Continental Drift – 1 Kings 15:33-16:28

I have witnessed the demise, or near demise, of two powerful churches. The one was ugly, with people yelling at each other, threatening each other, and spreading horrible lies. The other was more sedate, without any of the ugly wrangling, but it fell apart, just the same. I meditated over the difference. At the second church the people were often characterized as the most friendly visitors had ever met. There was a profound love between people, a heritage that I think softened the blow and the anger in the conflict.

Righteousness exalts a nation, as well as a church. We see that principle illustrated in Israel’s history.

In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah began to reign over all Israel at Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel to sin.

And the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, 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. Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens shall eat.”

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? And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried at Tirzah, and Elah his son reigned in his place. Moreover, the word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it.

In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned two years. But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, Zimri came in and struck him down and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

When he began to reign, as soon as he had seated himself on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha. He did not leave him a single male of his relatives or his friends. Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their idols. 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?

In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines, and the troops who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired, and he has killed the king.” Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. So Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire and died, because of his sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the LORD, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the conspiracy that he made, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king. In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols. Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? And Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place. (1 Kings 15:33-16:28, ESV)

You might find yourself confused by all the names of Israel’s kings in such a short space, but consider what it must have been like for an Israelite who experienced such turmoil in government. Yahweh’s prophets have been prophesying the ignoble deaths of Jeroboam, Israel’s first king, and his offspring and of those who succeeded him on the throne.

Of Baasha it is said that Yahweh brought down his kingdom because of 1) the evil he did in the sight of Yahweh, and 2) because he destroyed the house Jeroboam. This latter evil was what God predicted would happen as judgment on Jeroboam, and yet he held Baasha accountable for his role in accomplishing the judgment. Just because God has sovereignly brought about an event does not mean that the individuals who participated in it are blameless. God, for example, will use the Babylonians eventually to destroy Judah, the southern kingdom, but promises in Habakkuk that He will judge the Babylonians for their role in disciplining His people. And though it was God’s purpose to slay the Lord Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins, He calls the hands of those who did it “lawless” and thus deserving of punishment (Acts 2:23). In the words of the apostle Paul, “No one resists God’s will,” but He nevertheless “still finds fault” with their sin (Romans 9:19).

During all this turmoil in Israel Asa continues to reign a relatively long time in Judah, a blessing from the hand of God on a godly leader. The proverb is true, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). Are you contributing to your nation by living a righteous life? Your sin and your righteousness are not individual matters but have an impact on all people. As the poet Dunne said, “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” If you are a leader your responsibility is all the more important because your influence is greater. Do not hurt the “continent.”