1 Kings 16 – 17
Baasha ruled for 24 years in wickedness (that’s a long time for a wicked ruler over the house of Israel) and his son, Elah, ruled after him for two years before he was overthrown by Zimri, who ruled for one week before committing suicide as Omri conquered the city where he was. At that pout the kingdom of Israel split with half following Omri and half following Tibni until Tibni died at which time they united under Omri. Omri died 12 years after Elah and was more wicked than all the kings before him. His son, Ahab, follows in his footsteps and is even worse with the help of his wife, Jezebel. After this string of kings even Saul is starting to look like a decent choice for king again.
I had not realized that Elijah came to prominence after a string of 4 kings whose combined time on the throne was 14 years (two of those kings each held half the kingdom for a period of 5 to 6 of those 14 years). After that kind of turmoil politically I’m not surprised that a prophet should arise in the land to invite the people to repent. I wonder what Ahab thought when Elijah first declared that there would be no rain unless he said there would be rain. I amagi e that he first thought Elijah mad. I wonder how long it took before he began to wonder if Elijah really had such power.
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