Context No. 3179 of 4322 · 2 Kings

2 Kings 9:11-17: in context

11When Jehu came out to the servants of his lord and one said to him, “Is all well? Why did this madman come to you?” He said to them, “You know the man and how he talks.” 12They said, “That is a lie. Tell us now.” He said, “He said to me, ‘The LORD says, I have anointed you king over Israel.’” 13Then they hurried, and each man took his cloak, and put it under him on the top of the stairs, and blew the trumpet, saying, “Jehu is king.” 14So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was defending Ramoth Gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria; 15but King Joram had returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him when he fought with Hazael king of Syria.) Jehu said, “If this is your thinking, then let no one escape and go out of the city to go to tell it in Jezreel.” 16So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there. Ahaziah king of Judah had come down to see Joram. 17Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he spied the company of Jehu as he came, and said, “I see a company.” Joram said, “Take a horseman, and send to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’”

Jehu comes out from the prophet who has just anointed him, and his fellow officers ask why the madman came. When he tells them, the LORD has anointed me king over Israel, they act at once: each spreads his cloak under him on the steps, they blow the trumpet, and proclaim, Jehu is king. And Jehu rides for Jezreel, where the wounded King Joram lies, to bring down the house of Ahab.

Notice how quickly things move once God's word is spoken. The prophet anoints Jehu in secret, and within moments the officers acclaim him king and the revolution is underway. What God had determined, the fall of Ahab's house, is set decisively in motion. And Jehu is a mixed figure: God's chosen instrument of judgment on a wicked dynasty, yet, as later Scripture shows, a man whose own heart is not fully right. God can use even a flawed, zealous man to accomplish his declared purpose, without endorsing all that the man is. His word, once spoken, moves toward its fulfillment through the instruments he chooses.

Do I trust that God's declared purposes move toward fulfillment, even through flawed instruments, on his timing rather than mine?

Sources

2 Kings 9:12: "He said to me, The LORD says, I have anointed you king over Israel."
2 Kings 9:6: "I have anointed you king over the people of the LORD, even over Israel."
Proverbs 19:21: "There are many plans in a man's heart, but the LORD's counsel will prevail."