Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20040307.htm

1 AND 2 KINGS: ENJOYING GOD'S BLESSINGS IN AN APOSTATE ERA
Part XLV: Blessing In Not Exceeding, But Just Obeying God's Word
(2 Kings 8:25-10:36; Hosea 1:4)
  1. Introduction
    1. Scripture often reveals that obeying God's Word brings blessing where disobeying it brings His discipline.
    2. However, a temptation exists for us sinfully to go beyond the intent of Scripture if we for selfish reasons can rationalize a loose fit between our agenda and God's will. The life of Jehu illustrates this fact:
  2. Blessing In Not Exceeding, But Just Obeying God's Word, 2 Kings 8:25-10:36; Hosea 1:4.
    1. For idolatry and for persecuting the godly, God planned that Jehu would be one of three men used as divine tools to destroy Ahab's household and his wife, Jezebel, 1 Kings 19:1-3, 14-17.
    2. Indeed, when Elisha directed another prophet to anoint Jehu to be Israel's king, that prophet was to predict Jehu would destroy Ahab's line and his wicked wife, Jezebel for their evil deeds, 2 Kings 9:1-10.
    3. When he fulfilled God's will to destroy Ahab's line, Jehu was rewarded with a four-generation rule, 10:30
    4. However, according to the later prophet, Hosea, Jehu went too far in his slaughter at Jezreel, a fact that caused God to promise to destroy the line of Jehu as he had destroyed Ahab's line, cf. Hosea 1:4.
    5. Studying Jehu's actions reveals Jehu USED God's Word as a means to further his own SELFISH ends, and thus SINFULLY went BEYOND just obeying God's Word in furthering his own agenda:
      1. On the one hand, Jehu correctly slew Ahab's wicked son, Jehoram and his mother, Jezebel at Jezreel:
        1. Jehu correctly obeyed God's prophetic charge for him to kill Ahab's household when he shot evil Jehoram, son of Ahab, to death, 2 Kings 9:14-24; Jehu correctly had Jehoram's body cast into the field of Naboth in fulfillment of God's prophecy to that end, cf. 2 Kings 9:25-26.
        2. Jehu also correctly heeded God's will when he had Jezebel killed, 2 Kings 9:30-33; 9:7-10. She fell to her death into Naboth's plot next to the palace, and failure for enough of her body to be collected for burial all fulfilled God's prophecies concerning her judgment, 2 Kings 9:34-37; 1 Kings 21:23.
      2. Yet, Jehu arguably fudged heeding Scripture in fulfilling God's directive (as follows):
        1. When Jehu slew the leaders of Baal in Samaria, though he went beyond God's personal command to him regarding Ahab's house, he heeded other Scriptures, 2 Kings 10:18-27; Deuteronomy 13:1-5. Yet, he destroyed them by deceit that gave lip service to Baal in an arguably compromising way!
        2. Jehu's slaying of Judah's king Ahaziah was arguably partly right and partly wrong: (a) God had directed Jehu to slay only Ahab's line, not the descendant of king David who ruled in Judah, cf. 2 Kings 9:7-10. (b) However, 2 Chronicles 22:1-9 reveals God let Judah's king visit Jehoram and get in harm's way and die by Jehu's forces as punishment for Ahaziah's own idolatry! (c) Jehu then slew Ahaziah in God's permissive will though he lacked God's order to do so, 2 Kings 9:27!
        3. Though Jehu was to slay Ahab's line, the way he arranged to do so was by secretly pressuring the elders of Samaria to carry out the execution while publicly pretending he was innocent of their deaths; Jehu planed to sustain public approval for his reign by this deception! (2 Kings 10:1-10)
      3. Conversely, Jehu clearly trespassed God's Word by slaughtering Ahab's unrelated great men and close friends and in slaughtering the relatives of Judah's king Ahaziah, all for personal gain:
        1. For his own political ends, Jehu clearly trespassed God's order in slaughtering Ahab's unrelated great men and close friends at Jezreel to secure his reign in his OWN agenda, 2 Kings 10:11 NIV.
        2. For his own political ends, since he had taken out Judah's king Ahaziah, Jehu slaughtered Ahaziah's innocent relatives lest they seek revenge for his killing of Ahaziah, 2 Kings 10:12-14.
      4. Then, after slaying innocent people, Jehu "covered" his deeds, claiming "zeal for the Lord", 10:15-17.
      5. Once in power, Jehu exposed his selfish ambition behind his rise to power: instead of being zealous for the Lord, Jehu himself heeded Jeroboam's idolatry, so God weakened his reign, 2 K. 10:31, 32-36.
Lesson: Though God rewarded Jehu with four generations of rule for heeding His will to kill Ahab's evil household, Jehu sinfully USED God's Word to FURTHER his selfish ambitions in going BEYOND God's commands. Thus, his own house was judged to fall as he had destroyed Ahab's house.

Application: When God's directives come close but (of course) do not quite fit our selfish ambitions, we must take PAINS to do ONLY God's WILL lest we GO BEYOND God's will and SIN before God!