“ Behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” And because of this YHWH would do to the house of Baasha what He had done to the house of Jeroboam. He would ‘sweep them away' and all his sons would be destroyed.... [ Continue Reading ]
“ Him who dies of Baasha in the city will the dogs eat, and him who dies of his in the countryside will the birds of the heavens eat.” This is the same fate as Ahijah the prophet had prophesied of Jeroboam. See on 1 Kings 14:11. The bodies of his male household would be left out in the open to be e... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REIGN OF ELAH KING OF ISRAEL C. 885-884 BC (1 KINGS 16:8). The death of a king after a long reign often ushered in a period when rivals for the throne reared their heads, and Israel had no established dynasty. Elah, the son of Baasha, does, however, appear to have been generally accepted as the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REIGN OF ZIMRI KING OF ISRAEL C. 884 BC (1 KINGS 16:15). As we have already seen Zimri's reign was short and brief, but it was found in the annals of the kings of Israel and so it is included. His excessive bloodbath may have been what enraged the army against him, or they may have considered t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REIGN OF OMRI KING OF ISRAEL C. 884-872 BC. (1 KINGS 16:21). We now come to the reign of one of Israel's greatest kings humanly speaking, even though from the divine viewpoint he was a disaster. You would not, however, gather his greatness from the narrative (but see note below). For to the pro... [ Continue Reading ]
AN INITIAL SUMMARY OF THE REIGN OF AHAB (1 KINGS 16:29). The account of Ahab's reign commences with an initial summary of his reign indicating its corruption in the eyes of YHWH. We can compare the initial summary that opened Solomon's reign in 1 Kings 3:1. In this summary it is made clear that Aha... [ Continue Reading ]
THE REIGN OF AHAB KING OF ISRAEL C. 872-851 BC (1 KINGS 16:29 TO 1 KINGS 22:40). The reigns of the previous seven kings of Judah and Israel have been covered in a short space (1 Kings 15:1 to 1 Kings 16:28). The reign of Ahab will now take up almost the whole of the remainder of 1 Kings (from 1 King... [ Continue Reading ]