As I’m currently blogging about the kings of Israel and Judah, it might be important to backtrack on the sin of Jeroboam, son of Nebat. 1st Kings 11 tells us of the event of Solomon’s backsliding and Jeroboam to becoming anointed king of the Northern Kingdom of Judah. Like Saul, Jeroboam the son of Nebat was anointed and raised by God Himself. We can even read in 1st Kings 11 that God also promised to give Jeroboam a good kingdom if the latter followed the ways of David. Unfortunately, like Saul, Jeroboam chose to follow wickedly. Saul perverted the offerings by making sacrifices only meant for the Levites. Later, Jeroboam perverted the offerings by making his own wicked religion with priests who weren’t Levites. Both were anointed as prophets but never followed the God of the prophet.
What becomes an interesting term is the “sin of Jeroboam”. 1st Kings 12 details the sinful idolatry of Jeroboam’s reign. It was when the worship of the golden calf was done. Exodus 32 talks about how Israel worshiped the golden calf. Now, Jeroboam decides to make it a state religion. This is how Got Questions would describe the sin of Jeroboam:
This practice of worshiping other gods began early in Jeroboam’s reign. When the kingdom was divided and he controlled the northern part, he stopped all pilgrimages to Jerusalem: “‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ One [golden calf] 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” (1 Kings 12:28–30).
In addition to sacrificing to these two golden calves, Jeroboam “built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites” (1 Kings 12:31). God’s entire system of holy days, sacrifices, and worship was changed into a man-made system focused on worshiping golden calves. In addition to the idolatry, the cities of Bethel and Dan became the places of worship rather than God’s chosen city of Jerusalem (cf. 2 Chronicles 6:6).
You can put away the founder but the heresy can persist for too long. Jeroboam’s family was destroyed. Jeroboam died and his son Elah only reigned for two years. Baasha later became the king sometime when Asa became the King of Judah. Baasha’s son Elah also only reigned for two years. Baasha may have put to death the House of Jeroboam but not the sin of Jeroboam. Baasha, rather than follow God, decided to still follow in the sin of Jeroboam, which is the idolatrous worship of the calves in Dan and Bethel. Many still followed even centuries after Jeroboam’s death. Today, many religious leaders of false religions are dead but their heresies persist. Buddha is dead but Buddhism persists. Mohammad is dead but Islam persists. The Pharisees are gone but Judaism still exists. The Pharisees are gone but it’s also survived in the form of Roman Catholicism. There are also other cult leaders who have died but their cults are still living up to this very day!
Amazingly, none of the kings of the Nothern Kingdom of Israel are righteous. Baasha’s family was gone and we had Zimri who only reigned for a week. Omri’s dynasty came up and we had the House of Ahab out from it. Ahab’s marriage to Jezebel made much sense because both were involved in idolatry. The marriage of Baal worship to the religion of Jeroboam was no surprise. Centuries later, Josiah came centuries later to fulfill the prophecy that was spoken against Jeroboam in 2nd Kings 23 and 2 Chronicles 34.
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