_Come with me_, _and see my zeal for the_ LORD.
JEHU, the son of Nimshi, one of the captains of Israel, had been selected
and anointed by Divine command, to supplant King Joram, to smite the
whole house of Ahab, and to avenge the poured-out blood of GOD’S
servants, the prophets. It is easy to account for the choice of such an
agent. GOD, we believe, performs no miracle unnecessarily. When what He
wants exists already, He searches it out and uses it; instead of making a
new creation, or changing and converting what, so to speak, comes first
to hand. At this time He had need, for His purposes respecting Israel,
of a man bold, impetuous, full of vigour, prompt to undertake, resolute,
courageous, uncompromising to perform. Such an one pre-eminently, was
Jehu; and therefore, said the LORD, “I have anointed thee king over the
people of the LORD, even over Israel, and thou shalt smite the house of
Ahab thy master, that I may avenge the blood of My servants the prophets,
and the blood of all the servants of the LORD, at the hand of Jezebel.”
We know with what alacrity Jehu assumed his office, and set about the
discharge of its stern and bloody duties; how he drove furiously to slay
Joram, assailing him the while with loud reproaches for tolerating the
wicked doings of Jezebel; how he caused Ahaziah, king of Judah, to be
slain; how he commanded Jezebel to be thrown from the window, and trod
her under foot; how he effected the wholesale slaughter of seventy
persons of King Ahab’s sons, of all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and
his priests, until he left him none remaining; and how, too, returning
from this destruction, he met forty-two of the brethren of King Ahaziah,
and caused them all to be slain at the pit of the shearing house. The
words of the text introduce us to his last recorded deed of this kind,
namely, the destruction by subtlety of all the followers of Baal, and the
suppression of his worship throughout the land of Israel.
In reading this narrative, the questions naturally arise, How far were
the deeds of Jehu a performance of the Divine will? Was Jehu in any
respect, and if so, in what, a holy character? Under what influence did
he act, and forbear to act? May we consider these questions rightly, and
learn from them lessons of wisdom by GOD’S grace to be carried out into
holy practice!
There is, then, no doubt, because we may read the command for it, in
plain words, that GOD willed the destruction of Ahab’s whole house and
the extermination of the abominable idolatry of the Zidonians. Jehu
seems, indeed, to have been unnaturally ready for the executioner’s
office, to have discharged it savagely, and to have availed himself of
what is never needed or allowed in GOD’S service, of subtlety, fraud,
lying: but still, making allowance for excesses, arising from his natural
disposition, from his professional familiarity with deeds of blood, and
probably from a proud misconception of the authority under which he
acted, it must be admitted that, in the main, Jehu so far did the will of
the LORD.
Under what influence, prompted by what feelings, he did it, is a question
less easy to answer decidedly. There are some—and not a few—who say that
his animus was altogether bad; that carnage was his delight; and that he
wickedly, and for his own pleasure and private ends, availed himself of
the Divine commission, and served himself under the pretence of serving
GOD. That Jehu was selfish there is great reason to believe, and
something shall be said on that head presently; but that he was a
hypocrite, that his principle, the motive under which he acted, was
wholly bad, is proved not to be the case by the inspired commendation of
him. GOD has made even the wicked for Himself, He uses them to
accomplish His purposes (as He did the Assyrians to punish the
Israelites, Satan to try Job, Judas to betray our LORD); but in such
cases as they do of freely devised wickedness, what He overrules for His
own good purposes, He condemns and punishes them for their offence,
though He makes use of it. Now, in Jehu’s case, He praised and rewarded,
and so there must have been something right in him: “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.” And the promise was fully realised.
It seems clear, then, that Jehu’s deeds not only accomplished the Divine
will, but that they were done with that design; in obedience and in zeal.
They were a soldier’s exact observance of orders, they were the fruits of
a servant’s devotion to his master.
We should be able to leave this statement without qualification were it
not for two passages in the chapter of the text: the one, that in which
Jehu makes such boastful mention of his doings, “Come with me, and see my
zeal for the LORD;” the other, that in which the inspired writer records,
“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 Bethel, and that were in Dan.” From the first of these we are
compelled to infer that there was an evil leaven pervading his best
obedience; and from the last, that other feelings often influenced him
beside zeal for GOD, and other lords had dominion over him; so that he
wilfully desisted or was deterred from doing all that was required of
him. Hence it is plain that we must revise our estimate of his
character, to account both for his zeal and want of zeal.
The most satisfactory way of viewing him, to make him at all consistent,
is to suppose that, after all he was not a changed and converted man, and
did not act from spiritual feelings; but that he was hitherto employed in
pursuits congenial to his natural taste, and so found his own pleasure in
doing the LORD’S. In the destruction of Ahab’s race and the overthrow of
Baal, the soldier exercised the profession which he had chosen and loved.
In daring exploits and deeds of blood, he found a carnal gratification.
Moreover, he was all the while strengthening and advancing his own cause.
His throne was unsafe while any of Ahab’s posterity survived to dispute
it with him, his people’s allegiance was not sure while there was any
link with the Zidonians remaining; and the LORD’S displeasure at the
idolatry of Israel, he well knew, would show itself again, as it had done
before, in the withholding of prosperity from them, and allowing them to
be harassed by their enemies. It was, then, a congenial and politic
course which he had hitherto followed. It may have been done with
greater ardour and satisfaction, because it was the LORD’S will; Jehu may
not at the time have had any distinct perception of the workings of a
lower motive, but still he would, doubtless, have done all, and done it
as readily and effectually had he owned no allegiance to GOD, and
received no Divine command. This view of Jehu seems to be corroborated
by the fact, that when the time was come for him to serve GOD in
comparative quietness, he served Him not; and when the performance of the
Divine will in rooting out schism, threatened to break up the separation
of Israel from Judah, by restoring the worship at Jerusalem, then he not
only desisted from the work of reformation, but gave his countenance to
the old error, and encouraged the people to go after the golden calves,
that were in Bethel and that were in Dan. And so that which he would
have others consider, and which, perhaps, he even believed himself, was
zeal for GOD, was chiefly the indulgence of his own passions and the
service of self; and it came to pass, that he who had done well, even
according to all that was in GOD’S heart, henceforth took no heed to walk
in the law of the LORD GOD of Israel.
Such was Jehu’s zeal—a natural, or mixed, is not wholly selfish zeal, the
zeal of Saul who sought to slay the Gibeonites, but spared Agag alive;
the zeal of the chief priests and Pharisees who put CHRIST to death, and
demanded Barabbas to be released; not the zeal of Phinehas, of Josiah, of
Him who was always straitened till He did His Father’s will; zeal not so
much immoderate or blind, as blemished and partial; not being always
zealously affected in a good work.
The review of such a character may be very profitable. How many of us,
my brethren, are very warm, very exact in serving GOD, in the things to
which we are naturally inclined? How many of us, if we bid not others
(as we too often do), “Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD,” at
least flatter, and puff up ourselves, in the contemplation of the service
which we are rendering to GOD? How many of us have only just as much
zeal as squares with our own desires or interests; and in all else,
either desist when GOD urges “Go on,” or persevere when He cries
“Forbear!” The zealous man has been advised, by a great moralist, always
to suspect that pride, or interest, or ill temper, is at the bottom of
his zeal. Provided we guard against the grave error, so prevalent in the
last century, of despising and condemning all religious zeal, it is well
to entertain this suspicion—of ourselves, I mean—till we have proved it
to be false, or by repentance and amendment have made it false. For who
does not know how much a proud, carnal, selfish, ill-tempered man or
woman may do in the service of self, which has the appearance of zeal for
GOD? What pious labours men will undertake, if they happen to be in the
path of their natural inclinations! What warfare they will wage against
sins that they have no mind to! What platform speeches they will make,
what pamphlets or letters publish, against the disciples of a religious
school to which they do not belong! They are zealously affected; they
come out and are separate; they are enthusiastic, energetic, noisy; they
put forth all their own strength; they invoke the civil power; they would
have authority from the synagogue, if it were to be had, to punish all
who do not conform; they smite with the sharp sword of a bitter
persecuting tongue or pen; they work, they speak, they give, they fight,
they endure—all, they say, in zeal for the LORD; and yet, if you follow
them into the quiet scenes of life, if you come upon them where self has
nothing to gain or enjoy, or where it has anything to lose or fear
losing, to all appearance they take no heed to walk in the law of the
LORD GOD. It is very likely that they are not communicants; that they
are irregular in their attendance at Church, or greatly wanting in proper
demeanour and devotion when there; that they aid but seldom, and
slenderly, in the spread of religion around them, and the relief of GOD’S
poor; that they are rarely seen to open the Bible; not men of prayer;
exhibiting tempers, and following ways which belong not to the holily
zealous; tolerating beneath their own roof, or within the reach of their
influence, something as hateful in the sight of GOD as the calves that
were in Bethel and that were in Dan.
O how many who are zealous at one time, are without zeal at another! How
many who make a great show of religion, and talk much about it, and
contend in public for it, are utter strangers to its real influence, are
wholly without love for it! How many, too, who honestly consider
themselves zealous for GOD, are only serving Him in the bent of their
natural inclinations, and taking no heed to Him, where self must be
denied; like men of cold temperament, despising bodily indulgence, yet
making a god of mammon; prodigals, inveighing against covetousness;
destroyers of the temple of Baal, restorers of the calves of Bethel and
Dan; saints in some things, devils in others!
O ye who boast of zeal, or claim to have it, take care that ye have it
towards GOD, and that ye are constant in it! Distrust the energy which
works only at times, and in some directions. Suspect the feeling which
excites and fills with ardour to-day, but is listless and dead to-morrow;
which chooses for itself what to do for GOD, what to think of GOD, what
truth to meditate on chiefly, what practice alone to follow. Zeal for
GOD is entire, regular, consistent devotion to Him. It fills the whole
man with all spiritual desires and feelings; it works out in the whole
life; albeit, it is generally calm, and sober, and quiet, not boasting
nor thrusting itself forward, not making much ado.
Do not suppose, brethren, that in speaking thus on the subject of zeal, I
would discourage, in any degree, the entertaining of a fervent spirit, or
would allow, for a moment, that strong feeling and strong expression of
it, and manifested earnest activity, are, in the slightest degree,
incompatible with real religion. On the contrary, I would maintain that
there is no religion at all in the man or woman who is not—allowing for
the differences of temperament—stirred within by it, and impelled to
speak of and act upon it; who is afraid, or unwilling, or negligent, to
show it. Zeal, I maintain, is good—nay, is necessary; zeal, which makes
one burn with the glowing thought of immortality, which rouses one to
ardent work and holy contention; which finds, and _must have_, its vent
in the speech; which shows itself designedly, that it may impress others,
and set forth the glory of GOD. Only, I would have you judge of that
zeal in others, and find it in yourselves; not in what Jehu did, but in
what he omitted, and ought to have done; not in that which indulges
natural desires, but in that which crosses them; not in that which
secures worldly advantages, but in that which disregards, and even
sacrifices them; not in that which exists, or is quickened only in times
and places of excitement, but which burns brightest and highest, and
spreads farthest, in solitude and silence; not where there is immediate
praise, or glory, or notoriety, in the sight of men, but in that which is
seen alone by GOD. Seek to be zealous, rest not till you are zealous,
for there is no service of GOD, no acceptance with Him but through zeal:
but expect to find your zeal, know that there only GOD will find it, in
your deep conviction of sin, in the fervour of your penitence, in the
uncompromising persecution of your own lusts, in the crossing of your own
will, in the refraining from that you would naturally choose to do, and
the performance of that you shrink from through worldly motives, in the
earnestness of your prayers, in the frequency of your acts of communion,
in the diligence of your searching of the Scriptures, in the munificence
of your private charities, in the strenuousness of your efforts to do
good to others, in the secret contemplation and desire of heaven, in the
soul’s appreciation of your high calling, in faithful love of GOD in your
hearts! Have such zeal, and manifest and exercise it as often and as
consistently as the Holy Spirit enables you, and then the whole of your
life, within and without, from first to last, shall have the commendation
which Jehu’s at the beginning had; and an infinitely better promise shall
be fulfilled to you, Ye shall sit on the throne of heaven with CHRIST,
and reign with Him for ever and ever.
SERMON XIX.
CHRIST’S COMING DESIRED.