1243
T HE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
(4 ) ®he Shameful F east, vs. 32, 33. Jeroboam ordered a new feast, a new season for keeping it, and a new order of priests. God testified against him by paralyzing his hand. (Ch. 1 3 :4 ); by rending h is a lta r in tw ain ( 1 3 :5 ); by predicting evil against him and his house (1 4 :1 1 ); by rising against his house w ith th e sword (Amos 7 :9 ) ; by making his name a synonym for evil doing (1 5 :3 0 ): “ B ecau se o f the sin s o f Jeroboam w hich he sinned, and w h ich he made Israe l sin, b y his provocation w h erew ith he provoked the Lord God o f Israe l to anger.” Twenty times is th is statem en t re it erated. Jeroboam was a faithless man— far sighted bu t no t faith-sighted; a g reat organizer, b u t devdl-led. He altered God’s a lta r; profaned th e priesthood; sacrificed th e sacred in terests of Israel. God visited, His w rath upon him (II Chron. 1 3 :2 0 ); He sent distraction upon his family. The wages of sin is death. The “way of Jeroboam ” was th e way of Zimri, of Omri, of Ahab. Israel was a sinful na tion (II K ings 1 7 :1 8 ): “ Th erefore the I.ord w a s v e ry angry w ith Israel, and removed them out o f his sig h t; there w a s none le ft hut the trihe o f Ju d a h only.” The ten tribes were scattered ; th e names of Dan and Ephraim not men tioned among th e sealed in Revelation. How insignificant seemed tjie first de p artu re from th e faith , th e first *light look upon sin,— b u t how terrib le are the consequences!. Every Jew we see has a voice th a t speaks of th e terrib le consequences of sin. God is a jealous God,-|§jealons of His Person, of His Word, of H is worship, of Has priests. He will no t have a second place. He will deal w ith men, sooner or later, who violate His laws. PRACTICAL POINTS (1) Jeroboam was far-sighted, but not faith-sighted. (2) He had a vivid, bu t vajp imagi nation.
(John 7 :1 7 ). “ I f u n y man w ill do his w ill, he sh all kn ow of the doctrine, w h ether it he of God or w h ether I sp eak o f m yself.” When we are doing His will, th e re is no ground for fear. (Psa. 46:2; 6 5 :4 ). When will we learn to “Com m it our ways unto the Lord; tru st also in Him, and He will bring it to pass.” (Psa. 37:5) (3) The Sacrilegious Sin, vs. 28-31. Jeroboam devised a way of his own for th e worship of the Lord. He fol lowed the device of Satan as manifested in th e conduct of Aaron (Ex. 32:2-5). There is nothing new in false worship ir—ju st a change of design or color, th a t is all. Jeroboam had recently been in Egypt where sacred calves were wor shipped. Egypt is a type of th e world, and th a t is were Christians g et th eir Ideas of tom foolery in worship,— from the world. Jeroboam violated th e express com mand of God. (Ex. 20:3, 4) “ Thou sh alt not m ake unto thee any g ra ve n im age, or a n y likeness of a n y thin g th at is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the w a ter under the earth.” (Deut. 12:32) “ W h atso ever thin g I command you, ob serve to do it ; thou sh alt not add thereto, nor dim inish from it.” He became a rebel in God’s sight (II Chron. 1 3 :6 ). Ido latry is devilish (I Cor. 10:20) “ B u t I s a y unto you th at the things w h ich the Gentiles sacrifice, th ey sa cri fice unto devils, and not to God; and I w ould not that y e should h ave fellow sh ip w ith devils.” (II Chron. 11:14, 15; Zech. 13 :2 ) We are w arned against idolatry (II Cor. 6:16) “ A n d w h a t agreem ent hath the temple of God w ith idols; fo r y e are the temple o f the livin g God, as God hath said, 1 w ill dw ell in them and w a lk in them ; and I w ill be their God, and th ey sh all be my people.” (I Jno. 5:21) God has now one temple for th e mani festation of His glory (Heb. 1 :3 ) ; one place of meeting (Matt. 1 8 :2 0 ); one festival for th e sain ts (I Cor. 11:23- 2 6 ); one order of m inistry (Eph. 4: 11-13); one admonition for His people (Psa. 96 :9 ).
Made with FlippingBook HTML5