Why did God appoint Jehu as the one who would kill Jezebel and destroy the Baal worshipers knowing fully well that Jehu has no intention of following his law in 2 Kings 10:31?
Let’s begin by reading of Elisha’s involvement in appointing Jehu to be the king of Israel in 2 Kings 9:1-3, “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.”
We then read in verses 6-8, “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. 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. 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.” Immediately after being anointed, Jehu was given the commission to destroy the house of Ahab. The Lord chose Jehu to avenge the blood of His people.
Jehu lost no time in carrying out the instructions of the Lord. I encourage you to read the rest of this chapter to see how Jehu acted in swift and ferocious obedience to the word of the Lord, which resulted in great success. Although the Lord commended Jehu for his obedient actions and promised that the throne would remain in his family for four generations, we find that Jehu did not continue in the ways of the Lord. We read in 2 Kings 10:29-31, “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. 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. 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.” Jehu did not get rid of the golden idols. He did not listen to the law of the Lord. Because of this, the Lord punished His people as we read in verse 32, “In those days the LORD began to cut Israel short: and Hazael smote them in all the coasts of Israel.”
Jehu typifies many followers of the Lord. He exhibited a zeal to outwardly serve the Lord, but his heart was not totally for the Lord. Certainly, the Lord knew that Jehu would later act in disobedience, yet He used him to carry out his purposes. Are we not often guilty of the same thing? We desire to serve the Lord, yet we also want the things that bring us pleasure. We are not fully finding our pleasure in our Lord. Our desire should be to please Him. He even equips us to please Him. Philippians 2:13 says, “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” He gives us the will and the ability to please Him.
How blessed we are that, even though the Lord knows we may fail Him in the future, He still uses us today. We can think of many who were used of the Lord, yet still failed Him at times. Abraham, Moses, David, etc. all failed the Lord at one time or another. Our precious Lord causes repentance in our hearts, He forgives, He restores, and He continues to use us according to His perfect will. However, with that said, the Lord can also remove blessings from those who ‘take no heed to walk in the law of the LORD.’ (344.2)