1 Kings 15:25-27 –Be a godly model

So far, the common expression of all the kings of Israel was they acted wickedly. Each had walked in the way of Jeroboam and his sin, causing all of Israel to sin. What was worse was that they all had provoked the Lord God of Israel with their idols. Omri was no different from the list of denigrates, so we read in 1 Kings 16:25 that he did evil in the sight of God. And like all the rest of the previous kings of Israel, all that he had done and the might he had shown were all written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. When he died, he was buried in Samaria and his son Ahab succeeded him.

However, one of Omri's most notable achievements was to shift the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel from Tirzah to Samaria. Remember, 1 Kings 16:24, said that “…he bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and named the city which he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.” This decisive move showed him to be a man of courage and vision. Samaria as the new capital city was strategic. Being on a hill it was more defensible. In some sense, Omri had brought a relative measure of stability to the northern kingdom. Samaria remained the capital of the northern kingdom until 722 B.C. when the Assyrians conquered it and brought its downfall.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it had been said that he brought Israel back from their waywardness to God? Unfortunately, this was not what the text suggests. It says, he did evil in the sight of the  Lord and that he walked in the way of Jeroboam. In so doing, he led the people further away from God. The indicting statement about him in verse 25 said that “…he acted more wickedly than all who were before him.” This statement would make him more culpable than all previous kings before him. It is bad enough to be identified among the bad kings but to say that he was the worst of the lot was a terrible indictment.  

Influence is a clear part of leadership. Know it or not, everyone has influence. What we say and do will always have an impact on someone. We either affect them for better or for worse. It behooves us therefore to make sure that we are a good model for others to pattern their lives after. The truth is this: it is impossible to live rightly with God when we follow the wrong model. As parents or as friends, we can determine to be the godly models for people who are watching and following us. Let us be a positive and impactful model for the glory of God!