The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1911-01-20
OMRI AND
.AHAB
Sunday School Lesson for Jan. 22, 1911
Specially Arranged for This Paper

LhoSON TENT Kings l6:lo-3S. Mem
ory Verses Is. So
GOLDEN TEXT-"Righteou Ex-
alteth nation: but sin is a reproach to
any people Prov 1874.
TIME-Omri reigned II years from Il. 9.
1886 Tor S9S) to 925 Cor $500. Abah, his son.
from Il. G. 925-sN (S6D.
PLACE-They were kings of Israel,
with their capital at Samaria.
In the thirty and first year of Asa
king OF judah began Omri to reign
over Israel. Omri was the general OF
Israels army in the unsettled and
troublous times that followed Baa-
sha's reign. Before his call to be king
we know nothing about him. He was
the sixth king of Israel, and founded
the fourth dynasty, which lasted sixty
years, with four kings. When first
brought to notice he was fighting for
his country against the Philistines at
Gibbethon. Another general named
Timri was put forward as king, and
there was war for several years be-
tween these two warriors. Finally
Omri had full possession of the king
dom.
His first work was to choose a bet
ter site for his capital, for Tirzah had
doubtless been injured in the siege,
and its location was not the best for
defense. He bought the hill Samaria
for his capital. This choice proved
his sagacity as a general and states
man. The superior strategic position
of Samaria, a conical hill standing 400
feet above the base of the broad val
ley. is evidenced by the long siege
which il endured, and the stout resist
ance which it offered to the armies of
Sargon.
Omri wrought evil. We are not told
the particulars of Omri's sin, but Mi
cab says: For the statutes of Omri
are kept" I'VE cannot doubt that
these statutes of Omrf were measures
adopted for more completely isolating
the people of Israel from the services
of the house of the Lord at Jerusalem,
and of perpetuating- of in
creasing-their idolatrous practices"
Men thought him rich and prosperous,
but God looks on the heart and not
on outward appearances.
The retribution for Omri's course
did not come all at once for the ma
ton, but the seeds of ruin were COM
Ing up like upas trees. Ahab, the son
of Omri followed his father Omri in
his military traditions and prowess;
but still more in the idolatrous ten
denotes, the debased morality, the al
lance with heather nations, the neg
lect of true religion, the downward
course toward ruin, which charactery
lied Omri's reign. Instead of being
a positive. creative force for good, he
sailed with the downward tide, as a
boat without engine or rover down
the rapids of Niagara toward the falls.
1T takes live fish to swim up stream"
"A boys will is the winds will"
Ahab was a man not destitute OF
wanting in courage, at times not I'M
kingly but perfectly Indifferent to the
obligations under which he lay as
ruler of a nation which God had taken
into covenant with himself" He was
egotistical covetous, selfish, cruel, the
worst of Israels evil kings. He took
TO wife Jezebel, the daughter of Eth
baal
THE shadow of Queen Jezebel falls
dark for many years over the history
of Israel and Judah. She was one or
those masterful, indomitable, implac-
able women who, when fate places
them in exalted power, leave a terri
BILE mark on the annals of nations.
What the Empress Irene was in the
history of Constantinople, or the She
wolf of France in that of England,
or Catherine de Medici in that of
France, that Jezebel was in the his
tory of Palestine.
Jezebel 3tands out on the page OF
sacred history as the first supporter
icism is a frequent concomitant of
guilt. She is the authentic authoress
of priestly inquisitions. If no king
so completely sold himself to work
wickedness" as Ahab It was because
"Jezebel his wife stirred him up"
He went and served Baal, and wor-
shipped him. The downward course
vi lSllBiOh 10 MAJ hCu IL HUI LlcdbuIeu
by the fact that while Solomon al
lowed his heather wives to worship
their gods, but did not join in the wor-
ship, Ahab rejected Jehovah by join
ing his wife in worshiping the idol.
IT is of the utmost Importance to
avoid false friendships and compan-
ionship with the bad. Every power
for good in true friendship is a power
for evil In the false Our environ
ment, the persons with whom we come
in contact, especially IL we admire
them, are among the most potent fac
tors for good or evil in our lives. A
great deal OF evil comes from false
friendship. The danger Is doubly
great because Il comes under the
guise of friendliness-a wolf Ia sleeps
clothing. TGive me-" says one, "a
roaring devil rather than a sleeping
one; for a sleeping devil makes me
slumber, but roaring ones provoke me
to run to my Master"
Many are ruined by bad COM
panionship How large q part OF
drunkenness comes from the custom