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A History That Matters
“Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, and acted more wickedly than all who were before him.”
- 1 Kings 16:25
That’s not a unique or even unusual thing to read about Israel’s kings. In the northern kingdom where Omri ruled they were all bad, and the “badness” seemed to grow worse with each generation. What’s interesting about Omri is how revered he seems to have been by the nations around him.
I was listening to an audiobook on ancient history when the narrator said something to the effect that the king of Assyria refused to invade Israel while Omri was king even though he had subdued several other peoples in that time. I thought that was curious and went searching for more info about Omri.
Apparently, he expanded the boundaries of Israel during his reign. A stele of Moab records their submission to Omri, and multiple official records after his time refer to Israel more and more as the House of Omri. A success on the international political stage.
Jehovah gives him very little personal attention in scripture, but his influence was profound, profoundly bad. He was the father of Ahab who married Jezebel and officially imported worship of her pagan deities. A daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, Athaliah, married into the royal family of Judah to the south, and when her son king Ahaziah died, she ordered the execution of all of her family members who could challenge her for rule in Judah. Following the example of her mother, she reinforced the worship of Baal in Judah.
So, what do we make of these two histories? One documents Omri’s political and military prowess. The other shows him as a root of evil that further corrupted both branches of the divided kingdom. Are they both important? Are they equally important but in different spheres?
Consider two more passages.
“So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son became king in his place.”
- 1 Kings 16:28
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”
- 2 Peter 3:10
Omri is long dead, pushing up daisies. His body is dust. Everything he worked for on this earth doesn’t exist. Even if he had created something that could have lasted 2800 years, or longer, it’s destined to be burned at the last anyway. Those are objective truths regardless of what recorded histories say. Omri entered into eternity with God’s commentary being that he was evil and wicked.
You, too, will enter eternity. No written history about you will matter. No earthly works you leave behind will have any lasting value. You will be in Jehovah’s hands, and His commentary on your life is the only “history” that will carry any weight. What will He say about your life?
