Heart Law
2 Kings 10:31
Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.
How big a surprise was this? For what qualities was Jehu chosen? One had to be his absolute ruthlessness. This verse comes after he has seen to the death of everyone in Ahab's family. That whole judgment is pretty interesting in itself.
God--El Elyon--made the decision that Ahab's genes would not be allowed to continue. His power assured that they did not. He got the right man for the job.
Jehu made another good move, as well, executing every prophet of Baal that he could corral inside their temple.
Thus the 'yet'. He turned bloody violence on the enemies of God, which won him four generations on the throne, but his heart wasn't so pure. This is the first time I recall seeing this idea, keeping the law with all the heart. In fact, I looked it up, and it's only found anything like this in Psalm 119.
Sins of Jeroboam? The golden calves. The pesky golden calves that originated with Aaron. They represented God, as if El Elyon was a prize specimen of livestock. So there was one law in particular he didn't keep in his heart, one of the big ten, the one about no graven images.
In those days (verse 32) the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel.
Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit.
How big a surprise was this? For what qualities was Jehu chosen? One had to be his absolute ruthlessness. This verse comes after he has seen to the death of everyone in Ahab's family. That whole judgment is pretty interesting in itself.
God--El Elyon--made the decision that Ahab's genes would not be allowed to continue. His power assured that they did not. He got the right man for the job.
Jehu made another good move, as well, executing every prophet of Baal that he could corral inside their temple.
Thus the 'yet'. He turned bloody violence on the enemies of God, which won him four generations on the throne, but his heart wasn't so pure. This is the first time I recall seeing this idea, keeping the law with all the heart. In fact, I looked it up, and it's only found anything like this in Psalm 119.
Sins of Jeroboam? The golden calves. The pesky golden calves that originated with Aaron. They represented God, as if El Elyon was a prize specimen of livestock. So there was one law in particular he didn't keep in his heart, one of the big ten, the one about no graven images.
In those days (verse 32) the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel.
posted by ruthees @ 1:40 PM
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