And as soon as he was king, he killed all the house of Jeroboam. He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed, until he had destroyed it, according to the word of the LORD that 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?
The Word Catches Up
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:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinBaasha 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.
The Charge Against Jeroboam
Behind the slaughter lies a charge: Jeroboam sinned, and he made Israel sin. Scripture will not let his name stand without that line attached.
H J VineJeroboam 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:
H. L. RossierA 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.
Baasha's Hand, God's Word
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.
Leslie M. GrantBaasha 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.
C KnappHe 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.
The Executioner Sentenced
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:
C KnappOne 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.
A Pattern, Not an Exception
Baasha was not a special case. God has often put power in guilty hands to discipline others:
W. W. FeredayGod 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.
Summary
- 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.