Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Saturday, November 24, 2012 Read – 1 Kings 15 & 16 As I mentioned, the story will now alternate between tales of the Southern Kingdom and of the Northern Kingdom. We begin in the South with the succession of two kings, Abijam, the son of Rehoboam, and then Asa, the son of Abijam. Of note is the orderly succession of kings in the South. For the most part this will continue. Neither Abijam nor Asa leave much of an impression on the story. One is evil (Abijam) following the evil deeds of his father but left by God to continue his reign for the sake of David. The other (Asa) is good, following the ways of David by tearing down some of the idols and banning male prostitutes from the land. Asa eventually ends up involved in a battle with the Northern Kingdom and is rescued by his alliance with the king of Aram. The story now switches to the North and tells of the succession of Jereboam by his son Nadab. The reign of Nadab lasts only two years. A revolution, led by Baasha, overthrows Nadab and puts an end to the dynasty of Jereboam. Baasha manages to reign for 24 years but the attempt to pass on his kingdom to his son, Elah, fails. After two years, Elah, is killed by another revolutionary, Zimri. Zimri has the distinction of lasting only one week as king only to be overthrown by Omri who now becomes kings. If this sounds like a rather chaotic story, it was! Omri is noted for two things. First of all, he moved the capital in the North to Samaria where it would remain for the rest of the story of the Northern Kingdom. Second, Omri was the father of Ahab, known as the most despicable king of all. Chapter 16 ends with the telling of Ahab’s rise to power and of his marriage to Jezebel. The stage is set for the telling of a long and interesting story of the interaction of this king Ahab and God’s prophet, Elijah.