Baasha King of Israel
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, following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. (NIV)
Baasha may have overthrown the “dynasty” of Jeroboam (two kings is hardly a dynasty), but nothing really changed. While it sits before us in the text, we might notice the city of Tirzah, which was the capital of the northern kingdom in those days.
In the days of Joshua, Tirzah had been a city with its own king, so it was a center for one of the Canaanite tribes like the Amorites or Hivites. Between Galilee and the area around Jerusalem, Israel rises up in a series of “western hills” which can reach mountainous heights of more than two thousand feet, and even some higher places such as Bethel where some peaks are more than 3,000 feet. Tirzah sits at the source of a river, the Wadi Farah, about five miles north of Shechem. From Baasha until the time of King Omri, Tirzah was Israel’s capital.
16 Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu son of Hanani concerning Baasha: 2 “I lifted you up from the dust and appointed you ruler over my people Israel, but you followed the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people Israel to sin and to arouse my anger by their sins. 3 So I am about to wipe out Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like that of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4 Dogs will eat those belonging to Baasha who die in the city, and birds will feed on those who die in the country.”
You may or may not be keeping track, but Jehu is the fifth prophet we have encountered in Kings so far. At the end of David’s reign and throughout Solomon’s time, the great prophet of Jerusalem was Nathan. The only other Judean prophet we’ve met up to now is the nameless “man of God from Judah” was was killed by the lion (1 Kings 13:1-29). You might remember Ahijah, the prophet who tore up his own robe as God tore up Israel, to hand the pieces of Jeroboam, and then who condemned Jeroboam for his sins. There was also a “certain old prophet of Bethel” who deceived and later buried the man of God who was killed by the lion.
Now we meet Jehu. About sixty years in the future, a king also named Jehu will have a long reign in the north. This Jehu is always called “son of Hanani,” but we only meet his father Hanani the seer in Chronicles. He was the prophet who scolded King Asa about his treaty with the Arameans of Damascus.
5 As for the other events of Baasha’s reign, what he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 6 Baasha rested with his ancestors and was buried in Tirzah. And Elah his son succeeded him as king.
Jehu’s prophecy involved dogs and birds devouring what’s left of Baasha’s household. Perhaps during his twenty-four years on the throne (908-886 BC), king Baasha sometimes forgot about Jehu’s words, but as he prepared to make the transition from his time on the throne to his son Elah, did the prophet’s warning serve to disturb his conscience? Baasha got to die a peaceful death—a rarity among the northern kings—but his “achievements” aren’t recorded in Scripture. He murdered the previous king, and he made Tirzah his capital. We hear more of Jehu’s prophecy against Baasha than we hear of Baasha’s own words or deeds.
7 Moreover, the word of the LORD came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani to Baasha and his house, because of all the evil he had done in the eyes of the LORD, arousing his anger by the things he did, becoming like the house of Jeroboam—and also because he destroyed it. (NIV)
Our author wants us to remember God’s judgment on Baasha. He won’t be the last king condemned in either the north or south. God doesn’t shout once or twice and then give up like a tired parent. He wants us to turn away from our sins: that’s why he keeps condemning sin. We need to sit up and notice when God speaks and condemns, but we should be even more afraid when God falls silent. The silent judgment of the Lord is no less severe than his vocal judgment. But we live in a time when the next judgment from God will be the Last Judgment. Another prophet said, “The Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king [a reference to the Messiah, Jesus]. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days” (Hosea 3:5). We are the ones who will teach them about our Savior and theirs, Jesus Christ.
May God give us the wisdom, patience and courage to teach those who are lost, and to show them that God is the one searching to bring them back, through the work of the Holy Spirit and the blood of the Lamb.
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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