The Sin of Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:26-40, 12:21-38)
1 Kings 11:26-12:33
(Read 1 Kings 12:25-33)
This morning you could say that we are moving backward here a little bit,
But that will happen some in this book.
What you have is the intermingling history of two different nations.
It is two histories occurring simultaneously
And that lends itself to confusion at times.
Last week we talked about “Rehoboam: The Foolish King”
• He was the man who would not seek God.
• He was the man who would not accept wise counsel.
• He was the man who would not face reality.
Instead of realizing that he was not gold,
He spent the end of his life polishing bronze.
At the same time that Rehoboam was polishing bronze in Judah, Jeroboam was reigning in Israel.
They were both King at the same time.
So this morning, let’s back up and take a look now
At the Northern Kingdom’s first King.
“Jeroboam: The King who caused Israel to stumble.”
He is not the most wicked to reign, Ahab will grab that distinction,
But Jeroboam is where it all started.
He got Israel off on the wrong foot, and she stumbled never to recover.
Three things: (the first two rather quickly)
#1 THE SELECTION OF JEROBOAM
1 Kings 11:26-40
We studied the beginning of this chapter a couple of weeks ago
As we saw the Problem of Solomon.
Solomon had betrayed the Lord by worshiping foreign gods,
And because of that heresy God made a proclamation.
1 Kings 11:11-12 “So the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. “Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son.”
That servant would prove to be none other than Jeroboam.
You see the initial Selection of Jeroboam in verses 26-32
READ 1 KINGS 11:26-32
And so you see God’s choice.
God will even go so far as to tell Jeroboam why He is doing this.
READ VERSE 33
So you see as God selects Jeroboam He immediately outlines
The type of behavior that is not acceptable to Him.
Beyond that, God will give Jeroboam the type of behavior that He rewards.
READ VERSES 34-36
God wanted a man like David who would serve Him with a whole heart
And keep His commandments.
And then God gives the charge to Jeroboam.
READ VERSES 37-39
So at this point, things ought to be crystal clear to Jeroboam.
Solomon’s folly has opened the door for Jeroboam to be King,
And if he will follow David’s example,
Then he will be a great King with a long lineage.
That is the selection of Jeroboam.
#2 THE SEATING OF JEROBOAM
1 Kings 12:21-24
This is the day that Jeroboam’s kingdom was established before God.
Now we are in the middle of the events we talked about last week.
• Rehoboam was a fool, and he split the kingdom.
• The 10 northern tribes departed and followed Jeroboam.
• Solomon gathered 180,000 to try and get them back
What we have here is the making of a civil war.
But it was the shortest civil war in the history of the world.
BEFORE REHOBOAM COULD FIGHT, GOD SPOKE TO HIM
(24) “Thus says the LORD, “You must not go up and fight against your relatives the sons of Israel; return every man to his house, for this thing has come from Me.” So they listened to the word of the LORD, and returned and went their way according to the word of the LORD.”
When Jeroboam led Israel away, it was not an act of insurrection,
It was an act of God.
Romans 13:1 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.”
And here Rehoboam is forced to accept the fact.
THE POINT THUS FAR:
God SELECTED Jeroboam and explained to him all that was expected.
God SEATED Jeroboam and made his kingdom firm and secure.
You would think that at this point Jeroboam
Would be overcome with the grace and mercy of the Lord.
YOU WOULD EXPECT HIM TO FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF DAVID
But that is not at all what he did.
The Selection of Jeroboam: The Seating of Jeroboam
#3 THE SIN OF JEROBOAM
1 Kings 12:25-33
Now before we get into the specifics of his sin,
Let me first point out that the sin of Jeroboam was no minor sin.
In fact, what he does here, Israel will never recover from.
Jeroboam became King in 931 BC
Israel would be conquered by Assyria in 722 BC
(a period of 209 years – nearly the age of USA)
After Jeroboam, 19 different men would fight for the throne of Israel.
(Some reigned simultaneously)
Of those 19, the Scripture explicitly says that
14 of them walked in “the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat”.
That doesn’t mean the others didn’t, but for 14 of the 19,
Scripture explicitly says that they did.
This sin of Jeroboam was a major stumbling block.
In fact when Israel would be destroyed 209 years later,
Listen to God’s reasoning why.
2 Kings 17:21-23 “When He had torn Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king. Then Jeroboam drove Israel away from following the LORD and made them commit a great sin. The sons of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam which he did; they did not depart from them until the LORD removed Israel from His sight, as He spoke through all His servants the prophets. So Israel was carried away into exile from their own land to Assyria until this day.”
The sin of Jeroboam was a sin that Israel never recovered from,
And it was a sin that eventually led to her destruction.
Now before we see the specifics of that sin,
Let’s look at why he did it.
Why would a person who had received such grace and mercy from God turn against God with such a heinous sin?
(25-27) “Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel. 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.”
DID YOU SEE THE MOTIVE OF JEROBOAM?
Fear
He was afraid that if people kept traveling to Jerusalem to worship,
Then eventually they would turn against him and leave his kingdom.
He has completely forgotten
• The HAND OF GOD to pull them away from Rehoboam.
• The POWER OF GOD to keep them away from Rehoboam.
And he is afraid that he will lose his kingdom.
Now, if this sermon were given to preachers,
I would warn you of the dangers of being too worried
About the numbers in your church.
Don’t be willing to altar the word of God
Just to keep people happy and in attendance.
Adrian Rogers – “We don’t have to get together. The Southern Baptist Convention doesn’t have to survive. I don’t have to be the pastor at Bellevue. I don’t have to live. But I’m not gonna compromise the word of God.”
None the less, you see a very selfish motive here from Jeroboam.
He is not concerned about God, or the people’s relationship with God,
He is only concerned about the people’s loyalty to himself.
Now let’s look at what this selfish fear drove him to do.
READ VERSES 28-33
Instead of sending the people to Jerusalem to worship,
He built two golden calves and had them worship closer to home.
Now obviously we have an issue with the second commandment.
Exodus 20:4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.”
Jeroboam had dumbed God down to a likeness of a calf.
That in itself is foolish.
Isaiah 46:5-9 “To whom would you liken Me And make Me equal and compare Me, That we would be alike? “Those who lavish gold from the purse And weigh silver on the scale Hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; They bow down, indeed they worship it. “They lift it upon the shoulder and carry it; They set it in its place and it stands there. It does not move from its place. Though one may cry to it, it cannot answer; It cannot deliver him from his distress. “Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me,”
Jeroboam attempted to bring God down to his level.
And when the Scripture continually says that Israel stumbled over this,
It means that the people never quit worshiping before these golden calves until the day that Israel was destroyed.
Israel would never get over this decision.
BUT THERE IS MORE HERE THAN JUST IDOLATRY
Jeroboam changed the way Israel viewed the word of God.
There are three things Jeroboam taught the people in this heinous act.
1) GOD’S REQUIREMENTS ARE TOO EXHAUSTING (28-30)
Jeroboam took counsel and said,
“What can I do to keep the people in my kingdom?”
The answer:
Cater to their love of self, and make religion
All about their desires instead of God’s requirements.
And that is what he did.
He replaced what God desired
With what he thought the people wanted.
(28) “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem:”
DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE WAS SAYING?
God’s commands are too exhausting.
It is too much work to try and obey God.
After all, it only matters that God is worshiped,
Does it really matter where?
Deuteronomy 12:10-14 “When you cross the Jordan and live in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you so that you live in security, then it shall come about that the place in which the LORD your God will choose for His name to dwell, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution of your hand, and all your choice votive offerings which you will vow to the LORD. “And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance with you. “Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every cultic place you see, but in the place which the LORD chooses in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.”
It mattered to God, and He was clear about it,
But Jeroboam challenged it.
“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. 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.”
Jeroboam said, “God’s requirements are too hard to be obeyed.”
DOES IT HAPPEN TODAY?
Sure it does.
You don’t have to tell others about Jesus, it’s too intimidating…
You don’t have to tithe, it’s too expensive…
You don’t have to read your Bible daily, it’s too time consuming…
You don’t have to go on mission, it’s too dangerous…
Listen:
Jesus had a favorite command for people. “Follow Me”
• Leave your mother, leave your father
• Leave your fishing business, leave your tax booth
• Leave your ambition, leave your dreams
• Leave your sin, leave your selfishness
• Be homeless, hated, persecuted, and martyred
But still the command was, “Follow Me”
Consider what Jesus said to Peter, just before the Ascension.
John 21:18-19 “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!”
Jesus knew God’s requirements were hard,
But that doesn’t mean you don’t have to follow them.
Luke 13:24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”
It won’t be easy, but it must be done.
Whoever gets off telling someone you don’t have to obey God just because obedience is hard?
I WAS FACED WITH THIS DILEMMA THIS WEEK.
A woman came in whose husband was beating her and others had told her to get a divorce, but she wasn’t sure, and she asked me.
BUT HARDSHIIP DOES NOT JUSTIFY DISOBEDIENCE.
That mindset came from Jeroboam,
And it led Israel into a belief that they only had to obey
Those commands that came easy.
No wonder Israel wondered away from God.
Jeroboam taught them that God’s requirements are too exhausting.
But that is not all he taught them:
2) GOD’S REQUIREMENTS ARE TOO EXCLUSIVE (31)
He had new worship sites,
So he needed new temples and new priests.
The only problem was that the Levites served in Jerusalem.
But that didn’t matter to Jeroboam.
God’s requirements were too exclusive, anybody can be a priest.
After all, it only matters that the sacrifices are given,
It doesn’t really matter who performs the sacrifice does it?
It does to God.
Numbers 3:40-45 “Then the LORD said to Moses, “Number every firstborn male of the sons of Israel from a month old and upward, and make a list of their names. “You shall take the Levites for Me, I am the LORD, instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the cattle of the sons of Israel.” So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, just as the LORD had commanded him; and all the firstborn males by the number of names from a month old and upward, for their numbered men were 22,273. Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel and the cattle of the Levites. And the Levites shall be Mine; I am the LORD.”
It mattered.
Ask Saul about it.
He was tired of waiting on Samuel, so he offered the sacrifice himself.
Look at what Samuel told him:
1 Samuel 13:13-14 “Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
Apparently it mattered a whole lot to God.
But Jeroboam thought God was too exclusive.
DOES THAT SORT OF THING HAPPEN TODAY?
Of course it does.
Like it or not God sets requirements for people.
If you want to be a PREACHER, you must be a man above reproach…
If you want to be a DEACON, you must be a tested servant…
If you want to be MARRIED, it must be to a member of the opposite sex…
If you want to get DIVORCED, it must be Scripturally permitted…
If you want to be a CHRISTIAN, you must deny yourself and fully trust Christ…
But come on, those requirements are too rigid.
(We are all about loving people)
Let anybody preach, it doesn’t matter who they are…
Let anybody be a deacon, so what if they don’t fit the requirements…
Let anybody get married, all that matters is their happiness…
Let anybody get divorced, they shouldn’t have to suffer…
Let anybody claim Christianity, who cares if they really trust Christ…
And in doing so we teach people
That God’s holy standard doesn’t matter.
That is what Jeroboam taught Israel,
And so they learned to ignore God’s righteous standard,
And they fell into heresy.
But that is still not all he did.
He said God’s requirements are too exhausting…
He said God’s requirements are too exclusive…
3) GOD’S REQUIREMENTS ARE TOO EXPLICIT (32-33)
In other words,
God gives far too much detail with His commands.
(32) “Jeroboam instituted a feast on the eight month…”
Now you go back and read Leviticus,
There are no feasts on the eighth month.
Leviticus 23:39-44 “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. ‘Now on the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees, palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. ‘You shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ‘You shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live in booths, so that your generations may know that I had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'” So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed times of the LORD.”
God was very explicit about when the feasts were to occur,
But Jeroboam didn’t care.
In fact look down at verse 33.
(33) “Then he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eight month, even in the month which he had devised in his own heart”
This was not God’s command, this was Jeroboam’s idea.
But what does it matter.
I mean, all that matters is that we have the feast,
It doesn’t really matter when does it?
Of course it does.
Obedience matters to God
Jeroboam taught people your idea is just as good as God’s.
You don’t have to give God the worship He requires,
Just give Him the worship you want to give Him.
That is what Israel started to do, and God was never pleased.
No wonder they ended up in judgment.
God’s requirements are too EXHAUSTING – let’s do something easier
God’s requirements are too EXCLUSIVE – let’s lower the standard
God’s requirements are too EXPLICIT – let’s loosen the boundaries
And Israel never got over it.
King after King stumbled after Jeroboam,
And 209 years later Israel was destroyed in the exact same sin.
SO WHAT IS THE POINT FOR US THIS MORNING?
WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THE COMMANDS OF GOD?
Certainly we cannot list every command in the Bible,
But every command is important.
Jeroboam was that he had a poor esteem for the word of God.
No command was sacred to him.
According to him all of them could be altered.
When he read the word of God, he took none of them serious.
“Just get close,
But certainly don’t put yourself out by obeying God.”
And that mindset destroys the Church.
It is a low view of Scripture, and it is not what God is looking for.
James 1:19-25 “This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”
1 John 2:3-5 “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:”
SO HOW ABOUT YOU?
Don’t be a Jeroboam type Christian.
• One who rejects anything TOO DIFFICULT…
• One who rejects anything TOO EXCLUSIVE…
• One who rejects anything TOO SPECIFIC…
Instead set your heart to know and obey God’s word.
John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
