I Kings 12
Jeroboam confronts Rehoboamverses 1-4
And Rehoboam went to Shechem
for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king
And it came to pass – when Jeroboam the son of Nebat
who was yet in Egypt heard of it
(for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon
and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt)
that they sent and called him
And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came
and spoke unto Rehoboam
saying
Your father made our yoke grievous
now therefore make you the grievous service of your father
and his heavy yoke which he put upon us
LIGHTER – and we will serve you
Rehoboam asks for three daysverse 5
And he
said unto them
Depart yet for three days
then come again to me
And the people departed
Rehoboam asks his father’s counselorsverses 6-7
And king Rehoboam consulted with the old men
that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived
and said
How do you advise that I may answer this people?
And they spoke unto him
saying
IF you will be a servant unto this people this day
and will serve them
and answer them
and speak good words to them
THEN they will be your servants for ever
Rehoboam rejects older counselorsverses 8-9
BUT he forsook the counsel of the old men
which they had given him
and consulted with the young men
that were grown up with him
and which stood before him
And he
said to them
What counsel give you that we may answer this people
who have spoken to me
saying
Make the yoke which your father did put upon us lighter?
Friends tell him to raise taxesverses 10-11
And the young men that were grown up with him spoke to him
saying
Thus shall you speak to this people that spoke to you
saying
Your father made our yoke heavy
but make you it lighter to us
Thus shall you say to them
My little finger shall be thicker than my father’s loins
and now whereas my father did lade you with a
heavy yoke – I will add to your yoke
My father has chastised you with whips
but I will chastise you with scorpions
Rehoboam answers Jeroboam harshlyverses 12-14
So Jeroboam and all the people came
to Rehoboam the third day
as the king had appointed
saying
Come to me again the third day
And the king answered the people ROUGHLY
and FORSOOK the old men’s counsel that they gave him
and spoke to them after the counsel of the young men
saying
My father made your yoke heavy
and I will add to your yoke
My father also chastised you with whips
but I will chastise you with scorpions
LORD behind these circumstancesverse 15
Wherefore the king hearkened not to the people
for the cause was from the LORD
that HE might perform HIS
saying which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite
to Jeroboam the son of Nebat
Rehoboam rules over Judahverses 16-17
So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not to them
the people answered the king
saying
What portion have we in David?
neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse
to your tents – O Israel
now see to your own house – David
So Israel departed to their tents
BUT as for the children of Israel
which dwelt in the cities of Judah
Rehoboam reigned over them
Rehoboam’s representative killedverses 18-19
Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram – who was over the tribute
and all Israel stoned him with stones – that he died
Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot
to flee to Jerusalem
Jeroboam made king over Israelverse 20
And it came to pass – when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again
that they sent and called him to the congregation
and made him king over all Israel
there was none that followed the house of David
but the tribe of Judah only
Rehoboam gathered army against Israelverse 21
And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem
he assembled all the house of Judah – with the tribe of Benjamin
a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men
which were warriors
to fight against the house of Israel
to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam
the son of Solomon
LORD sends prophet to tell Judahverses 22-24
BUT the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God
saying
Speak to Rehoboam – the son of Solomon – king of Judah
and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin
and to the remnant of the people
saying
Thus says the LORD
You shall not go up – nor fight against your brethren
the children of Israel
return every man to his house
FOR this thing is from ME
They hearkened therefore to the word of the LORD
and returned to depart
according to the word of the LORD
Jeroboam makes Shechem capital of Israelverse 25
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim
and dwelt therein
and went out from thence – and built Penuel
Jeroboam makes two golden calvesverses 26-30
And Jeroboam
said in his heart
Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David
IF this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the LORD
at Jerusalem
THEN shall the heart of this people turn again to their lord
even unto Rehoboam king of Judah
and they shall kill me
and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah
Whereupon the king took counsel – and made two calves of gold
and said to them
It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem
BEHOLD your gods – O Israel
which brought you up out of the land of Egypt
And he set the one in Beth-el – and the other put he in Dan
and this thing became a sin
for the people went to worship before the one
even to Dan
Jeroboam set up a false religious systemverses 31-33
And he made a house of high places
and made priests of the lowest of the people
which were not of the sons of Levi
And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month
on the fifteenth day of the month
like to the feast that is in Judah
and he offered upon the altar
so did he in Beth-el
sacrificing to the calves that he had made
and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the
high places which he had made
So he offered on the altar which he had made in Beth-el
the fifteenth day of the eighth month
even in the month which
he had devised of his own heart
and ordained a feast to the children of Israel
and he offered upon the altar – and burnt incense
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 4 Your father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make you the grievous service of your father, and his heavy yoke which he put on us, lighter, and we will serve you. (7185 “grievous” [qashah] means to be/make heavy, difficult, to cause a situation to not be easy, cause something to require great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure)
DEVOTION: How many of us prefer an easy life and an easy job? Remember we carry from our old nature to characteristics laziness and selfishness. These are two human tracts that follow us all of our life even after we give our heart to the LORD.
So here we find the children of Israel coming to their new king wanting less work and more free time. They didn’t want to continue serving the nation the way that Solomon had it organized.
They came with a new plan. They wanted to do less work for the same amount of privileges. They wanted to have to pay fewer taxes to the government. Now these two things didn’t seem so bad.
We want more vacation time so we can relax more rather than waste our time at work. We think that if we only had fewer hours at work with better pay we could be better workers. Does that make sense to you?
Also if the government wanted less of our money we could buy more toys to play with and enjoy life more. So the children of Israel came to Rehoboam with these two ideas that they thought he should accept from them.
They didn’t like what the previous leader wanted from them and thought it was time to renegotiate the terms of their contract with the government. Well we know what our government would say to their ideas.
They would say that they need more money to heir people who needed to keep us working hard for the rest of our lives with little to show for our work. Their employees would get large pensions and we would have to pay for them.
Does it sound like something that is happening today in most of the governments of the world that don’t want to honor the LORD with hard work? Part of the Christian life is service to the LORD and to our fellow man.
We are to be workers and not complainers. There should be an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. Too often we are top heavy in most of organizations. This causes many problems when only the little people work while the rest just live life to the fullest. God wants all of us to work and support only those who can’t work. Laziness is not something the LORD condones in any government. We are accountable to the LORD first and foremost for our work. Those who are not workers will still be held accountable in the future.
CHALLENGE: Lazy subjects in any government will cause the government to fail.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 15 Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat. (5438 “cause” [cibbah] means turn of affairs or turn of events. The LORD knows the past, present and future)
DEVOTION: One of the facts we learn from the Word of God is that God is Sovereign over the affairs of men. HE reveals HIS plans sometimes to some people for the purpose of letting them know that HE is watching this world. HE is omnipresent. HE has omniscience. HE loves HIS people but also chastens them when they need it.
Now we have Solomon’s sin which is also practiced by the children of Israel. God sends the prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam to tell him that he is going to be the ruler of ten tribes because of the sin of Solomon.
Solomon is dead and his son Rehoboam is going to reign in his place. However, there is a problem. The people were not happy with the taxes that Solomon levied on them. They came to Rehoboam and asked him what he was going to do. He asked for three days to decide what he is going to do. He asks counsel of the older men and they said to lessen the taxes.
But Rehoboam didn’t like their counsel and asked his friends that he grew up with. These younger men told him to say that he was going to be harder on the people than his father. This was the advice he followed
Well the meeting with the children of Israel didn’t go well because he followed the advice of the younger men. This verse gives the reason for this reaction. God had predicted it was going to happen because of Solomon’s sin.
HE had predicted that the kingdom would be divided. All of God’s predictions come true. Our Bible is full of predictions of what is going to happen in our future, they will all come true.
The LORD was judging Solomon for his worship of false gods. The children of Israel that followed Jeroboam would worship false gods. That was not what the LORD wanted but it happened because the people were not strong in the LORD. They wanted to worship on their own terms and in their own way.
Jeroboam had told them that it would be too far to travel to Jerusalem to worship. So he set up two golden calves for them to worship. He set up a priesthood of the lowest of men. He changed the holidays for the ten tribes. He didn’t want them going to Jerusalem to worship, so he set up his own religion.
This is what is happening in our day as well. Many are starting their own religion. They have their own beliefs. They have their own leaders. They have their own holidays. The Word of God is not important to them. They will receive their judgment of the LORD.
Those who are followers of Jesus Christ need to worship the LORD in spirit and in truth. We need to gather together in a local body called the church because that is what the LORD commanded. Some think that they can be followers of Christ and skip church because they think they are just as good as those who go to church. This is a sin.
We don’t have to go to Jerusalem anymore. The events have changed since the coming of Christ. The church is HIS means to reach the world. The world will be reached for the LORD. The LORD is still on the THRONE. Praise HIS name.
CHALLENGE: Watch to make sure that you are not making your own religion instead of a Biblical faith. Religion is man-made. Christianity is to honor Christ.
: 18 Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. Therefore king Rehoboam made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to Jerusalem. (4522 “tribute” [mac] means forced labor, conscription, a group of people forced to work for a government and who ae under government control, or compulsory labor)
DEVOTION: Death of a tax collector is recorded here. Rehoboam listened to the wrong advice and his tax collector was the first one to be killed. Once that had happened King Rehoboam ran for his life back to Jerusalem.
The older men in his cabinet had given him good advice regarding what he should expect from the people. They had been over taxed by Solomon to build the Temple and the Palace. Solomon had organized the nation in such a way that everyone served the king. He had many projects that make the nation look beautiful but caused many of the people to think that there was a better use of their time and money.
So when Rehoboam listened to the younger men who were not the best thinkers he caused the nation to rebel against his wishes. The division of the nation was predicted by the LORD before it happened because Solomon had allowed the people to worship false gods.
Judgment comes when God’s people are not faithful to HIM. HE sent this judgment to get attention of the nation. HE knew there would be division. HE knew there would be war. HE wanted to bless them if they repented and started following HIM again. This was not going to happen in the near future.
When we are disobedient to the LORD HE will send judgment to get our attention. HE wants to bless us as long as we are obedient to HIM and HIS commandments.
Today we find that many believers are doing what they think is right in their own eyes, which means that they are not doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD. There is too much confusion in our churches today. There is a need for revival in the lives of believers.
A nation can have revival if the hearts of the people seek the LORD. It has to start someplace and it should be in our heart first. Rebellion is easy but revival is hard because it goes against our human nature.
Our personal desires are more important to many rather than the desires of God for our lives. HIS desire is for us to serve HIM faithfully. HE wants us to listen to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our life. HE wants us to obey the Word of God regularly.
CHALLENGE: When we are open to HIS leading we can work together to see a nation that is pleasing in HIS sight. Are you willing to listen to HIM rather their own personal needs and wants?
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 19 So Israel rebelled against the house of David to this day. (6586 “rebelled” [pasha] means to break with/away from, to behave as a criminal, disloyal, rebel, transgress, suffer revolt, or pertaining to being angry or indignant and so holding a grudge)
DEVOTION: Everyone has a breaking point. There is just so much that every person can take before they don’t want to obey anymore. This is what is happening to the children of Israel.
The new king wanted to have the people give him more and serve him more than his father Solomon wanted. Solomon pushed to the limit and now his son wanted more out of the people.
Rebellion is something that happens when someone feels they are expected to do more than they think they can handle. This was done by Solomon’s son to the children of Israel. They asked that they not have to pay more taxes but he wanted more and they just couldn’t see doing it.
Now we know that there are some basis things that the LORD expects of us when we become a believer. We are to grow in HIS grace and serve HIM to the best of our ability. However, we find that sometimes leaders put more on us than we can possibility do. This is wrong. There is a limit to the ability of any individual or group.
God wants us to serve HIM in spirit and in truth. HE knows what we can handle and HE expects us to reach that limit. Sometimes we lower our standard instead of serving HIM to our ability. This is wrong.
Jeroboam wanted more from the people than they thought they could give and they rebelled. The LORD expects a lot from each of HIS children once they become believers. HE wants us to serve HIM in spirit and in truth. HE knows what we can handle and promises not send us more than we can take. HE does stretch us to the limit but HE never goes over that limit. HE knows us better than we know ourselves.
Human leaders need to be available to learn from the LORD what to expect of those who are under their leadership. This can only happen with much prayer and good advice from other leaders and from the Holy Spirit.
CHALLENGE: Do we as leaders expect too much from our fellow believers or too little? That is the question that only the LORD can answer through prayer and fasting.
: 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, O Israel, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt. (3289 “counsel” [ya’ats] means consult, advice, purpose, devise, plan, or deliberate)
DEVOTION: There is good advice given and there is bad advice given at times. It depends where you look for advice. Here we find a new king over the ten tribes looking for ways to keep the people from going to Jerusalem to worship the LORD.
The advice he decided to follow was to make two golden calves similar to the one that Aaron made in the wilderness while Moses was on the mountain with God receiving the Ten Commandments.
Moses came down and destroyed the golden calf that Aaron said just came out of the fire without him designing it at all. He was lying and Moses knew it.
The children of Israel were already worshiping false gods at the end of Solomon’s reign because his foreign wives brought their false gods with them from their country. He didn’t stop them from bring them. In fact, he built high places to these false gods. His heart was turned away from the LORD by his foreign wives.
Now the ten tribes had their own places of worship that didn’t involve the worship of the one true God. Today we have many places that are called churches that are worshiping false gods as well.
People are gathering to not worship the God of the Bible but the gods of made up religions. It seems that people are happy if they just worship something rather than search for the truth. Religion is gone wild in this country and around the world.
People can be religious without being followers of Jesus Christ who is the only one who died on the cross for their sins. They think that there are many ways to get into heaven. Christ is not necessary but might be one way. The lies of the devil are working around the world. He wants people to be religious but not Christian.
Solomon stopped worshiping the one true God to please his wives. Why have we stopped worshiping the one true God? It is for basically the same reason we want a religion that doesn’t require us to change. We want to serve a false god who says that it is OK to eat, drink and be merry. We want a false god who doesn’t condemn us for sin because there really isn’t any sin. Men want to do what is right in their own eyes and think that it should please the god they serve.
Remember religion is man-made and serves man rather than God.
CHALLENGE: Allow yourself to believe in the ONE TRUE GOD of the Bible and see what is going to happen in your life. Stay away from false religion.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
- Chastity (Purity in living)
- Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
- Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
- Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
- Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
- Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
- Frugality (wise use of resources)
- Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
- Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
- Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
- Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
- Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
- Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
- Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
- Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
Sacrifice in the house of the LORDverse 27
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
Word of the LORDverses 22, 24
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
LORD – Jehovah (Covenant keeping, Personal)verses 15, 24, 27
God – Elohim (Creator)verse 22
Word of God verse 22
Man of Godverse 22
Word of the LORD verse 24
House of the LORDverse 27
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Egyptverses 2, 28
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Forsaking the counsel of old menverses 8, 13
Consult with young menverse 8
Counsel of the young menverse 14
Israel rebelledverse 19
Worshiping golden calvesverses 28, 30
Sinverse 30
Priests other than Levitesverses 31-33
False worship set upverse 33
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Consult with old menverse 6
Servantverse 7
Good wordsverse 7
Sacrificeverse 27
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Rehoboamverses 1-24, 27
Consulted with old men wanted him to speak good words
Forsook counsel of old men
Consulted young men wanted him to add to the yoke of people
Reigned over those in Jerusalem and cities of Judah
House of David followed him
Judah only
Tribe of Benjamin & Judah
80,000 chosen men – warriors
Shechemverse 1
Jeroboam – son of Nebatverses 2-33
Wanted Rohoboam to make load
On people less than Solomon
Came it Rehoboam third day
Made king over Israel
Built Shechem to dwell in
Built Penuel
Two calves of gold made for Israel
Told Israel: behold your gods that brought you out of Egypt
One is Bethel
Other in Dan
Told them it was too far to go to worship in Jerusalem
Made house of high places
Made priests of the lowest of the people
Declared feast in the eighth month
15th day like in Judah
Offered sacrifices
Burnt incense
Solomonverse 2
Congregation of Israelverses 3, 17
Ahijah the Shiloniteverse 15
Davidverses 16, 19, 20, 26
Adoram – tax collectorverse 18
flee to Jerusalem
Israel rebelledverses 19, 21
Tribe of Judahverse 20
Shemaiah the man of Godverse 22
Speak to Rehoboam
Judah
Benjamin
To not go against other tribes
This thing is of the LORD
Hearkened to the word of the LORD
Priests of lowest of people not the sons of Leviverse 31
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
33–34 One would think that the foregoing events would have influenced Jeroboam to turn to God. Such was not to be the case. Having had his hand restored and being rid of the irksome prophet from Judah, Jeroboam only intensified his apostate religious policy, a program that was to become the ruin of the northern kingdom and for which his name was to live in infamy. Thus it was to be repeatedly said of the wicked kings of the northern kingdom: “He walked in the ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.” (Patterson, R. D., & Austel, H. J. (1988). 1, 2 Kings. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 120). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
12:32–33. Jeroboam instituted a new festival … like the festival held in Judah, a carefully designed counterfeit of the Day of Atonement. Israel’s festival was held in Bethel and in the eighth month (October–November) exactly one month later than Judah’s, a month of Jeroboam’s own choosing. Priests … sacrifices, and an altar were all provided to make Israel’s festival just as good as if not “better” than Judah’s. But Israel’s feast was designed by Jeroboam whereas Judah’s feasts had been decreed by God. Jeroboam set the example for his people; he personally went up to the altar at Bethel to make offerings. (Constable, T. L. (1985). 1 Kings. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, pp. 513–514). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Substitutes (vv. 26–33). The easiest solution to Jeroboam’s problem of holding the loyalty of his people was to establish a worship center for them in the territory of Israel. But what authority did he have to devise a rival religion when the Jews had received their form of worship from the very hand of God? He certainly couldn’t build a temple to compete with Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem, or write a law that matched what Moses received from Jehovah, or set up a sacrificial system that would guarantee the forgiveness of sins. He was no Moses and he certainly couldn’t claim to be God!
What Jeroboam did was to take advantage of the tendency of the Jewish people to turn to idols, and the desire of most people for a religion that is convenient, not too costly, and close enough to the authorized faith to be comfortable for the conscience. Jeroboam didn’t tell the people to forget Jehovah but to worship Him in the form of a golden calf. In both Egypt and the land of Canaan, the king had seen statues of calves and bulls that were supposed to be “holding up” the invisible forms of the gods. In the pagan religions that Jeroboam was copying, calves and bulls symbolized fertility. Jeroboam turned his back on the most important message given at Mount Sinai: Israel’s Lord Jehovah is a God who would be heard but not seen or touched. Hearing His Word is what generates faith (Rom. 10:17), and faith enables us to obey. But most people don’t want to live by faith; they want to walk by sight and gratify their senses.
Jeroboam’s words in verse 28 suggest that Aaron’s golden calf (Ex. 32:1–8, especially v. 4) was also in his mind. But the king went one better: he made two calves and put one at Bethel, on the farthest southern border of the kingdom, just a short distance from Jerusalem, and the other at Dan, on the farthest northern border (see Hos. 8:5–6; 13:2–3). Worshiping the Lord couldn’t be more convenient! “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem,” the king told the people (v. 28), and they were more than willing to believe him. The king built shrines at Bethel and Dan and allowed the people to make their own high places closer to home. By royal fiat, he instituted a “do-it-yourself religion” and, as in the Book of Judges, everybody did what was right in his own eyes (Judg. 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25). If the Canaanites and Egyptians could worship calves, so could the Hebrews! He forgot about Exodus 20:1–3 and 22–23—but the Lord didn’t forget!
A religion needs ministers, so Jeroboam appointed all kinds of people to serve as “priests” at the altars in Dan and Bethel (13:33–34; 2 Chron. 11:13–17). The only requirement was that each candidate bring with him a young bull and seven rams (2 Chron. 13:9). God had made it clear when He gave Moses the law that only the sons of Aaron could serve as priests at the altar (Ex. 28:1–5; 29:1–9; 40:12–16) and that if anybody from another tribe tried to serve, he would be put to death (Num. 3:5–10). Even the Levites, who were from the tribe of Levi, were not allowed to serve at the altar on penalty of death (Num. 3:5–10, 38; 4:17–20; 18:1–7). Unauthorized priests at unauthorized temples could never have access to God or present sacrifices acceptable to God. It was a man-made religion that pleased the people, protected the king, and unified the nation—except for the faithful Levites who abandoned the Northern Kingdom and moved to Judah to worship God according to the teaching of the Scriptures (2 Chron. 11:13–17).
The law of Moses required the Jews to celebrate seven divinely appointed feasts each year (Lev. 23), so Jeroboam instituted a feast for the people of the Northern Kingdom. The Feast of Tabernacles was scheduled for the seventh month for one full week. This was a joyous festival when the people recalled their wilderness years by living in booths and celebrating the goodness of the Lord in giving the harvest. Jeroboam’s feast was set for the eighth month so that the people had to choose which one they would attend, and this separated the loyal Jews from the counterfeit worshipers in Israel. But why travel all the way to Jerusalem when Bethel and Dan were much easier to reach?
Along with setting up his own religious calendar, temples, altars, and priesthood, Jeroboam made himself a priest (vv. 32–33)! He offered incense and blood sacrifices just as the authorized priests did at the temple, except that the Lord never acknowledged his sacrifices. The sacrifice on the fifteenth day of the eighth month was in connection with the feast that he had ordained, and this sacrifice may have been in imitation of the annual Day of Atonement. He had all the ingredients needed for a “religion” but lacked the most necessary one—the Lord God Jehovah!
Apostasy. We live today in an age when “manufactured religion” is popular, approved, and accepted. The blind leaders of the blind assert that we live in a “pluralistic society” and that nobody has the right to claim that only revelation is true and only one way of salvation is correct. Self-appointed “prophets” and ministers put together their own theology and pass it off as the truth. They aren’t the least bit interested in what Scripture has to say; instead, they substitute their “feigned [plastic] words” (2 Peter 2:3, kjv) for God’s unchanging and inspired Word, and many gullible people will fall for their lies and be condemned (2 Peter 2:1–2). Jeroboam’s “religion” incorporated elements from the Law of Moses and from the pagan nations that the Jews had conquered. His system was what is today called “eclectic” (selective) or “syncretic” (combining many parts), but God called it heresy and apostasy. When the prophet Isaiah confronted the new religions in his day, he cried out, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa. 8:20, nkjv).
Because Jeroboam didn’t believe God’s promise given by the prophet Ahijah, he began to walk in unbelief and to lead the people into false religion. The religion he invented was comfortable, convenient, and not costly, but it wasn’t authorized by the Lord. It was contrary to the revealed will of God in Scripture and it had as its purpose the unification of his kingdom, not the salvation of the people and the glory of God. It was man-made religion and God totally rejected it. Centuries later, Jesus told the woman of Samaria (the former kingdom of Israel), “You worship what you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22, nasb). When He made that statement, He instantly wiped out every other religion and affirmed that the only way of salvation is from the Jews. Jesus was a Jew and the Christian faith was born out of the Jewish religion. Our modern “pluralistic society” notwithstanding, the Apostle Peter was right: “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12, nasb). (Wiersbe, W. W. (2002). Be responsible (pp. 103–106). Colorado Springs, CO: Victor.)
12:32 instituted a feast. Jeroboam instituted a religious festival to compete with the Feast of Booths held at the temple in Jerusalem and scheduled it for the 15th day of the 8th month (Oct./Nov.), exactly one month after its divinely ordained Judean counterpart (Ex 34:22, 23; Lv 23:33–36, 39, 40). (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (1 Ki 12:32). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.)
Jeroboam does not heed the promise and fails to fulfill the duties the Lord held before him (12:25–33). Jeroboam realizes the influence of temple worship in Jerusalem and fears that this will draw Israel away from him. He devises a cultus for Israel as an alternative to worshiping in Jerusalem. This cultus includes two golden calves. One is placed in Bethel, on the southern border, located en route to Jerusalem. The other is placed in the north, in Dan. In addition, Jeroboam builds shrines on high places (Canaanite worship centers), appoints unacceptable non-Levitical men to be priests, and sets a week for feasting in the eighth month (similar to the divinely appointed festive week in the seventh month). The people accept the alternative shrines, priests, feast, and the golden calves. They sin in their false worship. Jeroboam leads Israel into idolatrous worship, failing to learn from Solomon’s tragic disobedience. Political expediency takes priority over obedience to the Lord, faithful worship, and the giving of thanks to the Lord for his blessings. (Van Groningen, G. (1995). 1-2 Kings. In Evangelical Commentary on the Bible (Vol. 3, p. 244). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.)
Ver. 33. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the 15th day of the 8th month, &c.] As he bad done in Dan: even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; the feast of tabernacles was of God’s appointing, but the time of keeping he had devised himself, changing it from the 7th month, or Tisri, which answers to our September and October, to the 8th month, or Marchesvan, which answers to part of October and part of November: and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel; to be observed by them as the feast of tabernacles was by the priests of Judah and Benjamin: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense; which none but the priests should do; perhaps the reason why the same resentment was not shewn as to Uzziah was, because this was not at the altar of the Lord: whether he burnt incense after the manner of the Jewish priests, or as the priests of Egypt did to the sun, where he had been for some time, is not certain; the former burnt incense only twice a day, morning and evening, the latter three times; at sun-rising they burnt rosin, about noon myrrh, and about sun-setting kyphi, which was a compound of 16 sorts. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 2, p. 731). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
Unbelief is dangerous: It leads to deception, and deception leads to destruction. Jesus performed many miracles, convincing people of His identity so they could have a basis for believing in Him. Before His return, the Antichrist, empowered by Satan, will be loosed on the earth and a time of great deception and apostasy will occur. Those people who hate the truth will buy into this deception, precipitating their ultimate destruction. Meanwhile, believers must stand firm, holding tightly to the truth. In a world of falsehood and deliberate deception, we must always be on guard. (Quiet Walk)
THE TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES
…built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.
Ephesians 2:20
John’s whole purpose in writing his first epistle was to say to the early Christians, “Hold on to what I and the other apostles have told you.” You remember how he began. “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (1 John 1:1-2). He is referring to the apostles, and he says that he writes these things so that these Christians “may have fellowship with us” (1 John 1:3). Who are they? They are still the apostles.
Now this is something that is absolutely primary and fundamental. The claim of the New Testament is that it alone is authoritative in these matters. It teaches us that the apostles and prophets were the people to whom God, through the Holy Spirit, had revealed spiritual truth, and He meant them to teach it and to write it. The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:20 that the Christian church is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” All teaching must derive from them, and so you have this extraordinary claim in the New Testament. These men claimed a unique authority.
Listen to the apostle Paul putting it again in writing to the Galatians; he uses strong language like this: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed” (1:8). “What egotism!” says someone. No, it is not egotism; it is the claim of a man who has been commissioned by God. God has set him apart; God has given him the revelation. And he goes on to argue in so many of his letters that what he preached was also the message that was preached by the other apostles. This apostle and all the apostles did not hesitate to say that they exhorted these people to test every teaching by their teaching. And you and I are still committed to the same position.
A Thought to Ponder: The apostles and prophets were the people to whom God revealed spiritual truth.(From The Love of God, pp. 30-31 by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
“Complaining about a problem without proposing a solution is called whining” (Teddy Roosevelt)
Jesus explains the spiritual nature of salvation.
INSIGHT
Faith, or belief, is often misunderstood. Faith has been defined as “believing in spite of there being nothing to believe” or “believing in spite of the evidence to the contrary.” It is often viewed as identical with wishful thinking. If we believe hard enough, we can make something come true (regardless of whether or not God may approve).
None of these concepts is biblical. Faith is belief based on sufficient evidence. In other words, faith is trusting what God has revealed in His Word and in the world, both of which give ample testimony to the truth (Quiet Walk)
THE CROSS AND THE WORLD
…greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1 John 4:4
What is a Christian? Paul tells the Colossians that a Christian is a person who has been translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. I no longer belong to the world—I belong to the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of light, the kingdom of glory, the kingdom of God. Here I am, and the world has nothing to do with me. I am not of it. I am in this other kingdom.
Oh, I am still existing in this world, but I no longer belong to it. I have been translated. And my citizenship is now in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, and we know that we shall ever go on and be with the Lord. He, by dying on the cross, separates me from the world, puts me into His own kingdom, introduces me to God, and makes me a child of God and an heir of eternal bliss. He delivers me from the world. He died so that “whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He does more—He gives me a power that is greater than the world. Listen to John…“greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world,” and “this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith,” our faith in Him (1 John 4:4; 5:4).
And thank God, He gives us occasional glimpses of that other world, that real world, that pure, holy world that is yet going to be. This old world can never be improved and reformed. He will set up a new world: “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13). A renovated cosmos, a perfected universe, with glory everywhere. The glory of the Lord shall cover everything as the waters cover the seas.
A Thought to Ponder: I am still existing in this world, but I no longer belong to it.
(From The Cross, pp. 104-105, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Bible Authority
“Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5-6)
The Bible is unique among all books. Not only is it different in its form, structure, and history, but it takes the position of supernatural superiority to all other communication. It insists on total accuracy for its content and absolute obedience to its commands. No other book is so demanding. The whole of the Bible abounds with the teaching that it has “given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3)
It is the word of God the Father. Jesus made it clear: “I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak” (John 12:49).
It was confirmed by the Holy Spirit. “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21).
It is the source of faith and salvation. “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever” (1 Peter 1:23)
It is not to be changed. “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you” (Deuteronomy 4:2).
It is the instrument by which “a young man [can] cleanse his way…by taking heed thereto according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9). It is to be reverenced and obeyed, “for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name” (Psalm 138:2). “Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). (HMM III, The Institute for Creation Research)
Serving the Least
The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Matthew 25:40
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