Learn from the Mistakes

1st Kings 16

There is a saying that history repeats itself and I do not know exactly about that but I do know is that we do not learn from the mistakes of those who lived before us. I know I should watch from the mistakes that maybe my father and grandfather made so that I would not make the same mistakes but that is not always the case because I know I have made similar mistakes too.

In this chapter we see the history of the different kings of Israel. We read which kings were good and which ones were evil.

Baasha king over Israel

Baasha was the next king over Israel after Nadab. We read that Baasha conspired against Nadab and  killed him and now he is king. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and the prophet Jehu told him that his end was coming and the same fate that was over Jeroboam would happen to him. 

Elah the son of Baasha reigns

Baasha son became king after his dad but his servant Zimri wanted to become kind too. He then killed Elah and took over the kingdom. He was killed which was the prophecy of Jehu coming true through his kindgom. He only reigned over Israel for two years. It is interesting that Baasha’s son, Elah died by the way his father took over the kingdom. He was assassinated and the fate and sin of his father fell on him. 

Zimri king of Israel

Zimri took over after he killed Elah and he only reigned in Israel for seven days. He killed himself as the nation was splitting before him. The nation was following after the commander of the army, Omri.  Zimri was evil and did nothing to change the sins of those who led before him.

Omri king of Israel

He led the revolt of people and soon became king over Israel. He reigned for 12 years. In those 12 years he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and he did more evil than those that were before him. He provoked God to anger.

Ahab king of Israel.

We actually get to slow down and focus on king Ahab for the next few chapters becase we will be introduced to Elijah the man who loved God in a nation that did not. Ahab was an evil king who did evil in the sight of the Lord. He made Baal the false god to be god over Israel. He did more evil than all the kings before them. How sad that none of these men have realized that the fate of their fathers and the other kings before them was not good because they abandoned the Lord. They not only abandoned God but they caused the nation to turn away too. They made the nation worship false gods, these man made images and worship it.  

Remember the Lord sees everything, nothing is hidden from Him (Hebrews 4:13). God holds everything in his hands and I know that he has allowed us to learn from the mistakes of those who before us. We can learn at the failures of the leaders in the Bible. These men who fell away from the Lord from the time of Solomon and how they did not learn. There is no hope for those who abandon God. Their fate has already been decided as they gave up on the hope that is in God. There are many people that do this today. Their parents abandoned God and so the children follow after. It does not have to be that way. God is gracious and full of forgiveness (2nd Peter 3:9). He is willing if we are ready.