Jeroboam thought to himself, “Unless I am careful, the kingdom will return to the dynasty of David. When these people go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the Temple of the Lord, they will again give their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and make him their king instead.” So on the advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He said to the people, “It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!” He placed these calf idols in Bethel and in Dan…But this became a great sin, for the people worshiped the idols…1 Kings 12:26-30 (NLT)
It can be argued that Jeroboam knew exactly what he was doing when he set up those calves as gods. He must have known that he was mixing true worship with false worship of their neighbouring countries. He must have known that the golden calves transgressed the second and third of the Ten Commandments.
The second and third commandments say – “You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them…” Exodus 20:3-5 (NLT)
Also, was he aware of the story of Aaron and the golden calf centuries before and the resulting consequences? “Then Aaron took the gold, melted it down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. When the people saw it, they exclaimed, ‘O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” Exodus 32:4 (NLT)
What about the people? What’s their personal relationship with God like? They should have been aware of the above commandments and Israelite history, but they chose to wholly follow the leading of the king.
Many Christians are more attached to their church leader than to God. Some have so revered their church leader that they would rather obey them than God or His Word.
In an attempt to be more “inclusive” and “relevant”, some church leaders devise alternative and ‘more convenient’ worship experiences for their members. These alternative and convenient worship experiences are sometimes alien or foreign to biblical teachings. It sometimes involves strange ideology, teachings and doctrines which are contrary to scripture teachings.
We have sadly, heard stories of people ending up in cults such as that ran by David Koresh in Wako, Texas. David Koresh was infamous as the self-styled prophet who thought he was the Messiah. About 75 people died when a week-long siege of the site ended in tragedy in 1993.
It is so important that we seek to develop a genuine personal relationship with God and spend quality time studying His Word. This is how we can spot when another gospel is being preached and when a foreign ideology and doctrine is introduced. If we don’t acquaint ourselves with God and His Word, we can easily be misled down the wrong path.
LORD, help us not to set up any idol physically or in our heart no matter how we think it aids us in worshipping You, Amen.
Stay blessed,
LaraLex
Hills and Valleys 