Death of Idolatry

Tonight we are going to talk about idolatry. We will be in 2 Kings 9-10. Here, we are going to see the prophecy of God fulfilled through Jehu. We are going to see the death of Ahab’s house. Who all is part of Ahab’s house.

Death of Ahab’s house

King Joram

King Ahaziah

Jezebel

70 sons of Ahab

Why the whole house of Ahab?

The sins of the parents effect the generations that follow.

The kings meet Jehu in the land where everything started the vineyard of Naboth. Ahab wanted it and Jezebel killed for it and God had Joram killed and his body thrown in Naboth’s vineyard as a symbol of Ahab’s family greed.

Jehu had all of the 70 sons of Ahab killed by their own servants. Then he went on to kill all of the prophets and servants of Baal. He turns their temple into an outhouse. This was confirmed by an archaeological dig that took place a few years ago.

1. Like Jehu, we are called to confront compromise.

2 Kings 9:16–29 ESV

16 Then Jehu mounted his chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. And Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to visit Joram. 17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw 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 a man on horseback went to meet him and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’ ” And Jehu said, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.” And the watchman reported, saying, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.” 19 Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them and said, “Thus the king has said, ‘Is it peace?’ ” And Jehu answered, “What do you have to do with peace? Turn around and ride behind me.” 20 Again the watchman reported, “He reached them, but he is not coming back. And the driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.” 21 Joram said, “Make ready.” And they made ready his chariot. Then Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah set out, each in his chariot, and went to meet Jehu, and met him at the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” He answered, “What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?” 23 Then Joram reined about and fled, saying to Ahaziah, “Treachery, O Ahaziah!” 24 And Jehu drew his bow with his full strength, and shot Joram between the shoulders, so that the arrow pierced his heart, and he sank in his chariot. 25 Jehu said to Bidkar his aide, “Take him up and throw him on the plot of ground belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. For remember, when you and I rode side by side behind Ahab his father, how the Lord made this pronouncement against him: 26 ‘As surely as I saw yesterday the blood of Naboth and the blood of his sons—declares the Lord—I will repay you on this plot of ground.’ Now therefore take him up and throw him on the plot of ground, in accordance with the word of the Lord.” 27 When Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled in the direction of Beth-haggan. And Jehu pursued him and said, “Shoot him also.” And they shot him in the chariot at the ascent of Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there. 28 His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem, and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the city of David. 29 In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah began to reign over Judah.

Jehu wiping out the idolatry in Israel is representative of Christ’s ultimate mission to purify His church. We are not to give room to any disobedience or idolatry in our own lives.

When God truly becomes your Lord you despise the things you once thought brought you pleasure and satisfaction. You now see they only brought you misery and pain.

2. Like Jehu, we must have courage to stop corruption.

2 Kings 10:18–27 ESV

18 Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests. Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal. 20 And Jehu ordered, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they proclaimed it. 21 And Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they entered the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. 22 He said to him who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out the vestments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out the vestments for them. 23 Then Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab, and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search, and see that there is no servant of the Lord here among you, but only the worshipers of Baal.” 24 Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings. Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and said, “The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life.” 25 So as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers, “Go in and strike them down; let not a man escape.” So when they put them to the sword, the guard and the officers cast them out and went into the inner room of the house of Baal, 26 and they brought out the pillar that was in the house of Baal and burned it. 27 And they demolished the pillar of Baal, and demolished the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day.

He did whatever it took to wipe out the corrupt prophets of Baal. So much so that he played a trick on them to get them to a place where he could wipe them out. He was willing to do whatever it took to accomplish his mission.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes for God to accomplish His mission in you?

Jehu doesn’t get it all right however,

3. Unlike Jehu, we must commit to complete cleansing.

2 Kings 10:28–36 ESV

28 Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. 29 But Jehu did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin—that is, the golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan. 30 And the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” 31 But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin. 32 In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel. Hazael defeated them throughout the territory of Israel: 33 from the Jordan eastward, all the land of Gilead, the Gadites, and the Reubenites, and the Manassites, from Aroer, which is by the Valley of the Arnon, that is, Gilead and Bashan. 34 Now the rest of the acts of Jehu and all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 35 So Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. And Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place. 36 The time that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.

Jehu did not keep the Lord’s commands.

We see Jehu still didn’t get rid of all of the idols in Bethel and Dan, even though he completely wiped out the prophets and temple of Baal.

Just because you are doing God’s will doesn’t mean you are living with pure intent.

God wants all of us, He desires our ENTIRE hearts.

God’s peace is never found in human pleasure.

It’s always found in freedom from sin. There must be an urgency to destroy sin at every turn and to never give it even a small foothold or it will blind and corrupt entirely. It will pervert our intent and cause us to look like we are walking with God all the while we are living with an impure heart.

The hardest enemies to defeat are the idols in our own hearts. - Tara-Leigh Cobble

Be careful that you don’t use your freedom from one idol to excuse your bondage to another.

There’s a story about a man who thought he had a perfect plan for a surprise party. In his excitement, he begins planning and thinking through every part of the event. Who all is going to be there, what kind of cake will we get, where will we put the presents, what will we eat, etc. He gets so wrapped up in the details that he forgets to invite the guest of honor! Just like that man, we can become so wrapped up in our own plans and desires that we forget to invite God into our lives. Idolatry often starts with self-focus, but true fulfillment comes when God is the center of our celebrations and decisions.

God blessed Jehu as he did what was right in his sight, but later on he trailed off gave into idol worship. Let us not leave room for our sin to the point that we can start out strong and then sink back into the mire of our sin later on when the enemy comes knocking, seeking to destroy us.