1 Kings 16:21-28
"21 Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri.22 But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king. 23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. 24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.
25 Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him. 26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols. 27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 28 And Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place."
Omri was obviously a man of considerable calibre, and it seems likely that with his accession to the throne the opportunity was present for Israel to recover her spiritual strength and to return to the pure worship of God. There is a significant phrase in 27 - 'his might that he shewed'. This, along with his obvious sagacity in establishing a new capital at Samaria seems to argue no mean ability and potential for good. One can almost feel the disappointment in the repetition of the now familiar phrase in 25 - 'But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord' - it is as if the sacred historian were saying to us, 'It might have been so different with him, but alas, he followed the tragic downward trend and added to the cumulative declension of his people'. It is always sad to see those who have undoubted potential for good in the kingdom of God taking the wrong turning, and with wilful, stubborn pride, refusing to walk in the way that leads to blessing and spiritual prosperity. There are those who, because they are not prepared to pay the price of personal surrender to Christ, not only remain useless in the service of the kingdom, in spite of their undoubted ability, but actually become encumbrances to the work of God. And God has, sadly but firmly, to remove them. This is the solemn lesson that 1 Kings teaches us.