“If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah” (1 Kings 12:27).
Since its conquest by David, Jerusalem was the central location chosen and blessed by God in which the Israelites were to offer sacrifice. This was in accord with the law of the one sanctuary of the Mosaic Law (Deut. 12:1-27). But Jeroboam saw that if the Israelites continued going up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice, “then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah” (1 Kings 12:27). Therefore Jeroboam chose two places in his kingdom, one in Dan, the other in Bethel, and in each he made a golden calf so that in the future the people would offer their sacrifices before one or the other of these and no longer in Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12:28-32). He also “appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites” (1 Kings 12:31).
This was Jeroboam’s great sin. “And Jeroboam drove Israel from following the
Lord and made them commit great sin. The people of Israel walked in all the sins which Jeroboam did … until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight” (2 Kings 17:21-23).
In Israel it was important to offer sacrifice only in the place designated by the Lord; not in just any place. “Take heed that you do not offer your burnt offerings at every place that you see; but at the place which the Lord will choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings” (Deut. 12:13-14). Jeroboam broke from this important law, and this did not please the Lord.
We see here the importance of obeying God’s will. Although the ten tribes of Jeroboam were stronger than Judah, they were finally completely destroyed. Only the descendents of Judah preserved the faith of Israel until the coming of the Messiah.
is his will for us? It is to serve the Lord, and only the Lord, with all our heart, for, as the psalmist says, “Thou art my Lord; I have no good apart from thee … Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their libations of blood I will not pour out or take their name upon my lips. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; thou holdest my lot” (Ps. 16:2, 4-5). Jeroboam lost God’s favor because he did not serve him with all his heart and did not obey him. To serve God with all our heart is to serve him alone and to serve him in the way he wants to be served. It is to leave all for him (Luke 5:11), to be crucified to the world for him (Gal. 6:14), to have only one treasure (Matt. 6:19-21), and only one master (Matt. 6:24). It is to seek the things above, not those of earth (Col. 3:1-
2), and to renounce the pleasures of the world, so that God be our only happiness.
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