2 Kings 10 (Part 1) Bible Study (Jehu Slaughters Ahab's Descendants) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Meet me in the Bible at second Kings chapter 10. Let's meet together in second Kings chapter 10. When Elijah prophesied the doom of the house of Ahab, he ominously declared that the Lord will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free in Israel. And it is in this chapter where we will see that part of the prophecy being fulfilled. Last week, you and I studied Jehu beginning his campaign and how he successfully eliminated three key individuals.

Joram, the king of Israel, Ahaziah, the king of Judah, and Jezebel, the wife of Ahab. That all took place in a region called Jezreel. But as Jehu now continues his mission, his attention is going to shift to the capital of Israel. Tell me what the capital of Israel is. Was this is Israel, the Northern Kingdom.

So we understand the unified Israel having Jerusalem as the capital, but this is a divided kingdom. So they have a new capital, starts with the letter s. Samaria is the capital of Israel at this point. And right away, the challenge of this particular mission is made clear to us from the start. So let's read the first three verses together.

Now Ahab had 70 sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of the city, to the elders and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab saying, now then, as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, fortified cities also, and weapons, select we learned not 17, but 70 sons. And in that number likely includes his grandsons. And we see here that because of Jehu's limitations remember, he doesn't have a very impressive army backing him, at least numerically. This is going to be a challenge.

How is he going to approach Samaria and come after the princes of Samaria without a struggle or without some of them escaping. And so Jehu has to think. Before he can make any attempt of actually attacking the capital, he sends multiple letters with the same message to its leaders. And I have to be honest that when we read here what he said, for a couple of days, I didn't understand what Jehu was trying to accomplish by doing this. You see, if I were in his shoes, sure, I might send something, but I'm not going to invite them to a fight.

I'm gonna ask them to surrender and warn them not to put up a fight. What does he do? The exact opposite of that. He not only tells them to choose an heir among Ahab's sons, but all the while he's also reminding them of their resources and their assets and their army, and he he invites them to engage in battle. In a sense, he's instilling in them a false sense of confidence.

This this is strange. And then it hit me. I'm not a commander of any army. Jehu is a commander of Israel's army, and he is a strategist. And so here's how he's thinking.

Knowing that he's outnumbered at this point, he takes a huge risk, but it is bold at the same time. The man is essentially bluffing. Do you see that? He's aware that the news of Joanne, the king of Israel's death reached Samaria, but he is also aware that the people in Samaria do not know how their king was killed. And so he uses this to his advantage.

And so he comes to this point with this intel and he decides to not make this unimpressive appearance in Samaria, but tampers with the imagination of its leaders. How does he do that? He makes it sound like he has this massive backing. And he informs them that he is in no way intimidated by their chariots, their horses, or fortified cities. And guess what?

It worked. I want you to see the reaction of the rulers, the elders, and the guardians in verse four. But they were exceedingly afraid and said, behold the two kings could not stand before him. How then can we stand? Remember, the leaders in Samaria did not witness how the king of Israel and the king of Judah were murdered.

They only received reports about it. They only heard the news. And so, we see here that Jehu is actually taking that ignorance and using it. See, if the Samaritans here knew what Jehu was actually working with, they probably would have believed they had a chance to resist him. But they're left in the dark.

They only have the news about it. And so this man is highly intelligent. He comes to this point where he stays in Jezreel and creatively conveys and paints a picture as though he is this force that they can't deal with. And he does it by offering them a challenge. Why don't we fight?

Winner takes all. You don't talk like that unless you are confident that you can win. And this is how these leaders are interpreting his message. And so they are so afraid, they think to themselves, let's just surrender and spare our lives. So we read these three verses, right, of this chapter, and I believe that there are at least two lessons that we can draw from it for our own lives.

Number one, I wanna bring to your attention the principle of warfare in the mind. Warfare in the mind. This is an actual war, but we see here that Jehu is implementing something with the mind. And as Christians, we are told throughout the New Testament that we are in a war, in a spiritual battle. And though we don't war with people in the same way that this chapter communicates, we don't fight people, we don't wield any weapons, we don't hit.

There is an element of this kind of warfare in this chapter that is echoed in the New Testament. And I wanna take you to a very familiar passage in the New Testament concerning spiritual warfare, and I want you, as we're reading these verses, to pay attention to a common denominator in Paul's description of Christian warfare. So go to second Corinthians chapter 10 beginning in verse three, and I want you to especially pay attention to verse five, where we're gonna read three to five. Here's what Paul says, for though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

We destroy arguments in every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ. Look again at verse five. Look at the language that he uses. Arguments, lofty opinions raised against the knowledge of God. Every what?

Thought captive. What do all those things have in common? They deal with the mind. Here's what we learn about spiritual warfare according to the words of Paul. The main arena of our warfare is in our thinking.

Do you know how many people misapply Paul's words here when it comes to how Christians engage in warfare? Pulling down strongholds. What does so many interpret that to mean? Rebuking and casting out demons. Renouncing generational curses.

That's not what Paul is talking about at all. When he mentions strongholds, he's providing imagery that describes what? Ideologies, false belief systems, philosophies and persuasions that contradict the truth of God's word, fortresses of wrong thinking that hold people captive. That's what strongholds are. They're in the mind.

And here's what's so wonderful about this. If Paul is highlighting the main arena of our warfare, then we also know the weapons we ought to use. And the primary weapon in seeing people liberated defensively, offensively is to know the scriptures from cover to cover in order to dismantle and destroy and bring down these things that resist the liberation that comes from the truth. And so the weaker we are in the word of God, the more vulnerable we are to spiritual warfare, and the less likely we are to see people set free from bondage. This is where warfare is held.

This is where we're supposed to put our focus, in the mind. Paul was aware of this. And to some degree, we see Jehu implementing warfare. Yes, it's psychological warfare. But before he wields any physical weapon, he is going to take captive their minds.

And notice, we're gonna read in a moment that he's actually going to have the leaders of Samaria do the dirty work for him. He's after the sons of Ahab, and he's not gonna even lift a finger. And Satan is very clever in the way he takes his captives. Before the enemy can make you do anything, he first makes you think in a certain way. That is the common pattern of the evil one.

He plants his flag in your mind. And before you act away, he'll cause you to think away. And we see a clear example of this, which brings me to the second lesson from what we read in the verses that we unfolded together. Do not underestimate the controlling power of fear. Come back to second Kings 10 and look at verse four again.

But they were exceedingly afraid and said, behold, the two kings could not stand before him. How then can we stand? So he was over the palace and he who was over the city together with the elders and the guardians sent to Jehu saying, we are your servants and we will do all that you tell us. We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your eyes.

Wow. Notice the connection between fear and submission. Verse five, they say, we are your servants. But before we learn that they are willing to become servants, they were first exceedingly afraid. This shows us that if you and I are not careful, what we fear can easily become what we end up obeying.

What you fear, you will obey. Think about it. If I fear what people think about me, then I'm going to conform my convictions to their preference. Right? If I fear what enemies of the gospel will do to me, then I'm more willing to conceal my identity or compromise the message.

If I fear any element of the future, what am I compromising? I'm giving up an element of the joy, peace, and purpose that Christ intends for me today. And the examples can go on and on and on. Here's what fear does when it's ungodly fear. It paralyzes your obedience while promoting disobedience.

It paralyzes your obedience and it excites disobedience. So we see here that Jehu is very, very cunning. He makes them afraid in order to make them slaves. That is why you and I are called to fear God. Not that there is a slavish fear, but that there should be such an awareness of his glory and majesty that it wins our allegiance to him.

And that anything that tries to rival with it, anything that tries to make you afraid would burn up in light of the flame of devotion that you have because you have a clear perception of who he is. They were exceedingly afraid, so they became slaves. It reminds me of the words of Paul to Timothy where he says that God does not give us what? A spirit of fear. He doesn't give us a spirit of fear.

Now, that's that's what we see there in Timothy, but the the context is right before that verse, he tells Timothy, fan into flame the gift of God within you. What's the connection? Timothy was timid. He was not allowing the flourishing of his gift because he was afraid of persecution and the arrest and and the deaths and the beatings that were taking place among Christians because of their faith in Jesus. And and Paul says, listen.

You need a fan to flame that gift. And because you're afraid, you're not allowing that to happen. So we always limit ourselves when we live in fear in any way, in every way. And we see here that there is such an easy surrender because there was such a striking fear that suffocated them. Let's come back to second Kings 10.

So we learned that they gave in to Jehu's leadership. But notice verse six. This is not the only thing that he's gonna ask of them. Then he wrote to them a second letter saying, if you are on my side and if you are ready to obey me, take the heads of your master's sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time. Now the king's sons, 70 persons were with the great men of the city who were bringing them up.

And as soon as the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and slaughtered them, 70 persons, and put their heads in baskets and sent them to him at Jezreel. It's very graphic, but sometimes history is raw. What's happening here? Well, we might have yet another extreme but good example of what fear can drive a man to do. But I think the lesson is deeper than that.

Because remember, these are the leaders in Samaria. They have been employed by Ahab and Jezebel, and we have seen before how capable these leaders are in performing heinous acts. Remember, Jezebel was the one that had Naboth killed in order for her husband to have his vineyard by the palace. Remember that? But do we remember the means that were implemented in order for Naboth to be killed?

If you don't remember, go to first Kings 21, and you're gonna see an interesting connection. First Kings chapter 21 verse nine, I want you to look at who Jezebel called upon to do her bidding. And she wrote in the letters, proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people and set two worthless men opposite him and let them bring a charge against them saying, you have cursed God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death. Verse 11.

And the men of his city, the elders and the leaders who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them. It was the compliance of some of the leaders in Jezebel's kingdom that led to the murder of an innocent man. And I'm not saying that these are the same leaders that we find in second Kings 10, I'm just saying they're all members of the same company. And they all share the same ethic. And here's how we can apply this to ourselves.

If the sons of Ahab had a shred of wisdom, then they would have been much more cautious about who they chose to trust. Because clearly, they didn't consider that what these leaders had done in the past is something that could have been done to them. In a moment, an innocent man was killed. And these sons of Ahab thought that they could have been treated in the same way for whatever reason. When it comes to the choices that you and I make in relationships, you have to be careful to discern if the people that you're willing to yoke yourself to govern their lives in the fear of God, or if their lives are actually led by fleshly impulses or self preservation at any cost.

Choosing relationships in this way will spare you from much unnecessary heartache. And there are many in ministry and in marriage and everything in between who are suffering because they did not take the time to discern the kind of people that they are willing to partner with. Does this person ultimately live with and in the fear of the Lord where where God's heart is their motive in everything? And many ministries, ministers are crumbling because of that. Many marriages are in the same boat.

And unfortunately, these sons of Ahab allowed people who are willing to, at a moment's notice, betray their conscious or whatever is left in their conscious to do the most despicable things and they thought that it wouldn't apply to them. In many cases, if somebody unrepentantly does something to others, they are probably willing to do it to you. I've learned that. So what happens here? They deliver these heads severed in baskets.

They send them to Jezreel. And if we're not convinced of Jehu's cleverness by now, it will be hard to ignore it here. Let's read in verse eight. When the messenger came and told them they had brought the heads of the king's sons, he said, lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until the morning. Then in the morning when he went out, he stood and said to all the people, you are innocent.

It was I who conspired against my master and killed him. But who struck down all these? Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the Lord has done what he said by his servant Elijah. So these heads are severed. They're brought most likely in the night.

Makes you wonder if Jehu lost some sleep that night because he really took his time to make sure that these were the faces of the sons of Ahab. But he instructed that two piles would be made at the gate. Why would he wanna make a public display of such things? Because he wants to gather a crowd and he wants to use this moment to make a speech. And when he addresses the inhabitants of Jezreel the next morning, oh, this man is something.

He accomplishes a few things in these few words. The first thing that he does is that he feels as though this is the right moment to confess that he was the one who murdered the king of Israel. Here's my question. I lift my hand up now to nobody really, but as I'm reading saying, why is he saying this? What is he achieving in this?

Well, obviously, there's suspicion, there's rumors spreading now of what happened with the king of Israel. Remember, there was limited information among the Samaritans and we're gonna find out that the Southern Kingdom didn't even hear about it. And so Jehu just makes it clear. I'm the guy. You're innocent.

Nobody else is to blame here. I'm the one who shed blood. What are you doing? Here's what he's doing. He realized that if he confesses this, it won't seem as significant in light of the fact that there are 70 severed heads of the sons of Ahab.

It seems like a lighter offense with this horrific scene before the people. And you might be wondering, but isn't, Jehu responsible for the death of these 70 sons? Yeah. We know that. Guess who doesn't?

The inhabitants of Jezreel. So here's a second observation that we can make from this. That at the same time, Jehu, yes, confesses that he is the culprit, he also disses himself from this massacre. Notice what he says again in verse nine. You are innocent.

It was I who conspired against my master and killed him. But who struck down all these? By saying this, the average person listening might think to themselves, alright. If Jehu was willing to admit that he killed the king, surely he would be willing to admit that he also killed the sons of Ahab, but he doesn't. So it must be someone else.

Now, you might be wondering why he is speaking in this way, and the answer is quite simple. He is trying to seize the throne without any obstacles by keeping his image as clean as possible. And so he's willing to admit his actions that will help him look like a savior while also denying anything that he has done that might make him look like a brutal, bloodthirsty tyrant. And so he knows that the king of Israel is not very popular and he brought so much trouble upon the kingdom. So he goes, I'm the one who killed the king of Israel.

There's gonna be a lot more positive feedback with that. But there might be pushback, even really backlash, if the people learn that he slaughtered all of his sons and so he says, not sure what happened here. Men's playing politics. He's playing with their minds. And it's very clever because he's appealing to a mixed crowd in a complex situation because he wants to gain as many supporters as possible so that there would be no trouble for him to seize the throne.

And so he taps into their ignorance while also doing what? He emphasizes divine approval for the events that took place that day. Look at verse 10. What does he say? He says here, know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab, for the Lord has done what he said by his servant Elijah.

It's as though he is saying, I'm not sure how these sons of Ahab met their end. But I know what God's word said about the future of this dynasty so we better get aligned with his will. Do you see how brilliant this man is? It's actually really scary. Because once again, it worked.

He gained their support. Now before we move on, if you feel a little disturbed or concerned about Jehu's tactics here, you should be. Because lying in manipulation to accomplish the will of God is never justified. It's never to be implemented. But already, we're seeing some concerning traits in this man, and it's only gonna become more manifest in the verses we're about to read.

Look at verse 11. So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men and his close friends and his priests until he left him none remaining. Now let's read down to verse 14. Then he set out and went to Samaria. Pause.

He feels confident now. Right? He gained more supporters. He now realizes it's appropriate for me to approach the capital. So he goes to Samaria, let's continue.

On the way, when he was at Beth Ekhed of the shepherds, Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah, king of Judah, and he said, who are you? And they answered, we are the relatives of Ahaziah and we came down to visit the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother. Uh-oh. Probably not the best answer to give. To a man who has been anointed and destined to kill the house of Ahab.

He said, take them alive. And they took them and slaughtered them at the pit of Beth Ekhet, 42 persons, and he spared none of them. Makes you wonder, was this right of Jehu to do? Is this legitimate? Is this legal?

Is this in accordance with God's will? Now, one way to explain it is recalling what we studied last week that when Joram was recovering in Jezreel, Ahaziah king of Judah visited him. Why? Because they were related in marriage. And when Ahaziah visited Joram, he too was killed.

And we determined that that was God's purpose. It was ordained that Ahaziah, who was from the house of David ultimately, would be killed alongside Joram. And we referenced, though we didn't visit the verse, second Chronicles to confirm that. But this time, I want us to visit that verse. So you have to go to the parallel account in second Chronicles 22 to see this with me.

Look at the divine approval that the Holy Spirit gives concerning the death of Ahaziah in second Chronicles twenty two eight. Let's begin in verse seven. Excuse me. But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, he went out with Joram to meet Jehu, the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.

So it's clear. It's irrefutable. God ordained that the king of Judah would be killed for walking in the ways of the house of Ahab. But here's the question. Was Jehu justified in killing Ahaziah's relatives?

Because what we read in second Kings 10 is that he deemed them guilty by association and he had them slaughtered right there and then. So we have to ask the question, was this appropriate? So we read verse seven. Look at verse eight. And when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah's brothers.

So these are his nephews who attended Ahaziah and he killed them. What's omitted in verse eight? The commentary of God's approval. Now, some might make the case that it's inferred because they are related to Isaiah and that they had good rapport with the house of Israel. But we can't rush to that conclusion.

And so this is really the beauty of studying narratives in the bible. You're not always explicitly told when an action is right or if it's wrong. If it's righteous or if it's evil and that demands greater investigation to come to a clearer conclusion. This is one of those cases. So he was in the right for killing Ahaziah.

Was he in the right killing Ahaziah's nephews? Can I tell you something? I believe that there is another text and a completely different book, completely different genre actually, where we have clarification on Jehu's actions. Does anybody know what prophetic book I am referring to? I'm just curious to know if anybody knows the reference.

Minor prophet, starts with the letter h. Hosea. Hosea chapter one. Turn there in your bibles and behold the brilliance of God's word where you can understand second Kings chapter 10 better by knowing Hosea. Look at verse four of Hosea chapter one.

And the Lord said to him, call his name Jezreel. For in just a little while, I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. Why do you think this has troubled some bible students over the years? Any idea? God says of the people of Israel that he is going to visit the house of Jehu for shedding blood in Jezreel.

That's what we're studying here in second Kings nine and tonight in second Kings 10. Why would God bring about that kind of condemnation to the house of Jehu? Why why does that seem to be problematic? We're gonna get there in a moment but think about it from the beginnings. Is is Jehu just running on his own fumes here and just doing what he thinks is right?

Let me ask you this way. Was Jehu commanded by God to slaughter the house of Ahab? K. So why is he being condemned for it? Do you see?

Contradiction in your bible. No. No. No. No.

No. It's not a it's not a contradiction. It makes sense now when we look at what we read in verse 11 and verse 14 that Jehu, though he was commended for obeying the Lord in this way, at some point was excessive. And he began to feel like it was right to kill innocent people. And the killing of the nephews of Ahaziah is just one example of that.

So what do we find here? That Jehu, when Hosea condemns him, reveals that he went above and beyond the mandate. His mandate was to deal with the house of Ahab, not the house of Ahaziah. But we find him here feeling very comfortable to act in this way. What do we learn from that?

I think there are a couple things to learn. The first thing is that this is a good example, though extreme example, of how we can get carried away in our righteous zeal. Have you ever observed people going above and beyond what God had written in his word in the name of obedience to God? It's called legalism. It's called legalism.

When in the name of righteousness, in the name of holiness, you begin to go above what is written, beyond what has been demanded. We have to understand that there is a danger that we impose on others. In that pursuit, we see Jehu here who in his zeal is literally killing people and listen, when it comes to those who go above and beyond whether it's their human tradition or personal convictions, you also damage others. You also harm others to the point where you might even push them away where they embrace self destructing ways of life. And so this is a clear example of how we can justify certain things in the name of righteous zeal.

The way you feel about something doesn't make it right, even if it's in a pursuit of supposed honor. But not just that, I believe there's an example here of how we can implement carnal means to accomplish a righteous end. God told them to deal with a specific house, but what does this man do? He begins to now tamper with a different house. And it makes you wonder if Jehu is a little insecure.

It makes you wonder if this man is not really trusting in the sufficiency of God's instructions because he really wants to protect his pursuit of power. And so before, what does he do? He lies and he manipulates. And now what does he do? He goes beyond that.

He begins to kill people. If he really trusted the Lord, he would just rest in what God asked of him and that the Lord would take care of everything else. But instead, anybody that had a hint of association or some kind of harmonious relationship with the house of Ahab, he saw them as a threat and he came after them. This man now is becoming very dangerous. He's stepping outside of bounds and it's gonna cost them in different ways.

So Isaiah's nephews now become victims. But let's read on now in these final verses. And when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab, the son of Rekab, coming to meet him. And he greeted him and said to him, is your heart true to my heart as mine is to yours? And Jehonadab answered, it is.

Jehu said, if it is, give me your hand. So he gave him his hand and Jehu took him up with him into the chariot. And he said, come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. So he had him ride in his chariot. And when he came to Samaria, he struck down all who remained to Ahab in Samaria till he had wiped them out according to the word of the Lord that he spoke to Elijah.

So Ahaziah's nephews are not the only ones that Jehu encounters on his way to Samaria. We get the impression here that this man, Jehonadab, was not a stranger, but an acquaintance. Some somebody that Jehu knew. Why? Because look again at verse 15, and when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab, the son of Rekab, coming to meet him.

And when they meet face to face, Jehu doesn't ask what he asked those strangers in the previous verses. He doesn't say who who are you? He knows exactly who he is. He greets him. Not only does he greet him, he asked for his opinion.

He asked for where his heart stands with what's taking place. Is your heart true to my heart as mine is to yours? And this man, Jehonadev, says it is. And he says, come up with me. Now this seems, a little ambiguous.

Seems to me like there's history here that we're unaware of between these two. And it's helpful to know that this man, Jehonadab, is actually mentioned in one other place in all of the Old Testament. Does anybody know the book where Jonadab is referenced? I'll give you time to think about it. Let me give you another hint.

It's a prophet. It's a prophetic book. It's not Hosea. It's one of the bigger books, major prophets. So now you're left with three options.

Think. No. You left with two now. Jeremiah. Now, I'm gonna ask you to turn to a chapter in Jeremiah in a moment, but let me give you a little bit of background.

Jeremiah received this interesting command from heaven. He was told to go to the house of Rekab, and he was to invite the sons of this house into one of the rooms in the temple. And when he invited the inhabitants of this particular tribe, you read there in the beginning of Jeremiah chapter 35 that Jeremiah places before them pictures of wine and a bunch of cups for everyone to drink. And he looks at these sons and he says, drink wine. And you get this lengthy denial from the sons of the same tribe that this man, Jonadab, is from.

And that's what I want you to see. Go to Jeremiah 35 verse six. Because how this particular people respond will serve as a scathing rebuke to the unfaithfulness of the people of Judah, but will also reveal the history of their orangids. So look at verse six of Jeremiah 35. But they answered, we will drink no wine.

For Jonadab, the son of Rechab, that's who we read in second Kings 10, is it not? Our father commanded us, you shall not drink wine neither you nor your sons forever. You shall not build a house. You shall not sow seed. You shall not plant or have a vineyard, but you shall live in tents all your days that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.

We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father and all that he commanded us to drink no wine all our days ourselves, our wives, our sons or our daughters and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab, our father commanded us. Question, Do you think Jonadab is a respected person based on this answer? Very respected. He is a cherished and well loved leader among the Rechabites.

And we don't have time to explore the history of this tribe, but it's clear that they were a family that honored the wishes of their ancestor. Even after many, many years, they were told to abstain from wine. And they were instructed to live a simple nomadic life. And they honored that. To the degree that even when Jeremiah, the prophet, invited them to sip wine, they refused without hesitation.

Now what this says about this man that we read in second Kings 10, Jehonadab, also known as Jonadab, is that he must have been a righteous individual who was very concerned about the spiritual purity of his family and his descendants. And so he implements these strict rules. He asked them never to plant themselves permanently anywhere, especially in urban areas where idolatry tended to flourish, but to to live lightly and to to just remain in the outskirts and to to abstain from any activities that might, arouse the flesh. And this was something that his descendants honored for decades upon decades and decades. So if we believe this about Jonadab then it makes sense that even at the time of second Kings 10 where he is introduced in the bible, he must have been a revered individual.

He must have been at least someone that the general population recognized as being pious and serious. And for some reason, he's friends or at least a colleague of Jehu. So that when Jehu asked him, are you for me? Do do you affirm what I am doing here? It's no surprise to us that this kind of a man agrees.

He probably hated Baal worship. He despised it and when he learned that Jehu though probably unaware of his methods was ransacking and cleaning house, he he applauded it. But Jehu, remember, he's playing politics here, realizes now in this moment that this respected righteous individual, this man of character and principle approves of him, if people see that he approves of me then my movement will gain more what credibility. So he looks at Jonadab and he says, you agree with me? Because I agree.

I love what you're doing. Come with me. And what is Jehu thinking? As I make my way to Samaria and people see me, they're gonna see Jonadab is with him. He's for him.

And this is only winning him more popular support. A a very clever man. Very clever man. But notice the way he invites Jonadab into his chariot. What does he say in verse 16?

And he said, come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. Now you might be impressed with that statement at first, but you should actually be concerned. If you're not concerned, if you think that this is just a declaration of faithfulness, let me give you a modern example that will put the right taste in our mouths. Can you imagine after this bible study if I come down and talk with somebody here and ask what you're doing on a particular weekend? And you say, well, I'm actually free.

And I say, well, I'm actually preaching at a conference in this city. I'm inviting you to actually come to the conference. I want you to hear how passionate I am for God. How would that sound to you? That'd be a little concerning.

That's essentially what Jehu is saying. Come and see my zeal for the Lord. Is he drawing attention to the Lord or to himself himself? So now we're beginning to see some symptoms of what? Pride.

Selfish ambition mingling with his pursuit of obedience. Is that possible for some people to do? It is possible. There's a difference between honoring God with our passion for him and seeking honor from others through our passion for him. There's a difference between seeking God's honor with our passion for him and receiving honor from people through our passion for him.

And for some, the joy of their zeal for the Lord comes from being praised for it. But a truly holy man or woman of God will be totally content in knowing that God alone is pleased, whether they are acknowledged for their zeal or not. Come. See my zeal for the Lord. So now we have every right to question Jehu's motives.

Are they completely pure? And it's interesting to see how the Lord allows him to continue in this way in order to achieve his purposes. You know, I read something in my morning readings. I wasn't even planning to do this for bible study, but why don't we do it? I think it'd be a good way to end our time together.

I want you to come with me to the book of first Corinthians. And in a place where Paul describes his credibility as an apostle, the reliability of his testimony. He mentioned something in first Corinthians 15 verse eight. As he rehearses the importance of the gospel, the history of the gospel, the eyewitness accounts of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Notice what he says in verse eight.

Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me, For I am the least of all the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. So Paul continued to live with this awareness that he was unworthy. He knows he's forgiven. He knows that he's redeemed. But he he he didn't forget the history.

Not in a way where his past haunted him and made him feel condemned, but to always live in the realization, I don't deserve to be here. I don't deserve to be here. And this was If you wanna know what my morning meditation was and what it's been all day, it's the next couple of verses. Verse 10. But by the grace of God, I am what I am.

That's the motto for every single one of us. But by the grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace toward me was not in vain. Oh, I was chewing on that all morning. So he acknowledges that he is a recipient, a rich recipient of God's grace.

But notice this language, but his grace tomorrow is not in vain. You know what that tells me? That you can receive God's grace and remain passive with it. Now how many people live like that? I'm forgiven.

I know that I'm gonna go to heaven. I know that it's not my merit, my righteousness that will grant me eternal life. But what? They're lazy Christians. They just coast through life.

That's not what Paul is saying. He's saying, no no. Once I understood the grace, it got me going. Now I'm serving him. Now I'm pursuing him.

Now I'm obeying him. To what degree? Look what he says in the latter portion. On the contrary, I work harder than any of them. Though it was not I but the grace of God that is with me.

So even the moment where he brings up like real practical example and he testifies of his efforts, he can't help but finish that sentence of saying, but it was really God's grace in me. It's all God's grace. And his salvation and his sanctification and his service, God's grace, God's grace. But don't you see what God's grace promoted in him? This dedication and the service to the Lord in a way listen that if you were to measure the actual time and energy, he towered over the other apostles.

Yeah. Peter, John, James, he admits that and it's not pride here. Just saying, yeah. Actually, I work really hard, but it's God's grace in me. Verse 11.

Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. Jehu was a very zealous and faithful man, but he's not the best example. Christ ultimately is our example. But if you can genuinely identify a zeal in your heart for the Lord, that is wonderful. But realize that zeal itself is a gift and it is a working of the Holy Spirit and give him glory for that.

And if you're in this place and you can say, by God's grace, I am what I am. Can I ask you, how has that changed you? Though you're not boasting in anything, though you're not asking for attention, can people look at your life and see that you have been impacted by this grace? Paul says, this grace was not given to me in vain. Look at my life.

Look what it's done. And I pray that that would be true of all of us. That when people see the way you live, why do you go there on Friday nights? Here, I'm talking about. Why do you do this with your free time?

Why do you go there? Why do you give like that? Why do you not do this? You can say, because his grace. How can I not?

So may people see a zeal in us, not that we're asking to be seen but may they still see it. Because you see a person who's truly zealous for the Lord doesn't have to do what Jehu does. They don't have to advertise their zeal. They don't have to say, hey, everybody look at me, look at my zeal for the Lord. People will see it.

They will see it. All you need to do is continue to drink from that well and let it energize you day by day by day. And it has the power to keep you energized until you see him face to face. Lord, we thank you for this bible study. What a wonder it is to even come to this historical record of a man who arrived at the throne of the kingdom of Israel, And we can still apply truth to our lives.

We ask, Lord, that everything that we heard would be able to be retained and, Lord, that you would show us exactly how it should change us. Lord, we love you and we believe this word is your word. And so now we worship you. And we ask, Lord, tonight that you would enlarge our hearts that we may run-in the way of your commandments. We want zeal for you, but, Lord, we want it so that we can honor you.

If anything, Lord, we ask that when people see us and hear us, they can't help but be convinced that Christ is in us. That's our desire for our names to disappear, for no one to receive any praise or acknowledgment, but you and you alone. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand and worship the Lord together in song.