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siege (Ant. 9:6, 1). Leaving Ramoth-Gilead, which he had taken, in the keeping of
Jehu, his chief captain, Joram went back to the summer palace of Jezreel, to be
healed of his wounds, both as nearer to the field of action, and because the court was
there at the time.
It was to Jezreel that Ahaziah went to see his uncle, and during this fatal visit the
"destruction" overtook him, which, as the writer of the Book of Chronicles notes,
"was of God." It came together with that of Joram and the whole house of Ahab. The
judgment which more than fourteen years before had been pronounced upon Ahab (1
Kings 21:21-24) had only been deferred till the measure of the guilt of his house was
filled. And now the hour had come. In that awful vision on Mount Horeb, Elijah had
received the commission to "anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi... to be king over Israel"
(1 Kings 19:16), with special view to the work of punishment which he was to
execute. The commission, which Elijah himself could not discharge, had devolved on
Elisha; and, the proper time for its execution having arrived, the prophet now sent
one of the "sons of the prophets" - a young man (9:4), possibly his personal
attendant. As no doubt he literally obeyed the injunctions of his master, we shall best
learn what these were by following the detailed account of what he actually said and
did.
As directed by Elisha, he went to Ramoth-Gilead, carrying with him a vial, probably
of holy oil, which the prophet had given him. Even this is significant. On his arrival
he found, as so often in this history, all apparently arranged so as to carry out the
special purpose of God. He had been told to "look out" Jehu, and here were all the
captains of the host sitting together, probably in deliberation. Remembering that the
chief command devolved on Jehu, it would not be difficult to single out the object of
the young man's mission. He had only to say, "I have a word to thee, O captain," and
Jehu as president would naturally answer. It was so; and on Jehu's inquiry to which
of them the message was, the young prophet replied: "To thee, O captain."
The captains had been sitting in the great court, and Jehu now took his strange visitor
"into the house," no doubt, as Elisha had directed, into "an inner chamber," one that
opened out of another, where what passed between them could not be observed from
the court. Here, without further explanation – for abruptness of delivery was part of
the object in view, and indeed characteristic of the direct Divine message - the young
man poured the oil on the head of Jehu, and stated the terms of his commission. It
was in the name of "Jehovah, God of Israel," and on behalf of Israel, viewed as "the
people of Jehovah" (2 Kings 9:6). This emphatic introduction of Jehovah marked the
character of the work to which Jehu was called. He was now Divinely anointed king,
to execute judgment on the house of Ahab, and to avenge at the hand of Jezebel the
blood of the prophets, and of all the servants of Jehovah. And the whole house of
Ahab was to perish like that of Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:10), and that of Baasha (1
(^)