Israel didn’t like Samuel appointing his sons, so they compounded the problem with kings and their sons!
After a God-honoring reign of 41 years, “Asa…was buried with his fathers in the City of David,” and “Jehoshaphat his son reigned in his place” (1 Ki 15:24). But before we read the story of Jehoshaphat, the narrative shifts back in time and place. “Nadab the son of Jeroboam became king over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin” (vv 25-26). That last sentence is the death knell to any king’s rule, but it was especially true of the house of Jeroboam. Although given the northern kingdom by God, Jeroboam had poisoned the spring at its source. He institutionalized idolatry in Israel, manufactured two golden calves, and proclaimed, “Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” (12:28). For this, the Lord declared that the house of Jeroboam must be eradicated. That time had come. “Baasha the son of Ahijah…when he became king,…killed all the house of Jeroboam” (15:27, 29), including Nadab. This, we read, was “according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servant Ahijah” (v 29). And although Baasha should have understood he was executing God’s judgment on the house of Jeroboam for their idolatry and wickedness, he continued the same vile evils. His reign lasted 24 years, but eventually came under God’s judgment as well. After his death, his son Elah was assassinated by Zimri, an officer, while in a drunken stupor. What a sad litany of failure! There’s only one Father and Son of whom it can truly be said, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face” (Ps 89:14).