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CHAPTER XXVIII.

JEHU AND JEHONADAB.

"And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him and he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. And he gave him his hand; and he took him up to him into the chariot. And he said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. So they made him ride in his chariot."-2 KINGS X. 15, 16.

BATHED in the golden sunlight lay fair Jezreel, the royal city of Ahab. So calm, so peaceful, and so beautiful, it seemed like an enchanted scene. From distant Carmel in the west the eye could discern its battlements, with the great watchtower springing out from the midst of them, and farther on in the west the swelling mountain-pass, and near it, nestling among trees and vineyards, the white houses of lovely En-gannim, "the spring of the gardens." Then, to the east, far as the eye could reach, lay the deep Jordan valley. For with its back, as it were, planted towards Carmel and its range, facing the threefold opening of the Jordan valley, chiefly the one which cleft wide against it, Jezreel stood like a royal stag at bay, keenly looking over to the west, whence alone its enemies might come. Down its rocky foundations, which on one side rose sheer up a hundred feet from their base, it frowned defiance into the Jordan valley. There stood its high watch-tower-there, last remnant of its greatness, it stands to this day-close beside that large window which commanded the magnificent view, the great window

of royal Jezebel's apartments; close beside the great gate also, which at the same time was principal entrance to the city and to the royal residence, for these battlements formed part of the king's palace. Right in front of that gate spread an open space, and beyond it the road sloped down towards the Jordan valley. By the side of it, still following along the way, undulated the royal domains, pleasure-grounds and gardens, till where, at about a mile's distance, bubbles and rushes from under a limestone cavern, out of the crevices of the rocks, a most beautiful spring, that gradually expands into a broad sheet of water forty or fifty feet wide.

We take our stand here to look around; then down into that crystal-like pool, teeming with fishes that glide along its sunny surface, or plunge into its pebbly depth to rise again in graceful circles. This is the boundary of what were Naboth's possessions, and as we look back towards Jezreel, these were his fields and his vineyards; and there, where we stand, he and his were stoned to death; in this pool Ahab's bloody chariot had been washed; and here nightly did the vilest of the people hold their orgies. Yet a memorable spot this! For, here at the spring of "Harod" or "trembling" had Gideon encamped before his attack on the camp of Midian, and here the valour and faith of his soldiers had been tested (Judges vii.); here also had royal Saul lain with his army before the fatal battle of Gilboa (1 Sam. xxix). And now another and yet more terrible fulfilment of prediction was soon and for ever to mark the place.

Up from Ramoth in Gilead and along that Jordan valley a small party of chariots and horsemen hurried with utmost speed. It was Jehu and his chosen companions. If ever, that day his driving was furious. It has already been stated, that Jehu was not a religious man, in the spiritual sense of the term. He was simply a soldier, bold, resolute, defiant,

who would carry out his purpose to the utmost. He had no desire of building up the house of Jehovah, nor of serving Him. He had accepted the commission of destroying the house of Ahab and all his followers, and this he would unflinchingly discharge. Beyond that he knew nothing, and cared for nothing, save the establishment of himself on the throne, and the future safety of his line. It is always far more easy to destroy than to build. A Jehu may cut off, root and branch, the worship of Baal; but it needs a spiritual man to promote and establish in its place the service of Jehovah. The sword of Jehu could not effect this; nay, it would not have been unsheathed in such a cause. Connected with every great religious movement there are those who help it by destroying the old, which is doomed to judgment. And these also have their work and commission, to which they are "anointed." The negative, or what is false and wrong, is easily discerned; the positive, or what is right and good, is only apprehended by grace. God has always a Jehu in readiness; but, blessed be His Name, He can also raise up an Ezra and a Nehemiah.

And now in the far distance, full in the slanting western sunlight, the faintest outline of Jezreel came into view. Soon also the practised eye of the watchman on the tower espied the company. As his deep, sonorous voice proclaimed it, Joram directed a horseman to be sent forward to inquire whether they brought tidings of peace or of war. The messenger reached the company, but to his question Jehu, not slackening rein, deigned no other answer than to direct him. to the rear. In vain the watchman strained his eye for the return of the horseman. He had seen him join the company, but he had not left it again. This also the watchman, as in duty bound, reported. A second messenger was despatched, but with the same result, similarly announced by the faithful

watchman. And now as the company came nearer, though their faces could not yet be descried, there was something peculiar about the foremost chariot. So rapidly it moved, there was no mistaking it, none in the land so urged on his war-chariot. "The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi."

As yet, in his ease and unconcern, not a shadow of suspicion, not a breath of fear, had fallen on the king of Israel. Like all who are near sudden destruction, when most he should have feared he was most unconcerned. Two messengers of

So is it, alas, with

peace had gone, not to return in peace. too many in our own days. Again and again have the faithful watchmen warned them of the impending danger, with no other result than the unconcerned, cursory inquiry: Is it peace? The thought of impending ruin never enters till it is too late. Not even that two messengers had gone without bringing back a reply roused suspicion, nor yet the approach of Jehu. Probably the general had come to announce in person another victory over the Syrians, or the conclusion of peace. So might Joram have reasoned. By his command two chariots were quickly made ready, and the two kings went out to be the first to receive good tidings. Through that gate, down the undulating plain, right in view of the large window in Jezebel's royal apartment, now where the old palace grounds end, now where the new "garden of herbs" begins, passed the royal chariots. There, just in "the portion of Naboth the Jezreelite," they met Jehu and his company. Strange coincidence! But what was this? Joram had quickly turned his chariot; he fell; his chariot was surrounded; a bloody corpse lifted across the road by armed men, and rudely flung into "the garden of herbs." And lo, there, Ahaziah fled toward the west, up the steep ascent towards En-gannim, although in vain, for he would soon be overtaken by these

horsemen in full gallop, and never again would he see the City of David.

All this had Jezebel witnessed from the casement of her window how the arrow sped from Jehu's strong bow, and passing through the heart of her son, trembling, and dyed in his gore, stuck in his chariot; how her grandson Ahaziah had vainly fled up that hill, pursued by the horsemen. She had not heard the words of Jehu, who had fastened on her the guilt of this, and of much more blood; she had not seen how he pointed his friend Bidkar to the spot where the bloody corpse of Joram lay in the frightful distortions of such a death, just "in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite," nor known that he reminded his companion in arms of what they both had heard on that day when they "rode together after Ahab." Yet she understood it all, and prepared for it all. Even if she had not, there were those around only too eager to explain it. The cavalcade had resumed its slower progress when she left the window. A few minutes more, and she returned to it, and now with her own hand flung wide open the lattice. She would die a Queen. So she put the Eastern adornment round her eyes, arrayed herself in her queenly head-dress, and gazed down, not without scorn, upon the approaching cavalcade.

As Jehu reached the gate, right under her window, he was startled by a voice above him taunting him in tones of bitterest irony. It was Jezebel. The call, "Who is on my side? who?" was quickly answered by eunuchs at this and that window. Another moment, and the proud Queen was dashed headlong from her window, and her blood bespattered wall and horses. Over her body, and into Jezreel, was the conqueror's course. So perished Jezebel. There is something terribly grand about her last moments. They seem like the rocky peaks of those dark mountains, untrodden by