II
K I N G S
CHAP. IX.
Hazael
and Jehu were the men that were designed to be the instruments of God's
justice in punishing and destroying the house of Ahab. Elijah was told to
appoint them to this service; but, upon Ahab's humiliation, a reprieve was
granted, and so it was left to Elisha to appoint them. Hazael's elevation to
the throne of Syria we read of in the foregoing chapter; and we must now
attend Jehu to the throne of Israel; for him that escapeth the sword of Hazael,
as Joram and Ahaziah did, Jehu must slay, of which this chapter gives us an
account. I. A commission is sent to Jehu by the hand of one of the prophets,
to take upon him the government, and destroy the house of Ahab, ver. 1-10. II.
Here is his speedy execution of this commission. 1. He communicates it to his
captains, ver. 11-15. 2. He marches directly to Jezreel (ver. 16-20), and
there dispatches (1.) Joram king of
Israel
, ver. 21-26. (2.) Ahaziah king of Judah, ver.
27-29. (3.) Jezebel, ver. 30-37.
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Jehu
Anointed King.
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B.
C. 884.
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1 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 Ramoth-gilead: 2 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; 3 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. 4 So the young man, even the young man the prophet,
went to Ramoth-gilead. 5 And when he came, behold, the captains of
the host were sitting; and he said, I have an errand to thee, O
captain. And Jehu said, Unto which of all us? And he said, To thee, O
captain. 6 And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured
the oil on his head, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD
God of Israel, I have anointed thee king over the people of the LORD,
even over Israel. 7 And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab
thy master, that I may avenge the blood of my servants the prophets, and the
blood of all the servants of the LORD,
at the hand of Jezebel. 8 For the whole house of Ahab shall
perish: and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall, and
him that is shut up and left in Israel: 9 And I will make the
house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house
of Baasha the son of Ahijah: 10 And the dogs shall eat Jezebel in
the portion of Jezreel, and there shall be none to bury her. And
he opened the door, and fled.
We have here the anointing of Jehu to be king, who was, at this time, a
commander (probably commander-in-chief) of the forces employed at Ramoth-Gilead,
v. 14. There he was fighting for the king his master, but received
orders from a higher king to fight against him. It does not appear that Jehu
aimed at the government, or that he ever thought of it, but the commission
given him was a perfect surprise to him. Some think that he had been anointed
before by Elijah, whom God ordered to do it, but privately, and with an
intimation that he must not act till further orders, as Samuel anointed David
long before he was to come to the throne: but that it not at all probable, for
then we must suppose Elijah had anointed Hazael too. No, when God bade him do
these things he bade him anoint Elisha to be prophet in his room, to do
them when he was gone, as God should direct him. Here is,
I. The commission sent.
1. Elisha did not go himself to anoint Jehu, because he was old and unfit for
such a journey and so well known that he could not do it privately, could not
go and come without observation; therefore he sends one of the sons of the
prophets to do it, v. 1. They not only reverences him as their
father (ch. ii. 15), but observed and obeyed him as their father. This
service of anointing Jehu, (1.) Had danger in it (1 Sam. xvi. 2), and
therefore it was not fit that Elisha should expose himself, but one of the
sons of the prophets, whose life was of less value, and who could do it with
less danger. (2.) It required labour and was therefore fitter for a young man
in his full strength. Let youth work and age direct. (3.) Yet it was an
honourable piece of service, to anoint a king, and he that did it might hope
to be preferred for it afterwards, and therefore, for the encouragement of the
young prophets, Elisha employed one of them: he would not engross all the
honours to himself, nor grudge the young prophets a share in them.
2. When he sent him, (1.) He put the oil into his hand with which he must
anoint Jehu: Take this box of oil Solomon was anointed with oil out
of the tabernacle, 1 Kings i. 39. That could not now be had, but oil from
a prophet's hand was equivalent to oil out of God's house. Probably it was not
the constant practice to anoint kings, but upon the disturbance of the
succession, as in the case of Solomon, or the interruption of it, as in the
case of Joash (ch. xi. 12), or the translation of the government to a
new family, as here and in the case of David; yet it might be used generally,
though the scripture does not mention it. (2.) He put the words into his
mouth which he must say (v. 3)-- I have anointed thee king,
and, no doubt, told him all the rest that he said, v. 7-10. Those whom
God sends on his errands shall not go without full instructions. (3.) He also
ordered him, [1.] To do it privately, to single out Jehu from the rest of the
captains and anoint him in an inner chamber (v. 2), that Jehu's
confidence in his commission might be tried, when he had no witness to attest
it. His being suddenly animated for the service would be proof sufficient of
his being anointed to it. There needed no other proof. The thing signified was
the best evidence of the sign. [2.] To do it expeditiously. When he went about
it he must gird up his loins; when he had done it he must flee and
not tarry for a fee, or a treat, or to see what Jehu would do. It becomes
the sons of the prophets to be quick and lively at their work, to go about it
and go through it as men that hate sauntering and trifling. They should be as
angels that fly swiftly.
II. The commission delivered. The young prophet did his business with
despatch, was at Ramoth-Gilead presently, v. 4. There he found the
general officers sitting together, either at dinner or in a council of war, v.
5. With the assurance that became a messenger from God, notwithstanding the
meanness of his appearance, he called Jehu out from the rest, not waiting his
leisure, or begging his pardon for disturbing him, but as one having
authority: I have an errand to thee, O captain. Perhaps Jehu had some
intimation of his business; and therefore, that he might not seem too forward
to catch at the honour, he asked, To which of all us? that it might not
be said afterwards he got it by speaking first, but they might all be
satisfied he was indeed the person designed. When the prophet had him alone he
anointed him, v. 6. The anointing of the Spirit is a hidden thing, that
new name which none knows but those that have it. Herewith,
1. He invests him with the royal dignity: Thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, whose messenger I am, in his name I have anointed thee king
over the people of the Lord. He gives him an incontestable title, but
reminds him that he was made king, (1.) By the God of Israel; from him
he must see his power derived (for by him kings reign), for he must use it,
and to him he must be accountable. Magistrates are the ministers of God, and
must therefore act in dependence upon him and with an entire devotedness to
him and to his glory. (2.) Over the Israel of God. Though the people of
Israel were wretchedly corrupted, and had forfeited all the honour of
relationship to God, yet they are here called the people of the Lord,
for he had a right to them and had not yet given them a bill of divorce. Jehu
must look upon the people he was made king of as the people of the Lord,
not as his vassals, but God's freemen, his sons, his first-born, not to be
abused or tyrannized over, God's people, and therefore to be ruled for
him, and according to his laws.
2. He instructs him in his present service, which was to destroy all the house
of Ahab (v. 7), not that he might clear his own way to the throne, and
secure to himself the possession of it, but that he might execute the
judgments of God upon that guilty and obnoxious family. He calls Ahab his master,
that the relation might be no objection. "He was thy master, and to lift
up thy hand against his son and successor would be not only base ingratitude,
but treason, rebellion, and all that is bad, if thou hadst not an immediate
command from God to do it. But thou art under higher obligations to thy Master
in heaven than to thy master Ahab. He has determined that the whole house
of Ahab shall perish, and by thy hand; fear not: has not he
commanded thee? Fear not sin; his command will justify thee and bear thee out:
fear not danger; his command will secure and prosper thee." That he might
intelligently, and in a right manner, do this great execution on the house of
Ahab, he tells him, (1.) What was their crime, what the ground of the
controversy, and wherefore God had quarrel with them, that he might have an
eye to that which God had an eye to, and that was the blood of God's
servants, the prophets and others, faithful worshippers, which they had
shed, and which must now be required at the hand of Jezebel. That they were
idolaters was bad enough, and merited all that was brought upon them; yet that
is not mentioned here, but the controversy God has with them is for their
being persecutors, not so much their throwing down God's altars as
their slaying his prophets with the sword. Nothing fills the measure of
the iniquity of any prince or people as this does nor brings a surer or a
sorer ruin. This was the sin that brought on Jerusalem its first destruction
(2 Chron. xxxvi. 16) and its final one, Matt. xxiii. 37, 38. Jezebel's
whoredoms and witchcrafts were not so provoking as her persecuting the
prophets, killing some and driving the rest into corners and caves, 1 Kings
xviii. 4. (2.) What was their doom. They were sentenced to utter destruction;
not to be corrected, but to be cut off and rooted out. This Jehu must know,
that his eye might not spare for pity, favour, or affection. All that belonged
to Ahab must be slain, v. 8. A pattern is given him of the destruction
intended, in the destruction of the families of Jeroboam and Baasha (v.
9), and he is particularly directed to throw Jezebel to the dogs, v.
10. The whole stock of royal blood was little enough, and too little, to atone
for the blood of the prophets, the saints and martyrs, which, in God's
account, is of great price.
The prophet, having done this errand, made the best of his way home again, and
left Jehu alone to consider what he had to do and beg direction from God.
11 Then Jehu came forth to the servants of his
lord: and one said unto him, Is all well? wherefore came this
mad fellow to thee? And he said unto them, Ye know the man, and his
communication. 12 And they said, It is false; tell us now.
And he said, Thus and thus spake he to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD,
I have anointed thee king over Israel. 13 Then they hasted, and
took every man his garment, and put it under him on the top of the
stairs, and blew with trumpets, saying, Jehu is king. 14 So Jehu
the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram
had kept Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of
Syria. 15 But king Joram was returned to be healed in Jezreel of
the wounds which the Syrians had given him, when he fought with Hazael king of
Syria.) And Jehu said, If it be your minds, then let none go forth nor
escape out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.
Jehu, after some pause, returned to his place at the board, taking no notice
of what had passed, but, as it should seem, designing, for the present, to
keep it to himself, if they had not urged him to disclose it. Let us therefore
see what passed between him and the captains.
I. With what contempt the captains speak of the young prophet (v. 11):
"Wherefore came this mad fellow to thee? What business had he with
thee? And why wouldst thou humour him so far as to retire for conversation
with him? Are prophets company for captains?" They are called him a
mad fellow, because he was one of those that would not run with them to
an excess of riot (1 Pet. iv. 4), but lived a life of self-denial,
mortification, and contempt of the world, and spent their time in devotion;
for these things they thought the prophets were fools and the spiritual men
were mad, Hos. ix. 7. Note, Those that have no religion commonly speak
with disdain of those that are religious, and look upon them as mad. They said
of our Saviour, He is beside himself, of John Baptist, He has a
devil (is a poor melancholy man), of St. Paul, Much learning has made
him mad. The highest wisdom is thus represented as folly, and those that
best understand themselves are looked upon as beside themselves. Perhaps Jehu
intended it for a rebuke to his friends when he said, "You know the
man to be a prophet, why then do you call him a mad fellow? You know the
way of his communication to be not from madness, but inspiration." Or,
"Being a prophet, you may guess what his business is, to tell me of my
faults, and to teach me my duty; I need not inform you concerning it."
Thus he thought to put them off, but they urged him to tell them. "It is
false," say they, "we cannot conjecture what was his errand, and
therefore tell us." Being thus pressed to it, he told them that the
prophet had anointed him king, and it is probable showed them the oil
upon his head, v. 12. He knew not but some of them either out of
loyalty to Joram or envy of him, might oppose him, and go near to crush his
interest in its infancy; but he relied on the divine appointment, and was not
afraid to own it, knowing whom he had trusted: he that raised him would stand
by him.
II. With what respect they compliment the new king upon the first notice of
his advancement, v. 13. How meanly soever they thought of the prophet
that anointed him, and of his office, they expressed a great veneration for
the royal dignity of him that was anointed, and were very forward to proclaim
him and sound of trumpet. In token of their subjection and allegiance to him,
their affection to his person and government, and their desire to see him high
and easy in it, they put their garments under him, that he might stand or sit
upon them on the top of the stairs, in sight of the soldiers, who, upon
the first intimation, came together to grace the solemnity. God put it into
their hearts thus readily to own him, for he turns the hearts of people as
well as kings, like the rivers of water, into what channel he pleases. Perhaps
they were disquieted at Joram's government or had a particular affection for
Jehu; or, however this might be, things it seems were ripe for the revolution,
and they all came into Jehu's interest and conspired against Joram, v.
14.
III. With what caution Jehu proceeded. He had advantages against Joram, and he
knew how to improve them. He had the army with him. Joram had left it, and had
gone home badly wounded. Jehu's good conduct appears in two things:-- 1. That
he complimented the captains, and would do nothing without their advice and
consent ("If it be your minds, we will do so and so, else not"),
thereby intimating the deference he paid to their judgment and the confidence
he had in their fidelity, both which tended to please and fix them. It is the
wisdom of those that would rise fast, and stand firm, to take their friends
along with them. 2. That he contrived to surprise Joram; and, in order
thereto, to come upon him with speed, and to prevent his having notice of what
was now done: "Let none go forth to tell it in Jezreel, that, as a
snare, the ruin may come on him and his house." The suddenness of an
attack sometimes turns to as good an account as the force of it.
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Jehu's
Approach to Jezreel.
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B.
C. 884.
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16 So Jehu rode in a chariot, and went to
Jezreel; for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah was come down to see
Joram. 17 And there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel, and
he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, I see a company. And Joram
said, Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, Is it
peace? 18 So there went one on horseback to meet him, and said,
Thus saith the king, Is it peace? And Jehu said, What hast thou to do
with peace? turn thee behind me. And the watchman told, saying, The messenger
came to them, but he cometh not again. 19 Then he sent out a
second on horseback, which came to them, and said, Thus saith the king, Is
it peace? And Jehu answered, What hast thou to do with peace? turn thee
behind me. 20 And the watchman told, saying, He came even unto
them, and cometh not again: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu
the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously. 21 And Joram said,
Make ready. And his chariot was made ready. And Joram king of Israel and
Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot, and they went out against
Jehu, and met him in the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 And
it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu?
And he answered, What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel
and her witchcrafts are so many? 23 And Joram turned his
hands, and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah.
24 And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength, and smote Jehoram between his
arms, and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his
chariot. 25 Then said Jehu to Bidkar his captain, Take up, and
cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for remember
how that, when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, the LORD
laid this burden upon him; 26 Surely I have seen yesterday the
blood of Naboth, and the blood of his sons, saith the LORD; and I will requite thee
in this plat, saith the LORD.
Now therefore take and cast him into the plat of ground,
according to the word of the LORD.
27 But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled by the way of
the garden house. And Jehu followed after him, and said, Smite him also in the
chariot. And they did so at the going up to Gur, which is by
Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo, and died there. 28 And his
servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his
sepulchre with his fathers in the city of David. 29 And in the
eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab began Ahaziah to reign over Judah.
From Ramoth-Gilead to Jezreel was more than one day's march; about the mid-way
between them the river Jordan must be crossed. We may suppose Jehu to have
marched with all possible expedition, and to have taken the utmost precaution
to prevent the tidings from getting to Jezreel before him; and, at length, we
have him within sight first, and then within reach, of the devoted king.
I. Joram's watchman discovers him first at a distance, him and his retinue,
and gives notice to the king of the approach of a company, whether of friends
or foes he cannot tell. But the king (impatient to know what is the matter,
and perhaps jealous that the Syrians, who had wounded him, had traced him by
the blood to his own palace, and were coming to seize him) sent first one
messenger, and then another, to bring him intelligence, v. 17-19. He
had scarcely recovered from the fright he was put into in the battle, and his
guilty conscience put him into a continual terror. Each messenger asked the
same question: "Is it peace? are you for us or for our
adversaries? Do you bring good tidings or bad?" Each had the same answer:
What hast thou to do with peace? Turn thee behind me, v. 18, 19.
As if he had said, "It is not to thee, but to him that sent thee, that I
will give answer; for thy part, if thou consult thy own safety, turn thee
behind me, and enlist thyself among my followers." The watchman gave
notice that the messengers were taken prisoners, and at length observed that
the leader of this troop drove like Jehu, who it seems was noted for driving
furiously, thereby discovering himself to be a man of a hot eager spirit,
intent upon his business, and pushing forward with all his might. A man of
such a violent temper was fittest for the service to which Jehu was
designated. The wisdom of God is seen in the choice of proper instruments to
be employed in his work. But it is not much for any man's reputation to be
known by his fury. He that has rule over his own spirit is better than the
mighty. The Chaldee paraphrase gives this a contrary sense: The leading is
like that of Jehu, for he leads quietly. And, it should seem, he did not
come up very fast, for then there would not have been time for all this that
passed. And some think he chose to march slowly, that he might give Joram time
to come out to him, and so dispatch him before he entered the city.
II. Joram himself goes out to meet him, and takes Ahaziah king of Judah along
with him, neither of them equipped for war, as not expecting an enemy, but in
haste to have their curiosity satisfied. How strangely has Providence
sometimes ordered it, that men have been in haste to meet their ruin when
their day has come to fall.
1. The place where Joram met Jehu was ominous: In the portion of Naboth the
Jezreelite, v. 21. The very sight of that ground was enough to make
Joram tremble and Jehu triumph; for Joram had the guilt of Naboth's blood
fighting against him and Jehu had the force of Elijah's curse fighting for
him. The circumstances of events are sometimes so ordered by divine Providence
as to make the punishment answer to the sin as face answers to face in a
glass.
2. Joram's demand was still the same: "Is it peace, Jehu? Is all
well? Dost thou come home thus flying from the Syrians or more than a
conqueror over them?" It seems, he looked for peace, and could not
entertain any other thought. Note, It is very common for great sinners, even
when they are upon the brink of ruin, to flatter themselves with an opinion
that all is well with them, and to cry peace to themselves.
3. Jehu's reply was very startling. He answered him with a question: What
peace canst thou expect, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel
(who, though queen dowager, was in effect queen regent) and her witchcrafts
are so many? See how plainly Jehu deals with him. Formerly he durst not do
so, but now he had another spirit. Note, Sinners will not always be flattered;
one time or other, they will have their own given them, Ps. xxxvi. 2. Observe,
(1.) He charges upon him his mother's wickedness, because he had at first
learned it and then with his kingly power protected it. She stands impeached
for whoredom, corporal and spiritual (serving idols and serving them with the
very acts of lewdness), for witchcraft likewise, enchantments and divinations,
used in honour of her idols; and these multiplied, the whoredoms and the
witchcrafts many; for those that abandon themselves to wicked courses know not
where they will stop. One sin begets another. (2.) Upon that account he throws
him off from all pretensions to peace: "What peace can come to that house
in which there is so much wickedness unrepented of?" Note, The way of sin
can never be the way of peace, Isa. lvii. 21. What peace can sinners have with
God, what peace with their own consciences, what good, what comfort, can they
expect in life, in death, or after death, who go on still in their trespasses?
No peace so long as sin is persisted in; but, as soon as it is repented of and
forsaken, there is peace.
4. The execution was done immediately. When Joram heard of his mother's crimes
his heart failed him; he presently concluded the long-threatened day of
reckoning had now come, and cried out, "There is treachery, O Ahaziah!
Jehu is our enemy, and it is time for us to shift for our safety." Both
fled, and, (1.) Joram king of Israel was slain presently, v. 24. Jehu
dispatched him with his own hands. The bow was not drawn at a venture, as that
which sent the fatal arrow through the joints of his father's harness, but
Jehu directed the arrow between his shoulders as he fled (it was one of God's
arrows which he has ordained against the persecutor, Ps. vii. 13), and
it reached to his heart, so that he died upon the spot. He was now the top
branch of Ahab's house, and therefore was first cut off. He died a criminal,
under the sentence of the law, which Jehu, the executioner, pursues in the
disposal of the dead body. Naboth's vineyard was hard by, which put him in
mind of that circumstance of the doom Elijah passed upon Ahab, "I will
requite thee in this plat, said the Lord (v. 25, 26), for the
blood of Naboth himself, and for the blood of his sons," who
were either put to death with him as partners in his crime, or secretly
murdered afterwards, lest they should bring an appeal, or find some way to
avenge their father's death, or break their hearts for the loss of him, or
(his whole estate being confiscated, as well as his vineyard) lose their
livelihoods, which was in effect to lose their lives. For this the house of
Ahab must be reckoned with; and that very piece of ground which he, with so
much pride and pleasure, had made himself master of at the expense of the
guilt of innocent blood, now became the theatre on which his son's dead body
lay exposed a spectacle to the world. Thus the Lord is known by the
judgment which he executeth. Higgaion. Selah. (2.) Ahaziah king of Judah
was pursued, and slain in a little time, and not far off, v. 27, 28.
[1.] Though he was now in Joram's company, he would not have been slain but
that he was joined with the house of Ahab both in affinity and in iniquity. He
was one of them (so he had made himself by his sins) and therefore he must
fare as they fared. Jehu justly construed his commission as extending to them.
Yet, [2.] Perhaps he would not at this time have fallen with them if he had
not been found in company with them. It is a dangerous thing to associate with
evil-doers; we may be entangled both in guilt and misery by it.
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Joram
and Ahaziah Slain.
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B.
C. 884.
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30 And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel
heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked
out at a window. 31 And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had
Zimri peace, who slew his master? 32 And he lifted up his face to
the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to
him two or three eunuchs. 33 And he said, Throw her down.
So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the
wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. 34 And when
he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman,
and bury her: for she is a king's daughter. 35 And they
went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet,
and the palms of her hands. 36 Wherefore they came again,
and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD,
which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of
Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: 37 And the carcase of
Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel;
so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.
The greatest delinquent in the house of Ahab was Jezebel: it was she that
introduced Baal, slew the Lord's prophets, contrived the murder of Naboth,
stirred up her husband first, and then her sons, to do wickedly; a cursed
woman she is here called (v. 34), a curse to the country, and whom
all that wished well to their country had a curse for. Three reigns her reign
had lasted, but now, at length, her day had come to fall. We read of a false
prophetess in the church of Thyatira that is compared to Jezebel, and called
by her name (Rev. ii. 20), her wickedness the same, seducing God's servants to
idolatry, a long space given her to repent (v. 21) as to
Jezebel, and a fearful ruin brought upon her at last (v. 22, 23), as
here upon Jezebel. So that Jezebel's destruction may be looked upon as typical
of the destruction of idolaters and persecutors, especially that great whore,
that mother of harlots, that hath made herself drunk with the blood of
saints and the nations drunk with the wine of her fornications,
when God shall put it into the heart of the kings of the earth to hate her,
Rev. xvii. 5, 6, 16. Now here we have,
I. Jezebel daring the judgment. She heard that Jehu had slain her son, and
slain him for her whoredoms and witchcrafts, and thrown his dead body into the
portion of Naboth, according to the word of the Lord, and that he was now
coming to Jezreel, where she could not but expect herself to fall next a
sacrifice to his revenging sword. Now see how she meets her fate; she posted
herself in a window at the entering of the gate, to affront Jehu and set him
at defiance. 1. Instead of hiding herself, as one afraid of divine vengeance,
she exposed herself to it and scorned to flee, mocked at fear and was not
affrighted. See how a heart hardened against God will brave it out to the
last, run upon him, even upon his neck, Job xv. 26. But never did any
thus harden their hearts against him and prosper. 2. Instead of humbling
herself, and putting herself into close mourning for her son, she painted
her face, and tired her head, that she might appear like herself, that is
(as she thought), great and majestic, hoping thereby to daunt Jehu, to put him
out of countenance, and to stop his career. The Lord God called to baldness
and girding with sackcloth, but behold painting and dressing, walking
contrary to God, Isa. xxii. 12, 13. There is not a surer presage of ruin than
an unhumbled heart under humbling providences. Let painted faces look in
Jezebel's glass, and see how they like themselves. 3. Instead of trembling
before Jehu, the instrument of God's vengeance, she thought to make him
tremble with that threatening question, Had Zimri peace, who slew his
master? Observe, (1.) She took no notice of the hand of God gone out
against her family, but flew in the face of him that was only the sword in his
hand. We are very apt, when we are in trouble, to break out into a passion
against the instruments of our trouble, when we ought to be submissive to God
and angry at ourselves only. (2.) She pleased herself with the thought that
what Jehu was now doing would certainly end in his own ruin, and that he would
not have peace in it. He had cut her off from all pretensions to peace (v.
22), and now she thought to cut him off likewise. Note, It is no new thing for
those that are doing God's work to be looked upon as out of the way of peace.
Active reformers, faithful reprovers, are threatened with trouble; but let
them be in nothing terrified, Phil. i. 28. (3.) She quoted a precedent, to
deter him from the prosecution of this enterprise: "Had Zimri peace?
No, he had not; he came to the throne by blood and treachery, and within seven
days was constrained to burn the palace over his head and himself in it: and
canst thou expect to fare any better?" Had the case been parallel, it
would have been proper enough to give him this memorandum; for the judgments
of God upon those that have gone before us in any sinful way should be
warnings to us to take heed of treading in their steps. But the instance of
Zimri was misapplied to Jehu. Zimri had no warrant for what he did, but was
incited to it merely by his own ambition and cruelty; whereas Jehu was
anointed by one of the sons of the prophets, and did this by order from
heaven, which would bear him out. In comparing persons and things we must
carefully distinguish between the precious and the vile, and take heed lest
from the fate of sinful men we read the doom of useful men.
II. Jehu demanding aid against her. He looked up to the window, not daunted at
the menaces of her impudent but impotent rage, and cried, Who is on my
side? Who? v. 32. He was called out to do God's work, in reforming
the land and punishing those that had debauched it; and here he calls out for
assistance in the doing of it, looked as if there were any to help, any to
uphold, Isa. lxiii. 5. He lifts up a standard, and makes proclamation, as
Moses (Exod. xxxii. 26), Who is on the Lord's side? And the Psalmist
(Ps. xciv. 16), Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers? Note,
When reformation-work is set on foot, it is time to ask, "Who sides with
it?"
III. Her own attendants delivering her up to his just revenge. Two or three
chamberlains looked out to Jehu with such a countenance as encouraged him to
believe they were on his side, and to them he called not to seize or secure
her till further orders, but immediately to throw her down, which was one way
of stoning malefactors, casting them headlong from some steep place. Thus was
vengeance taken on her for the stoning of Naboth. They threw her down, v.
33. If God's command would justify Jehu, his command would justify them.
Perhaps they had a secret dislike of Jezebel's wickedness, and hated her,
though they served her; or, it may be, she was barbarous and injurious to
those about her, and they were pleased with this opportunity of being avenged
on her; or, observing Jehu's success, they hoped thus to ingratiate themselves
with him, and keep their places in his court. However it was, thus she was
most shamefully put to death, dashed against the wall and the pavement, and
then trodden on by the horses, which were all besmeared with her blood and
brains. See the end of pride and cruelty, and say, The Lord is righteous.
IV. The very dogs completing her shame and ruin, according to the prophecy.
When Jehu had taken some refreshment in the palace, he bethought himself of
showing so much respect to Jezebel's sex and quality as to bury her. As bad as
she was, she was a daughter, a king's daughter, a king's wife, a king's
mother: Go and bury her, v. 34. But, though he had forgotten
what the prophet said (v. 10, Dogs shall eat Jezebel), God had
not forgotten it. While he was eating and drinking, the dogs had devoured her
dead body, the dogs that went about the city (Ps. lix. 6) and fed upon
the carrion, so that there was nothing left but her bare skull (the painted
face gone) and her feet and hands. The hungry dogs had no respect to the
dignity of her extraction; a king's daughter was no more to them than a common
person. When we pamper our bodies, and use them deliciously, let us think how
vile they are, and that shortly they will be either a feast for worms under
ground or beasts above ground. When notice was brought of this to Jehu, he
remembered the threatening (1 Kings xxi. 23), The dogs shall eat Jezebel by
the wall of Jezreel. Nothing should remain of her but the monuments of her
infamy. She had been used to appear on public days in great state, and the cry
was, "This is Jezebel. What a majestic port and figure! How great she
looks!" But now it shall be said no more. We have often seen the wicked
buried (Eccl. viii. 10), yet sometimes, as here, they have no burial, Eccl.
vi. 3. Jezebel's name nowhere remained, but as stigmatized in sacred writ:
they could not so much as say, "This is Jezebel's dust, This is Jezebel's
grave," or "This is Jezebel's seed." Thus the name of the
wicked shall rot--rot above ground.
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