them with the edge of the sword. The guard and the royal officers threw them out

and went to the inner room of the house of Baal. They brought out the sacred pillars of the house of Baal and burned them. And they also broke down the sacred pillar of Baal and broke down the house of Baal and made it a latrine to this day. I think some of your translations may say a dung heap. I do appreciate the old King James for that. Thus Jehu eradicated Baal out of Israel.

What a fantastic story of a guy that was just on fire, right? Like this is Denzel Washington from Man on Fire if I've ever seen it before in my life, right? Just absolutely working the place over. Maybe got a little out of control a couple of times, but absolutely sent on a mission from God to eradicate the evil in the land at that point in time. And up to this point you go,

maybe I wouldn't have handled it. Maybe I wouldn't have done the things the way that he did. But he pretty well did what God told him to do. And it seems like he was a wonderful king. He was a wonderful leader. Let's come to the conclusion of Jehu. It says, however, oh, it's never good. As for the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin,

from these Jehu did not depart. Even the golden calves that were at Bethel and that were at Dan. The Lord said to Jehu, because you have done well in executing what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on your throne. But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart.

He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel sin. And in those days the Lord began to cut off portions from Israel. Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel. From the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Massonites from Aror, which is from the valley of Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.

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. Jehu slept with his fathers and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz, his son, became king in his place. The time that he reigned over Israel in Samaria was 28 years. Now as we look at the conclusion, there's a handful of things I want you to pay attention to.

Number one is that there were rewards for obedience. Right? Like he did well. Ultimately he did well because he did what God called for him to do. He did a very difficult job and he did it pretty thoroughly. And so God said you did really well in that you eradicated the household of Ahab and that you eradicated the worship of Baal in Israel. And so because of that,

you will have a really long reign yourself. 28 years, that's a pretty long reign. And up to the fourth generation, one of your descendants is going to sit on the throne. And you would have to think that if it weren't for him, his failures of faithfulness, perhaps it would have been a dynasty that would have lived on far beyond those four generations. But while there were rewards for his obedience,

there was also a failure of faithfulness. The first part of the failure is that he didn't depart from the sins of Jeroboam. Remember Jeroboam had set up the two golden calves. And while in Jeroboam's mind, he was having them worship God, it was a false worship of God that ultimately turned the nation to idolatry. But I think the real nail in the coffin, for Jehu came in verse 31 when it says that,

Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all of his heart. Ultimately, his failure of faithfulness is that he was not wholeheartedly following God. It was easy when he had the mission. It was easy when he had the goal. But when it just came down to the day in and day out ruling of the people in a godly, faithful manner, he failed in his faithfulness.

Well, I think that there's a handful of lessons that we learn from the life of Jehu. And we'll wrap up with three things. Three things that I think we can kind of take away from this story. Number one, God is sovereign in the kingdoms of man. God is always sovereign in the kingdoms of man. I'm reminded that God is the one that ultimately allowed Ahab to be in power.

And that was partly to judge the nation. It was God who, who allowed Joram, his son, to be in power. Again, ultimately, to continue to bring judgment on the nations. And ultimately, God is the one who anointed Jehu to put him into power to finish off that judgment upon not only the house of Ahab, but the nation of Israel. God even appointed Hazael, who would be the king over Aram,

who would ultimately begin the process of taking over portions of the land from Israel, because God had to deal with the nation of Israel. Because even though Israel had rejected God, God was still going to judge them. God was still going to do his work in the nation of Israel. And God is sovereign in the kingdoms of man. It's something that you see not only in this section,

but it's something that you see throughout the entire Bible. And it's something that we still see in our world today. And it reminds us of this because of the, the unhinged nature of the world that we live in. And the fear that sometimes can be created because of the unhinged nature of the world that we live in. And we think, is God still in control with everything that we see?

Understand that he is. Because God is sovereign in the kingdoms and the nations of man. And God will always appoint leaders. Sometimes he will appoint leaders to bless a nation. Sometimes he will appoint leaders to judge a nation. But all leadership comes from God. And so, number one, God is sovereign in the kingdom of man, kingdoms of man, and we can rest in that.

Number two, without true repentance, there will be real judgment. Without true repentance, there will be real judgment. Remember we said that when Ahab took over the field of Naboth, put Naboth to death, God pronounced judgment on him. And for just a moment in time, there was a hint of repentance on the part of Ahab. But that repentance was not true. That repentance was not real.

That repentance was very short-lived. You see, he was repenting because of the consequences, not because of the reality of his sin. And so because he only repented because of the consequences, it wasn't true repentance. And without true repentance, there's always going to be real judgment. We can see this happen in the church sometimes where somebody experiences maybe the effects

of sin or the effects of consequences in their life. And so they make a short-lived pledge to Jesus. And they say, I'm just going to follow Jesus now. And we see, oh, that's so cool. Look at how God is changing their life. And then pretty soon they fall back into the things of the world. It wasn't true repentance. Therefore, it's real judgment. And so, number three, God is sovereign in the kingdom of man.

And so, number four, God is sovereign in the kingdom of man. And so, number five, God is sovereign in the kingdom of man. Therefore, through repentance, we are able to see God's true purpose, so we have to pay attention to that in our lives. We want that true repentance in our lives, not repenting because there are consequences but repenting because of the reality of the brokenness that sin brings.

See, God calls that the difference between the sorrow of the world and godly sorrow. The sorrow of the world brings death. Godly sorrow brings repentance and it brings peace. The third thing that we learned from Jehu's life is this. We learned that God is looking for those whose hearts are true to him. God is looking for people who will follow him wholeheartedly. I don't remember

where I've read this quote before. It just popped into mind right now. But I have it written in the front of one of the Bibles that I have in my office. And it says this, the world has yet to see what God can do through a man who is truly surrendered to God. Because God is looking for those who will truly follow him, who are truly pursuing him. And I had 2 Chronicles 16, 9 put up

there. You have to turn there, but you might write that in the margin of your Bible or your notes somewhere. I'll read it to you. It says this, for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to him. I find that one of the lessons that God brings me through is that God is looking for people who will truly

follow him. And I think that's something that I'm going to be back to quite often in my study of scripture and in my own personal devotional time is the lesson of wholeheartedness. That ultimately that's God's greatest desire for us. He's not looking for perfection from us because after all we're fallen human beings and he knows our flesh that we're but dust. He's not looking for great

works that we can do. After all, any great work that I can do comes about because of the great power that God gives to me. No, what he's looking for is a whole heart. He's looking for somebody who will follow him. He's looking for somebody who will follow him. He's looking for somebody who will follow him wholeheartedly, who will take their eyes off of all of the things of the world

and look unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of their faith, to simply run the race that is set before him. Now that I can do. That I can do because I can focus 100% on Jesus and pursue him with all of my heart. Because at the end of the day, God's looking for those whose hearts are true to him. Think about David. David was a man whose life was full of flaws.

And yet what is the continual witness of David that we read about over and over and over again in scripture? David followed the Lord wholeheartedly. That's all God wants for us is a heart that is true to him. Amen. Father, we come to you now. And Lord, I pray that for each of us that's in this room this evening, everyone that's watching online, Lord, I pray that you would give us hearts that

are true to you. Lord, hearts that are focused wholeheartedly upon you. So Lord, do your work in us, we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.