SUMMARY
The misdeeds of Kings Omri and AhabKing of Israel who opposed Elijah. More set the stage for the showdown with ElijahA miracle working Israelite prophet who opposed worship of Baal. More. But what did they do that was so bad?
ANALYSIS
At times, the biblical reports on Israel’s power succession can seem dry. If we read them too quickly, however, we miss what is truly at stake. King Omri was so beloved by the people that they rejected their previous (murderous) king and raised up Omri, the army commander, in his place (vv.15-21). He calmed the tumultuous succession of the northern kingdomThe Northern Kingdom consisted of ten of the twelve tribes of Israel and lasted for 200 years until it was destroyed by Assyria in 721 B.C.E. In the northern kingdom the kings were evil. Prophets like Elijah and Amos railed against them and their evildoing. More and gave them political stability for decades. He was, in the eyes of the world, a model ruler.
In the eyes of the LORD, however, he was quite the opposite. The narrator reports that King Omri did “more evil than all who were before him” (v. 25). By walking in the way of Jeroboam’s unfaithfulness to YHWH, Omri firmly ensconced the northern kingdom in practices of apostasy. His son and successor Ahab follows in his footsteps and amplifies his offenses. He not only worships other deities, but he builds a templeThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... More for Baal, establishes an altar for sacrifices to Baal, and creates a worship space for the Canaanite deity Asherah (the “sacred pole” in v. 33).
If that wasn’t bad enough, the sins that took place under Ahab’s watch sealed the deal against him. In v. 34, the narrator notes that a man named Hiel rebuilt Jericho “at the cost of” his firstborn son, Abiram, and his youngest son Segub. The Hebrew here is simpler than the English translation, just noting that the deed was done “by Abiram” and “by Segub.” This is not an identification of Hiel’s sons as the architects: rather, these notes tell that the building project was accomplished “by means of” the two children, namely, through child sacrificeChild sacrifice is the ritualistic killing of children to please the gods. Such a practive hovers in the background of Abraham's (mercifully thwarted) sacrifice of Isaac. In the larger picture of Israel's history, child sacrifice was forbidden. More.
It is worth noting, in addition, that it is King Omri who established Samaria. Though later conquered by the Assyrian Empire, the descendants of Samaria remained in the land, becoming known as the Samaritans. The Samaritans maintained a type of worship to the LORD, though it was infused with practices and worship of other gods. The early association here with the establishment of Samaria by the notorious King Omri offers insight to the later enmity between the Samaritans and the Jews.
