Jezebel, her family and supporters were finally killed by the usurper Jehu.
After the dramatic events on Mount Carmel, Jehu (one of Ahab’s generals) was anointed king of the Northern Kingdom by Elijah. He also anointed Hazael the king over Aram in Damascus and Elisha, the prophet to succeed him.
1 Kings 19 v 15-17
Then the LORD said to him, “Go back by the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you arrive, you are to anoint Hazael as king over Aram. You are also to anoint Jehu son of Nimshi as king over Israel and Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel-meholah to succeed you as prophet.
Then Jehu will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death whoever escapes the sword of Jehu.
King Hazael came down from the North West and attacked Israel and Judah. During the conflict he wounded Jezebel’s son, King Jehoram. The king retreated to Jezreel, where he decided to recuperate from the injury. Jehu finds him and kills him.
Jehu then encouraged the servants of Jezebel to throw their mistress from a building. He wrote letters to the officials in Samaria to kill the seventy sons of Ahab, asking for their heads to be delivered to him at Jezreel.
He then killed everyone who resided in the Palace of Ahab. Later, he met relatives of the King of Judah who were seeking an audience with Jezebel and her sons. Jehu killed all 42 of them.
After this, he went to Samaria and hunted down anyone connected with Ahab. He finally persuaded all the priests of Baal to come to him, where he subsequently slaughtered them all.
Jehu removed Baal and any trace of Ahab and his family from Israel. Later in the Bible, we see a comment about this event in Hosea.
Hosea 1 v 4-5
Then the LORD said to Hosea, “Name him Jezreel, for soon I will bring the bloodshed of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and I will put an end to the kingdom of Israel. And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.”
The phrase the ‘bloodshed of Jezreel’ means complete destruction.
Violence in the Bible
The Old Testament is normally thought of as the most violent part of the Bible. While the New Testament is considered the pacifist part. Effectively, the OT God is angry and Jesus is the loving God. This, by the way, is far from the truth.
God does not condone all types of violence. Only that which are just. For example, Sodom and Gomorrah were not destroyed until the sin had become too great and justice was required to bring things back into order.
Genesis 18 v 20-21
Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous, I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”
So when God brings a violent act, it is to bring justice. The greatest act of violence brought by God was the Flood.
Genesis 6 v 5-7
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.”
Humanity needed to be destroyed to bring back order to Creation.
Spiritual Violence
Killing in the Bible wasn’t just a physical act, but a spiritual act too. In the Conquest of Canaan, God tells Joshua which cities need to be destroyed. These were the ones associated with the giant clans (Anakim) found in the hill country of Judah and Israel.
Joshua 11 v 21-22
At that time Joshua proceeded to eliminate the Anakim from the hill country of Hebron, Debir, and Anab, and from all the hill country of Judah and of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction, along with their cities. No Anakim were left in the land of the Israelites; only in Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod did any survive.
Joshua only targeted cities which were related to the demonic spiritual forces in Israel.
With Jehu, he continued to kill the enemy even after the battle with Hazael. This was outside God’s command. The plan was for Elisha to finish the job, by breaking the yoke of the demonic authorities over the people. Jehu secured himself a long reign, but at the cost of great bloodshed.
2 Kings 10 v 30-33
The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” 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.
In those days the Lord began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael overpowered the Israelites throughout their territory east of the Jordan in all the land of Gilead (the region of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh), from Aroer by the Arnon Gorge through Gilead to Bashan.
If he had followed God’s plan and allowed Elijah to deal with those who had escaped King Hazael and Jehu’s sword, then his reign would have not resulted in the repeat of the ‘sins of Jeroboam’ (idolatry) and the diminished size of Israel.
Violence in Christianity
In our Western culture, we tend to assume Christ preached pacifism. After all, the often quoted line of ‘turning the other cheek’ is offered in defence of this viewpoint.
Luke 6 v 29
If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also.
I have read many rebuttals which challenge the popular and straightforward reading of this verse, linking it into the cultural context of Jesus’ time. But I don’t want to examine these, and I will let the simple interpretation stand.
Jesus does carry out an act of violent justice, where he drives out the money changers in the Temple.
Luke 19 v 45
When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” he said to them, “ ‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’ ”
And Jesus tells his disciples to arm themselves, when they go out to preach the Gospel.
Luke 22 v 36-38
He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfilment.”
The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”
“That’s enough!” he replied.
In the later verses, a sword is used to attack the officers of the Temple Guard.
Luke 22 v 49-51
When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
Jesus says ‘no’ to this type of violence.
So these are the two swords. The one which took the ear off the guard and the one remaining in the sheath. Jesus denounces the violence which is aggressive. Which leaves the other sword, the one which is ‘defensive’.
Violence in Christianity is defensive. We should only respond with violence, if we, our family or our community is physically attacked. Though in our response, we should continue to act wisely. Unlike Jehu, we should know when to stop and withhold from continuing the violence. Because, like Israel under Jehu, we will ultimately lose out.
Sword of the Spirit
Another way of reading this, is the second sword is the ‘Sword of the Spirit’.
Ephesians 6 v 17
Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
It is a weapon used to fight in the spiritual realm. We use this sword every time we act out God’s will. For example, when we go to church, pray for and help others.
So in summary, violence should not be engaged with lightly. It can easily get out of hand, as we saw in the story of Jehu.
Unlike the pagan world, which had no limit to violence and therefore tends towards blood feuds and vendettas, Christians should act first in love and think in spiritual terms. By tackling the spiritual problem, there is no need to act violent in the physical.
A very good example of this, is the story of King Alfred when he fought the Great Heathen Army. Rather than trying to destroy the invading Danes, he instead persuaded them to become Christian brothers and sisters. Through this focus on the spiritual problem, he brought peace and forged a new country called England.
Today🔥 is the Feast of the Three Holy Martyrs 🗡️🩸 Manuel, Sabel and Ishmael, Brothers of Persia. ☦️🦁☀️
Another Solid Ponder on the outcome of the shadow of violence in the dark witness 👑 🖤 of Ahab/Jezebel, 6/17/2024 Anno Domini, thank you Amigo.
I always consider that Jezebel flew beautifully in her exterior life and landed horribly in testimony of her interior life, eaten by dogs and trampled by horses.
Christ is Ascended! ✨⛪🔔 📖
🌳Ballad of White Horse and GKC 🔔✝️🏴✍🏼👑