God–Please Do Something

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Opening Prayer

I praise You, Heavenly Father. You meet all my needs. You are perfect love, perfect joy and perfect peace.

Read 1 KINGS 16:23-34

^[23] In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. ^[24] He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city on the hill, calling it Samaria, after Shemer, the name of the former owner of the hill. ^[25] But Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD and sinned more than all those before him. ^[26] He followed completely the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, committing the same sin Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, so that they aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, by their worthless idols. ^[27] As for the other events of Omri’s reign, what he did and the things he achieved, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ^[28] Omri rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Ahab his son succeeded him as king. ^[29] In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. ^[30] Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. ^[31] He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. ^[32] He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. ^[33] Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him. ^[34] In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

Meditate

“Abide with me! Fast falls the eventide; / The darkness thickens, Lord, with me abide” (H. F. Lyte, 1793-1847). When I was young, I recall singing these words in church. The dark times of Omri/Ahab are still with us today.

Think Further

What time is it in my life, in my society? Today’s reading describes 34 (12+22) years of downward spiral in Israel. How were things with me 34 years ago–and in which direction(s) have I gone since then?

Skipping over the extreme internal instability of Israel’s last four kings (two assassinated; one suicide) we arrive (only just–21,22!) at Omri, but he is no better, and his son Ahab is worse. Micah 6:16 is an ominous summary–“What Omri decreed, his son Ahab carried out.” Despite the fact that Omri was one of the few kings significant enough to surface in contemporary Moabite and Assyrian records, the verdict of Kings is brief and brusque: he was the worst king yet, leading the people to provoke the Lord with–“their rubbishes” (26, literally). Ahab was worse still: “He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam…”? the narrator asks in critical astonishment. And Jezebel was worse still. Why doesn’t God do something? I puzzle over the cryptic reference to Hiel and his sons Abiram and Segub, referring back to Joshua 6:26. On the one hand it suggests that Israel had descended to child sacrifice, but on the other hand these terrible actions unwittingly bear witness to the fact that the Lord’s prophecies will come true. Another prophet–the greatest of all prophets until John the Baptist–is just about to appear over the horizon.

I ponder my own society and nation. The post-Christian West seems to be descending into a hole–Christophobia, demographic suicide, democratic anorexia. Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1980-2008) parsed the rage of self-mutilation in Europe in the twentieth century with the unforgettable phrase, “Men have forgotten God.” I pray for the Light–and my light–to shine steadily.

Apply

Reflect on this telling comment about Omri: “He…considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam…” (31). Is sin trivialized today in our churches? Our society? In your life?

Closing prayer

Lord, I am reminded that sin is a serious matter to You. Forgive me for my adjustments to sin in my life. Heighten my sensitivity to sin, and strengthen my resolve to walk with You.

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