In response to Solomon’s idolatry later in his life, the Lord chooses a man named Jeroboam to lead a rebellion to rend the kingdom and lead 10 of the 12 tribes apart from the rule of Solomon. When Solomon gets wind of this revolt, he attempts to kill Jeroboam, but he flees into Egypt for safety until Solomon’s death. When Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, takes over, he makes very foolish decisions to oppress the people, listening to his young friends instead of the wise sages that counseled Solomon. During this time, Jeroboam has returned and leads a rebellion of the northern 10 tribes that become known as “Israel” going forward, and the 2 tribes of Judah and Benjamin still under Rehoboam’s rule are known as “Judah” going forward (see 1 Kg. 11-12 for this whole account).
In the aftermath of this splitting of the kingdom, Jeroboam was afraid of losing his power and that some of the northern tribes might be enticed to return to unify with the southern tribes of Judah. He was afraid if the people obeyed the command of God to return to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, then they would inevitably kill him and return under Rehoboam’s rule. Therefore, to prevent the possibility of the people’s return to Jerusalem, Jeroboam set up idol worship that became known as “the sin of Jeroboam” that corrupted Israel for hundreds of years, all the way up until their ultimate overthrow. Jeroboam set up idol worship for the northern tribes that was characterized by three primary things: 1) created two golden images of calves and set up two places for worship of these idols in Bethel and Dan; 2) allowed anyone, even the lowest of the people, to be priests to offer worship in these high places; 3) set up his own feast to replace the Jerusalem feasts and offer sacrifices to these idols of calves. (1 Kg. 12:26-33).
To prevent the people from going back down to Jerusalem for sacrifices, Jeroboam created two golden calves and set one idol in Bethel in the south and the other idol in Dan in the north. It is interesting that Jeroboam returned to the same golden calf idol that the Israelites made in the wilderness (Exod. 32). Just like their foolish forefathers in the wilderness, Jeroboam also proclaims that these golden calves had brought the people out of the land of Egypt (1 Kg. 12:28). Jeroboam is not only creating golden idols but attributing their deliverance from Egypt to these lifeless graven images. It’s also sad that he chose Bethel – the special place of Jacob’s ladder experience and “the house of the Lord” and “the gate of heaven” (Gen. 28) – to corrupt by setting up a high place for this graven image there. To prevent any need to return to Jerusalem, he sets up a false counterfeit of worship and caused the people to sin by coming to these high places for idol worship (1 Kg. 12:30). It should not be overlooked that the whole reason God rent the kingdom from Solomon was because of idol worship, and then Jeroboam promptly immediately sets up idol worship again in the northern tribes to keep and consolidate his power. Idol worship has always been a dangerous pitfall of God’s people, and both Solomon and Jeroboam show that truth in all too sobering terms.
Then, to fraudulently attempt to replicate the true worship in Jerusalem, Jeroboam allowed for anyone to be a priest in these high places to conduct worship to these golden calf idols. He “made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi” (1 Kg. 12:31). Anyone who was interested, he made a priest – “whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places” (1 Kg. 13:33). This counterfeit priesthood was not restricted to the Levites, but Jeroboam allowed anyone to be a priest who desired to be. He had “cast off” the Levites “from executing the priest’s office unto the Lord, and he ordained him priests for the high places and for devils, and for the calves which he had made.” (2 Chr. 11:14-15) Not only did he set up the lowest of the people to be his “yes men” as these false priests, but he actively persecuted the true priests who tried to serve the Lord.
Then, to further ensure the people were not tempted to return to Jerusalem, Jeroboam set up his own feast to replace the feast of tabernacles that God’s people were called to observe. He instituted a feast in the 8th month, and 15th day – after the same manner of the feast of tabernacles that was commanded to be observed by Israel in the 7th month and 15th day, or maybe even the Passover that was observed in the 1st month. He set up this feast “even in the month which he had devised of his own heart” (1 Kg. 12:33). This feast and all these abominations he set up were “devised of his own heart.” Jeroboam did not seek the Lord in any of these decisions because the obvious answer would have been “no” to all this idolatry. Instead, Jeroboam just devised in his own heart what he wanted to do, without submitting to the guidance and will of the Lord. In this feast, the people sacrificed unto the false idols – the two golden calves – that he had set up, as if they had delivered them from Egypt, instead of Jehovah God (1 Kg. 12:32).
In spite of essentially all the people of the northern tribes being enticed by Jeroboam’s idolatry, there was still a small remnant who remained faithful to still go down to Jerusalem. All of those who “set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers” (2 Chr. 11:16). So even though almost all of the ten tribes of Israel were corrupted, there was a remnant who still came to Jerusalem to observe true sacrifice to God. This is a reminder that the true disciples of Christ will always be in the minority. Most of God’s people will get assimilated to think that idolatry and doing things man’s way instead of God’s way is acceptable. You have your opinion of worship, and I have my differing preference and opinion of worship. However, our own opinions are not relevant in the discussions of true worship. There is never any place for idolatry in the lives of God’s children, regardless of how accepted and commonplace it is in the culture around us. We need to be as this faithful remnant that still returned to Jerusalem to observe true worship, even if those around us have had their conscience seared with a hot iron to think that idolatry is acceptable unto the Lord.
This “sin of Jeroboam” in establishing false worship and idolatry corrupted the northern tribes of Israel their entire existence. After the division of the kingdom, while Judah occasionally had good kings in the midst of their bad kings, for the entire history of Israel, they never had one leader that scripture affirms was a good king. Instead, for essentially every one of the evil kings of Israel, this was the summary of their reign – they “walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin”. Every one of the future kings were corrupted by the sin and idolatry that Jeroboam set up.
Because of his corruption of true worship, God sends a severe judgment against Jeroboam and his family. Jeroboam did “evil above all that were before thee.” (1 Kg. 14:9) God was so displeased with this sin of Jeroboam, he then intended to “cut off” the house of Jeroboam and “to destroy it from off the face of the earth” (1 Kg. 13:34) God promises to kill every man of Jeroboam’s house (1 Kg. 14:10), which was ultimately carried out by Baasha (1 Kg. 15:28-30). Interestingly, Baasha is the one chosen to slay the house of Jeroboam for his sins (1 Kg. 15:29-30), but then because he acted wickedly just like Jeroboam, and his own posterity was all killed as well (1 Kg. 16:2-4, 11-13), just like Jeroboam’s house.
How then does the “sin of Jeroboam” apply to us today? Well, we could certainly make a case that some in organized religion have committed the same sin of Jeroboam in establishing their own worship, own priests, and own feasts. The Roman Catholic church certainly fits the bill for each of those, and how many children of God have been ensnared by the “sin of Jeroboam” as perpetuated by the Roman Catholic church. How many in Christianity today have debased the calling of God in the ministry to allow unqualified people, women, or even sodomites to serve in a ministerial role in the kingdom of God? However, the more pressing question for all of us is what areas of our lives are we enticed to commit the sin of Jeroboam? What idols do we set up that are matters of convenience and ease, rather than making a greater sacrifice to make the long and arduous journey to Jerusalem to engage in true worship, even if every one else around us does not see the need for it?
Have we sought out own inventions, devised from our own heart, that have clouded our judgment and true worship of Jesus Christ? We don’t like to admit it, but we are all so prone to idolatry. While we might not have a golden calf in the house of God, we do set up idols in the temple of our bodies and in our minds. We are prone to treat money, wealth, and influence as the idols that we offer sacrifices unto. We can even make good and wholesome things like our family, wife, children, or a job as of greater importance than the Lord in our life and treat those things as idols. If we aren’t enticed by those material things, we are all prone to make ourself as an idol, and serve and worship ourselves instead of obeying the greatest commandment to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. Idolatry is not an Old Testament issue. No, idolatry is a snare to God’s people in every age of time. In 1st John, after a stark and sobering message all throughout the book, what is the final admonition, the final thought to God’s people from a pastor’s heart – “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” (1 John 5:21) We are just as prone to idolatry and the sin of Jeroboam today as these Old Testament people of God.
We also learn from Jeroboam and the successive generations that it is very easy for idolatry to become culturally accepted to such a degree that no one sees the egregiousness of their abominable works. Jeroboam made false worship and idolatry culturally accepted, and that cultural acceptance was never questioned or rejected for hundreds of years until Israel ultimately fell into bondage to Assyria. There are many things in our culture that have been elevated to idols that we don’t even question now – sports, music (the most popular singing show for many years was literally “American Idol” and most of us see no problem with that), and entertainment.
What is our response to a culture that is already corrupted with the sin of Jeroboam all around us? We need to remain committed to be as the faithful remnant minority who still make the long trek back to Jerusalem to engage in true worship of Jehovah God. They rejected the convenience of the graven images around them, even when almost everyone thought that idolatry was totally fine. They made the commitment to make the long, hard, and expensive trip back to Jerusalem to engage in true worship because it was the right thing to do in obedience to Jehovah God. Let us be among the faithful remnant who reject the lukewarm culture around us that is permeated with the sin of Jeroboam, and let us return unto Zion, the city of our God, to present our bodies a living sacrifice, and reject the convenience of idols that might be accepted all around us.