Resurrection Life of Jesus Church

The last screen of the virtual time run showed the death of Jeroboam. The Godhead decided that despite the idolatry in the northern part of Israel, they would nevertheless receive a chance to repent and seek the Lord.

NINE NORTHERN TRIBES
The tribes of Benjamin and Judah comprised the southern kingdom. There were Levites in the northern and southern kingdoms, but they did not possess any land. Their assignment was simply to be priests to the people; as such, they were provided with 48 cities throughout in the Promised Land. Numbers 35:1-8

I would like to point out a personal longstanding error which I wish rectify in this message. There were Levites interspersed among the nine northern tribes and the two southern tribes. It is incorrect to refer to the northern kingdom as the “ten northern tribes” because the Levites did not possess any land and simply lived among the “nine northern tribes.”

HISTORICAL DATING
We do not have exact dates for the kings of Israel. There are two Bible scholars who have tried to set the dates, William F. Albright and Edwin R. Thiele, each one has arrived at different estimated dates.

In this message, I have followed Thiele’s dating of the years. However, the dates do not always match up with the length each king reigned. No one knows for sure the real dates for these kings, so what we have is estimates by these two men.

The following is a summary of the monarchy of the nine northern tribes.

KING NADAB (910-909 BC)
When Jeroboam died, Nadab became the king of Israel. He reigned for two years as an evil king that worshiped idols. 1 Kings 15:25-26

KING BAASHA (909-886 BC)
Baasha was a captain in the army of Israel who was the son of the prophet Ahijah. He conspired to murder Nadab, and during a military campaign against the Philistine city of of Gibbethon, Baasha and his band of conspirators murdered Nadab, and then he declared himself the new king of Israel.

Baasha wanted to make sure that neither Jeroboam’s nor Nadab’s families survived and this is why he ordered every family member killed. 1 Kings 15:29-30

During his 24 year reign, he waged war against Judah and failed. Baasha died of natural causes and Elah became the king of Israel. 1 Kings 15:32

Jehu – who would be the tenth king of Israel – prophesied against Baasha and his family. 1 Kings 16:1-7

KING ELAH (886-885 BC)
Elah continued in the sins of his father and reigned for two years until he was assassinated by Zimri, captain of half of Israel’s chariots.

Elah was drunk when Zimri came to his house and murdered him. With the deed done, Zimri declared himself the next king of Israel. 1 Kings 16:10

KING ZIMRI (885 BC)
As soon as Zimri announced he was taking over as king, he ordered the murder of Baasha’s entire family and his friends. The widespread act of murder went on for seven days. The northern tribes were not happy and appointed Omri, Israel’s military commander, to be the new king of Israel, who immediately besieged the city of Tirzah where Zimri had set up his throne. When Zimri lost the battle, he set the king’s palace on fire and committed suicide by burning to death. 1 Kings 16:11-20

KING OMRI (885-872 BC)
The people of Israel were divided and a civil war ensued. Some wanted Omri, while others wanted Tibni to be the new king. Omri eventually prevailed after four years. We don’t know how Tibni died. 1 Kings 16:21-22
Omri was a hardcore idol worshiper; he was even more evil than the kings that had preceded him. He reigned for six years from the city of Tirzah and six more years from the new capital called Samaria. We don’t know how Omri died. 1 Kings 16:23-28

KING AHAB (872-853 BC)
Once Omri died, his son became the next king. Ahab reigned for 22 years. Jesus sent prophets to correct and chastise him, but Ahab would turn out to be the most immoral and blasphemous king ever to sit on the throne of Israel. 1 Kings 16:29-30

MARRYING BAAL
Ahab had been raised as a Baal worshiper and wanted to consolidate his grip on the idolatrous worship that the people of Israel had embraced. Ahab mixed religion with politics by marrying Jezebel, the daughter of the king of Tyre, who had expanded his power from Phoenicia to Beirut in the north. Through this marriage, Ahab aligned Israel with Tyre militarily and politically; essentially, he brought Israel into an alliance with the Lucifer. 1 Kings 16:31-33

RUNNING AFOUL OF GOD
Jesus instructed the prophet Elijah to confront Ahab and pronounce a drought over Israel. 1 Kings 17:1

Elijah was then told to hide. verses 2-7

The brook where Elijah was staying dried up and he was directed to leave Israel and go to the city of Zarephath to be sustained by a widow. verses 8-24