Two-Minute Manna

Unfortunately, Rehoboam did not listen to the wise counsel of Solomon’s advisers but instead followed the counsel of younger men who advised him to tax the people even more heavily than his father had. As a result, the ten northern tribes of Israel chose to follow another leader named Jeroboam. To keep his people from going south to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice in the Temple, Jeroboam made two golden calves and said, “These gods brought you out of Egypt.” That should ring a bell, for when Moses was on Mt. Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments, Aaron made a golden calf and told the people it was the god who brought them out of Egypt. The implication in both cases was not that the golden calves replaced God, but that they simply represented Him. But, no matter how innocent it appears at the outset, trying to represent God with anything will eventually lead to idolatry.

Jeroboam is making a big mistake here. “Oh, no,” he said. “If my people go down to Jerusalem to sacrifice there, their hearts will turn toward Judah and Rehoboam.” Notice that Jeroboam didn’t talk to the Lord about this. He talked to himself. Whenever I talk to myself, I get mixed up. And the same thing happened to Jeroboam. He went on to assign holy days and to appoint priests in an attempt to hold on to his kingdom.

May Jeroboam’s sin be a warning to us, for how many compromises are we ready to make in an attempt to hold our own little kingdoms or agendas together? What problems are you facing today? Don’t be like Jeroboam. Don’t talk to yourself. Talk to the Lord. Seek His Kingdom, not your own.