If chapter 9 were a movie…

This chapter is finally tying up a bunch of loose ends that have been dangling for several chapters. Let’s review them.

1. Yahweh told Elijah about these men when he was at Horeb. They were chosen to bring Divine vengeance on the dynasty and influence of Ahab.
   • “Then the Lord told him, “Go back the same way you came, and travel to the wilderness of Damascus. When you arrive there, anoint Hazael to be king of Aram. Then anoint Jehu grandson of Nimshi to be king of Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet. Anyone who escapes from Hazael will be killed by Jehu, and those who escape Jehu will be killed by Elisha!”
     ‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭19‬:‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬
2. Three servants are anointed to become powerful leaders:
   • Elijah anoints Elisha first, 1 Kings 19:19-21. Elisha was out plowing. He was not at prophet-school. He was just a normal guy and he became the assistant of Elijah before becoming one of the most powerful prophets in history.
   • We don’t actually see Hazael being anointed in the text. Elisha went to Damascus to visit Ben-Hadad and Hazael was sent to meet the prophet with 40 camel-loads of gifts. (It was rather like when Naaman brought all the gifts before. Those Syrians really respected Elisha!) Elisha has a vision of Hazael as king of Syria and tells him so. Hazael then kills the ailing Ben-Hadad. 2 Kings 8
   • Neither Elijah nor Elisha directly anoint Jehu. Elijah likely commissioned Elisha to do it and Elisha delegated one of the sons of the prophets to carry the message and do the anointing. 2 Kings 9
3. Ben-Hadad was the thug who attacked Israel, and Ahab was supposed to kill him. But he instead called him “brother,” entered into a covenant with him, and let him go. The Lord promised that Ahab would pay for this with his life. And Ben-Hadad was due to be taken out- 1 Kings 20. Hazael is the one who actually does it.
4. The border-city of Ramoth-Gilead is a major piece in all this. It was originally a Levitical “City of Refuge” but changed hands as either Syria (Aram) or Israel had the upper hand. Ironic that a city of refuge was anything but.
5. Naboth’s Vineyard…
   • As punishment for what Ahab & Jezebel did to Naboth and his family, their whole dynasty will be destroyed violently; particularly Jezebel. Elijah prophesies the gruesome manner of her death. 1 Kings 22
   • Just as Ahab killed Naboth and his sons, now Ahab’s son is killed and buried right there on Naboth’s land.
6. King Ahaziah of Judah is the grandson of Ahab and he acts like it. For his own wickedness AND for being part of the family dynasty of Ahab, he is doomed to be removed. Jehu is the one appointed to do this.

Remember back when we read this? (Note all the loose ends we just reviewed)…

“Ahaziah also followed the evil example of King Ahab’s family, for his mother encouraged him in doing wrong. He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Ahab’s family had done. They even became his advisers after the death of his father, and they led him to ruin. Following their evil advice, Ahaziah joined Joram, the son of King Ahab of Israel, in his war against King Hazael of Aram at Ramoth-gilead. When the Arameans wounded Joram in the battle, he returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds he had received at Ramoth. Because Joram was wounded, King Ahaziah of Judah went to Jezreel to visit him. But God had decided that this visit would be Ahaziah’s downfall. While he was there, Ahaziah went out with Joram to meet Jehu grandson of Nimshi, whom the Lord had appointed to destroy the dynasty of Ahab. While Jehu was executing judgment against the family of Ahab, he happened to meet some of Judah’s officials and Ahaziah’s relatives who were traveling with Ahaziah. So Jehu killed them all. Then Jehu’s men searched for Ahaziah, and they found him hiding in the city of Samaria. They brought him to Jehu, who killed him. Ahaziah was given a decent burial because the people said, “He was the grandson of Jehoshaphat—a man who sought the Lord with all his heart.” But none of the surviving members of Ahaziah’s family was capable of ruling the kingdom.”
‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭22‬:‭3‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

After reading 2 Kings 9, the passage above probably makes a LOT more sense.

This whole saga is rather like a very bad soap opera.

But all the loose ends come together as Jehu takes up his role as The Dark Avenger. The story of Naboth finally has closure. Ahab and the wicked witch, Jezebel, finally get the justice they deserve. I’m not saying Jehu was a good man. He wasn’t exactly. He did carry out the justice determined by God though. And we will see in the next chapter that he is the only leader in Israel’s history who gets rid of Baal worship. That’s about as close to righteous as the kingdom of Israel ever gets.

I don’t think that Jehu-figures are limited to the pages of scripture. Keep him in mind when looking at current geo-political events. When you see a flawed leader taking strong action against evil- even violent action; just remember Jehu. He was known for “driving like a madman.” A Jehu-like leader today might also drive very hard. He may be bold and brash. But it may be that the LORD has appointed him to bring justice. And justice – even Divinely appointed justice – is never pretty. It looks an awful lot like death and dismemberment. And to those on the receiving end of it, the one carrying it out looks like a murderous tyrant.

To discern the difference between a demonized, murderous tyrant and a dark avenger appointed by the LORD, you have to look very closely at who is dying.

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P.S. – Don’t forget about Jezebel. She’s going to come up one more time. About a year from now.