LIFE LESSONS
OMRI
DR. JIM DIXON
1 KINGS 16:21-28
SEPTEMBER 14, 2003
Omri was the sixth King of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It was Omri was built the royal city of Samaria. According to secular historians, Omri was the greatest of the northern kings. He was the greatest of the kings of Israel. The famous Moabite Stone found by archeologists in the Trans-Jordan mentions Omri. It describes his conquest of Moab and the surrounding nations that surrounded Israel. Archeologists have also found Assyrian records in modern day Iraq which mention Omri and his greatness. Archeologists have found Egyptian records in modem day Egypt which reign of Omri.
More than a hundred years after the death of Omri, the Assyrians referred to the nation of Israel as the House of Omri or the Land of Omri. He was the greatest of the kings of the north. But the strange thing is that the Bible only devotes eight verses to Omri. His reign, the acts of his life—they are barely mentioned in the Bible and why is that? Perhaps it is because Omri was not so great in the sight of God. Today we look at Omri. We have two life lessons and these two life lessons focus on Omri’s two great sins. His first sin was the sin of syncretism. Omri was a syncretist. Know this: Syncretism is the great sin of America. You want to avoid syncretism. The word syncretism comes from a Greek word meaning “to combine.” A syncretist is a person who combines various religions, so if you combine your Christianity with other religions, that makes you a syncretist.
In the year 1625, archeologists found the Nestorian Stone. They found the Nestorian Stone near the city of Sian, the ancient capital of China. The Nestorian Stone was a black marble stone and it had an inscription dedicated to a new religion in China, and this new religion was called Tah Chin Luminous Religion. The Nestorian Stone lists all the emperors of China, all the emperors of China who had embraced the Tah Chin Luminous faith. The Nestorian Stone mentions a man named Alopen who brought the Tah Chin Luminous faith to China. Today, scientists, archeologists and historians believe that the Tah Chin Luminous faith was Christianity. They believe it was Christianity and they’re amazed. Apparently, this man Alopen was the first Christian Nestorian missionary to China. He brought the Christian faith to China and it was embraced by emperors.
Mostly recently, as reported in U.S. News and World Report, archeologists have unearthed a church in China near Sian. They found it beneath a palace shrine. It’s a church that dates back to the 7th century, the same period as the Nestorian Stone. They found this church not far from the Nestorian Stone. Historians now believe that in the last two centuries of the Tang Dynasty, in those last two centuries, most of the emperors of China and many of the people of China embraced Christianity, the Tah Chin Luminous faith. Amazing. Amazing because this would mean that when Hudson Taylor went to China in the 19th century and founded the China Inland Mission, Christianity had long been there. It would mean that when Matso Ricci, the Jesuit priest, brought Catholicism to China in the 17th century, Christianity had long been there. It would mean that when Nicolo and Maffeo Polo brought Christianity to China and to the Khan in the 13th century, Christianity had long been there. But, you see, historians now believe there was this Christian period in China in the 7th and 8th centuries and they called Christianity the Tah Chin Luminous, the faith of life.
What happened? If Christianity had been embraced by emperors in China in the 7th and 8th centuries, what happened? What happened was syncretism. That’s what happened. The Christian faith was syncretized with other religions. It was combined with Taoism and Buddhism, and Christianity began to be diluted and it began to disappear. Christianity thrives when the focus is solely on Jesus Christ. When we combine the Christian faith with other faiths, our Lord and Savior becomes angry and He is grieved and He is hurt.
We come to Omri, and Omri was a syncretist. He was a recipient of the Old Covenant as given by God to Moses, and he was a practicing Jewish man who worshipped Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but he decided to combine his Jewish faith with other religions. We know this because in Samaria, the ancient capital of Omri, they have found this archeological ruin they now call the Ostraca House. Do you know what ostraca are? Ostraca are small pieces of pottery. Ostraca are small pieces of pottery that are used for communication. They would inscribe a message on a small piece of pottery or they would write a message on a small piece of pottery. It was used in the business world in the ancient world. It was used socially in terms of sending a message to a friend.
Ostraca were also used in the pronouncement of banishment. When a person was banished from a society or a culture or a nation, their banishment was written, inscribed, on a piece of pottery. As that person fled the community, the people would take ostraca, would take pieces of pottery—they would take pieces of pottery and throw it at him as he would flee. That’s where we get the word ostracize is from ostraca. In the Ostraca House in Samaria, the ancient capital of Omri, they have found these pieces of pottery that are from the period of Omri. Some of them are dedicated to Yahweh, and they found some dedicated to Baal, the god of the Phoenicians. They found some that actually combine the name of Yahweh with the name of Baal in a kind of religious syncretism.
The Bible simply tells us that Omri enraged God, the God of Israel to anger through his idols but we understand from archeological evidence he was a syncretist. He probably took the worship of Yahweh and he combined it with a little Phoenician worship of Baal. Perhaps he took the Assyrian worship of Ostarti and took some of that religion and mixed it in. Maybe he took a little Egyptian worship of Amun-Re or Amun-Ra, both pronunciations are acceptable, but he took these religions and he combined them in a syncretistic mix. The judgement of God fell upon him. Now, you understand syncretism is the great religion of America. Many American men and women are syncretists. Many university professors are syncretists. Many of the politically correct are syncretists. They simply take a little from this religion and that religion and they combine them.
Have you heard of the platypus? I know many of you have at least heard of the platypus although I’m sure very few of you have seen the animal because a platypus doesn’t do well in captivity. You can see a platypus if you travel to Australia. There are a lot of weird animals in Australia but there is no animal more weird than the platypus. It’s like all the animals of the world made a donation and every animal gave a piece or part and they were all just syncretized into this thing called the platypus. It has fur like a bear but of course it’s not a bear. The platypus has a flat beaver-like tail but the platypus is not a beaver. The platypus has a bill like a duck and webbed feet like a duck but of course the platypus is not a duck although it’s sometimes called the duck-billed platypus. The platypus has poisonous fangs like a snake but of course the platypus is not a snake. It has claws like a lion but of course the platypus is not a lion. The platypus can swim like a fish but it’s not a fish. The platypus can burrow like a rodent but it’s not a rodent. The platypus lays eggs like a bird but the platypus is not a bird. The platypus nurses its young with its milk like a mammal. Most zoologists classify the platypus as a mammal but others aren’t sure because, you see, the platypus is just a mess. It’s just a mess. It’s a syncretistic mess.
That’s kind of what a lot of people in America are like. They take a little bit of Buddhism. Perhaps they believe in prior lives or a little bit of reincarnation like a Buddhist but they’re not a Buddhist. They have no assurance of salvation. They just hope that at Judgement Day their good works will somehow exceed their bad works as we find in Muslim theology, but they’re not Muslims. They sing “Amazing Grace” and they speak of the goodness of Christ like Christians but they’re not Christians. They read their horoscope, their astrological charts like Zoroastrians but they’re not Zoroastrians. They’re just syncretists. They have a kind of platypus religion.
Of course, you might be thinking, “Well, what’s wrong with that? When we go to a restaurant and we’re looking, we’re kind of in the mood for an hors d’oeuvres, and they all look good to us. Don’t we just order the combo platter? Don’t we get a few chicken wings, maybe some fried cheese sticks, artichoke dip? Let’s get a little bit of everything and what’s wrong with that other than the fact that it’s not good for you. What’s wrong with that?” Of course, there’s nothing wrong with mixing food. Some of the best food is syncretistic. But, you see, when it comes to your faith, you either believe that God has revealed the truth to you or you don’t. God wants you to know, truth is not up for grabs. You can’t script your own religion. You can’t write your own fate. By the very doing of that, you imply you don’t believe any of it. This was the great sin of Omri. Don’t let it be your sin.
In the Bible, God speaks of the faith as a covenant. In the Greek language there are two different words for covenant. There’s the word “suntithemi,” which refers to an agreement mutually arrived at. But the Bible never uses the word “suntithemi” to describe our faith because it’s not an agreement mutually arrived at. We didn’t sit down with God and say, “Hey, I’d like a little bit of this, a little bit of that, a little Buddhism, a little Hinduism, a little Judaism, a little Christianity, a little Islam” and mutually arrive at something. It’s not a “suntithemi.” The biblical word for the faith is “diatheke.” Diatheke refers to a covenant decreed by a person in authority which those under authority can accept or reject but they cannot alter or change. This is true of the Christian faith. You can accept it or you can reject it and pay the price. You cannot alter or change it. Syncretists are constantly seeking to alter and change. That was true of the Old Covenant given to Omri. It was decreed by God. It could be accepted or rejected. It could not be altered or changed and so, it is today.
There was a second great sin of Omri and a second life lesson today. It concerns pluralism. There are people who confuse, I think, syncretism and pluralism. There are some scholars who believe that Omri really wasn’t a syncretist despite the evidence of the Ostraca House. They believe that he was really more of a pluralist. He didn’t combine religions but he equated them. He said, “Hey, I’m a Jew but if you want to follow Astarte and the Assyrian religion, that’s equally good. Hey, I’m a Jew but if you want to follow the Phoenicians and the religion of Baal, that’s equally good. I’m a Jew but hey if you want to follow the Egyptians and the worship of Amun-Re, that’s equally good. There are many paths to God.” A pluralist. I hope you understand this truly is the religion of America. Even more than syncretism—pluralism. Syncretism combines religion. Pluralism equates religions. They’re all equally viable. “Even though I only have one personal faith, they’re all equally viable.” Pluralism.
We live in a democratic republic, and we thank God for it. The Bill of Rights is a title given to Amendments attached to the United States Constitution, and specifically to those ten amendments, the first ten, ratified on December 15, 1791. Most of you are familiar with the First Amendment and you know that it provides for religious freedom. The First Amendment also created what some have called the separation of church and state. The First Amendment simply says, “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or restricting the free exercise thereof.” So, that First Amendment provides for religious freedom, and it prohibits the Congress from establishing a state religion. We didn’t want to see happen here what had happened in England where the state scripted the religion of the people, and you had the Church of England. We wanted religious freedom here.
There was no absolute separation between church and state. There was no intention that faith and religion and God be scripted out of the public arena or even the political arena. For instance, the Ten Commandments were rightly displayed in federal and state and even local government buildings because the posting of the Ten Commandments did not constitute the establishment of a state religion. It did not constitute the establishment of a state religion. No one is forced to become a Jew or a Christian, and people can still believe whatever they want to believe. Of course, the judicial branch of the government, I think, is ruining our nation by virtue of their misinterpretation and misapplication of the United States Constitution and particularly the First Amendment. But I think on this we would all agree. We believe in religious freedom. Do we not? I mean as grateful citizens of a democratic republic, do we not believe in freedom of religion?
I want Hindu people to be able to assemble freely. I want Buddhists to be able to assemble freely. I want Jews to be able to assemble freely. Muslims to be able to assemble freely. Christians to be able to assemble freely. I believe in the free marketplace of ideas. I think it’s a wonderful thing that people can sit down lovingly and discuss. I think it’s a wonderful thing that a Buddhist and a Muslim and a Christian can sit over lunch in America and talk about their respective faiths, each trying to convince the other. I think God wants His people to come to Him freely. I think our Lord Jesus Christ wants people to come to Him freely.
And so, you see, in the political sense, I believe in religious pluralism. I believe in the equality of religion under law. In the political sense, I believe in religious pluralism, the equality of religion under law and I think you believe in that too. But, you see, that was not right for Omri because Omri was part of something very special—what the Bible tells us to have been the only theocracy in the history of this world. Not a democracy. Israel was a theocracy established by God and ministered by priest and prophets and kings, governed by the law given to Moses. It was a theocracy. He had no right to blend religion in Israel, the only theocracy blessed by God. When we get to heaven, we’re going to see a theocracy once again. It’s not a democracy there. There will be no religious pluralism there.
I think the greater sin of Omri was this. It wasn’t his political religious pluralism. It was his theological religious pluralism. You see, Omri actually believed all religions were equal, that there were many paths to God. They’re all viable. That’s what a lot of people in America think too. For that reason, this nation will be judged. At the judgement of the nations, Matthew 25, this nation will be judged, for our syncretism yes and for our pluralism all the more because we believe all religions are equal here. What a tragedy that is. I tell you, you either believe in Jesus Christ or you don’t. Jesus said, “I am the way, I am the truth and I am the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” That’s clear and that leaves no room for pluralism.
The Bible says, “There is no other name under heaven given amongst men whereby we may be saved.” That’s clear. There’s no room for religious pluralism. Jesus said, “The Father judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son that all might honor the Son in the same way that they honor the Father.” “Do not marvel at this,” Jesus said. “The day is coming when all who are in the grave, all who are in the tomb, will hear My voice and come forth, some to everlasting life and some to everlasting death.” The message is clear. “No other name given amongst men whereby we may be saved.”
This is a very special day today, September 14. It was on this day, September 14 in 1741 that George Frederick Handel finished “The Messiah.” He simply called it “Messiah.” It had taken him 24 days, 260 pages of music, perhaps the greatest musical accomplishment in the history of the world in terms of musical composition. He’s buried at Westminster Abbey, and his statue portrays him as holding the manuscript of Messiah. You’ve heard “The Messiah” sung at Easter and perhaps at Christmas and you know those words, but do you believe them? Do you believe He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings and He shall reign forever and ever? Do you really believe that? “Lord of Lords and King of Kings and He shall reign forever and ever.” If you believe that, there is no room for pluralism, the great sin of our country.
I don’t know what God is doing in the other religions of the world. I do know the other religions are not salvific. They are not paths to salvation. Jesus made that clear. If the other religions of the world were salvific and if they were paths to salvation and a means to enter heaven, then we would need no world missions. We would not take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations. Jesus would not have said to us, “You shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.” Jesus would not have said to us, “Go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you.” We take the Gospel to the nations because we believe Jesus is salvific. He’s the Savior. He’s the hope of the world. No one else died for you. It’s not going to be Buddha sitting on the throne. It won’t be Mohammed calling you home. It’s Jesus and you believe it or you don’t believe it.
As we close, I want to mention a little struggle that scientists have discovered. According to scientists, archeologists and paleontologists, there was a great fight that took place long ago 25 miles south of La Junta, Colorado, what today is called La Junta in the region of the Comanche National Grasslands. They found footprints in stone and they believe that long ago there was a great fight. They know the two sides in that fight. On one side they tell us there was the Allosaurus, the predecessors to the T-Rex, the largest of the carnivores. On the other side was the largest of the herbivores, the Apatosaurus, sometimes mistakenly called brontosaurus. And so, you have the Allosaurus fighting the Apatosaurus, the largest carnivores fighting the largest herbivores.
Scientists say they wish they could have been there to see it. They can see the footprints in the stone. They wish they could have been there to see it because they say, “it would have been thunderous” because the Allosaurus, the predecessor to the T-Rex, had giant claws and huge jaws and they shredded the flesh of their enemy with their teeth. The Apatosaurus was a huge herbivore, the largest. This vegetarian had a huge tail used as a weapon. This was a “veggie tail” you didn’t want to see. They say that the Apatosaurus could stand on its hind legs and box with its front legs. I’d love to have seen that. Or it could stand on its front legs and kick with its back legs, and its kick was formidable. They don’t know the outcome of the fight. They don’t know what happened but they do know it was awesome. There’s a sense in which the fight continues. The fight continues all over the world today in the world of animals. We see animals at war. It’s all part of the food chain. You’ve got the carnivores and the herbivores and the fights are still going.
We think of ourselves as transcendent because we’re people and we’re human. We’re made in the Imago Dei, in the image of God. We think of ourselves as transcendent and yet we fight too. Jesus tells us that, amongst people, “there will be wars and rumors of wars” right up to the very end and the consummation, the second coming of Christ. Wars and rumors of wars. But there’s a sense in which we, as Christians, are called to a fight. It’s not a physical fight. We’re to love our enemies. But we, as Christians, are called to a fight and it’s a fight for the faith.
The Bible says, “Contend for the faith, once and for all delivered to the saints.” Contend for the faith. Obviously, God wants us to understand it’s not easy to hold on to your faith in the midst of a pluralistic, syncretistic, fallen culture. It’s not easy. “Contend for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints,” the Bible says. When Paul finished his life he said, “I’ve fought the good fight. I’ve kept the faith. I’ve finished the race.” That’s what God wants you to be able to say. That’s what God wants me to be able to say. We fought the good fight. We kept the faith. We finished the race. The Bible says, “In the last days, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared.” The Bible says that, “The day is coming when people will no longer endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own liking and they’ll turn away from listening to the truth and they’ll wander into myth.”
We live in such a time. We live in such a culture. Keep the faith. Be faithful unto death. God wants you to know you will receive the crown of life. Avoid syncretism. Avoid pluralism. Don’t participate in the sins of Omri. Let’s close with a word of prayer.