Go Full Blast - But Don't Be A Successful Failure

 
            Today, I want to look in the Bible at someone who is not often studied. His name is Jehu, a commander in Israel’s army, and you can find his story in 2 Kings chapters 9-10.

            In 1 Kings 16:30 it says of King Ahab, a murderer and an idolater and the seventh king of the northern kingdom of Israel, that he did more evil in the sight of the Lord than all those before him. He died with Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, during a battle to recover Ramoth-Gilead from the Arameans. He was mortally wounded by an unaimed arrow. The dogs licked the blood from his chariot, as Elijah had prophesied.
 
          God used a prophet of Elisha to anoint Jehu as king of Israel. God also gave Jehu an assignment. He was to strike down the descendants of Ahab because of Ahab’s  wickedness.

        When the prophet anointed Jehu to be king, he said the following: “... ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I anoint you king over the people of the Lord, over Israel. And you shall strike down the house of Ahab your master, so that I may avenge on Jezebel the blood of my servants the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord. For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel” (2 Kings 9: 6-8).

         The Bible presents Jehu as a very intense man who goes full blast in carrying out his assignment. The following verse describes the way he drives his chariot. “The watchman reported...’The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously’” (2 Kings 9:20, italics mine).

        In verse 24, Jehu draws his bow with his “full strength” and the arrow pierces the heart of the son of King Ahab, named Joram. With continued vigour, Jehu has King Ahab’s wife, Jezebel put to death and tramples her body under his horses’ hoofs. At the start of chapter 10 of 2 Kings, Jehu kills 70 sons of Ahab. So far, he has been obedient to the Lord’s command.

         He continues his mission, and through trickery, kills all the prophets, priests, and worshipers of Baal. “In this way, Jehu destroyed every trace of Baal worship from Israel” ( 2 Kings 10:28 NLT). Jehu does everything big. If he lived today, his motto might be, ‘Go big or go home’.

        BUT, the end of verse 28 of 2 Kings 10 says, “He (Jehu) did not, however, destroy the gold calves at Bethel and Dan, with which Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to sin.”

        Verses 31-32 of 2 Kings 10 (NLT) are telling. “But Jehu did not obey the Law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He refused to turn from the sins that Jeroboam had led Israel to commit. At about that time the Lord began to cut down the size of Israel’s territory” (bold print mine).

       Because Jehu destroyed Ahab’s family, as God told him to, God allowed him to have descendants on the throne of Israel for four generations. But because of Israel’s persistence in hanging on to idolatry, which Jehu failed to stop, God began to cut off parts of Israel, until we read about the Israelites going into exile at the end of 2 Kings.

       Jehu was zealous to cleanse the land of Baal worship, but he did not seek to love God with all his heart, soul, and mind as Jesus told us to do in Matthew 22:37. He was not a true worshipper of God.

            What lessons can we learn from Jehu’s story? There are many, but here are three.

1. To end well, we must live a life of vital fellowship with God. A number of kings in the Bible began well, but ended poorly because they failed to keep God first place in their lives.
2. It is important to follow ALL the commands of God, not only those that benefit us.
3. We must worship God in spirit and in truth. “God is Spirit, and it behooves those worshiping Him to worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24 BLB). False worship of the one true God is not acceptable to Him. 

        In closing, if we are wise, we will not be like Jehu and go half way in following God. To be half hearted may lead to success in some things, but in the end, we will fail. Our goal should be to walk closely with the King, the Lord of all.