God DESIRES us to both ‘REMOVE EVIL’ and ‘BE GODLY’!
April 17 Bible
Reading: 2 Kings Chapters 10-12
God DESIRES us to both ‘REMOVE EVIL’ and ‘BE GODLY’!
Thus Jehu destroyed Baal from Israel.
However Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who
had made Israel sin, that is, from the golden calves that were at Bethel and
Dan. And the Lord said to Jehu, "Because you have done well in doing what
is right in My sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My
heart, your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth
generation." But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of
Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who
had made Israel sin. (2 Kings 10:28-31)
In 841 B.C.,
Jehu became king of Israel and he ruled for 28 years. He brought in some great reformations
that included the removal of Jezebel (9:30–37), killing the survivors of Ahab’s
family in both Israel and Judah (10:1–17), and eradicating Baal worship
formally (vv. 18–28). In many ways Jehu was one of the best kings of Israel as
he executed God’s judgment on the house of Ahab and purged the land of
Baal-worshipers. For these acts, God rewarded Jehu by allowing his dynasty to
continue for four generations through Jehoahaz, Joash, Jeroboam II, and
Zechariah.
Even though
Jehu destroyed Baal worship (vv. 18–28) on a political level, he continued the
state worship policies established by Jeroboam I that clearly showed his
disregard for true spiritual revival in Israel. He continued to promote the
worship of the golden calves set up at Bethel and Dan, which Jeroboam had
inaugurated. To abolish these places of worship established by Jeroboam would
have opened the door for the people of Israel to return to Jerusalem as their
religious center. This, in turn, could have led to a reunion of Israel with the
house of David, which Jehu did not want in order to maintain his authority and
control over Israel.
What we can see is that Jehu was not
fully devoted to God!
He removed evil from his kingdom, but did not become a godly example before
others. Therefore, he is justly condemned by the later prophet Hosea (Hosea
1:4) for having used the command of God to mask his own lust for power. He was
zealous but not devoted to Jehovah. Due to this, the nation of Israel did not become
righteous before God by just removing evil in the form of Baal worship as it
did not establish godliness by truly following God as well.
Today, let
us examine our hearts to see if we have not
only removed wrong habits, practices, addictions from our lives, but are also walking in the path of
righteousness by meditating, delighting in and living according to God’s Word!
