Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust Probably from a mean family in the tribe of Issachar. Perhaps he was but a common soldier, or some very inferior officer in the army which besieged Gibbethon; but, being bold and daring, he formed a conspiracy against Nadab. The message which this prophet brought to Baasha is much the same with that which Ahijah sent to Jeroboam by his wife. 1st, He reminds him of the great things God had done for him: 2d, He charges him with high crimes and misdemeanours; and, 3d, He fore-tels the same destruction to come upon his family which he himself had been employed to bring on the family of Jeroboam. And made thee prince over my people Israel But it may be asked, how Baasha's exaltation to the kingdom can he ascribed to God, when it is manifest he obtained it by his own treachery and cruelty? To this Mr. Poole replies, that “though the manner of invading the kingdom was from himself and his own wicked heart, yet, the translation of the kingdom from Nadab to Baasha, simply considered, was from God, who by his decree and providence ordered it, and disposed of all occasions, and of the hearts of all the soldiers, and the people so, that Baasha should have the opportunity of executing God's judgment upon Nadab, and such success thereon, as should procure him a present and quiet possession of the kingdom.” So that his accession to the kingdom was from the divine decree; but the form and manner of his accession was from himself, from his own ambition and covetousness, which induced him to kill Nadab; and as it was wicked and cruel, it is therefore charged upon him as a wilful murder, 1 Kings 16:7.
Related Commentaries of 1 Kings 16:2
1 Kings 16:2
2 Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins;