Good Intentions 

Good intentions

Devotion in Motion

1 Kings 12:26-30

Verse 26 “And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: If these people go up to of- fer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

Remember, the only place a Hebrew could offer a sanc- tioned sacrifice was on the altar in the Temple in Jerusalem. Judaism was a highly centralized religion.

The Law required all Hebrews to come to the Temple three times annually. But Jerusalem was not just home to the Tem- ple – it was also Rehoboam’s capital.

Jeroboam rightly reasoned that under Judaism his subjects – the ten northern tribes – would be visiting Jerusalem every year – three times a year… He worried about the political implications. Would the frequency of their pilgrimages provide an opportunity for his people to reattach themselves to the king of Judah?

To keep from losing influence over his people, Jeroboam concocts a plan.

Verse 28 “Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up! to Jerusalem.

Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.” Jeroboam develops an alternative re- ligion.

You would think – that of all people – Jeroboam would guard against repeating the sin of Solomon… but he doesn’t. He too succumbs to idolatry. He sets up idols in Bethel, the southern end of his kingdom – and Dan, the northern end.

I’m sure in Jeroboam’s mind his plan had nothing to do with idolatry – though that’s where it led. He wanted to worship God, but in a manner God had outlawed.

Jeroboam did what Aaron did in the wilderness.

Exodus 32:4 tells us when Aaron fashioned a golden calf, he “made a proclamation… Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD.” Notice the word LORD is capitalized which means in the Hebrew it’s the word “Yahweh” – the sacred name for the one, true, God of the Hebrews.

Aaron’s calf – and Jeroboam’s two calves – weren’t representations of a false god, but the true God. Revelation 4 sheds light on what they probably had in mind. There we discover the cherubim around God’s throne have the face of a calf.

Jeroboam’s golden bovines were not a violation of the first commandment, “You shall have no other gods before Me.”, but the second commandment, “You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above… you shall not bow down to them to serve them.”

 God forbids the employment of any physical likenesses or representations of Himself in worship.

There’s nothing wrong with a crucifix – it’s a depiction of Je- sus – until it’s used in prayer and worship. There’s a fine line between using a tangible object to focus my attention on God – and allowing my attention to focus on that tangible object. God knows this, and that’s why he forbids the use of a graven im- age in worship.

Jeroboam did not intend to introduce idolatry in Israel, but that was the net effect of his actions. His golden calves condi- tioned the people to embrace the blatant idolatry that was in- troduced by King Ahab about 60 years later.

Verse 30 tells us “Now this thing became a sin, for the peo- ple went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

Jeroboam ordained a feast on the 15th day of the 8th month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made.” In essence, King Jeroboam establishes his own illegitimate religion – complete with his own altars, his own priesthood, even his own feast days. It was a cult of convenience. It served his on interests.

“So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the 15th day of the 8th month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.

” Seldom does Satan tempt us with no reli- gion. He knows we’re worshippers at heart. Every person has an innate desire to worship God.

The temptation though is to set up a religion that suits my own tastes, rather than stays true to God. The enemy waters down the truth to make it palatable.

Supposedly, Jeroboam worshipped God, but not in the way God wanted to be worshipped. He worshipped God in a way that was convenient for Jeroboam.

Sadly, Christians today are repeating his mistake. Plenty of preachers have diluted the doctrines of Christianity – watered down the demands of discipleship. Let’s stay faithful to Jesus, even when we have to go out of our way to do so.  amen.