1 Kings 16
Baasha was king of Israel in Tirzah for 24 years, but he followed the example of Jeroboam, and God sent a message that his family would be wiped out. Having gone to the trouble of raising up a king, the king basically ignoring God was not appreciated!
Elah, son of Baasha became the next king and he managed to rule for 2 years, until he was assassinated by
Zimri - one of Elah's palace officials assassinated the king as he was getting drunk at the house of a friend of his Arza the palace administrator. Once on the throne he wiped out Baasha and Elah's entire family and all their friends.
Zimri was king for all of a week, yes only a week, though they are still recorded in the annals of the kings of Israel apparently.
Zimri died when the army led by Omri laid siege to Tirzah and he burned the palace down around him.
I'm impressed, the shortest monarch reign in England was 9 days and that was Lady Jane Grey in 1554!
Omri managed to come out on top of the power struggle following Zimri's death and he became the next king and reigned for 12 years.
The Bible is quite scathing about his character - he followed completely the example of Jeroboam and made God angry by doing the same wrong things that Jeroboam had done.
Omri's son, Ahab followed him as king and set new standards in not obeying the law of God. during his 22 year rule he considered it trivial that he committed the sins that Jeroboam had committed, he married Jezebel (a name that is still not popular to this day) daughter of the king of Sidon.
He built temples to Baal and Asherah poles , generally doing more to outrage God than anybody before him.
During Ahab's reign a guy called Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. His firstborn son Abiram died as he was clearing the foundations and his youngest son Segub died as he was setting the final touches and hanging the gates to the city.
This had been foretold by Joshua when the city was destroyed.
Things seem to have got very bad spiritually in Israel, in the next chapter we meet another great character in the Bible - the prophet Elijah.
Baasha was king of Israel in Tirzah for 24 years, but he followed the example of Jeroboam, and God sent a message that his family would be wiped out. Having gone to the trouble of raising up a king, the king basically ignoring God was not appreciated!
Elah, son of Baasha became the next king and he managed to rule for 2 years, until he was assassinated by
Zimri - one of Elah's palace officials assassinated the king as he was getting drunk at the house of a friend of his Arza the palace administrator. Once on the throne he wiped out Baasha and Elah's entire family and all their friends.
Zimri was king for all of a week, yes only a week, though they are still recorded in the annals of the kings of Israel apparently.
Zimri died when the army led by Omri laid siege to Tirzah and he burned the palace down around him.
I'm impressed, the shortest monarch reign in England was 9 days and that was Lady Jane Grey in 1554!
Omri managed to come out on top of the power struggle following Zimri's death and he became the next king and reigned for 12 years.
The Bible is quite scathing about his character - he followed completely the example of Jeroboam and made God angry by doing the same wrong things that Jeroboam had done.
Omri's son, Ahab followed him as king and set new standards in not obeying the law of God. during his 22 year rule he considered it trivial that he committed the sins that Jeroboam had committed, he married Jezebel (a name that is still not popular to this day) daughter of the king of Sidon.
He built temples to Baal and Asherah poles , generally doing more to outrage God than anybody before him.
During Ahab's reign a guy called Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. His firstborn son Abiram died as he was clearing the foundations and his youngest son Segub died as he was setting the final touches and hanging the gates to the city.
This had been foretold by Joshua when the city was destroyed.
Things seem to have got very bad spiritually in Israel, in the next chapter we meet another great character in the Bible - the prophet Elijah.
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