Everything had been going so well. The cities of Shechem and Penuel had been rebuilt, Jeroboam was stepping into the place that God had assigned for him, and the nation was preparing to celebrate the goodness of God through one of their feasts — but things were soon to change drastically. It was at this time in the nation’s history that Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, made Israel to sin.
In the last article, we looked at the potential of Jeroboam and the way God had chosen him to lead his people out of the idolatry of Solomon. He was a perfect choice; he had a powerful command of the people, he was a faithful man, and he was a diligent worker. He had the influence and ability to lift up the nation and lead them in the right direction. However, something caused him to stumble and plunge deep into apostasy. In this article, we will explore the cause of Jeroboam’s fall.
A Time of Fear
The king’s insecurity probably took hold of him sometime around the 7th month of the year; we can assume this because, later in the chapter concerning his false system, we are told about what happened in the 8th month (1 Kings 12:32-33). Thus, our portion of the story probably took place in the 7th month, about the time of the feast of tabernacles.
“Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LoRD”( Lev 23:34).
This was one of the special feasts of the Jewish people. It was in this feast that all of the people, wherever they dwelt, would come down to Jerusalem for seven days and worship.
“Thou shalt observe the feast of tabernacles seven days, after that thou hast gathered in thy corn and thy wine…seven days shalt thou keep a solemn feast unto the LORD thy God in the place which the LORD shall choose: because the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase, and in all the works of thine hands, therefore thou shalt surely rejoice”(Deut 16:13,15).
The people of God would stop whatever it was that they were doing, they would come from whichever city they may have lived in, and they would journey down to Jerusalem for seven days. They would rejoice and remember the blessings of God. It was a wonderful feast, a beautiful time to be refocused and renewed. However, for Jeroboam, the feast seems to have had an opposite effect. For an entire week, Jeroboam’s nation completely shut down and celebrated a feast in an enemy city — just a short distance from the palace of his rival, Rehoboam. All of the people, including Jeroboam if he continued keeping the law, deserted his country and worshipped in the vicinity of Rehoboam, the king of Judah. And so the new ruler — realizing the implications of this feast, and realizing the implications of following the true law of God — fell into a deep distress.
“And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 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” (1Kgs 12:26-27).
Fear took him over. Jeroboam was suddenly confronted with what seemed to be a paradox in God’s promise. He had been told that if he walked in God’s ways and if he followed in God’s statutes, then his house would be sure, his kingdom would be established. However, if he did follow the law of God, not only would the people be journeying down to Jerusalem for a week in the seventh month, but they would be going down constantly! Deuteronomy 16:16 tells us that they had to go down three times a year for the feasts, and when we actually map out the feasts of Israel, we find out that the people had to go to Jerusalem three times a year, but sometimes these trips were for multiple feasts and for multiple weeks! In the first month, they had to celebrate the pass over, unleavened bread, and the first fruits (Leviticus 23:5-14); these feasts combined would last over a week. In the third month, they had to go down again to celebrate the feast of weeks, or Pentecost (Deuteronomy 16:9-11). Adding to those trips, Deuteronomy 12:11 tells us that they were also commanded, whenever they were to offer a burnt offering, tithe, heave offering, freewill offering, or vow to go to “a place which the Lord your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there.” This, much later, became Jerusalem. Deuteronomy 17 elaborates on the pilgrimages to Jerusalem by saying that they also had to go there when two parties were having a dispute.
Jerusalem was a central part of the worship for Israel! The people were constantly journeying down to that city, and making offerings there. It was where their temple was. Their worship revolved around the city. God’s law was focused on Jerusalem. The paradox for Jeroboam was that God had promised him the kingdom if he followed the law, but the law told him to keep sending his people, sometimes for weeks at a time, down to an ENEMY city! The central place of their worship was bound up in an enemy land! How could his kingdom possibly be sure and founded if his subjects were always spending a quarter or more of their year in a foe’s nation?
Jeroboam was confronted with a decision that we often have before us — do we trust God, or do we trust in ourselves, even when trusting God does not seem logical whatsoever? Many times this type of decision comes to our attention. Will we move away from a strong ecclesia to go to a college in isolation, because we need to get a “good” degree? It may seem as though the only “logical” thing to do is to leave the strong ecclesia, because we need the particular degree in order to support ourselves. Or, will we choose to not go to a gathering because we feel as though we have too much homework? Or will we not speak about the Truth at work, because we aren’t allowed to mention religion amongst co-workers? This is where faith becomes active.
He Shall Direct Thy Paths
It is often that our Father gives us these types of situations. We see two paths before us, we know what it is that we truly should do, we know that He needs to come first, but it seems as though if we choose to follow Him, everything that we know, or all of our dreams may disintegrate in our own hands. It is at those times, that we can be encouraged by the words of the Proverbs:
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Prov 3:5-6).
Many times God puts us into situations where we have to learn to not lean on our own understanding. Many times we must consciously choose to go against what may make sense, just because we know that God desires us to do something different; and when we do that, He will direct our paths. For Jeroboam, the only two choices that he could seem to see were:
- Follow God, lose the kingdom, and be killed
- Create a new system of worship that isn’t focused on Jerusalem and stay king
It would have been extremely difficult, and it doesn’t seem logical, but if he had taken the way of God, everything would have been glorious — as God had promised. Unfortunately, here Jeroboam faltered; he lost faith and left the ecclesia. He fell from his glorious potential, let go of the Truth, and took hold of apostasy.
“Where upon 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. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.” (1Kgs 12:28-29).
A new religion was formed — a religion of idol worship, just like that of Solomon. But imagine, just for a moment, what would have happened if Jeroboam had made the other decision. Imagine what would have happened to the nation of Israel if the king had chosen to go against what seemed logical and trusted in the Father. God would have directed his paths. His house would have been sure. The people would have known the true God of Israel. Many thousands in that nation would have grown up in the Truth, and would have had an opportunity to stand in the Christ’s coming Kingdom. But that dream was not to be.
Made the Right Choice
Yet at the same time, as Jeroboam made this decision, there were those in the nation of Israel that were confronted with the same choice and took the path of trust in Yahweh. Because Jeroboam went on to create this apostasy, the entire nation of Israel was now faced with the same choice as him. Would they follow the lies of their leader, or would they forsake this blasphemy and seek God? We can take heart in knowing that there were those in Israel who saw the doctrine of Jeroboam and chose to lose everything they had in order to worship in Truth.
“And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their coasts. For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest’s office unto the LoRD: and he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made. And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LoRD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LoRD God of their fathers” (2Chron 11:13-16).
All of those who had chosen to seek God, were willing to completely forsake the false religion — and everything having to do with that religion — and cling to the Truth of their fathers. They did not want to have any type of association with apostasy. They left their inheritance, all of their means of survival, because of their love for the Truth and their trust in the Lord.
Before us, we have two examples; one of a man who fell into apostasy because he could not see any other way and didn’t fully trust in the God of Israel; and another of a group of people who forsook all of the things that they had in this life, who did something that many would call “completely illogical” and held to the Truth. The lesson is strong for us. May we pray that we too may find the strength to follow the steps of the righteous in Israel. May we trust in the Father and His Son, even when it does seem illogical, even when it may look as though we will lose our opportunity for an amazing degree, or a good grade in our class. Let us remember that God is able to give us “much more than this” (2 Chronicles 25:9). And even when we do sometimes make the wrong choice, may we not forget our Father’s mercy, and may we get back up and strive, once again, to follow Him.
Jeroboam made an unwise choice, and he never turned back. As a result, he led the nation into the terrible apostasy which would last for the duration of Israel’s history. It is what would lead to their destruction before God. It is this apostasy that we will sift through in the next article.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One