1 Kings 16:8-28
Elah, the son of Baasha, reigns over Israel for two years. The only act he is reported to have performed is this, He was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk . . ." (v. 9). This king is ruled by one passion, slavery to alcohol, just as millions of unfortunate people are today. Man believes he can control his fellow men, when he is not even capable of mastering the passions of his own heart. The book of Proverbs contains the words of a young king named Lemuel. He remembers what his mother taught him, "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine" (Proverbs 31:4 – see also Proverbs 23:20; Proverbs 23:31-32 and Ephesians 5:18). In an instant Elah, without waking up, passes from drunkenness to death. Similarly the men of this world seek oblivion in the pleasures of sin, then without being prepared for it, find themselves suddenly pitched into a lost eternity.
Seven days suffice for Zimri, the murderer of Elah, to show that he is walking in the way of Jeroboam! His end is no less terrible; he commits suicide! Then Omri takes power, builds Samaria, but does worse than his predecessors. What thick darkness has fallen on this kingdom of Israel!