And it came to pass, when Baasha heard thereof, that he left off building of Ramah, and dwelt in Tirzah.
This verse belongs to the latter part of 1 Kings, after the first eleven chapters about Solomon, which records the history of the kings after the division of the kingdom. The division came at Solomon's death when Rehoboam took the kingdom and lost a large portion of it through imprudent stubbornness, leaving the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah continuing together, sometimes at war and sometimes at peace, until Israel was obliterated in 721 B.C. It belongs to the history of the two separate kingdoms of Judah and Israel for about eighty years, from the revolt of the ten tribes to the death of Jehoshaphat, as part of the accounts of the reigns of several kings of both Judah and Israel. After the kingdom was divided into ten tribes in Israel and two and a half tribes in Judah, there was war and strife between the two divisions, with Baasha as king over Israel in the succession of Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri and Ahab, contemporary with Abijah and Asa as kings over Judah.
Baasha seized the throne by killing Nadab and brought Jeroboam's house to an end, and his reign lasted twenty-four years. His house lasted only two generations before Omri's strong but wicked reign and Ahab's weak and wicked reign, dominated by Jezebel. During his conflict with Asa, king of Judah, Asa sent silver and gold to the king of Syria, using the treasures of the Lord's house, to induce him to break his alliance with Baasha and help Asa. When Baasha heard of this, he left off building and fortifying Ramah and dwelt in Tirzah, withdrawing there. After Baasha's building work ended, Asa took its stones and timber to build elsewhere.
The verse belongs to the account of the apostasy of Israel in 1 Kings 15 and 16, in which the kings led the nation to forsake the worship of the living God and turn to the worship of idols. It means Israel turned away from the God-given plan of worship which pointed to Christ and revealed the way of salvation from sin, forsaking all that was pure and true and uplifting, and turned to the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth, to that which was impure, untrue and degrading, to the worship of the creature instead of the Creator. The verse is included in the historical record of Israel and Judah marked by general moral decline, though sometimes interrupted by revival, which teaches that leaders bear responsibility: faithful leaders can strongly shape the people, while leaders who fail to lead rightly contribute to the people's failure.
This verse belongs to the latter part of 1 Kings, after the first eleven chapters about Solomon, which records the history of the kings after the division of the kingdom. The division came at Solomon's death when Rehoboam took the kingdom and lost a large portion of it through imprudent stubbornness, leaving the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah continuing together, sometimes at war and sometimes at peace, until Israel was obliterated in 721 B.C. It belongs to the history of the two separate kingdoms of Judah and Israel for about eighty years, from the revolt of the ten tribes to the death of Jehoshaphat, as part of the accounts of the reigns of several kings of both Judah and Israel. After the kingdom was divided into ten tribes in Israel and two and a half tribes in Judah, there was war and strife between the two divisions, with Baasha as king over Israel in the succession of Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri and Ahab, contemporary with Abijah and Asa as kings over Judah.
Baasha seized the throne by killing Nadab and brought Jeroboam's house to an end, and his reign lasted twenty-four years. His house lasted only two generations before Omri's strong but wicked reign and Ahab's weak and wicked reign, dominated by Jezebel. During his conflict with Asa, king of Judah, Asa sent silver and gold to the king of Syria, using the treasures of the Lord's house, to induce him to break his alliance with Baasha and help Asa. When Baasha heard of this, he left off building and fortifying Ramah and dwelt in Tirzah, withdrawing there. After Baasha's building work ended, Asa took its stones and timber to build elsewhere.
The verse belongs to the account of the apostasy of Israel in 1 Kings 15 and 16, in which the kings led the nation to forsake the worship of the living God and turn to the worship of idols. It means Israel turned away from the God-given plan of worship which pointed to Christ and revealed the way of salvation from sin, forsaking all that was pure and true and uplifting, and turned to the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth, to that which was impure, untrue and degrading, to the worship of the creature instead of the Creator. The verse is included in the historical record of Israel and Judah marked by general moral decline, though sometimes interrupted by revival, which teaches that leaders bear responsibility: faithful leaders can strongly shape the people, while leaders who fail to lead rightly contribute to the people's failure.