God commanded His people to worship Him in Jerusalem. After Jeroboam led the 10 northern tribes to establish their own kingdom, he feared the practice of worship in Jerusalem would harm his rule in the north.
Then Jeroboam said to himself, “Now the kingdom may well revert to the house of David.
If this people continues to go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, the heart of this people will turn again to their master, King Rehoboam of Judah; they will kill me and return to King Rehoboam of Judah.” (1 Kings 12:26-27).
Rather than discerning the will of the Lord, Jeroboam found counselors who reinforced his fear and self-interest.
So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. He said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan (1 Kings 12:28-29).
It was more convenient for worshipers to travel to Bethel and Dan, rather than walk all the way to Jerusalem. The convenience fit into Jeroboam’s scheme to protect his rule by having people remain in the north outside the realm of Rehoboam.
Bethel, which means “house of God,” was far from being a location of true worship of the one and only God. The city will surface many times as a location of syncretism – the blending of true worship with that of Israel’s pagan neighbors.
The golden calf incident while Moses was on the mountain is a familiar story. Jeroboam produced another golden calf situation, this time with two golden idols.
Please take a few minutes to listen to our YouTube video today. Rudy Ross points out how golden calves have been used in pagan religions from the earliest times up to today’s era.
Besides the two worship centers, the king returned to the people the practice of pagan worship on the high places. In addition, he appointed priests who were not of the lineage of the Levites.
And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one at Bethel and before the other as far as Dan.
He also made houses on high places and appointed priests from among all the people who were not Levites (1 Kings 12:30-31).
Willful Vs. Willing
The very height of pride is being unwilling to listen to anyone, including God. The adult human looking like a child cries in anger saying, “I want what I want, when I want it.”
No one can stop this willful human. Their only use for God is captured by the lyrics of a Janis Joplin song: “Lord, won’t you give me a Mercedes-Benz. My friends drive Porches. Won’t you make amends.”
Human willfulness is the root of idolatry. The gods are served to the extent they can give us what we want.
Jeroboam’s gods were served to provide security. Pagan sites and practices were maintained out of the belief that the gods would give rain and fertility.
In addition, he believed that by giving the people what they wanted would protect him from the southern kingdom.
I frequently listen to Dallas Willard while driving. In one of his recent lectures he said, “Jesus would be a great tennis player.”
The audience laughed, but Willard continued. He said, “The truth is there is no one wiser, more powerful, more humorous, or anything else than Jesus.”
If we agree with Willard that Jesus is the most remarkable individual to walk the face of the earth, should we not be willing to follow His direction.
Willingness to follow Jesus begins with a deep desire to fulfill God’s plans, not ours. Jesus put it like this when he was asked which commandment in the law is greatest?
He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment.
And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-39).
If no one is wiser and more loving than God, why should we not be willing to take up His agenda for life with all our heart, soul, and mind?
None of us will doubt that God loves our neighbor. In fact, we know He loves our enemies, too. If the greatest Being in the universe is like this, why would we not be willing join Him in loving as He loves?
Once again, willfulness undergirds the belief that I know better than God how to live my life.
Willingness surrenders my will to God’s plan and purpose. Willingness takes up God’s agenda, rather than opposing it.
None of us want the legacy of Jeroboam, but we have to be willing to do God’s will to escape the trap of willfulness.
A Serious Date Change
Rudy Ross explains a lasting sin of Jeroboam. He changed a sacred date on the Jewish calendar for a festival of his own. Rudy points out that the date of this festival is known as Halloween today.
Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the festival that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; so he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.
He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had selected on his own; he appointed a festival for the people of Israel, and he went up to the altar to offer incense (1 Kings 12:32-33).
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 