2 Kings Bible Lesson 17: “The Sins of Jeroboam”
2 Kings Bible Lesson 17: “The Sins of Jeroboam”
What does the phrase “the sins of Jeroboam” mean? In our Bible, this expression is mentioned 22 times. No other man’s sins are referred to so many times.
That shows how deeply Jeroboam’s sins impacted the Old Testament history. Let us briefly meditate on these sins.
There are two kings in the Bible with the name Jeroboam.
In this lesson, we are focusing on Jeroboam son of Nebat, the first king of the divided northern kingdom of Israel, who appears in 1 Kings 12.
After King Solomon, the united kingdom of Israel split into two:
The northern kingdom, made up of ten tribes, was called Israel or Samaria.
The southern kingdom, ruled by the tribe of Judah, was called Judah.
In Judah was the city of Jerusalem, where the temple of God stood. The people of Israel were supposed to go there to offer sacrifices, worship God, and celebrate the appointed feasts. But Jeroboam disliked this. He feared that if his people kept going to Jerusalem, they might eventually turn their loyalty to the king of Judah. (Read 1 Kings 12.)
So Jeroboam devised alternative ways of worship. These man-made substitutes are what the Bible repeatedly calls “the sins of Jeroboam.” He could not build another temple equal to the one in Jerusalem. He could not establish new laws like Moses. He could not create true atonement for sins. So the only option left was to lead the people into idolatry.
Let us see the steps of Jeroboam’s sins one by one:
He made two golden calves and set one in Bethel and the other in Dan, telling the people: “Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt!”
Instead of worshiping in the temple God had chosen in Jerusalem, he appointed alternative centers of worship in his own land.
He built high places for idol worship on the hills.
God had chosen the Levites alone to serve as priests.
But Jeroboam appointed men who were not Levites to be priests.
He established a new festival on the 15th day of the 8th month, in place of the feasts God had commanded.
Thus, Jeroboam deliberately set up substitutes: new feast days, new places of worship, golden calves instead of the temple, and non-Levites as priests—all to prevent his people from going to Jerusalem.
Sadly, all the kings of Israel who came after him allowed these sins to continue. None of them destroyed the high places or restored worship in Jerusalem. A false version of Judaism was created by Jeroboam in the northern kingdom. This is why his sins are so often mentioned in the Bible.
Lessons for us today
Satan is an expert at creating counterfeits to deceive God’s children. In today’s Christianity too, the spirit of Jeroboam is still at work:
Another gospel (Galatians 1:6–9).
Another Christ (2 Corinthians 11:4).
False ministers, disguising themselves as angels of light (2 Corinthians 11:13–15).
Another spirit (2 Corinthians 11:4).
If I do not know the Word of God clearly, I will not be able to recognize these counterfeits. To preserve true Christianity, what we need are faithful servants who will preach the Word of God in its pure, uncorrupted form.
Because of Jeroboam’s sins, the ten tribes eventually went astray and were carried away as captives to Assyria. But through the one remaining tribe—Judah—God continued His purpose, and from this tribe the Savior of the world was born, fulfilling His plan.
The lesson from Jeroboam’s life is this: We must never accept anything just because the majority approves of it. We must weigh everything in the light of God’s Word.
This is the solemn warning Jeroboam’s life gives us today.