Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 250
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IMMERSE
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KINGDOMS
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| 9:1-17
Meanwhile, Elisha the prophet had summoned a member of the group of
prophets. “Get ready to travel,” he told him, “and take this flask of olive oil
with you. Go to R
amoth-gilead, and find Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of
Nimshi. Call him into a private room away from his friends, and pour the
oil over his head. Say to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you to
be the king over Israel.’ Then open the door and run for your life!”
So the young prophet did as he was told and went to R
amoth-gilead.
When he arrived there, he found Jehu sitting around with the other army
officers. “I have a message for you, Commander,” he said.
“For which one of us?” Jehu asked.
“For you, Commander,” he replied.
So Jehu left the others and went into the house. Then the young prophet
poured the oil over Jehu’s head and said, “This is what the Lord, the God
of Israel, says: I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, Israel. You are
to destroy the family of Ahab, your master. In this way, I will avenge the
murder of my prophets and all the Lord’s servants who were killed by
Jezebel. The entire family of Ahab must be wiped out. I will destroy every
one of his male descendants, slave and free alike, anywhere in Israel. I will
destroy the family of Ahab as I destroyed the families of Jeroboam son of
Nebat and of Baasha son of Ahijah. Dogs will eat Ahab’s wife Jezebel at the
plot of land in Jezreel, and no one will bury her.” Then the young prophet
opened the door and ran.
Jehu went back to his fellow officers, and one of them asked him, “What
did that madman want? Is everything all right?”
“You know how a man like that babbles on,” Jehu replied.
“You’re hiding something,” they said. “Tell us.”
So Jehu told them, “He said to me, ‘This is what the Lord says: I have
anointed you to be king over Israel.’”
Then they quickly spread out their cloaks on the bare steps and blew the
ram’s horn, shouting, “Jehu is king!”
So Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, led a conspiracy against
King Joram. (Now Joram had been with the army at R amoth-gilead, defending Israel against the forces of King Hazael of Aram. But King Joram
was wounded in the fighting and returned to Jezreel to recover from his
wounds.) So Jehu told the men with him, “If you want me to be king, don’t
let anyone leave town and go to Jezreel to report what we have done.”
Then Jehu got into a chariot and rode to Jezreel to find King Joram,
who was lying there wounded. King Ahaziah of Judah was there, too, for
he had gone to visit him. The watchman on the tower of Jezreel saw Jehu
and his company approaching, so he shouted to Joram, “I see a company
of troops coming!”
“Send out a rider to ask if they are coming in peace,” King Joram ordered.