Ruthless Pursuit

Let me ask you to open your Bibles. It's been about a month, four weeks, since we were last in our series in 2 Kings, and we're back there today.

So if you have a Bible, or one of those well-worn scripture journals, and if you don't have one, you can still get one in the back, turn with me to 2 Kings chapter 10. 2 Kings chapter 10, and as we do, let me briefly recap what has been going on in this book.

2 Kings 10 · chapter mention 2 Kings 10 · chapter mention

Look, it is a purging time in the kingdom of Israel. Judgment Day for the house of Ahab has come after many, many years of Baal-loving, Yahweh-hating leadership in the northern kingdom of Israel.

It has gotten to the point where, as we've seen, it's even crept southward into Judah, and is now tainting that kingdom as well. And so God is now fulfilling His word. And that is key, that as we look at these events, and many of the things that happen today are very violent and downright bloody.

But it's key that we understand that this is part of how God is fulfilling His word. He has raised up a particular individual, a battle-hardened general named Jehu.

Anointed by God, in the last chapter, 2 Kings 9, we saw him quickly get to work. He dispatched both Ahab's son, King Joram of the north. He also dispatched Ahab's grandson.

Again, we said that these kingdoms are intermingling, and so even on the southern kingdom's throne, we have an heir of Ahab, the grandson, Ahaziah.

Both of those kings have been taken out, along with the wicked queen mother, Jezebel. And now, with every word of God's prophecy coming to fulfillment, right on down to the manner of Jezebel's death, by the way, we are ready to see Jehu take on the rest of the house of Ahab.

Again, all according to the prophet's words. Let me read them for you. 2 Kings 9, verse 8. This is what the prophet said.

2 Kings 9:8

Let's pick up reading our story in verse 1, and we're going to take the full chapter today. 2 Kings 10, verse 1.

2 Kings 10:1

Now Ahab had 70 sons in Samaria. So Jehu wrote letters and sent them to Samaria, to the rulers of the city, to the elders, and to the guardians of the sons of Ahab, saying,

Now then, as soon as this letter comes to you, seeing your master's sons are with you, and there are with you chariots and horses, fortified cities also, and weapons, select the best and fittest of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for your master's house.

But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, the two kings could not stand before him. How then can we stand? So he who was over the palace, and he who was over the city, together with the elders and the guardians, sent to Jehu, saying, We are your servants, and we will do all that you tell us.

We will not make anyone king. Do whatever is good in your eyes. Then he wrote them a second letter, saying, If you are on my side, and if you are ready to obey me, take the heads of your master's sons, and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time.

Now the king's sons, seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, who were bringing them up, and as soon as the letter came to them, they took the king's sons and slaughtered them, seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to Jezreel.

When the messenger came and told them they brought the heads of the king's sons, he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.

Then in the morning, when Jehu went out, he stood and said to all the people, You are innocent. It was I who conspired against my master and killed him, but who struck down all of these?

Know then that there shall fall to the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab. For the Lord has done what he said by his servant Elijah.

So Jehu struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, all his great men, and his close friends, and his priests, until he left him non-remaining.

Then he set out and went to Samaria. On the way, when he was at Beth Echad of the shepherds, Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah, king of Judah.

And he said, Who are you? And they answered, We are the relatives of Ahaziah. And we came down to visit the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother.

He said, Take them alive. And they took them alive and slaughtered them at the pit of Beth Echad, 42 persons. And he spared none of them. And when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab, the son of Rechab, coming to meet him.

And he greeted him and said to him, Is your heart true to my heart as mine is to yours? And Jehonadab answered, It is. Jehu said, If it is, give me your hand.

So he gave him his hand, and Jehu took him up with him into the chariot. And he said, Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. So he had him right in the chariot.

When he came to Samaria, he struck down all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had wiped them out according to the word of the Lord that he spoke to Elijah.

Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshippers and all his priests.

Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live. But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshippers of Baal.

And Jehu ordered, Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal. So they proclaimed it. And Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and all the worshippers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come.

And they entered the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. He said to him who was in charge of the wardrobe, Bring out the vestments for all the worshippers of Baal.

So he brought out the vestments for them. Then Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab, and he said to the worshippers of Baal, Search and see that there is no servant of the Lord here among you, but only the worshippers of Baal.

Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside, and he said, The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life.

So as soon as he had made an end of the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers, Go in and strike them down. Let not a man escape.

So when they put them to the sword, the guard and the officers cast them out and went into the inner room of the house of Baal, and they brought out the pillar that was in the house of Baal and burned it.

And they demolished the pillar of Baal and demolished the house of Baal and made it a latrine to this day. Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel.

But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin. That is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan.

And the Lord said to Jehu, Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab, according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.

But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin.

In those days, the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel. Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel, from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites and the Manassites, from Eor, which is by the valley of Arnon, that is, Gilead and Bashan.

Now the rest of the acts of Jehu and all that he did and all his might, are they not written about in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

So Jehu slept with his fathers and they buried him in Samaria, and Jehoiaz, his son, reigned in his place. The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was 28 years.

Let's pray, shall we? Father, we come today and ask for your spirit to guide us in what is a difficult passage, a lot of violent things happening, but Lord, we trust you, we trust your word, and we ask you to guide our hearts and minds to see what you want us to see.

And we pray this in the name of your son, in Jesus' name. Amen. So start out with the setting. The setting is the city of Jezreel. Jezreel is sort of the second capital of the northern kingdom of Israel, and it's also the place where the king's winter palace is.

And as we saw, again, about a month ago in the last chapter, it was here in Jezreel that we watched Jehu dispatch those two kings and one very wicked queen mother, Jezebel.

He's been dealing with this cursed family, and now he's going to turn his attention to the rest of them. And first up on the chopping block are Ahab's 70 sons in Samaria.

Now, we don't know that these are all directly sons. Some of these might be grandsons, but this is pretty much the entire bloodline of the house of Ahab.

All male descendants who could trace their lineage to Ahab and thus have any claim whatsoever to Israel's throne. And so Jehu, what he decides to do is first he's going to send a letter.

So he sends this nice friendly letter to Samaria in verse 1, to all the rulers of the city. And apparently some of the boys that are still living, that are part of Ahab's bloodline are not of age, and so some of them are under the guardianship of these rulers and elders of the city.

And basically the letter is kind of interesting. It is first a call to action. Basically what Jehu does is he throws down the challenge. It's like, hey, you've no doubt heard the news of what's been going on.

You know what I've done. I know that you still have an army down there in Samaria. You've got fortified cities. So here's the drill. Muster all that you can.

Pick your best and fittest son of Ahab and crown him as your new king, and I will meet the challenge. He wants them to publicly nominate and support and crown a rival that he can face off with.

And we don't know whether it's army versus army or whether he intends single combat. Well, the reaction is pretty significant. Verse 4. They are all freaked out.

They are all very intimidated. They say to themselves, this guy has already taken out both kings and the queen mother. There's no stopping him.

And so what happens is the leadership gets together and they basically write back a very meek letter. And they say, Dear General Jehu, sir, we are totally intimidated and are pleased to inform you that we are not going to make anyone king.

In fact, we're going to accept your claim to the throne, a new dynasty with you, Jehu, and we want you to do whatever is good in your eyes. Verse 5.

Just like that, all of Samaria's leaders promptly declare their loyalty to Jehu. And that's pretty cool, right? But Jehu wants to test that loyalty first.

He says to himself, that's all nice and good, but let me write you a second letter. And that's what he does. He writes a second letter in verse 6.

And he basically tells them, If this is really true, and if you really are all on my side, then take the heads of your master's sons and come to me at Jezreel tomorrow at this time.

Now there is some debate among scholars about what Jehu's meaning is here. Does he mean literally or figuratively? Does he mean select the heads, as in pick out the leaders amongst this group of 70 sons?

Or does he mean that he wants them to decapitate them and bring their heads? Well, the elders of Samaria are not taking any chances, and so they go with the literal heads option.

They literally slaughter the boys, the men, all of them on the spot, and take all 70 of their heads, and they prepare some nice gift baskets.

Right? And they deliver them to Jehu at Jezreel. That's pretty horrific. Can you imagine the sight? Can you imagine being a citizen of Jezreel and waking up the next morning, which is what happens, and looking out to the city gate and seeing two big piles of human heads?

35 each. How tall is 35 heads stacked up? That's pretty disgusting. That's pretty horrifying. And that's exactly what the message is that Jehu wants everyone to get.

But look at this guy. Look at how he plays it. Again, in another cunning political move, not only has he managed to secure his throne completely and fulfill God's wishes for Ahab's dynasty to be wiped out, he's also managed to spread the responsibility around a little bit.

Jehu has managed to put some blood on other people's hands now, too. He goes out there and he plays coy. He plays dumb. He comes out the next morning in verse 9 and he's like, Hey, I know all you guys didn't do this.

You're innocent. And you know what I've done. I mean, I killed those two kings and the queen mother, but what in the world do we have here? Who did this?

Verse 9. Who struck down all these? He knows full well who. Obviously, he doesn't think it's important to mention the letters and the ambiguous verbiage he used in his last letter, but it really doesn't matter because Jehu is the kind of guy that wants to get the job done, and he's gotten the job done.

And he also wants to see that there are bigger forces at work, that this is more than just one man's coup. He has plausible deniability for the 70 heads that are piled there, but bigger than that, as he's quick to remind everybody in verse 10,

this is the fulfillment of the Lord's wishes. Yes, this is, he says, the word of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Ahab.

That is what you're seeing God carry out, the word of his servant Elijah. And yet, a small detail that we read in verse 11 might give us just a little bit of pause.

Never mind the fact that did Elijah say that it had to happen this way in such a gruesome manner? But our narrator goes on to mention in verse 11 that Jehu not only struck down all who remained of the house of Ahab, get this, he also took out all the great men and close friends and priests of Ahab.

Close friends? Priests? Is that a little excessive maybe? I mean, we're pretty sure they're all Baal worshipers, and these are probably priests of Baal.

But even if only for a brief moment, we do wonder if maybe Jehu's very intense zeal is possibly stretching and maybe expanding God's orders.

Well, never mind that, because there's more house cleaning to do. And it's going to take Jehu now down to the capital of Samaria in verse 12, which is where he sets off.

However, on the way, he meets not just one, but two different parties on the road. The first party that he meets are some relatives of King Ahaziah of Judah.

They seem unaware of recent events and what's happened. They're coming on what looks like to be a nice diplomatic visit, unaware that the kings are executed.

And they're intercepted immediately by Jehu. He takes them alive. He questions them. And once he finds out their connection as relatives of Ahaziah, he thinks to himself, well, if you're related to Ahaziah, you're related to Ahab, his grandfather, and so all 42 of you can die too.

And he slaughters them there at the pit of Beth Eched. None spared. Verse 15. Jehu goes on from there. The next party he intercepts is really someone that's kind of come to intercept him.

It's this gentleman named Jehonadab, the son of Rechab. And what goes down with Jehonadab is really kind of interesting. He's kind of a mysterious figure.

We don't really know a lot about this man or what this Rechabite clan is, although they do get mentioned later in the Old Testament by Jeremiah the prophet.

Jeremiah the prophet describes the Rechabites as a nomadic people a group of kind of separatists that kind of lived off the grid. They lived a little bit like the Nazarites in that they had sworn off strong drink.

Tradition says that they were very devout in their commitment to Yahweh. It's probably safe for us to presume they are not thrilled with all the Baal worship going on all over the land.

And they have apparently gotten wind, Jehonadab has, of what's been going on with Jehu. And he's come out for this very specific purpose. They live off the grid.

They're conservative. They're austere. And the other thing that tradition tells us is that they're also highly skilled craftsmen. In fact, they have a specialty.

And their specialty is chariots. You know, I was reading about this this week and I kind of thought about the comparisons here. It's not a very good one, but I thought that they sound like the Amish, don't they?

They live off the grid. They're very austere and pious. And they're really skilled at building things. And it happens to be chariots. Maybe not an exact parallel.

But anyway, these are your Rechabites. But think about this. This may explain how it is that Jehonadab is so well acquainted with Jehu. What is Jehu's profession?

He has been the top general in Israel. What is the trade, the specialty, of Jehonadab and his Rechabites? They are master chariot builders. So we come to verse 15 and we recognize that these two seem to recognize each other because the way the language goes,

the way the conversation occurs, is a very warm greeting. And the first thing, right away, Jehu asks Jehonadab, he says basically, hey, are you good with the mission that I'm on?

Is your heart with my heart the way that my heart's with yours? It may be that Jehu knows that this man in front of him and his whole clan are not happy with all the Baal worship in Israel, which he is now purging.

Jehonadab's answer is swift and very affirming. He says, it is. You know it is. I'm with you, brother. And what happens next at the end of verse 15, I think it's a lot more than just a handshake, right?

It is maybe what the younger generation, I'm learning, what they describe as a dap-up. Do you know what that is? A dap-up? You don't. Good. I'm not the only one.

We could have my boys get up here and demonstrate this for you. Well, Jehonadab extends his hand, and I want you to understand this is probably more than like, you know, the refined Victorian lady who extends her hand to her suitor.

I would see this more like this classic painting from antiquity that we have recently discovered that I will put on the screen above me. This classic painting.

This is a dap-up. Dap-up. Whatever it is. All right, let's give her to that slide. It cannot be, I told Matt, it can't be all Lord of the Rings and Star Wars all the time.

And I'm a child of the 80s. So, anyway, verse 16. After the handshake dap-up, whatever it is, Jehu says to Jehonadab, come with me, come up here in the chariot, ride with me, because I want you to see my zeal for the Lord.

And Jehonadab obliges. So, in verse 18, we have these two men in this chariot with the entourage, the army with Jehu, and now they come into the capital city of Samaria.

And before anybody knows what's what, or what's going on, first thing Jehu wants everybody to hear is that he is going to be a big, big Baal worshiper.

Not just a big Baal worshiper, a bigger Baal worshiper than Ahab. Here's what he says. Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much.

Now, they say that it's pretty normal for kings in this day, when there's a new king, to kind of show your bona fides to the God, to really show that you're going to be an even better vassal of your national deity than your predecessor was.

And that appears to be the line that Jehu is telling them. Often, you would accompany this with a promise of some great construction project, or renovation of the God's temple, or you would call the great assembly and have a great feast.

And that seems to be Jehu's strategy. He fakes all this enthusiasm for Baal. He says, I'm going to be an even bigger Baal worshiper than Ahab.

But he is planning something quite different. Verse 19 puts out the call for all the Baal worshipers and prophets and priests. I want everybody to come in, be there, or be square, let none be missing, because this solemn assembly for Baal that I'm calling,

it's to die for. Literally. Did you notice he says it's on penalty of death if you don't come. And look at how cunning he is. He even breaks out vestments.

He breaks out the choir robes. So to speak. For all of these Baal worshipers. He says, Hey keeper of the wardrobe, break out all the vestments for the Baal worshipers.

I want everybody in that temple to be 100% Baal worshiper. And I want them to wear the uniform. Wear the vestments. By verse 23 we can see that Jehu and Jehonadab are working in tandem.

Telling all the Baal worshipers inside, Hey, search and look around. And I want everybody to make sure there's not a single worshiper of Yahweh here.

No worshippers of the Lord among you. Only Baal worshippers. And then the order is given in verse 24. He says to the guards outside, he's got 80 men stationed outside.

I don't want anybody to escape. And if any of you allows any of these Baal worshippers to escape, I am going to require his life. And so there's Jehu inside.

We're not sure if he himself actually offers the sacrifice or if it's someone else. He's certainly overseeing things. You can imagine what a temple full of Baal worshippers might have been like.

Probably the worshippers are working themselves up into some frenzy like they did in that contest with Elijah back on Mount Carmel. Drums are beating, I would imagine.

Voices are raised. The big burnt offering is finally offered. But of course, we know that the great sacrifice that Jehu truly has in mind is still to come.

He slips out. Verse 25. Gives the order. Go in and strike them all down. Let not a man escape. And just like that, if you're a person wearing a vestment of Baal and you're inside that temple worshipping Baal, you are executed on the spot.

Jehu's men come in. They remove the bodies. And then what they do is they go into the inner sanctuary of Baal's temple to the pillar of Baal and they desecrate that.

They tear it down. They demolish it. They demolish the entire temple and set everything to burn. And just for good measure, our narrator informs us that from now on, this site will be devoted to another purpose.

It will become a public toilet. Our narrator says that they made it a latrine to this day.

How ironic, if not appropriate, to hear language of a latrine, to hear the narrator say in verse 28, thus Jehu wiped out Baal worship from Israel.

And yet, did you notice verse 29? After all of this vigorous zeal to rid the land of idolatry, verse 29 is a disappointment. Because we go on to hear that in spite of this zeal to eliminate the Baal cult, apparently,

Jehu's zeal doesn't go deep enough. It doesn't go into his heart. Because while one idolatrous worship cult may be done with and over with, there's still another that's going on in the land.

The golden calves. The very golden calves put in place by Jeroboam at Bethel and at Dan. The sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, our narrator says.

Jehu does nothing about this other form of idolatry. Now they say that these idols originally, these golden calves, might have originally been intended to be kind of pedestal animals for Yahweh.

You know, here's a calf, but imagine Yahweh's above it. They're just kind of his bulls that he rides on. Maybe they did originally intend them as worship aids, but as so often happens with fashioned images where people focus on them, there's a blurring.

They blur the distinction between the pure worship of God and plain old idol worship, which is why one of the Ten Commandments said no carved images.

So the people really did end up simply in idolatry and Jehu did nothing about it. So when we read the commendation for Jehu, it's qualified.

We read that the Lord commends him for having done well and carrying out his judgment on the house of Ahab, verse 30. We read that he goes on to get rewarded with a four-generation dynasty that will stretch more than a hundred years.

It's the longest dynasty in Israel, northern kingdom. But then that will be the end. It will not be an everlasting dynasty, not like David's.

And we're told why. We're told why in verse 31. It was because Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, almost like he had a huge blind spot.

And thus, in verse 32, we read that in those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel. And of course, who do we have primed and ready for this task?

Who pops up ready to attack Israel? Old Hazael of Syria. He begins to siphon off to take territory, to cut off parts from Israel to the point where if you trace the Jordan River, everything to the east of the Jordan River is now under

Syrian control. And although this chapter doesn't say it, we know when we put the reign of Jehu together that it's going to be a rather bumpy 28-year reign for him.

Jehu's going to face conflicts near constant war with Hazael. Jehu's going to be himself under the thumb of another bully, the Assyrian king, Shalmaneser III.

And as our chapter ends, we listen as Jehu's own personal chapter ends along with it and we're told that he's buried in Samaria and leaves the sun to assume his throne.

I think one scholar puts it well when he says, Jehu, he sure had a meteoric rise, didn't he? But the way he finished was more like a falling star.

This morning, I want to highlight a few things with you that I think we see here today in this extended chapter. I'm going to offer you a couple of pairs of points, so I have four points for you.

I want to give you a couple of truths and then I want to leave us with a couple of warnings. So two truths and two warnings. And our first truth is really the umbrella principle, you could say, the umbrella principle that overarches not just this entire chapter

but really both chapters. Chapter 9 before it and chapter 10. And that truth is this, truth number one. There is no escape from God's judgment on sin.

No escape from God's judgment on sin. No doubt, I don't have to tell you, this is a violent chapter. It's been said that the blood almost literally drips off the page when you read it.

Every time you turn around, somebody's getting put to the sword, somebody's getting decapitated. 70 sons, 42 relatives, a temple chock full of priests and Baal worshippers.

The house of Ahab has got to go. And it must go completely. And by the end of the chapter, it has. Verse 28 is an important verse. Verse 28 is a fulfillment verse.

Thus, Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. But please understand, this isn't just vengeance and ruthlessness that we're seeing here. It isn't only that.

This is not just a one-man campaign to try to stage a successful coup. What this is, is the truth and the reality that there is no escape from God's judgment on sin.

You know, I think sometimes in the Christian life, because of all the grace, which is wonderful, it's amazing, but I wonder sometimes if as believers who live in a realm of grace, sometimes we can downplay that.

Sometimes we can forget this, that there is a judgment on sin. You say, well, what about Jesus? He loves us. God loves us. He sent Jesus for us.

And He did. But what did He send Him to do? And where did He send Him to go? To the cross. And what happened on the cross? I'll tell you what happened.

God judged sin in His Son. Jesus at the cross took on the judgment of sin from which there is no escape and He did that as a substitute so that the Father could forgive us.

So that the Father could give us His love. this is the truth behind passages like this one in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. Listen to how the writer of the Hebrews talks about our salvation in Hebrews 2 verses 1-3.

Hebrews 2:1–3

He says, therefore, we must pay closer attention to what we've heard lest we drift away from it. For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression and disobedience received a just retribution, and boy, did we just see that in 2 Kings 10.

How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This passage reminds us that salvation is offered to us in Christ as a rescue plan.

This is our only escape to allow Him to take the judgment that we otherwise would have to take so that anyone who neglects to do that, who neglects the great salvation offered in Jesus will not escape.

This morning we need to be reminded that God does judge sin. And today we've seen this judgment meted out on a very wicked house, house of Ahab, and all the Baal worshippers aligned with it.

And this truth should sober us when we think about a world that has so many lost people in it. With so many lost co-workers around us. So many lost friends that we know.

So many lost neighbors, classmates that we're going to go back to school with tomorrow. Maybe even lost family members. to remember that there is no escape from God's judgment on sin and that that is why everyone needs to run to Christ

and His cross. That's our first truth but it's not our only one. Here's the second one. Truth number two is this. We should ruthlessly pursue the elimination of sin in our own lives.

We should ruthlessly pursue the elimination of sin in our lives. You say you getting that from Jehu's story? And I would say yes but I'm also getting this from the New Testament.

The New Testament that teaches you and I that sin as a believer should be mortified. Sin should be eliminated and put to death. And did you know that the New Testament uses some rather aggressive language to pursue the elimination

of sin dare we say ruthlessly? Romans 8 Paul makes it very clear he lays out the stakes he says Romans 8 13 that if you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.

or over in his letter to the Colossians Colossians chapter 3 verse 5 put to death therefore what is earthly in you sexual immorality impurity passion evil desire and covetousness which is idolatry on account of these

Colossians 3:5

things the wrath of God is coming but I would submit to you that it is just not our nature to do this that it's not our nature for you and I to go hard on our sin rather our nature is to go easy on it

our tendency my tendency is to explain it away is to ignore it is to rationalize it or dare we say even justify it we have an uncanny knack in our ability to grow comfortable with the besetting sins of our lives but this chapter

today should stand as a reminder that this is how God feels about sin and this is what God needs to do to sin it should be pursued toward elimination you and I should be pursuing the elimination of sin in our lives and

dare we say we should do it ruthlessly because sin doesn't play around we may play around with it but it doesn't play around with us it comes for the whole kitten caboodle sin we learn in Genesis 3 from the Lord's words to Cain

crouches at our door and it doesn't just want a little part what does he tell Cain in Genesis 3 it desires to have you it desires to master you but you must master it and pursue its elimination

in your life so first truth there's no escape from God's judgment on sin either Jesus takes it on the cross for you or you will face it on the last day second truth is to know that through the power of the spirit every believer should

ruthlessly pursue the elimination of sin in their life you know I think there are a couple of other takeaways here I think there are some cautions here a couple of warnings we might learn from Jehu and his actions and here's one the first warning is this

you can ruthlessly pursue the sin of others and be blind to some of your own you can ruthlessly pursue the sin of other people and have a blind spot to some of your own

isn't that what we're seeing by the end of the chapter this man divinely commissioned to ruthlessly pursue the elimination of sin and yet who is strangely blind to some of his own and I would suggest to you that it is all too easy to have

that happen in our lives there is a danger here you and I are wired such that it's much easier for us to see the speck of sawdust in our brother's eye and overlook the plank in our own eye did someone say that in the Bible how else do you explain

Jehu allowing the golden calf worship to continue how else to you explain a man who has such a red hot zeal to wipe out all forms of idolatry what's he say to his buddy Jehonadab come and watch come and see my zeal and yet he completely whiffs on another

form of idolatry I mean it's great that there's no more relatives of Ahab right it's a really wicked house it's great that there's no more Baal worshippers or Baal temple in the land but Jehu what about what's going on over at Bethel and at Dan Jehu

what about God's people praying prayers and offering sacrifices in front of golden calf idols listen the fact that Jehu did not walk in the law of the Lord and failed to turn from these golden calves that shows us that he had some big

blind spots big blind spots so let me ask you what about us how about you what about me is it easier for you and I to see the sins and compromises of others around us and be blind to our own

is it easier to recognize and want to point out and call out other people's sins and be blind to our own sins I think that might be something for us to remember the next time that we feel that outrage by the egregious sin

of somebody else I think it would be wise for you and I to at least ask the Lord to fully examine our own heart and to open our own eyes so that we don't miss something in a big blind spot that's one warning I think we learned from Jehu's example and here's a second one and

we'll close with this warning number two warning number two in our excessive zeal we can sometimes do damage in our excessive zeal we can sometimes do damage you know

that's one of the big driving questions that a lot of scholars have about Jehu and second kings 10 a question that kind of keeps them all up late at night I guess and they debate about in the literature is Jehu's zeal is it excessive does he go too far is he

indeed stretching the word of the Lord a little bit too much you might think so if you were a friend of Ahab close friends of Ahab were all dead you certainly would think so if you're a Baal worshipper most of those are all dead too at least anybody who served

in the Baal cult they were all rounded up in the temple and Jehu call me crazy but does he almost appear to brag to his buddy Jehonadab up in that chariot dabbing up with him for a minute come and see come and look at my zeal see my zeal for the Lord

and there's a mixture of motivations too aren't there because every descendant of Ahab he eliminates every Baal worshipper he gets rid of just secures his own personal ambition to be king the truth is our narrator never tells us definitively

whether Jehu is excessive there's some hints in another place in scripture that maybe he is I don't know but two piles of seventy heads is a lot 42 unsuspecting relatives that's a lot

killing even the close friends of a wicked man that feels like a lot and that that Baal temple scene is like something out of a movie all the movie plot lines come from the Bible I mean it's like a literal temple of doom moment right and look at

Jehu in there I mean is this guy like a professional actor he's so convincing you think Ahab was a big Baal worshiper you haven't seen anything yet look at me I imagine he's got a vestment on too so cunning so dare we say enthusiastic

Jehu are you enjoying this maybe a little too ! when you strut out there and say you haven't seen a real Baal worshiper yet check me out and I've got a great sacrifice for Baal it's all of you sometimes

in our excessive zeal and I would say even zeal for good things for right things sometimes we can do damage and I think Jehu's damage a lot of it yeah it was directly sanctioned by Elijah's prophecy by the word

of the Lord and honestly the kingdom of Israel was much the better for it they've at least gotten rid of one form of idolatry sometimes in our excessive zeal we can do some damage and I think that it's why we might want to slow down a bit

when we have that great zeal when we feel that burning zeal to do something for the Lord and maybe fail to realize that it's also mixed in with some personal ambition too like Jehu maybe you do want to see your kids grow up and

walk with the Lord and serve the Lord but you also want to be seen by other believers as having done it right I raised my kids so

maybe it's a zeal that somebody has for right theology sound doctrine I can identify with that but sometimes can we be excessive in our zeal for that or a burning zeal to call out somebody else's sin sometimes there can

be a religious and spiritual zeal sometimes it can be a doctrinal zeal even a ministry zeal and we can sometimes mix this with again some of that personal ambition and when we do that I'm telling you that's when it's

possible to see some damage I've seen pastors inadvertently do damage in their churches out of an excessive ministry zeal sometimes it takes the form of we need to change this church because we need to make it more welcoming for lost people that's it we're changing everything

and the church doesn't get the time to adjust to catch the vision and sometimes those churches become places of collateral damage I've seen it in the realm of theology I've seen theologians overzealous to remove barriers to

faith and in the effort to do that sometimes they attack the faith or diminish the faith I've seen people you've seen people who are very zealous to show love to others we've got to show everybody love Christ love Christ love and they too

end up in some damaging compromises there's one final verse I want to share with you it's from Ecclesiastes and honestly as I share this verse I still don't know that I completely understand it but I'm going to share it with you anyway it comes from

Ecclesiastes chapter 7 Ecclesiastes 7 verse 16 says do not be overly righteous and do not make yourself too wise why should you destroy yourself maybe another way to say it in light of

Ecclesiastes 7 · chapter mention Ecclesiastes 7:16

this warning from Jehu here is to say it this way be cautious when you're excessively zealous because sometimes the consequences can be destructive two truths today couple of warnings

there is no escaping God's judgment on sin and that's why we praise him for sending his son to be our salvation in Jesus second truth is that in the power of Christ we should be ruthlessly pursuing the elimination of sin in our

lives but the caution always remember that we can have blind spots always remember that we will probably see the sin of others more clearly than our own and finally remember that in our excessive zeal it is possible to

do damage will you bow your heads with me can we pray pray for you pray for one another pray for me father we want to be a faithful people lord we look at the zeal of people who follow your word we want to be red hot in our commitment

to you we want to get it right in our life and our thinking and our living and our teaching and lord sometimes it can get blurry sometimes lord as we see with a man like jehu it can mix with personal ambition and so we're asking by your spirit that you would

reveal to us what we need to see that you would expose that we would make sure lord that our zeal is based on knowledge that our zeal truly is rooted in the teachings of your word and not in something else

so lord we come to you today we humble ourselves we submit our lives to you and we ask you lord by your spirit show us walk with us each day and help us father to glorify you we pray this in of our great salvation and his name is Jesus

amen