There are four individuals in the Bible named Omri (three mentioned in 1 Chronicles 7:8, 9:4, and 27:18), but only one with the distinction of being a king who “did evil in the eyes of the LORD and sinned more than all those before him” (1 Kings 16:15). His rise to the throne to become the seventh king of Israel was unusual. Though he used his power to grow his kingdom, he developed a poor reputation with God. What can we learn from the Bible about this man and his even more infamous son?
One needs to start with King Solomon to understand how subsequent kingdoms followed.
When his father died, Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, was assumed to be the next in line for the throne. But before that time, Solomon had chosen Jeroboam, an Ephraimite, to oversee his labor force because he was impressed with his work. At that time, Jeroboam was traveling out of Jerusalem when he met Ahijah, the prophet who had a message from God: “See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes . . . But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who observed my commands and statutes . . . I will take the kingdom from his son’s hands and give you ten tribes” (1 Kings 11:31-32, 34-35). God told Jeroboam that he would be ruler over all of Israel if he followed the Lord. For this or some other reason not mentioned in the Bible, Solomon tried to have Jeroboam killed.
Rehoboam assumed the throne when Solomon died, but Jeroboam came with a contingent of Israelites to challenge him. Interestingly, they didn’t tell Rehoboam that Jeroboam was prophesied to be king. They complained about the heavy taxes that Solomon had imposed on the people and asked Rehoboam to lower them. He refused. So, 10 tribes made Jeroboam king over Israel, and Rehoboam ruled over the Israelites who still lived in Judah, dividing the nation into two kingdoms. Connor Salter observes, “While Jeroboam was the first king of this reduced nation of Israel, he sinned terribly, and his family was slaughtered by Baasha, son of Ahijah (1 Kings 15:25-31). Baasha then became king of Israel. Baasha’s son Elah succeeded him, but [then] another young leader decided it was time for an overthrow.”
As Elah was reigning as king of Israel, an official named Zimri decided that he would make a better king, and one night, while Elah was getting drunk, “Zimri came in, struck him down and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah. Then he succeeded him as king” (1 Kings 16:10). The Israelite army was encamped not too far away and quickly got word about Zimri’s plot, and murdered him, proclaiming “Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day there in the camp” (1 Kings 16:16). Zimri saw the writing on the wall and went into the royal palace and set fire to it and died in the blaze.
As mentioned, Omri was a bad guy. He did “evil in the sight of the Lord,” which usually meant he did not walk with the Lord or follow His commandments. However, it also said that he “sinned more than all those before him” (1 Kings 16:25). Salter notes that this is a strong comment, given that the previous 1 Kings chapters treated Jeroboam as the worst king ever. Omri set a new record.
It was written that Omri “walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit, so that they provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their worthless idols.” (1 Kings 16:26)
Jeroboam was seen as the worst king because God gave him a special mission: to take over the kingdom that had become broken. He responded by introducing pagan idols into the land, treating God poorly. Omri must have introduced a lot of idols to surpass Jeroboam’s betrayal.
1 Kings 16:24 tells us that during his 12-year reign, King Omri “bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city on the hill, calling it Samaria.” He made Samaria the capital of his kingdom, moving it from Tirzah, where Jeroboam had originally established the seat of northern power. Easton’s Bible Dictionary describes Omri: “By his vigour and power he gained great eminence and consolidated the kingdom.”
But while in Samaria, he did something more worrying. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says, “Omri entered into an alliance with the Phoenicians by marrying his son Ahab to Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. This may have been done as protection against the powers from the East, and as such would have seemed to be a wise political move, but it was one fraught with evil for Israel.”
Previous generations of kings had always been warned not to make alliances with foreign kings because pagan cultures would affect Israelite culture in many messy ways. As we see with his son, the Phoenician alliance had great consequences.
While Omri may have made what he thought was a strategic political move, he wasn’t concerned about the spiritual implications of the Phoenician alliance. That laxity would have affected his son and daughter-in-law. When Omri died after 12 years as a ruler, and Ahab became king, he did even more evil than his father. The Israelites didn’t just exist near Baal worship; Ahab and Jezebel encouraged it and even had 450 prophets of Baal. Jezebel was known for having the prophets of Yahweh killed. All was an abomination to the Lord, whose first three commandments to Moses in the book of Exodus were:
God’s prophet Elijah challenged Ahab’s 450 prophets of Baal to prove that he was more powerful than Yahweh. They lost the challenge, and Ahab lost all 450 to God’s wrath.
The stories of the kings of Israel and Judah proved that the Israelites had no idea what they were getting in for when they begged God for a king. God would show them that just like they should have no other gods before Him, they needed no other “king” before Him. God was more than sufficient to protect them from their enemies and make them a nation that would glorify Him. And still, He would never leave or forsake His people and provide redemption for their sins because of His grace and mercy.
What we can learn most from these kings is that while there are many ways to do “evil in the sight of the Lord,” their mistakes were always about turning their backs on God. They focused on themselves (power through destroying enemies, fame, and riches from taxes and conquests)—and gave their attention to pagan gods. How easy it is for us today to commit similar sins (because all sin is sin) when there are so many “idols” vying for our attention. God knows we are being pulled in many directions because we have more information and distractions than ever. And He knows that we often put our desires and dreams before God’s will for our lives.
The only answer and hope for us is to humble ourselves and go to God’s word daily to be equipped for what He calls us to that day. There, we will learn that if we “fix our eyes on Jesus,” we will be less likely to sin against God, our only true King. He is the only One we need.
Photo Credit: Public domain illustration via Wikimedia Commons
Mary Oelerich-Meyer is a Chicago-area freelance writer and copy editor who prayed for years for a way to write about and for the Lord. She spent 20 years writing for area healthcare organizations, interviewing doctors and clinical professionals and writing more than 1,500 articles in addition to marketing collateral materials. Important work, but not what she felt called to do. She is grateful for any opportunity to share the Lord in her writing and editing, believing that life is too short to write about anything else. Previously she served as Marketing Communications Director for a large healthcare system. She holds a B.A. in International Business and Marketing from Cornell College (the original Cornell!) When not researching or writing, she loves to spend time with her writer daughter, granddaughter, rescue doggie and husband (not always in that order).
This article is part of our People of Christianity catalog that features the stories, meaning, and significance of well-known people from the Bible and history. Here are some of the most popular articles for knowing important figures in Christianity:
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