Aber von den Sünden Jerobeams, des Sohnes Nebats, mit denen er Israel zur Sünde verführt hatte, ließ Jehu nicht, nämlich von den goldenen Kälbern von Bethel und Dan. Doch sprach der HERR zu Jehu: Weil du dich gut gehalten und getan hast, was recht ist in meinen Augen, weil du am Haus Ahabs gehandelt hast nach dem, was in meinem Herzen war, so sollen Nachkommen von dir bis in das vierte Glied auf dem Thron sitzen! Aber Jehu achtete nicht darauf, von ganzem Herzen nach dem Gesetz des HERRN, des Gottes Israel zu wandeln; denn er ließ nicht ab von den Sünden Jerobeams, mit denen er Israel zur Sünde verführt hatte. (2. Könige 10,29-31)
Jehu war einer der kompliziertesten Männer von den Königen, die über die zehn nördlichen Stämme Israels herrschten, das als Königreich Israel bekannt war (das Königreich Juda im Süden bestand aus den zwei südlichen Stämmen).
All in all, we would probably say that Jehu was the best of all the bad kings of Israel. In many ways he was good, but Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam. Jehu aggressively worked against the worship of Baal in Israel. However, he promoted the false worship of the true God, after the pattern of Jeroboam who set up the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan. He obeyed God – up to a point.
– Jehu carried out God’s will, but he went too far and executed more people than God intended.
– Jehu carried out God’s will, but he did it for personal glory and out of pride.
– Jehu carried out God’s will, but he only did it partially. He stopped the idolatry of Baal, but he continued the sinful idolatry of Jeroboam.
We might see Jehu as a great Israeli patriot. He protested against Joram and the house of Ahab for the harm they did to Israel, and knew that to be strong, Israel had to be cleansed of Baal worship. He knew that Israel had to come back to the true God, but he didn’t care how they did it. To Jehu it was just as good to worship God at Dan or Bethel, even though God commanded otherwise.
When we compare Jehu to the other kings of Israel, we see that he was the best of a bad group. No other king in Israel fought against idolatry as much as Jehu did; sadly, even he did not fight against it with all his heart.
By not taking heed to walk in the law of the LORD God, Jehu showed that he did not live a life of fellowship with God. He was a success in some ways, but he was really a successful failure. God used Jehu as His instrument, but Jehu never really seemed to have a real relationship with God himself.
Don’t fall into the half-way trap. Don’t be a successful person who ends up failing in the most important things.
