1 Kings 15:25-34 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Kings 15:25-34. As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first. See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
1 Kings 15:25-28 (NIV)
25 Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years.
26 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, walking in the ways of his father and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit.
27 Baasha son of Ahijah of the house of Issachar plotted against him, and he struck him down at Gibbethon, a Philistine town, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging it.
28 Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah and succeeded him as king.
On verses 25-28: 1 and 2 Kings is tale of two kingdoms, Judah and Israel. After Judah and Israel separate to become separate kingdoms, the author of 1 and 2 Kings tracks the reigns of the kings of Judah as well as the kings of Israel, going back and forth between them. Verses 25-32 summarize the short 2 year reign of Jeroboam’s son Nadab king of Israel. The writer of 1 Kings does not find anything noteworthy about Nadab except two things. First is how Nadab followed his father Jeroboam in worshiping idols and doing evil in God’s sight. Second is the way Nadab died: while Nadab is in foreign territory trying to capture the Philistine city of Gibbethon, another unsuspecting enemy — in this case, Baasha, an Israelite and a member of Nadab’s own kingdom — strikes Nadab down and becomes the new king of Israel.
In other words, what killed Nadab was not the foreign powers he was trying to conquer. Rather, Nadab’s killer came from within Nadab’s own kingdom. Nadab was effectively blindsided by an inside job.
What can we learn from this? Take good care of your own house before you seek to take over more foreign territory. In addition to protecting your home, marriage, family and life from outside attack, and in addition to expanding your business, ministry, or family into new territory, be vigilant in making sure that life within your borders — that is, your life at home, your marriage, your family — is peaceful, strong and undivided. Otherwise, like Nadab, you might get blindsided by an inside job as well.
1 Kings 15:29-34 (NIV)
29 As soon as he began to reign, he killed Jeroboam’s whole family. He did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all, according to the word of the LORD given through his servant Ahijah the Shilonite–
30 because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger.
31 As for the other events of Nadab’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
32 There was war between Asa and Baasha king of Israel throughout their reigns.
33 In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel in Tirzah, and he reigned twenty-four years.
34 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit.
On verses 29-34: As the new king of Israel, Baasha kills Jeroboam’s entire family. This fulfilled the prophecy that a prophet called Ahijah delivered a generation before regarding Jeroboam’s family (1 Kings 14). Interestingly, Baasha’s father is also called Ahijah (v33). Is it the same Ahijah? Maybe not since Baasha’s father Ahijah (v27) was from the tribe of Issachar whereas the prophet Ahijah was from Shiloh (v29).
Baasha probably did not destroy Jeroboam’s family because he was trying to fulfill any prophecy, or because he believed he was on a mission from God. Rather, Baasha did it because he wanted to eliminate any possible threats to his newly acquired throne and remove any possibility of Nadab’s relatives avenging Nadab’s death. But God uses Baasha in these circumstances nevertheless to fulfill His own promise which He made in 1 Kings 14:10, which was to cut off the house of Jeroboam.
Baasha would reign over Israel for 24 years. While Baasha was the instrument for bringing Nadab down for his sin of idolatry, Baasha himself would ironically follow in Nadab’s footsteps by committing the very same sins.
What can we learn from this? God will find a way to use you for His purposes no matter what, whether you’re conscious of it or not, and whether you have a heart for God or not. But whether you are just a dispensable blunt instrument in God’s hands, or an indispensable child close to His heart, all depends on how you respond to God.
If will you humble yourself before God and look to Him for salvation and ongoing help, you will have an intimate relationship with God in addition to being used greatly by Him. But if you don’t humble yourself before God and instead trust in yourself, God will still somehow find a way to use your life to accomplish His purposes, but only indirectly and minimally — not nearly to the extent or in the glorious way He originally intended — and you will miss out on the number one reason God made you: to know God and to have a relationship with Him. So don’t just be used by God; seek a close relationship with Him and be used even more greatly by Him.
Father, I don’t just want to be a blunt instrument that is used for Your purposes in a minimal, indirect way. I want to be close to You and to be used by You greatly. Please protect my home, family, church, and life from all harm. May each of them be strong, undivided and fully united for Your glory, so that we can take over more territory in Your name and for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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