We see that there is not only a dynastic succession of reigns, but also a succession of prophetic rebukes of royal actions. It was not long ago that the prophet Hanani rebuked King Asa, and now Jehu rebukes Jehoshaphat, Asa’s son, for helping Israel. Both prophets condemn cooperation with pagans and apostates, and therefore an insufficient trust in the Lord.
Yet the prophet Jehu also notes what is good in the king’s deeds, namely the eradication of idolatry. Rebuke, then, is not an end in itself. The prophet does not deliver angry speeches in order to vent his own negative emotions upon the person he rebukes and crush him morally, but to give him an opportunity to see the truth and rise above his sins and weaknesses. How unlike us, who so readily and gladly lash out in order to humiliate someone who has displeased us, while also exalting ourselves at the expense of the person we are kicking! Even though we ourselves are hardly blameless.
