Ironworks

        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 . 1Ki 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

  Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri.   But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned.   1 Kings 16:21-22 Is anybody surprised when people divide after dividing? At the outset of the northern kingdom, we understood that Jeroboam divided from King Rehoboam of Judah and assisted in breaking the unity of Israel. Afterward, there was a series of idolatrous practices, war, and discord within the rebel nation. It would only be logical that after an origin in division that division could come again. We have seen it in history repeatedly, and the most obvious is within the religious landscape of Christendom. When man decided to build churches that were not the church that was built by Jesus, (cf. Matt 16:18) this was obviously a division. In math we understand that the denominator is the one t

  And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died, For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin. 1 Kings 16:18-19                    Treason is a crime so vile in the eyes of men that it has been met with the stiffest of punishments, namely death. A nation cannot survive with great turmoil and chaos in leadership. This type of rancor was ever present in the northern kingdom of Israel. Zimri became king after he committed treason and murdered King Elah.                    One might assume Zimri’s treason was justified. It was prophesied by Jehu son of Hanani that all of Baasha’s descendants would be killed. However, this is a bad assumption. Just because God sends a prophet to prophesy that something will happen does not mean that God is behind the