The Rise of the Omride Dynasty

After Jeroboam’s house was destroyed by Baasha, we also read of Baasha’s reign which was succeeded by Elah. The reign of Asa lasted for 41 years. Asa was able to reign during the short reign of Jeroboam’s unrighteous son Nadab, the reign of Baasha for 24 years, and Elah also reigned for two years only like Nadab. Is there any strange pattern here? Jeroboam reigned for 22 years. Baasha reigned for 24 years. The sons that succeeded them reigned for a very short time. Even more ironic is that Elah was killed by Zimri. Yet, Zimri only reigned for seven days. We can talk about how wicked Baasha was. Baasha got rid of Jeroboam but clung to the sins of Jeroboam. Now, we have another wicked king and a wicked dynasty.

1 Kings 16 would talk about Baasha’s downfall, Zimri’s downfall, and the rise of Omri. Unlike Baasha, Zimri’s betrayal didn’t lead to a long reign. All of Israel were probably too frustrated. This, however, gave rise to a greater evil namely Omri, the commander of the army. Omri probably had much popularity in a place of apostasy. The deeds of Jeroboam the son of Nebat up to Elah had created deep roots of wickedness. Zimri was overthrown before he could start a regime. Zimri committed suicide by burning the king’s house rather than surrendering. Omri would have a rival in Tibni who could’ve been king. Omri won against Tibni and all was well, right? Nope, in fact, Omri’ would be even worse. 1 Kings 16:25-26 says that Omri did evil in the LORD’s sight, even more than those before him. Omri walked in the ways of Jeroboam during his 12 years of reign.

It would be interesting that Omri rose during King Asa’s 31st year as King of Judah, six years during which he reigned in Tirzah. Samaira became the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. What would be interesting is that in Asa’s last two years, it was also when Ahab rose up as King of the Northern Kingdom. The family was raised on the religion of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Jeroboam’s dynasty ended yet the usurpers never abandoned the sinister religion. I’m led to believe that the usurpations were fights for control of the sinister religion. Later, Hosea 13:2 even links human sacrifices to calf worship centuries after it was established.

The rise of the Bible’s most wicked king from Omri’s bloodline

There are cases when a son either underperforms or does better than the father. In this case, Omri’s successor was his son Ahab. Ahab really was described was having done more evil than those before him. The Bible doesn’t give a long narrative of Omri. Ahab really does deserve the spotlight for many reasons. Ahab reigned for 22 years over Israel. this would also speak volumes because Ahab’s family was of ill repute. In fact, his bloodline almost destroyed David’s bloodline generations later with his most infamous daughter, Athaliah the Wicked Queen.

Ahab walked in the sins of Jeroboam. I could assume that Ahab was now in control of Jeroboam’s sinister religion. I guess Ahab really needed more than that. It was described it was a “light thing” for him to do so. Even worse, Ahab took the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians to be his wife. Research in history will reveal that Ethbaal, Jezebel’s father, murdered the king of Tyre named Phelles, and created a new dynasty. Talk about bloody. Omri killed Zimri and Tibni to maintain kingship. Ahab must’ve learned a lot of evil from his father. I wouldn’t be surprised if Omri introduced Jezebel to Ahab back then. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ahab had married Jezebel before becoming king. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ahab married Jezebel at Jeroboam’s temple in either Dan or Bethel. Either way, Jeroboam’s sinister religion was getting a very evil upgrade. This is the worship of Baal of Phoenicia. Some assume this was actually Baal Hammon or even Moloch, a god known for child sacrifices. Either way, we know this was sickening to the LORD.

Jezebel brought the worship of Baal. Ahab and Jezebel had a couple of evil children too. There was Ahaziah of Israel, Jehoram of Israel, and of course, the most notable one was Athaliah the Wicked Queen. Jezebel brought the worship of Baal Hammon to Israel. Athaliah would bring it over to Judah when she married Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat. I could imagine how the calf temples would be now. It was already bad enough to have golden calves. If this Baal Hammon was also Moloch the bull-headed god, it would make a lot of sense. This abomination would have Jezebel’s priests be at home with the priesthood of Jeroboam. Both sides were Satan worshipers!

Ahab had erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal in Samaria. I could imagine how this magnificent would’ve probably rivaled Jeroboam’s. We also have the erection of an Asherah pole. I heard the Asherah pole was for sex worship. I heard a phallus was erected. It’s no wonder temple prostitution was prevalent as human sacrifice. I think the male prostitutes that Asa and Jehoshaphat fought hard against were those of some form of Baal worship. What would be interesting is that the late J. Vernon McGee called them a worst-match couple. Jezebel was a help-meet n the area of evil. Women are supposed to be helpmeets. I believe Jezebel submitted to her husband. Yet, Jezebel also stirred up her husband to do wickedly. No wonder the family was such a mess! More interestingly, Jezebel is used as a symbol in Revelation 2:20 regarding the church in Thyatira. I doubt that the false prophetess was really named Jezebel. Whatever her real name was, I think Jezebel fit the description of the wicked woman.

What can we find about Ahab’s reign? The Bible gives a long narration because of how wicked he is. We can discuss Elijah and Jehoshaphat as well when discussing the Omride dynasty. It would be important to also discuss the failure of Jehoshaphat. Right now, it would be best to divide the topic into several posts.