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TH E KING’S BUSINESS
v. 30. “And i this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan." The people were quite ready to follow Jeroboam in this: matter of the calves. People are always ready to fol low their leaders into apostasy and error: they are always far more ready to follow their leaders into apostasy and error than they are to follow them into full surrender to God, and into the truth. The reason why men are more ready to follow the wrong way than they are to follow the right way is because of the deep-seated enmity of the natural heart toward God (Rom. 8:7; Jer. 17:9). Jeroboam by his action, won for himself the unenviable title, “Which made Israel to sin” (2 Kings 29:31). v. 31. “And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.” One act of disobedience leads on to another —sin always grows, the man who commits one sin, will follow it up by another. God had expressly forbidden the use of high places for worship, but this did not in the least deter Jeroboam from building houses “of high places.” God had also commanded that only the sons of Aaron be priests (Num. 3:10), but in open defiance and direct dis obedience to this command of God, Jero- boam “made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.” . v. 32. "And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar." God LESSON (1) The Shaken Faith of Jeroboam, vs. 25-27. Jeroboam, the king, fears that Israel will return to Rehoboam, v. 26. He fears that he will lose his life, v. 27. What had God promised Jeroboam? ch. 11:31. What was God’s condition of blessing upon His king? ch. 11:37, 38.
had commended a feast oil the fifteenth day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:33, 34). Jeroboam substituted the eighth month. Very likely he thought that day was better adapted to the interests of the northern kingdom, but when God gives us explicit directions, our part is to obey, not modify (Matt. 15:6 Mark 7:13). v. 33. “So he offered upon the altar which he made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month winch he had devised of his own heart." In the words “Which he had devised of his own heart” we find the whole secret of the wickedness and folly of Jeroboam’s worship. The only worship that is acceptable to God is that which is according to His Word; not that which we devise of our own hearts. It may be said of many modern schemes of worship that, however beautiful they may appear, man has devised them “of his own heart.” Jeroboam reached the culmination of hfs presumption by taking the office of priest upon himself (cf. 1 Sam. 13:12, 13; 2 Chron. 26:16). Jeroboam’s main purpose in this new religion that he established was not to glorify God, but to glorify himself; and in much of our modern worship, in our magnificent church edifices, in our ornate sermons, in our high priced choirs, and in many of the methods of our religious work, our main purpose is not to glorify God, but ourselves. But Jeroboam, instead of es tablishing his throne .by his devices, pulled it down (ch. 13:34; 14:7-11; 2 Kings 10: 29, 31). OUTLINE Had God chosen the place for Israel to worship? Deut. 16:16, 17. Did Jeroboam doubt God ? v. 26; Luke 7:39. Is an evil heart the root of unbelief ? Heb. 3:12. What is the cure for unbelief? John 7:17; 8:31, 32-47., Are our lives safe in His hands when we are doing His will? Ps. 56:4; 46:2.
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