We learned yesterday that after the kingdom split in two, King Rehoboam of Judah busied himself building up and fortifying his kingdom. During that time the Levites from all over the land of Judah and Israel gave their allegiance to him as their king, with those who lived in the northern territories giving up their lands in order to live within the kingdom of Judah where the Lord was still being worshiped in the ways prescribed by Him in the law. These Levites were willing to lose all they had to remain faithful to the Lord. Also we learned that many people from the other tribes of Jeroboam's kingdom moved to Judah because they wanted no part of the state religion Jeroboam was putting into place.
Jeroboam, like Rehoboam, spent some time at the beginning of his reign fortifying his nation against any enemy attacks and he established a capital city for himself. "Then Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. From there he went out and built up Peniel." (1 Kings 12:25) Shechem lay on a trade route to the east while Peniel lay between Jeroboam's kingdom and the kingdom of Egypt. Some scholars believe he built up and fortified Peniel in order to deflect an attack from Egypt should it ever come. The king of Egypt had formerly been quite friendly to Jeroboam and had granted him asylum when he fled from King Solomon; however, we've seen how fickle the kings of Egypt have been during the Bible days. Joseph the son of Jacob was appointed second-in-command to a king of Egypt, then a later king oppressed and enslaved the descendants of Jacob. A king of Egypt made an alliance with Solomon and gave him one of his daughters for a wife, then a later king gave asylum to Jeroboam the enemy of Solomon. We don't know whether the king who showed kindness to Jeroboam is still alive at the time he builds up Peniel but Jeroboam evidently thinks a later king might not be so friendly.
Once Jeroboam feels like he's done what he can to prevent invasion from enemies, and once he is seated on a throne in his capital city, he has time to think about the internal security of his nation. He knows the Lord commanded the people to worship at a central location that He would choose. This central location is at the temple in Jerusalem which lies within the kingdom of Rehoboam. Jeroboam doesn't want any of his people leaving the kingdom of Israel to worship at Jerusalem. He decides to set up two central locations of worship within his own territory. We are backing up a little bit in time as we talk about this because it wasn't until after he sets up these centers of worship that he was deserted by the Levites and some of the citizens of his nation.
"Jeroboam though to himself, 'The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.'" (1 Kings 12:26-27) Why does he believe this instead of what the Lord told him through the prophet Ahijah? This is what the prophet said to him: "If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to Me and do what is right in My eyes by obeying My decrees and commands, as David My servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you." (1 Kings 11:38) Jeroboam appears to have believed the prophet's words that he would become king but now that he is king he is afraid the kingship will be taken away from him. Why is he having these doubts and fears?
I think it's because he doesn't have and doesn't want a personal relationship with the Lord. He believed the prophet's words because he wanted to believe them but he doesn't want to serve the Lord in the ways the holy God commanded people to worship Him. When a person is living in opposition to the Lord they are naturally beset by doubts and fears because they know they are not doing what is right. They know the Lord may bring discipline or judgment upon them for their unrepentant attitude. As King Solomon once said, "The wicked flee though no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion." (Proverbs 28:1) Jeroboam could have spared himself these fears and doubts if only he had done what the Lord told him to do. But in an effort to keep control over his people, he sets up idolatrous images in his nation to prevent them from going up to the temple to worship. This sets the stage for a later widescale falling into idolatry of the whole northern kingdom, which leads to its downfall to the kingdom of Assyria.
"After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, 'It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.' One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other." (1 Kings 12:28-30) These are the same words ("Here are your gods, Israel") that Aaron spoke when he made the golden calf for the people back in Exodus 32. Scholars are divided in their opinion as to whether Aaron and Jeroboam intended golden calves to represent the Lord or whether they were presenting to the people some other god. Aaron knew no golden calf brought the nation out of Egypt but the people had lived in idolatrous Egypt for centuries and were used to seeing visible representations of gods. Aaron gave in to their demands not because he believed anyone but the Lord had helped them but because he did not know how to keep control over this large group while Moses was gone. I think also he feared for his life, believing the people would turn violent if he had not done as they wished, and I think it's likely they would have turned violent. But that's still no excuse for what he did; he should have trusted the Lord to protect him. Being afraid of the people is no excuse for what Jeroboam did either. The Lord made him a great promise---a promise as great as the one He made to David---and all Jeroboam had to do was trust and obey in order to receive the promise.
Why do so many of the people fall into this perverted form of worship during Jeroboam's reign? Convenience? Anger toward King Rehoboam of Judah? A lack of interest in serving the Lord in the ways prescribed by Him? An interest in idolatry? The Bible doesn't tell us why they fall in line with their new king's state appointed religion. The Bible only tells us, as it did in yesterday's text, that the Levites and many of the people of Jeroboam's kingdom wanted nothing to do with this state religion. Those who wanted to remain faithful to the Lord forsook all they had to follow Him. In every era the Lord has had a remnant faithful to Him and that's something important to remember in these modern times. Sometimes it seems like the whole world is falling into violence and chaos. The news is full of terrible crimes perpetrated by mankind. If we thought only about those things we'd soon fall into despair. But the Lord is still in control and the Lord still has a remnant faithful to Him on the earth. There are still people who love the Lord so much they'd forsake everything, if that's what it takes, to follow Him.
Jeroboam not only sets up golden calves but he also reinstates the practice of building altars on the hilltops. When the Israelites entered the promised land, the Lord told them to destroy all the hilltop shrines of the pagan tribes of Canaan. These shrines presented a temptation to them to fall into idolatry and the Lord wanted to protect them from that. Now Jeroboam sprinkles these hilltop shrines throughout the land to make it incredibly easy for his people not to go up to the temple. "Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites. He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a month of his own choosing, he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built at Bethel. So he instituted the festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to make offerings." (1 Kings 12:31-33)
Jeroboam is his own worst enemy. The Lord made a beautiful promise to him but he's done the exact opposite of what the Lord told him he must do in order to obtain this promise. In tomorrow's text we'll find a prophet of God speaking words of judgment against Jeroboam and his state religion, for, "God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." (Galatians 6:7)
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