CXXXV - I Kings 16:7-34 - Kings of Israel - Elah, Zimri, Omri, Ahab

As the previous post was a bit lengthy, this one will be fairly short, as I did not want to get started studying the great prophet Elijah until the following post.

The last post ended with Baasha being used as tool through which Ahijah's prophecy would be fulfilled concerning the descendants of Jeroboam.  Baasha killed every descendant of Jeroboam in such a fashion that their bodies could not be buried intact.  Therefore their bodies were (disrespectfully) left laying for the animal to feed from.  As we saw in the last post, Baasha ruled as king of Israel for twenty-four years, and his reign must have been full of terror and cruelty.  So much so, that the word of the Lord came through Jehu, saying that Baasha's descendants would suffer the identical fate as did Jeroboam's.  There was not much more than that said of Baasha.

Vss. 8-->  Baasha's son Elah succeeded Baasha as king of Israel.  This occurred in the twenty-sixth year of Asa's reign in Judah.  Elah ruled less than two years in Tirzah.  {After Israel separated from Judah, they set up Tirzah as their capital city from which the king would rule.  Jerusalem, of course, would remain as the capital and worship center for Judah.}  There is not much said about Elah in the Scripture.  There were only seven verses about him, and those verses told as much about Baasha, Jehu, Asa, and Zimri as they did about Elah.  Elah, much like Nadab, reigned for just over a year.  It says in verse 9 that Elah was in the home a Arza, a prominent citizen, getting drunk.  It was then that Zimri, an army commander of the chariots, assassinated king Elah.  {This was a brutal, out-of-control time in Israel's History.}  When Zimri killed king Elah, he pronounced himself as the new king of Israel.  Everyone was too frightened of him at this time to challenge his pronouncement.  {A personal comment:  Elah won't be mentioned any more in the Scripture.  His name was mentioned in this short passage, in the greatest Book ever to be written.  And the most memorable comment about him as king of Israel was that he was at someone's house getting drunk.  My name will probably never be written in any book, let alone a book holy like the Bible.  But if it would ever appear in writing, I hope I will have done something that would merit something better than that memorable comment about Elah.}  So Zimri is now Israel's new self-proclaimed king.  Here is an interesting tidbit:  He
only reigned seven days.  Seven days is not long, but it was long enough for him to fulfill the prophesy of Jehu.  Remember that Jehu prophesied to Baasha that he and his family would suffer the same fate as the descendants of Jeroboam.  During Zimri's brief seven-day reign, he killed off Baasha's entire family, which of course included Elah.

Vss 15-->  Remember, Zimri was the commander in charge of the chariots of Israel's army.  The Chief Commander of the entire army was Omri.  About all of Israel's army, including much of the chariot division was encamped in nearby Gibbethon, a Philistine city.  Their leader Omri was with them.  When news came of Zimri assassinating king Elah and proclaiming himself as king of Israel, the army decided they wanted Chief Commander Omri to become king.  Not Zimri.  So the army,
under Omri's command, marched on Tirzah.  By force they took the city and the throne away from Zimri.  I believe Zimri overestimated his popularity with the troops, don't you?  We can derive a few conclusions about Zimri.  While the whole army was encamped in Gibbethon, Zimri was plotting murder in the capital city.  He should have been busying himself with his responsibility as commander of the chariot division.  He must not have been much of a leader.  Also, he assumed he
could just take the throne by killing a drunk and defenseless man.  He didn't exercize enough forethought to secure his own kingly palace against seige.  Surely he knew he needed the support of people like Omri if he was going to do anything by force.  And lastly, when he saw his short-lived kingship was crumbling, he escaped to the palace and set it on fire, where he is assumed to have burned to death.  (If I can't have this palace, nobody can.)  As I said, Zimri wasn't what one would
consider to be a savory character.

Vss. 21-->  Now Zimri, who assassinatied king Elah and proclaimed himself king of Israel, only lasted seven days, just long enough for Omri to lead his army against Zimri and kill him.  {A quick word about Zimri and Omri:  Their family lineages cannot be found by Israel's Historians.  This brings many of them to conclude that these men were both Caananites.  On the surface this doesn't make a lot of sense that Caananites would be leading Israel's army.  But when thinking more deeply,
Israel had just recently separated itself from Judah.  Jeroboam had to put a military together quickly.  Judah still possessed the leadership and equipment.  Perhaps Jeroboam had to recruit Caananite soldiers and make a lot of deals to secure them and their loyalty.  Just a thought.  More on that later.}  I have tought this Scripture about Omri a number of years ago.  Our Sunday School class referred to him as "Ornery Omri".  This 21st verse mentions that Omri didn't have a very easy time securing the throne for himself.  There was another man named Tibni who also wanted to be king of Israel.  He apparently had a lot of civilian support behind him.  But Omri's strong military prevailed and he became the king.  Omri's struggle against Tibni's supporters lasted four years and was quite bloody, further damaging Israel as a nation.  Verse 22 states Tibni was killed by Omri's forces, which placed Omri as undisputed king.  There was one thing Omri did accomplish that was lasting.  After he had been king for six years, he built the city of Samaria and made it the new capital of Israel.  Samaria would remain the capital until Assyria took Israel captive a hundred and sixty years later.  Omri reigned for twelve years.  Then his son Ahab succeeded him as king of Israel.

Vss. 29-34  -  Ahab becomes king of Israel.

{Refering to the previous paragraph:  If those few Jewish Historians were correct about Zimri and Omri being Caananites, that means that there has been, and is now, a Caananite as the sitting king of Israel.  I am not insisting that this is correct, I am but suggesting the possibility.}

There is much to be told about Ahab.  He will appear elswhere in the Old Testament.  The Scripture tells us in verse 30 that he was worse than any of the kings before him.  In vs 31 it says he "trivialized" committing the sins of Jeroboam.  This tells me he publicly made a mockery of God's cammands.  You will find Ahab to be one of the most unsavory characters in the entire Bible.  Ahab was proud of himself for every sin against God that took place.  He championed the official following and worshipping of Baal and Ashteroth.  He married the notorious Jezebel.  She was the daughter of Ethbaal, a priest of Baal Melkart, to which children were sacrificed.  Jezebel was determined to turn the entire nation Israel into worshippers of Baal Melkar, further fanning the flames of God's anger.  I'll wrap up this post now, but first I must make one last comment concerning the last verse in the 16th chapter.  This verse tells us that Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho.  It says, "Hiel laid its foundations at the cost of his firsborn son Abiram, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub".  This means that Hiel burned his oldest and his youngest sons in the arms of the idol that represented Baal Melkar in a ceremony dedicating the building of Jericho.  Back in the book of Joshua 6:26, Joshua pronounced a solemn oath:  "cursed before the Lord is the one who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho:  At the cost of his firstborn son he will lay its foundations; at the
cost of his youngest he will set up its gates."

Next post  -  Elijah