And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which [belonged] to the Philistines, when Nadab and all Israel were besieging Gibbethon.
Nadab, son of Jeroboam, is two years into his reign. He is camped outside a Philistine-held town when one of his own men turns on him. It looks like ordinary political violence. Commentators ask a harder question: whose word came true at Gibbethon?
Gibbethon was not neutral ground. Nadab died trying to take it back.
Gibbethon was a town in Dan, allotted to the Levites of the family of Korah (Joshua 19:44; 21:23). It bordered on Philistine land, and the Philistines probably seized it when the Levites moved away to Judah. The name means "lofty place". Nadab was trying to win it back for the crown when he was killed by treachery.
Baasha was not an enemy outside the walls.
Another man, Baasha, of the tribe of Issachar, conspired against Nadab. He killed him at Gibbethon, a Philistine city that Nadab was besieging (v.27). Baasha was on the side of the besiegers, but used the occasion to murder his own king! Then he took Nadab's place as king. In all of this the weakness of the people of Israel is apparent. They accept the authority of a murderer. Perhaps they thought his authority was better than Nadab's, but both men were rebellious against the authority of God.
The people raise no objection, and that is the deeper failure here.
Two years is a short reign. It was still long enough to settle the question about him.
The Word turns back in verse 25 and tells us of Nadab, the son of Jeroboam. He began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa. His reign lasted two years; this short period of time was enough to prove his iniquity. The Lord fulfils His word against Jeroboam in his son and all his family (cf. 1 Kings 14:14).
His death ended more than his own reign, and his name carries an irony.
So ended the first of the nine dynasties that ruled, or misruled, the kingdom of Israel for two hundred and fifty years. Nadab's name means willing. He seems to have been too willing to continue his wicked father's sin and pass it on.
Ahijah had spoken against Jeroboam's house long before this. The word looked forgotten. Then Nadab's death outside Gibbethon settled the account.
Baasha, of the house of Issachar, rose up and cut his reign short. He struck down Nadab at Gibbethon (Josh. 19:44; 21:23). Baasha then struck down all the house of Jeroboam. So the prediction of Ahijah, the prophet of Shiloh, came true. God's predicted judgments never fail in the end. He carried out every judgment He threatened against Israel. One day He will do the same with the judgments written against our own age, this evil age.
Being used by God is not the same as pleasing Him. The instruments of His anger came under judgment themselves.
God might use Jeroboam to discipline Solomon and his house. He might use the kings of Assyria to discipline Jeroboam's subjects. He might use Nebuchadnezzar to discipline Judah and its kings. But God was obliged to judge each of them in turn. These rods of His anger (Isa. 10:5) were no more faithful to God than the people He used them against.
Baasha is the clearest case. He destroyed one house, then went the same way himself.
The Lord had said through the prophet Ahijah that Jeroboam's descendants would be completely destroyed, because of his wickedness. But Baasha was no better, and his own descendants fell under the same judgement.
Step back from one murder to the whole period.
This whole account is filled with wars and cruelty. It follows Solomon's reign of peace, which ended so quickly because the king and his people were unfaithful... This is one of the main symptoms of decline. War is declared, relentless war between people of the same race.
- Sin sown. Jeroboam's wickedness is the root. Everything at Gibbethon is its harvest.
- Word spoken. Ahijah announced the end of Jeroboam's house long before. Nadab's death is that word coming due, not politics running its course.
- Willing wrongly. Nadab's name means willing, and two years were enough to show what he was willing to continue.
- Rod used. God can use a murderer to carry out His word. He still judges that murderer, whose own line fell the same way.
- Judgment certain. Delay is not cancellation. God's predicted judgments never fail, including those written against our own age.
And Baasha slew him in the third year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.
Nadab, son of Jeroboam, had reigned over Israel only two years when one of his own soldiers killed him and took his throne. Behind that murder stood a judgment God had already passed on Jeroboam's family.
Two years on the throne was a test, and Nadab failed it.
Nadab reigned over Israel two years. God gave him enough time to make plain whether he would follow his father Jeroboam's ways or follow the Lord. God had pronounced judgment on Jeroboam and his family. That judgment fell on Nadab while he led his people in the siege of the Philistine city Gibbethon.
Nadab's death ends the first ruling family of Israel, and his name matched his choices.
So ended the first of the nine dynasties that ruled — or misruled — the kingdom of Israel for two hundred and fifty years. Nadab's name means willing. He seems to have been all too willing to continue his wicked father's sin and to pass it on. He is not mentioned once in the book of Chronicles.
Nadab died at a place with its own sad history — a town meant for God's servants that had slipped into enemy hands.
Jeroboam and his sons had thrown out the priesthood God had appointed, and stopped them from serving the Lord as priests. So Nadab followed in his father's ways, but God did not allow him to continue long in his wickedness... Gibbethon was a town in Dan, allotted to the Levites of the family of Korah. It bordered on the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines probably seized it when the Levites moved to Judah. The name means lofty place. Nadab was trying to win the town back for the crown when Baasha killed him by treachery. But this happened in fulfilment of the prophecy of Ahijah.
The same deed can be a crime in the man's hand and a fulfilment in God's.
Baasha made sure that none of Jeroboam's descendants would challenge him. He killed them all. On his part this was vicious cruelty. Yet by killing them he fulfilled the Word of the Lord spoken by Ahijah the prophet. Ahijah had given the message of judgment to Jeroboam's wife, for her to pass on to Jeroboam.
Baasha ends the verse on the throne he stole. The people around him are the other half of the story.
Another man, Baasha, of the tribe of Issachar, conspired against Nadab. He killed him at Gibbethon, a Philistine city that Nadab was besieging. Baasha was on the side of the besiegers, but used the occasion to murder his own king! Then he took Nadab's place as king. In all of this the weakness of the people of Israel is clear. They accept the authority of a murderer. Perhaps they thought his authority was better than Nadab's. But both men were in rebellion against the authority of God.
Baasha wiped out one royal line and started another. His own ended the same way.
He conspired against Nadab king of Israel, killed him and all the royal family, and reigned in his place... The word of the Lord through the prophet Ahijah had said that every descendant of Jeroboam would be destroyed, because of his wickedness. But Baasha was no better, and his own descendants fell under a similar judgment.
What God says He will do, He does — and the principle reaches past Israel.
Baasha then struck down all the house of Jeroboam. So he fulfilled the prediction of Ahijah, the prophet of Shiloh. This judgment came because of the sins Jeroboam committed and led Israel into, provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger. God's predicted judgments never fail in the end. Judgments stand written against our own age, this evil age. The Lord will one day carry them out, just as He carried out every judgment He had threatened against Israel.
- Word spoken. Ahijah had already told Jeroboam's family what was coming; verse 28 is the date that word came due.
- Word tested. God gave Nadab two years — enough time to show whether he would turn to the Lord or walk in his father's way.
- Word fulfilled. Baasha's act was vicious cruelty on his part, and at the same time it carried out what God had said.
- Word repeated. Baasha was no better than the house he destroyed, and his own descendants fell under a similar judgment.
- Word certain. God's predicted judgments never fail in the end — including those written against our own age.
And it came to pass when he was king, he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left to Jeroboam none that breathed; until he had destroyed him, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite,
Baasha seizes the throne of Israel and wipes out every descendant of Jeroboam. It looks like ordinary palace violence, but Ahijah had announced this sentence years earlier — so how can a murderer's ambition carry out God's own word?
Ahijah spoke this word long before Baasha acted, and the years in between weakened nothing. What God said would happen, happened — and judgments still ahead work the same way:
Baasha then struck down all the house of Jeroboam. This fulfilled the prediction of Ahijah, the prophet of Shiloh. God's predicted judgments never fail in the end. One day the Lord will carry out the judgments written against our own age, this evil age, just as He carried out every judgment He threatened against Israel.
Behind the slaughter lies a charge: Jeroboam sinned, and he made Israel sin. Scripture will not let his name stand without that line attached.
Jeroboam stands out in the Old Testament as the great division maker. Under him the great mass of God's people, ten of the twelve tribes, broke away from God's centre at that time. Like a death knell, the words the Spirit uses to mark out this man come again and again: "Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin."
The same phrase follows king after king. Making others sin carries a weight of its own:
A person's sin becomes much more serious when it turns into a stumbling block for others. Those who drag the ignorant and the unsteady into their own disobedience must answer for its consequences.
The verse says Baasha left "not one that breathed." He wiped out the family to secure his own throne, and the same act carried out what God had said.
Baasha made sure that none of Jeroboam's descendants would challenge him. He killed them all. On his part this was vicious cruelty. Yet in killing them he fulfilled the Word of the Lord spoken through Ahijah the prophet (v.29). Ahijah had given the message of judgment to Jeroboam's wife (ch.14:10-11) to carry to Jeroboam.
Carrying out God's word changed nothing in Baasha himself.
He may have known something of God's purpose to cut off Jeroboam's house. Even so, his motive was not righteousness, as Jehu's was later. He was no better than the men he murdered, and he went on walking in their sin.
Later, God passed sentence on Baasha's own house. The killing that carried out God's word still counted against the man who did it:
One more verse is added, to emphasise that God judged Baasha and his family because of his idolatries and his murder of the house of Jeroboam. God, who looks on the heart, sees him only as an assassin serving his own ambitious designs, killing king Nadab and the entire house of Jeroboam.
Baasha was not a special case. God has often put power in guilty hands to discipline others:
God might use Jeroboam to discipline Solomon and his house. He might use the kings of Assyria to discipline Jeroboam's subjects. He might use Nebuchadnezzar to discipline Judah and its kings. But God had to judge every one of them in turn. These rods of His anger (Isaiah 10:5) were no more faithful to God than the people He used them against.
- Word spoken. Ahijah named the end of Jeroboam's house long before Baasha rose. The sentence stood on record, waiting.
- Word delayed. The quiet years changed nothing. God's predicted judgments never fail, including those written against our own age.
- Word fulfilled. Baasha's massacre was vicious cruelty. It also carried out the prophecy. Both are true at once.
- Word returned. God looks on the heart. He saw an assassin serving his own ambition, and He judged Baasha's house for the same killing.
- Word to us. Jeroboam is remembered for making Israel sin, not just for his own sin. Guilt grows heavier when your sin becomes a stumbling block for others.
because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and wherewith he made Israel to sin; by his provocation with which he provoked Jehovah the God of Israel to anger.
Baasha had just wiped out Jeroboam's whole family. This verse stops to say why: two charges stand against Jeroboam — what he did himself, and what he drew Israel into — and together they provoked God to anger.
The verse looks back. Baasha's move looks like a soldier's power grab. In fact it carried out a sentence God had already announced through the prophet Ahijah.
Baasha made sure that none of Jeroboam's descendants would challenge him. He killed them all. On his part this was vicious cruelty. But by killing them he fulfilled the word of the Lord spoken through Ahijah the prophet (v.29). Ahijah had given the message of judgment to Jeroboam's wife (ch.14:10-11) to pass on to Jeroboam. Verse 30 is a reminder that this judgment was because of Jeroboam's many sins by which he made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger.
It is the second charge — that he made Israel sin — which follows Jeroboam through the rest of the Bible.
Jeroboam stands out in the Old Testament as the great division maker. Under him the great mass of God's people, ten of the twelve tribes, broke away from God's centre at that time. Like a death knell, the Spirit describes this man again and again with the same sad words: "Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." One chapter alone repeats it four times (2 Kings 15:9, 18, 24, 28). There is something appalling about it. This special way of speaking marks out how terrible this man's sin is in God's sight. Every true heart feels how awful it is. Personal sins are bad enough, but to turn away God's people from the centre which He has set up — what could be worse?
His name became a byword for the worst kind of evil.
Scripture charges Jeroboam with doing evil above all who had been before him, and his doings became a proverb. For Israel to sin "as Jeroboam the son of Nebat" was a mark of complete wickedness.
Jeroboam's new worship came from human advice, and people still defend the same thing today.
Instead of asking God, Jeroboam "took counsel," clearly from men, and the result was the setting up of the two golden calves, one at Dan in the far north, and the other at Bethel. Some argue that Jeroboam was really worshipping the Lord, but with the help of visible images. People urge this today to excuse blatant idolatry. The Bible does not support this. It says plainly: "Then this thing became a sin." God does not need an image to enable men to worship Him. In fact, Scripture condemns the very idea from start to finish.
Killing his family did not end the damage. What one man started became the settled pattern of a nation.
What Jeroboam introduced was a lasting dishonour to the Lord until He removed Israel from the land. Eighteen kings sat on Israel's throne after Jeroboam. Of almost every one the record says the same thing: he followed, or did not turn from, the ways of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin.
Scripture ties responsibility to position. That is why Jeroboam answers not only for what he did, but for whom he took with him.
Position and privilege increase responsibility. If a priest or a ruler sinned, he had to bring a larger sacrifice than one of the common people (Leviticus 4)... Whenever leaders go astray, the results are more serious. Leaders have more influence, both for good and for evil... A private Christian who falls into error or immorality influences only his own circle. But if a well-known teacher in the Church leaves the way of truth, he often draws thousands after him into his own evil path.
Baasha carried out the sentence. That gave him no protection. He went on to repeat the very sin he had punished.
Baasha was God's instrument of judgment to wipe out the house of Jeroboam. Now he had to face the same judgment he had handed out. It is easy, we find, to condemn others and deal harshly with them for their sins. How solemn when we then go ahead and repeat the same sins ourselves! This is no trifling matter before God.
- Sinned. Jeroboam's own idolatry was real sin, not a harmless shortcut. Scripture refuses the excuse that images just help people worship the true God.
- Spread. The charge that follows him through the whole record is that he made Israel sin, turning God's people away from the centre God had set up.
- Provoked. Both charges together stirred God's anger, and the verse gives them as the reason his family fell.
- Outlived. The sin outlasted the sinner. Eighteen later kings walked in his way, and in the end God removed the nation from the land.
- Repeated. Baasha carried out the sentence, then copied the sin and came under the same judgment. Condemning another man's sin is no protection against doing it.