“When thrones shake, the word of the LORD remains.”
Jehu son of Hanani walks into Baasha’s court with a sentence that sounds almost copied and pasted from 1 Kings 15. “You walked in the way of Jeroboam… therefore I will sweep away your house” (New International Version). The Hebrew verb for “sweep away” (בָּעַר / baʿar) is used of burning chaff—quick, thorough, final. Empires look permanent; God’s word looks fragile. But the chapter will prove again that the reverse is true.
Cross-lights
• Deuteronomy 17:14-20 – the charter for kings who refuse to read
it.
• Isaiah 40:6-8 – flesh like grass, but God’s word stands.
• Hosea 8:4 – “They set up kings without my consent.”
For reflection
Have I grown numb to repeated warnings because I have heard them
before?
Elah drinks himself dull while Zimri plots. In one afternoon the dynasty ends. Zimri lasts only seven days—the shortest reign in either Testament. Ancient Near-Eastern steles trumpet stability and longevity; the Bible records fragility.
Notice the repeated formula:
• “He sinned… he provoked the LORD.”
• “The rest of the acts… are they not written?”
This is history written as theology. Sin is not a private matter; it destabilises whole systems.
Cross-lights
• Proverbs 23:29-35 – alcohol’s fog of judgment.
• Luke 12:45-46 – a servant who “eats and drinks and gets drunk” finds
the Master returning.
Application
Hidden habits in the palace of the heart can topple whatever I think is
secure.
The army splits: half for Tibni, half for Omri. Archaeologists at Tel Tirzah have found burnt layers that match Omri’s siege. He then buys a hill from a man named Shemer and builds Šōmrôn—Samaria. The name means “watch-place,” and indeed the city will watch both idolatry and prophetic fire (Elijah) play out.
Omri is politically brilliant (Assyrian records later call Israel “the land of Omri”), yet the text sums him up: “He did more evil than all before him.” Influence without obedience only multiplies damage.
Cross-lights
• Psalm 127:1 – unless the LORD builds the house…
• Micah 6:16 – “You have kept the statutes of Omri.”
The Hebrew narrator shifts into slow motion; we will stay with Ahab for six more chapters. Three dark steps are named:
Each verb escalates compromise into public policy. Church fathers saw here the anatomy of temptation: what is first “light” becomes life-shaping.
Cross-lights
• 2 Corinthians 6:14 – unequal yokes.
• James 1:14-15 – desire, sin, death sequence.
Hebrew note
“Provoked” (הִכְעִיס / hikʿīs) is intensive—to anger repeatedly.
Sin that once grieved God now taunts Him.
Hymn suggestion
“God, the Omnipotent! King Who Ordainest” – a sober plea for rulers and
nations.
Hiel of Bethel rebuilds Jericho “at the cost of his firstborn… and his youngest,” fulfilling Joshua 6:26. Excavations show a small 9th-century settlement on the older ruins—possibly Hiel’s work. The point, however, is not masonry but defiance. A curse spoken five centuries earlier still stands.
Theology in miniature
• Covenant promise (blessing or curse) outlives its speakers.
• The God of Joshua is the God of Ahab’s day; He is ours too.
Voices from the Past
• Augustine: earthly kingdoms rise and fall “so that the City of God may
learn not to confuse passing glory with eternal hope.”
• Calvin: God “arms wicked men against each other” to curb wickedness
and to teach the Church to fix her eyes above.
• John Wesley: “Every revolution of government is a loud call to
personal holiness.”
Almighty God,
You hold kings and commoners in Your hand.
Shake from us the illusion that sin is small or that Your word can
fail.
Protect us from alliances that dull our love for You,
and raise in our hearts a longing for the true King, Jesus Christ,
whose kingdom cannot be toppled and whose mercy rebuilds without
curse.
In His strong name we pray. Amen.