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February 18 - 2 Kings 10 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Tuesday, it's the 18th of
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  February, and you have said, come on Sean, hop into my day,
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  let us get back into that story and hear a little bit more of
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  God's word. And I am very grateful that
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  you've done that. And we're going to continue
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  reading along in the Book of Second Kings and friends.
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  You would be forgiven if you said to me, Sean, boy, God is so
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  brutal. He orders through the prophets
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  the mass murder of all of these dynasties.
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  People are then slaughtered, Hulless bolus.
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  It's terrible. How can that be part of this
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  loving, generous God that we serve and that we know in Jesus?
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  Well, a couple of things to say. Firstly, these are very, very
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  different times. We live in a world where human
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  life is held up as the most important thing.
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  But back then lives were tied to dynasties, lives were tied to
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  families. And when one family went out of
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  power and a new family came into power, the way that they
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  guaranteed their power was to wipe out those other lines.
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  So this was just the way that kingship worked in the ancient
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  Near East. When one king came into power,
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  the only way they could guarantee their power and the
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  thing that they did was to wipe out their opposition.
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  So what sounds brutal to our ears, to the ears of someone of
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  the time hearing this story, they would say, well, of course
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  that's what you do it. It would be foolishness not to
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  do that. The other thing to note is that
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  the style of writing that was used at that time used absolute
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  statements. So they would talk about
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  slaughtering a nation, women, and children.
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  That doesn't necessarily mean that everyone was slaughtered,
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  it simply means that it was an incredibly dominant victory, and
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  that is the language that was used to describe dominance in
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  the victory. So when the author talks about
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  God being responsible for that slaughter, it's not necessarily
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  saying that God ordered the slaughter of the innocents, but
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  saying that God was the dominant victor.
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  And that is the language they use to describe that.
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  So that maybe helps put into context some of the brutality
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  that we will read that to our ears sounds abominable, but to
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  the ears of those who understood this genre, it makes perfect
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  sense. So come with me, friends, back
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  into this time of the world, where we see the rise and the
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  fall and the decimation of kings and their families as we read
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  together. Second Kings Chapter 10.
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  Ahab had seventy sons living in the city of Samaria.
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  So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the elders
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  and officials of the city and to the guardians of King Ahab's
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  sons. He said the King's sons are with
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  you and you have at your disposal Chariots, horses, a
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  fortified city and weapons. As soon as you receive this
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  letter, select the best qualified of your master's sons
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  to be your king and prepare to fight for Ahab's dynasty.
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  But they were paralysed with fear and said we've seen that 2
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  kings couldn't stand against this man, what can we do?
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  So the palace and city administrators, together with
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  the elders and the guardians of the King's sons sent this
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  message to Jehu. We are your servants and we'll
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  do anything you tell us. We will not make anyone king.
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  Do whatever you think is best. Jiha responded with a second
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  letter. If you are on my side and are
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  going to obey me, bring the heads of your master's sons to
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  me at Jezreel by this time to Morrow.
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  Now the 70 sons of the king were being cared for by the leaders
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  of Samaria, where they had been raised since childhood.
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  When the letter arrived, the leaders killed all 70 of the
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  King's sons. They placed their heads in
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  baskets and presented them to Jehu.
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  At Jezreel, a messenger went to Jehu and said they have brought
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  the heads of the King's sons. So Jehu ordered pile them in two
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  heaps at the entrance of the city gate and leave them there
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  until morning. In the morning he went out and
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  spoke to the crowd that had gathered around them.
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  You are not to blame, he told them.
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  I am the one who conspired against my master and killed
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  him. But who killed all these?
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  You can be sure that the message of the Lord that was spoken
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  concerning Ahab's family will not fail.
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  The Lord declared through his servant Elijah that this would
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  happen. Then Jehu killed all who were
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  left of Ahab's relatives living in Jezreel and all his important
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  officials, his personal friends and his priests.
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  So Ahab was left without a single survivor.
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  Then Jehu set out for Samaria. Along the way, while he was at
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  Beth Echid of the Shepherds, he met some relatives of King
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  Ahaziah of Judah. Who are you?
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  He asked them and they replied, We are the relatives of King
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  Ahaziah. We are going to visit the sons
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  of King Ahab and the sons of the Queen Mother.
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  Take them alive, Jihu shouted to his men and they captured all 42
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  of them and killed them at the well of Beth Eckard.
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  None of them escaped when Jihu left.
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  There he met Johanadab, son of Recab, who was coming to meet
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  him After they had greeted each other, Jihu said to him.
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  Are you as loyal to me as I am to you?
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  Yes, I am, Johanadab replied. If you are, Jihu said, Then give
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  me your hand. So Johanidab put out his hand,
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  and Jehu helped him into the chariot.
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  Then Jehu said, Now come with me and see how devoted I am to the
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  Lord. So Johanidab rode along with
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  him. When Jehu arrived in Samaria, he
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  killed everyone who was left there from Ahab's family, just
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  as the Lord had promised through Elijah.
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  Then Jehu called a meeting of all the people of the city and
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  said to them, Ahab's worship of Bal was nothing compared to the
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  way I will worship him. Therefore, summon all the
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  prophets and worshippers of Bal and call together all his
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  priests. See to it that every one of them
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  comes, for I am going to offer a great sacrifice to Bal.
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  Anyone who fails to come will be put to death.
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  But Jehu's cunning plan was to destroy all the worshippers of
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  Bal. Then Jihu ordered, prepare a
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  solemn assembly to worship Bal. So they did.
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  He sent messengers throughout all Israel, summoning those who
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  worshipped Bal. They all came.
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  Not a single one remained behind, and they filled the
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  temple of Bal from one end to the other.
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  And Jihu instructed the keeper of the wardrobe be sure that
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  every worshipper of Bal wears one of these robes.
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  Sir, robes were given to them. Then Jehu went into the temple
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  of Bal with Johanodab, son of Recab.
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  Jehu said to the worshippers of Bal, make sure no one who
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  worships the Lord is here, only those who worship Bal.
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  So they were all inside the temple to offer sacrifices and
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  burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed 80 of his
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  men outside the building and warned them.
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  If you let anyone escape, you will pay for it with your own
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  life. As soon as Jehu had finished
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  sacrificing the burnt offering, he commanded his guards and
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  officers Go in and kill all of them.
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  Don't let a single one escape. So they killed them all with
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  their swords, and the guards and officers dragged their bodies
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  outside. Then Jehu's men went into the
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  innermost fortress of the Temple of Bal.
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  They dragged out the sacred pillar used in the worship of
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  Baal and burnt it. They smashed the sacred pillar
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  and wrecked the temple of Baal, converting it into a public
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  toilet, as it remains to this day.
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  In this way Jehu destroyed every trace of Baal worship from
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  Israel. He did not, however, destroy the
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  gold calves in Bethel and Dan with which Jeroboam son of Nebat
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  had caused Israel to sin. Nonetheless, the Lord said to
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  Jehu, You have done well in following my instructions to
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  destroy the family of Ahab. Therefore your descendants will
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  be kings of Israel down to the 4th generation.
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  But Jehu did not obey the law of the Lord, the God of Israel.
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  With all his heart. He refused to turn from the sins
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  that Jeroboam had LED Israel to commit.
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  At about that time, the Lord began to cut down the size of
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  Israel's territory. King Hazael conquered several
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  sections of the country east of the Jordan River, including all
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  of Gilead, Gad, Ruben, and Manasseh.
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  He conquered the area from the town of Arroyo by the Arnon
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  Gorge to as far north as Gilead and Bashan.
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  The rest of the events in Jehu's reign, everything he did, and
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  all his achievements are recorded in the Book of the
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  History of the Kings of Israel. When Jehu died, he was buried in
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  Samaria. Then his son Jehovah has became
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  the next king. In all, Jehu reigned over Israel
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  from Samaria for 28 years. Ah, Jesus, we see in this
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  confronting chapter that you have this recipe for success for
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  us. And that recipe for success the
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  way that we would have lives of rich joy and fulfilment in you
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  is when we place you alone above all else.
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  Oh Lord, let there be no biles in our life.
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  Let there be no golden calves. Let there be nothing that sits
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  anywhere near you atop that throne of our life.
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  And you are the most incredible King Jesus, because you ascend
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  to that throne above all else by sacrificing yourself, by living
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  a life of love, and by showing us how much you value us above
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  your own well being. You know you are an amazing King
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  and we just fall before you, our servant King.
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  May we too be servants in love to those around us.
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  So we praise you, and we lift you up, and we pray all of these
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  things in your precious name, Amen.