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.

    Jehu effectively wiped out Baal worship in Israel, the Northern Kingdom. Jehu also completely wiped out Ahab’s family (except for Athaliah, who was ruling as the Queen Mother in Judah) according to the prophecy God had delivered through Elijah. I believe that Jehu chose to worship God. However, it is not clear to me if that was a pragmatic decision (having a single God whom all of the people of his kingdom worshiped improved the cohesiveness of his kingdom) or a matter of true faith. In either case, he chose to maintain the worship of the two golden calves which Jeroboam had established. This may have been due to a lack of understanding. Or, it may have been a result of not wanting his people to go to Jerusalem to worship.

    Meanwhile, in Judah Athaliah seized power as soon as she learned that her son, King Ahaziah, had been killed as part of Jehu’s revolt in Israel. She immediately set about killing off the remaining male descendants of Jehoshaphat. However, one of Ahaziah’s sisters (she may have been Athaliah’s daughter, but she may only been a half-sister to Ahaziah) secretly took his infant son to the Temple and hid him there. When the child reached seven, Jehoiada the priest staged a revolt and overthrew Athaliah and placed the boy, Joash, on the throne. Jehoiada acted as regent for Joash, and later as a trusted adviser. As regent, Jehoiada encouraged the people of Judah to once more dedicate themselves to God and to reject Baal worship. The way I read this passage leads me to believe that the revolt against Athaliah was popular with the general populace and the people associated the excesses of her reign with Baal worship.

    It seems to me that the people of both kingdoms had learned that Baal worship led to abuses of power by those in authority. It seems to me as I read the Old Testament that the more faithful the rulers of the people of Israel were, the better they were as rulers. A corollary to that is that the more faithful the people were to God, the better government they received. I believe that the same is true today. If you want better government, seek to be a better follower of Christ.