Today’s passage: 1 Kings 16:8-20
Helpful thoughts:
- Just as Baasha had done to the house of Jeroboam, Zimri does to the house of Baasha.
- Zimri reigns in Tirzah for a grand total of seven days. The shortest reign in the history of Israel.
- Sadly, he only needed seven days to get this reputation of being an evil king.
- Even though Zimri burned his own (Or, the king’s) house down upon himself, his act of suicide was also a pronouncement of judgment from the Lord. Zimri’s death was the consequence of his own sin, both his sinful desires in reigning as a king and also his final act of defiance in suicide.
Questions to consider:
- In what way does Elah’s demise compare to that of David’s sin? Where was the army at the time of his death? What was he busy doing while others were fighting for the nation?
- How does a passage like this help us to think about the motive of suicide? Is a person who commits suicide actually in control, or are they in bondage? (Romans 6:15-23) How has God’s redemption freed us, and to whom has it given us now?
- Why was Zimri a wicked king? What kind of a man had he been already for him to have this reputation after just seven days on the throne? If you want to be a godly person seven years from now, what would help you get there over the next seven years?