SERIES M --- PROPHESIES AND MIRACLES --- LESSON 19

JEHORAM

JEHU BECOMES KING

From 2 Kings 9:1-15

While King Jehoram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah were together in Jezreel, Elisha summoned a young prophet and gave him instructions. [Tie up your cloak so you can run and take this flask of olive oil to Ramoth-Gilead,] he said. [When you arrive, find Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat and grandson of Nimshi. Tell him to go with you into a private room and anoint him there with this oil. Tell him that Adonai says He is anointing him king over Israel. When you have finished, leave quickly. Do not linger.] The young prophet went to Ramoth-Gilead as Elisha instructed him. When he arrived, he found Jehu sitting with a group of other army officers. [I have something for you,] the young prophet said. [For which one of us?] Jehu asked. [It is for you, captain,] said the prophet. Jehu went with the young prophet into his house. The prophet poured the oil upon Jehu’s head and said, [Adonai YHVH Elohiym of Israel says that He has anointed you king over His people of Israel. You must destroy the entire family of Ahab and thus avenge on Jezebel the deaths of all the prophets whom she killed. Adonai Demands that every member of Ahab’s family be destroyed, no matter how small or how great that person now is. He demands that Ahab’s family be destroyed as He destroyed the families of Jeroboam and Baasha. At Jezreel the body of Jezebel will be eaten by dogs and no one will bury her.] When the young prophet had said these things, he opened the door of Jehu’s house and ran away. Jehu rejoined the other army officers and one of them asked, [is everything all right? What did that strange fellow want?] [You know who he is and what he wanted,] Jehu replied. [No, we don’t,] the officers answered. [Tell us.] Jehu told them what the young prophet had said. [He also said that Adonai has anointed me king over Israel.] As soon as Jehu said that, the other officers took their garments and spread them before him on the steps. Then they blew a trumpet and shouted, [Jehu is king!] Jehu immediately made plans to overthrow King Jehoram of Israel. He knew that Jehoram had returned to Jezreel from Ramoth-Gilead to recover from wounds he had received in battle. [If you sincerely want me to be king,] said Jehu to the other officers, [make sure that no one slips away from here to report this in Jezreel.]

COMMENTARY

KING JEHU’S ENEMIES: SHALMANESER III AND HAZAEL

Soon after Jehu seized the throne, Shalmaneser III’s Assyrian armies were at Israel’s doorstep. No sooner was this threat eased when Syria resumed its efforts against Israel. The crisis with Assyria occurred in 841 B.C. Shalmaneser now wanted to move farther west; two decades before he had conquered as far as northern Syria. Year after year the Assyrians attacked Syrian defences, but the rulers of the Syrian states had joined together and limited Shalmaneser’s advance. Eventually however, their defence grew weak. The constant feud between Israel and Damascus prevented an alliance between them. By 841 B.C., when Jehu took the throne, Syria was not well organized. Possibly the alliance collapsed when Hazael had seized the throne or possibly the Syrian states were caught unprepared. Either way, Hazael was left to face Shalmaneser alone. The Assyrians defeated Hazael in the Senir mountain range north of Damascus. They besieged the city, but could not capture it. They went on and destroyed other cities as far south as the Hauran Mountains. Turning west, they headed for Mount Carmel, the range marking the boundary between Phoenicia and Israel. Israel was without allies. Jehu had offended Judah by murdering its king and Phoenicia, by murdering Jezebel, a member of its royal family. Phoenicia broke its alliance with Israel. Jehu and the kings of Tyre and Sidon brought tribute to Shalmaneser. After failing to crush Syria in 839 B.C., Shalmaneser returned to his own land. But for Israel the struggle had just begun. Syria resumed its old war with Israel. The battle went on for twenty years. Hazael took Transjordan lands as far south as the Arnon Valley. After Jehu’s death, he captured Gath and received tribute from the king of Judah. By 814 B.C. Israel was little more than a vassal under Syrian control.