2 Kings 9 Two kings down

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
2 Kings 9:14 So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram. (Now Joram and all Israel had been defending Ramoth Gilead against Hazael king of Aram, 15 but King Joram(b) had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds the Arameans had inflicted on him in the battle with Hazael king of Aram.) Jehu said, “If you desire to make me king, don’t let anyone slip out of the city to go and tell the news in Jezreel.” 16 Then he got into his chariot and rode to Jezreel, because Joram was resting there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to see him.

17 When the lookout standing on the tower in Jezreel saw Jehu’s troops approaching, he called out, “I see some troops coming.”

“Get a horseman,” Joram ordered. “Send him to meet them and ask, ‘Do you come in peace?’”

18 The horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do you come in peace?’”

“What do you have to do with peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.”

The lookout reported, “The messenger has reached them, but he isn’t coming back.”

19 So the king sent out a second horseman. When he came to them he said, “This is what the king says: ‘Do you come in peace?’”

Jehu replied, “What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me.”

20 The lookout reported, “He has reached them, but he isn’t coming back either. The driving is like that of Jehu son of Nimshi—he drives like a maniac.”

21 “Hitch up my chariot,” Joram ordered. And when it was hitched up, Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah rode out, each in his own chariot, to meet Jehu. They met him at the plot of ground that had belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 When Joram saw Jehu he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?”

“How can there be peace,” Jehu replied, “as long as all the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”

23 Joram turned about and fled, calling out to Ahaziah, “Treachery, Ahaziah!”

24 Then Jehu drew his bow and shot Joram between the shoulders. The arrow pierced his heart and he slumped down in his chariot. 25 Jehu said to Bidkar, his chariot officer, “Pick him up and throw him on the field that belonged to Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember how you and I were riding together in chariots behind Ahab his father when the Lord spoke this prophecy against him: 26 ‘Yesterday I saw the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons, declares the Lord, and I will surely make you pay for it on this plot of ground, declares the Lord.’[c] Now then, pick him up and throw him on that plot, in accordance with the word of the Lord.”

27 When Ahaziah king of Judah saw what had happened, he fled up the road to Beth Haggan.[d] Jehu chased him, shouting, “Kill him too!” They wounded him in his chariot on the way up to Gur near Ibleam, but he escaped to Megiddo and died there. 28 His servants took him by chariot to Jerusalem and buried him with his ancestors in his tomb in the City of David. 29 (In the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab, Ahaziah had become king of Judah.)​

b. 2 Kings 9:15 Hebrew Jehoram, a variant of Joram; also in verses 17 and 21-24
c. 2 Kings 9:26 See 1 Kings 21:19.
d. 2 Kings 9:27 Or fled by way of the garden house

Well it looks like the unholy alliance between Israel's king and Judah's king is going to come to an end. Yehu has been anointed to be king of Israel. In order to take the throne... he's got to get rid of Joram who is currently occupying it. Joram, a direct descendant of Jezebel and Ahab is evil to the core. Now currently Joram is in Jezreel healing. His buddy Ahaziah, king of Judah, is also under the control of Jezebel and Ahab because he's married to Jezebel's daughter. Now both of these kings are on God's list of humans to dispose of.... and they get into the same chariot. How convenient!

Joram was the first to get his.... Jehu shot him in the back as the two kings tried to get away.

Ahaziah had the chariot driver throw Joram's body out. I'm sure when Ahaziah gave that order, he was only trying to lighten the load so the he might have a better chance to escape. Jehu was right on his heels. It must have worked, because Ahaziah made it all the way to Megiddo. Jehu wounded him during his escape but Ahaziah and Joram are now both gone. Jehu is king of Israel. Judah's king is dead.

There's much ado about the location of the disposal of Joram's body. Remember the guy who lost his farm because the king wanted a veggie garden? Look what enduringword.com says.

Met him on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite: This was the land that Ahab and Jezebel had so wickedly obtained by murdering the innocent owner of the land – Naboth. On this very land – which, as far as God was concerned, still belonged to Naboth – the dynasty of Omri would meet its judgment.​

It took a while... but throwing their son out like trash should speak volumes about how God felt about Ahab and Jezebel.

So... two kings down and Jezebel to go....

:coffee:
 
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