Today's Video Devotion

Friday 3/31/23

Finding Joy

📺️ 2 Kings 10 🔊

¹And Ahab had seventy sons in Samaria. And Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, unto the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up Ahab's children, saying,

 ²Now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and armour;

 ³Look even out the best and meetest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

 ⁴But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him: how then shall we stand?

 ⁵And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes.

 ⁶Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.

 ⁷And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel.

 ⁸And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning.

 ⁹And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?

 ¹⁰Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the LORD hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah.

 ¹¹So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.

 ¹²And he arose and departed, and came to Samaria. And as he was at the shearing house in the way,

 ¹³Jehu met with the brethren of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, Who are ye? And they answered, We are the brethren of Ahaziah; and we go down to salute the children of the king and the children of the queen.

 ¹⁴And he said, Take them alive. And they took them alive, and slew them at the pit of the shearing house, even two and forty men; neither left he any of them.

 ¹⁵And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot.

 ¹⁶And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot.

 ¹⁷And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the LORD, which he spake to Elijah.

 ¹⁸And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much.

 ¹⁹Now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.

 ²⁰And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they proclaimed it.

 ²¹And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came not. And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was full from one end to another.

 ²²And he said unto him that was over the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And he brought them forth vestments.

 ²³And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the servants of the LORD, but the worshippers of Baal only.

 ²⁴And when they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed fourscore men without, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought into your hands escape, he that letteth him go, his life shall be for the life of him.

 ²⁵And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And they smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal.

 ²⁶And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them.

 ²⁷And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day.

 ²⁸Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel.

 ²⁹Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan.

 ³⁰And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

 ³¹But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin.

 ³²In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel;

 ³³From Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, even Gilead and Bashan.

 ³⁴Now 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?

 ³⁵And Jehu slept with his fathers: and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his stead.

 ³⁶And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty and eight years.

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Jeremiah

Date Penned: (586 BC)

Overview: A History of the Kings of Israel and Judah (c 1-25)

Theme: A Divided Kingdom (c 1-17)

Message: Jehu Kills Ahab's Family (v 1-36)

2 Kings 10 Commentary 

(10:7) A Fulfilled Prophecy - This fulfilled Elijah's prophecy that none of Ahab's male descendants would survive (1 Kings 21:17-24)

(10:10) God's Plan Fulfilled - "There shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD" means that everything will happen just as God has said.

(10:11) Going too Far - In his zeal, Jehu went far beyond the Lord's command with this bloodbath. The prophet Hosea later announced punishment upon Jehu's dynasty for this senseless slaughter (Hosea 1:4-5). Many times in history, "religious" people have mixed faith with personal ambition, power, or cruelty, without God's consent or blessing. To use God or the Bible to condone oppression is wrong. When people attack Christianity because of atrocities that "Christians" have carried out, help them to see that these men and women were using faith for their own political ends and not following Christ's example or teaching.

(10:15) The Rechabites - Jehonadab was a man who, like Jehu, was zealous in following God. Jehonadab, however, demonstrated his zeal by separating himself and his family from the materialistic, idol-worshiping culture. He founded a group called the Rechabites (named after his father, Rechab), who strove to keep their lives pure by living apart from society's pressures and temptations. Jeremiah 35 gives an example of their dedication to God. Because of this dedication, God promised that they would always have descendants who would worship him.

(10:23-24) Hate Sin but Love the Sinner - Israel was supposed to be intolerant of any religion that did not worship the true God. The religions of surrounding nations were evil and corrupt. They were designed to destroy life, not uphold it. Israel was God's special nation, chosen to be an example of what was right. But Israel's kings, priests, and elders first tolerated and then incorporated the pagan beliefs of the cultures surrounding them and thus became apathetic to God's way. We are to be completely intolerant of sin and remove it from our lives. We should be gracious toward people who hold views differing from ours, but we should not condone beliefs or practices that lead people away from God's standards of living.

(10:28-29) Jehu's Motives - Why did Jehu destroy the idols of Baal but not the gold calves in Bethel and Dan? Jehu's motives may have been more political than spiritual. (1) If Jehu had destroyed the gold calves, his people would have traveled to the temple in Jerusalem, in the rival southern kingdom, and worshiped there (which is why Jeroboam set them up in the first place; see 1 Kings 12:25-33). (2) Baal worship was associated with the dynasty of Ahab, so it was politically advantageous to destroy Baal. The gold calves, on the other hand, had a longer history in the northern kingdom and were valued by all political factions. (3) Baal worship was anti-God, but the gold calves were thought by many to be visible representations of God himself, even though God's law stated clearly that such worship was idolatrous (Exodus 20:3-6). Like Jehu, we can easily make the mistake of denouncing the sins of others while excusing sin in our own lives.

(10:30-31) Partial Obedience is Disobedience - Jehu did much of what the Lord told him to do, but he did not obey God in everything. He had become God's instrument for carrying out justice, but he had not become God's servant. As a result, he gave only lip service to God while permitting the worship of the gold calves. Examine the condition of your heart toward God. We can be very active in our work for God and still not give the heartfelt obedience he desires.

(10:34) Jehu and Assyria - Jehu is mentioned on an ancient stone monument called the Black Obelisk, inscribed by King Shalmaneser III of Assyria. Foreign rulers often recorded their military exploits on stone monuments for everyone to see. Jehu is pictured kneeling before Shalmaneser III in a gesture of submission. He paid tribute to the Assyrians near the beginning of his reign to avoid destruction (841 BC. The Bible does not record Jehu's dealings with Assyria, a nation soon to become a world power.

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter, making application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Today we continue the book of 2 Kings with Chapter 10. In our text, we see Jehu kills Ahab's family, then the priests of Baal. In his zeal, he went beyond his call, as Hosea speaks of in the book of Hosea 1:4-5. In making an application, we see that we, too, can go beyond the calling and direction of God to mix our ambitions and desires with the Will of God. We must seek the Lord and do what he calls us to do. If we follow and obey the Lord, we will find His Calling in our lives that will produce joy. It reminds me of a Pastor who led his first small country Church to leave for a bigger Church in the city. His zeal and ambition caused him to leave his known calling to experience a more prestigious position with more money. He discovered that he had lost his joy because the small country Church was where God knit his heart, and when the Pastor returned, he found his joy. Now we all have a ministry, and if we seek the Lord, he will show us what to do, and we will experience His joy when we do the Lord's Will. How about you? Do you see that Lord Has a specific plan for your life, and if you follow His path, you will find joy? Let us learn from our text today and the life of Jehu to realize that our joy comes from obeying and doing His Will.