1 Kings 12:25-33 - Golden Calves of Manmade Worship

1 Kings 12:25-33

Jeroboam’s Gold Calves

25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also he went out from there and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: 27 If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

28 Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” 29 And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 31 He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

32 Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. 33 So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.

Jeroboam ruled all Israel minus Judah since the split with Rehoboam but quickly went astray from the LORD after building two cities and asking bad advice.  He had used reason over the commandments of God concerning worship because the temple and altar of worship was in Jerusalem under Rehoboam’s rule in Judah and he feared the people of Israel would leave him to worship there and turn on him to kill him as they went back under the reign of Rehoboam.  He repeated the sin of Aaron before Moses at the foot of mount Sinai where Aaron’s decision was likewise moved with reason to fabricate a golden calf to worship in order to avoid a riot or exodus of the people from that place.  Jeroboam went much further, however, in that he had two golden calves made as false gods and attributed their deliverance to them instead of the Almighty, just as Aaron had done.  He set these up in Bethel, which was named as God’s city, and Dan at the northern edge of Israel, far from Jerusalem and true worship as prescribed by the LORD.  This became sin to Israel and was compounded by assigning priests from common men of every station of life instead of the tribe set aside and chosen by God.  He put false high priests on the high places of worship and sacrificed offerings to other gods according to the days and times of his own imagination and not according to the word of God as was given through Moses, another sinful deviation from true worship in the temple at Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 12:5, 11, 14) erected according to the (Hebrews 8:5) heavenly pattern.  He broke the first commandment with impunity to keep the people under his control and rule, much as fringe groups and cults have done in and to the church over the centuries and to this day.  How we need to always set our aim to worship the Lord in spirit and truth according to the scriptures and not according to the imagination and dictates of men as they devise in their own hearts and put in religious writings that supersede or even replace the word of God!  How we who know these things from examples like this need to remember and remind ourselves an one another to keep to the narrow road of life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3, 1 Timothy 6:3, 11-12) found there to guide us to the altar of His sacrifice (Hebrews 9:23, 24-25, 26) on the cross and not with added conditions or requirements as golden calves of manmade worship contrary (Matthew 15:9, 1 John 5:19, 20) to true worship on the altar of God’s grace in Christ alone by faith alone.