Chapter 16 opens with Baasha as king over Israel and God rebuking him and telling what his future is because of all the evil he has done. The dogs will eat whoever, in his house, dies in the city and the birds will eat whoever dies in the country ! Baasha had eliminated all of Jeroboam's family and God was going to do the same to him. Then Elah, the son of Baasha became king and reigned for two years. He was killed by Zimri and he reigned as king for 7 days. As soon as he sat on the throne, he killed all of Baasha's family and his extended family. This was to fulfill God's promise. Zimri reigned for 7 days. This is the shortest reign in Israel history. Omri became king after being commander of military. When the people heard what Zimri had done they made Omri king and Zimri committed suicide by burning himself alive in the kings house. Omri reigned over Israel for 12 years then his son Ahab took over as king and he was king for 22 years.
All of these kings reigned over Israel and they all did evil in the eyes of the Lord. It is said in verse 30 " Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all that were before him". We will see in the next chapter how God uses Ahab and Elijah to bring God' people back to Himself.
Friday, May 25, 2018
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Chapter 15 Four Kings ... One Good !
When I read this chapter, I am reminded of Jesus' parable in the New Testament about the four soils. Of the four conditions of the heart when hearing the word of God, only one takes root and produces fruit. Here, in chapter 15, we see that there are four different kings talked about covering about 50 years and only one of them did what was right in the eyes of God ! Another thing I notice is that when any king is introduced to the reader, the name of the mother or grandmother is mentioned. This is unusual in that women were not equal or highly valued in that society and yet the writer goes out of their way to tell us who the important female in their life was and how this king was seen in God's eyes !
The first two kings mentioned are Abijam and Asa. Both were kings over Judah. Asa is the one king who did right in the eyes of God. Not by coincidence, God allowed him to serve the longest of these 4. He was king for 41 years and Abijam served first and for only 3 years. Its says that Asa banished the perverted people from the land, he removed all the idols made by his fathers, and removed his grandmother from being queen mother because she had made an obscene idol of Asherah. The high places were not cut down but his heart was with God just as his father David's was.
The second two kings reigned over Israel. Nadab for 2 years and Baasha for 24 years. Both did what was evil in the eyes of God. Nadab was the son of Jeroboam and was killed in his third year of reigning by Baasha. It says of Baasha " And it was so, when he became king, that he killed all the house of Jeraboam. He did not leave to Jeraboam anyone that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonits, because of the sins of Jeraboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he had provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger." Verse 29-30)
It is important to remember ,when looking at 1 Kings, that the 12 tribes had split and made two countries out of Israel. 10 1/2 tribes started the country of Judah and the remaining 1 1/2 tribes stayed in Israel. So, when we are talking about the different kings, we need to pay attention to which country we are talking about lest we become confused.
The first two kings mentioned are Abijam and Asa. Both were kings over Judah. Asa is the one king who did right in the eyes of God. Not by coincidence, God allowed him to serve the longest of these 4. He was king for 41 years and Abijam served first and for only 3 years. Its says that Asa banished the perverted people from the land, he removed all the idols made by his fathers, and removed his grandmother from being queen mother because she had made an obscene idol of Asherah. The high places were not cut down but his heart was with God just as his father David's was.
The second two kings reigned over Israel. Nadab for 2 years and Baasha for 24 years. Both did what was evil in the eyes of God. Nadab was the son of Jeroboam and was killed in his third year of reigning by Baasha. It says of Baasha " And it was so, when he became king, that he killed all the house of Jeraboam. He did not leave to Jeraboam anyone that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah the Shilonits, because of the sins of Jeraboam, which he had sinned and by which he had made Israel sin, because of his provocation with which he had provoked the Lord God of Israel to anger." Verse 29-30)
It is important to remember ,when looking at 1 Kings, that the 12 tribes had split and made two countries out of Israel. 10 1/2 tribes started the country of Judah and the remaining 1 1/2 tribes stayed in Israel. So, when we are talking about the different kings, we need to pay attention to which country we are talking about lest we become confused.
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