The Axe Falls (at Last) on Ahab: The twelve years of Jehoram, son of Ahab, are completed (2 Kgs. 3:1; 8:25); and the time for judgment has come (1 Kgs. 21:21–29). Elisha is still with us, and Hazael—though not in the way first planned—is king of Aram. Ahab’s drama is approaching its final curtain. Of the players mentioned in 1 Kings 19:15–18, we await only Jehu. Right on cue, he now makes his entrance. Israel will be purged at last of Ahab’s house and the worship of Baal it has introduced. Judah, too, will be cleansed. Even the Davidic line will seem under threat. God’s quiet ways are, for the moment, at an end. Earthquake is the order of the day.

9:1–13  Elijah had been commanded to anoint Jehu king over Israel (1 Kgs. 19:16) but had failed to do so. It is left to Elisha now to fulfill his…