1 Kings 16:13, 19, 25-26, 30-31, 33 For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities….Zimri…Omri…Ahab.
The succeeding four kings after Jeroboam continued in his sins and idolatry and in making Israel sin. Each generation got even more evil than the previous until Ahab, who was the worst in worshipping Baal. They all sinned and led the people to sin and provoked the Lord to anger with their vanities.
Idolatry is spiritual adultery. The Lord is a jealous God, who cannot tolerate His wife going a-whoring after other gods. Other gods are actually demons and not gods at all. They are vanities: empty, vacuous nothings. They deceive people by making them think they will receive good from them when all they can give is sin, evil, death and destruction.
This is the story of the kingdoms of the world, exemplified in the history of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah. And it is our story, too. God created and redeemed us, making us both His bride and His children. But every one of us has rejected our Husband for the sake of vanities with every sin we commit and every good we omit. Every sin is an idol, which often turns out to be self.
However, the hound of heaven relentlessly hunts and catches His whoring wife and wayward children. He sends the Son and the Spirit to woo us with the Word of Gospel to bring us back to Himself and His Kingdom. And He never quits; so we never stop repenting and believing.