The Temple of God
Today’s Focus: Local Church vs. City Church: The Sin of Jeroboam
Scripture: 1 Kings 12:26-33
Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Knowing that the children of Israel were to come to the temple and celebrate the appointed feasts of God, this would require the 10 tribes located in the Northern Kingdom of Israel to travel to the Southern Kingdom who is ruled by Rehoboam. This concerned Jeroboam:
1 Kings 12:27: If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of the people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
So obviously this bothered Jeroboam and notice the scripture says in 1 Kings 12:26 that “He said in HIS HEART. The Lord ordained the seven feasts to be celebrated and ordained a holy convocation for each one of them and this was not optional but required by the Lord. But let’s see what Jeroboam does:
1 Kings 12:28-30: Whereupon the king took counsel, and MADE TWO CALVES OF GOLD AND SAID UNTO THEM, IT IS TOO MUCH FOR YOU TO GO UP TO JERUSALEM: BEHOLD THY GODS, O ISRAEL, WHICH BROUGHT THEE UP OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT. And he set the one in Bethel and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
So the first abomination that Jeroboam does is create two golden calves and call them the “gods” that delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians. Now he did this with the crooked intention of keeping the people under his control for fear of them turning on him when they go celebrate the feasts in Jerusalem. This was not the only abominable thing he did. Let’s keep reading:
1 Kings 12:31: And he made an house of high places and made priests of the lowest of the people , WHICH WERE NOT OF THE SONS OF LEVI. And Jeroboam ORDAINED A FEAST IN THE EIGTH MONTH, ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE MONTH, LIKE UNTO THE FEAST THAT IS IN JUDAH, AND HE OFFERED UPON THE ALTAR. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
So not only does he create golden calves to be worshipped, he created high places and priest to care for these “places”. Now God strictly set the sons of Levi as the priesthood of Israel. However Jeroboam created priests of the lowest people of society who were not the sons of Levi. Jeroboam changed the God-appointed set time for the feast from the seventh month to the eight month. He also created an altar to sacrifice on. All of this was devices of Jeroboam’s heart to keep the people under his rule so by doing this he introduced the Spirit of Convenience and the Mental State of Locality.
In the next message we will start to get an understanding of what this spirit is and what the mental state of locality is.
Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.
