Succession of Kings

1 Kings 16:8 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 elements of our society that we often take for granted here in the United States is that we have elections. Our leaders are chosen by the people and when inauguration day comes, one leader steps aside and another takes over. There is no murder or execution of the previous ruler and their family and friends. And for the most part, this has taken place peacefully and without too much acrimony.
But down through history peaceful transitions are not the norm. So often leadership changed hands through bloody confrontation. And the time of the Kings in Scripture outlines a whole series of these transitions.
The one thing I appreciate about the Scriptures is that the stories are not sanitized of their sinful actions. The real character of evil leaders is portrayed for us to read. The two kingdoms of Israel and Judah each go through a line of leaders. Their beginnings and endings and recorded and woven together in the narrative.
A new king comes to power and the dates of his ascendency are related to the reign of the other kingdom. “While Nancy Pelosi was speaker of the House during the presidency of Donald Trump, COVID-19 ravaged the world.” And so the history gets told.
Asa was king in Judah for 41 years, a very long time in the history of Judah and Israel. So the throne of Israel changed hands many times while he remained in charge. During one of those transitions of power Elah became king and ruled for only 2 years. This was not the shortest reign, but not very long compared to 41 years.
And the main thing we find out about Elah’s reign is that a plot was hatched by one of his high ranking officials. This official, Zimri was his name, plotted to kill him. And when he had killed him, he proceeded to kill his whole family. Talk about having an inferiority complex, this guy had it in spades.
Now you might ask, why did the LORD allow such a horrible thing to happen to him. Well, Elah followed in the footsteps of his father Baasha. Baasha was a king who didn’t do the right thing. He himself worshipped idols, and he allowed the people to do the same. This was expressly forbidden to do. The LORD had given strict instructions to worship Him alone.
But the LORD had also warned those who might be tempted to worship other gods, that He would bring judgment against them. Not serving the LORD was such a violation of the original design for us as human beings, that the LORD said he would not allow it. It was so poisonous to us that the LORD would purge the evil from the land. And that is what the LORD does.
Our sin is so evil that the LORD is purging it from the land. Not with COVID-19, but on the Cross. Jesus too the wrath of God for us. He bore the searing loneliness of separation from the Creator. He did it so that we could be restored.
So on these days of Passion Week, remember the reason Jesus did what He did. He went through the Cross for you and me.