Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites. Jeroboam also built shrines on the high placesJeroboam's actions in building shrines on high places reflect a common practice in ancient Near Eastern religions, where high places were often associated with worship and sacrifice. This was contrary to the centralization of worship that God commanded in Deuteronomy 12:5-14, where He instructed that sacrifices should be made only at the place He chose. Jeroboam's decision to establish these shrines was a direct challenge to the religious reforms of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem, which was the designated place for worship. This act of building high places was a significant step in leading the northern kingdom of Israel into idolatry, as it encouraged the people to worship outside of the prescribed manner and location. and appointed from every class of people priests
In appointing priests from every class of people, Jeroboam broke with the Mosaic Law, which specified that only the descendants of Levi, and specifically the family of Aaron, were to serve as priests (Exodus 28:1, Numbers 3:10). This democratization of the priesthood undermined the established religious order and was a move to consolidate his political power by creating a new religious system that was loyal to him. This action can be seen as a rejection of God's ordained structure for worship and leadership, leading to spiritual decline and confusion among the people. who were not Levites
The appointment of non-Levites as priests was a significant violation of the covenantal laws given to Israel. The Levites were set apart for service to God, and their role was integral to maintaining the purity and holiness of worship (Numbers 18:1-7). By choosing priests who were not Levites, Jeroboam not only disregarded God's commands but also set a precedent for further religious corruption. This act foreshadowed the eventual downfall of the northern kingdom, as it strayed further from God's laws. The New Testament echoes the importance of proper spiritual leadership, as seen in the qualifications for church leaders in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, emphasizing the need for adherence to God's standards. Persons / Places / Events 1. JeroboamThe first king of the northern kingdom of Israel after the division of the united monarchy. He led Israel into idolatry by setting up golden calves and appointing non-Levitical priests. 2. High PlacesElevated sites often used for worship in ancient Israel. These were contrary to God's command to worship at the temple in Jerusalem. 3. Non-Levitical PriestsJeroboam appointed priests from tribes other than Levi, which was against the Mosaic Law that designated the Levites as the priestly tribe. Teaching Points The Danger of IdolatryJeroboam's actions remind us of the subtlety and danger of idolatry, which can lead us away from true worship. Obedience to God's CommandsThe importance of adhering to God's instructions, especially regarding worship, as deviation can lead to spiritual downfall. Leadership ResponsibilityLeaders have a significant influence on the spiritual direction of their people. Jeroboam's choices led Israel into sin. The Importance of Proper WorshipWorship should be conducted according to God's standards, not human convenience or innovation. Guarding Against CompromiseCompromise in spiritual matters can lead to a gradual decline in faithfulness to God. Bible Study Questions 1. What were the consequences of Jeroboam's decision to appoint non-Levitical priests, and how can we apply this lesson to our own leadership roles? 2. How does the concept of high places in 1 Kings 12:31 relate to modern-day "high places" or idols in our lives? 3. In what ways can we ensure that our worship remains true to God's commands, as outlined in Scripture? 4. How does the New Testament teaching of the priesthood of all believers challenge or affirm the actions of Jeroboam? 5. What steps can we take to avoid spiritual compromise in our personal and communal worship practices? Connections to Other Scriptures Exodus 32The incident of the golden calf, which parallels Jeroboam's sin of idolatry. Deuteronomy 12God's command to worship at the place He chooses, highlighting the sin of setting up unauthorized worship sites. 1 Peter 2:9The New Testament concept of the priesthood of all believers, contrasting with Jeroboam's unauthorized appointments. People Adoniram, Adoram, Ahijah, Benjamin, Dan, David, Israelites, Jeroboam, Jesse, Levi, Levites, Nebat, Penuel, Rehoboam, Shemaiah, SolomonPlaces Bethel, Dan, Egypt, Jerusalem, Penuel, ShechemTopics Appointed, Built, Classes, Extremities, Houses, Levi, Levites, Lowest, Maketh, Places, Priests, Shrines, Sons, Sorts, Though, WorshipDictionary of Bible Themes 1 Kings 12:31 7374 high places
7767 priests, OT institution
8739 evil, examples of
8769 idolatry, in OT 1 Kings 12:26-33 5811 compromise
7233 Israel, northern kingdom 1 Kings 12:28-31 7442 shrine Library How to Split a Kingdom
And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel were come to Shechem to make him king. 2. And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt); 3. That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying, 4. Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScripturePolitical Religion
'Then Jeroboam built Shechera in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. 26. And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 27. If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this 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. 28. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture "This Thing is from Me"
"Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me."--1 Kings 12:24. IT IS VERY DELIGHTFUL to read a history in which God is made prominent. How sadly deficient we are of such histories of our own English nation! Yet surely there is no story that is more full of God than the record of the doings of our British race. Cowper, in one of his poems, shows the parallel between us and the house of Israel, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 42: 1896 The Hebrews and the Philistines --Damascus
THE ISRAELITES IN THE LAND OF CANAAN: THE JUDGES--THE PHILISTINES AND THE HEBREW KINGDOM--SAUL, DAVID, SOLOMON, THE DEFECTION OF THE TEN TRIBES--THE XXIst EGYPTIAN DYNASTY--SHESHONQ OR SHISHAK DAMASCUS. The Hebrews in the desert: their families, clans, and tribes--The Amorites and the Hebrews on the left bank of the Jordan--The conquest of Canaan and the native reaction against the Hebrews--The judges, Ehud, Deborah, Jerubbaal or Gideon and the Manassite supremacy; Abimelech, Jephihdh. The Philistines, …
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 6 How God Works in the Hearts of Men.
1. Connection of this chapter with the preceding. Augustine's similitude of a good and bad rider. Question answered in respect to the devil. 2. Question answered in respect to God and man. Example from the history of Job. The works of God distinguished from the works of Satan and wicked men. 1. By the design or end of acting. How Satan acts in the reprobate. 2. How God acts in them. 3. Old Objection, that the agency of God in such cases is referable to prescience or permission, not actual operation. …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion Use to be Made of the Doctrine of Providence.
Sections. 1. Summary of the doctrine of Divine Providence. 1. It embraces the future and the past. 2. It works by means, without means, and against means. 3. Mankind, and particularly the Church, the object of special care. 4. The mode of administration usually secret, but always just. This last point more fully considered. 2. The profane denial that the world is governed by the secret counsel of God, refuted by passages of Scripture. Salutary counsel. 3. This doctrine, as to the secret counsel of …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion The Upbringing of Jewish Children
The tenderness of the bond which united Jewish parents to their children appears even in the multiplicity and pictorialness of the expressions by which the various stages of child-life are designated in the Hebrew. Besides such general words as "ben" and "bath"--"son" and "daughter"--we find no fewer than nine different terms, each depicting a fresh stage of life. The first of these simply designates the babe as the newly--"born"--the "jeled," or, in the feminine, "jaldah"--as in Exodus 2:3, 6, 8. …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life The Instrumentality of the Wicked Employed by God, While He Continues Free from Every Taint.
1. The carnal mind the source of the objections which are raised against the Providence of God. A primary objection, making a distinction between the permission and the will of God, refuted. Angels and men, good and bad, do nought but what has been decreed by God. This proved by examples. 2. All hidden movements directed to their end by the unseen but righteous instigation of God. Examples, with answers to objections. 3. These objections originate in a spirit of pride and blasphemy. Objection, that …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion The Twelve Minor Prophets.
1. By the Jewish arrangement, which places together the twelve minor prophets in a single volume, the chronological order of the prophets as a whole is broken up. The three greater prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, stand in the true order of time. Daniel began to prophesy before Ezekiel, but continued, many years after him. The Jewish arrangement of the twelve minor prophets is in a sense chronological; that is, they put the earlier prophets at the beginning, and the later at the end of the …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Of Civil Government.
OF CIVIL GOVERNMENT. This chapter consists of two principal heads,--I. General discourse on the necessity, dignity, and use of Civil Government, in opposition to the frantic proceedings of the Anabaptists, sec. 1-3. II. A special exposition of the three leading parts of which Civil Government consists, sec. 4-32. The first part treats of the function of Magistrates, whose authority and calling is proved, sec. 4-7. Next, the three Forms of civil government are added, sec. 8. Thirdly, Consideration …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion Travelling in Palestine --Roads, Inns, Hospitality, Custom-House Officers, Taxation, Publicans
It was the very busiest road in Palestine, on which the publican Levi Matthew sat at the receipt of "custom," when our Lord called him to the fellowship of the Gospel, and he then made that great feast to which he invited his fellow-publicans, that they also might see and hear Him in Whom he had found life and peace (Luke 5:29). For, it was the only truly international road of all those which passed through Palestine; indeed, it formed one of the great highways of the world's commerce. At the time …
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life The Figurative Language of Scripture.
1. When the psalmist says: "The Lord God is a sun and shield" (Psa. 84:11), he means that God is to all his creatures the source of life and blessedness, and their almighty protector; but this meaning he conveys under the figure of a sun and a shield. When, again, the apostle James says that Moses is read in the synagogues every Sabbath-day (Acts 15:21), he signifies the writings of Moses under the figure of his name. In these examples the figure lies in particular words. But it may be embodied …
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible Kings
The book[1] of Kings is strikingly unlike any modern historical narrative. Its comparative brevity, its curious perspective, and-with some brilliant exceptions--its relative monotony, are obvious to the most cursory perusal, and to understand these things is, in large measure, to understand the book. It covers a period of no less than four centuries. Beginning with the death of David and the accession of Solomon (1 Kings i., ii.) it traverses his reign with considerable fulness (1 Kings iii.-xi.), …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 1 Kings 12:31 NIV1 Kings 12:31 NLT1 Kings 12:31 ESV1 Kings 12:31 NASB1 Kings 12:31 KJV
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