The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 1 Kings 13:33-34,
"Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth."
Jeroboam had become the first king of the northern ten tribes of divided Israel. He was hand-selected by the Lord to take these tribes away from the David's dynasty due to Solomon's idolatry inspired by the many foreign women he had taken for himself.
Jeroboam himself became immersed in idol worship. We are told in 1 Kings 12:28-30, "After seeking advice, the king [Jeroboam] 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."
This sin became the defining aspect of all the kings of northern Israel that finally led to its demise at the Lord's hands. As we read of the succession of the nineteen kings of northern Israel, the "sin of Jeroboam" is often referred to. Chapter 12 goes on to tell us about Jeroboam's idolatry, "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. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places 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.
We find the initial motivation for Jeroboam's promotion of idolatry was his fear that if the people from the northern ten tribes continued to worship the Lord at Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, they might eventually turn back to rejoin Judah, ending his throne. 1 Kings 12:26-27. Like all plans that impinge upon the Lord's activities, it led to certain doom.
In response to Jeroboam's promotion of idolatry, the Lord sent a young prophet from Judah. One day, while Jeroboam was making an offering at the worthless altar he made in Bethel, the prophet came and cried out against the alter, claiming the priests that served at the idolatrous altar would themselves be sacrificed upon it. A sign to validate the prophet's message was that the altar would be split apart and the ashes on it poured out. Jeroboam stretched out his hand and commanded the prophet be seized. His hand shriveled and the altar split apart. The king begged the prophet to have the Lord heal him, and after all that, we read that good old King Jeroboam "did not change his evil ways"!
Of King Jeroboam it can be safely said, "As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly." Proverbs 26:11. (I, unfortunately, can testify to the accuracy of this proverb personally!)
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
"Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth."
Jeroboam had become the first king of the northern ten tribes of divided Israel. He was hand-selected by the Lord to take these tribes away from the David's dynasty due to Solomon's idolatry inspired by the many foreign women he had taken for himself.
Jeroboam himself became immersed in idol worship. We are told in 1 Kings 12:28-30, "After seeking advice, the king [Jeroboam] 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."
This sin became the defining aspect of all the kings of northern Israel that finally led to its demise at the Lord's hands. As we read of the succession of the nineteen kings of northern Israel, the "sin of Jeroboam" is often referred to. Chapter 12 goes on to tell us about Jeroboam's idolatry, "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. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places 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.
We find the initial motivation for Jeroboam's promotion of idolatry was his fear that if the people from the northern ten tribes continued to worship the Lord at Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, they might eventually turn back to rejoin Judah, ending his throne. 1 Kings 12:26-27. Like all plans that impinge upon the Lord's activities, it led to certain doom.
In response to Jeroboam's promotion of idolatry, the Lord sent a young prophet from Judah. One day, while Jeroboam was making an offering at the worthless altar he made in Bethel, the prophet came and cried out against the alter, claiming the priests that served at the idolatrous altar would themselves be sacrificed upon it. A sign to validate the prophet's message was that the altar would be split apart and the ashes on it poured out. Jeroboam stretched out his hand and commanded the prophet be seized. His hand shriveled and the altar split apart. The king begged the prophet to have the Lord heal him, and after all that, we read that good old King Jeroboam "did not change his evil ways"!
Of King Jeroboam it can be safely said, "As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly." Proverbs 26:11. (I, unfortunately, can testify to the accuracy of this proverb personally!)
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
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