A Contrast of Worship
Book of 1 Kings Chapters 12, 14, 15
What is worship? Worship is homage rendered to Jehovah which is idolatry to render to any created being.
Exo 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
Isa 2:8 Their land also is full of idols; “they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made”:
It is sin to worship any created being!
It is sin to worship an angel, who is also created beings!
We are to worship only the Living God!
Jer_10:10 But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.
We know that Israel was now a divided nation. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, was king of Judah, which included the tribe of Benjamin.
Jeroboam was now the King Israel which included only the ten tribes now called Ephraim.
From this point forward the Books of 1 and 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles will record the histories of the different kings of the divided nation of Israel.
What is idolatry?
Idolatry is image worship or divine honor paid to a created object, including mankind and angels.
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Rom 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
Rom 1:24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
Rom 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
How can we best describe those who are lost, keeping in mind that we were once lost?
Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
Rom 1:30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
The forms of idolatry are,
(1.) Fetishism, or the worship of trees, rivers, hills, stones, etc.(created objects on earth)
(2.) Nature worship, the worship of the sun, moon, and stars, as the supposed powers of nature.(created objects in the heavens)
(3.) Hero worship, the worship of deceased ancestors, or heroes.(all created objects)
Idolatry in Christian doctrine is anything that interferes between the soul and our Creator is idolatrous and is to be shunned!
1Jn 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
1Jn 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
1Jn 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Jeroboam turned the northern tribes of Israel to idolatry.
Idolatry is the religion of Satan! Remember Lucifer was just an angel created by Jehovah.
*****1Ki 12:26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
1Ki 12:27 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 unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
1Ki 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Jeroboam was face to face with the greatest opportunity of his life.
Should he have determined to serve the Lord he might have easily been the mightiest monarch in the history of Israel.
God would have certainly been with him.
But if he disregarded the Word of God his kingdom would have come to nothing which it did.
It was a Prophet of God Ahijah that had told him of these things.
The only safe path of any ruler is the right path!
We could ask ourselves does God truly have any rulers on His side?
We know that the heart is the center of mankind's personal activities.
Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
The world created by God before the flood was destroyed because of idolatry which led to wickedness!
Gen 8:21 And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; "for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth"; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.
We get a firsthand look at how false religions get started. They are conceived in the mind of some man or some woman!
Jehovah had already told Jeroboam how to get His blessings.
Jehovah has told us all how to get His blessings!
1Ki 11:38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.
Jeroboam made Shechem his capital city and then Jeroboam does something very foolish.
The apostasy of Jeroboam was willful, it was designed, and it was done deliberately!
He consulted with himself instead of consulting with Jehovah who had made him King of Israel.
The Lord Jesus Christ makes this thing simple to understand.
Luk 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
Our hearts must be fixed upon the Lord!
Psa 112:7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.
The fact of the divided kingdom did not mean that the Northern Tribes were exempt from their covenant obligations to Jehovah!
They were still to observe the Books of Moses as much as the Southern Tribes.
All the tribes of Israel had the same Book of Moses!
These things caused stress upon Jeroboam, and he even became afraid for his life.
Jeroboam forgot the promises of God!
We tend to look at the world and forget the promises of God when we know that God has proven to us that He will never break a promise.
We do not need advice on how to do evil, we are born that way!
Jeroboam wanted advice on how to do a bad thing in the best way. He did not consult with God and God would not have answered such a request!
So many churchgoers today go to a place of worship that is convenient rather than seek a "Bible Believing" House of worship.
It is a fact that we will take the easy way out when it is available!
Just as a certain political party did in the days of Covid 19 when it made it a law to abandon the Church for fear of catching the disease forgetting the power of God.
Jeroboam shaped a new religion for his own purpose.
This is the way of radical Islam and other such religions. They rewrite their literature to adapt to changes they see in the world.
The Holy Scriptures never have to change because they were written by Jehovah and are perfect in any age!
Jeroboam even framed his words by the Word of God during the Exodus.
Exo 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exo 32:5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.
Exo 32:6 And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.
Jeroboam proposed a perversion of the proper worship of Jehovah God.
“Calf is not a good translation of the Hebrew egel. A young bull in his first strength is meant: for instance, the word can describe a three-year-old animal.
Gen 15:9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer “of three years old”, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
A three-year-old bull would be a bull closer to his prime than a calf.
Jeroboam placed these idols of Baal in two separate locations.
*****1Ki 12:29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
1Ki 12:30 And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
The name Bethel means "house of God" and this city was ten miles from Jerusalem.
This is the same place where Jacob had his vision of the angels of God ascending and descending on a ladder whose top reached into Heaven.
Gen 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
Gen 28:13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
Gen 28:14 And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Gen 28:20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,
Gen 28:21 So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God:
Dan, which means (a judge) on the other hand is located at the foot of Mount Hermon.
This is the same place where the Danites stole the shrine of Micah and set up false worship.
Jdg 18:29 And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first.
Jdg 18:30 And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land.
Jdg 18:31 And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh.
Jeroboam took advantage of this situation as he felt they would have no problem accepting his idols of Baal.
Jeroboam then installed false priests and false worship.
*****1Ki 12:31 And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
1Ki 12:32 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1Ki 12:33 So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.
We should be very clear. Once we are aware of our Creator, we then must worship Him!
This is why the Bible begins with the Book of Genesis.
This is why the world clings to the lies of evolution.
Evolution has proven to be wrong so many times it is pathetic that the world clings to it because they have no other theory except now where they use the word aliens so often.
We have only one duty as created beings!
Ecc_12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Jeroboam decided that his idols would also need temples as a place to worship and priests.
He was not about to use priests from the tribe of Levi because they might teach the truth of God.
Deu_10:8 At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.
Jeroboam chose priests from every tribe but the Levites, going against the Word of God in any way that he could think of.
This is the way of almost all false man-made religions. They always will change the rules if people start leaving for the truth.
There are a few false religions that have some truth in them, but Christianity is all or nothing and based upon the truth of Jesus Christ and the true Word of God.
Jeroboam chose the eighth month and the fifteenth day to be as close to The Feast of the Tabernacles as he thought would work.
The Feast of the Tabernacles was on the fifteenth day of the seventh month.
Jeroboam did not consult with anyone else to create this false religion!
The people already understood that Jeroboam was chosen by God to lead this new nation, and Jeroboam kept it that way.
The Prophet Amos had confronted one of Jeroboam's false priests with the truth:
Amo 7:10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
Amo 7:11 For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
Amo 7:12 Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there:
Amo 7:13 But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.
Amo 7:14 Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit:
Amo 7:15 And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
It may have been the king's chapel and the king's court but he was the wrong king.
Our Lord Jesus had some things to say about man-made religion:
Mat 15:7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
Mat 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Mat 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
The Holy Spirit says: Heb 3:12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Those who serve false religion have to understand the judgment of God will come upon them.
*****1Ki 14:15 For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.
1Ki 14:16 And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
Jehovah had placed Jeroboam on the throne of Ephraim, but it was Jeroboam who had turned against Him.
Jeroboam could have been a mighty king of Israel, but he rebelled against the truth of God.
Jeroboam is still suffering the judgment of God today and he will throughout eternity!
Now comes judgment upon the people who knew better.
Moses had warned these people:
Deu 4:27 And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.
Deu 4:28 And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
Deu 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Now judgment would come to Israel, and they would be scattered on the other side of the Euphrates River.
Politics had caused the people of God to sin!
During Covid 19 many of God's people were directed to sin by our government and many of those who left the Church have never returned.
The Holy Spirit has also warned the Church of the coming judgment of God:
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Rom 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
There will be no more warnings and judgment could come at any time because the "Rapture of the Church is the next thing on God's timetable.
Once the Church is removed this world will rely on wickedness and idolatry just as those before the flood.
King Rehoboam and his son had also turned against Jehovah and God began his judgment upon Judah beginning with the King of Egypt.
1Ki 14:23 For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
1Ki 14:24 And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
1Ki 14:25 And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:
No doubt that Jeroboam had stirred up this king against Judah, and Shishak broke his peace agreement with King Solomon.
1Ki 14:26 And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
We know that King David had placed all his treasures in the Temple and so had many others.
We know that those golden shields would be valued at over thirty-three million dollars today.
There is a record of these events in Egypt.
With Judah humbled at the hand of this Egyptian King, Jeroboam had free reign to attack Judah at any time and he did so.
It was in the time of King Asa that change came to Judah.
*****1Ki 15:9 And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.
1Ki 15:10 And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.
1Ki 15:11 And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, as did David his father.
1Ki 15:12 And he took away the sodomites out of the land, and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.
1Ki 15:13 And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.
Finally, a king who was faithful to the Lord.
We should notice that Jehovah is still keeping his promises to King David and He will continue because the prophecy of Kings of Judah will last until King Jesus sits upon the throne of David.
King Asa reigned for forty-one years, and we can see that he had not been influenced by his grandmother Maacah's false worship.
This Maacah was the daughter of Tamar the daughter of Absolom.
Asa removed his father's idols.
Asa removed his wicked mother as Queen and her idols burning them in the Brook Kidron.
Asa removed the Sodomites from the land of Judah.
Asa did not remove all the high places of worship, and we do not have an explanation, but we can imagine politics were still involved.
Asa gave his treasures to the House of the Lord.
Amen