Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 221
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SAMUEL–KINGS
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Then Zimri, who commanded half of the royal chariots, made plans to kill
him. One day in Tirzah, Elah was getting drunk at the home of Arza, the
supervisor of the palace. Zimri walked in and struck him down and killed
him. This happened in the t wenty-seventh year of King Asa’s reign in Ju
dah. Then Zimri became the next king.
Zimri immediately killed the entire royal family of Baasha, leaving
him not even a single male child. He even destroyed distant relatives and
friends. So Zimri destroyed the dynasty of Baas ha as the Lord had promised through the prophet Jehu. This happened because of all the sins Baa
sha and his son Elah had committed, and because of the sins they led Israel
to commit. They provoked the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, with
their worthless idols.
The rest of the events in Elah’s reign and everything he did are recorded in
The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.
Zimri began to rule over Israel in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa’s
reign in Judah, but his reign in Tirzah lasted only seven days.
The army of Israel was then attacking the Philistine town of Gibbethon.
When they heard that Zimri had committed treason and had assassinated
the king, that very day they chose Omri, commander of the army, as the
new king of Israel. So Omri led the entire army of Israel up from Gibbe
thon to attack Tirzah, Israel’s capital. When Zimri saw that the city had
been taken, he went into the citadel of the palace and burned it down over
himself and died in the flames. For he, too, had done what was evil in the
Lord’s sight. He followed the example of Jeroboam in all the sins he had
committed and led Israel to commit.
The rest of the events in Zimri’s reign and his conspiracy are recorded in
The Book of the History of the Kings of Israel.
But now the people of Israel were split into two factions. Half the people
tried to make Tibni son of Ginath their king, while the other half supported Omri. But Omri’s supporters defeated the supporters of Tibni. So
Tibni was killed, and Omri became the next king.
Omri began to rule over Israel in the t hirty-first year of King Asa’s reign
in Judah. He reigned twelve years in all, six of them in Tirzah.