Chapter 7—Jeroboam Leads Israel Back to Idol Worship
Under the rulership of Solomon, Jeroboam had shown aptitude and sound judgment; the years of faithful service fitted him to rule with discretion. But Jeroboam failed to make God his trust.
(SS 52.1)
His greatest fear was that his subjects might be won over by the ruler occupying the throne of David. He reasoned that if the ten tribes should often visit the ancient seat of the monarchy, where the temple services were still conducted as in Solomon’s reign, many might renew their allegiance to the government at Jerusalem. He determined by one bold stroke to lessen this probability. He would create within his newly formed kingdom two centers of worship, one at Bethel, the other at Dan. In these places the ten tribes should be invited to worship God, instead of at Jerusalem.
(SS 52.2)
In arranging this transfer, Jeroboam thought to appeal to the imagination of the Israelites by some visible representation to symbolize the presence of the invisible God. Accordingly he placed two calves of gold within shrines at the centers of worship. In this, he violated the plain command: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image ... . Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.” Exodus 20:4, 5. He failed to consider the great peril to which he was exposing the Israelites by setting before them the symbol with which their ancestors had been familiar during centuries of Egyptian bondage. His purpose of inducing the northern tribes to discontinue annual visits to the Holy City led him to adopt the most imprudent of measures. “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem,” he urged; “behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” 1 Kings 12:28.
(SS 52.3)
measures. “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem,” he urged; “behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” 1 Kings 12:28.
(SS 53.0)
The king tried to persuade the Levites within his realm to serve as priests in the new shrines at Bethel and Dan, but in this he failed. He therefore elevated to the priesthood men from “the lowest of the people.” Verse 31. Alarmed, many of the faithful fled to Jerusalem, where they might worship in harmony with the divine requirements.
(SS 53.1)
The king’s bold defiance of God in setting aside divinely appointed institutions was not allowed to pass unrebuked. During the dedication of the strange altar at Bethel, there appeared before him a man of God from Judah, sent to denounce him for presuming to introduce new forms of worship. The prophet “cried against the altar ..., and said, ... Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.”
(SS 53.2)
“And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.” Immediately the altar “was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.” 1 Kings 13:2, 3, 5.
(SS 53.3)
On seeing this, Jeroboam attempted to restrain the one who had delivered the message. In wrath he cried out, “Lay hold on him.” His impetuous act met with swift rebuke. The hand outstretched against the messenger of Jehovah suddenly became withered and could not be withdrawn. Terror-stricken, the king appealed to the prophet: “Entreat now the face of the Lord thy God,” he pleaded, “and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.” Verses 4, 6. The king of Israel should have been led to renounce his wicked purposes, which were turning people away from the true worship of God. But he hardened his heart and determined to follow a way of his own choosing.
(SS 53.4)
The Lord seeks to save, not to destroy. He gives His chosen messengers a holy boldness, that those who hear may be brought to repentance. How firmly the man of God rebuked the king! In no other way could the evils have been rebuked. The messengers of the Lord are to stand unflinchingly for the right. So long as they put their trust in God, they need not fear, for He who gives them their commission gives them also the assurance of His protecting care.
(SS 54.1)
The prophet was about to return to Judea, when Jeroboam said to him, “Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.”
(SS 54.2)
“If thou wilt give me half thine house,” the prophet replied, “I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: for so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.” 1 Kings 13:7-9.
(SS 54.3)
While traveling home by another route, the prophet was overtaken by an aged man who claimed to be a prophet and who falsely declared, “I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.” Again and again the lie was repeated until the man of God was persuaded to return.
(SS 54.4)
God permitted the prophet to suffer the penalty of transgression. While he and the one who had invited him were sitting together at the table, the false prophet “cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, ... thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy fathers.” Verses 18, 21, 22.
(SS 54.5)
This prophecy of doom was soon fulfilled. “After he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass ... . And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass. And behold, men passed by, and saw the carcass cast in the way, ... and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt. And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord.” Verses 23-26.
(SS 55.1)
If, after disobeying, the prophet had been permitted to go on in safety, the king would have used this to vindicate his own disobedience. The rent altar, the palsied arm, and the terrible fate of the one who dared disobey an express command of the Lord—these judgments should have warned Jeroboam not to persist in wrongdoing. But, far from repenting, Jeroboam not only sinned greatly himself, but “made Israel to sin”; and “this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it.” 1 Kings 14:16; 13:34.
(SS 55.2)
Toward the close of a troubled reign of twenty-two years, Jeroboam met with disastrous defeat in a war with Abijah, the successor of Rehoboam. “Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of Abijah: and the Lord struck him, and he died.” 2 Chronicles 13:20.
(SS 55.3)
The apostasy introduced during Jeroboam’s reign finally resulted in the utter ruin of the kingdom of Israel. Even before the death of Jeroboam, Ahijah, the aged prophet who many years before had predicted the elevation of Jeroboam to the throne, declared: “The Lord shall ... root up Israel out of this good land ... . And shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.” 1 Kings 14:15, 16.
(SS 55.4)
Yet the Lord did all He could to lead Israel back to allegiance to Him. Through long, dark years when ruler after ruler stood up in bold defiance of Heaven, God sent message after message to His backslidden people. Through His prophets He gave them every opportunity to return to Him. Elijah and Elisha were to live and labor, and the tender appeals of Hosea, Amos, and Obadiah were to be heard in the land. Never was the kingdom of Israel left without noble witnesses to the mighty power of God to save from sin. Through these faithful ones the eternal purpose of Jehovah was finally to be fulfilled.
(SS 56.1)