A STUDY OF 1 KINGS: Evil Only Breeds More Evil 1 Kings 16
Dr. Jerry A. Collins
EVIL IS PERMANENTLY EMBEDDED
WITHIN THE NORTHERN KINGDOM
Verses 1-2: At
this juncture we can now say its safe to assume that evil is the state of being
for the northern kingdom of Israel. It is willful and deliberate. God is now
going to once again speak directly to the evil being done. He will use prophets
to deliver the stern message. Now the word of the
Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha. God reminds Baasha of the privilege God
had afforded him.
Inasmuch as I exalted you from
the dust and made you leader over My people Israel. Though he waded through
slaughter to his throne, he owed it to the permission of God, by whom all kings
reign. Baasha had an outstanding opportunity to lead
Israel back to true covenantal worship after he had killed Nadab and terminated
Jeroboam’s dynasty (15:29).
PT— The Lord’s
pattern is to use the obscure, the untouchable, the despised, the unknown to
participate in the work He is doing. Unfortunately, that process is corrupted
by self seeking ambition such as that of Baasha. For
consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has
chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and
the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that
are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before
God (1
Corinthians 1:26-29).
—However, Baasha chose not to do
so. Instead, you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made My people
Israel sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins. He evidently regarded his
elevation from a lowly origin (exalted
from the dust v. 2) to Israel’s
throne as an opportunity to fulfill personal ambition rather than to glorify
the Lord.
An
Application— Keep an eternal perspective when you are given an
opportunity to advance the Lord’s agenda. To use that for one’s own personal
gain violates the purpose of the opportunity in the first place. God was
willing to let Baasha determine how he would handle
that just as God did with Jeroboam. Unfortunately, the temptation was too much
to resist and so warranted God’s judgment for having made my people Israel sin.
Verses 3-4: Because
Baasha was a wicked king after the pattern of
Jeroboam, he would face the same judgment as Jeroboam and his house. Behold,
I will consume Baasha and his house, and I will make
your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. This image I will
consume (I will sweep away) emphasize
the thorough and destructive nature of the coming judgment. This
had special relevance to Baasha, because he was the
instrument of judgment God used to bring justice to the house of Jeroboam. Anyone of Baasha
who dies in the city the dogs will eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field
the birds of the heavens will eat. For
his failure God announced that He would cut off his dynasty as He had
Jeroboam’s along with a disgraceful ending.
Verses 5-7: God ended Baasha’s reign for
two primary reasons: First, his continuation
of Jeroboam’s idolatrous cult. Through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani
also came against Baasha and his household, both because of all the evil which he did in the
sight of the Lord provoking Him
to anger with the work of his hands, in
being like the house of Jeroboam.
Second, the motive and manner with
which he assassinated Nadab and because he struck it or (and because of how he
had destroyed
Jeroboam’s dynasty v 7). The reason his family would be killed the way they were,
is because he showed no mercy to the family of Jeroboam, but killed men, women,
and children. Baasha eliminates Jeroboam’s family, as God said
would happen, yet becomes like Jeroboam,
which makes him a murderer, not a reformer. We then read of the royal transition. And Baasha
slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son became king in his place (v 5).
PT—The
Bible tells us that by nature, God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy (Psalm 103:8). Because He is slow to anger, it took a lot of
wickedness on the part of Baasha to succeed in provoking Him to anger. God did not need to coerce a reluctant Baasha to conspire against and assassinate Nadab the son of
Jeroboam. Though it was agreeable to the
will of God, yet was not done by Baasha with any
regard to that will, but to gratify his
malice and ambition, and therefore making him accountable and punishable
for it. That wicked desire was
already in the heart of Baasha.
In using Baasha to bring judgment on the house of
Jeroboam, God only needed to let Baasha do what he wanted to do. Therefore, it was proper of
God to judge Baasha for something that ultimately
furthered God’s eternal plan. Whatever a
person sows, he will reap. This was surely the case here and is a lesson for us
to ponder.
THE EFFECTS OF PERMANENTLY EMBEDDED EVIL SPILL OVER
Verses 8-11: We
now begin a series of sign-post connectives that organize the narrative for the rest of the chapter. These
revolve around the reign of Asa the southern king. In the twenty-sixth year of Asa
king of Judah, Elah
the son of Baasha became king over Israel at
Tirzah, and reigned two
years v
8. The remaining connectives are in
verses 15, 23, and 29. While the southern kingdom remains relatively stable for
Asa’ 41-year reign—tied for the longest of all of the kings—the northern
kingdom is full of instability
having Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Tibni, then Omri rule. We will have intrigue, cunning, assassins, and
even suicide. The hope of every king is to
pass the throne on to his son and to further a lasting dynasty. But because Baasha was a wicked king, God did not bless his dynasty and
his son Elah only
reigned two
years. Evil was festering.
—His (Elah’s) servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against (to assassinate) him (Elah). Even as Baasha gained the throne through assassination of Nadab, so the son of Baasha was himself assassinated by Zimri, an officer in the army of Israel. Now he was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk… then Zimri went in and struck him and put him to death and became king in his place. The dynasties that Jeroboam and Baasha established were alike in several respects. Both were only two generations long. The first king in each dynasty reigned for a fairly long time: Jeroboam 22 years and Baasha 24. Assassins who were apparently confidants the kings trusted terminated both dynasties. Each assassin not only killed the king, but also all his male (pee against wall) descendants as was customary.
—It came about when he (Zimri) became king, as soon as he sat on his
throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha;
he did not leave a single male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends.
Zimri not only killed Elah and his immediate sons, but all of the extended
relatives of Baasha who could help his family. The
only reason for killing his friends was because they might rise up against him. In
less than fifty years the first two dynasty’s of the northern Israel’s kings
had come to an end and every member of their families been exterminated. God
meant to make their doom an example to those who should thereafter live
ungodly.
Verses
12-14: This massacre was an exact fulfillment of the
word of the Lord through the prophet Jehu,
the son of Hanani (1 Kings 16:2-4).
Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke
against Baasha. The reason for this judgment was once again for all the sins of Baasha and the sins
of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made
Israel sin. But the direct sin was with
their idols. God was provoked because of idolatry.
PT—The Hebrew word translated idols
is from the Hebrew word “vapor, breath,” implying that idols lack any lasting
substance. This is why they can be called “worthless idols.” Elsewhere,
scripture reveals that idolatry leads to emptiness and bondage (Judges 18:24,
31). The golden calves are spoken of here. God was very angry about the worship
of these calves. The Ten Commandments are specific about not worshipping
anything, except the One True God. God is jealous, and He will not permit
worship of false gods. The people, who do such things, have committed spiritual
adultery. Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book
of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
An Application— The apostle Paul warns the
early church I say that what pagans sacrifice
they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with
demons (1 Corinthians 10:20). There are no gods but our Lord. Yet the force
behind idolatry is demonic. What enamors people about idolatry is that it gives
one a sense of control, of tapping into real supernatural forces. People want
to be in control and creating gods that give to them what they want satisfies
this craving. We should never ascribe to
God characteristics not found in Scripture when they violate your understanding
of how God should act. For instance, like claiming Love wins as a panacea
for all conflict. No. From God’s vantage point, Truth wins. Otherwise when
making this claim you commit idolatry and God is a jealous God.
EVIL PUTS ITS SQUEEZE ON ZIMRI
Verses 15-17: Here is our next sign post
connective. In the twenty-seventh year of
Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days at Tirzah
v 15. Zimri’s seven-day
reign was the shortest in the history of the Northern Kingdom. His only claim to fame was that he killed Elah and the entire family of Baasha.
This all happened while they were at war camped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. So, not only were they constantly at war between one another
they also both had a common enemy they were at war with. These were definitely
unstable years for the rival nation. When the
soldiers of Israel in the field heard of Elah’s death
by assassination, they immediately acclaimed Omri,
the commander of Israel’s army, as the new king. The people who were camped
heard it said, "Zimri has conspired and has also
struck down the king… all Israel made Omri, the
commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp.
PT— Omri was commander-in-chief of Israel’s army. He outranked Zimri. When word of Zimri’s
assassination of Elah reached the soldiers at Gibbethon, they immediately sided with their general and
marched back to the capital to claim the throne for Omri.
Then Omri and all Israel with him went
up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah.
They besieged Tirzah; the royal city, in which Zimri
was.
Verses 18-20: Zimri realized he could not oppose Omri
successfully and chose suicide over execution. When Zimri saw that the city was taken,
he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house over
him with fire, and died. He also destroyed the palace
in the process. Zimri is
one of the few suicides in the Bible, along with Samson (Judges 16:28-30), Saul
(1 Samuel 31:4) and Ahithophel (2 Samuel 17:23). Zimri was evil and the cruel death he died, was because of
the terrible sins he committed. Evil put it squeeze on him because of his sins which he sinned,
doing evil in the sight of the Lord,
walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his
sin which he did, making Israel sin. This is the same exact rationale for Baasha
death in verse 13.
PT—Sin always has ramifications for others. We
do not sin in isolation though we may feel that way. Notice, it says his sins, to he sinned, to doing evil,
to his sin, to making Israel sin. You will
be held accountable for the actions of others based upon what you have done. The
section concludes with a note about the rest of the acts of Zimri and his conspiracy which he carried out, are they not
written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
An Application— Suicide is the act of killing oneself voluntarily and
intentionally, for a non-sacrificial reason, when death is not otherwise
imminent.
1. Suicide is sin because it concludes
God did not have our best interest in mind. Suicide is disagreeing with God about
when we should die. Who are you O man who
answers back to God? (Romans 9:20-21).
2. Suicide is a sin because it destroys an image-bearer. Man was made in the image of God.
This is the reason that God gave for taking a murderer’s life. Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood
shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man (Genesis 9:6).
3. Suicide is a sin because it is an act of selfishness. We should feel great compassion for
those suffering from depression, whatever the cause. Nonetheless, we cannot
condone suicide as a way out. Acting according to your own selfish desire is
sinful. Do nothing from selfishness...but
with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves
(Philippians 2:3).
A NEW DYNASTY INFECTED BY EVIL EXTENDS ITS DESTRUCTIVE WAYS
Verses 21-24: The
death of Zimri (verses 17-18), automatically placed
the kingdom in Omri’s hands. However, the
people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make
him king; the other half
followed Omri. Half
of the population, including the army, sided with Omri,
but the other half backed Tibni. Nothing further is
known of Tibni, but he was strong enough to rival Omri for about 4-6 years.
—Controversy over who should succeed to
Israel’s northern throne raged in Israel and threatened to consume the nation.
Eventually, the people who followed Omri prevailed
over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. And Tibni died and Omri became king. Tibni dying, Omri came
into the possession of the whole kingdom. Omri became king over Israel and reigned twelve
years. Omri reigned from Samaria. This was the new
capital he built on a centrally located and easily defended hilltop 12 miles
west of Tirzah. He bought the hill Samaria … and he built on the hill, and named the
city which he built Samaria.
Verses 25-28: On the one hand, Omri was probably the most capable king Israel had enjoyed since
the division of the kingdom. In the records of
secular history, Omri is one of the more successful and famous kings of ancient
Israel. Assyrian records refer to
Israel as “the land of Omri.” His influence extended far. He defeated the
Moabites, the record of which constitutes one of the inscriptions on the famous
Moabite Stone. He also made a treaty with Ethbaal,
king of Tyre and Sidon, that involved the marriage of
his son, Ahab, and Ethbaal’s daughter, Jezebel. On
the other hand, still the writer of Kings did not mention these strengths, only
the fact that he was the worst king Israel had had spiritually (v. 25).
—He was evil because he personally followed Jeroboam’s cult
and caused the people to sin by allowing it to flourish in Israel. Omri did evil in the sight of the
Lord, and acted more wickedly than all who were before him. He not only worshipped the calves, as the rest, and drew
Israel by his example into the same, he published edicts and decrees, obliging
the people to worship them, forbidding them to go to Jerusalem. They are called
"the statutes of Omri" (Micah 6:16).
Calf worship had taken the place of the one True God. The people were strictly
forbidden to go to the temple in Jerusalem. For
he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat
and in his sins which he made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel
with their idols.
—This
makes Omri the sixth king of Israel since the
division of the once-unified kingdom. Jeroboam was the first king, and each of
the five kings after him followed in the evil ways of Jeroboam. So Omri
slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria. Paving the way for the most
ruthless and evil of all the kings of the north, King Ahab. We read, Ahab his son became king in his place.
Verses 29-33: The last sign post connective
king
says that Ahab became king over Israel in
the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years v
29. Here are six things we are
introduced to about Ahab’s reign.
·
Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him v 30.
·
Each of the previous kings of Israel walked in
the wicked pattern of Jeroboam. Ahab
distinguished himself in being worse than Jeroboam. It came about, as though it
had been a trivial thing for him to walk
in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat v 31.
·
Jeroboam intended to serve the Lord through
idolatrous images (such as the golden calf) and in disobedient ways (altars and
high places other than Jerusalem). Ahab
introduced the worship of completely new, pagan gods. He erected an altar for Baal
in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. Ahab also made the Asherah v 32.
·
Even as the foreign wives of Solomon led to his
spiritual downfall, so Ahab’s foreign wife
Jezebel led him and the nation into deep idolatry. He married Jezebel the
daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians and went to
serve Baal and worshiped him v 31. He was not only the most wicked ruler to this
date, but he married the most wicked woman he could find.
· Thus Ahab did more to provoke
the Lord God of Israel than all the
kings of Israel who were before him v 33. His idolatries being more open and barefaced,
and without any excuse, presence, or color, as well as more numerous.
·
It seems that Ahab wanted to
challenge the prophecy of Joshua after the destruction of the city Jericho. In his days Hiel
the Bethelite built Jericho. v 34. Joshua had charged them
at that time, saying, “Cursed be the man before the Lord who rises up and
builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and
with his youngest he shall set up its gates” (Joshua
6:26). If Ahab did think that he could rebuild Jericho without being affected
by this curse, he was wrong. He
laid its foundation through Hiel who with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the
Lord, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun. This means that his firstborn
died because of the building of the foundation, and his son, Segub, died as they set up the gates. God's word is true.
Whatever He says will be.
SO WHAT:
· After reading this chapter we want to take a long hot shower.
The filth is overwhelming. Evil is spiritual filth.
· Evil’s downward spin keeps spinning unless someone is willing
to stand in the gap to stop it.
· When evil is utterly evil, then there is no escape from the
spiritual muck and mire it reproduces.
· God is set against all that is evil, morally wrong,
unrighteous, and wicked. From God’s point of view evil is intolerable.
· Abstain from every form of evil (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Abhor
what is evil (Romans 12:9). Not
returning evil for evil… keep his
tongue from evil… he must turn away from evil (1 Peter 3:9-11). Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate
good (3 John 1:11).