2 Kings chapter 9

Jehu becomes king of Israel. He assassinates kings Joram and Ahaziah. He assassinates queen Jezebel.

 


 

JEHU BECOMES KING OF ISRAEL

 

VERSE 1. Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him, “Put your belt on your waist, take this vial of oil in your hand, and go to Ramoth Gilead.

one of the sons of the prophets. Also know as a “guild” prophet.

 

VERSE 2. When you come there, find Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in and make him rise up from among his brothers, and take him to an inner room.

 

VERSE 3. Then take the vial of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, ‘The LORD says, “I have anointed you king over Israel.” ’ Then open the door, flee, and don’t wait.”

and say, ‘the LORD says. The message is very brief. It only consists of seven words:

I have anointed you king over Israel.

But in the verses that follow, the young prophet commands Jehu to assassinate people.

Why did the young prophet add that command. Does he have a hidden agenda? Is he triggering a revolution, and pretending to do it in the name of the LORD God?

And why didn’t Elisha deliver the message himself?

 

VERSE 4. So the young man, the young prophet, went to Ramoth Gilead.

 

VERSE 5. When he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting. Then he said, “I have a message for you, captain.” Jehu said, “To which one of us?” He said, “To you, O captain.”

 

VERSE 6. He arose, and went into the house. Then he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel.

The LORD, the God of Israel, says. The lengthy message spoken by the young prophet is not the message given him by Elisha in verse 3 above.

Why did he say all the extra content? Was he inserting his own agenda?

 

VERSE 7. You must strike your master Ahab’s house, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.

strike your master Ahab’s house. The young prophet commands Jehu to assassinate people.

This is not the message from Elisha.

 

VERSE 8. For the whole house of Ahab will perish. I will cut off from Ahab everyone who urinates against a wall, both him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel.

everyone who urinates against a wall. The King James Version says “one that pisseth against a wall.” It means “males.”

This too is not the message from Elisha.

 

VERSE 9. I will make Ahab’s house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah.

 

VERSE 10. The dogs will eat Jezebel on the plot of ground of Jezreel, and there shall be no one to bury her.’ ” Then he opened the door and fled.

 

VERSE 11. When Jehu came out to the servants of his lord and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this madman come to you?” He said to them, “You know the man and how he talks.”

this madman. The guild prophets were thought of as raving madmen.

 

VERSE 12. They said, “That is a lie. Tell us now.” He said, “He said to me, ‘The LORD says, I have anointed you king over Israel.’ ”

 

VERSE 13. Then they hurried, and each man took his cloak, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the shofar, saying, “Jehu is king.”

blew the shofar, saying, “Jehu is king.” A revolution has begun.

 

JEHU ASSASSINATES KINGS JORAM AND AHAZIAH

 

VERSE 14. So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was defending Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria;

 

VERSE 15. but king Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) Jehu said, “If this is your thinking, then let no one escape and go out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.”

 

VERSE 16. So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram.

 

VERSE 17. Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company.” Joram said, “Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’ ”

the watchman. Watchmen stood on a high tower and scanned the horizon for signs of danger. The king formulated his plans based on input from the watchman.

 

VERSE 18. So one went on horseback to meet him, and said, “the king says, ‘Is it peace?’ ” Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!” The watchman said, “The messenger came to them, but he isn’t coming back.”

 

VERSE 19. Then he sent out a second on horseback, who came to them and said, “The king says, ‘Is it peace?’ ” Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me!”

 

VERSE 20. The watchman said, “He came to them, and isn’t coming back. The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”

 

VERSE 21. Joram said, “Get ready!” They got his chariot ready. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot; and they went out to meet Jehu, and found him on Naboth the Jezreelite’s land.

 

VERSE 22. When Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace, so long as the prostitution of your mother Jezebel and her witchcraft abound?”

 

VERSE 23. Joram turned his hands and fled, and said to Ahaziah, “This is treason, Ahaziah!”

 

VERSE 24. Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and struck Joram between his arms; and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.

struck Joram between his arms. In the Book of Kings, the leaders exhibit narcissistic behaviors. They demand subservience. They commit idolatry and murder. They disobey sexual laws. Read more »

 

VERSE 25. Then Jehu said to Bidkar his captain, “Pick him up, and throw him in the plot of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite; for remember how, when you and I rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden on him:

 

VERSE 26. ‘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 plot of ground,’ says the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him onto the plot of ground, according to the LORD’s word.”

 

VERSE 27. But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. Jehu followed after him, and said, “Strike him also in the chariot!” They struck him at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. He fled to Megiddo, and died there.

He fled to Megiddo, and died there. In the Book of Kings, the leaders exhibit narcissistic behaviors. They demand subservience. They commit idolatry and murder. They disobey sexual laws. Read more »

 

VERSE 28. His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in David’s city.

 

VERSE 29. In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.

 

JEHU ASSASSINATES QUEEN JEZEBEL

 

VERSE 30. When Jehu had come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her eyes, and adorned her head, and looked out at the window.

 

VERSE 31. As Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, “Do you come in peace, Zimri, you murderer of your master?”

 

VERSE 32. He lifted up his face to the window, and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three eunuchs looked out at him.

 

VERSE 33. He said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down; and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses. Then he trampled her under foot.

Throw her down! The new King Jehu has assassinated Jezebel the queen of Israel.

 

VERSE 34. When he had come in, he ate and drank. Then he said, “See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king’s daughter.”

 

VERSE 35. They went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull, the feet, and the palms of her hands.

 

VERSE 36. Therefore they came back, and told him. He said, “This is the LORD’s word, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘The dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel on the plot of Jezreel,

 

VERSE 37. and the body of Jezebel will be as dung on the surface of the field on Jezreel’s land, so that they won’t say, “This is Jezebel.” ’ ”

 


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2 KINGS

CHAPTERS: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

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