1Kings
16:1 ¶ Then the word of the LORD came to
Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, 2 Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust,
and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of
Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with
their sins; 3 Behold, I will take away
the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his house; and will make thy
house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 4 Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the
dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air
eat. 5 Now the rest of the acts of
Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 6
So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah: and Elah his
son reigned in his stead. 7 And also by
the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the LORD
against Baasha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the
sight of the LORD, in provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in
being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he killed him. 8 In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of
Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years.
9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half
his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking
himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah.
10 And Zimri went in and smote him, and
killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in
his stead. 11 And it came to pass, when
he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the
house of Baasha: he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of
his kinsfolks, nor of his friends. 12
Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of
the LORD, which he spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, 13 For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of
Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in
provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities. 14 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?
Jehu
will be mentioned again in 2Chronicles 16, 19, and 20. He prophesies against
Baahsa. Baahsa’s son, Elah, rules for two years after him before a coup by
Zimri who then killed Elah and murdered Baahsa’s posterity. Israel’s decline
proceeds with these constant interruptions of dynastic succession and
usurpation of the throne.
1Kings
16:15 ¶ In the twenty and seventh year
of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were
encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16 And the people that were encamped
heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all
Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the
camp. 17 And Omri went up from
Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 18 And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the
city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king’s house, and burnt the
king’s house over him with fire, and died, 19
For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in
walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to
sin. 20 Now the rest of the acts of
Zimri, and his treason that he wrought, are they not written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 21
Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people
followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri.
22 But the people that followed Omri
prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni
died, and Omri reigned. 23 In the thirty
and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve
years: six years reigned he in Tirzah. 24
And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and
built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the
name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. 25
But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all
that were before him. 26 For he
walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he
made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger with their
vanities. 27 Now the rest of the acts of
Omri which he did, and his might that he shewed, are they not written in
the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 28 So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried
in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.
In
the confusion that is the Northern Kingdom of Israel Zimri will reign only a
week in Tirzah before Omri, made the leader of by the men of Israel, will lay
siege to his forces in the city. Zimri then committed suicide in a most
dramatic fashion. The traitor, Zimri, out of the way, half of Israel follows
Omri and half Tibni so there are two so-called kings vying for control. Tibni
is defeated and dies so the way is clear for Omri to reign. He rules for 12
years and is noteworthy for building the city of Samaria. But he was evil and
worse than all those before him, being like Jeroboam. Finally, his son Ahab
reigns.
Jeroboam
reigned 22 years over Israel after the insurrection against Rehoboam. His son
reigned 2 years. He died in Baasha’s coup, who then reigned 24 years. Elah, his
son, reigned 2 years, before the coups engineered by Zimri took place. Then, we
have Omri for 12 years until his son, Ahab. 62 years have passed since the
taking of the northern tribes by Jeroboam. We will see that Ahab will reign 22
years from Samaria. 84 years will have passed since the division of Israel
before another king reigns after Ahab. Think of this when you lament how far
your own country has fallen to see how long a degeneration can take place
before a final judgment.
Rehoboam,
Solomon’s son, reigned 17 years over Judah and Benjamin. Abijam, his son,
reigned 3 years. Asa, after him, reigns 41 years. So, Ahab’s reign starts 62
years after Jeroboam takes the northern kingdom. The question I ask myself is
how far into the reign of Rehoboam did the events of 1Kings, chapter 12,
happen? This will help us adjust the timelines to make them match as the
upcoming reign of Jehosaphat will require. These years and reigns as listed are
very specific so there is no benefit in questioning them but there is in our
trying to understand.
Many
scholars have worked to reconcile the reigns including notably Edwin R. Thiele
in his The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings and the counter to his
research in Dr. Floyd Jones’ The Chronology of the Old Testament.
However, I think that rather than all of the shenanigans about arguing over a
year here or a year there we must take into account that these are always
general numbers and subject to events not mentioned in the text as they were
not considered important like was Rehoboam’s tax collector killed and he
threatened with death right away in the first year of his reign or did he
manage to hold the entire nation together for a time. It’s just not too
meaningful to quibble over discrepancies like this considering how the reigns,
for instance, of the kings of England were disputed in some cases. I would tend
to give more credence to Ussher, in his chronology but would not lose any sleep
over it.
We’ll
address this more when we get to Jehoshaphat.
1Kings
16:29 ¶ And in the thirty and eighth
year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and
Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the
sight of the LORD above all that were before him. 31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a
light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he
took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went
and served Baal, and worshipped him. 32
And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had
built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made a
grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all
the kings of Israel that were before him. 34
In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation
thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son
Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son of
Nun.
It
is clearly said here that Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel begins his
notorious reign late in reign of King Asa of Judah. The son of Omri, a usurper,
he would reign for 22 years. He was evil. He also took to wife, Jezebel, a
wicked woman and both worshipped Baal. Ahab even made a grove to this devil.
Genesis 10:15
¶ And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn…
1Chronicles 1:13 And Canaan begat Zidon his firstborn…
Sidon/Zidon
is known as a city of Phoenicia, whose merchants will spread the alphabet from
what is called Proto-Canaanite script, that plays such a part in the Exodus, as
in God giving His Law, creating the writing that contrasted with the pictograms
of hieroglyphics and cuneiform writing that dominated the ancient world. The
basic units of writing, the letters, become symbols for ideas rather than
pictures representing things to be worshipped as idols. ‘A’, instead of a
symbol for a bull or an ox, is Aleph in Hebrew and Alpha in Greek, and ‘A’ for
modern purposes. A good study for this is Marc A. Ouaknin’s Mysteries of the Alphabet.
The
Phoenicians spread the alphabet, and their pernicious religious practices even
to the sacrificing of 300 babies to Baal in one day in Carthage as a plea to
that devil to end a Roman siege, probably started during their sojourn in Babel
or Babylon, sailing around the world, trading from England to Somalia to
Australia, and perhaps even the Americas based on some limited archaeological
evidence of Phoenician coins and other things. Early American Christians
believed that the Native Americans of the east coast, at least, were
descendants of Canaanites, as some of them wrote.
Isaiah 23:2 Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou
whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished.
In verse
34 we have the fulfillment of a prophecy from Joshua, chapter 6, hundreds of
years ago.
Joshua 6:26 And Joshua
adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the LORD, that
riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof
in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
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