Introduction
The passage we studied last week was about three of the kings in the southern kingdom of Judah. There was Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, and he reigned for 17 years. And then there was Abijah, the son of Rehoboam, and he reigned for three years. And then there was Asa, the son of Abijah, and he reigned for 41 years. Our narrator told us that Rehoboam did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord; and Abijah committed all the sins his father had done. Both of them were evil. And while Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, there were indications that he too turned from the Lord in his latter years. And so I made the point last week that as well as beginning well, we need to finish well. We must remain faithful and walk in the ways of the Lord throughout our life; and we need to be careful that our devotion and obedience to the Lord does not diminish in our latter years.
Today we move from the southern kingdom of Judah back to the northern kingdom of Israel. You’ll remember, I’m sure, that after Solomon’s death, the one kingdom of Israel was divided into two. And so, there are now two kingdoms with a different king in each kingdom. And whereas every king in Judah was descended from David, so that there was a certain stability in Judah, things were different in Israel and very often the new king was not related to the previous king. And so, we don’t find the same stability in Israel as we find in Judah.
Today’s passage can be divided in the following way. Firstly, we have the reign of Jeroboam’s son, Nadab. Secondly, Baasha comes to power and he reigns over Israel for a time before his son, Elah, succeeded him. Thirdly, and following the very brief reign of Zimri, there’s the reign of Omri, who was succeeded by his son, Ahab. And if you glance forward to the next chapters, you’ll see that during Ahab’s reign, God sent the prophets Elijah and Elisha to confront Ahab about his sin.
There’s a certain pattern to what the narrator says about each king. He normally begins by giving us basic facts about the king: when he began to reign and how long his reign lasted. The narrator normally ends his account of each king by saying that the other events in the reign of the king are written in the book of the annals of the kings. Those annals no longer exist, but presumably they recorded in greater detail what happened during the reign of each king. In the middle section of each account, the narrator does two other things. He gives a brief assessment of each king. Unfortunately, his assessment of each of these kings is a negative one, because each one did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. And the narrator also tells us about one event from the reign of each king. So, he’s not going into very much detail about the kings. He’s not describing everything they did. He normally only highlights one event for us.
Nadab
And so, we begin with Jeroboam’s son, Nadab, who began to reign in the second year of Asa, king of Judah. And he reigned for only two years. And the narrator tells us that he did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of his father and walking in his father’s sin, which Jeroboam caused Israel to commit. So, instead of bringing the people to God, Jeroboam and the kings who followed in his ways led the people away from God. And so, of course, they’re very different from Christ our King, who was obedient to God the Father in every way. And by his obedience — even to the point of death on the cross to pay for our sins — he’s able to bring us to God in the new heavens and earth, where we will live with him forever. Christ our King is very different from these kings, because these kings led the people into sin and they led them away from God.
And in verses 27 to 30 we have the one event from the reign of Nadab which the narrator chooses to record for us. And the one event he chooses to record for us is how this man, Baasha, plotted against him and struck Nadab down at Gibbethon. Baasha then began to reign and his first act of business was to kill Jeroboam’s and Nadab’s whole family. And he did this with a brutal thoroughness, because the narrator tells us that he did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but he destroyed them all. So, he wiped out Jeroboam’s and Nadab’s whole family. He made a preemptive strike to remove anyone from that family who might want to take revenge on him.
You’ll notice as well from verse 29 that this happened according to the word of the Lord. You’ll perhaps remember the story from chapter 14 of how one of Jeroboam’s sons was ill and Jeroboam told his wife to disguise herself and ask Ahijah the prophet what would become of their son. And when the woman went to the prophet, he announced to her the word of the Lord and how Jeroboam’s whole family will be destroyed. Dogs will eat those who die in the city and birds will feed on those who die in the country. None of them will receive a proper burial. And the prophet explained that God will do this to his family, because of all the evil things Jeroboam had done. He even made idols to worship and he had turned his back on the Lord. And therefore the Lord was going to destroy his family.
That was back in chapter 14. And now, according to the word of the Lord, Jeroboam’s and Nadab’s whole family was destroyed. Not one of them was left alive. And just so that we don’t forget, the narrator tells us in verse 30 that this happened according to the word of the Lord, because of the sins which Jeroboam caused Israel to commit and because he provoked the Lord to anger.
Lest anyone should think that God was unfair to punish Nadab for the sins of his father, we should remember what the narrator said in verse 26, where it said that Nadab did evil in the eyes of the Lord. And so, Nadab was not innocent. He was not blameless. He too was a sinner, just like his father.
Baasha
And so, with the death of Nadab, that was the end of Jeroboam’s dynasty. And it was a short dynasty, wasn’t it? It consisted of only two kings: Jeroboam himself and his son, Nadab. And now a new dynasty has begun. Baasha became king in the third year of Asa’s reign in Judah. And he reigned for 24 years. And, according to verse 34, he did evil in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in his sin, which Jeroboam caused Israel to commit. So, that’s the narrator assessment of this king. And it’s the same as the previous king. As we’ll see, there’s a sameness to all these kings. There’s a repetitiveness to them. Though each king has a different name, they are essentially the same, because each of them did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
But what is the one event in Baasha’s reign which the narrator highlights for us? It’s there in verses 1 to 4 of chapter 16, where we’re told that the word of the Lord came to Jehu against Baasha. And in this message from the Lord, the Lord said that he lifted Baasha from the dust and made him leader of God’s people. He’s referring to what we read in chapter 14, where God said to Jeroboam that a king will cut off Jeroboam’s family. He was referring to Baasha. And so, God had raised up Baasha to punish Jeroboam and Nadab and their family for their wickedness. This is what the Lord often does. When people are wicked, he sends someone to punish them. And so, Baasha was God’s chosen instrument to punish Jeroboam and Nadab and their family for their wickedness.
However, since Baasha was God’s chosen instrument, he was responsible to God for what he did. And God had seen that Baasha had walked in the ways of Jeroboam and had caused the people of Israel to sin. And so, the Lord announced through his prophet that he will consume Baasha and his house and will make them like Jeroboam. In other words, dogs will eat those who die in the city and birds will feed on those who die in the country. Since Baasha committed the same sins as Jeroboam, then he will suffer the same fate as Jeroboam.
Elah
Baasha was succeeded by his son, Elah who became king in the 26th year of Asa’s reign in Judah. And he reigned for two years.
The narrator assesses his reign in verse 13, where he refers to all the sins Baasha and his son, Elah, had committed and had caused Israel to commit, so that they provoked the Lord to anger by their worthless idols. In other words, Elah did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. There’s that repetitive sameness again. Different name, but it’s the same kind of king.
And the one event the narrator records for us from this reign is in verses 9 to 12. He tells us that Zimri plotted against him. How did it happen? Elah was in Tirzah, the capital city of Israel at that time; and he was getting drunk. And while he was getting drunk, Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him. And then Zimri succeeded him as king. And as soon as Zimri began to reign, he did to Baasha and Elah’s family what Baasha had done to Jeroboam and Nadab’s family. He killed off the whole family. He did not spare a single male and killed not only their relatives, but also their friends. He was getting rid of anyone who might want to take revenge. And so, he destroyed the whole family of Baasha and Elah, in accordance with the word of the Lord, spoken through the prophet Jehu.
Zimri
And so, with the death of Elah, that was the end of Baasha’s dynasty. And, like Jeroboam’s dynasty, it was a short dynasty, consisting of only two kings: Baasha himself and his son, Elah. And we might be expecting a new dynasty to begin. However, look what happens to Zimri. He became king in the 27th year of Asa’s reign in Judah. And he reigned for only seven days. Liz Truss lasted for 50 days, which was pretty short. But Zimri’s time in office was even briefer.
And if you glance down to verse 19, you’ll see that the narrator refers to the sins he committed and how he did evil in the eyes of the Lord and he walked in the ways of Jeroboam. Zimri’s was a short reign, but he was the same as all the rest. He did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.
And the one event which the narrator records for us is that the army heard what he had done to Elah. And the army proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel. And Omri took his men and they laid siege to Tirzah, where Zimri was. And when Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the palace and set it on fire, so that he died in the flames. In other words, he killed himself.
Omri
The narrator tells us in verse 21 that the people were now divided. Half supported someone called Tibni and half supported Omri. But Tibni then died. We don’t know how he died, but since it doesn’t say that he was killed, he presumably died of natural causes. And so, there was no one standing in Omri’s way and he became king in the 31st year of Asa’s reign in Judah. And he reigned for 12 years.
By the way, are you noticing how stable Judah is in comparison to Israel? Asa has now been king in Judah for 31 years. Meanwhile Israel has had five kings in the same period. Things are not going well for Israel in the north. And, of course, the reason things are not going well for them is because the nation has turned away from the Lord. Instead of worshipping the Lord alone, they have made idols for themselves. Instead of trusting the Lord and walking in his ways, they are trusting in false gods, who cannot do anything. And they have all gone astray from the Lord. And because of the sins of their kings and the sins of the people, the Lord has brought trouble on them.
And Omri is presented here as a kind of evil imitation of David. Remember what David did when he became king? He conquered Jerusalem on Mount Zion and made it his capital city. And here we read how Omri bought the hill of Samaria and built a city on it, which he called Samaria. And this became the capital city of Israel. And so, just as David reigned from a city on a hill, so Omri reigned from a city on a hill. But whereas David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, Ormi did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the ways of Jeroboam. But it’s worse than that, isn’t it? It’s worse, because we’re told that he sinned more than all those before him.
Ahab
And Omri was succeeded by his son, Ahab, in the 38th reign of Asa in Judah. And Ahab reigned for 22 years. The narrator’s assessment of Ahab’s reign is in verse 30, where we’re told that he did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. So, his father was bad, but Ahab was even worse. And the narrator’s assessment of him continues into the following verses, where he says that Ahab considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam. In other words, his sin was so great, so serious, so wicked, it made Jeroboam’s wickedness seem insignificant and small in comparison. He even married Jezebel, the daughter of the Sidonians, and began to worship and serve Baal. And so, he set up an altar and temple for Baal in Samaria. And he made an Asherah pole, which was used in pagan worship. And therefore he did more to provoke the anger of the Lord than all the other kings before him.
And the one event which the narrator chooses to record for us from his reign is that in Ahab’s time, someone rebuilt Jericho. Jericho, you might recall, was the first Canaanite city which the Israelites encountered when they crossed the Jordan and entered the Promised Land. It’s the city whose walls fell down when Joshua and his men marched around it. And at that time, Joshua pronounced a curse on the man who rebuilds it. He said: at the cost of his firstborn son will he lay the foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates.
From what we learn now, Joshua was proclaiming the word of the Lord when he pronounced that curse. In other words, he was speaking as a prophet to declare the will of the Lord. And the word of the Lord never fails, does it? And so, when this man rebuilt the city of Jericho, it was at the cost of his firstborn son and it was at the cost of his youngest son. We don’t know what happened to his two sons, but presumably they died while the city was being rebuilt.
Application
The significance of the rebuilding of Jericho is that it represents how the Promised Land was being taken backwards, back to the way things were before the Lord’s people had entered it. It has become a pagan land once again. The land was no longer filled with the knowledge of the Lord’s name. It was now being filled with the knowledge of Baal’s name. Instead of worshipping the Lord, they were worshipping Baal. So, the rebuilding of Jericho signified that a reversal has taken place. They are reverting to paganism. They are going back to unbelief.
And the Lord is letting them, isn’t he? The Lord could easily have stopped them. He could have raised up a godly king to interrupt the repetitiveness sameness of all these kings, who had different names, but they were all essentially the same, because all of them did evil in the eyes of the Lord. The Lord could have raised up a godly king to interrupt the sameness. But the Lord let them continue in their wickedness and unbelief. And as we have seen, things only got worse, because Omri was worse than all the kings who preceded him and Adab was even worse. There were on a downward spiral and things were becoming worse and worse.
What the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 1 is helpful here. Paul was writing about the godlessness and wickedness of people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. He’s saying that the truth about God is plain for all to see, because God has revealed his eternal power and divine nature in what we can see around us. Everything God has made, including ourselves, speaks to us about God. But, because they’re sinners, people suppress the truth. They push it out of their minds. They deny it. They won’t acknowledge it. Everyone knows there’s a God in heaven above, but because they’re sinners, unbelievers won’t acknowledge it.
And because of their godlessness and wickedness, God reveals his wrath from heaven. But he doesn’t reveal his wrath by sending thunderbolts of lightning from heaven to destroy the wicked. He doesn’t do that. Do you know what he does? Paul says he reveals his wrath by giving us up to sin. Paul says: ‘Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity.’ He says: ‘Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.’ He says: ‘Furthermore, since they did not think it worth while to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind.’ So, God gave them over. God gave them over. Gad gave them over. Because they did not acknowledge him or worship him, God gave them over, or he gave them up, to do what they wanted to do. He gave them up to more and more sin, more and more wickedness, more and more darkness. God reveals his wrath by letting unbelievers go their own way. Instead of restraining their wickedness, he lets them fall deeper and deeper into sin and into all the misery which accompanies sin.
And that, I think, is what was happening in Israel. They had the knowledge of God. But — beginning in the days of Jeroboam — they suppressed it. Instead of worshipping the Lord, they worshipped false gods in a false sanctuary. And since those days, God gave them up to their sin. He let them go their own way. And things got darker and darker and darker in Israel.
But thanks be to God, because he did not give them up forever. In the darkest days of Ahab’s reign, the Lord sent first Elijah and then Elisha to proclaim the word of the Lord and to call his people to repent. And when the time was right, God sent Jesus Christ, his Only-Begotten Son into the world to proclaim the word of the Lord and to call his people to repent. And not only did he send his Son to proclaim his word, but he also sent his Son to bear on the cross in our place the full force of the wrath of God. The Lord Jesus was punished in our place for our sins, so that whoever believes in him receives forgiveness and peace with God and the free gift of eternal life. Though we deserve to suffer the wrath of God, because of all that we have done wrong, we receive the blessing of God, for the sake of Christ who died for sinners.
And that’s why we must all trust in Christ, because Christ came to suffer and die to deliver us from our sin and to deliver us from all the misery which our sin brings into our lives. He came to deliver us from our sin and misery and to give us the hope of everlasting happiness in the presence of God.
And, of course, this means that the Lord Jesus Christ is a far better King than any of the kings of Israel. They led the people away from God. They led the people into unbelief and into pagan worship and into more and more wickedness and into more and more darkness. But Christ our King brings us to God. He brings us to God, because whoever believes in him has peace with God so that we are no longer enemies. And whoever believes in him receives the free gift of eternal life, so that when our life in this world is over, we will go to be with God in the life to come, where we shall see him in the face of Christ and where we will worship and serve him forever. Christ is a better King, because he brings us to God.
And while we wait for that, he gives us his Spirit to help us to swim against the current of unbelief and sin. I heard someone say recently that it’s easy for fish to swim with the current. And it’s easy for us to swim with the current of unbelief and sin, which is in the world around us. It’s easy to go with the flow. But the fish which tries to swim against the current discovers how powerful the current is. And the person who tries to swim against the current of unbelief and sin discovers how powerful the current is. When we try to swim against the current, we face all this social pressure against us from the world around us. And it’s so easy to go with the flow. But the Lord Jesus Christ, our King, gives us his Spirit to help us swim against the current of unbelief and sin.
And so, even though the people around us are heading further and further and further away from the Lord and further and further and further into unbelief and wickedness, the Lord by his Spirit helps us to swim in the opposite direction, while we wait for Christ our King to come and to bring us to God in the new heavens and earth.
Sermons and Stuff 