1 Kings 16

Passage overview

Second Kings 16 describes the reign and actions of Ahaz, the king of the southern kingdom of Judah. The passage records that King Ahaz did evil in the sight of the LORD, the invasions by the northern kingdom of Israel and Aram, and how Ahaz sought help from Assyria and brought in a new altar design he saw in Damascus. This chapter describes how the corruption of faith took place in Judah’s history.

1verseThe LORD’s word came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,

2verse“Because I exalted you out of the dust and made you prince over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins,

3versebehold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house; and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

4verseThe dogs will eat Baasha’s descendants who die in the city; and he who dies of his in the field, the birds of the sky will eat.”

5verseNow the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

6verseBaasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his place.

7verseMoreover the LORD’s word came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and against his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the LORD’s sight, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he struck him.

8verseIn the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah for two years.

9verseHis servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah;

10verseand Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.

11verseWhen he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, he attacked all the house of Baasha. He didn’t leave him a single one who urinates on a wall among his relatives or his friends.

12verseThus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the LORD’s word which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,

13versefor all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and with which they made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities.

14verseNow the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

15verseIn the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

16verseThe people who were encamped heard that Zimri had conspired, and had also killed the king. Therefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp.

17verseOmri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.

18verseWhen Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the fortified part of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire, and died,

19versefor his sins which he sinned in doing that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did to make Israel to sin.

20verseNow the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he committed, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

21verseThen 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.

22verseBut the people who followed Omri prevailed against the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath; so Tibni died, and Omri reigned.

23verseIn the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel for twelve years. He reigned six years in Tirzah.

24verseHe bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

25verseOmri did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight, and dealt wickedly above all who were before him.

26verseFor he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sins with which he made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities.

27verseNow the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he showed, aren’t they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

28verseSo Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son reigned in his place.

29verseIn the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel. Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.

30verseAhab the son of Omri did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight above all that were before him.

31verseAs if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him.

32verseHe raised up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

33verseAhab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more yet to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

34verseIn his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. He laid its foundation with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the LORD’s word, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

Flow and Structure of the Passage

  • The accession and evaluation of King Ahaz (verses 1-4): Ahaz took the throne in Judah, and unlike his father, he is evaluated as having done evil before the LORD. In particular, he followed foreign gods and even practiced the custom of making his son pass through the fire.
  • National crisis and political choice (verses 5-9): Aram and the northern kingdom of Israel encircled Jerusalem but failed to take it. To deal with this crisis, Ahaz sent tribute to the king of Assyria and asked for help.
  • Corruption of worship (verses 10-18): Ahaz went to Damascus to meet the king of Assyria, saw the foreign altars, and then commanded that an altar be made in Jerusalem modeled after their design. This marks the beginning of a serious corruption in which the established order of worship in the temple was changed.
  • Ahaz’s death (verses 19-20): The rest of his accounts are recorded in the annals of the kings of Judah, and the chapter concludes as his son Hezekiah succeeds him.

Overall Meaning and Lessons

Ahaz’s actions show the downfall of faith and the political and religious turmoil that resulted. When faced with crisis, instead of trusting God, he relied on the power of a great nation; and the process of chasing outward success while losing the essence of faith also teaches us a deep lesson even today. It prompts us to examine the forms of faith, the essence of it, and what we truly depend on.

Meditation Points

  • In a crisis of faith, where do we put our trust?
  • We must be cautious that even small compromises can lead to the distortion of faith as a whole.
  • It becomes an opportunity to look again at the essence of worship and life that God has entrusted to us.

Apply It to Me

  • When I face a crisis in life, I check who the first person—or object—I look for is.
  • Rather than being bound by appearances or customs, I need to make a decision to live in a way that preserves the essence of faith.
  • Even amid the flow of change, it leads me to pray for an attitude that steadfastly keeps my relationship with God.

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