The Worst Kings of the Jeroboams
(1Kgs 16: 15ampsim34)
During the 41 years of Asas reign in Judah, six different kings ruled in Israel including Nadab, Baasha, a diehard king of the Jeroboams, and Elah, the drunkard. Lets see the rest of the worst kings in Jeroboams dynasty. Their sins are as follows.
1. Zimri, the cruel traitor.All Israel kings walked in the way of Jeroboam, the evil way of fatal addiction. 25 years after the reign of Jeroboams son Nadab, Zimri was attacked while his army was at Gibbethon. Thus the same crime at the same place brought up the same judgment of the Lord. Here his conscripted people look like victims who should be saved. Yet they were under Gods judgment because, out of their treacherous heart, they had chased after Jeroboam against Solomon. In fact, they paid for their blind faith in Jeroboam on earth. Otherwise they would have faced Gods eternal judgment. Besides, the Israelites were distressed because they couldnt come over to Judah even though they needed to. This was another judgment situation. Without Jesus, things are like this. Thus the Bible tells us how weve brought everything on ourselves in our life. Zimri finally committed suicide by setting the palace on fire because of the rebellion that occurred seven days after his treason. He was the king who had the most miserable death of the six kings after Jeroboam, showing us what it was like to stand against Gods ruling. which was to walk in the evil ways of Jeroboam and become a model of a traitor. We should not be seated in Gods place. An evil person is to be judged by another evil one on an evil day. Zimri walked on the road of treason. It was used as a tool of Gods punishment against those who rebelled against Him as we see in our workplace or family. Yet our rebellion for the sake of salvation is actually a sort of obedience to the Lord. The Holy Spirit teaches us how to discern between treason and obedience.
2. Omri, the worse sovereign of evil power.Omri was worse than the previous kings. When Omri seemed to hold the throne completely after Zimris suicide, the spirit of discord incited the faction of Tibni to rise. Likewise, without faith, our life is full of discords. Omris army finally defeated Tibnis in the a five-year war. Unlike Judah, Israel was ruled by the law of the jungle, the result of Jeroboams reign. Likewise the church will be ruled by the principles of the world unless it avoids every kind of evil. A community ruled by power cannot stand upright. Redemption history is fulfilled only through right order and obedience. Order seems to rely on power as non-Christians think yet it is Gods stage where His chosen people are trained. Thats why Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist not to be subordinate to power but to save us. Gods chosen people are those who see their sins before leading others. Thats the way of David. The first thing that Omri did after being enthroned was buy the hill Samaria dirtcheap by force, ignoring the Lord before his people. This probably affected his son Ahab, who later deprived Naboth of his vineyard. The succeeding disobedience brought Gods judgment on their family line. If we stay in the structure of good rebuking even though we dont have good understanding of the Word, we can inquire of our community before making our decision. Notice that the Bible describes Omri simply as an evil king, far from the heavenly kingdom. No matter how prominent he might be in his politics or economy, he was outside of redemption history.He made the statutes of idolatry, as in Micah 6:16, which misled Israel to its fall. Samaria became a hotbed of crime. His worst sin was let his son Ahab have a non-faith marriage of convenience. This sinful inheritance was handed down to his descendants, which brought miserable judgment. God wants us to choose the way of David instead of Jeroboam, deploring the widespread sins among us as we chase the worldly prosperity that Omri enjoyed.
3. Ahab, the worst king of non-faith marriage.Ahab took the lead in committing sins by worshipping Baal,considering it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam. Following the way of Omri, Ahab married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, an idol worshiper, built the temple of Baal and in Samaria, and made an Asherah pole. Unlike Jeroboam, who secretly worshiped the idols of prosperity by placing golden calves in Gods place, Ahab, incited by Jezebel, publicly worshiped Baal.In worshiping Baal, he took one step further than his father,enraging God. Here the main instigator of his sin was Jezebel. Ahab thought lightly of non-faith marriage, which made him mislead his people and descendants into eternal distress. In addition to worshiping golden calves, they made their temple not only a center of idolatry but also a social club. Whether on good or bad terms, we can find our mission in our married life by obeying God. The greatest enemies are decent humanists. They seduce us to worship golden calves by legalizing the institution of idolatry. Non-Christian marriage is the key to inviting the devil. Solomon married Pharaohs daughter, yet before he passed away, he wrote the book ofEcclesiastesand theSong of Songs, repenting of his sins. Unlike Solomon, however, Ahab publicly set up the institution for worshiping Baal on the basis of his non-faith marriage. Hiel, one of Ahabs people also disobeyed the Word, ignoring the warning not to rebuild Jericho, and he lost his two sons. Dont we need to be remembered as Gods faithful child, not as the worst king of evil?
The recent verdict of the third trial for a married couple to divorce due to the couples different values regarding paying debts from their parents and moving to Gangnam for their childs education is surely a misleading judgment that urges us to follow the way of Jeroboam. The worst kings of Jeroboams descendants are so-called successful kings, but their ways are not for us to follow. May God bless us to keep our heavenly values in this age when the court urges us to divorce because of different values under the guise of respecting individual freedom!
Ahab son of Omri did even more open evil before God than anyone yet - a new champion in evil! (1Kgs 16: 30)
