Godless Delusion Ii Series

We saw last week King Rehoboam (Solomon’s son) listening to the advice of his peers, motivated by his own desires, caused the split of the Kingdom.

• This turn of events fulfilled the Word of God given to Solomon and Jeroboam.

• We see the sovereignty of God and the certainty of His Word.

With the harsh words from the King, the TEN TRIBES walked out on him. They made Jeroboam their King.

• Let’s read what Jeroboam did in 1 Kings 12:25-33. Godless delusion II.

Jeroboam drove the Northern Kingdom further away from God. He created a new religion.

• His behaviour was odd and unexpected, given the fact that God has spoken to him earlier and prepared him for this.

• This outcome wasn’t unexpected. God pre-empted him when God spoke to him. “TEN TRIBES would follow you. You will be King over them.”

Yet he was driven by fear and insecurity, because he heard another voice.

• Jeroboam THOUGHT TO HIMSELF: "The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David… They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam."

• ESV and KJV puts it, “Jeroboam said in his heart…”. He was hearing his own voice.

• His own voice was SO LOUD that it drowned out what God has said.

Has that happened to you? When your own thought overwhelms you and you are filled with fear and worry, even though God has spoken to you in His Word?

• This Word of God cannot gets through, but your thoughts get through to you?

• You don’t remember what God says. You remember only what you think about.

What exactly did the Lord say to him in chapter 11, through prophet Ahijah?

• 11:31 “Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon's hand and give you ten tribes.’”

• 11:35 “ I will take the kingdom from his son's hands and give you ten tribes.”

The Lord said more.

• 11:37-38 “37However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. 38If you do whatever I command you and walk in my ways and do what is right in my eyes by keeping my statutes and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you.”

• “Your Kingdom will last, your throne will be secured, BY ME actually, if you walk in My ways and keep my commands.”

• That’s the assurance God gave him! So his fear is unfounded and his insecurity is unreal.

There is certainty to God’s Word because ten tribes had already followed him.

• If Jeroboam had taken the time to reflect, he would have seen this outcome as a fulfilment of God’s Word to him.

• That would have given him faith in God’s Word and the assurance that his Kingdom will endure, as God said, if he obeys Him.

But Jeroboam chose to believe his own voice - “The people will kill me and return to Rehoboam…”

• Who are we really listening to today? Are we preoccupied by what we think or what God says?

Jeroboam made the 2nd big mistake, when he listened to the voices of men, his advisors.

• 12:28-30 “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, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt." 29One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30And this thing became a sin; the people went even as far as Dan to worship the one there.”

Jeroboam wanted to do something to make his Kingdom more secure.

• God has already laid down the prescription for success, but God’s Word was not enough for him.

• Now he listened to the voices of godless men and decided to create a new religion that would hold the people back within the boundaries of his Kingdom.

• He was seeking to secure his Kingdom in his own ways and by his own hands, while ignoring what God has clearly said.

Listen to his call to worship – 12:28 “Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”

• Sound familiar? It’s almost an exact quotation of the line taken from Exodus (Exo 32:4). It regurgitates the same cry the apostate Israelites made after their exodus from Egypt, when they made a golden calf to worship.

• Jeroboam probably wanted this. “Remember we did this before? It’s not something new. This is not a wild idea. It’s a ‘tradition’ of our ancestors when they gained freedom from Egypt…”