Last week, we talked about our names, and the story they tell.
When one reads through the books of 1 and 2 Kings, a common indictment on most of the names of the rulers is this:
they continued in the “sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat.”
Ouch! Jeroboam, what were you thinking. You didn’t care that your name would become a byword.
Your legacy could be summed up like this sir:
“Jeroboam tried to erect a new nation that did not include God, and he failed miserably…but he actually succeeded in messing up God’s people for a long time.”
This guy knew the Israelites were obligated by God to return to three times a year to the annual feasts in Jerusalem where the ark of the covenant was housed.
His lust for power blinded his reasoning so he changed God’s ordinance.
II Chronicles 11:15 reads:
…”and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made. 15 Jeroboam appointed his own priests to serve at the pagan shrines, where they worshiped the goat and calf idols he had made.”
He didn’t want his power base to be diminished so instead he diminished God’s reign in the hearts of God’s people.
This is a new version of breaking bad, and it would be best that we pay attention to this rich Biblical history: Attempting to Oust God of His plans is never a good idea.
Friends, never forget that it takes a good guy to fight the bad guy.
Today, bad is extremely popular once again. If they would read history, they would see how God always wins.
In this biblical history, we also hear about another guy named Rehoboam.
So now we have Jeroboam and Rehoboam in the storyline and both men are reigning as kings.
One is over the southern region of Israel and the other over the Northern tribes. This obviously makes them rivals, and we would expect that the good guy is going to stand up to the bad guy. NOPE. Both these leaders were playing games with God.
If we don’t wake up in this nation, the influence of the bad guy will continue to permeate our nation.
What happens to the king who is over the northern kingdom is so sad.
They chose to follow hard in the steps of the bad leaders they admired. They boldly chose not to course correct.
So disappointing.
Dads of today, I remind you that your kids are watching you.
You can’t coast along in this great hour of need – remember these words:
Jeroboam replaced the proper worship of God with the worship of idols/images, and he appointed priest’s contrary to God’s commands.
These practices, which profane the true worship of God, were the reason the northern nation of Israel was cast out of the land.
They were led into exile as slaves by the Assyrians. Friends, I am sure you are feeling how a dark spirit was loosed upon our nation, and we are seeing its chaos unfold on university campuses and in Israel.
Let’s wake up and repent so we can stop the spiritual plague before it’s too late.
