1 Kings 16:15

1 Kings 16:15 says, 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.  Asa had been ruling Judah for twenty-seven years when Zimri seized power in Israel.  Asa was more obedient to God, and he reigned much longer than many of the kings of Israel, but I don't believe that means that if we are obedient to God that we are always going to live longer or be in a position of power longer even than non-Christians.  We are going to live longer with God spiritually, however.  Verse sixteen adds, And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp.  When the people of Israel heard that Zimri had killed Elah the king and planned to take power, they made Omri the king.  Sometimes, those who are not following God's will cannot agree on who should be in power.  Verse seventeen continues, And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.  Omri besieged Tirzah, the royal city where Zimri had planned to set up his throne according to Matthew Henry.  The people of Israel were now even further divided and fighting amongst themselves.  If we stray away from God's will as Christians, we will soon be fighting amongst ourselves to prove who is right in what we are doing, but we will all be wrong.  Verse eighteen states, And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died.  When Zimri saw what was happening, he didn't stand up in opposition to Omri, but burned the palace down with him inside it and died.  Some people today would still rather die than admit that they have done something wrong and take responsibility for it and ask God's forgiveness.  We may not be able to change the outcome of rebellious acts against God in this lifetime, but if we ask for forgiveness and put our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we can change our everlasting state.  Of course, I don't believe that anyone should ever kill themself because things seem hopeless but should turn to God instead.  No matter the sin, as long as we are alive, there is generally hope.  We are warned though that we can ignore God's call to salvation too many times and He will quit calling us.  Verse nineteen adds, For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin.  We are told he did this because of following the ways of Jeroboam and his own sin against Israel which also led them to sin.  We may be influenced by others to sin, and we may influence others to sin, but ultimately, we are responsible for our own sins.  Verse twenty continues, Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he wrought, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?  Though he wasn't in power long, we are told that the acts of Zimri were written in the chronicles of the kings.  We may not be in power in the world, but if we haven't accepted salvation through putting our faith in Jesus Christ, we will one day have to answer for the things that we did against God.