I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 2 Kings 10-12.

Once Jehu had killed King Jehoram and his mother Jezebel, he consolidated his power by having the leaders of Samaria kill all of King Ahab’s remaining sons. Jehu then proceeded to kill all of Ahab’s remaining relatives, except for Athaliah, Ahab’s daughter who had married Jehoshaphat’s son (more on her shortly). The story mentions that Jehu encountered some relatives of King Ahaziah, the king of Judah who was Ahab’s grandson and whom Jehu had killed when he killed King Jehoram. Why did Jehu kill these men? Perhaps it was just because they were relatives of King Ahaziah and on the way to visit with the family of the king he had just deposed, but I suspect there was more to it than that. It seems to me that we need to consider why these men were visiting the sons of Ahab and the sons of the queen mother (I assume they meant Jezebel). These were wealthy, politically connected men who were likely visiting the Northern Kingdom to take part in activities which would have been frowned upon in Judah. In short, I think they were sex tourists. At the very least, they had traveled to the Northern Kingdom to more openly partake in Baal worship and Jehu killed them as part of his pogrom against Baal worship.

Meanwhile, Athaliah, King Ahaziah’s mother and Ahab’s daughter, moved to seize power in Judah by killing the rest of the royal family. However, Ahaziah’s sister (who may not have been Athaliah’s daughter) hid Ahaziah’s infant son, Joash, in the Temple. Jehoiada, a priest (perhaps the high priest, he certainly became the high priest), raised Joash and taught him to serve God. After seven years, Jehoiada organized a rebellion against Athaliah and placed Joash on the throne. In the aftermath of the rebellion, Jehoiada led the people to rededicate themselves to worshiping God and to destroy the temple of Baal in Jerusalem. King Joash showed his youthful devotion to God by ordering the priests to use some of the money offered in the Temple for Temple repairs. When it became obvious that the priests were unable, or unwilling, to manage such repairs, Joash worked with Jehoiada to arrange for offerings to go directly to workmen who worked to repair the Temple. Joash serves as an example of the influence of a righteous upbringing.