The Sins of Jeroboam

The Sins of Jeroboam

Because Solomon, in his old age, had begun to sacrifice to foreign gods, God took the ten tribes away from his son Rehoboam and gave them to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. Thus Rehoboam had only the tribe of Judah left to rule, and Jeroboam had the other ten tribes.

God had said to Jeroboam: “Then it shall be, if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.” Ch. 11:38.

After Jeroboam had become king over Israel, the people continued to go to Jerusalem to bring sacrifices during the feasts. Then Jeroboam thought in his heart: The people may return to the house of David if they go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem. Then the heart of this people will turn back to Rehoboam and he will become their king. Then the king took counsel and made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!” And he made priests of every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi. He devised in his own heart the days on which the people should bring their sacrifices.

God had promised to build Jeroboam a house that would endure, and He would give him Israel. However, the condition was that Jeroboam was to walk in God’s ways. In spite of this, Jeroboam departed from God to keep Israel. He went according to what he devised in his own heart instead of believing God. The kingdom was more precious to him than God’s command. Thus he caused Israel to sin, lost the kingdom, and destroyed his entire house. These are the sins of Jeroboam.

On the other hand, if God’s command had been more precious to him than the kingdom, he would have kept it, and at the same time he would have been given a house that would have endured just like David’s house.

Jeroboam’s sins have repeated themselves year after year, and not the least in our days. Often after God has blessed or exalted a person, this exaltation has filled his heart, and he has distanced himself from God. That is when Satan enters in with his cunning. God had exalted Jeroboam, but he loved being exalted, and that caused him to begin to fear that he would fall. On the other hand, if he had loved God’s command rather than the exaltation, he would not have needed to fear, and Satan would have been disarmed.

Jeroboam was afraid to lose his position, and so he began to devise in his heart. This is good soil for Satan’s cunning in each one who begins to think with such a motive. Whatever such people devise from that day on will result in their own downfall.

Jeroboam wanted to keep the people. This is also the case with many people in these days. They want to keep the people, but then they fall in Jeroboam’s sins, and they suffer the same fate as he did. This is also the reason so many preachers have only a brief “flowering season,” and then the wither away. You can find them later among those who have a difficult time believing that they are saved in spite of the fact that they have perhaps preached salvation to thousands. Or you will find them among those who are rich in earthly goods, occupied with this world, and outside of all spiritual work.

Jeroboam’s sins are the reason for all the divisions. As long as the preachers were God’s servants, they gathered the people. They received grace to serve God’s food. God used them to bring revival, and He made their name great; but then they fell into Jeroboam’s sins. They formed denominations so that they would not lose the people. And as they began to devise in their hearts, Satan gave them revelations. They became more occupied with the external façade and glory rather than life itself and God’s pleasure. Consequently, they ended up with an assembly according to a “biblical pattern” just as Jeroboam did by imitating the pattern in Jerusalem. But the table of the Lord was not there; so the only glory they are left with is a great name, an expansive building, and a large assembly. And as Jeroboam did, so they also appoint priests according to their own ideas. The thing that counts is whether they have passed an exam, are gifted, and have a pleasant appearance. It is of lesser importance whether they have attained to any degree of divine nature and whether they stand before God’s face. Gal. 1:10; 15-16. The result is an assembly of the dead that resembles a whitewashed grave. This is also how it was in Jesus’ time, and this is how it is in these days because of Jeroboam’s sins. Further on we read about several of Israel’s kings, that they did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin.

Abraham was a different person. After God had blessed him and given him the land and had promised him descendants like the dust of the earth, he built an altar to the Lord. Gen. 13:16-18. He did the same thing after he had received his son, Isaac. He was the son of promise he had been expecting for many years. After he had received him, he had to sacrifice him.

Offering up your “Isaac” is of deeper significance than just forsaking the things of this world, things in which your life is caught up. One could believe that we should be allowed to love the things we have received from God, but they must also be sacrificed if we do not want to fall in Jeroboam’s sins. Abraham had forsaken everything in this world and had left his home because of God’s promises. He obtained the promise after many years of faithfulness and obedience to God. This is also how we receive our Isaac, and this Isaac has to be sacrificed if God is to continue to be the greatest in our life.

This is also the point on which the seventy disciples made a mistake. They rejoiced more over the power Jesus had given them than over the fact that their names were written in the Book of Life. They had the wrong attitude; they did not endure; they forsook Jesus.

Therefore all of us must be on guard against Jeroboam’s sins, so that we can remain standing before Him who has eyes like flames of fire.