714
TH E KING’S BUSINESS
EX PO S IT IO N AND PRACT ICAL A PPL ICA T ION S
v. 25. “Then Jeroboam built Shechem in Mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.” Jeroboam was now king: it was God who had made him king (ch. 11:31), but this does not seem to have been the reason Israel had chosen him (v. 20). They do not seem to have consulted the LORD any more in the choice of Jeroboam than Jeroboam after wards consulted Him in the manner of his reign. Israel chose their own king, and in the outcome he proved to be their curse and ruin.. Israel’s history- from this time on, shows a steady and rapid down grade. Again and again in that dark history Jero boam is referred to" as the one who “taught Israel to sin." Israel had revolted from the family of Solomon .because his extensive building operations had impoverished the people,nand made their burdens heavier than they thought they could bear (cf. vs. 5, 9, 11-15), but the first thing Jeroboam does after gaining the throne is to go on build ing, and thus further impoverishing the peo ple, and. making their burdens heavier than they had been under Solomon. The cities which he:is here said to have built were al ready in existence, but he fortified them. He evidently felt the need of protection, not only from their old-time foes, but from their old-time allies as well. v. 26.- “And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David.” We see here that it was largely to protect against Israel returning to the house of David that Jeroboam had built his fortified cities, but if Jeroboam had only obeyed God, he would have had .better pro tection than that of walled cities; for God had definitely promised him that if he would hearken unto all His commandments, that He would build him a sure house (ch. 11:38; cf. 2 Chron. 20:20; Zech. 1:4, 5). His first effort in obtaining protection for his people, ought to have been not by build ing walled cities, but by getting the people right with God. When men get away from God they always seek the protection that
comes from their own devices and plan nings. v. 27. “I f this people go up to do sacri- hce 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." Jero boam had very quickly forgotten Jehovah’s promise: He had promised that He would take Jeroboam and make-him king over Israel (ch. 11:37), and this promise He had already fulfilled, but He had further promised that Jeroboam and his house would continue kings, if they would only hearken unto Him in all that He command ed, but this part' of the promise Jeroboam had speedily forgotten—quite likely-because he'did not wish to meet the conditions of the promise. He was quite willing that God should make him king as a pure matter of grace, .but he was not willing to obey God day by day, and thus secure the prom ise that was conditioned on constant and whole-hearted obedience, so ,he tried to se cure the same end by his own devices and schemes and works. In this he was quite like many who profess to be Christians to day, who seek to get what God has prom ised on condition of obedience in some other way. But Jeroboam did not succeed, neither will others succeed who attempt this. :. v. 28. “Whereupon the king took coun sel, 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 but of the land of Egypt." Jeroboam went from bad to worse; his sec ond step to secure his own safety was worse than his firsts Men who depart from God and from trust 'in .His Word, always go from bad to worse. Sin always grows. It was the fear of man that drove Jeroboam to the enormity he committed, the fear of man constantly drives men to sin: probably more people are driven into the rejection of Christ and the refusal to publicly confess Christ before the world, by fear of what some other man will say or do, than any other
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