Bible Study

Just for your thoughts:

Bible Lesson: 2 Kings – Chapter 17

What does “the sins of Jeroboam” mean?

In our Bible, the phrase “the sins of Jeroboam” is mentioned 22 times.

No other person’s sins are referred to this many times in the Scriptures.

This shows how serious and impactful his sins were in the Old Testament.

Let us now briefly meditate on those sins.

There are two kings named Jeroboam mentioned in the Bible.
In this section, we are focusing on Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the first king of the divided northern kingdom of Israel, who appears in 1 Kings chapter 12.

His father's name was Nebat.
After King Solomon, the united kingdom of Israel was divided into two:

Ten tribes united to form the northern kingdom called Israel or Samaria.
The tribe of Judah remained as the southern kingdom, known as Judah.
The temple of God was located in Jerusalem, in Judah.
So the people of Israel (northern kingdom) would travel to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices, observe feasts, and worship God.
But Jeroboam was not happy about this.
He feared that if his people continued to go to Jerusalem, they would eventually turn their loyalty to the king of Judah.

So he thought wrongly and devised alternative ways—
And these alternative ways are what the Bible refers to as “the sins of Jeroboam.”

Jeroboam could not:
build a temple like the one in Jerusalem,
establish a new religious law like Moses,
create true means for the forgiveness of sins.
So, his only option was to lead the people into idol worship.
To make this possible, he created counterfeits to the true worship of God.

Let’s look at the false practices he introduced, one by one:

1.He made two golden calves and set them up in Bethel and Dan, telling the people:
“Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt!”

Instead of encouraging people to worship at the temple in Jerusalem (the only place God ordained for worship and blessing),
he set up alternate worship centers in his own land.

2.He built shrines and groves on high places for idol worship.

3.God had chosen the Levites alone to serve as priests.

But Jeroboam appointed non-Levites to serve as priests in his counterfeit religion.

4.God had appointed certain feasts and dates for His people.
Jeroboam invented a new feast on the 15th day of the 8th month, which God had not commanded.
In all of this, Jeroboam:
Changed God's commandments,
Set up alternate feasts and worship locations,
Placed idols (calves) for worship,
Appointed unauthorized people as priests,
Stopped people from going to Jerusalem to worship the true God.
None of the kings who ruled Israel after Jeroboam corrected these sins.
They did not remove the idol worship centers or allow the people to return to worship at Jerusalem.
Thus, Jeroboam created a counterfeit version of the Jewish faith in his kingdom.

That is why his sin is mentioned more times than anyone else's in the Bible.
What lessons does this teach us today?
Satan is a master at creating counterfeits to deceive the children of God.
In today's Christianity, Satan’s counterfeits include:

1.Another Gospel – a distorted or false gospel.
2.Another Christ – a misrepresented Jesus.
3.Ministers of Satan disguised as angels of light.
4.Another Spirit – not the Holy Spirit of God.
Read 2 Corinthians chapter 11 for more insight.
Even today, in many churches, the spirit of Jeroboam is at work.
Only if I am rooted in the pure Word of God can I recognize and resist these counterfeits.
To preserve and protect true Christianity, what we need are faithful servants who will teach the uncorrupted Word of God.
God had chosen 12 tribes, but 10 tribes went astray and created a new kingdom.
Eventually, they were taken captive into Assyria.

God continued His purpose through the remaining tribe of Judah,
And from that tribe, the Savior of the world was born to fulfill God's plan.
We should never accept any belief or doctrine just because the majority agrees with it.
This is the final and most important warning from Jeroboam’s life:
Truth is not determined by majority, but by God’s Word.