2 Kings 10:5-9 (KJV)
And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes.Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel.And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king’s sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning.And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?
And he that was over the house, and he that was over the city, the elders also, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying, We are thy servants, and will do all that thou shalt bid us; we will not make any king: do thou that which is good in thine eyes.Then he wrote a letter the second time to them, saying, If ye be mine, and if ye will hearken unto my voice, take ye the heads of the men your master’s sons, and come to me to Jezreel by to morrow this time. Now the king’s sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city, which brought them up.And it came to pass, when the letter came to them, that they took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent him them to Jezreel.And there came a messenger, and told him, saying, They have brought the heads of the king’s sons. And he said, Lay ye them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning.And it came to pass in the morning, that he went out, and stood, and said to all the people, Ye be righteous: behold, I conspired against my master, and slew him: but who slew all these?
The commentaries I possess all focus on Jehu claiming that he has done and said all this in an effort to lessen the appearance of his own culpability in the deaths of the family of Ahab. That may well be the case yet Jehu has a point. Regardless of the reason, that the very men tasked with raising up these seventy sons of Ahab would kill those sons rather than die protecting them is a mark of
- cowardice
- carelessness and
- lack of any sort of character
That this happens in the house of Ahab is significant. It stands to reason they would betray their loyalties as they had already betrayed their loyalty to God and to the family God had set up as the royal family in Israel. The next chapter takes us to Judah where indeed men and women of faith risked their lives to protect the royal seed.
This does not mean that the lack of character exhibited in this account never happens among the professed people of God. It does serve as a warning to those who would please the Lord that loyalty to the things of God is the premium.
To my reader:
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I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.
2 Kings 10:5-9 (KJV) Loyalty to the Things of God
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