Executioners Of Evil-Doers.1 Kings 16:1-14
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT UNDER THE MONARCHY
INTRODUCTION
Originally Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles were regarded as one series, and called the Books of Kings. In the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament, made during the period between the Testaments), each of these books was divided into two parts; and what we term First Kings was called the Third Book of Kings.
It is impossible to fix accurately either the date when this book was compiled, or the name of the writer. From the fact that the last chapter of II Kings records the release of Jehoiachin from captivity, which took place B.C. 562, but makes no mention of the decree of Cyrus, B.C. 538, with which the return of the Jews from captivity began, it is concluded that the book was compiled sometime between these dates.
The sources from which the compiler drew were three: the Book of the Acts of Solomon, 1Ki_11:41; the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, 1Ki_14:29, etc.; and the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, 1Ki_14:19. The Chronicles here referred to are not the books called Chronicles in the Bible, but separate works which are now lost.
The history of the nation is recorded from the close of the reign of David to the middle of the reign of Ahaziah. In its highest glory under Solomon, the kingdom foreshadows the millennial kingdom of our Lord. The prosperity of the nation rises or falls according to the character of the ruler and his people, illustrating for us the important truth that obedience is the condition of blessing.
II. THE DIVIDED KINGDOM, I Kings 12-22
4. The Reigns of Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri and Omri in Israel; and the Reigns of Abijam and Asa in Judah, 1Ki_15:1-34; 1Ki_16:1-28
How was Elah’s reign cut short?
EXECUTIONERS OF EVIL-DOERS
Now the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,
“Because I exalted you [Baasha] from the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and you walked in the way of Jeroboam and made My people Israel sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins [of idol worship],
behold, I am going to sweep away Baasha and his household (family), and I will make your house (royal line) like that of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
The dogs will eat anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat anyone belonging to him who dies in the field.”
Now as for the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
Baasha slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in Tirzah. Elah his son became king in his place.
Moreover, the word of the LORD came against Baasha and his household through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani, both for all the evil that Baasha did in the sight of the LORD in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands (idolatry), in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he [willingly] destroyed it (the family of Jeroboam).
ELAH REIGNS IN ISRAEL
In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years.
His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against Elah. Now Elah was in Tirzah, getting drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the [king’s] household in Tirzah.
Then Zimri came in and struck and killed Elah in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and became king in his place.
When he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, he killed the entire household of Baasha; he did not leave a single male [alive], either of his relatives or his friends.
Thus Zimri destroyed the entire household of Baasha, in accordance with the word of the LORD which He spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet, [1Ki_16:3]
for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they committed, and made Israel commit, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols.
Now as for the rest of the acts of Elah and everything that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
EXECUTIONERS OF EVIL-DOERS
A noble figure crosses the canvas for a moment. It is Jehu, the son of Hanani, shining like a star in the night. No age has been without its prophets; no life, however abandoned, has been without some remonstrating voice; no soul goes over the cataract without a warning cry. And these messages, answering to the voice of conscience within, reveal the pitying love of the Father, not willing that any should perish, Eze_18:23. Hanani, Jehu’s father, had been a prophet, 2Ch_16:7, and Jehu held the same office for a long period, 2Ch_19:2; 2Ch_20:34.
Baasha died in peace and was buried in state. But such an end is not the end, and points forward to another life, since God is God, Psa_17:14. Elah and the remainder of the royal house were cut off by Zimri, and the extermination was so complete that none of his avengers were left. But Zimri, after a reign of seven days, was similarly treated, 2Ki_9:31. Seven days are long enough to test a man, and in that brief space Zimri found time to walk in the way of Jeroboam and his sin, 1Ki_16:15; 1Ki_16:19. Such is the course of this world. Happy are they who, amid political convulsion, live the life of the quiet in the land, 1Th_4:11, and receive the kingdom that cannot be moved, Heb_12:27.
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