Nadab King of Israel

2022-05-05

Nadab son of Jeroboam became king of Israel after his father died. He had a short reign of two years. “And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin” (1 Kings 15:26). He continued his father’s legacy of evil. While he had besieged the Philistine city of Gibbethon, one of his own men, Baasha, killed him, and became king in his stead. This was the fulfillment of Ahijah the Shilonite’s prophecy against Jeroboam. Baasha also killed everyone in Jeroboam’s family.

If Nadab would have learned from the prophecy against Jeroboam’s household, and turned to the Lord, he would have seen grace. “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin” (Deuteronomy 24:16). However, once one is hardened against the Lord, no amount of prophecy or miracles can help.

This is a part of the Kings of Israel series. To go back to the table of contents, proceed here.