“So he
(Ahaziah the son of Ahab) served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the Lord
God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done.” (v.53)
This verse
summaries how far the kings of Israel had fallen. The book that began with a
man after God’s own heart sitting on the throne of a united Israel, ends with
two godless kings of a divided nation.
Back in 1
Samuel 8 the people demanded, “Make us a king to judge us like all the other
nations” (v.5). And here, in the final chapter of 1 Kings, we see the result of
their worldly demand. In the words of the psalmist, “God gave them their
request, but sent leanness into their soul” (Psalm 106:15).
The Truth
“They sow the wind, And reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7)
