Elah King of Israel
8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah two years.
One of the most turbulent years in American history was 1968. War (especially the Tet Offensive), protests, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, all contributed to that disturbing, violent and uncertain time.
885 BC must have been a time of uncertainty, war and upheaval similar to 1968 AD. Elah became king in 886, the fourth king of Israel. By the end of 885, Israel would have a fifth, a sixth and a seventh king. Back in 886, it probably seemed like the transition from Baasha to his son Elah was smooth and peaceful. But the peace didn’t last very long.
9 Zimri, one of his officials, who had command of half his chariots, plotted against him. Elah was in Tirzah at the time, getting drunk in the home of Arza, the palace administrator at Tirzah. 10 Zimri came in, struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah. Then he succeeded him as king.
Later verses (15-16) tell us that the Israelite army was down at Gibbethon at this time. What was Zimri, a leading general, doing up at Tirzah? Was Arza the palace administrator in on the plot, or was he just the host where the king was getting drunk? We don’t really even know how long Elah had been king, since the Jews counted a part of a year as a year—it may only have been a matter of months, crossing over from late 886 to early 885.
It’s not much of an epitaph for a king: He really liked to party. But we shouldn’t point too many fingers when we should be examining our own lives. As one pastor put it: “We have men in our churches who can name all the linebackers on the New York Jets but have never taught the catechism to their children. How stupid our diversions are!” (Davis, 1 Kings: The Wisdom and the Folly p. 187).
11 As soon as he began to reign and was seated on the throne, he killed off Baasha’s whole family. He did not spare a single male, whether relative or friend. 12 So Zimri destroyed the whole family of Baasha, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken against Baasha through the prophet Jehu— 13 because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had caused Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols.
Once again, the new king of Israel erased the previous king’s family. Jehu’s prophecy came true, just as the word of God always comes true. Notice that it’s not Elah’s drunkenness that’s criticized, but his “worthless idols.” In Elah’s case, a garbage can full of empties could easily be considered to be among his many worthless idols.
14 As for the other events of Elah’s reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? (NIV)
I was also around in 1968. I wasn’t part of any of the great or turbulent events of that year, and you probably weren’t, either. And likewise there was a young man growing up in Israel who wasn’t part of the great or turbulent events of 886-885. This young man would become an important voice in Israel twelve or thirteen years later, and even though he’s not part of the picture yet, I thought it would be worth noticing him. He was a young man in the village of Tishbe, on the other side of the Jordan. Tishbe was on the border between the tribes of Manasseh and Gad, away from all the murder, away from the war, away where life was quiet and simple. I’ll bet it was a good place to grow up, and we’ll hear from him soon enough.
His name was Elijah.
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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