Immerse yourself in the intense narratives of 2 Kings chapters 10 and 11, where Jehu’s zealous quest continues to cleanse Israel of Ahab’s lineage, and the cunning plot to eradicate Baal worship reaches its climax. As Jehu executes divine prophecy, we witness the dramatic shift towards a purer faith in Israel. Reflect on how these ancient stories resonate with modern spiritual struggles and the perpetual fight against idolatry in our lives.
00:11:01 Reflections and Learnings From the Scripture
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Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
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Today we are in 2 Kings chapters 10 and 11. Jehu’s continuation of the cleansing of Israel goes on in chapter 10 and Joash is anointed the King of Judah. Let’s listen in. The faith comes right here in his reading of these two chapters.
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2 Kings 10 Now Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria.
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So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of the city, to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab, saying, Now then, as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master’s sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, fortified cities also, and weapons, select the best and fittest of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for your master’s house.
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But they were exceedingly afraid and said, Behold, the two kings could not stand before him. How then can we stand? So he who was over the palace and he who was over the city, together with the elders and the guardians, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants and we will do all that you tell us.
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We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your eyes. Then he wrote to them a second letter, saying,
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If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey me, take the heads of your master’s sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time.
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Now the king’s sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city who were bringing them up. And as soon as the letter came to them, they took the king’s sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him at Jezreel. When the messenger came and told him, They have brought the heads of the king’s sons, he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning.
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Then in the morning, when he went out, he stood and said to all the people, You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him. But who struck down 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 said by his servant Elijah.
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So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and his close friends and his priests, until he left him none remaining. Then he set out and went to Samaria. On the way, when he was at Beth Echid of the shepherds, Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah, and he said, Who are you? And they answered, We are the relatives of Ahaziah, and we came down to visit the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother. He said… Take them alive. And they took them alive and slaughtered them at the pit of Beth Echid, forty-two persons, and he spared none of them. And when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, coming to meet him.
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And he greeted him and said to him, Is your heart true to my heart as mine is to yours?
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And Jehonadab answered, It is. Jehu said, If it is, give me your hand. So he gave him his hand, and Jehu took him up with him into the chariot. And he said, Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. So he had him ride in his chariot. And when he came to Samaria, he struck down all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had wiped them out according to the word of the Lord that he spoke to Elijah. Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them,
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Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshippers and all his priests. Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live.
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But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshippers of Baal.
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And Jehu ordered, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.
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So they proclaimed it, and Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they entered the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other.
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He said to him who was in charge of the wardrobe, Bring out the vestments for all the worshippers of Baal.
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So he brought out the vestments for them. Then Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab, and he said to the worshippers of Baal,
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Search and see that there is no servant of the Lord here among you, but only the worshippers of Baal.
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Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.
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Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and said, The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life.
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So as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers, Go in and strike them down.
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Let not a man escape.
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So when they put them to the sword, the guard and the officers cast them out and went into the inner room of the house of Baal, and they brought out the pillar that was in the house of Baal and burned it. And they demolished the pillar of Baal and demolished the house of Baal and made it a latrine to this day. Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan.
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And the Lord said to Jehu, Because you have done well in carrying out 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 the throne of Israel.
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But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin. In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of 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 Manassites from Aror, which is by the valley of the Arnon, that is, Gilead and Bashan. Now 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? So Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz, his son, reigned in his place.” The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years. Now when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. But Jehoshabah, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land. But in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of the Karites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the Lord. And he made a covenant with them, and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and he showed them the king’s son. And he commanded them,
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This is the thing that you shall do. One third of you, those who come off duty on the Sabbath and guard the king’s house, another third being at the gate sewer, and a third at the gate behind the guards, shall guard the palace. And the two divisions of you, which come on duty in force on the Sabbath and guard the house of the Lord on behalf of the king, shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever approaches the ranks is to be put to death, Be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in.
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The captains did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And they each brought his men who were to go off duty on the Sabbath with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath and came to Jehoiada the priest. And the priest gave to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David’s which were in the house of the Lord. And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house on behalf of the king. Then he brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, Long live the king! When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people. And when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar according to the custom, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, Treason! Treason! Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army,
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Bring her out between the ranks and put to death with the sword anyone who follows her. For the priest said, Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord.
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So they laid hands on her, and she went through the horse’s entrance to the king’s house, and there she was put to death. And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people, that they should be the Lord’s people and also between the king and the people. Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down. His altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Matan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the Lord. And he took the captains, the charites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through the gate of the guards to the king’s house. And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king’s house. Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign.
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In 1997, I read 2 Kings chapters 9 through 11, and I wrote, There was a lot of killings and murder of royalty back then. I guess one had to destroy the offspring of a ruler so none could claim the throne. And there were promises, like Jehu, to the fourth generation, would sit on the throne. Baal worship was rampant throughout much of this era of history. From time to time, a good king would wipe out the high places and Baal worship, but they would seem to rise again over and over. And in 2011, I read 2 Kings 9-11 on the same day. Concerning these chapters, I wrote, Jehoiada, a priest, rallies people to oust Athaliah and raise up Joash, a young boy, as king. They anoint Joash king and destroy Baal worship. These two chapters could almost be summarized by chapter 10, verse 10. 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 said by his servant Elijah. In other words, nothing happens on this earth then and now that is not under the authority and under the control of the word of the Lord. The reign of Jehu is summarized at the end of chapter 10. Verse 28, Then Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. Verse 30, And the Lord said to Jehu, Because you have done well in carrying out 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 the throne of Israel. But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord the God of Israel with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin. So Jehu was compromised. He did some things that God was pleased with, but other things that he was not. How about you? Do you ride the fence of your Christianity? You probably do many things that are pleasing in the sight of the Lord. But what are you doing that is not pleasing in the sight of God? In chapter 11, the priest Jehoiada makes sure that Judah is going to be in good hands, even to the point that he appoints a seven-year-old as king over the tribe of Judah. chapter eleven could be summarized with verse seventeen and jehoiada made a covenant between the lord and the king and the people that they should be the lord’s people and also between the king and the people then all the people of the land went to the house of baal and tore it down How about you? After hearing this chapter, will you reaffirm your covenant to be the Lord’s people? Will you destroy idol worship in your own life? Let’s pray. Father, we thank you for the examples of the lifestyles of various people in 2 Kings chapters 10 and 11. We pray that we would not ride the fence of our Christianity, but we would do all things that are pleasing in your sight. We also pray that we would reaffirm our commitment to be one of your people today. Lead us toward an obedient life in you. Forgive us where we have failed and strengthen us as we pursue a life in you. We ask it in your precious name. Amen.
