July 10, 2024 • 18 mins
In this Bible Story, Jehu is used by God to rid Israel of evil. He kills Jezebel and all the remnants of king Ahab. He also toppls the temples of Baal along with all its followers. Eventually, he succumbs to his own inner evils and strays away from God. This story is inspired by 2 Kings 9:30-10:36. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.
Today's Bible verse is 2 Kings 9:34 from the King James Version.
Episode 139: Jehoshaphat, in an attempt to broker peace between him and Israel, betrothed his son Joram to Ahab’s daughter Athaliah. But because the wicked and idolatrous nature of her parents was in her, both Jehoram and the nation of Judah would be led astray. And as he, his kingdom, and his sons passed away; his wife Athaliah plotted. Determined to stay in power, she killed all of her grandchildren so that the line of David could not stand in her way. But God would not let her evil stand in the way of His promise. Jehosheba, Athaliah’s daughter, hid away one of Ahaziah’s sons in the temple to be raised by the priests and taken care of until he could become king!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let us pray. And when he was come in, he
did not eat and drink, and he said, go see
now this cursed woman, and bury her, for she is
a king's daughter Second Kings nine thirty four. As the
anointing of the Lord moves through me, I will not
(00:21):
stop until I pray and dismantle the works of the
enemy around me. I will not relent until I remove
any and all false gods and idols in my life.
I decree and declare that I will honor you with
my whole heart. Unlike yea who I will not walk
(00:42):
away from you or your presence. I will not settle
for a lukewarm relationship with you and your heart. Heavenly Father,
when I am weary of doing well, I will refresh
my soul by remembering all that you have done for me,
and by resting in your presence. Keep me through your
(01:06):
unfailing love, cover me with your outstretched arm, because I
know that it is only through your power that I
will be able to experience good success in Jesus name, Amen,
thank you for praying with me to day. Continue listening
(01:29):
for an incredible Bible story brought to you by Bible
in a year dot Com.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
The end of a witch's story. In our last story,
Elishah anointed Jehu as the next King of Israel, Jee,
who embraced his role as God's cleansing instrument. Jehu killed
King Jardah, then King Aziah, and began his mission to
rid Israel of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel's evil influence.
(02:09):
Now we learn of Jee who's time as king. He
is used by God to heal Israel of all the
sickness and evil it has been plagued with under Jezebel
and Ahab. Jee who would fight for the freedom of Israel,
but would the evil be too much for his human heart.
Inspired by the Book of Second Kings.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Hello, This is pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of
the Bible in a Year podcast. In yesterday's scripture passage,
we saw how God anointed a new king. His name
was Jehu, and this new king ruled Israel with righteousness.
Jehu would avenge the blood of the prophets put to
death by Jezebel and would wipe out Ahab the wicked
(02:55):
king's family. Beginning with Israel's King Joram. God's desire was
all for his people to turn to him rather than
the idols they worshiped, and Jehu would be God's tool
to accomplish these purposes. Today we'll hear how the evil,
wicked Queen Jezebel finally faces the consequences of her evil,
and we'll learn how God began to use Jehu to
(03:17):
fight to free Israel from her bondage. But even as
God uses Jehu, evil is still present, threatening to infect
the new King's heart. So let's listen to the word
of God today.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
The west wind howled furiously. Gray clouds rolled in like
waves on a shore. The sky was eerily dark. As
the witch Queen Jezebel loomed over her window. It was
open for cold wind to blow in. She stood up straight,
as if challenging the storm to draw closer. She had
(03:51):
heard of the king's demise. She had been told of
Jehu's anointing and how he sent an arrow through her
son's back. Now she waited for him. Her eyes were
painted dark and her hair was fixed for a pagan ritual.
She mumbled to herself silently, her gaze fixed on the
dark horizon. Thunder boomed in the distance as Jehu rode
(04:15):
towards the palace gates. He halted his horse when he
saw Jezebel's dark eyes staring down at him through the
palace window. Age had given her dark hair streaks of gray,
but she maintained a sense of authority and strange power.
Do you come in peace, king slayer, you murderous bastard,
(04:35):
she shouted. Jehu looked closely through the opening where Jezabel stood.
He could see two or three slaves behind her, cowering
in fear. Are any of you on my side? Jehu
shouted to them. If it is true freedom you desire,
throw her down. Before Jezebel could even turn round, the
(04:57):
three eunuch slaves burst towards the window, shoving Jezebel out
her window. Her witch like screams were drown out by
the distant thunder as she fell to her death. Her
body fell beside the stables, Her blood covered the walls
and the horses. Jehu rode towards her and crushed her
body under the hoofs of his horse. For minutes, Jihu
(05:20):
made his horse trample her body. The sound of cracking
bone and squishing flesh filled Jehu's ears. He paid no
attention to it. He and many others had suffered miserably
under Jezebel's wicked rituals. She had killed many people and
stolen the innocence of Israel. All of Jehu's righteous rage
(05:42):
that had been pent up for dozens of years unleashed
on her lifeless corpse. As the thunder boomed, Jehu's horse
delivered each blow with violent force. Finally, Jehu was finished,
panting heavily, Jihu gestured for his men to bury her. However,
all that was left of her body to bury was
(06:03):
her skull, feet, and hands. The old prophecy of Elijah
concerning Jezebel echoed in Jehu's mind. In the land of Jezreel,
dogs will eat Jezebel's body. Her remains will be scattered
like fertilizer, so that no one will remember her. A
reckoning was required of Ahab's entire lineage because of the
(06:25):
darkness he brought upon God's people. Jee Who's mission was
not yet complete because of Ahab's lewdness, he had sired
seventy sons, all of them resided in the capital of Israel, Samaria.
So Ji Whu sent messages to the elders of Samaria
saying I know the king's sons are with you. Also
(06:47):
with you are horses, chariots, fortifications, and weapons. Choose from
among Ahab's sons a king, and I will face him
in battle. The elders were dismayed at Jehu's lefs. Fears
shot up their spines. They knew Ji, who had slain
two kings himself, Ahab's weak sons could not face him,
(07:09):
let alone rule a kingdom. So they sent a response
to Jehu, saying, we and Ahab's sons are no match
for you. What can we do to serve you? J
who thought for a moment, he considered the cost of
sparing the lives of Ahab's sons. However, he knew that
the line must be eradicated. Too much generational wickedness flowed
(07:31):
through their veins. Israel had been sent into a dark
tunnel of despair because of that family. There was only
one way to cleanse Israel of its sickness. J Whu
sent a letter in return, saying, if you are truly
on the side of freedom, take the lives of your
master's sons by this time tomorrow bring me their heads.
(07:53):
The elders did as Ji Whu asked the men that
they had raised since birth were slain for their fathers sins.
Their heads were brought to Jihu and then put on
display in front of the gates for all to see.
It was a truly awful sight. No one relished in
the deaths of these men, not even Jehu. It was
(08:14):
the cost of evil. In the morning, Jihu cleared the
heads and gathered the people of Israel. He spoke with boldness. However,
he knew that the people were vulnerable. Right now he
must be reassuring. None of this is your fault. Jehu said,
I am the one who killed the king. You have
been victims of a wicked regime. This carnage is but
(08:36):
a cleansing of that wickedness. Rest assured that this fulfills
the words of God through Elijah. He prophesied that Ahab's
descendants would be cut off from the blessings of Israel.
The killing had taken its toll on Jehu, but it
was not over yet. More relatives, close friends, and advisers
had to perish before the stench of Ahab and Jezebel
(08:58):
was wiped clean. Even visitors from Judah who came to
see the sons of Ahab were taken and killed, more blood,
more killing. Jee Who's soul was beginning to feel the
weight of it all. He clung to God, He clung
to the healing of Israel. Soon, ji Who met a
traveler by the name of Jehonadab. He was the founder
(09:21):
of the Rikabites, followers of God dedicated to the pure
worship of their Lord. Both Jehu and Jehonadab detested the
pompousness of nobility and riches. Je Whu found great comfort
in his friend Jehonadab. The two of them were friends
for a long while, dreaming about a better Israel, in Israel,
(09:42):
where men and women lived freely to worship their God
and create a culture of flourishing. Yet, even though Ahab's
line had been eradicated, there was still a lingering sickness
in Israel. There were still the temples of bail. The
false prophets of the false gods still spread their poisonous
doctrine to innocent men and women. They fed lies of
(10:02):
prosperity whilst sucking the souls of those that came for help.
Jihu would have one final push to free Israel. Jihu
gathered some of the prophets of Bail for a feast.
He gathered them and told them to invite every man
and woman of Bail they knew, to a large gathering
There Jihu would sacrifice to Bail to pay homage as king.
(10:24):
So the prophets gathered every worshiper of Bail. They were
given special robes to identify themselves as loyal followers to
the false God. Then, while all the followers of bel
were in one place, Jihu and his men unsheathed their
swords and began to kill every last one of them.
The streams were tormented, Blood filled the room up to
(10:45):
Jew's ankles. Tears streamed down his face, but his mind
was resolute. With one final wave of strength, Jihu and
his men toppled the statue of Bail, dragging it into
the wilderness and set it on fire. The large temple
of Bail was dismantled and destroyed. In its place, Jihu
constructed a public toilet for all of Israel to use.
(11:08):
It would serve as a continual reminder that no honor
would be given to a false god. The Lord promised
to bless Jihu and his descendants for years to come. Ji,
who then reigned as king over Israel for twenty eight years.
It would be lovely to think Jihu rode off into
the future with a flourishing spirit, honoring God with his
(11:28):
whole heart. And fortunately, the king who cleansed Israel of
so much evil was exposed to his own inner darkness.
After the cleansing of Ahab's line and the worshippers of Bail,
Jehu's heart grew dark and calloused. He did not pursue
God's heart as David once did. Rather, he half heartily
ruled no vision, no obedience. The kingdom of Israel diminished
(11:53):
each year under Jehu's reign. His time as king served
as a reminder that finishing well was just as import
and as starting well. Jee Who's heart grew tired. He
denied evil, but he did not cling to what was good.
As a result, he was cut off from truly experiencing
the glory of God on earth.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
As we begin today's passage, Jayhu still has business to
attend to. For starters, the most wicked of all, Jezebel,
was still alive, and her time for judgment had come.
Hearing that Jehu is in Jezreel, the Queen painted her
eyes and dressed like a queen. She knew her time
had come, but she would be defiant and whold to
(12:40):
her high position to the very end. From her window,
high above Jaehu, she greeted him with scorn, calling him
a killer and a murderer of his master. Jayhu did
not give thought to her words, but called up to
her window to the slaves, asking if anywhere on his side.
When two of the three eunuchs looked out the wind
(13:00):
to him, he told them to throw her down. The
once fearsome queen, who had killed hundreds of God's prophets
and led King Ahab in the nation of Israel into
utter darkness and idolatry, was summarily executed. As her slaves
tossed her from the window. Her body spilled its blood
on the ground below and was trampled by Jehu's horses.
(13:21):
He called for her body to be given a dignified burial,
for she was nobility, But then he was reminded of
God's words concerning her, and as his servants went to
fetch the body, they found that, just as God had said,
she had been carried off by dogs, her flesh consumed,
so there was no body to bury. Jezebel would not
(13:41):
stand as a pagan martyr. She became fertilizer for the
very land she terrorized with her evil. But Ahab's ungodly
line still needed to be cut off. Jehu had more
work to do. First, he sent word to the elders
of Samaria that he would face Ahab's sons in battle.
They were to choose one of his sons is king,
(14:01):
and he would fight them. But the elders knew Jehu
was too powerful, so their allegiance was quick to shift
to the new king. They professed loyalty to Jehu and
ask what they could do. It would have been tempting
for Jehu to rest then, knowing that the line of
the king Ahab was no longer in power, But God
had called him to wipe out the evil, and letting
(14:22):
Ahab's sons live would have been disobedient to God. So
he called for the heads of Ahab's sons and displayed
them at the city gates. It was a gruesome reminder
of the high price of sin and evil and judgment.
God's word would not return void, and Jehu continued to
wipe out Ahab's family and his friends and priests who
supported the king during his wicked reign. These passages, of course,
(14:48):
are very violent and perhaps difficult to understand, for son
so much killing, so much terror and horror, all coming
at the direction of God. But we must not forget
that our God is a holy God. He is a
righteous God and demands righteousness of his people. He will
fight fiercely to protect those that he loves. And God
(15:11):
loves Israel as he loves his church family. Today he
loves us with a fierceness that is unmatched. Back in
the day with Israel, these men who had led the
nation astray were a threat to God's children, and they
had to be dealt with firmly and fairly. Jay Who's
cleansing of Israel, continued as he struck down more and
more people, But along the way he encountered other righteous
(15:34):
men like Johanadab. The men shared a zeal for the Lord,
and Johannadab rode with Jehu an ally in the fight
for the very soul of Israel. The pathway of righteousness
can often be a lonely one, and we do well
to find those who share our passion to doing the
will of God. Just as Jehu found this man. Finally,
(15:56):
Jaehu called together the prophece of Bailed. He made them
he was turning to their false God. But as they
were all assembled, he had every last prophet of Bail
put to death. The pagan temple was destroyed and a
public latrine was placed there as a sign that idle
worship was despicable and vile and filthy. Jehu fought valiantly
(16:18):
for the Lord and accomplished great things for God, but sadly,
with time he grew numb and complacent, failing to walk
with the Lord. Though he had done much for God,
his legacy was sullied by his failure to hold fast
to God. It is a striking reminder that we are
to run hard the race that is set before us,
all the way to the end. We must commit and
(16:40):
never quit, and not grow weary in doing good. We
must always trust in God and live in the righteousness
that He provides us in Christ by the power of
His Spirit. Let's pray, Dear God, we thank you for
today's reading. As difficult as it is to hear, we
know that you are a God of righteousness and justice,
(17:01):
that you do judge the wicked, that you are angry
according to your word with the wicked every day. So
we pray that we will trust you in your judgment
of all things. May we be productive all the days
of our lives and faithful to you in every season
of life, that we would never turn away from letting
you have complete control of our lives. We pray this
(17:24):
in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you so very much for
listening to Today's Bible in a Year podcast. We are
so very grateful for the millions of people who have
downloaded this podcast. I'm pastor Jack Graham, and when you
download thepray dot com app and make it a priority
in your life to listen to God's word, your life
(17:44):
truly will be changed. We are hearing reports from so
many of the power of God's Word in their lives.
So let me encourage you to pass this podcast onto others,
to share it with someone you know, someone you care about,
because the Word of God truly will change lives. And
if you want more resources on how to experience God's
(18:06):
power in your life, be sure to visit Jack Graham
dot org. We would love to connect with you and
for you to connect with us again. That's Jack Graham
dot org. God bless you.
Let us pray. And when he was come in, he
did not eat and drink, and he said, go see
now this cursed woman, and bury her, for she is
a king's daughter Second Kings nine thirty four. As the
anointing of the Lord moves through me, I will not
(00:21):
stop until I pray and dismantle the works of the
enemy around me. I will not relent until I remove
any and all false gods and idols in my life.
I decree and declare that I will honor you with
my whole heart. Unlike yea who I will not walk
(00:42):
away from you or your presence. I will not settle
for a lukewarm relationship with you and your heart. Heavenly Father,
when I am weary of doing well, I will refresh
my soul by remembering all that you have done for me,
and by resting in your presence. Keep me through your
(01:06):
unfailing love, cover me with your outstretched arm, because I
know that it is only through your power that I
will be able to experience good success in Jesus name, Amen,
thank you for praying with me to day. Continue listening
(01:29):
for an incredible Bible story brought to you by Bible
in a year dot Com.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
The end of a witch's story. In our last story,
Elishah anointed Jehu as the next King of Israel, Jee,
who embraced his role as God's cleansing instrument. Jehu killed
King Jardah, then King Aziah, and began his mission to
rid Israel of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel's evil influence.
(02:09):
Now we learn of Jee who's time as king. He
is used by God to heal Israel of all the
sickness and evil it has been plagued with under Jezebel
and Ahab. Jee who would fight for the freedom of Israel,
but would the evil be too much for his human heart.
Inspired by the Book of Second Kings.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Hello, This is pastor Jack Graham with today's episode of
the Bible in a Year podcast. In yesterday's scripture passage,
we saw how God anointed a new king. His name
was Jehu, and this new king ruled Israel with righteousness.
Jehu would avenge the blood of the prophets put to
death by Jezebel and would wipe out Ahab the wicked
(02:55):
king's family. Beginning with Israel's King Joram. God's desire was
all for his people to turn to him rather than
the idols they worshiped, and Jehu would be God's tool
to accomplish these purposes. Today we'll hear how the evil,
wicked Queen Jezebel finally faces the consequences of her evil,
and we'll learn how God began to use Jehu to
(03:17):
fight to free Israel from her bondage. But even as
God uses Jehu, evil is still present, threatening to infect
the new King's heart. So let's listen to the word
of God today.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
The west wind howled furiously. Gray clouds rolled in like
waves on a shore. The sky was eerily dark. As
the witch Queen Jezebel loomed over her window. It was
open for cold wind to blow in. She stood up straight,
as if challenging the storm to draw closer. She had
(03:51):
heard of the king's demise. She had been told of
Jehu's anointing and how he sent an arrow through her
son's back. Now she waited for him. Her eyes were
painted dark and her hair was fixed for a pagan ritual.
She mumbled to herself silently, her gaze fixed on the
dark horizon. Thunder boomed in the distance as Jehu rode
(04:15):
towards the palace gates. He halted his horse when he
saw Jezebel's dark eyes staring down at him through the
palace window. Age had given her dark hair streaks of gray,
but she maintained a sense of authority and strange power.
Do you come in peace, king slayer, you murderous bastard,
(04:35):
she shouted. Jehu looked closely through the opening where Jezabel stood.
He could see two or three slaves behind her, cowering
in fear. Are any of you on my side? Jehu
shouted to them. If it is true freedom you desire,
throw her down. Before Jezebel could even turn round, the
(04:57):
three eunuch slaves burst towards the window, shoving Jezebel out
her window. Her witch like screams were drown out by
the distant thunder as she fell to her death. Her
body fell beside the stables, Her blood covered the walls
and the horses. Jehu rode towards her and crushed her
body under the hoofs of his horse. For minutes, Jihu
(05:20):
made his horse trample her body. The sound of cracking
bone and squishing flesh filled Jehu's ears. He paid no
attention to it. He and many others had suffered miserably
under Jezebel's wicked rituals. She had killed many people and
stolen the innocence of Israel. All of Jehu's righteous rage
(05:42):
that had been pent up for dozens of years unleashed
on her lifeless corpse. As the thunder boomed, Jehu's horse
delivered each blow with violent force. Finally, Jehu was finished,
panting heavily, Jihu gestured for his men to bury her. However,
all that was left of her body to bury was
(06:03):
her skull, feet, and hands. The old prophecy of Elijah
concerning Jezebel echoed in Jehu's mind. In the land of Jezreel,
dogs will eat Jezebel's body. Her remains will be scattered
like fertilizer, so that no one will remember her. A
reckoning was required of Ahab's entire lineage because of the
(06:25):
darkness he brought upon God's people. Jee Who's mission was
not yet complete because of Ahab's lewdness, he had sired
seventy sons, all of them resided in the capital of Israel, Samaria.
So Ji Whu sent messages to the elders of Samaria
saying I know the king's sons are with you. Also
(06:47):
with you are horses, chariots, fortifications, and weapons. Choose from
among Ahab's sons a king, and I will face him
in battle. The elders were dismayed at Jehu's lefs. Fears
shot up their spines. They knew Ji, who had slain
two kings himself, Ahab's weak sons could not face him,
(07:09):
let alone rule a kingdom. So they sent a response
to Jehu, saying, we and Ahab's sons are no match
for you. What can we do to serve you? J
who thought for a moment, he considered the cost of
sparing the lives of Ahab's sons. However, he knew that
the line must be eradicated. Too much generational wickedness flowed
(07:31):
through their veins. Israel had been sent into a dark
tunnel of despair because of that family. There was only
one way to cleanse Israel of its sickness. J Whu
sent a letter in return, saying, if you are truly
on the side of freedom, take the lives of your
master's sons by this time tomorrow bring me their heads.
(07:53):
The elders did as Ji Whu asked the men that
they had raised since birth were slain for their fathers sins.
Their heads were brought to Jihu and then put on
display in front of the gates for all to see.
It was a truly awful sight. No one relished in
the deaths of these men, not even Jehu. It was
(08:14):
the cost of evil. In the morning, Jihu cleared the
heads and gathered the people of Israel. He spoke with boldness. However,
he knew that the people were vulnerable. Right now he
must be reassuring. None of this is your fault. Jehu said,
I am the one who killed the king. You have
been victims of a wicked regime. This carnage is but
(08:36):
a cleansing of that wickedness. Rest assured that this fulfills
the words of God through Elijah. He prophesied that Ahab's
descendants would be cut off from the blessings of Israel.
The killing had taken its toll on Jehu, but it
was not over yet. More relatives, close friends, and advisers
had to perish before the stench of Ahab and Jezebel
(08:58):
was wiped clean. Even visitors from Judah who came to
see the sons of Ahab were taken and killed, more blood,
more killing. Jee Who's soul was beginning to feel the
weight of it all. He clung to God, He clung
to the healing of Israel. Soon, ji Who met a
traveler by the name of Jehonadab. He was the founder
(09:21):
of the Rikabites, followers of God dedicated to the pure
worship of their Lord. Both Jehu and Jehonadab detested the
pompousness of nobility and riches. Je Whu found great comfort
in his friend Jehonadab. The two of them were friends
for a long while, dreaming about a better Israel, in Israel,
(09:42):
where men and women lived freely to worship their God
and create a culture of flourishing. Yet, even though Ahab's
line had been eradicated, there was still a lingering sickness
in Israel. There were still the temples of bail. The
false prophets of the false gods still spread their poisonous
doctrine to innocent men and women. They fed lies of
(10:02):
prosperity whilst sucking the souls of those that came for help.
Jihu would have one final push to free Israel. Jihu
gathered some of the prophets of Bail for a feast.
He gathered them and told them to invite every man
and woman of Bail they knew, to a large gathering
There Jihu would sacrifice to Bail to pay homage as king.
(10:24):
So the prophets gathered every worshiper of Bail. They were
given special robes to identify themselves as loyal followers to
the false God. Then, while all the followers of bel
were in one place, Jihu and his men unsheathed their
swords and began to kill every last one of them.
The streams were tormented, Blood filled the room up to
(10:45):
Jew's ankles. Tears streamed down his face, but his mind
was resolute. With one final wave of strength, Jihu and
his men toppled the statue of Bail, dragging it into
the wilderness and set it on fire. The large temple
of Bail was dismantled and destroyed. In its place, Jihu
constructed a public toilet for all of Israel to use.
(11:08):
It would serve as a continual reminder that no honor
would be given to a false god. The Lord promised
to bless Jihu and his descendants for years to come. Ji,
who then reigned as king over Israel for twenty eight years.
It would be lovely to think Jihu rode off into
the future with a flourishing spirit, honoring God with his
(11:28):
whole heart. And fortunately, the king who cleansed Israel of
so much evil was exposed to his own inner darkness.
After the cleansing of Ahab's line and the worshippers of Bail,
Jehu's heart grew dark and calloused. He did not pursue
God's heart as David once did. Rather, he half heartily
ruled no vision, no obedience. The kingdom of Israel diminished
(11:53):
each year under Jehu's reign. His time as king served
as a reminder that finishing well was just as import
and as starting well. Jee Who's heart grew tired. He
denied evil, but he did not cling to what was good.
As a result, he was cut off from truly experiencing
the glory of God on earth.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
As we begin today's passage, Jayhu still has business to
attend to. For starters, the most wicked of all, Jezebel,
was still alive, and her time for judgment had come.
Hearing that Jehu is in Jezreel, the Queen painted her
eyes and dressed like a queen. She knew her time
had come, but she would be defiant and whold to
(12:40):
her high position to the very end. From her window,
high above Jaehu, she greeted him with scorn, calling him
a killer and a murderer of his master. Jayhu did
not give thought to her words, but called up to
her window to the slaves, asking if anywhere on his side.
When two of the three eunuchs looked out the wind
(13:00):
to him, he told them to throw her down. The
once fearsome queen, who had killed hundreds of God's prophets
and led King Ahab in the nation of Israel into
utter darkness and idolatry, was summarily executed. As her slaves
tossed her from the window. Her body spilled its blood
on the ground below and was trampled by Jehu's horses.
(13:21):
He called for her body to be given a dignified burial,
for she was nobility, But then he was reminded of
God's words concerning her, and as his servants went to
fetch the body, they found that, just as God had said,
she had been carried off by dogs, her flesh consumed,
so there was no body to bury. Jezebel would not
(13:41):
stand as a pagan martyr. She became fertilizer for the
very land she terrorized with her evil. But Ahab's ungodly
line still needed to be cut off. Jehu had more
work to do. First, he sent word to the elders
of Samaria that he would face Ahab's sons in battle.
They were to choose one of his sons is king,
(14:01):
and he would fight them. But the elders knew Jehu
was too powerful, so their allegiance was quick to shift
to the new king. They professed loyalty to Jehu and
ask what they could do. It would have been tempting
for Jehu to rest then, knowing that the line of
the king Ahab was no longer in power, But God
had called him to wipe out the evil, and letting
(14:22):
Ahab's sons live would have been disobedient to God. So
he called for the heads of Ahab's sons and displayed
them at the city gates. It was a gruesome reminder
of the high price of sin and evil and judgment.
God's word would not return void, and Jehu continued to
wipe out Ahab's family and his friends and priests who
supported the king during his wicked reign. These passages, of course,
(14:48):
are very violent and perhaps difficult to understand, for son
so much killing, so much terror and horror, all coming
at the direction of God. But we must not forget
that our God is a holy God. He is a
righteous God and demands righteousness of his people. He will
fight fiercely to protect those that he loves. And God
(15:11):
loves Israel as he loves his church family. Today he
loves us with a fierceness that is unmatched. Back in
the day with Israel, these men who had led the
nation astray were a threat to God's children, and they
had to be dealt with firmly and fairly. Jay Who's
cleansing of Israel, continued as he struck down more and
more people, But along the way he encountered other righteous
(15:34):
men like Johanadab. The men shared a zeal for the Lord,
and Johannadab rode with Jehu an ally in the fight
for the very soul of Israel. The pathway of righteousness
can often be a lonely one, and we do well
to find those who share our passion to doing the
will of God. Just as Jehu found this man. Finally,
(15:56):
Jaehu called together the prophece of Bailed. He made them
he was turning to their false God. But as they
were all assembled, he had every last prophet of Bail
put to death. The pagan temple was destroyed and a
public latrine was placed there as a sign that idle
worship was despicable and vile and filthy. Jehu fought valiantly
(16:18):
for the Lord and accomplished great things for God, but sadly,
with time he grew numb and complacent, failing to walk
with the Lord. Though he had done much for God,
his legacy was sullied by his failure to hold fast
to God. It is a striking reminder that we are
to run hard the race that is set before us,
all the way to the end. We must commit and
(16:40):
never quit, and not grow weary in doing good. We
must always trust in God and live in the righteousness
that He provides us in Christ by the power of
His Spirit. Let's pray, Dear God, we thank you for
today's reading. As difficult as it is to hear, we
know that you are a God of righteousness and justice,
(17:01):
that you do judge the wicked, that you are angry
according to your word with the wicked every day. So
we pray that we will trust you in your judgment
of all things. May we be productive all the days
of our lives and faithful to you in every season
of life, that we would never turn away from letting
you have complete control of our lives. We pray this
(17:24):
in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you so very much for
listening to Today's Bible in a Year podcast. We are
so very grateful for the millions of people who have
downloaded this podcast. I'm pastor Jack Graham, and when you
download thepray dot com app and make it a priority
in your life to listen to God's word, your life
(17:44):
truly will be changed. We are hearing reports from so
many of the power of God's Word in their lives.
So let me encourage you to pass this podcast onto others,
to share it with someone you know, someone you care about,
because the Word of God truly will change lives. And
if you want more resources on how to experience God's
(18:06):
power in your life, be sure to visit Jack Graham
dot org. We would love to connect with you and
for you to connect with us again. That's Jack Graham
dot org. God bless you.
Host
Jack Graham
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