Pattern and Principles: The Deceit Within

Pattern and Principles: The Deceit Within

1 Kings 12:28-30 (NIV) – After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.

Often blatant sin like adultery, homosexuality, lying, are very visible and pointed out quickly, but there are sins, that posses itself as “religious” and appeals to human nature rather than God’s instruction to us.

Such is the case with Jeroboam, as recorded in the Bible. Jeroboam was a general with king Solomon, and when God judged Solomon by breaking the kingdom to two, God chose Jeroboam to lead the 10 northern tribes known as Isreal (and Rehoboam, son of Solomon ruled two tribes known as Judah).

It was God who chose Jeroboam to lead Israel, yet he thump his nose to God, by making idols (golden calves – like their parents did in the desert), he put one in Dan and another in Bethel, his human thinking was, if I let them go to Jerusalem – where the Temple is, Rehoboam won’t let them come back, he forgot God gave the kingdom to him.

Many of us today are like General Jeroboam, God has elevated us and given us status, but we’ve now decided to continue on our strength not leaning on the God that gave us what we had in the first place. We thump our nose at him and come up with our human rules for His people, to justify or prolong our rulership.

What God wants from us, is not us creating our own rules because of what we see physically or what our common sense (emotion and intellect) tells us, but for us to TRUST God fully, after-all He brought us where we are and He’ll take us to that expected end, if we only lean on Him and not trust in the arm of flesh.

Resist the urge to go it alone with little success, learn to solely and continually lean on Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith. Don’t be like Jeroboam.