2 Kings 10:18-27--Jehu Strikes Down the Prophets of Baal

2 Kings 10:18-27
English Standard Version

Jehu Strikes Down the Prophets of Baal
18 Then Jehu assembled all the people and said to them, “Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. 19 Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, all his worshipers and all his priests. Let none be missing, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal. Whoever is missing shall not live.” But Jehu did it with cunning in order to destroy the worshipers of Baal. 20 And Jehu ordered, “Sanctify a solemn assembly for Baal.” So they proclaimed it. 21 And Jehu sent throughout all Israel, and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left who did not come. And they entered the house of Baal, and the house of Baal was filled from one end to the other. 22 He said to him who was in charge of the wardrobe, “Bring out the vestments for all the worshipers of Baal.” So he brought out the vestments for them. 23 Then Jehu went into the house of Baal with Jehonadab the son of Rechab, and he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search, and see that there is no servant of the LORD here among you, but only the worshipers of Baal.” 24 Then they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings.

​Now Jehu had stationed eighty men outside and said, “The man who allows any of those whom I give into your hands to escape shall forfeit his life.” 25 So as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Jehu said to the guard and to the officers, “Go in and strike them down; let not a man escape.” So when they put them to the sword, the guard and the officers cast them out and went into the inner room of the house of Baal, 26 and they brought out the pillar that was in the house of Baal and burned it. 27 And they demolished the pillar of Baal, and demolished the house of Baal, and made it a latrine to this day.

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Jehu wants to eliminate the worship of Baal from Israel, so he decides to engage in deception to tell the people that Ahab worshiped Baal "little" (Ahab along with his wife Jezebel were probably the biggest Baal worshipers), and Jehu says that he will worship Baal "much," meaning much more than Ahab.  Then he orders all the of prophets of Baal, all the priests of Baal, and all the worshipers of Baal to be gathered together in one place so that he can offer a great sacrifice to Baal with all of them present, and a command was given that if anyone defied the invitation, they would do so by paying with their life.

Jehu even made it more official by ordering a solemn assembly (a holy day or holiday) for Baal for the event to take place, yet all this was done by deception so that he could destroy all the worshipers of Baal (see verse 19).  So it was that all the worshipers of Baal from all of Israel came and gathered for this assembly--not a single man (or woman) was missing.  Then he even spoke to those in charge of his wardrobe to provide vestments (special clothing) for all the worshipers of Baal (they would all be dressed the same way so that if any of them escaped, they could easily be identified).  So it was done that vestments were made for all the worshipers of Baal from those in charge of the king's wardrobe.  Before they executed their plan, Jehu and Jehonadab, the son of Rechab went through house/temple of Baal and made sure that there were no servants of the LORD in there, but only worshipers of Baal (again, they should be able to be identified because all the worshipers of Baal should be wearing the vestments given to them by the king, so anyone not wearing those vestments should be pulled out of the temple because they did not belong, and the king did not want them caught up in the judgment that was coming).

Now the trap was set and Jehu stationed 80 armed men outside the temple of Baal and told them that if any of them let any of the worshipers of Baal escape, their life was forfeit.  The king even offered a burnt offering and once he had come out, he ordered the guard and the officers to go in and kill everyone, letting no one escape.  As they put the followers of Baal to the sword, they cast them out towards the entrance and they kept moving further and further in until they reached the inner room of the temple where the actual pillar that was an idol to Baal was seized and they took it out and burned it with fire.  Then they demolished the pillar so that there was no trace of it left and they destroyed the temple of Baal and turned it into a latrine--which was still what it was used for when the book of 2 Kings was written.

So then in one day the LORD used Jehu, Jehonadab and the eighty soldiers involved with to put to the sword all the priests, prophets and followers of Baal in Israel and to destroy the temple of Baal and the idol from the center of the temple and to make a statement that the only thing that unholy place was suitable for was people's excrement.  From what we have seen so far, Jehu may have been the only good king of Israel--there were others that personally didn't worship Baal, but they left the high places for others to worship alone.  Jehu is intent on removing all of the worship of Baal from the nation of Israel.