seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
2 Kings 10:18 Then Jehu brought all the people together and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now summon all the prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests. See that no one is missing, because I am going to hold a great sacrifice for Baal. Anyone who fails to come will no longer live.” But Jehu was acting deceptively in order to destroy the servants of Baal.
20 Jehu said, “Call an assembly in honor of Baal.” So they proclaimed it. 21 Then he sent word throughout Israel, and all the servants of Baal came; not one stayed away. They crowded into the temple of Baal until it was full from one end to the other. 22 And Jehu said to the keeper of the wardrobe, “Bring robes for all the servants of Baal.” So he brought out robes for them.
23 Then Jehu and Jehonadab son of Rekab went into the temple of Baal. Jehu said to the servants of Baal, “Look around and see that no one who serves the Lord is here with you—only servants of Baal.” 24 So they went in to make sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had posted eighty men outside with this warning: “If one of you lets any of the men I am placing in your hands escape, it will be your life for his life.”
25 As soon as Jehu had finished making the burnt offering, he ordered the guards and officers: “Go in and kill them; let no one escape.” So they cut them down with the sword. The guards and officers threw the bodies out and then entered the inner shrine of the temple of Baal. 26 They brought the sacred stone out of the temple of Baal and burned it. 27 They demolished the sacred stone of Baal and tore down the temple of Baal, and people have used it for a latrine to this day.
28 So Jehu destroyed Baal worship in Israel. 29 However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
30 The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” 31 Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.
32 In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory 33 east of the Jordan in all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh), from Aroer by the Arnon Gorge through Gilead to Bashan.
34 As for the other events of Jehu’s reign, all he did, and all his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
35 Jehu rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son succeeded him as king. 36 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.
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Here's the link to the commentary I use.
And tore down the temple of Baal and made it a refuse dump: Ahab built this temple for his wife Jezebel (1 Kings 16:32); Jehu tore it down. He worked to completely eliminate the worship of Baal from Israel, making him a unique king among the other rulers of the Northern Kingdom.
He destroyed this temple of Baal and utterly desecrated it. To say he made it a refuse dump is literally that he made it a public toilet. “A place for human excrement; so all the versions understand it. Nothing could be more degrading than this.” (Clarke)
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.
In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel: This was the work of the LORD. These neighboring rulers and their kingdoms were prompted and made successful by God.
All the territory of Israel from the Jordan eastward: For hundreds of years before this — since the time of the entry into the Promised Land more than 600 years before — Israel held substantial portions of land on the eastern side of the Jordan River. This land was held by the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh. Now this land was taken by the enemies of Israel, because of their sin and unfaithfulness to the covenant.
This included the rich and fruitful lands of Gilead and Bashan.
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This is the last of the reign of Jehu. He did a great job of cleaning out the Baal worshippers, but he didn't get rid of all the fakes.
Jeroboam, before him, for the sake of the economy, placed a golden calf in a couple of "convenient" locations so the Israelites would have something to worship. The intent was to keep the population in place. That way the population wouldn't be taking off for every Jewish holiday to go to Jerusalem to worship their God. For their convenience, two temples were decked out in golden calves, paying homage to Aaron's golden calf in Exodus.
I guess Jehu could see the benefit of the golden calf. After all, Aaron used the calf to keep the Israelites happy during the Exodus. It should work with the Israelites now.
The economy was extremely important. Everyone just can't take off for a day to spend the day in worship! I mean what would happen if everyone went to church on a Sunday morning instead of putting on their uniform and working at the Dairy Queen. The economy would lose all that day's income. Compound that by 52 weeks and then add on all the Jewish Holidays, and the dent in the possible total income would be huge.
The economy was extremely important. Everyone just can't take off for a day to spend the day in worship! That does not do anything to support the government, which is indeed based on the value of the shiny Ducketts counted in the treasury.
Jehu didn't take out the temples. He understood the value of the coins the temples saved.
Jehu was not only a warrior, but he was a liar. He lied to the worshippers of Baal so he could murder them. Then he lied to the Israelites to keep them working.
The economy was extremely important. God did Jehu a solid by giving him the throne for four generations. BUT, let's face it, God doesn't put money into the economy. Everything the church does is tax exempt! How could Jehu run a territory as huge as Israel if the workforce takes off to go worship God????
The economy was extremely important. The message taught in the temple is important to the economy as well. If everyone meets in one or two places, then the message they receive can control the actions of the masses. If Jehu taught the people Baal bad, gold calf ok... then the people would be just fine with whatever Jehu did.
The masses were told Baal bad, golden calf ok....
Meanwhile God shaved a little of Jehu's kingdom off for him. Baal bad... good Jehu.... gold calf ok.... NOT good for Jehu.
Did you note? God promised David he would have the throne forever. God only promised Jehu four generations.
I think God allowed Jehu four generations because Jehu sent such a strong message in the temple when he had all of Baal's leaders slaughtered.
Baal's temple turned into an outhouse!
To this day, according to verse 27, Baal's temple is an outhouse.
The economy is extremely important. Golden calves save the economy. [money makes the world go around, the world go around, the world go around]
Poop on Baal!
