Jehu Anointed King

“And Elisha the prophet called one of the children of the prophets, and said unto him, Gird up thy loins, and take this box of oil in thine hand, and go to Ramothgilead: And when thou comest thither, look out there Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi, and go in, and make him arise up from among his brethren, and carry him to an inner chamber; Then take the box of oil, and pour it on his head, and say, Thus saith the LORD, I have anointed thee king over Israel. Then open the door, and flee, and tarry not” (2 Kings 9:1-3).

Jehu Pleased God
Removes the House of Ahab

“And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel” (2 Kings 10:30).

Jehu’s Zeal for the Lord

“And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him: and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot. And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD. So they made him ride in his chariot. And when he came to Samaria, he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the saying of the LORD, which he spake to Elijah” (2 Kings 10:15-17).

God Promises to Avenge
The Blood of Jehu

“And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel” (Hosea 1:4).

Jehu’s Failure

“Howbeit from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, to wit, the golden calves that were in Bethel, and that were in Dan ... But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the LORD God of Israel with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin” (2 Kings10: 29, 31). (Underlined emphasis added.)

Lesson Summaries

A casual reader of these passages may feel it difficult to harmonize God’s actions with God’s goodness and holiness. These truths may be harmonize in the following manner:

(1) God Rules
In the Kingdoms of Men

Jehu was selected by God to render a needed service. Examples of his accomplishments that pleased the Lord were–

(a) He removed Jerhoam of Israel (2 Kings 9:14-26).
(b) He removed Ahaziah of Judah (2 Kings 9:27-29).
(c) He removed Jezebel (2 Kings 9:30-31).
(d) He completely removed the house of Ahab (2 Kings 10:1-11, 15-17).
(e) He removed forty-two princes of Ahaziah of Judah (2 Kings 10:12-14).

Jehu was selected, not for his goodness, but because of the evils of others that God determined to bring to justice.

The actions of God here are no different than the actions of permitting the inhabitants of one nation to bring Divine justice upon another.

God used the Babylonians in the days of Daniel and Ezekiel as the rod of discipline to the chosen nation of Judah and her neighbors (Habakkak 1:5-11).

When Israel entered the land of Canaan, they were given these warnings by God through Moses: “Hear, O Israel: Thou art to pass over Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than thyself, cities great and fenced up to heaven, ... Speak not thou in thine heart, after that the LORD thy God hath cast them out from before thee, saying, For my righteousness the LORD hath brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD doth drive them out from before thee. Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Understand therefore, that the LORD thy God giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy righteousness; for thou art a stiffnecked people” (Deut. 9:1, 4-6).

God even had Elisha to anoint Hazael king of Assyria (2 Kings 8:7-15).

(2) Zeal When It Pleases Me

Jehu could be very zealous for God, AS LONG AS IT WAS SOMETHING THAT PLEASED HIM.
Was not the prophet Jonah somewhat like this? He seems to be very loyal to God until God asked him to do that which was contrary to his desires (Jonah 4:1-3).

How did the older brother react upon the return of his disobedient younger brother (Luke 15:28-32)? Did the older brother “serve” his father as long as his father’s wishes pleased him? When the father chose to act in a way that was unfavorable to the older brother’s desires, he pouted and would not rejoice with the father over the returning son.

Have you ever known people who quit serving the Lord because they did not get their way? Have you ever heard of people pampering disgruntled members that did not get their way?

If zeal for the Lord is conditioned upon always having our way, are we obeying the Lord?

Could this be a motivation behind many splinter groups in the religious world? If not, why do we often have individuals searching for a church (religion) to please themselves rather than looking for the proper way of serving the Lord?

(3) Partial Success

We may be tempted to equate temporal blessings and/or successes with Divine approval of us in ALL things.
God has used individuals in the past to accomplish his judgments, and has provided blessings for them.

Consider these words in the Book of Ezekiel: “Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army” (Ezek. 29:18-19).

When God determined to pass judgment upon the Babylonian system, He chose the Medo-Persian government as His instrument. In fact, it was this government that would humble Babylon and return the chosen people to their homeland. Years before it happened, God had named Cyrus as this instrument (Isaiah 45:1ff.; 2 Chron. 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4).

Does anyone doubt that Israel was blessed in a material way? Was Israel always deserving of what she received? Was there an abundance of blessings she could have enjoyed, but she forfeited them by her disobedience?
Do you know the story of Esau? Blessed in some ways, but lacking in many others as a result of selling his birthright (Heb. 12:14-17)?

While Israel could have had the promised land, did many fall in the wilderness and never realized the full blessings possible from a loving and just God (Heb. 3:7-19)?

Such is the case with Jehu. He was blessed by God for doing what he was assigned to do, but he was also condemned by God for failing to fully and completely obey (Hosea 1:4; 2 Kings 10:29-31).

(4) Are We Pleasing God?

We need to ask ourselves, are we pleasing self or God? Are we pleasing men or God? Are we more concerned with not offending a friend than we are in pleasing God?

These are not prejudicial or superficial questions? To my knowledge, no one doubts the zeal and knowledge of the Apostle Peter. Yet, when he found himself surrounded by those who did not have the same respect for Christ, we find him denying that he knew his Lord (Matt. 26:69-75).

Let the words of the Apostle Paul focus this point. “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). Again, “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden” (Gal. 6:3-5).

Are we familiar with Peter’s difficulty when Jewish brethren persuaded him to compromise the truth of the gospel (Gal. 2:11ff.)?

Even the great and devoted Apostle to the Gentiles was not without difficult. It was not always easy for him to be consistent with his devotion, and in his zeal to win souls (1 Cor. 9:19-23) he found himself in a problematic set of circumstances (Acts 21:17-40).

Only Full Obedience
Brings Full Blessings

While none of us may sustain a claim of perfection, we must be loyal to our forgiving and merciful God. However, we cannot continue in sin and expect his grace to cover our wilful disobedience (Rom. 6:1). Grace and forgiveness must never be a license to sin.

As a child of God, when we sin, we must repent, confess our wrongs to the offended parties, and pray for forgiveness (Acts 8:22-24; 1 John 1:6-10).

Is it true that the greatest blessings from God come to those who follow God the closest?

In closing, let us note a contrast in the history of the chosen people. It has been pointed out that many of them did not enter the blessing of the promised land because of disobedience (Heb. 4:1-7).

However, there is one who did succeed, and was fully blessed for his obedience. Consider the statements about Caleb.

“But my servant Caleb, BECAUSE HE HAD ANOTHER SPIRIT WITH HIM, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it” (Num. 14:24).

“And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath WHOLLY followed the LORD” (Deut. 1:34-36).

“Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart. Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I WHOLLY followed the LORD my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever, because thou hast WHOLLY followed the LORD my God. And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said. And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he WHOLLY followed the LORD God of Israel” (Josh. 14:7-14).

The actions of Jehu at times pleased God. Although Jehu did things that pleased himself, he seems to have enjoyed the havoc he wrought upon others. If he did, this was a violation of the will of God. “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth” (Prov. 24:17). •

Gene Burgett Report...

A most enjoyable part of my work with the Florida School of Preaching is the opportunity to talk with men who are contemplating attending preaching school. Prospective students come in varying ages and from diverse backgrounds. Some are retired and are preparing to begin a second career in God’s service. Others are fresh out of high school and are anxious to begin preparations for a life-time of service in the kingdom preaching the gospel.

In December my travels took me to Franklin, Tennessee, to meet with a young man who desires to preach. It was a wonderful experience to meet one so young who is prepared to offer his life to this work. After meeting his parents it was plain to see that the entire family is devoted to God.

During this trip I worshiped with the Berry’s Chapel church of Christ. They are a very pleasant group of people and their preacher fed us from James 2:1-8. The lesson was straightforward with the ungarnished title: How to Treat People Right. The Berrys Chapel family has experienced wonderful growth of late. Among their many works is a Spanish ministry. One from the Spanish speaking work was baptized that morning. Not since my years working with the church in Miami, Florida, had I sung a hymn in Spanish.

I was also able to visit the Shiloh church of Christ in Hazel Green, Alabama. I always enjoy visiting with Justin and Jennifer Gerhardt. Justin is a graduate of the school and he and his wife are very energetic. The Shiloh church began supporting FSOP in 2004 and we thank them for their generosity.

I am looking forward to being with the River Road church in New Port Richey, Florida February 13. I urge any congregations that would like a report on the work of the Florida School of Preaching to contact me so that we may establish a date.

–Gene Burgett
352-339-3195
burgett@atlantic.net

Brian R. Kenyon Added to the Board of Directors
December 14, 2004

In December 2003 meeting of the Board of Directors of the Florida School of Preaching, Brian Kenyon was promoted to the position of Associate Director. In the December 2004 meeting of the Board of Directors, Brian was added to the Board of Directors of the Florida School of Preaching.

Brian has served as a full-time instructor with the Florida School of Preaching since 1996, and has edited the Lectureship Book since the 2000 edition.

In acknowledging Brian’s promotion to Associate Director, we stated the following: “Brian has been a willing and able member of the faculty, and has assumed without reservation any and all tasks given him. His experience as a teacher, preacher, an editor of the lectureship volumes, and writer for the Harvester and other published materials makes his qualifications to serve as associated director evident to all who know him.” These qualities also serve to make Brian a welcome addition to the Board of Directors.