2 Kings 9:16 - Meaning and Application

From Ramoth-Gilead to Jezreel was more than one day’s march. About halfway between them, the Jordan River had to be crossed. We can suppose that Jehu marched as quickly as possible and took every precaution to keep the news from reaching Jezreel before he did. At last, he came first into sight, and then within reach, of the doomed king.

Joram’s lookout saw him first from a distance and reported to the king that a group was coming, though he could not tell whether they were friends or enemies. But the king, eager to know what was happening, and perhaps afraid that the Syrians, who had wounded him, had tracked him by his blood back to his own palace and were coming to seize him, sent one messenger and then another to get a report (2 Kings 9:17-19). He had barely recovered from the fear he felt in battle, and his guilty conscience kept him in constant alarm. Each messenger asked the same question: “Is it peace? Are you with us or with our enemies? Do you bring good news or bad?” Each received the same answer: “What have you to do with peace? Fall in behind me” (2 Kings 9:18-19). In effect, he was saying, “I will answer the one who sent you, not you. As for you, if you want to save yourself, come behind me and join my side.”

The lookout reported that the messengers were captured. Then he noticed that the leader of the group drove like Jehu, and Jehu was known for driving furiously. This showed a hot, eager spirit, one that pressed forward with all its strength. A man with that kind of forceful temper was well suited for the task God had given him. God’s wisdom appears in choosing the right instruments for his work. Still, it is not much of a credit to any man to be known for his anger. The one who rules his spirit is better than the mighty. The Chaldee paraphrase takes it differently: “The driving is like Jehu’s, for he leads quietly.” And it seems he did not come too fast, or there would not have been time for all that happened. Some think he even moved slowly on purpose, so Joram would have time to come out to meet him, and Jehu could strike before entering the city.

Then Joram himself went out to meet him, bringing Ahaziah, king of Judah, with him. Neither of them was prepared for war, because they did not expect an enemy. They were hurrying out of curiosity. How strangely Providence sometimes arranges things, so that people rush toward their own ruin when their time to fall has come.

The place where Joram met Jehu was a bad sign. It was in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite (2 Kings 9:21). Just seeing that ground would have made Joram tremble and Jehu triumph. Joram had the guilt of Naboth’s blood against him, while Jehu had Elijah’s curse on his side. God’s providence sometimes orders events so that punishment fits the sin, like a face in a mirror.

Joram’s question was still the same: “Is it peace, Jehu? Is all well? Have you come back from the Syrians in flight, or even as more than a conqueror?” He seemed to expect peace and could think of nothing else. It is very common for great sinners, even when they stand at the edge of ruin, to comfort themselves by thinking all is well.

Jehu’s answer was shocking. He answered with a question: “What peace can there be, so long as the many sexual sins of your mother Jezebel, who was not just queen mother but really queen regent, and her witchcraft remain?” Jehu spoke plainly. Earlier he would not have dared to do that, but now he had another spirit. Sinners will not always be flattered. At some point, they will get the truth back.

He charged Joram with his mother’s wickedness because Joram had learned it early and then used his royal power to protect it. Jezebel was accused of sexual immorality, both bodily and spiritual, meaning idol worship joined with shameless acts. She was also guilty of witchcraft, meaning spells and divination used in honor of her idols. These sins had multiplied, and the whoredoms and witchcrafts were many, because those who give themselves to evil do not know where they will stop. One sin leads to another.

Because of that wickedness, Jehu denied Joram any claim to peace. What peace can there be in a house full of unrepented evil? The way of sin can never be the way of peace (Isaiah 57:21). What peace can sinners have with God, or even with their own consciences? What good or comfort can they expect in life, in death, or after death, if they keep on sinning? There is no peace while sin is continued in. But when it is repented of and turned from, peace comes.

The judgment followed at once. When Joram heard of his mother’s crimes, his heart failed him. He quickly decided that the long-threatened day of reckoning had come, and he cried out, “There is treachery, Ahaziah! Jehu is our enemy, and we must save ourselves.” Both men fled. Joram, king of Israel, was killed immediately (2 Kings 9:24). Jehu struck him down with his own hand. The arrow was not shot by chance, like the one that had once pierced his father’s armor. Jehu aimed it between his shoulders as he fled, and it reached his heart, so that he died on the spot (Psalm 7:13). He was the top branch of Ahab’s house, so he was the first cut off.

He died as a criminal, under the sentence of the law, and Jehu, as the executioner, dealt with the body afterward. Naboth’s vineyard was nearby, and that reminded everyone of Elijah’s words against Ahab: “I will repay you in this plot,” says the Lord (2 Kings 9:25-26). God was repaying him for Naboth’s blood and for the blood of his sons, who were either killed with him as partners in his crime, or murdered later so they could not appeal for justice, seek revenge for their father, break their hearts with grief, or lose their support when the estate was taken away. The whole house of Ahab had to answer for this.

That very piece of ground, which Ahab had seized with pride and delight at the cost of innocent blood, now became the place where his son’s dead body was left for all to see. In this way, the Lord is known by the judgments he carries out. Higgaion. Selah.

Ahaziah, king of Judah, was pursued and killed soon after, not far away (2 Kings 9:27-28). He was with Joram at the time, but he would not have been killed if he had not joined the house of Ahab in both family ties and wickedness.

He had made himself one of them by his sins, so he had to share their fate. Jehu was right to understand his mission as including them. Yet perhaps he would not have fallen with them at this moment if he had not been found in their company. It is a dangerous thing to keep company with evil people. We can become caught up in both their guilt and their trouble.