1 Ki. 16: In This Year of Asa King of Judah

1 Kings 16:19 "So he died, because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD and walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in the sin he had committed and had caused Israel to commit."

Baasha's uppance comes quickly in chapter 16. He received word through the prophet Jehu that his time was over. I think God preserves a special kind of judgment on leaders who lead people into sin. The privilege is great, and so then is the responsibility. If that fails, the punishment is great. Baasha gets the Jeroboam treatment, in that his city-dwelling family will be eaten by dogs, while those who flee to or live in the country will be eaten by birds. Why the distinction? It must be symbollic, as it happens twice and is presented as some kind of awful judgment.

And there are several kings listed here in this chapter. The similarities between these guys are not only in that they did evil in the eyes of the LORD, made bad treaties, fomented idolatry and polytheism, and were generally just naughty dudes.

Look at it.

Verse 8 - "In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah..."

Verse 15 - "In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri..."

Verse 23 - "In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri..."

Verse 29 - "In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab..."

Asa, a good king, the king of Judah, keeps the fire burning, while in Israel, they keep having losers assume the throne. A condition of evil was bred. This was the culture. Short reigns. Bursts of carnality and self. Infighting and mutiny. That was how it was in Israel. Additionally, God rewards goodness and following His ways with longer reigns on the throne. Israel kept having evil guys on the throne for a few years at a time. Conversely, David went 40, Solomon went 40...Asa made it a long way, and then you have Israel's guys going two and three years...they don't have time to establish themselves as rulers, to get good at it. But I don't think they are there to get good at it, and do well by Israel.