Because king Ahab was doing lots of bad things and bowing down to the bad ones, the Lord took him away from being king over Israel.

The Lord God sent one of the men who told His word to the people on earth, a prophet, to a man called Jehu.

 

 

The Lord said, Take Jehu into a room alone and pour my oil on his head and say, The Lord says, I have appointed you king over Israel.

 

 

 

 

When you have done it, open the door and run away quick, do not wait, get out of there.

 

 

 

 

 

So the prophet went and found Jehu and took him into a room where they were alone and shut the door.

 

 

 

 

He poured the oil on his head and said,

 

 

The Lord God of Israel has set you as king over the people of the Lord, over people of Israel.

 

 

 

 

You will strike down the family of Ahab to get back at them for all of my people that they have killed by following the bad ones.

 

 

 

The whole family of Ahab will be cut off for all the bad they have done to my people.

 

The prophet finished God’s words and opened the door and ran out.

 

Jehu was a warrior and led many warriors. When he walked out of the room, the warriors with him asked what the prophet said.

 

When Jehu told them, they took their cloaks and put them under Jehu, showing that they would follow him as their king.

 

 

 

They blew trumpets and shouted very loud, Jehu is king!

Then they went to the city where the bad king was staying, and they did what the Lord God had said to do and paid back all the bad things the bad king did.

 

Then Jehu went about the whole country getting rid of the bad ones so that the good things God wanted to do for his people could happen.

Through Jehu, the Lord God did everything he promised to do to the house of Ahab because of all the hurt and trouble they had caused God’s people.

Jehu said he would worship the bad one too and then called all those who bowed down to the bad one to come to worship at the bad ones temple.

When they were all inside the bad ones temple, Jehu made sure that none of the Lord’s people were inside. Then he sent his men inside and they sent all the ones who worshipped the bad one off of this world and back to the bad one.

 

And then he burned that temple to the ground.

 

When Jehu finished, the Lord God said to him, Because you did what was right to my eyes, I will give you kings to sit on the king’s seat in Israel down to your great grandson, four sets of kings.

 

But when the kingdom was safe, Jehu himself didn’t take care to listen to the Lord God.

 

 

And he bowed down to the two golden calves that king Jeroboam had made when he was king.

When Solomon was king, the Lord God had given Israel much land to be kings over, but now, the Lord God started giving parts of that land to others to be king over.

Since Israel wasn’t following the Lord God very well, the Lord God gave some other people a chance to do what was right and good in the eyes of the Lord God.