1 Kings 16

CHAPTER 16

Jehu’s Prophecy Against Baasha (16:1–7)

1–7 God had lifted Baasha up to be an instrument to punish the house of Jeroboam (verse 1), but Baasha himself had walked in Jeroboam’s ways (verse 2). Therefore God, through His prophet Jehu,⁸⁰ sent Baasha word that the same fate that befell Jeroboam’s house (1 Kings 14:10–11) would now befall his house (verses 3–4).

In verse 7, the writer says that one reason God was angry with Baasha was because he destroyed the house of Jeroboam. But God had raised Baasha up for that very purpose; was it fair for God to then punish Baasha for doing what was expected of him?

Yes, it was fair. God knew that Baasha was basically an evil man; God usesevil men to serve His purposes. He didn’t make” Baasha do evil; Baasha did it of his own accord. He wasn’t aware he was carrying out God’s plan.

Furthermore, Baasha may have gone beyond God’s intention; it appears that he killed every member of Jeroboam’s family, male and female (1 Kings 15:29), whereas earlier the prophet Ahijah had said that every male member of the family was to be destroyed⁸¹ (1 Kings 14:10).

Elah King of Israel (16:8–14)

8–14 Following Baasha’s death, his son Elah became king; but after two years he was killed by Zimri, one of his officials, who then became king himself (verses 9–10). As the prophet Jehu had warned (verses 1–4), Zimri killed off Baasha’s whole family—that is, every male member of his family⁸² (verse 11). Zimri himself didn’t knowingly set out to fulfill Jehu’s prophecy; he was only acting in his own interest.

Zimri King of Israel (16:15–20)

15–20 Zimri’s reign lasted all of seven days. The men in Israel’s army heard that Zimri had murdered Elah and they quickly proclaimed their commander, Omri, the next king. The army returned at once to Tirzah, the royal capital at the time, and laid siege to it. When Zimri saw that his cause was lost, he burned himself to death in the royal palace (verse 18).

Omri King of Israel (16:21–28)

21–28 Not everyone in Israel supported Omri initially; half the people supported a man called Tibni, about whom nothing else is known. After four years of civil war, Omri prevailed and Tibni died (verse 22).

Halfway through his reign, Omri established a new capital city, Samaria (verse 24). Like Jerusalem, it was built on a hill and thus easy to defend. In later years, the name Samaria” was also used as an alternate name for Israel.

Omri did evil, as his predecessors had done; indeed, he sinned more than all of them (verse 25). After reigning twelve years, he died and was buried in his new capital city, Samaria.

Ahab Becomes King of Israel (16:29–34)

29–33 Here we are introduced to Omri’s son Ahab, the most evil of all of Israel’s kings. Though he reigned only twentytwo years, one third of the combined material in the books of 1 and 2 Kings deals with events that occurred during his reign and the reigns of his two sons, Ahaziah and Joram. Some of the most dramatic confrontations between good and evil in all of Scripture took place during the time of Ahab and his sons. Many of these confrontations involved the famous prophets Elijah and Elisha, concerning whom much more will soon be said.

The writer emphasizes that evil in Israel was progressively increasing with each new king (verses 25,30); it reached its height during Ahab’s reign. One ofthe worst things Ahab did was to marry Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians⁸³ (verse 31). Jezebel brought the Baal worship of the Sidonians into Israel. Under her influence, Ahab made Baal worship the official religion of Israel, and he built a large temple for Baal in Samaria, the capital (verse 32). In addition, he set up an Asherah pole (verse 33), a symbol of the goddess Asherah, one of Baal’s consorts (see Judges 2:11–13 and comment). As a result, two groups of false prophets arose: the prophets of Baal and the prophets of Asherah (1 Kings 18:19).

34 During Ahab’s reign, a man named Hiel rebuilt Jericho, the city the Israelites had destroyed when they first entered the promised land. Joshua had pronounced a curse on anyone who rebuilt the city: that person would lose his eldest and youngest sons (Joshua 6:26). And this is exactly what happened to Hiel. Jericho had been devoted to the Lord (Joshua 6:17), and it was to remain totally destroyed.⁸⁴