God hates idolatry. He often refers it to adultery, which reveals to us just how personal and intimate our relationship should be to our God. But, is He your God? +
Does Rehoboam or Jeroboam believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Just what type of belief do they actually profess and display?
1 Kings 12:25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel.
12:26-27 Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. "If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah."
What did he say? The house of the LORD was in Jerusalem and he did not want to lose any of ‘his’ people to leave him. He was not ignorant or innocent of his evil plans. But, what do you expect from someone who grew up under Solomon’s evil departure from the LORD?
12:28 So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt."
Does this sound familiar? Well, it should. This is the exact same phrase that Aaron used. Aaron, who was destined to be the High Priest, was not ignorant or innocent either.
Exodus 32:4 He (Aaron) took this from their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool and made it into a molten calf; and they said, "This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt."
12:29-31 He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.
The evil plans kept getting worse. Only the sons of Aaron could be priests. The sons of Levi were to be aids to the priests, but not priests themselves. So, he just created his own priesthood. In today’s world of false ‘churches of Jesus Christ’, the Roman Catholic faith is carrying on after Jeroboam and Solomon.
12:32 Jeroboam instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
12:33 Then he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised in his own heart; and he instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.
Where is God in all of this?
What does God think of this?
What does God do because of this?
After all, He sent the prophet Ahijah to him to anoint him over these 10 tribes.
We will review that next time.