JEHU, (ELEVENTH) KING OF ISRAEL. ATHALIAH, (SEVENTH) QUEEN OF JUDAH. - Murder of the "sons" of

Ahab and of Joram - Destruction of the adherents of Ahab in Jezreel - March on Samaria - Slaughter of the "brethren"

of Ahaziah - Jehonadab the son of Rechab - Meaning of the Rechabite movement - The Feast of Baal at Samaria -

Destruction of the Worshippers - Character of the Reign of Jehu - Decline of the Northern Kingdom - Commencing

Decline of the Southern Kingdom.

(2 Kings 10:2; 2 Chronicles 21:10; 24:17 -26.)

WE have learned enough of this history to understand the seeming inconsistencies in the conduct of Jehu. Absolutely

speaking, h e was the instrument selected for executing the Divine punishment on the house of Ahab; and also in whose

reign the national judgment upon Israel was to begin. Jehu himself clearly understood his mission as regarded the house

of Ahab and the worship of Baal. But he accepted it as a national and, if the term may be used, a Jehovistic movement,

without implying the necessity of true fear of the LORD, or of return to Him; and he carried it out as a Jehu. Alike as

regarded his feelings and his methods, he was t he instrument, not the servant of the LORD.

To such an one as Jehu even common prudence would have dictated to do what work he had, quickly, sharply, and

completely. A dynasty that had extended over four reigns must have numbered many adherents, while on the other

hand the demoralizing influence of the worship of Baal must have widely spread in the land. There was more than

merely a mocking taunt in the reminder of Jezebel about the fate of Zimri. The mission as well as the rule of Jehu

depended upon a ra pid succession of measures which would alike anticipate the possibility of a counter-revolution, and

render a return to the former state of things impossible. This explains the measures taken by the new king. Samaria was

not only the capital, but a fortified city, where the main body of the standing army 282 lay. Here, as we know, had been

placed the "seventy sons of Ahab" - understanding the term283 in its wider sense, common in Hebrew, which included,

besides the sons of Ahab, his grandsons, the children of Jo ram (comp. 2 Kings 10:3).

These royal princes of the house of Ahab were entrusted, some (in the Eastern fashion) for supervision, the younger for

education to the "princes,"284 - that is, the governor of the palace and the governor of the city (10:1, comp. 10:5) - to the

"elders," and to certain prominent persons who had charge of them.

These officials in Samaria would embody the possibility of a counter-revolution, and to them Jehu addressed on the

morrow of his entry into Jezreel what really amounted to a challenge, to declare themselves for the house of Ahab, or

else to make submission to his rule. The motives which decided their choice (ver. 4) show that their inclination was in

favor of the old regime, while their fears dictated submission to the usurper. So Jehu had judged wisely in forcing an

immediate decision, without exposing himself by marching with his small troop against Samaria.

But this was not all. Neither their allegiance nor his rule was safe so long as any of the royal princes lived; and, indeed,

their destruction was part of his work and mission. To have killed them himself would have been a doubtful expedient,

which, even if successful, might have given rise to popular reaction, and at all events brought him ill -will, while it

would have left free the hands of the adherents of Ahab. It was therefore, from his point of view, the wisest policy on

receiving the submission of the leaders of Samaria to order them to kill all the royal princes and bring their heads to

Jezreel.  285 This would not only accomplish the primary object of Jehu, but, by making them participate in the crimes of

his revolution, render any future movement against his rule impossible. At the same time the ghastly sight of those

heads, sent to Jezreel by the chief representatives of the old regime, would offer an excellent opportunity for an appeal

to the people.

When, therefore, next day the heads of the seventy princes were brought in baskets to Jezreel, he ordered them to be

laid "at the entering in of the gate,"286 where the blood of Jezebel had so lately bespattered the wall, and the chariot of

the conqueror passed over her body. And in the morning Jehu, pointing to the gory heaps, could tell the people 287 that

not only himself, but all the chief personages under the late government, had part in the destruction of the house of

Ahab; that those to whom they had been entrusted had chosen rather to slay these princes in cold blood than to take up

their cause - that all had perished, and so the word spoken by the LORD through t he great prophet Elijah had been