However, later on Baal worship again gave trouble in both Israel and Judah.​—2Ki 17:16; 2Ch 28:2; Jer 32:29.

Likely to keep the ten-tribe kingdom of Israel distinct from the kingdom of Judah with its temple of Jehovah at Jerusalem, King Jehu let the calf worship remain in Israel with its centers at Dan and Bethel. “And Jehu himself did not take care to walk in the law of Jehovah the God of Israel with all his heart. He did not turn aside from the sins of Jeroboam with which he caused Israel to sin.”​—2Ki 10:29, 31.

However, after Jehu’s day, by the prophet Hosea, Jehovah said: “For yet a little while and I must hold an accounting for the acts of bloodshed of Jezreel against the house of Jehu, and I must cause the royal rule of the house of Israel to cease.” (Ho 1:4) This bloodguilt on Jehu’s house could not be for his carrying out the commission to destroy the house of Ahab, for God commended him for this. Neither could it be because he destroyed Ahaziah of Judah and his brothers. By their family connections, namely, the marriage of Jehoram of Judah, the son of King Jehoshaphat, to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, the royal line of Judah was contaminated with an infiltration of the wicked house of Omri.

Rather, the key to the matter seems to lie in the statement that Jehu let calf worship continue in Israel and did not walk in the law of Jehovah with all his heart. Probably Jehu came to believe that independence from Judah could be maintained only through religious separation. Like other kings of Israel, he sought to secure his position by perpetuating calf worship. This was really an expression of lack of faith in Jehovah, who had made it possible for Jehu to become king. So, it may be that, apart from the proper execution of Jehovah’s judgment against the house of Ahab, the wrong motivations that prompted Jehu to let calf worship remain also caused him to spill blood.

The real power of the kingdom of Israel was broken when Jehu’s house fell, the kingdom lasting only about 50 years longer. Only Menahem, who struck down Zechariah’s murderer Shallum, had a son who succeeded him on the throne. This son, Pekahiah, was assassinated, as was his murderer and successor Pekah. Hoshea, Israel’s last king, went into captivity to the king of Assyria.​—2Ki 15:10, 13-30; 17:4.

The primary sin of Israel all along was its practice of calf worship. This led to the drawing of the nation away from Jehovah, with consequent deterioration. So the guilt for the “bloodshed of Jezreel” was one of the things, along with murdering, stealing, adultery, and other crimes, that really found its root in the false worship in which the rulers permitted the people to indulge. Finally God had to “cause the royal rule of the house of Israel to cease.”​—Ho 1:4; 4:2.