Omri and a Name

And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him. 

1 Kings 16:24-25

             Shakespeare wrote, What’s in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet; So Romeo would were he not Romeo called. We refer to men as having a good name when it is deserved. We remember the most famous of names in our history such as Washington and Lincoln; we also remember the most infamous names. Omri, king of the Northern Kingdom of Israel was infamous in the same regard.

             People with infamous names can have success in their lives in some areas. For instance, Omri built the city of Samaria which was built on a high hill. Samaria stood as a strategic stronghold for the nation and became the capital city. Yet Omri, like those before him, came to power through a division as you remember with Tibni. Omri's status is truly marked the above passage where we read (He) did worse than all that were before him. This is a horrible thing to write about someone. It is even worse that it was true.

       Micah mentions Omri in His prophecy in Micah 6:16. The evil and idolatry of the reign of Omri and his son Ahab is representative of God's people in Micah's time. Progressive evil was present in the Northern Kingdom from its beginning and would continue. Omri, worse than all those before, became a standard-bearer for the sin in which Israel continued.

       Evil continues to progress in society. It has been bad before, real bad, and it will be really bad again. We must be willing to face the accuser Satan with the Truth. We can stand up and proclaim the name of Christ and the truth of His righteousness. We must not let the infamous man soil our name. We can boldly live with our Savior’s name. It can go either way, but each man chooses for himself the status of His name. That, Juliet, is what’s in a name.

Grace and Peace,

R.D. Beavers