2 Kings 9:1-37
1 And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead:
2 And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an innera chamber;
3 Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not.
4 So the young man, even the young man the prophet, went to Ramothgilead.
5 And when he came, behold, the captains of the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O captain.
6 And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel.
7 And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master, 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.
8 For the whole house of Ahab shall perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel:
9 And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah:
10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And he opened the door, and fled.
11 Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his communication.
12 And they said, It is false; tell us now. And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel.
13 Then they hasted, and took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king.b
14 So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria.
15 But king Joramc was returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.
16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see Joram.
17 And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram said, Take an horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it peace?
18 So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again.
19 Then he sent out a second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee behind me.
20 And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto them, and cometh not again: and the drivingd is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.
21 And Joram said, Make ready.e And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite.
22 And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu? And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?
23 And Joram turned his hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah.
24 And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.
25 Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD laid this burden upon him;
26 Surely I have seen yesterday the bloodf of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee in this plat, saith the LORD. Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground, according to the word of the LORD.
27 But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there.
28 And his servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David.
29 And in the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.
30 And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she paintedg her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.
31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?
32 And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.h
33 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: and he trode her under foot.
34 And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter.
35 And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.
36 Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake byi his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel:
37 And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
JEHU ANOINTED KING OF ISRAEL
(vv.1-13)
Elijah had been told to anoint Jehu king of Israel (1 Kings 19:16), but had not done it. Now later Elisha commissions one of the sons of the prophets to anoint Jehu, telling him he would find him at Ramoth Gilead (v.1). Explicit directions were given him to anoint Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, taking him to an inner room to do this. Jehu was an officer in the army of Joram, son of Ahab.
What was the reason for a secret anointing rather than a public anointing? King Saul was anointed privately by Samuel (1 Samuel 9:27; 1 Samuel 10:1), and David was anointed in the privacy of his father's house by Samuel (1 Samuel 16:3), but later publicly at Hebron he was anointed king over Judah (2 Samuel 2:4), and later still he was publicly anointed king over all Israel at Hebron (2 Samuel 5:3). The private anointing tells us of God's working behind the scenes to indicate whom He desires to rule. At first only David's father's household were witnesses of this choice of God, just as today only the household of faith recognises that Jesus is God's chosen King. At the end of the tribulation Judah will first be brought to recognise Him, then also the rest of Israel, and Christ will be publicly acclaimed.
But as regards the private anointing of Jehu, this reminds us that God always works behind the scenes to set up rulers among the nations, as we are told, "There is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God" (Romans 13:1). In David's case God could publicly approve of him because he is a type of Christ. In Jehu's case, though God gave him the place of king, God would not indicate His approval of the man personally. All human government is ordained by God, though God may not approve of the ruler personally.
Elisha told this son of a prophet to simply deliver his message and leave (v.3). The young man did as he was told. Coming to a place where the officers of the army were sitting, he told Jehu he had a message for him (v.5), calling him, "Commander." Jehu went into another room with him and the young man immediately poured the oil on his head, giving him the word of the Lord that Jehu was appointed king over Israel. But he added the commission of the Lord to Jehu, that he was to strike down the house of Ahab, that God might in this way avenge the blood of God's prophets shed by Jezebel, Ahab's wife (v.7). "For," he said, "the whole house of Ahab shall perish; and I will cut off from Ahab all the males in Israel, both bond and free" (v.8). More than this, "the dogs shall eat Jezebel on the plot of ground at Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her" (v.10). Certainly God knew well whom He was choosing for this solemn work, for Jehu was just the kind of man to do it.
After delivering his message to Jehu, the young man quickly left. Jehu returned to the company of officers, who questioned him about the message from the person they considered a "madman." When he told them the man had spoken in the name of the Lord, declaring Jehu king, the officers immediately responded by surrendering their garments to Jehu and blowing trumpets in an elevated place, announcing, "Jehu is king.
JEHU KILLS HIS MASTER
(vv.14-26)
The wickedness of Ahab and Jezebel which was continued by their son Joram was reason enough for the people to welcome a leader who would destroy this evil authority Jehu, a determined, dominating character, knew how to take advantage of the situation. He had no idea of what humility means, no spirit of self-judgment at all, but full of bold willingness to judge others, and he proceeded immediately to do such work. We have seen in Chapter 8:29 what is repeated in Chapter 9:15 that King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from battle wounds.
Jehu did not simply give orders that news of his being king was not to be carried to Jezreel, but told his officers, "If you are so minded let no one leave or escape from the city to go and tell it in Jezreel." He knew how to involve others in his plans, so that in the event of failure, he would not bear all the blame.
Having control of the army, Jehu drove in his chariot with his company to Jezreel. A watchman saw them coming and reported it to Joram, who told him to send a horseman to ask, "Is it peace?" Jehu answered him, "What have you to do with peace?" (v.19), and did not allow the horseman to return. A second horseman was sent out with the same result. When the watchman reported this, at the same time saying that the driving was like that of Jehu who drove furiously, the king ordered his chariot. Ahaziah also, who was visiting Joram, took his own chariot, going out to meet Jehu. They were not prepared for what they found. They met on the property that Ahab had stolen from Naboth when Naboth was murdered at Jezebel's command. Calling out, "Is it peace, Jehu," Joram received the chilling answer, "What peace, as long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?" (v.22).
Joram called this treachery, but it was actually rebellion of his own army officers, and it was the judgment of God against the house of Ahab. Turning to flee, Joram received from Jehu an arrow in his back that pierced his heart (v.24). Then Jehu gave orders that Joram's body was to be thrown into the field that belonged to Naboth, for Jehu remembered that the Lord had told Ahab that he would repay him in that plot of land. Thus Jehu could carry out the word of the Lord in Judgment against others, though he knew nothing of the grace of God.
AHAZIAH ALSO KILLED
(vv.27-29)
Ahaziah was able to prolong the advent of his death for a short time by fleeing, but was shot in his chariot, escaped to Megiddo, where he died. Though he was not Ahab's descendant, he had identified himself with Ahab's son (in fact having married Ahab's daughter), so that he suffered the same fate as Joram. He was the son of a godly king (Joram of Judah), but made the wrong friends. At least his body was brought to Jerusalem and was buried with his fathers. He had reigned only one year.
JEZEBEL'S DREADFUL END
(vv.30-37)
Jezebel was no longer a young woman, but just as full of vanity as ever. When she heard of Jehu having come to Jezreel she put paint on her eyes, adorned her head and looked through a window. Did she think she could impress Jehu this way? As Jehu came in the gate, she insolently called him Zimri, asking him if it was peace (v.31). Zimri had killed Elah the son of Baasha when he was drinking himself drunk (1 Kings 16:8), and usurped the throne of Israel. He only reigned seven days and committed suicide (1 Kings 16:15). Jezebel called Jehu "murderer of your master," but she ignored the fact of her guilt in murdering many people.
Jehu called out, "Who is on my side?" (v.32). Moses had said, "Who is on the Lord's side?" (Exodus 32:26), a much more appropriate word than that of Jehu. Two or three eunuchs looked out a window, and he told them, "Throw her down" (v.33). When they did so, Jehu had his horse trample her underfoot.
Not many men would feel like eating after such work, but Jehu went inside to eat, and drink, leaving Jezebel's body lying on the street. Only after satisfying his own appetite did Jehu think of burying Jezebel, which now he said should be done because she was a king's daughter (v.34). But when his servants went to bury her, they found only her skull, her feet and the palms of her hands (v.35). Her body had been eaten by dogs, even her bones taken away! The skull would remind us of the imaginations of her head; the feet, that her feet had been swift to shed blood; the palms of her hands, that her works were wicked. Who would envy a remembrance of this kind? Her end was swift and terrible, just as the Lord had predicted through Elijah.