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.
Israel's northern kingdom had already broken away from Judah, and now it splits again behind two rival leaders. The four-year civil war that follows raises one question: what happens to God's people when His will no longer decides anything?
Tibni is the last name in a long run of murders and army takeovers — and all of it happened among God's own people:
Jeroboam's son Nadab reigned only two years. One of his captains — Baasha — then murdered him, during the war with the Philistines at the siege of Gibbethon. Baasha occupied his bloodstained throne twenty-four years... Baasha's son Elah succeeded his father, but an officer named Zimri murdered him two years later. This man hoped to establish himself in Tirzah — the capital of the ten-tribe kingdom. But another captain — Omri — wanted the throne. Within a week he captured Tirzah. Zimri died in the flames of the royal palace, which he himself set on fire when he saw that his cause was hopeless. But even this did not settle the country. Yet another man reaching for the throne appeared — Tibni the son of Ginath... We are speaking, not of pagan nations, but of God's chosen people. He had done great things for them from Egypt onward, and He had made His holy will known to them. Israel had the Scriptures; no other nation was so privileged... A downward course is always slippery. Let us all beware of the first small step away from the revealed will of God.
In this verse "the people of Israel" means the ten northern tribes. That half of the nation now splits again:
Another feature marks the decline of the kingdom. Israel is divided against itself: how shall it stand?
Older people alive at the time could remember something very different:
Only a few years before — probably within living memory — the twelve tribes of Israel were one people. God's goodness had set them high among the nations, and all the kings around paid homage to their king. The country was wealthy and peaceful... Now — they were divided into two nations hostile to each other. Two ruthless military leaders were fighting for control in the Northern State.
The people picked their own king. Where God's will no longer decides, something else does:
The people, camped before Gibbethon on the day of Zimri's grab for power, choose Omri, the captain of the army, for their king. These facts always repeat themselves in the decline of empires. When a people is without God, His will is counted as nothing. What He established at the beginning is set aside. The one who has might reigns. Since might lies in the army, the empire is at the mercy of the military power. Conspiracy on one side, a soldiers' revolution on the other.
The two halves were not evenly matched. One side had the army behind it:
Civil war — the most terrible of all forms of armed conflict — followed Omri's taking of the throne of Israel... "All Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp," it says — that is, the army camped against Gibbethon. But part of the tribes took up Tibni's cause. During the four-year contest Omri would be in the position of a military dictator. With the soldiers behind him, he was almost sure to win in the end against his rival. His rival's death probably ended the conflict.
Whichever man won, the deeper problem stayed. The ten tribes had walked away from the centre God had chosen:
Confusion marked the whole history of Israel from Jeroboam on. Kings fell from power, and evil men fought over the throne. Tibni, the son of Ginath, challenged Omri, and both of them had large followings (v. 21). Omri's side prevailed, however, and Tibni died... Of course this was in opposition to God's decree that Jerusalem was the centre of the nation Israel. Judah recognised this, but the ten tribes had given themselves up to accept any substitute.
Israel is not the only people who lined up behind rival leaders:
In the history of Israel the people failed. In their low condition they insisted on a king, and then the kings led them astray. So in the history of the Church. In 1 Corinthians 3 and 4, the Apostle Paul traces all division back to the low, fleshly condition of the people. That condition led them to line up under certain leaders. Paul also foresees that after his death leaders would arise who would bring about open division.
- Drift — for generations the throne had changed hands by murder. Tibni and Omri are the next step down.
- Divide — a nation once united and honoured is split in two, then split again, as rival leaders fight for control.
- Vacuum — where God's will counts for nothing, people set aside what He established, and the strongest man reigns.
- Force — Omri held the army, so the four-year contest could only end one way. Strength, not righteousness, decided who wore the crown.
- Substitute — the real loss was not Tibni's life. It was the centre God appointed in Jerusalem, traded for any substitute — the same low condition that later split the Church behind rival leaders.
But the people that followed Omri overcame the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath; and Tibni died, and Omri reigned.
Israel's northern kingdom is falling apart. Two men claim the throne, the people split behind them, and this verse records who won — though the deeper question is what happens to a nation that has stopped asking God who should rule.
The contest started in an army camp. Soldiers made their commander king, and part of the nation backed a rival instead.
Civil war — the most terrible of all forms of armed conflict — followed Omri's taking of Israel's throne... The record says that all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp — that is, the army camped against Gibbethon. But part of the tribes backed Tibni. So during the four-year contest Omri held the place of a military dictator. With the soldiers behind him, he was almost certain to beat his rival in the end. His rival's death probably ended the conflict.
The verse turns on the word "overcame." Right did not settle this. Force did — and one writer sees the same pattern wherever empires fall.
The same things always happen again when empires decline. When a people is without God, they count His will as nothing. They do away with what He set up at the beginning. Whoever has the power rules, and since the power lies with the army, the empire is at the mercy of the military. Conspiracy on one side, revolt by the soldiers on the other.
The fight between these two men was not the start of the trouble. It grew out of a long history of confusion and of turning from the place God chose.
Confusion marked Israel's whole history from Jeroboam on. People pushed kings off the throne, and evil men fought over it. Tibni, the son of Ginath, challenged Omri, and both had large followings... All of this went against God's decree that Jerusalem was the centre of the nation Israel. Judah accepted that, but the ten tribes had given themselves up to taking any substitute.
The split itself is one more mark of a kingdom going down.
Another feature marks the decline of the kingdom. Israel is divided against itself — how can it stand?
The cost shows up when you compare Israel now with Israel a few years earlier.
Only a few years earlier — still within living memory — the twelve tribes of Israel were one people. By God's goodness they stood high among the nations, and all the kings around them paid honour to their king. The country was rich and at peace... Now they were split into two nations that hated each other, and two ruthless military leaders were fighting for control of the northern one... Turning away from God and His Word brings disaster. Let us take warning!
By the world's measure, the winner did very well.
Omri, a powerful and ambitious man, bought a hill and built a new capital city on it, Samaria. This city plays a large part in the later history of the northern kingdom, and the prophets often call that kingdom Samaria. Omri must have made quite an impression on the nations around him. In their records, Israel's enemies the Assyrians called Israel the house of Omri, even after his family had lost power.
But God measures a ruler by another standard.
Firm rule and a modern new capital may look desirable in men's eyes. But what counts with God is a person's moral and spiritual condition. Omri became a more wicked ruler than even the bad kings before him. "Omri did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did more evil than all who were before him."
- Drift. The ten tribes had already left the centre God chose. A people that will take any substitute ends up with no settled authority at all.
- Division. A kingdom split in half cannot stand. Two rival kings and four years of civil war were the symptom, not the disease.
- Force. Where God's will counts for nothing, the strongest arm rules — the throne falls to whoever commands the army.
- Victory. Omri won and Tibni died. The winner built a famous capital, and foreign records still called Israel by his name.
- Verdict. God measures a ruler by his moral and spiritual condition, not by what he builds. By that measure the winner was worse than every king before him.