Lives of Scripture

Jehu son of Hanani was a prophet active across the reigns of two very different kings. Early in his ministry, "the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha," pronouncing that because Baasha had walked in Jeroboam's sins and made Israel sin, his entire house would be swept away exactly as Jeroboam's had been -- a prophecy fulfilled when Zimri later exterminated Baasha's dynasty (1 Kings 16:1-4, 7, 12). Decades later, Jehu confronted a very different king: Jehoshaphat of Judah, a largely faithful ruler who had nonetheless allied himself by marriage and military campaign with wicked Ahab of Israel. After Jehoshaphat returned safely from the disastrous battle in which Ahab was killed, "Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, 'Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the LORD? For this thing wrath has gone forth against you from the LORD'" (2 Chronicles 19:2). Yet Jehu also acknowledged the good in Jehoshaphat, who had set his heart to seek God (19:3). Jehu's ministry left a documentary legacy too -- the Chronicler notes that the rest of Jehoshaphat's acts were recorded in the annals of Jehu the son of Hanani (2 Chronicles 20:34).