1 Kings: Walk Before Me FaithfullySample

Can it get any worse? Sadly, yes. The downward plunge of the northern kingdom of Israel continues towards rock bottom. 

As we saw previously, the dynasty of Baasha ends after just two kings, the same as for Jeroboam’s line before him. Again, this is the fulfilment of prophecy (v. 12) and is God’s judgement against Baasha’s sins. The power and reliability of God’s word remains a significant theme in the Books of Kings. No reader can escape the mounting evidence to trust totally in the promises of God. 

In many churches, God’s word is regarded as unreliable. Preaching from it is haphazard and many Christians are ignorant of it. But the Books of Kings keep drawing us to the power and reliability of God’s word, which ought to spur us to take it seriously and keep reading it. 

King Zimri lasts just a week, victim of another coup. But even one week is enough for the writer to summarise his reign in the same vein as his predecessors (v. 19). What a week! A different king, but the same sins. 

On the world stage, Omri is a significant ruler, making Samaria into his grand and strategic capital. But the interest of the Books of Kings is different, summarising Omri as a worse king than any before (v. 25). So the assessment of Omri continues the pattern: a different king, but the same sins of Jeroboam. 

Can it continue to get worse? Yes! Omri’s son Ahab is worse than all before him (v. 30). To cap it off, Ahab’s wife Jezebel deliberately brings in the worship of Baal, and Ahab builds a temple for her Baal. Her aim is the pure worship of Baal to the exclusion of God altogether. 

How do we assess leadership of a nation and the church? Most people look in national leaders for good achievements, a sound economy, security, stability, maybe victory in battle. Even in the church we often value competence and achievement. But the Books of Kings keep directing us to what matters most to God: morality and right worship. While we cannot expect our country’s leaders to be Christian, as Christians we must be concerned with moral issues in our leaders.

Reflection

How would you assess your church’s and nation’s leaders?