From Nadab to Ahab: The fulfillment of the prophecy against the house of Jeroboam has been delayed until it has been made clear how different God’s treatment of the house of David is. Now, however, we shall hear that it all turned out as Ahijah had said; as king succeeds king in this fast-moving tale of northern intrigue and violence, we shall also begin to see what he meant by describing Israel as a “reed swaying in water” (14:15). Political stability is certainly not the order of the day.

15:25–32  The reign of Nadab son of Jeroboam is short lived (two years, v. 25). He walks in the ways of his father, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD, and is murdered by the very Baasha to whom we have been introduced in 15:16ff. Baasha in turn kills all the other members of Jeroboam’s family, just as A…