Readings:
2 Kings 9-10
Wisdom 7
John 4:43-54

2 Kings 9-10

Elisha sends his servant to anoint Jehu as king of Israel as God instructed Elijah back when he journeyed to Sinai. Jehu is alternately called “son of Jehoshaphat” and “son of nimshi” with the most likely explanation being Jehoshaphat was his father and nimshi was his grandfather. This Jehoshaphat is not the same as the king of Judah, just wanted to point that out.

He immediately sets out and confronts Joram and the king of Judah who happened to be visiting him at the time. He kills both of them and has the body of Joram laid on the vineyard of the man his father had killed. Then he went to where the kings mother, Jezebel was living, and he had here thrown from the tower and the dogs ate her. Both of these death fulfilled the prophecy told to Ahab in 1 Kings.

Jehu went throughout Israel and killed everyone of the house of Ahab and completely destroyed his lineage as God had foretold because of the evil of Ahab. He also called a great festival for Baal and had all the worshippers of Baal, all his priests, and all the attendants of Baal’s temple come together to offer sacrifices. Once they were all in one place he sent his men in and killed them all, then they destroyed the idol from inside the temple and then destroyed the temple and turned it into a public toilet.

It sounds like Jehu is off to a good start, but his story finishes on a different note. It says he continues to worship the golden calves that Jeroboam set up, even though he was zealous for God. This makes me think that perhaps the people in the north, now almost 100 years after the separation from Judah, didn’t really grasp the gravity of this sin and how God wasn’t to be worshiped with idols.

After Jehu died his kingdom begins to be slowly gobbled up by the neighboring kingdoms. But God didn’t start this until after Jehu died because he was the only king of Israel that even attempted to please and worship God.

John 4:43-54

Jesus stays with the Samaritans for several days, even more taboo breaking. And then he returns to Galilee where some of the people that seen his deeds in Jerusalem greet him. When he gets to Capernaum he’s greeted by a centurion who’s son is ill. This may be the same centurion mentioned in Matthew’s gospel and Luke, but in those gospels it’s said his servant is sick, while John is saying it’s his son. So it could be a different man, or maybe John is saying this servant is like a son, because even Mathew says a servant that “is dear to him” when describing who’s sick. Either way, Jesus doesn’t go to the home in any of the three gospels that mention this story. In todays gospel from John, Jesus tells the man his son will live, and when journeying home he receives word that his son got better at exactly the time Jesus assured him that he would.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
2 Kings11-12
Wisdom 8