2 Kings 10:6-11 – Don’t fall prey to betrayers

Having ascertained that those custodians of the 70 sons of Ahab were prepared to ditch their masters, Jehu went into action. Second Kings 10:6-11 describe how Jehu goaded the custodians of those sons of Ahab to ditch them, slaughtered them, and completely destroyed all of Ahab and his. He sent a second letter to the custodians of Ahab's sons ordering that they brought their heads to him by the next day if they were on his side.  They acceded to his request, slaughtered those descendants, and brought their heads to Jezreel, each in a basket. When it was told Jehu that the seventy heads had arrived, he ordered that they be put “in two heaps at the entrance of the gate until morning.” 

Verse 9 tells us that in the morning, he went out and stood presumably over the bodies and addressed all the people. Essentially, he was using an intimidation tactic to discourage rebellion. He owned up to killing Joram, but he claimed that the killing of the 70 sons of Ahab was not his doing. He asked the question, ‘But who killed all of these?” In the question, he was virtually absolving himself of any blame. He was pinning the murder on the custodians of Ahab’s sons without revealing that he was the mastermind behind it all. He was in a sense shifting the blame.

Although he pointed everything to what God had said would happen to the house of Ahab, he, however, did not want to be seen as the main executor.  So he literally pushed the blame for the murder of Ahab’s sons to their custodians. He insisted that all that had happened were according to Elijah’s prediction. Seizing the moment, verse 11 had this to say, “So Jehu killed all who remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men and his acquaintances and his priests, until he left him without a survivor.”

Haven’t we met people who would push others to do their bidding so that they would not get the blame and look bad? People who would whisper in your ears and make suggestions that you should do something about a certain matter. When things go sour, you get the blame but when things turn out fine, they get the applause. Such people would have no qualm doing a friend or ally in. Be careful who you take a bullet for in life, he or she may be the one that’s pulling the trigger. Remember Proverbs 27:6, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.” Don’t nestle a snake in your bosom.