The men do as he asks. "When the letter arrived, these men took the princes and slaughtered all seventy of them. They put their heads in baskets and sent them to Jehu in Jezreel. When the messenger arrived, he told Jehu, 'They have brought the heads of the princes.' Then Jehu ordered, 'Put them in two piles at the entrance of the city gate until morning.'" (2 Kings 10:7-8)
This is a gruesome scene but it was a common practice in ancient times to pile up the severed heads of one's enemies at the city gates for everyone going in and coming out to see. Such a sight was used as a victorious symbol of conquest and as a warning to anyone who might be thinking of rebelling against the victor. A similar example would be the practice of the Roman Empire of carrying out crucifixions on elevated ground along the main roadways into cities. They did this as a warning to everyone coming and going not to make themselves enemies of the state or else the same fate would befall them.
The heads must have arrived late in the evening because Jehu doesn't address the citizens by the city gates until morning. "The next morning Jehu went out. He stood before all the people and said, 'You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who killed all these? Know, then, that not a word the Lord has spoken against the house of Ahab will fail. The Lord has done what He announced through His servant Elijah.' So Jehu killed everyone in Jezreel who remained of the house of Ahab, as well as all his chief men, his close friends and his priests, leaving him no survivor." (2 Kings 10:9-11) Jehu finishes off those in Jezreel who had been close to the king and who had conspired with him in all his wickedness.
Jehu appears to be telling the people that they cannot hold him accountable for those he has killed when they themselves did not stand up for the house of Ahab. No one resisted Jehu's entrance into the city or his taking over all that belonged to the house of Ahab. He even offered, in yesterday's passage, for them to choose a man of Ahab's family as their king. They refused this offer because they could not defend the dynasty of Ahab against Jehu and the army---and perhaps they did not want to even if they could have. Jehu says something like, "Yes, it's true: I did conspire against King Joram and I did take his life by shooting an arrow at him with my own bow. But I didn't kill these seventy males of the house of Ahab! I asked for their heads if you wanted to give your allegiance to me, but I did not force you to give these men up. You willingly chose to turn your backs on the dynasty of Ahab in favor of a new regime. So let's let bygones be bygones. You will not hold me accountable for causing anyone's death and I will not hold you accountable for causing anyone's death. We are at the gates of the city---in the place where cases are judged---and the only ones who have been judged guilty and executed are the family members of Ahab who were murderers and idolaterss and who forced people to refrain from practicing religious rites that serve the living God in favor of serving Baal. Only these men of the house of Ahab have been judged and put to death. As for the rest of us, let us go on into the future together."
Now that this matter has been dealt with, Jehu deals with those relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah who have traveled to the northern kingdom, just as Ahaziah himself did, to visit the home of King Joram of Israel and his mother Jezebel. "Jehu then set out and went toward Samaria. At Beth Eked of the Shepherds, he met some relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and asked, 'Who are you?' They said, 'We are relatives of Ahaziah, and we have come down to greet the families of the king and the queen mother.' 'Take them alive!' he ordered. So they took them alive and slaughtered them by the well of Beth Eked---forty-two of them. He left no survivor." (2 Kings 10:12-14)
What is his quarrel with the house of Ahaziah? It's because he also was related to Ahab. Ahaziah was the son of Athaliah, the daughter of King Ahab. His relatives who have come up from Judah to visit Joram and Jezebel haven't yet heard about what has taken place at Jezreel: the deaths of King Joram and of the queen mother, Jezebel. They haven't yet heard that their own king and kinsman, Ahaziah, is dead. Jehu and his men seize these visitors from Judah and put them to death to fulfill the prophecy of Elijah that no male of the house of Ahab would be left alive.
"After he left there, he came upon Jehonadab son of Rekab, who was on his way to meet him. Jehu greeted him and said, 'Are you in accord with me, as I am with you?' 'I am,' Jehonadab answered. 'If so,' said Jehu, 'give me your hand.' So he did, and Jehu helped him up into the chariot. Jehu said, 'Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.' Then he had him ride along in his chariot. When Jehu came to Samaria, he killed all who were left there of Ahab's family; he destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord spoken to Elijah." (2 Kings 10:15-17) Jehonadab, who was the founder of a people called the "Rechabites" in the Bible, will be mentioned again later on by the prophet Jeremiah.
Yesterday's and today's segments of Scripture have been bloody, difficult passages to study. But it was the Lord's will for all the family of Ahab to be removed from the earth: all of the family members in Israel and all of the family members who traveled up from Judah. Ahab was one of the most evil men of the Bible and was responsible for turning untold numbers of people away from the truth to the worship of false gods. The Lord doesn't take it lightly when someone interferes with the souls of others; in fact, according to the Scriptures He takes this type of sin more seriously than all others, for what is more important than the destiny of a person's eternal soul? It's hard for us to read passages like the ones we've been studying but the house of Ahab deeply harmed the people of Israel from a spiritual standpoint. The house of Ahab did a great deal of harm to the people from many other standpoints as well, such as the murder of Naboth for the petty reason of Ahab wanting his vineyard for a vegetable garden. As a result of the sins of this family, they receive the death penalty for their capital crimes.
No comments:
Post a Comment