It's amazing, that a person like Jehu, who was so keen to rid Israel of the blemish of Ahab and Baal worship, should follow in the sins of Jeroboam - and that is reported of him twice (2Kin 10:29,30).
Israel had had the witness of Elijah and Elisha, but still served Jeroboam's 2 gods in Bethel and Dan.
Jehu used a clever ploy to rid the land of Baal worshippers (2Kin 10:18-28). And apparently it worked.
A look in Young's Concordance shows that the name of Baal does not again occur again in Israel's history, apart from a summary of their evil ways in 2Kin 17:13-18.  Israel did, unfortunately though,
commit many other evil acts displeasing to God.

Vs.16,31 Jehu's behavior should serve as a great exhortation to us.  On the one hand he was full of zeal for Yahweh in ridding Israel of the wicked line of Ahab and Baal worship.  But, on the other hand, he could not see that the false worship Jeroboam had set up was wrong.

Vs.30,32 Of course, Yahweh was pleased with Jehu's efforts vis-à-vis Ahab and Baal; but was not pleased that he continued in the way of Jeroboam.  For that, Israel continued to suffer at the hand of Hazael. 

We ought to be careful that we do not have zeal for the Yahweh in one direction but rationalize that a given practice (contrary to Yahweh) is o.k. in another.  The danger of such rationalization is especially heightened in the subtle world of today.  We need to be solidly grounded in God's Truth and be constantly on guard to be able to see the sophisticated dangers presented to us in this regard (Eph 6:11). 

10:16  For whose benefit did Jehu wish to show his zeal for the Lord?

10:30 So, because of his zeal for God Jehu was the first in a line of kings over Israel which God designated – but only for four generation – see 2Kin 15:12

10:5 It would appear that those who should have been loyal to Ahab and would have been expected to set one of Ahab’s sons on the throne were actually part of the revolt against Ahab,

10:8-9 Where those men who slew Ahab’s seventy sons ‘righteous’? Indeed Gods word was being kept but was it right to murder the sons?

V.13 The queen (KJV) is rightly translated queen mother (ESV), because it refers to Jezebel.

V.15 For the faith of the Rechabites, please read Jer 35:5-19.

Vs.29,31 Jehu had carried out his mandate as far as destroying the house of Ahab.  He had been appointed king of Israel, and had no divine instruction to change the political status quo.  And so, Israel was left separate to Judah, which included worshipping the golden calves at Dan and Bethel, rather that worshipping in Jerusalem.  This was politically expedient, on behalf of Jehu, but not spiritually sound.

Do we always do what is expedient, or do we extend ourselves spiritually to fully carry out the will of Yahweh?

10:5-7 The way in which Jehu ensured that none of the sons of Ahab was crowned was a masterful act of diplomacy, backed by the fact that those who looked after Ahab’s children already had a fear of Jehu. So Jehu was able to remove the threat of one of Ahab’s sons being crowned by simply making a threat!

2Kin 10:3 - Jehu didn't wish to lay seige to the powerful fortress so he cleverly wrote an intimidating letter which achieved his objective. 2Kin 10:6,8 - the leaders were so frightened they didn't even wait for "to morrow" and delivered the 70 heads at night. 2Kin 10:9,11 - V.9 "Ye be righteous" was an example of Jehu's bloodthirsty sarcasm as he adds "but who slew all these?" V.11 the leaders "great men" and "kinsfolks" [Heb. "yada" (3045) includes "caretakers, acquaintances"] met their end as did blood relatives.

2Kin 10:12-14 - V.14 - "shearing house" [Heb. "Beth Eked" (1044) means "house of binding, shearing house" - sheep shearing would take place around Passover] perhaps suggests being in bondage to sin which leads to death.

2Kin 10:15,23 - "Jehonadab" was a Gentile "Rechabite" (decended from the Kenites) related to Moses who were friends of Israel and they somewhat echo the Nazarite [(5139) means "consecrated one, separated one, devoted one" - Num 10:29-34;Judg 1:16;4:11,17;5:24;1Sam 15:6;1Chron 2:55;Neh 3:14;Jer 35:5-19;Num 6:1-21] - believers are to be separated, devoted, pilgrims, strangers and sojourners (Heb 11:13;1Pet 2:11;1Pet 1:17;Gen 23:4;Lev 25:23;1Chron 29:15).

2Kin 10:28-29 - is it possible Jehu, like Jeroboam (1Kin 12:26-33), consciously didn't want the Israelites to worship in Jerusalem as he might lose control or was it more his lacking spiritual depth and being careless?

2Kin 10:30-31 - God, noting the bloodthirsty attitude of Jehu at Jezreel, punished his house (Hos 1:4). Under Jehu, Israel was already being diminished (2Kin 10:32) and there is existing record of Jehu paying tribute to Shalmanesar III, king of Assyria in 841 BC.

Notice that Ezekiel was a priest 1:3 - 'the thirtieth year' is the thirtieth year of Ezekiel's life so, if he were in Israel, he would just be starting his period as a priest:- Numbers 4:3 4:23 4:30
Ezekiel was carried away to Babylon between the first and final deportation of Judah 2 Kings 24.11-16
Like Daniel and the Apostle John, he prophesied out of the land, and his prophecy, like theirs, follows the method of symbol and vision. Unlike the prophets before the exile, whose ministry was primarily to either Judah or the ten-tribe kingdom, Ezekiel is the voice of God to "the whole house of Israel."
Notice from the table above, the relevant parts being duplicated here, that the prophecy of Ezekiel, though carefully dated is not in fact in chronological order.

Quotations from Ezekiel 1 in the New Testament
1:1 Heavens opened Acts 7:56  Revelation 19:11
1:12 Whither was to go they went Revelation 14:4
1:18 full of eyes Revelation 4:8
1:24 like the noise of great waters Revelation 1:15
1:26 the likeness Revelation 4:3
1:28 bow Revelation 4:3
1:28 likeness glory of God Hebrews 1:3

Daniel was a contemporary prophet to Ezekiel. There are a number of parallels between this chapter and Daniel 10.

The parallels between Ezekiel and the Lord Jesus are plain. 

-Their ministries began at aged thirty (v.1; Luke 3:23). 

-They were both prophet and priest (v.3; Heb 6:20). 

-They were called Son of man (2:1; Matt 16:13). 

-They essentially came to preach to the House of Israel (2:3; Matt 15:24).   

-But beyond the House of Israel, their messages spread to all mankind (38:23; Luke 24:47). 

The four creatures Ezekiel saw were indicative of four aspects of Christ as found in the Major Prophets and the gospels:

Lion (king) - Isaiah - Matthew

Ox (servant) - Jeremiah - Mark

Man (humanity) - Ezekiel - Luke

Eagle (spirit) - Daniel - John

1:28 Whilst we might debate the details of what Ezekiel saw there is no doubt what he saw. It was the ‘likeness of the glory of the Lord’. So Ezekiel, who was in captivity in Babylon, learnt that God was not confined to the land of Israel.

1:2 Ezekiel’s prophecy contains many dates indicating when the prophet spoke. The timing relates to the captivity of Jehoiachin. Whilst this may seem a strange way of dating a prophecy it is most appropriate when we realise that Ezekiel is actually with those captives who were taken from Israel when the captivity of Jehoiachin took place.

1:12 The way in which the living creatures and the whole apparatus the Ezekiel saw travelled is echoed in the way in which the redeemed of Rev 14:4 follow the ‘lamb’.

1:1 Ezekiel was prophesying just prior to the final captivity of the inhabitants of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans. It was at this time he saw the heavens opened. Stephen, speaking about the events associated with AD 70 when the Romans destroyed the city also saw the heavens opened – Acts 7:49

V.2 This would have been in the thirteenth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar (See 2Kin 24:12).

V.3 Buzi means contempt.

V.5 The four living creatures are related to the four living creatures of Rev 4:6,8; 5:6,14.  A couple of symbols to briefly consider are:

-eyes  (Eze 1:18; Rev 4:4,6).  The eyes, which extend all around, symbolize the Redeemed who will be fully engaged in every aspect of the Lord’s work in the kingdom.

-throne (Vs.25-27; Rev 4:6; 5:6) The Redeemed will worship Jesus, the righteous King.

More will be considered in the notes on Revelation.

What was Ezekiel actually seeing here, and does it actually have any bearing on our lives?

Throughout this chapter the words Appearance and Likeness occur again and again. For example v26 "on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man". This is rather than saying "there was a man on the throne". So God means us to see some significance in this strange form of wording. And it's easy to find out what the words mean. We take a Strongs concordance and look up the number for the words used in this passage. So appearance = 04758. We can now look along the list of the references for Appearance in the body of the concordance and check the passages where this word is used (other Hebrew words will be listed with another number; ignore these). And when we have done that, we can look in the Hebrew index at the back at the number 04758 to see how else it is translated, checking each of these lists in the same way. E.g. Visage and Beauty etc. If you have a computer Bible you can do this even easier by simply listing verses containing the strongs number.

Doing this shows us the way that these words are used by God in scripture. It's not open to interpretation or error as it would be when reading a Bible dictionary. The passages with 04758 tell us it means the physical sight, as in Gen 2:9. Doing the same exercise with Likeness (01823) reveals it means a copy or representation of something, like Gen 5:3 and 2Kin 16:10. So what Ezekiel saw was a visual representation, or visual copy of something that he would not actually comprehend, nor survive were he to see it actually. If you photograph a fire, you can see the fire and touch it without being burned. This is borne out by the burning bush incident where Moses saw a copy of God's glory yet was not consumed, neither was the bush (Exo 3:3, 24:7). The same goes for us who have seen God's glory displayed in Jesus His son, the likeness of the appearance of God (Col 1:15, Heb 1:3). For who could abide seeing the Glory of God and live?

1:3 The word of God came ‘expressly unto Ezekiel’ in a similar way – 3:2 – John Baptist received a revelation to work. Both men were priests.

5 v.1 The concept of being made ' without hands' is seen in the following passages. Daniel 2:34,45 8:25 Mark 14:58 Colossians 2:11 Hebrews 9:11
Whereas being ' made with hands' is seen in the following places Mark 14:58 Acts 7:48 17:24 19:26 Hebrews 9:11,24
Showing there is a clear contrast. Christ is not of this world. Having been born at the instigation of Yahweh for a purpose.

6 v.7 The phrase the 'word of truth' is an interesting one seen in a number of places in Scripture. Psalm 119:43 Ephesians 1:13 2 Timothy 2:15 James 1:18
A consideration of these passages will show us the essential nature of the written Word on our lives.

7:5 The word 'fightings' 3163 is defined by considering how it is used in the New Testament.
2 Corinthians 7:5 fightings
2 Timothy 2:23 strifes
Titus 3:9 strivings
James 4:1 fightings
A consideration of the contexts of each occurrence helps to show what sort of things were striven about.

7 v.6 - 7 Notice that the coming of Titus, whilst comforting Paul also provided Titus with comfort as well. A powerful lesson when considering pastoral visits. The visitor as well as the visited benefit.

5:10 Whereas we might tremble at the thought of appearing before the judgement seat of Christ Paul comments that we must appear before the judgement seat of Christ against the background that 'we might be accepted of him' (5:9) In fact the New Testament is always upbeat when talking about the expectation that the believer should have. It is only our lack of faith which causes us to be fearful.

6:5-6 Following the point we made in March (6:16) we should realise that like as God was with Israel in their wilderness journey - see the quotation from Exodus 29:45 - there are great responsibilities which rest upon us. If God is with us then we must ensure that we have separated ourselves from the world and everything that defiles us.

7:6 In speaking of 'Godly sorrow' Paul is making a distinction between the sorrow of one who is found out doing wrong and is sorrowful at his discovery and true repentance. The brethren and sisters in Corinth responded correctly to the strong words that Paul, by the Spirit, had written tothem. How do we respond when we are confronted with our errors?

5:14 'if one died for all then were all dead' quotes Romans 5:15. So we see that Paul's earlier letter (to the Romans) takes on the status of Scripture.

6:3 In teaching that we should give no offence lest the ministry be blamed Paul is showing us that our behaviour affects the way that others perceive the message we preach.

7:14 So it would appear that Paul had spoken of the enthusiasm of the Corinthian brethren to others. Do we speak favourably of our brethren and sisters to others or do we only find fault?

In John 11v33, we see that it was when he the weeping of Mary that Jesus groaned. It was here that he decided to raise Lazarus. He did this because Mary was so upset. Mary's sister Martha had exibited a completely different attitude to her sister, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day". She recognised that the important thing was that he would be raised to eternal life, even if he was dead now.

I suggest that the groaning of Jesus was the same as the groaning we find in 5v2-4. Paul is making the comment that if we are truly spiritual people, then we groan at the burden of our lives in the flesh, longing earnestly to be rid of its propensity for sin. The perspective we should have is "we are... well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." (5v8). Paul echoes his own words in Philippians 1v23-24 "For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you."

So why did Jesus groan? Well, I would suggest it was because through Mary's lack of perspective, he had to raise Lazarus, who was far better off remaining as he was! Martha had had the wisdom to realise this. The groaning of Jesus was his desire likewise to be in the grave awaiting the resurrection, but he had a few more days in the flesh to complete in his struggle against sin. Paul is warning that if we feel at home in the flesh, then we are absent from Christ, who was not (v6).

5:11 The word translated 'terror' 5401 is elsewhere (2Cor 7:1,5,15) translated 'fear' this is the more typical translation of the word. The 'fear' of the Lord is a respect not terror.

6:5 When Paul summarises some of the things that have happened to him we should realise that 2 Corinthians was written quite early in his ministry - before, for example, his shipwreck which is described in Acts 27.

7:8-11 Notice the repeated use of 'sorry' and the related words  'sorrow' and 'sorrowed'.  Mark them in your Bible. This cluster of this word should be seen along the same cluster in 2Cor 2:2-7. Paul has returned to the same subject - the effect of ecclesial decision making on the hearts of the brethren and sisters. Notice also te cluster of 'comfort' words in both Chapter 2 and here in chapter 7.

5:1,2,8 The immortal soul believers think they go to heaven at death.  If souls go floating off to a heavenly paradise at death, then the need for Jesus to return to earth, and for judgement to take place, would be redundant.

The reality is that when Jesus returns to earth, He will judge, then he will establish His Kingdom.  Our place, in that kingdom, is reserved in heaven (1Pet 1:4,5).  The change, from a mortal state to an immortal one, will come from heaven, but will be administered on earth. 

5:10 ‘appear’ is elsewhere translated ‘be manifest’ Luke 8:17 or ‘known’ Matt 12:16 or ‘openly’ Matt 6:17. Paul is not speaking of a court of law but a time when what is in our hearts will be manifest. Our lives now determine what will happen to us at the resurrection.

6:17 The ‘armour of righteousness’ is developed in Eph 6:11-13. In calling it the armour of ‘righteousness’ we learn that it is not armour that anyone can take up. It is prepared of God for His ‘army’.

7:9 ‘Sorrow after a godly manner’ differs from sorrow in the world. We see politicians struggle to apologise – and then they seem to be saying ‘sorry’ that they have been found out! Saying ‘sorry’ is more than saying the word. The word comes from a desire to change one’s behaviour.

6:12 In this verse Paul is telling the Corinthians that it is themselves, not Paul, who places restrictions upon themselves.

5:11 The word translated ‘manifest’ is the same word that is translated ‘appear’ in verse :10

5:7 Walking by ‘faith’ rather than by ‘sight’ contrasts Israel under the law who could see with we who cannot yet ‘see’ the kingdom. Of course those who strove to observe the law could not see at all! – 2Cor 3:14

5:3 After sinning, Adam and Eve were found naked and ashamed (Gen 3:10).  Yahweh then covered them with an acceptable covering (Gen 3:21).  That covering pointed forward to Jesus as being the universally acceptable covering for sin (Rom 4:7). 

Coming into covenant relationship with Yahweh through belief in the gospel and baptism into Jesus’ Name, covers one from sin (Mark 16:16).  

But, this is not a case of: once covered always covered.  It is up to the covered individual to keep his/her garments clean by rendering acceptable service to the Lord.

If Jesus comes back and finds one’s garment unclean, it will be the same as if he/she were not covered at all, like Adam and Eve just after they had sinned (Rev 16:15).

5:15 A saint is a sanctified person in Jesus.  As such, a saint lives according to the spirit of His Christ, and not according to the flesh.  Look what Paul was prepared to do in his attempt to accomplish that (6:4-10).  What are we prepared to do?

7:10 The world is sad over the loss of people and goods.  When the people of the world suffer loss, they always want to know why?  But, they do not seek for the right answers in the right place, The Word of God.  And so, they continue to suffer until death takes them, forever.

The saint does not care about worldly loss, because he/she has the hope of eternal life, when all things will be made right.  But, the saint is very concerned about any breach of obedience.  The sorrow of doing the wrong thing, of letting down Yahweh and His Son after all that was accomplished for him/her can be unbearable. Fortunately, a contrite heart, seeking forgiveness, can always find grace once more.

6:2 The quotation from Psa 69:10 / , Isa 49:18 links our speaking and God hearing with his help – ‘succoured’. In this way we work together with God.