Tag Archives: 2 Kings 11

Jehu, No; We Need Jehoiada

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Jehu you may know, but who is Jehoiada? Okay, the title of this post started as Jehu, Wake Up Church.

Jehu was the chosen, anointed leader of the Northern Kingdom of Israel at the time of Elisha the Prophet. He destroyed the house of Ahab, killed Jezebel, ended Baal worship, and God honored him by fulfilling the promise of four generations of his family ruling over Israel. Much of this has been covered in

Jehu – The Start

2 Kings 9 11

Jehu and the Prophets

You will find Jehu’s story in 2 Kings 9 and 10 and his children in 13, 14, and 15. This man had it all, he did what he was given to do for the Lord. He ruled for twenty-eight years and could have made the list in Hebrews 11. He had prophets of God to help him, especially Elisha. With all of this going for him, he had a serious issue that he did not let go of. See 2 Kings 10:28, 29. He ended Baal worship, but could not let go of the golden calves in Bethel and Dan. The first King Jeroboam started this practice after he got a promise from God and had it fulfilled. See 1 Kings 12:25. I guess they had something in common, they were blessed by God but held on to the bull.  

Jehoiada’s story is mixed in with Joash king of Judah – 2 Kings 11 and 12, and in 2 Chronicles 22:10 through 24:27. Maybe I should say that King Joash (not the father of Gideon) had a story because of the Jehoiada the priest. Athaliah, who was not a loving nana, killed almost everyone in royal line of Solomon and took the throne. She missed Joash because of his aunt who stole him away and hid him in the Temple. Jehoiada was Joash’s uncle, by marriage, with this aunt, Jehosheba. (Okay, if you are into the Law governing priest, that marriage should not have happened, she was from Judah. But thank God it did happen.) No Joash means no Joseph who married Mary the mother of Jesus.

Jehoiada hid Joash, protected him, restored him to power, and helped him restore the Temple of God, and helped Joash as long as he lived. When Jehoiada died Joash forgot the Lord and met with a bad ending.

Church of Jesus, we need Jehoiada’s not Jehu’s or Joash’s. Jehoiada was faithful in his work for the Lord and served his community by doing what was right. Maybe a better title would have been: Two Kings and a Man of God.

Jehosheba – A Hero

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Jehosheba – A Hero

Jehosheba is definitely not a household name, which is a shame, and is only mentioned in one story of the Bible but her act of bravery is one of the greatest in the Bible. Her story is found in 2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 22: 10 -12. In the KJV two variations of her name are used but the meaning of her name is “Jehovah sworn.” I will apply that meaning to God’s love and promise to David to have one of his heirs on the throne of Israel.

Her story starts with Jehoshaphat’s fixation with the fallen Northern Kingdom of Israel (See – A Warning For Today). Jehoshaphat chose for his son and heir, Jehoram, a wife (Athaliah) from the family of Ahab king of Israel. She was probably the daughter of Jezebel, it is implied but not stated but it would add a deeper twist to the story. Jehoram followed after Israel’s sins and was killed by Jehu when he killed the family of Ahab (2 Kings 9). When this happened Athaliah started to kill off the royal family (her grandchildren) so she could be the ruler of Judah. Jehosheba bravely takes her youngest nephew, Joash, and hides him from her mother. She has already seen her uncles killed by her father so when her mother starts killing her nephews she intervenes. I have no doubt that Athaliah would have killed her own daughter and I am sure that Jehosheba knew that also. For six years Jehosheba and her husband Jehoiada, the priest, hides her nephew until he is seven. This really is a brave, defiant act of righteousness and allowed the promise of God to David to be fulfilled.

FYI: The “sheba” part of Jehosheba is connected with the number seven. “Jeho” is from Jehoshaphat's Timelinethe name of God Jehovah.