“However Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin, that is, from the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan. And the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in doing what is right in My sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin.” II Kings 10:29-31 NKJV
a. However Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam: Jehu aggressively worked against the worship of Baal in Israel. However, he promoted the false worship of the true God, after the pattern of Jeroboam who set up the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan.
i. “Do not be content to be strong against evil; be eagerly ambitious of good. It is easier to be vehement against the abominations of others than to judge and put away your own secret sins.” (Meyer)
ii. “Jehu did obey God up to a certain point. It happened to be a profitable thing to him to exterminate the old royal house of Ahab, because it would confirm himself upon his own throne; but anything beyond that did not pay, and therefore Jehu did not touch it.” (Spurgeon)
b. Because you have done well in doing what is right in My sight: Clearly, there was much good in the reign of Jehu. He was absolutely committed to fulfilling God’s judgment against the house of Ahab and driving the worship of Baal out of Israel. For this, he would be rewarded with a dynasty that would last four generations.
i. This was clear praise of Jehu’s actions; yet Hosea 1:4 condemns them. For in a little while I will avenge the bloodshed of Jezreel on the house of Jehu, and bring an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. We can see that both 2 Kings 10:30 and Hosea 1:4are true, in that Jehu was both good and bad.
· Jehu carried out God’s will, but he went too far and executed more people than God intended.
· Jehu carried out God’s will, but he did it for personal glory and out of pride.
· Jehu carried out God’s will, but he only did it partially. He stopped the idolatry of Baal, but he continued the sinful idolatry of Jeroboam.
c. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: Yet, Jehu was also clearly disobedient and did not obey or serve God with all his heart.
i. “Herein he discovers his hypocrisy, that he follows God as far as his interest would permit… but no further.” (Poole)
ii. We might see Jehu as a great Israeli patriot. He protested against Joram and the house of Ahab for the harm they did to Israel, and knew that to be strong, Israel must be cleansed of Baal worship. He knew that Israel had to come back to the true God, but he was unconcerned about how they did it. For Jehu, it was just as good to worship Yahweh at the temple of the golden calves at Dan or Bethel, and it was better for Israel if they did it at those places rather than at Jerusalem.
iii. When we compare Jehu to the other kings of Israel, we see that he was the best of a bad group. No other king in Israel fought against idolatry as much as Jehu did; sadly, even he did not fight against it with all his heart.
iv. By not taking heed to walk in the law of the LORD God, Jehu showed that he did not live a life of fellowship with God. He was a success in one regard, but a successful failure. “How terrible a warning is the story of this man – that it is possible to be an instrument in the hand of God and yet never be in fellowship with Him.” (Morgan)
v. “Jehu’s zeal, on the contrary, consumed and destroyed everybody and everything that stood in the way of his own advantage or aggrandizement, but never touched himself. He appears to have been a total stranger to real exercise of soul.” (Knapp)
vi. “Hating one sin he loved another, and thus proved that the fear of the Most High did not reign in his breast. He was merely a hired servant, and received the throne as his wages, but a child of God he never was.” (Spurgeon)
(Guzik)
Child of God?
It’s easy for man to go through the motions and do the bidding of the Lord like Jehu, but if you don’t have Jesus in your heart then Spurgeon’s commentary rings true!
“but a child of God he never was.” (Spurgeon)
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:” John 1:12 NKJV
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” I John 3:1 NKJV
Who is Him In these verses? Jesus!
Are you a child of God?
Blessings
Child of God?
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