These three verses in 2 Kings 17:21-23, bring back the focus on Jeroboam
the son of Nebat. He was the initiator of the downward spiral of
Israel. He led the ten northern tribes of Israel to negotiate with Rehoboam to
lessen the burden that his father Solomon had laden on them. Listening to
the advice of his less experienced contemporaries, Rehoboam repudiated the
request. That was when Jeroboam and those with him swore to have nothing
to do with the Davidic Dynasty. They then broke rank with them to form the
Northern Kingdom of Israel. Jeroboam the son of Nebat became their first king.
That break left Rehoboam to rule the Southern Kingdom of Judah from Jerusalem
with only two tribes namely, Judah and Benjamin.
Fearing
that the people from the north might travel down south to worship at Jerusalem,
Jeroboam made two golden calves. First Kings 12:28 said that “…the king
(Jeroboam), consulted and made two golden calves, and he said to them (the
people of Israel), “It is too much for you to go up to
Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up
from the land of Egypt.” In so doing he drove the people away from the Lord and
made them commit a great sin. But the people continued to walk in the sin of
Jeroboam till the day the Lord removed them from His sight as He
had warned them by the mouths of His servants and prophets. He allowed Israel
to be captured so the Assyrians came and carried them into exile in Assyria.
Jeroboam
would have been a very successful man had he seriously taken heed to the word
of God. He was a capable man and Solomon saw his capability, so 1 Kings 11:28 said
Solomon made him a supervisor. “Now the man Jeroboam was a valiant warrior, and
when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he appointed him
over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.” Besides, Jeroboam’s appointment
as the first king of Israel did not come without God’s approval. It was a
prophetic choice. In 1 Kings 11:31, the prophet Ahijah gave him a message from
God saying “Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the God
of Israel, ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and
give you ten tribes. Then in 1 Kings 11:38, God made him a great promise to him
saying, “Then it will be, that if you listen to all that I command you and walk
in My ways, and do what is right in My sight by observing My statutes and My
commandments, as My servant David did, then I will be with you
and build you an enduring house as I built for David, and I will give
Israel to you.”
What a promise! Jeroboam could have had a great ending had he taken the word of God to heart. But alas, he did not. He broke the very commandment which demanded that no one should ever make God into any form of a graven image. Yet he chose to make the golden calves. This serious mistake had caused Israel to careen into spiritual darkness. Since then things were no longer the same, Israel went from bad to worst. The great ending he was promised had been turned into a nightmare for Israel and for him. He became the bad example that every succeeding king of Israel after him emulated. Like him, we all can be an influencer for good or bad. It’s our choice. We can choose to be a force for God or a force against Him. We can choose to be a good or a bad influence. Whatever, our decision is, we must remember that we are creating the future of our families. Therefore choose carefully, what we want to do for God is not mocked for what a man sows, that he shall also reap.
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