Day 177—We are in the 6th month of Bible reading and reading the history of Israel. All the kings in the north were evil in the sight of the LORD, while in the south, a few were pleasing to him, but most also did evil.

 Day 177 – 1 Kings 16, 2 Chronicles 17. (FIVE kings in the northern kingdom; ONE king in the south)

1 Kings 16 describes five kings of Israel in rapid succession, each worse than the former. Baasha became king after killing King Nadab and the entire “house of Jeroboam,” which fulfilled prophecy. Baasha was from the tribe of Issachar and reigned wickedly for 24 years. 

The prophet Jehu came to King Baasha and said that God would wipe him and his entire family off the map because of his sins. Baasha died, and his son Elah reigned for two years. One day, when Elah was drunk, Zimri, the commander of half his army, came in and killed him and became king in his place. As soon as Zimri began to reign, he killed all of Baasha’s family AND all of his friends, fulfilling the word of the LORD via Jehu. 

Zimri must have done a quick job of it because he reigned only seven days. The rest of the troops and all of Israel made Omri king in his place.  When Zimri saw this, he went into the king’s house, set it afire while he was inside, and died.  Suicide. 

King Omri reigned twelve years, fortified a few cities, and made Samaria the capital of Israel. But he did evil in the sight of the LORD even MORE than those before him. When Omri died, his son Ahab became King.  Ahab did more to provoke the LORD than all the kings before him, but his wife, Jezebel, far outdid him in wickedness. 

Side note:  A fulfillment of prophecy is mentioned in 16:34. It says that the city of Jericho was rebuilt during Ahab’s reign but that Hiel, the builder, lost both his oldest and his youngest sons in the construction. This fulfilled the prophecy of Joshua 6:26 to the letter.

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2 Chronicles 17 describes the godly king Jehoshaphat, who reigned 25 years in Judah (the southern kingdom).

After his father Asa (diseased severely in his feet) died and was cremated, Jehoshaphat came to the throne. Verses 3-6 say, “The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he walked in the earlier ways of his father David. He did not seek Baals but sought the God of his father and walked in His commandments, not according to the practices of Israel. Therefore, the LORD established his kingdom in his hand.”  “His heart was courageous in the ways of the LORD.”

In King Jehoshaphat’s third year of reign, he sent his officials and the Levites around Judah to teach “the book of the Law of the LORD.” “And the fear of the LORD fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands around Judah, and they made no war against Jehoshaphat.”

(This reminds me of Proverbs 16:7. “When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”)