"Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the ways of his father and committing the same sin his father had caused Israel to commit." (1 Kings 15:25-26)
The sin of his father Jeroboam was erecting images of a golden calf at Bethel and another one at Dan and commanding the people to bring their offerings and sacrifices to those locations instead of going to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. He also built shrines on all the high places and appointed priests from tribes other than that of Levi, contrary to the Lord's rules for the priesthood. Some of Jeroboam's subjects immediately deserted him for these actions and moved to the kingdom of Judah so they could continue worshiping the Lord according to His laws. The Levites of Jeroboam's kingdom deserted him as well, even though this meant giving up their allotted cities and pasturelands in the northern territory, because they wanted to worship the Lord according to the law. But many others remained in Israel, either willingly because they preferred Jeroboam's idolatrous state-sponsored religion or unwillingly because they could not afford to give up everything they had and move to Judah. This is why the Lord says Jeroboam "caused Israel to commit" sin. Jeroboam was in a position of power and influence over the people of Israel.
We could use the expression "like father, like son" in reference to Nabal. He has wholeheartedly adopted all of his father's ways. But a prophecy spoken against the house of Jeroboam is about to come true. In 1 Kings 14 the prophet Ahijah delivered this message from the Lord: "I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel---slave or free. I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone." Nabal only reigns for a short time before he is "cut off" from the land of the living.
"Baasha son of Ahijah from the tribe of Issachar plotted against him, and he struck him down at Gibbethon, a Philistine town, while Nadab and all Israel were besieging it. Baasha killed Nadab in the third year of Asa king of Judah and succeeded him as king." (1 Kings 15:27-28) Technically, Nadab didn't reign for two full years, but his reign spanned parts of two years and therefore his reign is recorded as "two years" in verse 25 of today's text.
Nadab and the army of Israel are besieging Gibbethon, which was originally assigned to the tribe of Dan, in an effort to take it back from the Philistines who must have captured it at some point in the past. Baasha has likely been conspiring against Nadab for some time and must have gained a great deal of support in this endeavor, for no one opposes him when he strikes Nadab down on the battlefield. If a large number of the soldiers and the king's own security team had not been in on the conspiracy with Baasha, I believe Baasha would have been seized and put to death on the spot for committing the capital crime of assassinating the nation's leader. Instead Baasha assumes the throne, either without any opposition at all or without enough opposition to effectively thwart his coup.
The first half of the prophecy against the house of Jeroboam has already come true, with his successor being struck down near the beginning of his reign. Now the remainder of it comes true, with all of his relatives (or at least all the male relatives) being killed by Baasha and his supporters. "As soon as he began to reign, he killed Jeroboam's whole family. He did not leave Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all, according to the word of the Lord given through His servant Ahijah the Shilonite. This happened because of the sins Jeroboam had committed and had caused Israel to commit, and because he aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel." (1 Kings 15:29-30)
It was a common practice in ancient times whenever a coup was successful that the incoming king would kill all the male relatives of the king he defeated. This helped to prevent any conspiracies from arising against the new king. Leaving male relatives of the assassinated king alive might cause one or more of them to make a claim to the throne as rightful heirs and they might be able to gather a large number of supporters behind them to overtake the throne. Assassinating all the male relatives of the dead king helped to prevent this from happening.
But none of this would have happened if Jeroboam had been obedient to the Lord. The Lord promised him a dynasty as lasting as that of David's if he would be faithful to the Lord and walk according to His commandments. But Jeroboam did just the opposite. Therefore, the ruin of his house is on his shoulders. He brought up his son Nadab in an idolatrous manner, causing Nadab to be just as bad as he was, and now Nadab and the entire idolatrous family of Jeroboam has been wiped out. A king from a different family is on the throne and he will reign in Israel for twenty-four years. The glorious dynasty the Lord promised to Jeroboam ended almost as quickly as it began because Jeroboam didn't keep his part of this conditional promise.
"As for the other events of Nadab's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?" (1 Kings 15:31) There are books mentioned in the Bible that have been lost to us through time. We know very little about Nadab's short reign. The only thing we know for certain is that he was just as idolatrous as his father was, which is a terrible thing to be known for. He didn't take to heart anything the Lord said to his father through the prophets the Lord sent to him. So he was killed by a traitor and, as was prophesied, he wasn't even given a proper burial. I believe his body was left on the field where he was killed, for it was prophesied that no male descendant of Jeroboam would be entombed except his son Abijah. Nadab lived in opposition to the Lord---refusing to honor Him---and he is not given the honor of burial.
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