In my reading of the Bible I have reached the end of the reign of King Solomon. It’s such a sad part of the scriptures. Solomon started so well, he asked for such wisdom and the Lord supplied it and so much more. He had established a temple for the Lord and the glory of the Lord filled it. The Kingdom was the greatest on earth within its time. Then Solomon made mistakes.
As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. 1 Kings 11:4-6
And so the Lord tears the Kingdom of Israel apart. 10 tribes would be taken from Solomons line and given to another (Jeroboam – who Solomon subsequently tried to kill). The other 2 tribes would be ruled by Solomons son Rehoboam.
Once Solomon passed away we read that Jeroboam, who had fled when Solomon tried to kill him, has returned. He is crowned King.
When all the Israelites heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the house of David. 1 Kings 11:20
We hear that Rehoboam is set on fighting Jeroboam for the Kingdom but the Lord warns him not to do so. It’s the section after this that I find very interesting.
Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.” 1 Kings 11:26-27
I find this fascinating. Even though the Lord had removed the 10 tribes from David’s line, Jeroboam still knew that God had originally established that line. He clearly understood the power of worship and feared that if they sacrifice and worship God they would return to Gods original plan. So what should he do? Watch this.
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 1 Kings 11:28-29
Because he feared them returning to God, he decided to set up his own gods. we are also told he established high places, priests (who weren’t levites), he established festivals (at a time of his choosing) and basically tried to replicate what the Lord has established for Israel. As far as we know it worked. It signalled the end of Jeroboam though, because the Lord couldn’t allow these practises to continue but from what we can see the people didn’t turn to Rehoboam.
Jeroboam understood the power of worship. He understood that whatever we devote ourselves to will become our god and that thing becomes more powerful than anything else. He understood it so deeply that he tried to replicate what God had already established.
Do we understand this power? Where are we worshipping? Where is our devotion pointed towards in these days?