2 KINGS 9–10
It is not pleasant to read the events recorded in these chapters, but we need to hear their message: eventually sin is judged, and God’s word is fulfilled. God had ordained the anointing of Jehu (1 Kings 19:16) and the end of Ahab’s family (
King Joram of Israel was slain and so was King Ahaziah of Judah. Jezebel, the queen mother, was killed just as the prophet had predicted. Then Jehu wiped out all of Ahab’s family and Ahaziah’s relatives (who were also relatives of Ahab) and the followers of Baal.
Why was God so severe in His judgment? Because those leaders had turned the people away from the Lord and had polluted the nation. God had special work for His people to do (Gen. 12:1–3), and they could not do it if they were unfaithful to Him.
After displaying all that zeal, Jehu should have set the example in his devotion to Jehovah, but he did not. A nation does not become righteous simply by removing evil; it must also establish godliness. An empty house is an invitation to even worse tenants (Matt. 12:43–45), and they eventually came—and the nation had to be judged.
“Sin is the only thing that God abhors. It brought Christ to the cross, it damns souls, it shuts heaven, it laid the foundations of hell.”
Thomas Brooks