2 Kings 20 Hezekiah's illness

2 Kings 20 

King Hezekiah became ill terminally and was at death's door when God told him, through Isaiah he was going to die and put his affairs in order.

Hezekiah is somewhat less than impressed with this diagnosis - after all he had followed God whole heartedly and he faces an early grave.

Isaiah is just going out of the palace when God gives a second opinion, in three days he would recover and live for an additional 15 years.

God gave a sign that this would happen - the shadow of the sun retreated by 10 steps.

Hearing that Hezekiah had recovered the king of Babylon sent a gift and some envoys.
Hezekiah was in a hospitable mood and showed the envoys all his palace and treasuries.
Isaiah asked who they were and what the envoys had seen and then told Hezekiah that eventually Babylon would be taken by the Babylonians and the children of the great and the good of Judah will be taken to serve as eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

After 15 years, Hezekiah died and his son Manesseh became the next king.

2 Kings 19 Jerusalem delivered

2 Kings 19

At the end of the last chapter we left king Hezekiah of Judah alone facing an Assyrian army and his capital city, Jerusalem under imminent threat of siege, the message from the ambassadors of Sennacherib of Assyria is basically "nothing can save you from me, so you might as well surrender and save your lives, your king's faith is misplaced and your God is as powerless as the gods of the other nations I've conquered".

Hezekiah sought guidance from the prophet of God, Isaiah at this time. Isaiah tells Hezekiah that God has heard the message from the subordinates of the king of Assyria and their blasphemy and ridicule of the one true god and that God will step in an save Judah - the leader of the Assyrians will hear a report and will retreat to sort it out in his own country and he will be killed there by the sword.

As it happens news reached the Assyrians that the king from Cush was marching against him. 
As he was marching out he sent a message to Hezekiah, basically saying the same as before.

Hezekiah took the letter from the Assyrians and laid it out before God in the temple - he asks God to hear the rebuke issued by the enemies, admitting that the Assyrians had done all he said that they had defeated and destroyed the gods of the nations they have defeated , but those gods are merely man made idols. He asks God to come to the rescue of Jerusalem.

Isaiah then sent a message from God saying that God has heard and will answer his prayer and issues a word against Sennacherib 

Sennacherib is murdered in his home city in the temple of his god by his sons.

 ‘The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you. 22 Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel! 23 By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field. 24 I have dug and drunk strange waters, and with the sole of my feet will I dry up all the rivers of Egypt.” 25 Haven’t you heard how I have done it long ago, and formed it of ancient times? Now I have brought it to pass, that it should be yours to lay waste fortified cities into ruinous heaps. 26 Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like grain blasted before it has grown up. 27 But I know your sitting down, your going out, your coming in, and your raging against me. 28 Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore I will put my hook in your nose, and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.’

29 “This will be the sign to you: This year, you will eat that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs of the same; and in the third year sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat its fruit. 30 The remnant that has escaped of the house of Judah will again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem a remnant will go out, and out of Mount Zion those who shall escape. Yahweh’s zeal will perform this.

32 “Therefore Yahweh says concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there. He will not come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he will not come to this city,’ says Yahweh. 34 ‘For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.’”

Text from the World English bible (www.ebible.org)

2 Kings 18 Hezekiah

2 Kings 18

Hezekiah is the next king of Judah and he is 25 years old when he started and ruled for 29 years.

Hezekiah is recorded as a remarkable king, who followed God wholeheartedly, going so far as to remove all the high places and shrines, smashing the alters and chopping down the Asherah poles - ensuring people worshipped God according to the rules.

During the 4th year of his reign the siege of Samaria began and in the 6th year Samaria fell to Assyria and the  vast majority of the Israelites were taken off as plunder into exile.
In the 11th year of his reign Sennacherib from Assyria attacked and captured the fortified towns in Judah at which Hezekiah sent a message suing for peace - the King of Assyria demanded 10 tonnes of silver and 1 tonne of gold.
Hezekiah found this by removing all silver from the temple and his palace and the gold - going so far as stripping the gold plating from the doors and frames of the temple.

The king of Assyria sent his army and senior generals to attack Jerusalem, the halted for talk near the walls of the city  -  Hezekiah sent the palace administrator, secretary and official recorder to talk to the representatives of the Assyrians. 
this is the gist of the message - 
Who do you think will help you?  Your army is pitiful compared to the might of Assyria, do you think Egypt will come to your aid? Egypt is like a reed that splinters and damages your own hand.
You rely on your God? Haven't you destroyed all the high places, don't they belong to god?  
Come let us make a bargain, I'll give you a thousand horses if you can find people to ride them! You lot could not even defeat a minor officer and his squad, even if Egypt does come to your aid.
Also do you think that God did not tell me to conquer this land ?

Hezekiah's officials asked to conduct negotiations in Aramaic which was not commonly understood, but the Assyrians said their message was for those on the wall who would suffer if they laid siege to Jerusalem.
They are advised not to trust Hezekiah or put hope that God would help them - if they surrender they will be taken to a land like their own and would live in peace.

What god of any nation I have conquered has saved them? 

2 Kings 17 Israel exiled

2 Kings 17

The last king of Israel in Samaria is Hoshea who killed the previous king of Israel, the chapter before last.
Hoshea ruled as king for 9 years.
The Bible records that Hoshea did evil in the eyes of God but was not like the other kings of Israel before him. 

Israel had been a vassal state to the Assyrians for some time and paid tribute annually. However word reached Shalmeneser the king of Assyria that Hoshea had tried to broker a deal with Pharaoh in Egypt 

Shalmeneser invaded the land of Israel, imprisoned Hoshea and laid siege to Samaria.
It took 3 years for Samaria to fall but eventually they surrendered.
Shalmeneser deported the Israelites to towns elsewhere in the empire and only tiny Judah remained in the land flowing with milk and honey that Israel had taken possession of all those years before.

The Bible is quite clear that the exile from the land of their ancestors and the loss of the promised land was due to the sins of the people. As well as idol worship started by the kings, the people in secret did many things that were against the law of God  - anywhere there was a hill somebody built some kind of alter, under every shady tree there was some kind of standing stone or pagan fertility symbol like an Asherah pole.

Israel did nothing to separate themselves from the wicked deeds of the people God drove out of the land before them, they sacrificed their children to foreign gods, something that God says later "I did not command this, nor did it even enter my mind" They practised sourcery and divination and sought omens - all forbidden by God in the law.

During the time of Israel as a nation, God sent judges, seers and prophets to warn the people, but they would not listen 
Only Judah remained and this chapter says they were no better.

God has finally had enough - he abandoned Israel to their own devices - they relied on other gods, let them now take care and love them.

Shalmeneser, having deported the people of Israel from their land then gave the land to people he had deported from somewhere else - People from Babylon, and places a long way off were bought in to settle the now vacant land.

These people did not worship God and to start with they were attacked by lions, which the Bible attributes to God.
A priest is sent for to teach the new people something about God, the people moved in were taught about God of Israel but they also worshipped their own gods.
The people became know as Samaritans - they were still in the land at the time of Jesus and are still there to this day 

We have looked and struggled with how God could want peoples wiped out in the book of Joshua and Judges. The Bible records that this was due to the evil deeds that they were carrying out, and when Israel do the same - they too are removed. God is loving and patient yes, but he is also just.

2 Kings 16 Ahaz - copying and compromise

2 Kings 16

In the last chapter we got through no less than 7 kings - they must have been pretty unremarkable in the grand scheme of the Bible writers, because they basically carried on as their predecessor did either good or bad.

However now we get Ahaz king of Judah in Jerusalem who ruled for 16 years and did not do what was right in the eyes of God to the extent that he is recorded as killing his children as offerings to the gods. He actively used the high places and carried out sacrifices wherever he happened to be - even if it was dedicated to another god.

During his time Aram and Israel came and waged war, laying siege to Jerusalem - but they failed to take Ahaz and the city.
Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath Pileser king of the new super power, Assyria asking for his help - as a vassal servant of Assyria Ahaz took all the valuables he could find and sent them to the king of Assyria, who attacked the Aram capital Damascus and deported the inhabitants.

King Ahaz then went to Damascus to visit his overlord and while he was there he saw an alter that he rather liked the look of.
Ahaz sent drawings of the alter to the Uriah and the priests in Jerusalem to make a copy - I'm guessing here that he got some competent engineering type to actually make the drawings and work out how it was constructed, rather than a royal sketch!

Ahaz was pleased with the copy and placed it in the centre of the temple, moving the alter designed by God out of the way.
Furthermore - Ahaz cut off the side panels and removed movable basins from stands and took the very large basin called the sea from the oxen it was standing on and placed it on a stone stand, removed his throne from its dais and removed the royal entrance to the temple. He did these things to please the king of Assyria caring nothing for the traditions of his people.

I personally feel that Ahaz compromised too far here. Just today the Synod of the Church of England (Yesterday when this is published) passed legislation in favour of consecrating women bishops. This has meant a compromise from some parts of the church who (in my opinion) take the words of St Paul about women rather too literally and do not agree with women priests and certainly don't agree with women bishops (though strangely enough they have had no problem with a woman head of the church of England for 60+ years!).
However I'm sure a compromise in this case is acceptable, but destroying holy artifacts as going a bit far - though such things have happened in my country during the reformation, and it is sad to have lost such medieval wonders. 

2 Kings 15 Rattling through the kings

2 Kings 15

This chapter seems to rattle through a lot of kings very quickly - so let's see who we have today without further ado....

Azariah (also called Uzziah) son of Amaziah is the next king in Judah. - The bible records that he was basically a good king and he tried to follow the law of God - however he did not try and stop his people worshipping other gods at the high places.

Being a good king however he was afflicted with leprosy (not necessarily leprosy as we would diagnose it today, but some kind of skin disease and he lived in a separate house and his son Jotham ruled as a regent.

Uzziah or Azariah was king for 52 years and was 16 when he ascended to the throne.

Meanwhile Zechariah , son of Jeroboam 2,  becomes the king in Israel in Samaria and he was king for all of 6 months.
His short reign has him noted as an evil doer in the eyes of God continuing the practises that the first king of Israel started when the kingdom split.
Shallum (No relation to Gollum, precious) publicly assassinated Zechariah (who was the 5th descendant of king Jehu and God promised that Jehu's descendants would sit on the throne for 4 generations.

Shallum lasted as king 1 month and did nothing to stop idol worship in Israel.

Menahem is recorded as being a vicious man - he attacked a city and slaughtered all the pregnant women because the city refused to open the gate to him. 
But Menahem become the next king of Israel in Samaria for 10 years and was regarded as an evil king who did not turn from the sins that Jeroboam (1) had caused Israel to commit.
The king of Assyria invaded Israel and Menahem paid him off with 1000 talents of silver (about 34 Tonnes) which he got by taxing the wealthy to the tune of 50 shekels (about 0.575 kg) - I don't know about you, but I'd be interested in his definition of wealthy - it would take about 68,000 tax payers to pay that off.

Pekahiah. son of Menahem became the next king, again he did evil in the eyes of the LORD for his 2 year rule. One of his chief officials, Pekah, assassinated him and became king in his place.

Pekah ruled for 20 years and is rated by the Bible as no better than his predecessor kings of Israel, eventually Pekah was assassinated by Hoshea.

Meanwhile, in the south Jotham, son of Uzziah became the full king following the period of regency.
Like his father, Jotham tried to follow the way of God and keep the law, but did not enforce this on the people and the high places were not destroyed.

It seems that if you want a job for life, king of Israel is one to look at - it just may not be for very long! 

2 Kings 14 Amaziah and Jeroboam 2

2 Kings 14

Joash was assassinated by some of his officials, and his son Amaziah became king after him. Amaziah was 25 years old and he was king for 29 years in Jerusalem.

Once established Amaziah ordered the execution of the men who had killed his father, but did not punish the rest of their family- this is recorded as an example of keeping the law - children are not to be punished for the actions of their parents, nor parents for their children.
The Bible records that Amaziah followed the example of his father and was a good king, but he did not remove the high places or discourage worship of other gods.

Amaziah defeated Edom in battle and captured the city of Sela, which he renamed Joktheel.
Fresh from his victory he decided to challenge his brother king of Israel, Jehoahash, to battle.

Jehoahash replied with a little tale - A thistle in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar in Lebanon "Give your daughter to my son in marriage" - then the thistle was trampled by a wild animal.
Jehoahash pointed out that Amaziah has won a victory over Edom, enjoy it, but don't be stupid an pick a fight with me, you will lose!

Amaziah did not listen and Israel and Judah met in battle which Judah lost very badly - the army deserting and going home.

Jehoahash captured Amaziah at the battle field and then went to Jerusalem, tore down a large part of the city fortifications and wall, he took all valuable items from the temple and palace treasuries, also he took a number of hostages and went back to Samaria.
Amaziah died as the result of a conspiracy in Jerusalem, he fled to Lachish but they caught up with him there, but he was bought back dead and buried in Jerusalem.

16 year old Azariah became the next king.

In the Bible it appears that most kings have thier own name - the only one I think who has a number is the next king of Israel - Jeroboam 2.

In the UK, we have had 8 kings called Edward, 8 kings called Henry, 6 kings called George, 2 queens called Elizabeth a 3 Richards, 4 Williams, 2 Charles, 2 James, 2 Marys - all in all not really very imaginative!
There was only 1 Anne, Stephen, and Victoria. Oh and one Jane (for just over a week) 
These are all since 1066 by the way. 41 Monarchs with only 12 names between them!

Anyway Jeroboam 2 reigned for 41 years and was recoded as an evil king not turning away from the evil and sin that his namesake started

The Bible records that God felt sorry for the Israelites who were being oppressed and did not want to blot them out from history - so he used Jeroboam to help Israel and stop them being wiped out.

2 kings 13 Jehoahaz, Jehoahash and Elisha

2 Kings 13

In this chapter the northern kingdom of Israel has a new king - Jehoahaz son of Jehu (the king killer) succeeded his father as king and rules for 17 years from the capital city of Samaria.

The bible records that he was not a good king and did "Evil in they eyes of the LORD" like his father before him he did not sort out the idol worship of gold cows that the first king of Israel after the split Jeroboam had made.

The Bible says that due to God's anger, Jehoahaz was at war with Aram for much of his time as king and his army had been virtually wiped out - he was down to 50 horsemen, 10 chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers. (About the size of the police force and paramilitaries of Mauritius - which does not have an official armed force, but the police carry out security work)

Jehoahaz sought God's favour and the bible records that God sent a deliverer for Israel - though does not mention who it is (I suspect another regional country) 
However the idols were not removed, nor was a Asherah pole removed from the centre of Samaria

Jehoahash became the next king of Samaria when Jehoahaz died, he did nothing to stop the idol worship in Israel, continuing the pattern of the earlier kings.

Remember Elisha? Well by this time he is seriously ill with a terminal illness, and Jehoahash went to visit this influential prophet in his sick bed.

Elisha tells the king to get a bow and arrows, he tells the king to open the east window and shoot - you think that this is Robin hood don't you?  "Wherever the arrow lands, bury me" so they buried him on top of the wardrobe!

Well you're wrong this does not happen - King Jehoahash fires God's arrow of victory.
Elisha then tells the king to strike the other arrows on the ground - which the king does, three times.

Elisha got angry at the king's half hearted effort "If you had struck the ground 5 of 6 times, God would have granted you total victory over Aram, as it is you will defeat them 3 times.

Elisha died soon afterwards and was buried. 

Raiders from Moab used to invade Israelite territories every spring, one time some friends were holding the funeral for a man when they saw a band of raiders, so they threw the body into Elisha's tomb.
When the body hit Elisha's bones, he came back to life and stood up! 
I guess this is Elisha's final miracle - from the grave.

God has been angry with Israel now for quite a long time - they have deserted the God of their ancestor Abraham, but he still has compassion on them and does not want to destroy them or banish them from his presence.

This is one aspect that critics of the Bible and God often miss- they expect a cartoon like vengeful, wrathful God ready with a lightening bold to "smite" any evil-doers or athiests and then assume that God does not care, or exist,  if there is no bolt of lightening or booming voice from heaven, while this passage tells me that God does not want to totally abandon any of his people to oppression or banishment, he would much rather we come to him and try and follow his ways.

2 Kings 12 building renovations

2 Kings 12

Joash becomes king of Judah at the age of 7 and is king for the next 40 years. The Bible records that Joash was a good king and followed the Law of God, doing what was right. However he did not abolish the worship of other gods in his land as the high places were not removed .

One thing Joash did was to order the priests to carry out repairs and maintenance on the temple of God in Jerusalem - any money given was to be used to repair the temple and fix any damage.

However several years passed and nothing happened. Anybody reading this in Ilkley (where I happen to live) will be aware that the large supermarket chain Tesco have plans to build a new supermarket on the site formerly occupied by the company I work for - then the banking crisis hit the economy and the plans were put on hold, and still nothing has happened!

Anyway Joash has words with the high priest Jehoida and the other priests and asked why the lack of progress, it seems that the temple treasurers were looking after the money and not paying for the repairs.
Jehoida started a tradition that continues to this day - he made a large chest with a hole in the top to collect monetary gifts for the upkeep of the temple - even the church I attend has a similar box in a pillar near the door!
When the box was full, they emptied it out and gave the money to the craftsmen to carry out the repairs.
Receipts were not kept as the workers were honest.

It seems before the money had been spent on things like silver bowls, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls and trumpets (All things that with care can last quite a long time!)

Hazael, king of Aram, attacked towns in Judah and threatened Jerusalem, and Joash paid him off with all the valuable items he and his ancestors had dedicated to God. Which to my mind shows a lack of faith in God and a certain moral weakness.
Eventually a couple of his officials assassinated king Joash and his son Amaziah became the next king.

We have an expression in the UK - Danegeld - it means trying to pay off an invader rather than standing up for yourself.
If you are into poetry Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem about it

It is always a temptation to an armed and agile nation
  To call upon a neighbour and to say: --
"We invaded you last night--we are quite prepared to fight,
  Unless you pay us cash to go away."

And that is called asking for Dane-geld,
  And the people who ask it explain
That you've only to pay 'em the Dane-geld
  And then you'll get rid of the Dane!

It is always a temptation for a rich and lazy nation,
  To puff and look important and to say: --
"Though we know we should defeat you, we have not the time to meet you.
  We will therefore pay you cash to go away."

And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
  But we've proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
  You never get rid of the Dane.

It is wrong to put temptation in the path of any nation,
  For fear they should succumb and go astray;
So when you are requested to pay up or be molested,
  You will find it better policy to say: --

"We never pay any-one Dane-geld,
  No matter how trifling the cost;
For the end of that game is oppression and shame,
  And the nation that pays it is lost!"

With thanks to Mr Kipling (exceedingly good poetry (and cakes))
For those who are not from the UK, Mr Kipling is the name of a bakery that has the 
advertising slogan "Exceedingly good cakes" 

2 Kings 11 Queen for a day (or 2190 days)

2 Kings 11

Following the assassination of king Ahaziah of Judah by Jehu the usurping king of Israel the mother of Ahaziah decided to take charge as Queen Athaliah.
Her first act is to assassinate the whole royal family, which more or less worked apart from the sister of Ahaziah. who hid her nephew who was probably under 1 year old. The name of the child is Joash.
Young Joash was hidden first in a bedroom and then hidden with his nurse in the temple in Jerusalem for 6 years while grandma Athaliah runs the country.

After 6 years Jehoida the priest
sent for the guards and had them bought to the temple - he showed them the young boy king and they form a plan, they split the guards into 3 sections, and station them at the royal palace and a third at the gate and the final third at the gate behind the guard.
They also call in the 2 additional companies who were not on duty that day to guard the temple for the king.

They gave the guards the shields and weapons that king David had dedicated.
Jehoida then proclaims Joash king, puts the crown on his head, gives him a copy of the law of God and annointed the king with oil.

When Atheliah heard the noise she went to the temple, saw the king and cried "Treason" - a rather funny allegation given that she was not averse to killing the royal family a few years earlier!
Jehoida orders that she be taken away and not killed in the temple, so the guards took Atheliah to the horse entrance to the palace and kill her there.

The king made a covenant with God and with the people, and they tore down the temple of Baal killing the priest of Baal.

Joash was 7 years old at this stage.

2 kings 10 - the end of a dynasty

2 Kings 10 
I'm not sure quite how this chapter starts if you read it in the Hebrew - to be totally honest with you, I have enough trouble with English that I am NOT going to go and learn Hebrew just to understand this!
I know a few vicars and priests - at least some of them must know a little Greek and Hebrew from their theological training - saying "The Greek made Kebabs and the Hebrew made suits" is both stereotyping racially but really not that clever - and the laugh is not really worth it either, so I won't bother with a cheap joke like that.

The way that my bible starts the chapter is that there are 70 sons of the family of Ahab living in Samaria. I guess a polygamous marriage regime could have Ahab as father of 70 sons with several wives. Or Jezebel was particularly fertile!

Jehu wrote letters to the leaders in Samaria with a challenge - they are to pick the most able of Ahab's relatives and they should fight for the throne.
The governer, elders and guardians of Ahab's children panic and say that if Jehu has already killed 2 kings then what hope do they have and ask what Jehu wants.

Jehu replied that the following day the leaders of Samaria bring him the heads of all of Ahab's family - not attached to their bodies 
Jehu ordered the heads to be stacked either side of the city gate until morning.

In the morning he absolved the people of any crimes, it was Jehu who has rebelled against the king after all and they were following orders.
Notice the difference here between king David who refused on several occasions to allow his followers to kill king Saul?

On his way back to Samaria, Jehu bumped into some relatives of Ahaziah and killed the lot of them.
In Samaria Jehu killed all remaining members of Ahab's family 

Next Jehu pulled a trick on the priests of Baal - announcing that Ahab kind of served the god, he would serve him much more -and demanded an assembly before Baal of all his prophets, priests and servants. Anybody missing was punished by death, Jehu organised robes for all worshippers.
He ordered the worshippers of Baal to make sure that nobody who served God of Israel was allowed to enter, only Baal worshippers.
Jehu surrounded the temple with 80 troops with strict orders that nobody was to be allowed to escape, on penalty of death of the guard if anybody did get out.
He then ordered his troops into the temple, kill everybody there and desecrate the temple - they bought out the hoy stone and burned it, tearing the temple down people started using the site as a latrine.

The bible records that Jehu wiped out Baal worship, but he did nothing to rid the land of the idols that Jeroboam had made and the sin that Jeroboam had started continued through the reign of Jehu,

However Jehu had done some of what God had commanded - his dynasty would last 4 generations as kings of Israel.
During the time of Jehu, Israel started to lose power and influence as well as land - the tribes East of the river Jordan were taken over and invaded by Hazael of Aram. 

Jehu was king for 28 years in all 

2 Kings 9 - Coup d'etat

2 Kings 9

Elisha gave a mission to a younger prophet - The young man was to head to Ramoth Gilead and seek out Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, grandson of Nimshi.
In private he is to anoint Jehu as king with oil and then open the door and run away as fast as he can.
The young prophet found Jehu in company with his army officer buddies, so announced that he had a message for the commander - Which commander?  - you!
Jehu is ordered to destroy the family of Ahab as God's revenge for Jezebel and Ahab's murder of the prophets of God.
This also has happened to Jeroboam and Baasha, both former kings in Israel.
The prophet also predicts that Jezebel the widow of Ahab would be eaten by dogs at Jezreel.

Having delivered his message, the prophet ran for it at top speed.
Jehu's army friends asked "What did he say?"
Jehu tried to make light - "You know what these madmen are like!" 
Eventually they persuade him to say what the message from the prophet was - upon which they spread their cloaks over the bare steps and blew a trumpet and declared loudly Jehu is king.
I'm in two minds - was this serious or were they taking the micky? I honestly am not sure!

Jehu then formed a conspiracy against Joram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah - both kings had been at Ramoth Gilead with the army but Joram had been injured and returned to Jezreel to recover.
Jehu arranges that nobody leaves the camp while he deals with the coup.

Riding to Jezreel in a chariot, the king sent out  a guard to see who it was with a message "do you come in peace?"
Jehu ordered him "What do you have to do with peace? Fall in behind me soldier"
The lookout reported that the messenger was not coming back.
The king sent out a second mounted messenger - who is given the same orders as the first.
The lookout reported this and that the chariot driver was driving like a maniac, so it can only be Jehu! (One wonders how he got that reputation?)
King Joram ordered his chariot hitched up and went out to meet Jehu and they met a a former vinyard that used to belong to a man called Naboth (who Ahab and Jezebel had arranged to have murdered as he did not want to sell his ancestral land) 
Joram asked "Have you come in peace, Jehu?" 
Jehu answered "How can there be peace while the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?"

Joram panicked and tried to flee warning his friend king Ahaziah that treachery was afoot.
Jehu shot Joram and he died and was thrown onto the land that once belonged to Naboth.
Ahaziah made a run for it and managed to get away, though fatally wounded and he died in megiddo and was buried in Jerusalem.

Jezebel had prepared to meet with Jehu - putting on make up, and putting up her hair - she spoke to Jehu from a window - "Have you come in peace you Zimri, you murderer of your master?" 
Zimri killed a king and became king for a whole week - so you can imagine the impact these words were expected to have on Jehu.

Jehu asked if anybody was on his side, and 3 Eunuchs threw Jezebel from the window where she died either from impact of from being trampled by the horses.
Jehu went into the building and had a meal and refreshed himself, eventually he told servants to go and give Jezebel a decent burial, after all she was the daughter of a king.
But when they came to take the body away they only found her skull, and extremities.

 I think that this story has a lot to do with the unpopularity of the girls name Jezebel, about as popular as Samson's wife name Delilah.....