Civil War-Part 1

1 Kings 12:20-33

²⁰ And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only.

²¹ When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

²² But the word of God came to Shemaiah the man of God:

²³ “Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the rest of the people,

²⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, for this thing is from me.’ ” So they listened to the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord.

²⁵ Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel.

²⁶ And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David.

²⁷ If 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.”

²⁸ So 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.”

²⁹ And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

³⁰ Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.

³¹ He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites.

³² And 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.

³³ He 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.

As we discussed yesterday, Rehoboam makes some very bad decisions based on greed rather than on grace. Solid leadership is not the hallmark of his initiation into the position of king. In today’s reading, we learn about Jeroboam’s choices as he takes up the leadership of the northern tribes. Rehoboam imposes punitive taxes and Jeroboam destroys the worship life of his people. God’s people are in trouble.

Out of fear that the people would be drawn back to Jerusalem and subject to the temptation to return to Rehoboam’s leadership, Jeroboam constructs worship sites in the northern and southern points of his kingdom. He constructs golden calves (as this is the example put forth by those who did not believe in God by the nations around him) and instructs the people to worship there rather than returning to Jerusalem. In one stroke, he gives the people permission to walk away from God.

In 2 Chronicles, we are told that the Levites (the priest class among God’s people) and a few loyal followers of the true God went back to Jerusalem, for they were unwilling to participate in Jeroboam’s answer to their spiritual needs.

And the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel presented themselves to him from all places where they lived. For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the Lord, and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. And those who had set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came after them from all the tribes of Israel to Jerusalem to sacrifice to the Lord, the God of their fathers. They strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and for three years they made Rehoboam the son of Solomon secure, for they walked for three years in the way of David and Solomon.  (2 Chronicles 11:13–17)

We tend to be tempted by our fears and by expediency. Jeroboam was frightened that he was going to lose his people to their God (a legitimate concern) and the people were placated by an easy answer to their worship needs. Both made bad choices. Both of these situations can inform our own lives as we daily have to make decisions that will affect the nature of our faith experience. When we choose a path out of fear (generally of what others will think) we are probably making a dangerous choice. When we choose to a path because we are too lazy to stick with the ways of God, we are probably making a dangerous choice. But we should look at those who did choose to return to Jerusalem. They did not allow ease of worship or their own fears to deter them from the path of God. They are living proof that it is possible! We do not have to be blind sheep that follow the crowd without thought. Because of the work of Jesus, the Holy Spirit now lives with us and enables better thinking and decision making.