A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

in which Israel continued to drift farther from God. On the death of Baasha, his son Elah
assumed the throne of Israel.
Elah (w. 10-20) (886-885 B.C.)
The fourth king of Israel proved to be the last monarch of Israel’s second dynasty in less
than fifty years. Elah reigned only two years as king before he was assassinated in a coup led by
one of his own military leaders, Zimri. Zimri was the commander over half of the chariots in
Israel’s army. While the rest of the army was engaged in a military conflict at the Philistine city
of Gibbethon, Zimri took the throne. Elah had drunk heavily at a party hosted by his steward
Arza. Zimri found the drunk king and killed him in the home of Arza; then systematically killed
the other descendants of Baasha. So thorough was Zimri in his purge that “he did not leave him
one male, neither of his kinsmen nor of his friends” (v. 11). Again a prophecy delivered by one
of God’s prophets had been fulfilled in the political life of Israel, and Israel had a new king.
Zimri (w. 1020) (885 B.C.)
But the new king had what amounts to one of the shortest reigns in history-one week.
When word reached the people fighting at Gibbethon of Zimri’s coup, they appointed their own
king, Omri, who led the army to Tirzah and laid that city under siege. As Zimri recognized he
was king of a people in revolt against their king, he chose not to fight. “And it happened, when
Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the
king’s house down upon himself with fire, and died” (v. 18). Now the apostate nation Israel
witnessed the suicide of its leader.
Tibni (vv. 21-22) (885-880 B.C.)
Though the nation was agreed they did not want Zimri reigning over them, they were not
as agreed when it came to the question of who should be king in his place. Confusion reigned.
Many of the people were willing to follow Omri, who had led the army into battle against Zimri,
but a significant portion of the nation chose rather to follow Tibni, the son of Ginath, and made
him their king. As a result, the northern tribes found themselves with two kings, each with his
own following among the tribes.
Little is known about Tibni, contender for the throne. His name means “intelligent,” and
this may suggest something concerning his character. It appears that Omri had a clear majority
support both among the army and people at large; yet a comparison of the few verses referring to
this period in the history of Israel suggests the civil war between Tibni and Omri lasted about
four years. That Tibni could have survived as a contender that long against one as popular as
Omri suggests Tibni may have been a brilliant military strategist. “But the people who followed
Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri
reigned” (v. 22).
Omri (vv. 21-22) (885-874 B.C.)
In the thirty-first year of the reign of Asa in the south, Israel’s sixth king of that period
took the throne of the reunited nation of ten tribes in the north. With the accession of Omri to the
throne of Israel, the third dynasty of the Northern Kingdom began. For a period of time, Israel in
the north was to experience a period of political stability, but the general character of that
dynasty meant Israel, in her period of political stability, was still wandering spiritually from her