King Baasha of Israel passed away in yesterday's study and was succeeded by his son Elah. But the Lord had sent a prophet to King Baasha to warn him to turn from his evil ways or else his house would be wiped out in the same way Baasha wiped out the house of King Nadab, son of Jeroboam. But Baasha paid no attention to the Lord's words. His son is now seated on the throne but he won't be for long. He is an idolater like his father and he appears to be a drunkard as well. He will lose his life while he is inebriated and being inattentive to his surroundings.
"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. Zimri, one of his officials, who had command of half his chariots, plotted against him." (1 Kings 16:8-9a) Zimri has political aspirations but we don't know whether he plots against Elah solely to gain the throne or whether he has more personal reasons for hating the king.
We are going to find Zimri killing Elah while the king is drinking with an official named Arza, which makes me suspect Arza was in on the plot and helped to set the scene. After striking down the king, Zimri immediately assumes the throne and orders the slaughter of all of the royal family; this tells me he has some loyal supporters in the city of Tirzah. But we'll see later in our study today that he must not have had many (or any) supporters in the army. "Elah was in Tirzah at the time, getting drunk in the house of Arza, the palace administrator at Tirzah. Zimri came in, struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah. Then he succeeded him as king. As soon as he began to reign and was seated on the throne, he killed off Baasha's whole family. He did not spare a single male, whether relative or friend." (1 Kings 16:9b-11)
Baasha assassinated King Jeroboam, assumed the throne, and killed all of Jeroboam's male relatives. Now Zimri has assassinated Baasha's son, assumed the throne, and killed all of his male relatives. Zimri even kills Baasha's friends, lest any of them protest his reign or conspire to kill him. "So Zimri destroyed the whole family of Baasha, in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken against Baasha through the prophet Jehu---because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah had committed and had caused Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols. As for the other events of Elah's reign, and all he did, are they not written in the books of the annals of the kings?" (1 Kings 16:12-14) Elah could not have accomplished much during such a short reign. He certainly won no glorious victories on the battlefield, for we'll learn next that while he was carousing in the house of his palace administrator, his troops were encamped near Gibbethon (a city given to the tribe of Dan when the Israelites entered the promised land) which the Philistines had taken control of. Gibbethon is the same city King Nadab was besieging when Baasha assassinated him.
"In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah seven days. The army was camped near Gibbethon, a Philistine town. When the Israelites in the camp heard that Zimri had plotted against the king and murdered him, they proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day there in the camp. Then Omri and all the Israelites with him withdrew from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah." (1 Kings 16:15-17) Zimri may have had some supporters in the city---at least enough to help him slaughter the family of his predecessor---but the army doesn't intend to stand for what he's done. All the soldiers encamped near Gibbethon break camp and head back to Tirzah, with their commander (now king) leading them, in order to avenge the death of King Elah and his family and friends and to install Omri as king.
When Zimri realizes the army will not stand behind him and that the soldiers have the palace surrounded, he knows he has no chance against them. Surrendering would have meant his execution since he is guilty of capital crimes but surrender would have been a more honorable route than the route he takes. "When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and set the palace on fire around him. So he died, because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord and following the ways of Jeroboam and committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit. As for the other events of Zimri's reign, and the rebellion he carried out, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?" (1 Kings 16:18-20)
If Zimri cannot have the palace, no one can have it. He sets it on fire around him and dies in the blaze. Self-immolation is one of the less common methods of committing suicide. It's quite rare in highly developed nations, which the nation of Israel already was (compared to many other nations of the time) when Zimri briefly sat on the throne. People who take their own lives normally choose a quicker, less painful method than burning themselves to death. Self-immolation is most often found in cases when the person is making a political or religious statement or when the person is suffering from severe mental illness. I feel that Zimri's motivation for committing suicide in this manner was primarily political but spitefulness is included in this act (not wanting anyone else to inhabit the royal residence). I think also it's possible that Zimri fears his body being desecrated if he is executed by the soldiers. It's clear they despise him greatly and it was an ancient custom to dishonor the bodies of slain enemies by hanging them on display until they rotted and were scavenged by animals. This practice was forbidden in Israel by the Lord but the people of the northern kingdom have fallen into a great deal of idolatry by this time and cannot be counted on to follow His command that no body be left hanging after evening comes. (Deuteronomy 21:23) Zimri decides to die by his own hand in his own way.
Two kings have come and gone in a short period of time in today's study. The instability of the government is due to the instability of the religious system. The people have turned away from wholehearted devotion to the Lord and the state of the government is in turmoil, for, "'There is no peace,' says my God, 'for the wicked.'" (Isaiah 57:21)
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