Do Not Be Afraid of Them, for I Am With You1
1 Kings 12:26-33
26And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. 27If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah” (Jeroboam was afraid that when the ten tribes went up to the temple in Jerusalem every year, their old love for their fellow Israelites would return, that they would see the magnificence of David’s palace and be sorry they had rebelled against the ancient line of kings. He thought that allowing his subjects to worship in the Lord’s temple would endanger his position as king. He was a clever man, and like Ahithophel, he had no fear of God. So he decided to set up a new religion. God’s honor meant nothing to him. Efforts to conform with worldly desires and other attempts to satisfy human nature have often been the reasons for starting false religions.)
28So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” (People naturally love things that require little effort. They prefer a religion that will not trouble them or interrupt their lives very much. That is the reason Jeroboam appealed to the shameful tendencies of their human nature. But how disgraceful it was for Israel to forsake the living God and bow before the image of a bull just as an excuse to not have to travel so far. May we never leave the good old paths of truth because it would be convenient, or give us a better chance of advancement in our job or better opportunities to make more money. Let us hold tightly to the Lord with all our heart.)
29And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. (At both ends of the land, so that no one would have far to travel.) 30Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one. 31He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. (The true priests remained faithful to the Lord, so Jeroboam appointed other men to be priests. This speaks well for the Levites. Even if all other people become idolaters, God’s ministers must not.) 32And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.
33He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to make offerings. (He dared to make himself a priest and change the seasons God had appointed for worship. He was not afraid to set up an altar to compete with the true one or to adore God by bowing down to the image of an animal. All of this is disgusting in the sight of God. We fear that many in our day are also guilty of Jeroboam’s sin. They invent rituals and ceremonies of their own and desert the Lord, who is a Spirit, and must be worshiped in spirit and truth.2 Oh for grace to be faithful to the Word of God in all things.)
1 Kings 13:1-10
1And behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the word of the LORD to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make offerings. 2And the man cried against the altar by the word of the LORD and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” 3And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’” (This was bravely spoken. The prophet did not fear the wrath of the king or the anger of the crowds around him. Messengers of God must not be afraid of how people might react to their message.)
4And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying. “Seize him.” (He was greatly irritated to have this first and greatest ceremony of his new religion interrupted by this zealous messenger of the Lord. “Seize him!” cries the king, as he puts forth his own hand to order the arrest.) And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. 5The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6And the king said to the man of God, “Entreat now the favor of the LORD your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” (The Lord can soon bring down the strongest heart. This proud ruler went quickly from threatening to begging. The God who shriveled his hand could just as easily paralyzed his whole body, but in his wrath he remembered mercy.) And the man of God entreated the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it was before. (God’s servants are very willing to pray for their enemies and return good for evil.)
7And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” (Notice that Jeroboam never said a word that indicated he had repented or was humbled by this experience. He was hardened in his proud rebellion against God. He might have been willing to reward the prophet, but he would not thank the Lord who sent him.) 8And the man of God said to the king, “If you give me half your house, I will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place, 9for so was it commanded me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came.’” 10So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.
It was not proper for God’s servant to have any fellowship with rebellious Israel. No, not even so much as eating a piece of bread or taking a sip of water with them. The true believer’s duty is to avoid all unnecessary fellowship with people of sin. “What harmony has Christ with Belial?”3
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1 Jeremiah 1:8
2 John 4:24
3 2 Corinthians 6:15 NASB updated
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