1 Reis 12

1 Reis 12

Morris - Earlier in his career, Jeroboam had been a man of great promise (1 Kings 11:28), and God had chosen him to lead the ten northern tribes. He became overly ambitious and presumptuous, however, thinking he could best retain the loyalty of his subjects by establishing for them a more convenient religion. Jeroboam lead the people to still profess to worship the God of their fathers, but not worship at Jerusalem. This lead to the blurring of the true religion's distinctiveness in relation to the pagan religions. He even established a new priesthood and new religious festivals (1 Kings 12:31-33), with new altars and new sacrifices. Already conditioned to such changes by the apostasies of Solomon, the people largely went along with this accommodationist religion, but God rebuked and repudiated Jeroboam because of it (1 Kings 13). (Defender's Study Bible) Sin always has consequences and in this case the Long-Term Consequences of Jeroboam's Sin included... Jeroboam’s dynasty was cursed – A prophet foretold that his descendants would be wiped out (1 Kings 14:9-11). The Northern Kingdom was plagued by idolatry – Every future king of Israel followed Jeroboam’s sinful ways (1 Kings 16:2, 2 Kings 17:22). Israel was eventually exiled into Assyria in 722 BC – Because they refused to repent, God allowed Assyria to conquer Israel and scatter its people (2 Kings 17:7-23). Some takeaways (some repetition) from this passage... ✅ Compromising God’s truth leads to disaster – Jeroboam choose convenience over obedience, which led his nation into sin. ✅ Idolatry is a serious offense to God – Worshiping anything other than God brings judgment. ✅ Sin can become a pattern for future generations – The people of Israel continued in idolatry, eventually leading to their downfall. 1 Kings 12:30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. became a sin: 1Ki 13:34 2Ki 10:31 17:21 Related Passages: Deuteronomy 12:30-31 Beware that you are not ensnared to follow them (GODLESS CANAANITES), after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ 31 “You shall not behave thus toward the LORD your God, for every abominable act which the LORD hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. (NOTE CAREFULLY THE CLEAR ASSOCIATION OF IDOLATRY WITH IMMORALITY = "every abominable act.") 1 Kings 14:7-9+ (ADDRESSING AHIJAH) Go, say to Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel, “Because I exalted you from among the people and made you leader over My people Israel, 8 and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you–yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only that which was right in My sight; 9 you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and have gone and made for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back– THE SIN OF IDOL WORSHIP Now this thing became a sin, for (term of explanation - explaining is was sin because they acted on it) the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan - What is this thing? In context clearly this refers to idol worship. As far as Dan implies that people from all over the kingdom traveled great distances to worship at the idols instead of worshiping God in Jerusalem. The golden calves led to the sin of idolatry. Idols are attractive to the fallen flesh, and when they are made of gold, they are doubly attractive (seductive). Remember there is only one letter difference between "gold" and "God" but an eternal difference in worshipping one versus the other! Presumably the Shekinah Glory was visible over the Temple in Jerusalem symbolizing God's presence. But now Jeroboam gave the people an even more visible "symbol" to worship, a golden calf. In effect Jeroboam had introduced syncretism or syncretic worship (false worship) to the 10 Northern Tribes. Religious syncretism is the blending or merging of different religious beliefs, practices, or traditions into a new system, often combining elements from multiple faiths. A classic description of syncretism is seen in 1 Kings 17:33+ where "They feared the LORD and served their own gods." Syncretism relies on the whim of man, not the standard of Scripture THOUGHT - We need to be very cautious with iconography! Gotquestions adds "There is nothing wrong with producing or enjoying religious art, per se. Viewing a painting of a biblical scene in an art gallery and admiring the artist’s technique cannot be considered idolatry. Having a picture of Jesus or of angels in one’s home may not be idolatry, either. Iconography can be studied as an art form, and icons can be viewed as fascinating examples of historical religious art. But using icons to aid one’s worship or viewing them as a “window to heaven” is definitely idolatry." What is the significance of the people going as far north as Dan to "worship?" Dan was approximately 65–70 miles north of Shechem, depending on the exact route taken. By Foot this would take about 3–4 days of travel, assuming an average walking speed of 20 miles per day. Dan was 105–110 miles north of Jerusalem, depending on the exact route taken and by foot would take around 5–6 days of travel. What is the point? (1) Dan was the farthest from the designated site of worship, so they were getting as far away from God's will as they could get. (2) Since it was such a great distance, the fact that the people were willing to make this long trip demonstrates the utter apostasy of their hearts. They were far from Jehovah! QUESTION - What is religious syncretism? | GotQuestions.org ANSWER - Syncretism, as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, is “the reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief.” This is most evident in the areas of philosophy and religion, and usually results in a new teaching or belief system. Obviously, this cannot be reconciled to biblical Christianity. Religious syncretism often takes place when foreign beliefs are introduced to an indigenous belief system and the teachings are blended. The new, heterogeneous religion then takes a shape of its own. This has been seen most clearly in Roman Catholic missionary history. Take, for example, the Roman Catholic Church’s proselytizing of animistic South America. Threatened with the fear of death, natives were baptized into the church by the tens of thousands without any preaching of the Gospel whatsoever. Former temples were razed, with Catholic shrines and chapels built on the same spot. Natives were allowed to substitute praying to saints instead of gods of water, earth and air, and replaced their former idols with new images of the Roman Catholic Church. Yet, the animistic religion the natives had formerly practiced was never fully replaced—it was adapted into Catholic teachings, and this new belief system was allowed to flourish. More recently, religious syncretism can be seen in such religious systems as the New Age, Hinduism, Unitarianism, and Christian Science. These religions are a blending of multiple different belief systems, and are continually evolving as the philosophies of mankind rise and fall in popularity. Therein lies the problem, for syncretism relies on the whim of man, not the standard of Scripture. The Bible makes it very clear what true religion is. Think on just a few things stated in Scripture: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 22:37); "Jesus replied, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me'" (John 14:6); "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31); and “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Religious syncretism is simply not compatible with true Christianity. In fact, any modification to biblical law and principle for the sake of a “better” religion is heresy (Revelation 22:18-19). 1 Kings 12:31 And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. houses: 1Ki 13:24,32 De 24:15 Eze 16:25 Ho 12:11 priests: 1Ki 13:33 Nu 3:10 2Ki 17:32 2Ch 11:14,15 13:9 Eze 44:6-8 Related Passages: 2 Chronicles 11:13-16+ Moreover, the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel stood with him from all their districts. 14 For the Levites left their pasture lands and their property and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had excluded them from serving as priests to the LORD. 15 He set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs and for the calves which he had made. 16 Those from all the tribes of Israel who set their hearts on seeking the LORD God of Israel followed them to Jerusalem, to sacrifice to the LORD God of their fathers. (ED: THE UPSHOT IS THAT THERE WERE VERY FEW GODLY PEOPLE LEFT IN THE 10 TRIBES!) Numbers 3:10+ “So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons that they may keep their priesthood, but the layman who comes near shall be put to death.” Numbers 16:40+ as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman who is not of the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the LORD; so that he will not become like Korah and his company–just as the LORD had spoken to him through Moses. HERE COME THE HIGH PLACES AGAIN! And he made houses on high places (bamah) - Note the word "houses" which is the Hebrew word "bayith" so that more literally this would read "house of high places." You may be asking "So what?" Back in 1Ki 12:27 we find the same Hebrew word "bayith" describing the "house of the LORD." As Provan suggests " Rehoboam has a “house” in Jerusalem; Jeroboam needs a “house” to compete with it. So he builds a “house of high places” (i.e., an illegitimate temple in the singular) with its own altar in Bethel (v. 32)." Like a religious huckster, Jeroboam seeks to make false religion even more convenient! Jeroboam directly disobeyed Dt 12:2+ which called for destroying instead of making high places! Jeroboam seems to be ignorant (or indifferent) to the fact that the wisest man in the world (Solomon) lost his kingdom in part because of idolatry which included the building of high places for his wives (1Ki 11:7+). Jeroboam is going to great lengths to make his "religion" "seeker friendly" not only by providing a golden calves north and south, but also by setting up high places between the Dan and Bethel. Jeroboam was making religious practice "convenient" not to mention corrupt and abominable to a Holy God. And made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi - Having counterfeited the "house of the LORD," he goes all in to counterfeit the divinely designated priesthood! Apparently most (or all) of the Levites who were still in the Northern Kingdom left presumably when Jeroboam made the golden calves. But absence of designated Levitical priests did not deter Jeroboam from inventing his own version of the priesthood, in violation of God's Word. According to God’s law, only Levites (descendants of Aaron) could serve as priests (Nu 3:10, Dt 18:1-5). Jeroboam ignored this divine instruction and appointed priests from any tribe. See LEVITICAL PRIESTS 2 Chr 11:15+ adds that Jeroboam "set up priests of his own for the high places, for the satyrs (sa'iyr) and for the calves which he had made." Paul explains "that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons." (1Co 10:20-21+) Some takeaways from this passage... ✅ Compromising God’s truth for personal gain leads to destruction – Jeroboam changed God's commands for political reasons, which ultimately destroyed his kingdom. ✅ False worship may look religious but is still sinful – Jeroboam’s idolatrous system imitated true worship, yet it led the people away from God. ✅ God alone defines worship – Worship must be according to His Word, not human preference (John 4:24). QUESTION - What is the significance of high places in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org ANSWER - High places, very simply, were places of worship on elevated pieces of ground. High places were originally dedicated to idol worship (Numbers 33:52; Leviticus 26:30), especially among the Moabites (Isaiah 16:12). These shrines often included an altar and a sacred object such as a stone pillar or wooden pole in various shapes identified with the object of worship (animals, constellations, goddesses, and fertility deities). It seems that, at times, high places were set up in a spot that had been artificially elevated; 2 Kings 16:4 seems to differentiate the “high places” from the “hills.” The Israelites, forever turning away from God, practiced Molech worship and built high places for Baal (Jeremiah 32:35). Although Solomon built the temple of God in Jerusalem, he later established idolatrous high places for his foreign wives outside of Jerusalem and worshiped with them, causing him the loss of the kingdom (1 Kings 11:11). The people were still sacrificing at the pagan high places before the temple was built, and Solomon joined them. After the Lord appeared to him in a dream at Gibeon, the king returned to Jerusalem and sacrificed offerings; however, he continued to waver between the two places of worship. Not all high places were dedicated to idol worship. They played a major role in Israelite worship, and the earliest biblical mention of a site of worship, later called a “high place,” is found in Genesis 12:6–8 where Abram built altars to the Lord at Shechem and Hebron. Abraham built an altar in the region of Moriah and was willing to sacrifice his son there (Genesis 22:1–2). This site is traditionally believed to be the same high place where the temple of Jerusalem was built. Jacob set up a stone pillar to the Lord at Bethel (Genesis 28:18–19), and Moses met God on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 19:1–3). Joshua set up stone pillars after crossing the Jordan (Joshua 4:20) and considered this a high place of worship because the Israelites “came up from” the Jordan onto higher ground. The high places were visited regularly by the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 7:16). High places as sites of Canaanite idol worship (Judges 3:19) extended into the period of Elijah (1 Kings 18:16–40). God would name only one high place where sacrifice was authorized, and that was the temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 3:1). God commanded that all other high places be destroyed. King Josiah destroyed them in 2 Kings 22—23. 1 Kings 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. like the feast which is in Judah: 1Ki 8:2,5 Lev 23:33,34-44 Nu 29:12-40 Eze 43:8 Mt 15:8,9 Related Passages: Leviticus 23:39+ ‘On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the LORD for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. JEROBOAM'S FAKE FEAST 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 - Jeroboam continues his counterfeit worship by instituting a feast which presumably was designed to imitate the real Feast of Tabernacles, which was celebrated on the 15th day of the 7th month (Lev 23:33-34+). Notice the phrase he went up to the altar indicating that Jeroboam personally led sacrifices, even though he was not a priest which is another violation of God's law. Jeroboam's counterfeit feast reminds me of the words of Jesus "BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN." (Mt 15:9+) 1 Kings 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. went up to the altar 1Ki 12:32 month: Nu 15:39 Ps 106:39 Isa 29:13 Mt 15:6 Mk 7:13 went up to the altar to burn incense: 1Ki 13:1 1Sa 13:12 2Ch 26:6 Related Passages: 1 Kings 13:1+ Now behold, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD, while Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense. 2 Chronicles 26:16-18+ But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Then Azariah the priest entered after him and with him eighty priests of the LORD, valiant men. 18 They opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful and will have no honor from the LORD God.” JEROBOAM UNLAWFULLY ACTS AS A PRIEST 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 (NIV = "of his own choosing," NET = "he choose this month on his own") - Ponder this a moment. If Jeroboam was choosing the feast day, what was he doing in essence? He is putting Himself in the place of God, Who Alone had the right to set the feast days (cf Lev 23:4). Devised in his own heart is a deadly deception, for as Jeremiah 17:9 said “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it?" And the answer here is "Certainly not Jeroboam." The heart of the problem of Jeroboam leading 10 tribes into apostasy was the problem with his heart! Philip Ryken writes that "This is what happens when we follow our own hearts instead of the Word of God: we will do whatever we please, rather than what is pleasing to God." THOUGHT - I am reminded of that sad 300+ year history of Israel in the Old Testament epitomized by the repeated phrase "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." (Jdg 21:25+) There was no king in Jeroboam's Israel and he (and the people) did what was right in their own eyes. Notice they were so deceived that they thought what they were doing was right! (See Deceitfulness of Sin) I would add that Paul's words in Ro 3:18+ would aptly describe Jeroboam and his subjects "There is (was) no fear of God before their eyes." Please Holy Spirit enable us to be ever on guard against taking our eyes off of Jesus and allowing the world's gods to grow in stature and influence in our lives! In Jesus' Name. Amen. And he instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense - Only Levites (descendants of Aaron) were allowed to offer sacrifices and burn incense. Jeroboam is in direct rebellion against God for there is only One King is permitted to act as Priest, Jesus Christ, the King of kings! King Uzziah was struck with leprosy for doing what Jeroboam did! (2Ch 26:16-18+) Technical Note - 1Ki 12:33 would be better placed with 1 Kings 13+. The original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts of the Bible nad no chapter numbers, no verse numbers and were both written in continuous text. The chapter divisions were added by Stephen Langton (Archbishop of Canterbury) in the early 1200's when he created the chapter divisions we use today in the Latin Vulgate Bible. Robert Estienne later added verses to the NT in the 1500's. In 1560 the Geneva Bible became the first Bible with both chapter and verse numbers throughout. JUDAH ISRAEL 2 TRIBES 10 TRIBES No images of God Veneration of calves Levitical priesthood Multi-tribe priesthood Central sanctuary Local and regional sanctuaries Separatist cult Syncretistic cult Capital Jerusalem Capital Shechem Destroyed by Babylon 586 BC Destroyed by Assyria 722 BC Summary of sins of Jeroboam: rejected the prophecy of Ahijah ‒ 1Ki 11:38 built rival temples had a visible image of YHWH made local high places 1Ki 12:31 ​​​​​​ appointed non-Levite priests 1Ki 12:31 changed the date or started a new annual feast 1Ki 12:32,33 offered non-Levitical incense on the altar himself Some takeaways from the life of Jeroboam... ✅ Political power alone is not enough – Jeroboam was smart in fortifying cities, but he later led Israel into idolatry (1 Kings 12:26-33). ✅ Trusting in human strength over God leads to failure – Instead of following God's ways, Jeroboam tried to secure his rule through military and political strategies. ✅ God had already ordained the kingdom’s division – Jeroboam’s rule was part of God’s plan, but he failed to trust God’s promises and turned to sin. F B