1 Kings 16:15
In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.
This verse belongs to the history of the separate kingdoms of Judah and Israel after the division of the kingdom under Rehoboam in Judah and Jeroboam in Israel, covering the period from the revolt of the ten tribes to the death of Jehoshaphat. The division came because Solomon multiplied wives to himself and turned his heart away, leaving two and a half tribes in Judah and ten tribes in Israel, with war and strife between the two divisions. It records that in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah, while the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.
Zimri was the captain who slew Elah and ended the house of Baasha, killing Baasha's son and successor and wiping out his house, after Elah's two-year drunken reign. His rule lasted only seven days, or a week. When the army declared Omri king and advanced on the capital, Zimri saw his cause was lost and was defeated by Omri, burned the palace over himself, and died in the flames by suicide.
His brief reign was part of a succession of violent, wicked, and unstable Israelite kings — Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab — during the long reign of Asa of Judah, standing opposite the reigns of Abijah and Asa in Judah, with Omri as the one from whom came the wicked Ahab. The verse stands in a sad historical record marked by continuing decline into idolatry and sin, in which Israel under her kings forsook the worship of the living God and turned to idols, to Baal and Ashtoreth, to the worship of the creature instead of the Creator. It was a turning 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 for what was impure, untrue, and degrading, a course that comes to a climax with Ahab. The general moral course of Judah and Israel declined after David, though there were periods of revival.
The record teaches that when the people sought God, he worked abundantly for them and through them, and that leaders bear great responsibility: faithful kings and priests strongly shape the people, while leaders who fail to guide them rightly lead the people into failure. The verse introduces the setting in which Elijah served: Ahab was a weak king, Jezebel promoted Baal worship, and Israel was corrupted by idolatry and disobedience to God's commandments. Elijah fearlessly denounced the nation's sin and called the people back to the worship of Jehovah and obedience to God's law, while seven thousand Israelites had not bowed to Baal.