HE DEVISED. 1st Kings 12:25-33 Jeroboam and Rehoboam were men without integrity and had ulterior motives behind their actions. The integrity of the Body of Christ is seriously questioned in the world today. One reason is that people expect Christians to be different from others, even though they are criticized for being different.
Look at the … Reproach: the conduct of the church is in question. The character of the church is in question. For 19 centuries, the church has told the world to admit its sins, repent, and believe the Gospel. Now, the world is telling the church to admit its sins, repent, and start being the church of that Gospel. We used to boast that, as Christians, we are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, but perhaps now, the Gospel of Christ is ashamed of us. Our ministry doesn’t match our message. People have always questioned the message of the Gospel because they are lost. Today, the messenger is suspect. The ministry and the church's message have lost credibility because the church has not set its house in order.
Regression: a person with integrity has a single heart. His heart is in heaven where his treasure is [Mat.6:19-24; 1Jn.2:15; Mat.22:31]. A person with integrity has a single mind [Jas.1:8; Heb.11:13-16 …Abraham]. A person with integrity has a single will – one Master [Jn.8:36]. A person without integrity thinks that darkness is light [1Jn.1:5-6]. The first step toward inner darkness is hypocrisy, lying to others, and pretense. A person without integrity lies to himself and believes it [1Jn.1:8]. A person without integrity tries to lie to God, thus making God a liar [1Jn.1:10].
Rebellion: [Jer.23:14-15] Truth is preached, but there is no response in the hearers' hearts. Religion is a popular thing that makes people happy but not holy. Leadership deals only with surface matters and does not dare to get to the root cause. Teachers use familiar language (they thought they were filled with the Spirit when the spirits fooled them) but avoid repentance. False prophets used religion for personal gain and gloried in their prosperity.
Review: [Ezra 9:6] Compromise instead of consecration – social acceptance, success. Idolaters instead of integrity – celebrities, reputations, popularity. Results instead of reality – numbers, statistics, crowds. Watchers instead of worshipers – spectators, entertainment, enthusiasm. Popularity instead of penitence – pride, performance, applause.
Responsibility: (1) faithful to the Gospel [1Cor.4:2; 1Thes.2:5-3. The message must be right – “exhortation not from error”; the motive must be right – “or uncleanness”; the method must be right – “nor was it in deceit.” (2) Reject the “success gospel” – Pop gospel tries to make us believe God’s greatest concern is to make us happy, not holy; He is more concerned about the physical and material than the moral and the spiritual; that we enjoy life. The partial gospel is not gospel – it is a gospel with no integrity, a fraction of a message; it cheapens the most costly thing God ever did; it gives a distorted view of God
Convenience compared to command in the things of God is a problem among Christians today in a way that is similar to the Israelites in the past. Political concerns often affect spiritual commitment when Jesus Christ is not Lord, in actual fact, in the life of a believer. Rather than seeking the Lord's guidance and will in a matter, even when dealing with a problem of injustice and/or unfairness, a child of God who looks at an event or an issue through the eyes of the world will make a mistake that may never be rectified.
As a young man, Jeroboam had great leadership potential, and God was willing to use him for His own purposes. However, Jeroboam took things into his own hands and acted independently. That which could have been a great opportunity, both for him and for those he led, was ruined by his scheming ways. "He thought to himself" - not went to the Lord for guidance. "He fortified Shechem " - a place of his own choosing. "He lived there," and "he went out and built up Peniel."
Acting independently of divine direction, even when it came to a seemingly sensible decision to build up a strategic city, left Jeroboam without the support of the Lord. It may be because of youthful inexperience, not pride, that Jeroboam "thought to himself" or "said in his heart" that he would lose that which God said he would have. For whatever reason, he listened to bad advice and made the two calves of gold. Like ambitious, presumptuous Jeroboam, the loyalty and interest of convenient religious practices are sought by those who ignore the word of God.
A great opportunity for the good of God's people can be lost by making a decision, even a small one, in the energy of the flesh. Carelessness in one matter leads to the consequences of error, even though we may try to correct it later. To assume authority over that which God does Himself leads to serious mistakes that can hinder the work of God for generations. It is not an uncommon practice today to seek to combine paganism and the worship of God. Pagan practices are noisy, appealing to the flesh, and popular because they make people feel good about themselves. Such practices have been associated with idolatry all over the world for generations. Now, these practices have found their way into church services and are called "worship" under a "worship leader."
In Jeroboam's day, they professed to worship God, but in their own way and place, at a convenient time. This practice led to even Bethel (the house of God) becoming notable as an idolatrous, wicked city condemned by the prophet Amos. This practice is still wrong. It is not at our convenience nor in our way that we "worship the Father in spirit and in truth." Both "spirit" (of people) and "truth" (of God) are involved in worship. Solomon started this whole problem, and by the time Rehoboam and Jeroboam took leadership of the divided kingdom, the people of Israel were accustomed to this compromised religion.
Both Dan in the north and Bethel, twelve miles from Jerusalem, had "high places," and all that went on there was an abomination to the Lord. To abandon spiritual principles for practical expediency is a device Satan has used effectively down through the ages to this present day to hinder the work of God.
Jeroboam was really to blame for the apostasy of the northern tribes, but Rehoboam, by his arrogance and lack of common sense that could be considered childish, was also at fault concerning what happened in Israel. Solomon had written more than twenty practical exhortations in the Proverbs that begin with “My son.” Even though these are for “Our learning and admonition,” Rehoboam would have been in Solomon’s mind as “The instruction of a father.” He passed on to his children what David had taught him.
To “Get wisdom; get understanding” is still essential for us in the time and place in history in which we live. We should take the exhortation to “Keep thy heart with all diligence” as a word from our heavenly Father. “The beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water; therefore leave off contention before it be meddled with” is as applicable to us as it was to Rehoboam when Solomon wrote his proverbs.
“A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger” should have been Rehoboam’s response to the grievances of the Israelites who came to him from the northern tribes. The old men knew by experience what worked in maintaining peace among the people. The grievous words Rehoboam’s peers advised to give, created a division that lasted as long as the nation did.
But who really is to blame for all of this division, dissention, and anger leading to tension and warfare? Solomon was the main cause. He and his family after him reaped what he sowed. He tried to please all the “strange women” by making temples for their idols. That caused a great burden of taxation and conscripted labor on the Israelites who should have been able to do their own work.
When a child of God gets sidetracked and out of fellowship with God, it affects other people. To allow extravagance and pleasure to become the objective of our lives is sure to have lasting effects on those who come after us. The downward course of apostasy is unstoppable and leads to death and destruction. To abandon biblical truth for expediency will cause the promise of “I will be with thee,” to be forfeited.