Consider the "Sins of Jeroboam"
Throughout the history of the kings of Israel, one bad king set the standard for the onslaught of evil kings to follow: King Jeroboam. Subsequent kings were measured by whether they continued in the “sins of Jeroboam” (1 Kings 15:34 1 Kings 15:34And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin.
American King James Version×, 1 Kings 16:19 1 Kings 16:19For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin.
American King James Version×, etc.), and no king achieved a higher degree of infamy. Jeroboam did many evil things, but the most distinctive offense, the one that really belonged to Jeroboam, was changing God's Feast of Tabernacles!
After Solomon's reign, God split the 12 tribes of Israel into two distinct nations. God chose Jeroboam as the first king of the newly formed “house of Israel,” consisting of the 10 northern tribes, and promised to bless him with an enduring line of kings if he would follow God's law (1 Kings 11:38 1 Kings 11:38And it shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with you, and build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.
American King James Version×). However, many of God's commandments revolved around worshiping at the temple in Jerusalem - located in the rival “house of Judah” consisting of the southern two tribes. Specifically, God commanded the people to return to Jerusalem each year for His appointed festivals, and Jeroboam feared that these annual visits would sway the allegiance of the people (1 Kings 12:26-27 1 Kings 12:26-2726 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 to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
American King James Version×). As a result, Jeroboam decided to replace the problematic laws of God with a counterfeit religious system that consolidated his power.
Jeroboam set up temples full of idols for the people to worship and established his own priesthood (1 Kings 12:31 1 Kings 12:31And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
American King James Version×). As sinful as these actions were, they were nothing new and were certainly not unique to Jeroboam! The people of Israel had been committing idolatry ever since the golden calf at Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:1 Exodus 32:1And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
American King James Version×), and they had already defiled the office of the priesthood by setting up their own priests (Judges 17:5-6 Judges 17:5-65 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
American King James Version×). Though he instituted much evil, there is only one “sin of Jeroboam” that was truly original:
The Feast of Tabernacles, the very observance that Jeroboam infamously turned Israel away from, just ended. God wants Christians to worship Him in “spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24 John 4:23-2423 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
American King James Version×). Take the time to learn the ugly truth about the holidays that you have been taught, and even more so the amazing truth about God's Holy Days that you have not been taught!
American King James Version×, 1 Kings 16:19 1 Kings 16:19For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin.
American King James Version×, etc.), and no king achieved a higher degree of infamy. Jeroboam did many evil things, but the most distinctive offense, the one that really belonged to Jeroboam, was changing God's Feast of Tabernacles!
After Solomon's reign, God split the 12 tribes of Israel into two distinct nations. God chose Jeroboam as the first king of the newly formed “house of Israel,” consisting of the 10 northern tribes, and promised to bless him with an enduring line of kings if he would follow God's law (1 Kings 11:38 1 Kings 11:38And it shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with you, and build you a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel to you.
American King James Version×). However, many of God's commandments revolved around worshiping at the temple in Jerusalem - located in the rival “house of Judah” consisting of the southern two tribes. Specifically, God commanded the people to return to Jerusalem each year for His appointed festivals, and Jeroboam feared that these annual visits would sway the allegiance of the people (1 Kings 12:26-27 1 Kings 12:26-2726 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 to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
American King James Version×). As a result, Jeroboam decided to replace the problematic laws of God with a counterfeit religious system that consolidated his power.
Jeroboam set up temples full of idols for the people to worship and established his own priesthood (1 Kings 12:31 1 Kings 12:31And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
American King James Version×). As sinful as these actions were, they were nothing new and were certainly not unique to Jeroboam! The people of Israel had been committing idolatry ever since the golden calf at Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:1 Exodus 32:1And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron, and said to him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
American King James Version×), and they had already defiled the office of the priesthood by setting up their own priests (Judges 17:5-6 Judges 17:5-65 And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
American King James Version×). Though he instituted much evil, there is only one “sin of Jeroboam” that was truly original:
“Jeroboam ordained a feast on the 15th day of the 8th month, like the feast that was in Judah… in the month which he had devised in his own heart ” (1 Kings 12:32-33 1 Kings 12:32-3332 And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like to the feast that is in Judah, and he offered on the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. 33 So he offered on the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast to the children of Israel: and he offered on the altar, and burnt incense.The “feast that was in Judah” is the Feast of Tabernacles, which begins yearly on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. The sin which truly set Jeroboam apart was changing God's commanded Feast of Tabernacles from its appointed time to “the month which he had devised in his own heart .” Many Israelites were led astray by this deception, but did you know that an even greater deception now afflicts the majority of Christianity? Have you ever wondered why Christmas and Easter are not mentioned by name in the bible, and why there is no command to celebrate these events? Like Jeroboam's feast, these holidays were devised in the hearts of men as a counterfeit of God's Holy Days!
American King James Version×).
The Feast of Tabernacles, the very observance that Jeroboam infamously turned Israel away from, just ended. God wants Christians to worship Him in “spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24 John 4:23-2423 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
American King James Version×). Take the time to learn the ugly truth about the holidays that you have been taught, and even more so the amazing truth about God's Holy Days that you have not been taught!
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