1 Kings 16:7
And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the LORD against Baasha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, in provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he killed him.
1 Kings 16:7 belongs to the history of the separate kingdoms of Judah and Israel from the revolt of the ten tribes to the death of Jehoshaphat, recording the Lord's judgment against Baasha and his house for evil and idolatry. Baasha was one of the kings who reigned over Israel, the ten-tribe northern division after Solomon's kingdom was divided, in succession with Nadab, Elah, Zimri, Omri and the wicked Ahab, during continuing war and strife between Israel and Judah. The word of the Lord came by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani, one of the prominent prophets of the northern kingdom of the ten tribes.
He belongs to the time when schools of prophetic instruction at Bethel, Jericho, Gilgal and Carmel gave the northern kingdom the bearing monopoly of prophets for at least two hundred years, while the priests made the southern kingdom of Judah their abiding place because the sanctuary was there. He stands with Ahijah of Shiloh, Obadiah, Micaiah and chiefest of all Elijah and Elisha as northern prophets, contemporary with the few southern prophets Azariah, Hanani and Eliezer. That distribution kept alive a general sentiment of national religion and preserved a true history of the two kingdoms by the free passage of the prophets between the rival kingdoms.
The verse records the Lord's word against Baasha and his house for all the evil he did in the sight of the Lord, for provoking Him to anger with idolatry wrought by his hands, for being like the house of Jeroboam, and for killing Nadab. Baasha reigned twenty-four years after killing Nadab, and his house came to an end with his son Elah. It belongs to the account in 1 Kings 15-16 of the apostasy of Israel, in which the kings led the nation to forsake the worship of the living God and turn to the worship of idols. They 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 for the impure, untrue and degrading worship of Baal and Ashtoreth, the worship of the creature instead of the Creator.
The sixteenth chapter brings that apostasy to a climax with Ahab the son of Omri ascending the throne and provoking God more than all before him by following the sins of Jeroboam, marrying Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, serving and worshiping Baal, building a temple to Baal with four hundred and fifty priests, making a grove for Ashtoreth with four hundred priests fed at Jezebel's table, and persecuting the true till only seven thousand in Israel had not worshiped Baal. It belongs to the sad historical record of Israel and Judah's moral decline and shows that leaders bear responsibility for the people's direction, since faithful leaders can shape them toward God while leaders who fail to lead rightly contribute to their failure. The chapter and the events that follow describe the time of Ahab and Jezebel, whose Baal worship corrupted Israel through idolatrous apostasy and commandment-breaking, forming the setting in which Elijah called the people back to Jehovah and obedience to God's law. The verse falls within that great apostasy in Israel during the days of Elijah when God still had a faithful remnant who responded to the call of His prophet.