Prophets and Kings
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 7: Jeroboam
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This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken;
Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes
that are upon it shall be poured out."
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Review and Herald Publ. Assoc. |
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Placed on the throne by the ten tribes of Israel who had
rebelled against the house of David, Jeroboam, the former servant of Solomon,
was in a position to bring about wise reforms in both civil and religious
affairs. Under the rulership of Solomon he had shown aptitude and sound
judgment; and the knowledge he had gained during years of faithful service
fitted him to rule with discretion. But Jeroboam failed to make God his trust. {PK 99.1}
Jeroboam's greatest fear was that at some future time the
hearts of his subjects might be won over by the ruler occupying the throne of
David. He reasoned that if the ten tribes should be permitted to visit often
the ancient seat of the Jewish monarchy, where the services of the temple were
still conducted as in the years of Solomon's reign, many might feel inclined to
renew their allegiance to the government centering at Jerusalem. Taking counsel
with His advisers, Jeroboam determined by one bold stroke to [100]
lessen, so far as possible, the probability of a revolt from his rule. He would
bring this about by creating within the borders of his newly formed kingdom two
centers of worship, one at Bethel and the other at Dan. In these places the ten
tribes should be invited to assemble, instead of at Jerusalem, to worship God. {PK 99.2}
In arranging this transfer, Jeroboam thought to appeal to
the imagination of the Israelites by setting before them some visible
representation to symbolize the presence of the invisible God. Accordingly he
caused to be made two calves of gold, and these were placed within shrines at
the appointed centers of worship. In this effort to represent the Deity,
Jeroboam violated the plain command of Jehovah: "Thou shalt not make unto
thee any graven image. . . . Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them,
nor serve them." Exodus 20:4, 5. {PK 100.1}
So strong was Jeroboam's desire to keep the ten tribes away
from Jerusalem that he lost sight of the fundamental weakness of his plan. He
failed to take into consideration the great peril to which he was exposing the
Israelites by setting before them the idolatrous symbol of the deity with which
their ancestors had been so familiar during the centuries of Egyptian bondage.
Jeroboam's recent residence in Egypt should have taught him the folly of
placing before the people such heathen representations. But his set purpose of
inducing the northern tribes to discontinue their annual visits to the Holy
City led him to adopt the most imprudent of measures. "It is too much for
you to go up to Jerusalem," he urged; "behold thy gods, O Israel,
which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." 1 Kings 12:28. [101] Thus they were invited to
bow down before the golden images and adopt strange forms of worship. {PK 100.2}
The king tried to persuade the Levites, some of whom were
living within his realm, to serve as priests in the newly erected shrines at
Bethel and Dan; but in this effort he met with failure. He was therefore
compelled to elevate to the priesthood men from "the lowest of the
people." Verse 31. Alarmed over the prospect, many of the faithful,
including a great number of the Levites, fled to Jerusalem, where they might
worship in harmony with the divine requirements. {PK 101.1}
"Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth 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 had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he
had made." Verse 32. {PK
101.2}
The king's bold defiance of God in thus setting aside
divinely appointed institutions was not allowed to pass unrebuked. Even while
he was officiating and burning incense during the dedication of the strange
altar he had set up at Bethel, there appeared before him a man of God from the
kingdom of Judah, sent to denounce him for presuming to introduce new forms of
worship. The prophet "cried against the altar, . . . and said, O
altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house
of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high
places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. {PK 101.3}
"And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the
sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall [102] be
rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out." Immediately the
altar "was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the
sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord." 1 Kings
13:2, 3, 5. {PK 101.4}
On seeing this, Jeroboam was filled with a spirit of
defiance against God and attempted to restrain the one who had delivered the
message. In wrath "he put forth his hand from the altar" and cried
out, "Lay hold on him." His impetuous act met with swift rebuke. The
hand outstretched against the messenger of Jehovah suddenly became powerless
and withered, and could not be withdrawn. {PK 102.1}
Terror-stricken, the king appealed to the prophet to
intercede with God in his behalf. "Entreat now the face of the Lord thy
God," he pleaded, "and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me
again, And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored
him again, and became as it was before." Verses 4, 6. {PK 102.2}
Vain had been Jeroboam's effort to invest with solemnity the
dedication of a strange altar, respect for which would have led to disrespect
for the worship of Jehovah in the temple at Jerusalem. By the message of the
prophet, the king of Israel should have been led to repent and to renounce his
wicked purposes, which were turning the people away from the true worship of
God. But he hardened his heart and determined to follow a way of his own
choosing. {PK 102.3}
At the time of the feast at Bethel the hearts of the
Israelites were not fully hardened. Many were susceptible to the influence of
the Holy Spirit. The Lord designed that those [105] who
were taking rapid steps in apostasy should be checked in their course before it
should be too late. He sent His messenger to interrupt the idolatrous
proceedings and to reveal to king and people what the outworking of this
apostasy would be. The rending of the altar was a sign of God's displeasure at
the abomination that was being wrought in Israel. {PK 102.4}
The Lord seeks to save, not to destroy. He delights in the
rescue of sinners. "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in
the death of the wicked." Ezekiel 33:11. By warnings and entreaties He
calls the wayward to cease from their evil-doing and to turn to Him and live.
He gives His chosen messengers a holy boldness, that those who hear may fear
and be brought to repentance. How firmly the man of God rebuked the king! And
this firmness was essential; in no other way could the existing evils have been
rebuked. The Lord gave His servant boldness, that an abiding impression might
be made on those who heard. The messengers of the Lord are never to fear the
face of man, but are to stand unflinchingly for the right. So long as they put
their trust in God, they need not fear; for He who gives them their commission
gives them also the assurance of His protecting care. {PK 105.1}
Having delivered his message, the prophet was about to
return, when Jeroboam said to him, "Come home with me, and refresh
thyself, and I will give thee a reward." "If thou wilt give me half
thine house," the prophet replied, "I will not go in with thee,
neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: for so was it charged
me by the [106] word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor
drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest." 1 Kings
13:7-9. {PK 105.2}
Well would it have been for the prophet had he adhered to
his purpose to return to Judea without delay. While traveling homeward by
another route, he was overtaken by an aged man who claimed to be a prophet and
who made false representations to the man of God, declaring, "I am a
prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord,
saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and
drink water." Again and again the lie was repeated and the invitation
urged until the man of God was persuaded to return. {PK 106.1}
Because the true prophet allowed himself to take a course
contrary to the line of duty, God permitted him to suffer the penalty of
transgression. While he and the one who had invited him to return to Bethel
were sitting together at the table, the inspiration of the Almighty came upon
the false prophet, "and he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah,
saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the
Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,
. . . thy carcass shall not come unto the sepulcher of thy
fathers." Verses 18-22. {PK
106.2}
This prophecy of doom was soon literally fulfilled. "It
came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled
for him the ass. . . . And when he was gone, a lion met him by the
way, and slew him: and his carcass was cast in the way, and the ass stood by
it, the lion also stood by the carcass. And, behold, men passed by, and [107]
saw the carcass cast in the way, . . . and they came and told it in
the city where the old prophet dwelt. And when the prophet that brought him
back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was
disobedient unto the word of the Lord." Verses 23-26. {PK 106.3}
The penalty that overtook the unfaithful messenger was a
still further evidence of the truth of the prophecy uttered over the altar. If,
after disobeying the word of the Lord, the prophet had been permitted to go on
in safety, the king would have used this fact in an attempt to vindicate his
own disobedience. In the rent altar, in the palsied arm, and in the terrible
fate of the one who dared disobey an express command of Jehovah, Jeroboam
should have discerned the swift displeasure of an offended God, and these
judgments should have warned him not to persist in wrongdoing. But, far from
repenting, Jeroboam "made again of the lowest of the people priests of the
high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the
priests of the high places." Thus he not only sinned greatly himself, but
"made Israel to sin;" and "this thing became sin unto the house
of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the
earth." Verses 33, 34; 14:16. {PK 107.1}
Toward the close of a troubled reign of twenty-two years,
Jeroboam met with a disastrous defeat in a war with Abijah, the successor of
Rehoboam. "Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the days of
Abijah: and the Lord struck him, and he died." 2 Chronicles 13:20. {PK 107.2}
The apostasy introduced during Jeroboam's reign became more
and more marked, until finally it resulted in the utter ruin of the kingdom of
Israel. Even before the death of [108] Jeroboam, Ahijah, the aged
prophet at Shiloh who many years before had predicted the elevation of Jeroboam
to the throne, declared: "The Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken
in the water, and He shall root up Israel out of this good land, which He gave
to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have
made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger. And He shall give Israel up
because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin."
1 Kings 14:15, 16. {PK
107.3}
Yet the Lord did not give Israel up without first doing all
that could be done to lead them back to their allegiance to Him. Through long,
dark years when ruler after ruler stood up in bold defiance of Heaven and led
Israel deeper and still deeper into idolatry, God sent message after message to
His backslidden people. Through His prophets He gave them every opportunity to
stay the tide of apostasy and to return to Him. During the years that were to
follow the rending of the kingdom, Elijah and Elisha were to live and labor,
and the tender appeals of Hosea and Amos and Obadiah were to be heard in the
land. Never was the kingdom of Israel to be left without noble witnesses to the
mighty power of God to save from sin. Even in the darkest hours some would
remain true to their divine Ruler and in the midst of idolatry would live
blameless in the sight of a holy God. These faithful ones were numbered among
the goodly remnant through whom the eternal purpose of Jehovah was finally to
be fulfilled. {PK 108.1}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"National Apostasy"
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