'And Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab
served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much. 19. Now therefore
call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his
priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to
Baal; whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live. But Jehu did it
in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of
Baal. 20. And Jehu said, Proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal. And they
proclaimed it. 21. And Jehu sent through all Israel: and all the
worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that came
not. And they came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was
full from one end to another. 22. And he said unto him that was over
the vestry, Bring forth vestments for all the worshippers of Baal. And
he brought them forth vestments. 23. And Jehu went, and Jehonadab the
son of Rechab, into the house of Baal, and said unto the worshippers
of Baal, Search, and look that there be here with you none of the
servants of the Lord, but the worshippers of Baal only. 24. And when
they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed
fourscore men without, and said, If any of the men whom I have brought
into your hands escape, he that letteth him go, his life shall be for
the life of him. 25. And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an
end of offering the burnt offering, that Jehu said to the guard and to
the captains, Go in, and slay them; let none come forth. And they
smote them with the edge of the sword; and the guard and the captains
cast them out, and went to the city of the house of Baal. 26. And they
brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them.
27. And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of
Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day. 28. Thus Jehu
destroyed Baal out of Israel. 29. Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam
the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after
them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Beth-el, and that were in
Dan. 30. And the Lord said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in
executing that which is right in Mine eyes, and hast done unto the
house of Ahab according to all that was in Mine heart, thy children of
the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. 31. But Jehu
took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his
heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made
Israel to sin.'--2 KINGS x. 18-31.
The details of this story of bloodshed need little elucidation. Jehu
had 'driven furiously' to some purpose. Secrecy and swiftness joined
to unhesitating severity had crushed the dynasty of Ahab, which fell
unlamented and unsupported, as if lightning-struck. The nobler
elements had gathered to Jehu, as represented by the Rechabite,
Jehonadab, evidently a Jehovah worshipper, and closely associated with
the fierce soldier in this chapter. Jehu first secured his position,
and then smote the Baal worship as heavily and conclusively as he had
done the royal family. He struck once, and struck no more; for the
single blow pulverised.
The audacious pretext of an intention to outdo the fallen dynasty in
Baal worship must have sounded strange to those who knew how his
massacre of Ahab's house had been represented by him as fulfilling
Jehovah's purpose, but it was not too gross to be believed. So we can
fancy the joyous revival of hope with which from every corner of the
land the Baal priests, prophets, and worshippers, recovered from their
fright, came flocking to the great temple in Samaria, till it was like
a cup filled with wine from brim to brim. The worship cannot have
numbered many adherents if one temple could hold the bulk of them.
Probably it had never been more than a court fashion, and, now that
Jezebel was dead, had lost ground. A token of royal favour was given
to each of the crowd, in the gift of a vestment from the royal
wardrobe. Then Jehu himself, accompanied by the ascetic Jehonadab,
entered the court of the temple, a strangely assorted pair, and a
couple of very 'distinguished' converts. The Baal priests would thrill
with gratified pride when these two came to worship. The usual
precautions against the intrusion of non-worshippers were taken at
Jehu's command, but with a sinister meaning, undreamed of by the eager
searchers. That was a sifting for destruction, not for preservation.
So they all passed into the inner court to offer sacrifice.
The story gives a double picture in verse 24. Within are the jubilant
worshippers; without, the grim company of their executioners, waiting
the signal to draw their swords and burst in on the unarmed mob. Jehu
carried his deception so far that he himself offered the burnt
offering, with Jehonadab standing by, and then withdrew, followed, no
doubt, by grateful acclamations. A step or two brought him to the
'eighty men without.' Two stern words, 'Go, smite them,' are enough.
They storm in, and 'the songs of the temple' are turned to 'howlings
in that day.' The defenceless, surprised crowd, huddled together in
the dimly lighted shrine, were massacred to a man. The innermost
sanctuary was then wrecked, corpses and statues thrown pell-mell into
the outer courts or beyond the precincts, fires lit to burn the
abominations, and busy hands, always more ready for pillage and
destruction than for good work, pulled down the temple, the ruins of
which were turned to base uses. The writer, picturing the wild scene,
sums up with a touch of exultation: 'Thus Jehu destroyed Baal out of
Israel'--where note the emphatic prominence of the three names of the
king, the god, and the nation. That is the vindication of the terrible
deed.
Now the main interest of this passage lies in its disclosure of the
strangely mingled character of Jehu, and in the fact that his bloody
severity was approved by God, and rewarded by the continuance of his
dynasty for a longer time than any other on the throne of Israel.
Jehu was influenced by 'zeal for the Lord,' however much smoke mingled
with the flame. He acted under the conviction that he was God's
instrument, and at each new deed of blood asserted his fulfilment of
prophecy. His profession to Jehonadab (ver. 16) was not hypocrisy nor
ostentation. The Rechabite sheikh was evidently a man of mark, and
apparently one of the leaders of those who had not 'bowed the knee to
Baal'; and Jehu's disclosure of his animating motive was meant to
secure the alliance of that party through one of its chiefs. No doubt
many elements of selfishness and many stains mingled with Jehu's zeal.
It was much on the same level as the fanaticism of the immediate
successors of Mohammed; but, low as it was, look at its power. Jehu
swept like a whirlwind, or like leaping fire among stubble, from
Ramoth to Jezreel, from Jezreel to Samaria, and nothing stood before
his fierce onset. Promptitude, decision, secrecy,--the qualities which
carry enterprises to success--marked his character; partly, no doubt,
from natural temperament, for God chooses right instruments, but from
temperament heightened and invigorated by the conviction of being the
instrument whom God had chosen. We may learn how even a very imperfect
form of this conviction gives irresistible force to a man, annihilates
fear, draws the teeth of danger, and gathers up all one's faculties to
a point which can pierce any opposition. We may all recognise that God
has sent us on His errands; and if we cherish that conviction, we
shall put away from us slothfulness and fear, and out of weakness
shall be made strong.
But Jehu sets forth the possible imperfections of 'zeal for the Lord.'
We may defer for a moment the consideration of the morality of his
slaughter of the royal house and the Baal worshippers, and point to
the taint of selfishness and to the leaven of deceit in his
enthusiasm. We have not to analyse it. That is God's work. But clearly
the object which he had in view was not merely fulfilment of prophecy,
but securing the throne; and there was more passion, as well as
selfish policy, in his massacres, than befitted a minister of the
divine justice, who should let no anger disturb the solemnity of his
terrible task. Such dangers ever attend the path of the great men who
feel themselves to be sent by God. In our humbler lives they dog our
steps, and religious fervour needs ever to keep careful watch on
itself, lest it should degenerate unconsciously into self-will, and
should allow the muddy stream of earth-born passion to darken its
crystal waters.
Many a great name in the annals of the Church has fallen before that
temptation. We all need to remember that 'the wrath of man worketh not
the righteousness of God,' and to take heed lest we should be guided
by our own stormy impatience of contradiction, and by a determination
to have our own way, while we think ourselves the humble instruments
of a divine purpose. There was a 'Zelotes' in the Apostolate; but the
coarse, sanguinary 'zeal' of his party must have needed much purifying
before it learned what manner of spirit the zeal of a true disciple
was of.
Another point of interest is the divine emphatic approval of Jehu's
bloody acts (ver. 30). The massacre of the Baal worshippers is not
included in the acts which God declares to have been 'according to all
that was in Mine heart,' and it may be argued that it was not part of
Jehu's commission. Certainly the accompanying deceit was not 'right in
God's eyes,' but the slaughter in Baal's temple was the natural sequel
of the civil revolution, and is most probably included in the deeds
approved.
Perhaps Elisha brought Jehu the message in verse 30. If so, what a
contrast between the two instruments of God's purposes! At all events,
Jehovah's approval was distinctly given. What then? There need be no
hesitation in recognising the progressive character of Scripture
morality, as well as the growth of the revelation of the divine
character, of which the morality of each epoch is the reflection. The
full revelation of the God of love had to be preceded by the clear
revelation of the God of righteousness; and whilst the Old Testament
does make known the love of God in many a gracious act and word, it
especially teaches His righteous condemnation of sin, without which
His love were mere facile indulgence and impunity. The slaughter of
that wicked house of Ahab and of the Baal priests was the act of
divine justice, and the question is simply whether that justice was
entitled to slay them. To that question believers in a divine
providence can give but one answer. The destruction of Baal worship
and the annihilation of its stronghold in Ahab's family were
sufficient reasons, as even we can see, for such a deed. To bring in
Jehu into the problem is unnecessary. He was the sword, but God's was
the hand that struck. It is not for men to arraign the Lord of life
and death for His methods and times of sending death to evil-doers.
Granted that the 'long-suffering' which is 'not willing that any
should perish' speaks more powerfully to our hearts than the justice
which smites with death, the later and more blessed revelation is
possible and precious only on the foundation of the former. Nor will a
loose-braced generation like ours, which affects to be horrified at
the thought of the 'wrath of God,' and recoils from the contemplation
of His judgments, ever reach the innermost secrets of the tenderness
of His love.
From the merely human point of view, we may say that revolutions are
not made with rose-water, and that, at all crises in a nation's
history, when some ancient evil is to be thrown off, and some powerful
system is to be crushed, there will be violence, at which easy-going
people, who have never passed through like times, will hold up their
hands in horror and with cheap censure. No doubt we have a higher law
than Jehu knew, and Christ has put His own gentle commandment of love
in the place of what was 'said to them of old time.' But let us, while
we obey it for ourselves, and abjure violence and blood, judge the men
of old 'according to that which they had, and not according to that
which they had not.' Jehu's bloody deeds are not held up for
admiration. His obedience is what is praised and rewarded. Well for us
if we obey our better law as faithfully!
The last point in the story is the imperfection of the obedience of
Jehu. He contented himself with rooting out Baal, but left the calves.
That shows the impurity of his 'zeal,' which flamed only against what
it was for his advantage to destroy, and left the more popular and
older idolatry undisturbed. Obedience has to be 'all in all, or not at
all.' We may not 'compound for sins we are inclined to, by' zeal
against those 'we have no mind to.' Our consciences are apt to have
insensitive spots in them, like witch-marks. We often think it enough
to remove the grosser evils, and leave the less, but white ants will
eat up a carcass faster than a lion. Putting away Baal is of little
use if we keep the calves at Dan and Beth-el. Nothing but walking in
the law of the Lord 'with all the heart' will secure our walking
safely. 'Unite my heart to fear Thy name' needs to be our daily
prayer. 'One foot on sea and one on shore' is not the attitude in
which steadfastness or progress is possible.