2 Kings 10:27 (NKJV)

A little picture in the Word

You know, sometimes the Lord puts a little picture in the Word that sticks with you as you read through it, and I want to share this little morsel of Scripture with you.

In 2 Kings chapter 10, verse 27, we read:

“Then they broke down the sacred pillar of Baal, and tore down the temple of Baal and made it a refuse dump to this day.”

Now, some of the newer translations just come right out and say they “made it a latrine” in the CSB (which I am reading now), and “made it into a public toilet” in the NLT.

That is the word I want us to sit with. Not a locked building. Not a tidy ruin. A refuse dump. A latrine. Unclean on purpose, and still that way “to this day.”

A refuse site we walk on here

In the mid-19th century here in Helensburgh, the beachfront along West Clyde Street, from Sinclair Street along to the Commodore Hotel, was where folk came for a seaside escape — a walk along the Clyde, fish and chips and ice cream.

But Helensburgh wrestled with a dark and putrid secret right along its shores. It was an open-air waste site, drowning the tidal mudflats in raw sewage and household rubbish that left a stench at low tide. In the fight against cholera, scavengers scraped the streets and hauled the waste to rotting “dung depots” on the edge of town, later sold to farmers as fertiliser.

In the late Victorian era the sea wall and promenade were built, and that old waste zone was buried under stone and concrete. A swamp of refuse became the esplanade we walk on today. Nobody goes there to honour what used to be dumped. It was finished, covered, and put out of use.

That is the sort of picture 2 Kings 10:27 is giving us.

A wee trail through the Book, so we stay Bible Strong

I don’t want to preach the whole life of Jehu here. I do want you hungry enough to open the chapters for yourself. Jehu was the tenth king of the northern kingdom. Here is the path in the Word:

God named him years before — 1 Kings 19:16

A young prophet sent by Elisha anoints him at Ramoth Gilead — 2 Kings 9:1–10

He is to avenge the blood of the Lord’s servants, killed at Jezebel’s hand — 2 Kings 9:7

He drives hard to Jezreel — 2 Kings 9:16, 20

Joram of Israel and Ahaziah of Judah fall — 2 Kings 9:24, 27

Jezebel is thrown down, and the dogs eat her, as Elijah said — 2 Kings 9:30–37; 1 Kings 21:23

Ahab’s seventy sons are killed, heads at the gate; the house is finished as Elijah said — 2 Kings 10:1–17; 1 Kings 21:24

If you have never read 2 Kings 9 and 10 in one sitting, do it this week. Two chapters. You will see why the Lord put a latrine where a temple used to be.

The trap, then the dump

That brings us to the verse. Jehu tricks the prophets of Baal into the temple. He gathers them and says, “Ahab served Baal a little; Jehu will serve him much.” That was a trap. He calls the prophets, servants and priests of Baal for a great sacrifice, marks them with robes, keeps the Lord’s servants out, and posts eighty men with this warning: if one of the cloaked men escapes, your life for his life — 2 Kings 10:18–24.

After the offering he orders the slaughter. They break the sacred pillar of Baal, tear the temple down, and make the whole place a refuse dump — a latrine — a site for the waste of the city — 2 Kings 10:25–27.

In that culture that was about the strongest statement you could make. Finished. Unclean. Never to be used for worship again.

See, Jehu had been raised up by the Lord to clean house. No half-measures. Nothing left that somebody could come along later and say, “Well, maybe we can clean this up and start again.”

Don’t miss the other half of the chapter

That’s the way the Lord deals with idolatry, isn’t it? He doesn’t want us managing it. He doesn’t want us keeping a little corner of it just in case. He wants it put completely out of commission.

But keep reading. In 2 Kings 10:29–31 Jehu did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam — the golden calves at Bethel and Dan. He made Baal a dump and still left another idol standing. Zeal in one place is not a whole heart. That is meat for new believers too. Read it. Don’t stop at the victory verse.

Tomato sauce and little Baals

It was similar to when I was on a diet. I would bin foods I was tempted by, a cake or a chocolate bar, and squirt tomato sauce over them. Even if I tried to wash it off, I couldn’t eat it. I didn’t store it “just in case.” I made it a refuse dump.

So what does that say to you and me today? Well, you and I still have our own little Baals or little golden calves, don’t we? They are the things that quietly take the place that belongs only to the Lord. Maybe it’s money, or comfort, or somebody’s approval, or that quiet sin we keep making room for. Sometimes we deal with it half-heartedly. We break the pillar, but we leave the building standing.

Make it a refuse dump

The Lord is saying through this little verse: don’t just manage the idol. Make it a refuse dump. Starve it. Cut off the supply. Confess it fully. Treat it as something unclean that has no place in the life of a child of God.

You know, the safest place for any idol is the refuse dump. Leave it there. The Lord is still a jealous God, not because He’s mean, but because He loves you too much to share your heart with anything else.

So take that picture home with you today. Make it a refuse dump. That’s how complete the Lord wants the victory to be. And by His grace, that’s how complete it can be.

Amen.