The worship of Baal was a curse to the land of Israel, and the house of Ahab had been guilty of promoting this system of false religion. It was high time that something be done to put an end to the evil influences of the house of Ahab. It was also time that the idolatrous system of Baal worship be rooted out of the land. Jehu had done much toward checking the influence of evil and wiping out the sources of corruption. In that regard he had performed a great service to his nation and to the cause of righteousness, and this was recognized by the Lord.

 The work of Jehu was a mixture of good and evil. To a certain extent he had done the work of the Lord, but there were also serious evils in his methods which did not have the approval of Heaven. His descendants who ruled upon the throne of Israel were Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, and Zachariah. Shallum brought an end to Jehu’s dynasty by slaying Zachariah (2 Kings 15:10, 12). The house of Jehu ruled Israel for about a century—longer than any other dynasty. The house of Jeroboam ruled 22 years and that of Omri 44 (24 and 48 inclusive; see p. 145; see also pp. 136, 138).