Jehu [Jē'hū]—jehovah is he.

1. A son of Hanani, the prophet who denounced Baasha and his house, reproved Jehoshaphat and wrote a book (1 Kings 16:1, 7, 12; 2 Chron. 19:2; 20:34).
2. A son of Obed and descendant of Hezron (1 Chron. 2:38).
3. A son of Josibiah a Simeonite (1 Chron. 4:35).
4. A Benjamite of Anathoth who joined David at Ziklag (1 Chron. 12:3).
5. The king of Israel, appointed by Elijah in the place of Ahab. He is often called for brevity’s sake, “The son of Nimshi.” He reigned twenty-eight years (1 Kings 19:16, 17).

The Man of Speed

Under Jehu there was a dynastic revolution, resulting in the overthrowing of the regnant religious establishment. “Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord” (2 Kings 10:31). This king brought about no positive vital godliness, whose boasted “zeal for the Lord” (2 Kings 10:16) was really zeal for Jehu.

There is one sentence revealing for us an insight into Jehu’s character. “He driveth furiously.” He came with all speed not merely because he was on an urgent errand, but because he was urged on by a headlong disposition, which earned him the reputation of a reckless driver among the watchmen. Jehu is thus a type of many who, in worldly and in religious matters, may be called reckless drivers. Without prudence or righteousness they plunge into matters of importance. The prodigal was a son of Nimshi in that he drove furiously when it came to living riotously in the far country.

It was also with lightning speed that Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel, but he did his extermination in the wrong way, for the weapons of warfare are not carnal. For reasons of state policy Jehu maintained the worship of Bethel and Dan. He tried to serve God and Mammon. To Jehu, religion was only a political instrument. Hosea saw that the blood of Jezreel rested upon the house of Jehu, and that it would be avenged (Hos. 1:4).