Jehu was a prophet and his father, Hanani was also a prophet, Jehu is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 20:34 as being the author of a history which are recorded in the book of the kings of Israel.
Later, Jehu moved to Jerusalem, 2 Chronicles 16:7-10, and prophesied under Jehoshaphat, whom he rebuked on one occasion. He lived to a good age and outlived Jehoshaphat, 2 Chronicles 20:34.
Although the N.I.V tells us that God appointed Baasha ‘ruler’, other translations tell us that God made him a ‘prince’. This tells us that although God brought him to the throne, it was God Himself who was the one with the final authority because a prince didn’t have the final authority of any kingdom.
Baasha, like Asa before him, led people into idolatry and because of this God removed him from his throne. His household would suffer the same fate as Jeroboam’s because he didn’t turn the people back towards God. His family would be eaten by dogs, and the birds would feed off their bodies, 1 Kings 14:7-11.
When we read these verses we begin to get a glimpse into just how morally corrupt Israel and their leadership have become. We must also remember that in and through all of this corruption God was going to bring about the Messiah, 1 Kings 19:18.
Elah’s reign was actually less than two years, but during this time Zimri plotted against him. What Zimri did to Baasha’s son was the same as what Baasha had done before him.
Elah is busy getting drunk, which wasn’t worthy behaviour of royalty, he should have been out on the battlefield fighting with his army.
He was getting drunk in the house of Arza, he was probably in charge of the palace of Tirzah and probably plotted again Elah along with Zimri.
Zimri killed every one of his predecessor’s heirs, leaving no living rival to the throne. Zimri was a professional soldier, perhaps not even an Israelite, since he isn’t identified with any tribe.
Because of his plotting and scheming against Elah, Zimri was only able to stay in power for seven days, which is the shortest rule of any king in Israelite history. The Israelites rejected him as king and made Omri their king.
There were two reasons why the army of Israel didn’t accept Zimri as king, 1. He was a subordinate commander to Omri and 2. His murder of a host of Elah’s friends, along with Elah, and all of their sons must have made him a host of bitter enemies.
Its worth remembering that these kings of Israel were chosen by the people, not by God. God appears to be a distant memory at this point in time and this is displayed in Israel’s sinful behaviour and power struggle.
Zimri didn’t have the support of the people and so when Omri defeated Zimri’s weak army of men at Tirzah, he committed suicide by burning himself to death when he set the king’s house alight.
He is one of only four people mentioned in the Scriptures who committed suicide. The other three are Ahithophel, 2 Samuel 17:23, King Saul, 1 Samuel 31:5, Judas Iscariot, Matthew 27:5.
Zimri didn’t learn any lessons from Jeroboam’s sins, he made the same fatal mistake of leading Israel to commit idolatry.
Omri reigned from 885-874 B.C., and he managed to bring together the kingship of the northern kingdom after a period of turmoil among evil kings and he had a lot of influence internationally.
In the British Museum, there is the Black Obelisk, a black limestone obelisk of Shalmaneser III, and it glorifies the achievements of the king and minister. On it are written inscriptions which show tribute coming from all directions.
There are tribute bearers in five rows, identified by captions. Each row has four panels, one on each side of the obelisk, 1. Gilzanu (North-West Iran) tribute includes horses. 2. House of Omri (Ancient Israel- tribute from Biblical King Jehu 841 B.C.). 3. Musri, or Egypt tribute or gift of elephant, ape and other exotic animals. 4. Suhi on the Euphrates, scene of animal hunting. 5. Patina in Southern Turkey.
Notice that Omri the king of Israel is mentioned, this tells us that at this point in time, when Omri had become king, the northern kingdom was divided between those who gave allegiance to Tibni and those who followed Omri. Omri triumphed in the conflict, and as a result of this, he brought some stability to the kingdom.
He moved the capital of Israel from Tizrah to Samaria and so, by doing this he established Samaria as the centre of government and faith in the northern kingdom.
Omri, just like those before him, led Israel into idolatry, he obviously was chosen by the people because he like many before him, wanted to please the people and allowed the people to influence him. He died and his son, Ahab now becomes king of Israel.
Ahab reigned from 874 to 853 B.C., and his reign shows us just how evil things have become in Israel. Up to this point, the focus has been on all the power struggles within Israel but here the focus is on how evil the kings were in their relationships with the people they reigned over.
We see just how much the people have rejected God as Baal worship is now the main form of worship in both the northern and southern kingdoms. There appear to be a few righteous people among all this Baal worship, but because of intimidation, their faith goes into hiding.
False Baal prophets were employed by the government to impose submission to Baal, which resulted in the true prophets of God also being intimidated. If there was ever a time for those of great faith in God, Elijah and Elisha to step up, it was now, the righteous people and the true prophets of God needed to be encouraged and reminded that amidst all this ungodliness and idolatry, God is still in control.
We read that this great apostasy to lead Israel into more idolatry was led by Ahab and Jezebel, the king and queen of the northern kingdom.
Notice that ‘the sins of Jeroboam’ had become mainstream, Ahab considered what he was doing as trivial, not a big deal. No wonder Israel is setting herself up to fail, no wonder God is eventually going to take them into captivity. They are just going from bad to worse which every king which comes to the throne.
Notice that Hiel built Jericho, Joshua had prophesied that this would happen in Joshua 6:26, around five hundred years before, but within his prophecy, he also warned if anyone did rebuild it, there would be consequences to pay.
Here we read about those consequences, it cost the lives of Hiel’s two sons, Abiram and Segub.