In the opening chapters of Ecclesiastes Solomon talks about how he got
wrapped up in material things. His love and dependence on the things of this
world contributed to his troubles. He admitted that there was a time when his
heart took delight in material things. He eventually repented, but it did
contribute to his downfall. His materialistic attitude apparently spread to his
people as well as his lack of dependence on God.
Others gods had crept in at levels of society in Israel. To some those
gods were pagan in nature and to others they were materialistic wants. Needless
to say we see two major issues when Israel comes together to select its new
king. If you remember in our readings from when Saul, David, and even Solomon
were selected as kings, people looked to God to pick the new king. God
handpicked Saul and David and the prophet Nathan was instrumental in blessing
Solomon’s coronation. Things are different when it is Solomon’s son Rehoboam’s
turn.
1 Kings 12:4
4 “Your father made our yoke difficult. You, therefore,
lighten your father’s harsh service and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we
will serve you.”
Rehoboam goes on to ask his father’s elders and then his own buddies
for advice. Not once does scripture tell us that Rehoboam asks a prophet or
seeks the Lord’s guidance. Not once do we see the leaders of Israel do either
of those things either. Instead the entire discussion is around who is going to
get more. No God, only money.
King Solomon turned away from God and focused on material things, so
did the Nation of Israel. Everyone was thinking about how they could get more,
not about what God has in store for them.
This is an important reminder to each one of us. If we take our eyes
off of God, other things will creep in. It may not be money or things, it may
even be something that seems like a good idea, but things can take the place of
God in our lives. We need to be very careful to God front and center.
Rehoboam received two sets of advice. The elders encouraged him to be
humble and willing to soften the burden that his father had placed on the
people. His buddies told him to come down hard and put the people in their
place, which is exactly what he did.
1 Kings 12:13-14
“13 Then the king answered the people
harshly. He rejected the advice the elders had given him 14 and
spoke to them according to the young men’s advice: “My father made your yoke
heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father disciplined you with whips, but I
will discipline you with barbed whips.”
God used the sin in people’s lives to accomplish His
plan of splitting the Nation of Israel into 2.
1 Kings 12:16-17
“16 When all Israel saw that the king had not listened to them, the people answered him: What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. Israel, return to your tents; David, now look after your own house! So Israel went to their tents, 17 but Rehoboam reigned over the Israelites living in the cities of Judah.”
1 Kings 12:20
“20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they summoned him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. No one followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah alone.”
Solomon’s son Rehoboam had lost all but Judah and Jeroboam who was recently a political refugee was made king over Israel. This is what was foretold through the prophet Ahijah.
1 Kings 11:30-31
“30 Then Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he had on, tore it into 12 pieces, 31 and said to Jeroboam, “Take 10 pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I am about to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand. I will give you 10 tribes,”
God honored His word. The line of David was still ruling, but due to not following God’s statutes and commandments, the nation was split into 2. Jeroboam was given some specific directions.
1 Kings 11:37-38
“37 I will appoint you, and you will reign as king over all you want, and you will be king over Israel. 38 “‘After that, if you obey all I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight in order to keep My statutes and My commands as My servant David did, I will be with you. I will build you a lasting dynasty just as I built for David, and I will give you Israel.”
Jeroboam was tasked with the same things the Nation of Israel and its leaders had been tasked with, follow God. No different than when the wandering tribe told Moses that they would do everything that the Lord has said. Follow God and adhere to His commandments.
At this point it would be easy to think that Rehoboam is a bad guy with his heavy yoke and whips and Jeroboam is a good guy coming in to lead Israel away from the oppressive king. After all God chose Jeroboam to lead the people and promised him a long and happy reign. The catch is that Jeroboam had to stay true to God and follow His commands. Like the kings that came before him, Jeroboam had his own struggles and did not hold up his end of the deal. He was afraid. Jeroboam was afraid that the people of Israel would wake up one day and choose to follow Rehoboam. After all they were one nation, the temple was in Judah, the sacrificial system was tied to the temple, and they celebrated the same holidays. It would make sense that someday the two nations would rejoin and become one; it was Jeroboam’s deepest and darkest fear. It was this fear that drove Jeroboam away from the Lord and to lead the Nation of Israel away from God.
1 Kings 12:28-30
“28 So the king sought advice. Then he made two golden calves, and he said to the people, “Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. Israel, here is your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” 29 He set up one in Bethel, and put the other in Dan. 30 This led to sin; the people walked in procession before one of the calves all the way to Dan.”
Aaron made one golden calf and it did not turn out good for the people of Israel, Jeroboam makes two golden calves, do you think it is going to turn out any different?
Of course God saw this and sent a prophet to Jeroboam to point out how he was sinning against God. The prophet said as proof that his words were from God that the false altar would split in two. As Jeroboam reached out to order his soldiers to seize the prophet, his hand shriveled up and the altar split just as the prophet said it would. Jeroboam repented and asked for prayer. The prophet prayed, Jeroboam’s hand was healed, but he continued to lead the people to follow this fake idol worship that he created.
Nothing can take the place of God in our lives. You may be thinking, “of course not, and this is why I don’t have any gold calves at home.” We may not have golden calves in our homes, but today there are many different things that are fighting to be first in our lives. Materialism, power, sports, family, relaxation, work, even ministry itself, are all things that can slip into God’s place in our lives. Anytime anything other than God becomes the focus of our lives, it is idolatry. We may not have golden calves in our homes, but we have other idols that interfere with God working through us.
Jeroboam was not the ‘good guy’ we may have thought he was going to be, but that does not mean that Rehoboam is off the hook either. Rehoboam followed in his father’s footsteps and allowed pagan worship to continue within the borders of Judah.
1 Kings 14:22-24
“22 Judah did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes. They provoked Him to jealous anger more than all that their ancestors had done with the sins they committed. 23 They also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every green tree; 24 there were even male cult prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites.”
Both of the nations, Judah and Israel, had gotten to the point where they were no better than the pagans who lived in the Promised Land before them.
God’s people in the nation that He created in the land that He gave them, had turned out to be just like everyone else. They were called to be different and to represent God to the rest of the world. Instead they joined the rest of the world in their sin, they let things get in the way of what God called them to do and pursued their own interest instead.
This all started with Solomon allowing other gods to creep in and not keeping God as number one is his life. Those decision impacted Rehoboam and Jeroboam. The faith of David was not passed down from Solomon to Rehoboam and it impacted the decisions he made. That same faith was not passed down to Jeroboam and he setup idols for people to worship.
For the next 344 years, from 930 to 586 BC, Israel continued to sink lower and lower. There were a total of 38 kings between the two nations and only 5 of them were good kings who followed God’s commandments. Thirty-three of those kings were bad kings, who led people away from God. Because of Solomon’s decisions in Rehoboam and Jeroboam’s past, they were bad kings, doing evil.
When idols are allowed to creep into our lives they have a lasting impact. It is important that we keep God in his rightful spot, Number One in our lives.
When we let things become more important than God, we are headed for trouble.
The question each of us need to answer this morning is, are we going to follow God or let things interfere with our lives?
God created each of us out of Love and He wants to spend eternity with us.
If you already know Jesus this morning, He has called you to be His messenger. He has called you to share His Love and ‘go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.’ Don’t let anything creep in and become an idol in God’s place.
If you don’t know Jesus this morning, God is calling you home. He wants you to be part of His family. He wants you to understand the blessing He has for you. Regardless of anything you have done, your sin can be forgiven. If you feel God calling you, please come forward this morning and I would love to pray with you.
God Bless!
Robert
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