... choose the best and most worthy of your master’s sons and set him on his father’s throne. Then fight for your master’s house.” – 2 Kings 10:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 11, 2013): 2 Kings 10

In the movie “Gunless” a gunslinger, “The Montana Kid” played by Paul Gross, out of the old west wanders into a small Canadian town that does not seem to have the slightest appreciation for the brutal code of the West. Feeling insulted, the gunslinger tries to pick a fight with the blacksmith of the town, but no one in the town has a working pistol. For the rest of the movie, The Montana Kid tries to fix a gun for his opponent to use in the dual - and convince the residents and the blacksmith that there should indeed be a fight – even if it is a fight that the blacksmith, who has never used a pistol, is sure to lose.

Jehu’s rise to power in Israel was so rapid that it was a little startling. But he was not a descendant of Ahab, the ruling house of Israel.  There were a number of sons of Ahab living in Samaria – this passage mentions seventy such sons which probably included Ahab’s grandchildren, but as of this moment none of them is sitting on the throne of the nation. So Jehu issues a challenge. He wants to be seen as the legitimate ruler of Israel, but that can only happen if either the legitimate house surrenders to his authority or if there are no legitimate descendants to take the throne – and to be blunt it was the second option that produced the more secure result; if there were still descendants alive they could come back at a time when they were stronger and make a claim for the throne.

So Jehu decides to play the role of “The Montana Kid.” He essentially challenges the house of Ahab to put someone on the throne of Israel – the best that the House of Ahab had to offer - and although he does not quite say it, the implication was that Jehu would do battle with whoever it was that the House of Ahab would put on the throne forever deciding which House in Israel would rule in the nation. But the reality was that the House of Ahab had about as much chance of defeating Jehu has the blacksmith of a small Canadian town had of killing “The Montana Kid” in the movie “Gunless.”

Jehu’s demand could very well have been an attempt to see how much of a fight was left in the descendants of Ahab. But he would not have to wait long for the answer – because Israel’s response to Jehu’s demand was to kill all of the sons of Ahab. Israel wanted to have no quarrel with Jehu – but that is another story.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Kings 11