Elisha Anoints Jehu

Amen. If you've got your Bibles, 2 Kings chapter 9. We're almost done with our study of Elisha. Hard to believe that this miracle man is coming to an end. Next week he's going to die. Just let you know that. And we're going to talk about his death next week. And then after we talk about his death, we're going to talk about how he still does miracles from the grave when his bones are touched by a man who's dead and he's resurrected. It's an amazing story. And so that will conclude our study of Elisha.

After that time, we're going to do a Q and A. And so you are able to submit questions to us. So make sure that you write your questions down, put them on a, on the registration card inside the front pew, write them down. No name required. We want to be able to answer your questions. We've had several questions already, but whatever that burning question is about either Elisha or what we're doing in Hebrews on Sunday morning or any other theological question you have, any practical question you have, any marital question you have.

Now's the time to ask it. We will answer it for you so that you are well versed in terms of what the scripture says about the question you have to answer, have answered.

Okay. So we're going to finish Elisha in three weeks or two weeks from tonight. And then on May 17th will be the time of our Q and A. So that just gives you an update in terms of where we're going. And so we're in second Kings chapter nine.

Let me read to you the first 13 verses because that's our study for tonight. Second Kings chapter nine, verse number one.

Now Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, gird up your loins and take this flask of oil in your hand and go to Ramoth Gilead. When you arrive there, search out Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nemishi, and go in and bid him arise from among his brothers and bring him in an inner room. Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and say, thus says the Lord, I have anointed you king over Israel. Then open the door and flee and do not wait. So the young man, the servant of the prophet went to Ramoth Gilead.

When he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting. And he said, I have a word for you, O captain. And Jehu said, for which one of us? And he said, for you, O captain. He rose and went into the house. He poured the oil on his head and said to him, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. You shall strike the house of Ahab, your 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 every male person, both bond and free in Israel. I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, like the house of Bahasha, the son of Ahijah. The dog shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her. Then he opened the door and fled. Now Jehu came out to the servants of his master. And one said to him, is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you? He said to them, you know very well the man and his talk.

They said, it is a lie. Tell us now. And he said, thus and thus he said to me, thus says the Lord, I have anointed you king over Israel. Then they hurried and each man took his garment and placed it under him on the bare steps and blew the trumpet saying Jehu is king. This is the last episode in Elisha's life before he dies. And this is when he anoints Jehu king over Israel. And this was all prophesied under the ministry of Elijah, the prophet years ago. We talked to you about this last week. That in first Kings chapter 19 verses 15 to 17, it was prophesied to Elijah that he was to go and he was to find Elisha and anoint him his predecessor.

He also was to anoint Hazel king of Syria and to anoint Jehu king of Israel. But that was postponed because of Ahab's semblance and I do say semblance of repentance and we'll talk about that in a moment. But he first went and he did find Elisha.

He anointed Elisha and Elisha was the follower of Elijah. He was his servant and he became next in line and Elisha has been serving ever since. And so we told you last week that time has come for Elisha to pull the trigger on the judgment in Israel. And that's exactly what he did when he went to Syria, when he went to Damascus, the capital of Syria and anointed Hazel the king of Syria. And as Hazel would kill his predecessor, so too will Jehu kill his predecessor. And as you recall, back in first Kings chapter 19, these words were spoken to Elijah.

He said to him, go return and on your way in the wilderness of Damascus, when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazel king over Aram and Jehu the son of Nimishi, you shall anoint king over Israel and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Mahala, you shall anoint his prophet in your place. It shall come about the one who escapes the sword of Hazel, Jehu shall put to death. The one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death. That was a prophecy that God gave to Elijah. And there was a lot of time between the time that God gave that to Elijah, when he was on Mount Horeb to the time Elisha actually does do this, because Elijah dies and goes off the scene.

And Elisha now is the one who's going to fulfill the prophecy. The question comes, we know about Hazel and we know about what Elisha said last week to him about how he was going to slaughter the children of Israel and kill the women who were pregnant in Israel. And Elisha began to weep because he knew the terror that Hazel would inflict upon God's people Israel. But that was God's judgment upon his people. And God promised it would come. And then we know about Jehu because he anoints him this time and Jehu is a bloody king.

And by the way, Jehu will reign for 28 years, the longest of any northern king's reign. Jehu will reign for 28 years. And it was a blood bath under his leadership. But the question comes, how does Elisha wield the sword? It says if Hazel doesn't wield the sword and kill them, then Jehu does. If Jehu doesn't, Elisha does, but Elisha has no sword. So how is it Elisha is the one who wields the sword? Because the sword that Elisha wields is the sword of the Lord. It is the word of God. It's God's word that he uses.

And the word that Elisha gives is a sword that wields eternal damnation if they do not repent, which is really the worst of all swords because it's worse than just dying physically. It's dying spiritually. And Elisha was the prophet of God. He speaks the words of God. In the book of Hosea, God says, I have slain them by the words of my mouth.

And recall, as you recall, when Jesus returns in Revelation chapter 19 and you look at the parallel passages in the Old Testament, everybody dies because the Lord speaks the word.

That's it. He speaks the word and everybody dies instantly because of the power of the words of God. So Elisha is wielding a sword and the sword he wields are the words of God and the judgment that falls upon those who do not repent. And I always stand at awe at the patience of God and the mercy of God and the kindness and the love of God to prolong his punishment, to prolong his judgment upon his people Israel, having sent to them Elijah to warn them, having sent to them Elisha to warn them, having given the prophecy about the death of Ahab and his whole household.

And yet that is even prolonged because Ahab shows a semblance of repentance when Elijah tells him what God's going to do. And God says, I will let Ahab live and I will not bring this punishment upon Ahab until he dies and then his household will be wiped out.

God is gracious. God is so good because he takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He just doesn't. Isn't it interesting that we do? When a wicked man dies, what do we say? Well, he deserved that. I'm glad he's dead. But the Lord God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. You know, we should never pleasure in someone's death who does not know the Lord. As wicked as they are, as evil as they may be, we should never relish in their death because they've passed into a Christless eternity to burn in hell forever.

And that's horrific. And if Christ takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, neither should the children of Christ. So let me talk to you about the moment of this anointing and then the messenger who does the anointing and the message he gives while he anoints Jehu and then the manifestation of that anointing.

And then we'll conclude by looking at the meaning of this whole anointing for you and me today, because you're going to come and say, okay, I drove 45 minutes to church tonight. I came all the way from wherever I was to get here on time for church. What on earth does this anointing have to do with me? And we'll talk to you about that tonight as well, because part of the job of the pastor is to help you understand how practical the Word of God is in every scenario. Okay? So let's look at the moment, okay?

The moment in which all this takes place, because the moment is a providential moment. The moment had been postponed. It had been postponed because God had given the message to Elijah on Mount Horeb. But Elijah never anoints Haziel and never anoints Jehu because, because when God went to Ahab, or when Elijah, excuse me, went to Ahab and told him what was going to happen, it says in 1 Kings 21 and 27, when Ahab heard these words, that he tore his clothes, put sackcloth upon his flesh, and he fasted and lay in sackcloth and went away softly.

And the Lord said, see how Ahab humbleth himself before me? Because he humbles himself before me, I will bring the evil. I will not bring the evil in his days, but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house. So God postponed his punishment. God was giving Ahab the most wicked king in the northern kingdom a time to repent. He was giving his wife Jezebel time to repent. He was giving his household time to repent. You know, it's a good thing I'm not God, because I'd have just wiped him right out.

You're done. You don't repent. It's over. But God is gracious. He's long-suffering. And when he postponed it, and Ahab's repentance was not truly a biblical repentance. It was sorrow because he got caught in a sin. But God would even take that and allow him to live longer and allow his house to live, that somehow they would hear the message of Elijah or the message of Elisha, see the miracles of Elisha, and come to a place of repentance because he wants them to be without any excuse. Sure enough, God postpones the moment in which it happens.

But the moment was a providential moment. And this is so unique about how God works things out. Because if you read the narrative of 2 Kings 8, it tells us that Jehoram, the king of Israel, was wounded in battle. It tells us in verse number 29, so King Jehoram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Arameans, those in Syria, had inflicted on him at Ramah when he fought against Haziel, the king of Aram. Then Ahaziah, the son of Jehoram, king of Judah, went down to see Jehoram, the son of Ahab, in Jezreel because he was sick.

This is a providential moment. God is moving the king 50 miles away from where the battle is happening because he's been wounded in battle. He was wounded because God wouldn't move him. He wasn't wounded by accident. He was wounded by divine appointment to move him from the battleground back to his palace in Jezreel where Jezebel resides because that's where they need to be in order for the prophecy of 1 Kings 19 to take place, you see. Ahaziah, who is the nephew of Jehoram, happens to be there as well because he realizes that he's wounded and he wants to be there with the king of the northern part of Israel.

And so God is orchestrating the events. He's moving all the players around to put them in the right place so that they in turn would be slaughtered. At the same time, he's moving them out of the area where Jehu is so Jehu will be able to be anointed king of Israel without the hoopla and without the recognition of the king being there because everything has to be done very discreetly because Jehu is going to develop a coup that will overthrow the king of Israel because he now will be anointed the king of Israel.

He becomes the sword in the hand of the Lord to defeat the wicked king Jehoram. See how God moves people around? God's in charge. You know, you just never know the players in your life that God is moving in and out of your life, but God's doing that. God brings them in, God takes them out. God brings them into the church, God moves them out of the church. God is involved, and maybe you're one of those players that God's moving around to bring about the providential purposes in someone else's life and someone else's ministry, but to know that God is in absolute control of every event so that the king of Israel is wounded to get him out of there that he might go back to his palace in Jezreel because there's a prophecy that has to be fulfilled, and God makes sure it happens exactly as he said it would.

This is remarkable. So, the moment of the anointing is very providential. It's very unique to show you that God's in absolute control of every single aspect. There are no circumstances in your life that happen to you that are by accident. Every circumstance, every situation is a part of God's providence, the intricate working of the plan of God to bring about a specific purpose for you, for your family, for your church, for your ministry, for your workplace. God is at work, and we need to realize that.

We need to understand that. We need to grasp that. We need to get a hold of that fact so that when you go to work tomorrow, when you are able to go home tomorrow or tonight, you know that God is working out every intricate detail to bring about his greatest glory. The second thing I want you to see is the messenger.

So, why is God using a messenger? Why not Elisha? Because this is the last scenario surrounding Elisha, and so why isn't Elisha center stage? Why isn't he going to anoint Jehu, the next king of Israel? Well, remember last week when he went to Damascus, the capital city of Syria, and everybody knew that he was the man of God? Because Elisha was so popular. Elisha was the man in Israel, and so for Elisha to move from where he was to go to Ramoth Gilead would be newsworthy, would be noteworthy, and everybody would know Elisha is on the move.

Where is Elisha going? What is Elisha doing? And if there was a Twitter in those days, everybody would be tweeting out, hey, there goes Elisha, and taking a picture of Elisha and putting it on Instagram so everybody knew Elisha was on the move. See? So, Elisha had to be very discreet as well. So, what he would do is take one of his students because Elisha is going to go off the scene. When we get to him next week, it's going to be about 50 years down the road from this scene. A lot of years will have passed by the time we get to the next episode in Elisha's life where he dies, and it doesn't mean that Elisha didn't do anything.

He did. We just don't know what it is he did because the Bible didn't record it. We don't know. But he knows that one day he's going to go off the scene, and there's going to be others who will take his place, others who will be ministers of the Word. So, he takes this messenger, and he gives him the message, and he sends this guy because he will go unnoticed. He will go very discreetly, and no one will even pay him a moment's attention because, for all practical purposes, he's a nobody. Elisha was the biggest somebody around, but this messenger, we don't know his name.

It's irrelevant. He is going to deliver the message. So, Elisha tells him. He says he called one of the sons of the prophets. He called him to himself. This will now be a divine call for this young man because Elisha is a spokesperson for God. He's the prophet of God. It wasn't that Elisha just chose anybody. I'm sure Elisha chose the person that God wanted him to choose, and he calls him to himself because this would be a divine call. This guy wasn't like a deatrophys of 3 John, always seeking the preeminence, wanting to be in the limelight, wanting some kind of recognition, wanting to be in the forefront, wanting to be Elisha's next man in line.

No, he was called by Elisha. So, he comes because a servant is going to have to learn how to follow orders. He's going to learn how to listen to what is said and then to be able to reiterate explicitly back exactly what he's been told. He has to be precise. He has to listen very carefully. He has to be able to go to Jehu and say exactly what needs to be said, and he can't mess it up on the way there, and he can't forget it once he gets there. Very important. You ever tell your kids to go do something, and on the way, they forget what you said, and then you wonder, how could you forget?

I just told you. You know, there was a day when we used to pin a note on our kids' shirt when they went to school, so the teacher would know exactly what was to happen with your child that day. If he was to be let out early, there was a note pinned to his shirt, so your teacher would know exactly when he would be let out because you couldn't trust him to say the right time because he might forget. Today, we don't do that because of modern technology, but that's the way it was when I was growing up.

We had to write everything down, and we didn't even have sticky tabs back in those days. We had to use stick pins to make sure that the paper stuck to whatever it is it was supposed to stick to, and so this man had to remember everything, and so Elisha calls him to himself and says, gird up your loins. Take your garments and wrap them around you. You've got to go fast. You've got work to do, and take the flask of oil in your hand. Why? Because when you get there, there might not be a flask of oil, so make sure you're prepared once you arrive.

He says, go to Ramoth Gilead. This message for you is that you go to a particular place because there's a particular person there that you need to address. When you arrive there, search out Jehu, the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nemishi. Go look for him. Be persistent. Find this man, and go in and bid him arise from among his brothers and bring him into an inner room, so what you're going to do is not for public consumption. This is something you're to do in the privacy of the room where you locate him.

Take him into another room. Don't seek to make a show of what it is you're going to do. This has to be a very private anointing. He says, then take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, thus says the Lord, I have anointed you king over Israel. This is the message you must give to the king, and give it exactly as you've been told, and then open the door and flee. Do not wait. Why? Why? Because Jehu's going to wield the sword. Don't go out and hobnob with all the other generals. Don't go out and get their autographs.

Don't go out and seek the preeminence. Just when you're done, leave, and leave quickly. Why? Because you are a messenger delivering a message, and that's all you are. None of this really pertains to you. It's not about you. You're a messenger. That's all you are. So don't go and look for anything else. Don't look for any accolades, any applause. Don't get off kilter. Just do what you're supposed to do. Get in, get out, leave, and do it quickly, because this has nothing to do with you, but everything concerning the future of Israel.

Very important. So that's what he does. He does follow the orders. He does it precisely as he was told to do, which would tell you that he was a great messenger, because he would follow orders given to him by Elisha, his master. So you move from the moment to the messenger to the message itself, to the message itself. And so when you read the text, it says this. The young man, the servant of the prophet, went to Ramal Gilead. And when he came, behold, the captains of the army were sitting, and he said, I have a word for you, O captain.

And Jehu said, For which one of us? And he said, For you, O captain. Now Jehu knows nothing of what's going to happen. No idea. He arose, went to the house, he poured the oil on his head, and said to him, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I have anointed you king over the people of the Lord, even over Israel. You shall strike the house of Ahab, your 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 every male person, both bond and free in Israel.

And I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah. The dog shall eat Jezebel in the territory of Jezreel, and none shall bury her. Then he opened the door and he fled." He quoted exactly the prophecy in 1 Kings chapter 19, because that's exactly the marching orders for Jehu. Three things I want you to see about the message. First of all, it was a message that exalted the Lord God of Israel, because every message we give is about exalting God above all else.

If the message that we give exalts anything else other than God, it's the wrong message. It's the wrong message. He came, he said, thus says the Lord God of Israel. It speaks of the sovereignty of the Lord God of Israel. It speaks of the supremacy of the Lord God of Israel. It speaks of the power of the Lord God of Israel. It speaks of the authority of the Lord God of Israel. This is what you are to do. And it tells Jehu that he's in submission to a higher authority. Very important. Why? Because every one of us is in submission to the Lord God of Israel.

And the message has to deal with the fact that God is master, that God is Lord, that God is the supreme authority over every man. And Jehu, the king of Israel, would recognize that the Lord God of Israel is his king and his authority. I tell you that because every message we give is to exalt Christ as Lord and master, that we are subject to him as king. Folks, most churches in America don't exalt God as Savior and Lord. They exalt him as Savior, but not as Lord. That's because they don't want to submit to him as the Lord of their lives.

They don't want to follow in submission to him. That's why this church began 23 years ago, because the previous church I was at did not believe in submitting to Christ as Lord, just submitting to him as Savior. That's it. That if you want to submit to him as Lord, you can. It's an optional choice for you down the road. But listen, if he's the king of the universe, it's not an option. It's essential to the saving work of God in your life. Amen. It is the message that we give. It's the message that the messenger was told to give to Jehu.

So the message centered around the exaltation of God. In our churches across the country, it's unfortunate that we tend to exalt other things. I was sharing with some people the other day that there was a church in our area that had signs up for Resurrection Sunday. We call it Resurrection Sunday. Most churches don't. They just call it Easter Sunday. That's just such a pagan term. I don't know why they do that, but that's what they do. And this church had a sign, and the sign was, rise and shine.

Okay. Rise and shine. Because on Resurrection Sunday, there would be a bounce house. There would be games. There would be food for children. They missed the boat. They're trying to draw people in to their church, trying to get them there to play games and to have fun in the kid zone and to be able to experience the Easter egg hunts. And what have we done in the church of Jesus Christ today? That is just so blasphemous, such a sham. Why can't we say, come worship with us the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, as we spend time examining the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord of all?

We don't say that because nobody's going to come. Who wants to hear that except the people that are already in your church, right? And yet the message has to exalt the King. So there was an exaltation in the message given to Jehu. There also was an explanation in the message, because every message that's given about the Lord God of the universe has to have an explanation as to what God wants us to do. So thus says the Lord God of Israel, I have anointed the King over the people of the Lord, even over Israel.

Wow, that's just so beautiful. It tells Jehu that Israel is not his people, but God's people. That's just such a great thing. There are times that I look at you as my people, but that's just not true.

You're not my people. You're God's people. I'm an under shepherd to the chief shepherd, and the chief shepherd has the flock. I'm just an under shepherd to be a steward of the people, his people, that he's entrusted to me. Jehu needed to understand that the people he was going to rule over were God's people, even Israel. Israel is God's people. And so Jehu needed to grasp that. It will be an unfortunate thing for Jehu that he doesn't. We'll talk about that more in a moment. But the message had an explanation.

The Lord God of Israel, which exalts him as king, has a message for you, and that is you will be king over his people, Israel. You will be his ruler over his people. And then he says, as he gives the exhortation, because every great message has an exaltation because it exalts God, has an explanation as to what God requires, and then an exhortation that calls every one of us to action, right? Whenever you hear a message about the Lord God of Israel, there's an exhortation behind it because it moves you to action.

And the action for Jehu specifically centered around the destruction of Ahab, the king of Israel, the wicked king of Israel, and all of his descendants, all of them, wiped them out, even Jezebel, his wicked wife. Wow. It deals with the judgment behind the message, which, by the way, is lacking in a lot of modern evangelical churches. I know that on Resurrection Sunday, we talked about the fact that, about the second resurrection, because it was the second resurrection that would cause people to be damned for all eternity.

And while most people come on Resurrection Sunday to hear about Jesus and his resurrection, we turn the tables on them to help them understand the judgment that would happen to those who did not believe, because, you see, so many times we leave that part out of the message. But the judgment of God, the wrath of God is such a clear picture presented in Scripture that we need to be able to explain it to people clearly so they know. They know. Wouldn't it be terrible? Wouldn't it be terrible if a family member of yours died and went to hell and Christ said, I'm sorry, I never knew you, and they would turn to you and say, how come you never told me about the judgment seat of Christ?

Wouldn't that be just a horrible thing? Then that's not going to happen because you're not going to be there. Okay? But wouldn't that be horrific if they looked and said, wait, wait, how come you didn't tell me that there was a judgment that was going to come where all the books would be open and all my deeds, all my words, all my attitudes would be exposed, and I would fall short of the glory of God. Why didn't you, who say, you love me, love me enough to tell me of the impending judgment that was coming my way?

That's convicting, isn't it? That's why we preach the whole counsel of God, not the partial counsel of God, but the whole counsel of God, because we want people to know and understand the truth about who God is. Sure enough, the exhortation came, you shall smite the house of Ahab. These were the marching orders for, for Jehu, fulfilled as it was outlined in 1 Kings 21, 21 to 23, the prophecy given so that God's word would be fulfilled. Remember what it says, 1 Kings 21, God said to Elijah, behold, I will bring evil upon you and will utterly sweep you away and will cut off from Ahab every male, both bond and free in Israel.

And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha, the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked me to anger, because you have made Israel sin. Of Jezebel also has the Lord spoken, saying the dogs will eat Jezebel in the district of Jezreel. The one belonging to Ahab who dies in the city, the dogs will eat. The one who dies in the field, the birds of the heaven will eat. Surely there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel, his wife incited him.

He acted very abominably in following the idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord cast out before the sons of Israel. Wow. Ahab, as you recall, the son of Elijah, was a weak man, a weak man. Jezebel was a wicked woman, and that is a lethal combination. A weak man and a wicked woman is the most lethal combination in the history of the world, because he, as king, lived at the whims of his wicked wife. When he came home, because he offered Naboth some of his gardens, some of his fields, and Naboth said, no, I like my vineyard.

I don't want your vineyard, O king. My vineyard has been passed down to me, and I'm going to pass it down to my sons, because this is what the Lord God of Israel wants for me. And Ahab went back to the palace and was sulking and weeping, and as a weak man, his wicked wife came to him and said, what's wrong, honey? He said, I want Naboth's vineyard, and I can't have it. Don't worry, honey. I'll take care of it for you. And she set in motion the evil that would slaughter Naboth and his family so that her husband would have one more toy to play with in the palace.

She was a wicked woman. She was a domineering woman. She was a controlling woman. She was a woman that would kill the prophets of Israel, because she would set up her prophets. And so therefore, God said, she's got to go. Jehu, he would be the king to slaughter her. Sure enough, she died just like God said. She was thrown down from a palace. She died. Her blood splattered all over the ground. The dogs came and ate all of her flesh except for the palms of her hands and her head, and there she would lie in the streets, just like the prophecy said.

And yet, God gave her time after time after time after time to repent, and she never did. So the message came by the messenger at the precise moment where Jehu could be anointed king over Israel. And the manifestation of that kingship is seen when he comes out. He says to the men, they ask him, what did this mad fellow want? Who was this guy? And Jehu says, you know what he wanted. He said, no, we don't. He had no idea. He was testing his men to see if they were behind this, to see if they knew what was going on, and they did not.

And they were his trusted soldiers, so he believed them. So he told them exactly what took place. And they were elated, because God had revealed to them that yes, Jehu now is king over Israel. And they would take their garments down, and they would put them on the ground, and they would submit to him as their king, and they would be devoted to him, because they did not like Jehoram, because under Jehoram's leadership, there were more attacks from Syria than any other king in Israel's history. He just had no way of defeating the enemy.

He just was a weak king. He almost got them slaughtered in the desert, down in Edom, because he had no plan once they led them down there. And if it wasn't for Elisha, they would have died. We talked about that earlier in time. And so Jehu would come out, and he would be king over Israel, and he would set in motion, he would be the final trigger that would set in motion God's judgment upon Ahab's family, upon Jezebel and others, because he would wield the bloody sword. So what does all this have to do with you and me?

Why are you here? Why are you sitting here taking notes, thinking, okay, you know what? I'm married, got three kids, and Jehu's anointing really is irrelevant to me today. He's king over Israel. What's the big deal about that? Elisha wasn't even there. He didn't even go. And this is a series about Elisha. And there's no miracle in this story. How come the man of miracles doesn't do a miracle? Let me give you four principles that you can take home with you tonight that will say, oh, yeah, I sure am glad I came tonight, even if I had to drive two hours to get here in traffic.

I'm glad that I came. The first thing I want you to see is this. The immutability of God's providence. The immutability of God's providence. The providence of God is unchangeable. Nothing can thwart the way God does what he does. God is in complete control. Ephesians 1, 11 tells us that the counsel of the Lord will stand forever. Amen. Nothing will change. And that's why when Paul says in Romans 11, 35, that all things are from him. All things are through him. All things go back to him again. To him be the glory forever and ever.

Paul says everything is about God and his glory. Nothing happens without going through him and to him because he's in complete control. So you can say, I know, I don't think, I know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who called according to his purpose. I know that. Because the intricate workings of God, which define the providence of God within the plan of God and the sovereignty of God are unchangeable. And while God might postpone a few things, really they were postponed in his providence anyway, because he was demonstrating once again his grace and mercy in Israel.

God wants Israel to repent. God doesn't want to send them off into captivity. He eventually is going to do that, but he wants them to repent. He wants them to follow him. But don't think for one moment that God is not orchestrating all the events in the lives of your children, all the events that are taking place at work with the hiring and the firing of all involved. Don't think that God is not orchestrating the events of all things in your life when it comes to your health, to your wealth. God is.

Because the providence of God is absolutely unchangeable. Nothing can thwart the hand of God. We rest in his providence. We rest in a sovereign control. We rest in the fact that we know that God is at work. And while we might not be able to trace his hand, we trust his heart because he is in absolute control of everything. We learn from this story how God moves Jehoram, Ahaziah, to Jezreel so that the destruction of Ahab's family can take place as exactly as it was prophesied. And that they will not be in the northern or in the part where Ramoth Gilead is so that Jehu can be anointed and be king of Israel and begin to rally the troops to do what God had called him to do, the immutability of God's providence.

The second thing I want you to see is the infallibility of God's prophecy. The infallibility of God's prophecy. It is clear. It is concise. It is complete. It is captivating. It is convicting. It is absolutely without error in any form whatsoever. The infallibility of God's prophecy. It happened to Jezebel exactly as he said. It happened to Ahab's family exactly as he said because when God says he's going to do something, he's going to do it.

So we can trust him. We can believe in him. We can believe in him when he says that one day the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and the dead in Christ will rise first and we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together in the air with him and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

And you can comfort one another with these words because of the infallibility of God's prophecy. There are no errors in what God said. There are no mistakes in what God says.

It is a perfect prophecy in every instance. When Jesus says, behold, I am coming quickly, he will. When he says the son of man will come in the clouds with great glory, he will because that's exactly what he said he was going to do. And from this story, I learned about the immutability of God's providence, the infallibility of God's prophecy. I also learned about the inevitability of God's punishment, the inevitability of God's punishment. If God says, if you don't repent, you will likewise perish.

He means it. He means it. The inevitability of God's punishment. I don't know if you know this or not, but today is a special day in the land of Israel. In the land of Israel, this is the day once a year where they celebrate. Not celebrate. Wrong, wrong, wrong phraseology. They reflect and remember the six million Jews that were killed during the Holocaust. This is Holocaust Day in Israel. Where they reflect back and remember about the slaughter of all those Jewish people. But I got news for you.

There is going to be a greater slaughter than that upon the Jewish nation. Because we know that the tribulation is called the time of Jacob's trouble, right? The tribulation is designed for Israel. There's going to be a rapture of the church and the church is going to be gone. The tribulation is not designed for us. It's not the time of the church's trouble. It's the time of Jacob's trouble. And the Bible tells us in the book of Zechariah, 13th chapter, the 8th verse, that two-thirds of the Jewish nation will perish.

And one-third will go into the kingdom of God. Two-thirds. The inevitability of God's punishment, it is prophesied in the book of Zechariah. It will happen precisely as God said because of the infallibility of God's prophecy. And it will happen on the timetable of God's working because of the immutability of God's providence. But it will happen. And we need to warn them of the impending judgment upon their nation. Because they will be deluded. And for those of us who are here today and might not know the Lord and say, well, you guys believe in the translation of the church and the glory before the rapture.

And you know what I'll do is I'll get saved if that happens. If I come to church on Sunday and everybody's gone, then I know the rapture took place, then I'll give my life to Jesus. No, you won't. Guarantee you won't. How do I know that? Because the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2 that God will send to you a strong delusion and you will believe the lie of the Antichrist.

That's how I know. You will not believe. Simple as that. The inevitability of God's punishment. When God says He's going to do something, He does it.

So, you look at this story about the anointed Jehu, and you begin to understand as simply as we put it, the immutability of God's providence, the infallibility of God's prophecy, the inevitability of God's punishment.

In the last one, you begin, the incomprehensibility of God's people. The incomprehensibility, and yes, that is a word, of God's people. You know, we are an incomprehensible bunch of people, but we learn from the story of the anointed Jehu that Jehu was anointed King of Israel. He had a specific agenda before him, and remember, he'll rule for 28 years, the longest of any northern king. He's been handed by the grace of God the opportunity to rule God's people. He devotes his sword to the Lord, but not his soul to the Lord.

The incomprehensibility of God's people is mind-blowing. Being handed the opportunity, the reigns to rule in the nation of Israel, to lead a nation back to God, yes, would he eradicate Baal worship from Israel? Yes, he does. In fact, it tells us in 2 Kings chapter 10, verse 28, thus Jehu eradicated Baal out of Israel. Wow, isn't that great? Yes, however, however, verse 29, as for the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, which he made Israel sin, from these Jehu did not depart. Even the golden calves that were at Bethel and that were at Dan.

Oh, by the way, if you go to Israel with me, I will take you to that exact altar in Dan. I will show you that exact altar, its location, and the remnants that still remain. But Jehu did not do that. The Lord said to Jehu, because you have done well in executing 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. But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart.

He did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel sin. Wow, the incomprehensibility of God's people is overwhelming. How is it someone who has been offered and given the blessings that Jehu was, the specific orders to fulfill, and then the opportunity to rule God's people, continue to lead Israel into the sins of Jeroboam? Wow, how does that happen? Why does that happen? Why couldn't he just give his soul to the Lord? He would slaughter 42 of Ahaziah's family, and God never said to do that.

But he did it anyway because he was a bloody king. He wanted a rule of power and authority. And he thought he had the right to execute judgment whenever he wanted to execute it. The Bible says in the book of Hosea, these words, Hosea pronounced the divine condemnation on Jehu's utter lack of mercy in his bloody work in Hosea 1 verse number 4, I will avenge the blood of Jezreel on the house of Jehu.

In cleaving to Jeroboam's sin by serving his own astute political agenda, by being disobedient to the commands of God, Jehu brought upon himself the judgment of God. It is a terrible thing to be the instrument of God in punishing and reproving others and yet one's own heart has not been reproved and refined by God himself. That was Jehu. How many blessings has God given to you? What things has God done in your life that have granted you many wonderful, beautiful opportunities? And you're willing to give your hand to the Lord, but not your heart.

Not willing to follow the Lord with all your heart. Instead, kind of go off and do your own thing. Is that not just incomprehensible once you begin to understand the mercy and grace of God to make you a part of his kingdom, to be used by him for his glory? That's what God wants us to learn from the anointing of Jehu, king of Israel. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for today, a chance to be in your word. We thank you Lord for the things you've taught us. Please go before us. We pray in Jesus name.

Amen.