Start Time:	06:08 AM
End Time:	06:58 AM
Date:	June 18, 2014

 

TITLE:  Elah King of Israel

Scripture: 1 Kings 16:1 – 34

God’s Message / God’s Commands / God’s Promises:

→ Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu son of Hanani concerning Baasha:  “I lifted you up from the dust and appointed you ruler over my people Israel, but you followed the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin and to arouse my anger by their sins. So I am about to wipe out Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat. Dogs will eat those belonging to Baasha who die in the city, and birds will feed on those who die in the country.” As for the other events of Baasha’s reign, what he did and his achievements are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Baasha rested with his ancestors and was buried in Tirzah. And Elah his son succeeded him as king.  Moreover, the word of the Lord came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani to Baasha and his house, because of all the evil he had done in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger by the things he did, becoming like the house of Jeroboam—and also because he destroyed it.  In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years.  Zimri, one of his officials, who had command of half his chariots, plotted against him. Elah was in Tirzah at the time, getting drunk in the home of Arza, the palace administrator at Tirzah. Zimri came in, struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah. Then he succeeded him as king.  As soon as he began to reign and was seated on the throne, he killed off Baasha’s whole family. He did not spare a single male, whether relative or friend. So Zimri destroyed the whole family of Baasha, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken against Baasha through the prophet Jehu— because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had caused Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols.  As for the other events of Elah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?

NOTES:

Ø  God always gives us a warning before allowing destructions to take over us!  Baasha (wiped out the line of Jeroboam) was lifted up by God but he did the same as Jeroboam did and so God came to him thru Jehu and gave him the warning of what God will allow to happen but Baasha was stubborn and hard headed, he remained sinful and keep on doing wicked things, so destruction fell into his family line, starting in his successor, his son, Elah.  Elah, when he was king, Zimri, one of his officials, plotted against him.  All these happened but before if did, God gave warning to Baasha, but he did not take heed on it.  So it was as God said it so.

→In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah seven days. The army was encamped near Gibbethon, a Philistine town. When the Israelites in the camp heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and murdered him, they proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day there in the camp. Then Omri and all the Israelites with him withdrew from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah.  When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died,  because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord and following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.  As for the other events of Zimri’s reign, and the rebellion he carried out, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Then the people of Israel were split into two factions; half supported Tibni son of Ginath for king, and the other half supported Omri. But Omri’s followers proved stronger than those of Tibni son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri became king.  In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents^[a] of silver and built a city on the hill, calling it Samaria, after Shemer, the name of the former owner of the hill. But Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and sinned more than all those before him. He followed completely the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols.  As for the other events of Omri’s reign, what he did and the things he achieved, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Omri rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Ahab his son succeeded him as king.

NOTES:

Ø  Without God, we can see divisions and splits of power.  People are confused and not satisfied.  In this whole time that chaos was in Israel, Asa on the other hand reigned in peace with not much word of a war in Judah.  God is our refuge and tower.  He protects us from division and war and when we do what is right, no fight will break and try to penetrate our lives because God is in control.  So the question really is…have we learned our lesson?  Are we following the path of David into the reign of Asa?  Or are we following the destruction that the kings of Israel have set for their clans?  The funny thing is, they didn’t notice.  The kings of Israel didn’t notice that there was no unity among them the whole time they did evil in the eyes of the Lord.  Up to this chapter alone, there were already 7 kings mentioned that ruled over Israel, while Asa was king over Judah all the while.  The people didn’t see this as they were too focused on their battles within their own nation.

→ In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.  In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

NOTES:

Ø  When God is not in the picture, evil rules and increases its dominion over us!  God has been away from the kings of Israel because they all followed the wicked path Jeroboam has started when the nation of Israel was divided into two: Israel and Judah.  The reign for Israel, started evil with Jeroboam and countless times, God warned the rulers of Israel to turn back but no one listened and so overtime, evil increases.  When Ahab succeeded his father, Omri, evil was at its full blast with Jezebel as Ahab’s wife, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, who serve Baal and worship him.  This should warn us that the more we ran from the Lord and dwell into our evil choices or wicked path, the more evil in us increases and takes over us.  Do not allow this to happen!  Repent now and turn back to God.  Don’t wait until God will raise an Elijah on you!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, precious God, marvelous and awesome Father, You are amazing!  Thank You because today, early this morning, You have touched me once again with your words.  Lord, I am so full of love and praise to You because of what You have revealed to me today.  You know what I desire and what my interests are.  You know me more than I know myself and You know what to do to keep me interested with Your words.  Thank You Jesus!  I feel so overwhelmed with joy that You would find ways to keep me satisfied.  I don’t need to watch TV series like Game of Thrones because Your word, the stories You’ve written in 1 Kings speaks about the same plot.  And I am so much happy that You find time to satisfy what I want when I even don’t deserve it.  Forgive me Lord for whatever wrongs I have done.  I do not want to come to a point that I will become Ahab, who have completely surrendered to evil.  I want to follow the line of Judah, King Asa, who have seen Your works in the eyes of his ancestors and decided to follow them and receive Your love and grace.  All the while these chaotic events were happening in Israel, King Asa reigned full time in Judah.  And as mentioned above, 7 kings up to this chapter were already known to have led Israel, while all the time, King Asa was king over Judah!  You preserve our reign Lord, You preserve our lives and Your protect us and stand by us when we decide to choose Your side.  And we watched our enemies and sadly, some of our brothers go thru chaotic times of their lives because of the wrong decisions they make in their lives.  Lord, help me to follow You always.  Open my ears to hear Your words at all times.  Let me walk in the Path You have chosen for me.  I want to completely surrender to You and You alone Lord.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!