Friday, July 28, 2023

Chapter Sixteen

 1Ki 16:1  And the Word of Jehovah came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, 

1Ki 16:2  Since I have raised you up out of the dust, and made you ruler over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and caused My people Israel to sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins; 

1Ki 16:3  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. 

1Ki 16:4  He who dies of Baasha in the city, the dogs shall eat; and whoever of his dies in the field, the birds of the heavens shall eat. 

1Ki 16:5  And the rest of the acts of Baasha, and that which he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel? 

1Ki 16:6  And Baasha lay with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah. And his son Elah reigned in his place. 

1Ki 16:7  And also by the hand of Jehu the son of Hanani the prophet, the Word of Jehovah came against Baasha, and against his house, and against all the evil that he did in the eyes of Jehovah to provoke Him to anger with the work of his hands, to be like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed him

1Ki 16:8  In the twenty sixth year of Asa the king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years

1Ki 16:9  And his servant Zimri, the captain of half of the chariots, conspired against him. And he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the house of Tirzah. 

1Ki 16:10  And Zimri came in and struck him, and killed him in the twenty seventh year of Asa the king of Judah, and reigned in his place. 

1Ki 16:11  And it happened, when he began to reign, as he sat on his throne, that he struck all the house of Baasha; he did not leave him one who urinated against the wall, nor of his kinsmen, nor of his friends. 

1Ki 16:12  And Zimri destroyed the whole house of Baasha, according to the Word of Jehovah that He spoke as to Baasha, by the hand of Jehu the prophet; 

1Ki 16:13  concerning all the sins of Baasha and the sins of his son Elah that they sinned, and that they caused Israel to sin, to provoke to anger Jehovah the God of Israel with their vanities. 

1Ki 16:14  And the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel? 

1Ki 16:15  In the twenty seventh year of Asa the king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. And the people were camped against Gibbethon, which was the Philistines'. 

1Ki 16:16  And the people who were encamped heard, saying, Zimri has conspired and has struck the king. And all Israel made Omri the commander of the army to rule over Israel on that day in the camp

1Ki 16:17  And Omri went up, and all Israel with him from Gibbethon, and they laid siege to Tirzah. 

1Ki 16:18  And it happened when Zimri saw that the city would be captured he came into a high place of the king and burned the house of the king with fire over him, and died, 

1Ki 16:19  for his sins that he sinned, to do the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, to walk in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin that he did, to cause Israel to sin. 

1Ki 16:20  And the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his conspiracy that he made, are they not written in the Book of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel? 

1Ki 16:21  Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath to cause him to reign, and the other half after Omri

1Ki 16:22  And the people that followed Omri were stronger than the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath; and Tibni died, and Omri reigned. 

1Ki 16:23  In the thirty first year of Asa the king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, twelve years. He reigned six years in Tirzah; 

1Ki 16:24  then he bought the hill Samaria from Shemer with two talents of silver, and built the hill, and called the name of the city that he built by the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill, that is Samaria. 

1Ki 16:25  And Omri did that which was evil in the eyes of Jehovah, and did evil above all who were before him, 

1Ki 16:26  and walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin that he caused Israel to sin, to provoke to anger Jehovah the God of Israel with their vanities. 

1Ki 16:27  And the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and his might that he attained, are they not written in the of the Matters of the Days of the Kings of Israel? 

1Ki 16:28  And Omri lay down with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria. And his son Ahab reigned in his place. 

1Ki 16:29  And in the thirty eighth year of Asa the king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel. And Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty two years; 

1Ki 16:30  and Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the eyes of Jehovah above all who were before him. 

1Ki 16:31  And it happened as if it were a light thing, that he walked in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took a wife, Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and bowed himself to it. 

1Ki 16:32  And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 

1Ki 16:33  And Ahab made an Asherah, and Ahab did still more to provoke to anger Jehovah the God of Israel than all the kings of Israel that were before him. 

1Ki 16:34  In his days Hiel the man of Bethel built Jericho; he laid its foundation in his first-born Abiram, and he set up its doors in Segub his youngest, according to the Word of Jehovah that He spoke by the hand of Joshua the son of Nun. 

Verses 1-7 Summary:
Jehu the prophet delivers a curse from Jehovah against Baasha for continuing to worship idols. The curse is the same as was against Jeroboam. Baasha's family would die in the streets and the fields, and will be food for the animals.

Note Name Meanings:
Jehu: yêhû', yay-hoo' From H3068 and H1931; Jehovah (is) He
Hanani: chănânı̂y, khan-aw-nee', From H2603; gracious; Chanani
Baasha: ba‛shâ', bah-shaw' From an unused root meaning to stink; offensiveness
Elah: 'êlâh, ay-law', The same as H424; Elah, (424) 'êlâh, ay-law' Feminine of H352; an oak or other strong tree:

Verses 8-14 Summary:
Elah and his house are murdered by Zimri as prophesied.

Verses 15-20 Summary:
Israel is in battle with Philistines when they hear Zimri had killed Baasha. Israel makes Omri king and they go looking to go after Zimri. He burns down the kings house while in it and dies. His reign is SEVEN DAYS. Wow.

Note that even though his reign was only seven days, his judgement of sin is the same as Jeroboam.
"to do the evil in the eyes of Jehovah, to walk in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin that he did, to cause Israel to sin." 

Verses 21-28 Summary:
The northern kingdom of Israel splits in two. Some make Tibni king, some follow Omri. Omri is more powerful. Tibni dies and Omri reigns all if the northern kingdom. Omri is even more worse than his predecessors. This is the point of the decline of Israel. They reject God, are in complete disorder and are descending like a runaway train.

Verses 29-34 Summary:
Omri's son Ahab becomes king over northern Israel. He is more evil that the kings before him and continues in moral decline. He marries a wife whose name call to Baal. Baal worship becomes rampant. Jericho is rebuilt as was prophesied by Joshua.

1. What did Ahab introduce into Israel that had not been there before?
Ahab is building idols and places for idol worship, but this is not new in Israel. Nor was it new in Judah. We see issues with Baal back in Judges 2.  Gideon destroys an Israelite Baal idol in Judges 6. He certainly proliferated the rejection of Jehovah and added fuel to an already quick descent into the pagan worship world.
It is possible that Ahab introduced Asherah to Israel. We also saw Solomon boosting Ashteroth worship. Many of these gods were similar and/or had similar origins with nuanced changes based on regions and the flight of fancies of those making up these religions.

2. What prophecy of Joshua was fulfilled in the rebuilding of Jericho?
Jos 6:26  And at that time Joshua adjured, saying, Cursed be the man who rises up before the face of Jehovah and builds this city of Jericho. He shall lay its foundation in his first-born, and he shall set up its doors in his youngest son. 
The prophecy is that the builder's sons will die during the construction of Jericho. I'm not sure it is a curse, or if it is just a mention to manifest God's omnipotence. It seems likely the latter since Jericho was an enemy of Jehovah. 

3. Look up Baal in a Bible dictionary and explain about this god
Weather god, represented by thunder. "Mighty" "Lord of earth"
Son of Dagan, or El. Defeated the sea god Yamm, thus god of gods. There are many myths surrounding the story of this god. He was the god of gods to many in the region. Having a rain god on your side in this arid region was fervently sought after. The worship of this god include sexual deviancy. Typical. 


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