All the people of the land went to the house of Baal, and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.The usurper queen has just been overthrown, and the true king of Judah restored. He had been hidden since he was a baby in the temple. Now that he has been restored to the throne, the next thing the priest does is bring the people back to God. He makes a covenant with them to serve God, and they respond immediately. They go and destroy the temple to Baal.
In Israel, the king tricked the followers of Baal into coming to be destroyed. Here, the people simply rise up and take the temple down. No one is killed except Baal's priest, it appears. Last chapter, I was asking why Jehu had to use deceit to destroy Baal's followers. What would have happened if he had done something like this instead? Would the people have followed?
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