1 Kings 16:25-34

God's threatenings find at last a complete fulfilment.

I. THE LAST STEP IN A CAREER OF REBELLION AND FOLLY . Nadab might have been warned. His way to the throne was opened up by God's judgment in the removal of Abijah. He must have heard of the Divine threatenings; he might have seen the evil results of his father's sin. But in the face of all these things he adopted the sinful policy of his father.

1 . " He did evil in the sight of the Lord ." His heart and life were estranged from God and righteousness. This is the explanation of all that follows. Contempt of the claims of revelation, and rebellion against God are but the revelation to men of a heart and life which have already grieved and provoked God.

2 . He continued in a path already dark with the frown of God : "and walked in the way of his father." The son who continues in his father's sin may incur thereby a deeper guilt than his. The iniquity of it may not have been at first so fully manifested. It might have been considered and abandoned in the shadow of the father's death. As the ages roll on sins manifest themselves, and the nation which will not turn from them seals itself for destruction. Are there sins with us the evil of which we know today as we did not know before? Then the guilt of their retention is greater than that of their first commission.

3 . He resolutely pursued a path which meant destruction, not . for himself only, but for an entire people : "and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin." It was nothing less than an attempt to rob God of His chosen people, and them of Him, in order that the house of Jeroboam might reign in safety. The terrible selfishness and the murderous heart of sin!

II. THE JUDGMENT .

1 . He was smitten in the midst of his army . The host of his warriors could not save him. There is no place where God's hand cannot reach us.

2 . He was slain, not by the Philistines, but by one of his own servants . Treachery and rebellion were visited with fitting punishment. The strict justice of the Divine vengeance. His judgments are repayments : "I will repay."

3 . The Divine threatening literally fulfilled ( 1 Kings 16:29 ). God's words against sin are not lightly spoken. The end is hid from us, but His eye is resting, while He speaks, upon the woe.—J.U.

Ch. 15:33-16:7

Unrighteous Zeal.

I. SMITERS OF THE SINFUL ARE NOT NECESSARILY RIGHTEOUS ( 1 Kings 15:33 , 44).

1 . Baasha's crime . Behind the slaughter of his master and his master's house lay the threatening of God. The Divine decree seemed to legalize the crime. But God's command did not come to him, nor was he moved by righteous indignation against the sins of the house of Jeroboam. He served his own passions, and it was sin to him before God, "because he killed him." The iniquity of those who rush in to smite wrong and hypocritically veil their hatred and spite and greed under the plea of zeal for God and righteousness ( Romans 2:1 ).

2 . His evil life . "He did evil in the sight of the Lord." State reforms are impossible for men whose own heart refuses God's yoke. Our work can never rise higher than the level of our life. There is also a spiritual law of gravitation: the streams of our influence can only flow downward.

3 . His hurtful reign . He "walked in the way of Jeroboam," etc. He may have condemned Jeroboam's sin in regard to the calves, etc.; but when begirt with the same state exigencies he continued the course he himself had punished with death. It is easy to condemn the sins of others. God has nobler work for us: it is, when surrounded by their temptations to triumph over them, and to serve not by words only but by deeds.

II. GOD 'S MESSAGE TO BAASHA ( 1 Kings 16:1-7 ).

1 . His exaltation was of God . "I exalted thee out of the dust." The throne was not secured by his wickedness. The Lord had stilled opposition and given him success.

2 . It was great and unlooked for . His tribe had no claim to the throne, and his own place among his people was a mean one. But God had, step by step, advanced him, and was now enabling him to reign in peace. The Lord's help is not withheld from those who do not know and do not serve Him. "Despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" ( Romans 2:4 .)

3 . The return made to God . He had changed nothing. Israel was still being led down the path of darkness and judgment, "to provoke Me to anger with their sins." Every higher interest was sacrificed to the policy of keeping the ten tribes separated from the other two. Statesmen out of office condemn that which, when in office, they are afraid to change. And how many are there who are neglecting the trusts God has committed to them. Once they said, "If we had only place or wealth, etc; God would be served and men blessed." These have been given and what has been done? Has the vow been performed?

4 . Baasha's punishment worse than Jeroboam's . "I will take away the posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house " (see 1 Kings 16:11 , "Neither of his kindred nor of his friends"). The Divine justice is shown in the differing penalties of sin.—J.U.

HOMILIES BY J.A. MACDONALD