Setting Up Idols In Bethel

Then he made two golden calves, and he said to the people, “Going to Jerusalem is too difficult for you. Israel, here is your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” He set up one in Bethel, and put the other in Dan. 1 Kings 12:28,29

First, Jeroboam built two idols and placed them in Bethel and Dan. Bethel means House of God and Dan means He judged. In the House of God, Jeroboam erected an idol—the golden calf. Jeroboam setup up a new altar to offer sacrifices before the golden calf. The golden calf received these sacrifices.

Instead of the Lord’s altar and the ark of the covenant, there was a golden calf and a human altar in God’s house. On a human altar made in God’s house and dedicated to the Golden calf, people offered sacrifices. What an awful thing Jeroboam did?

On the outside its God’s house but inside there is a human altar and idols of other Gods. There are numerous God’s houses/churches in existence today, but on the inside were human altars and idols representing various lusts, greed etc. God once referred to you as his house, but where are you now? Watch out for Jeroboam.

Jeroboam primarily committed 3 sins in the below sequence.

1) Create idols and place them in the House of God.

2) Replace the Lord’s altar with human made altar

3) Offer sacrifices dedicated to the Idol

False preachers also do the same

a) Create idols and place them in the House of God.

Idols are representations that take away God’s Glory. It can be anything that takes away God’s Glory, such as man worship or false doctrine. They create and bring these idols and place them in the house of God. They advocate the idea that God will come to you rather than you coming to him.

They make people walk before these idols. It indicates that they want people to adopt the nature of the idol rather than the nature of God. They begin to resemble the nature of the idol rather than God’s nature. God’s nature is lamb’s nature – always be prepared to carry out his master’s will till death. Slowly people fail to distinguish between God’s nature and idol’s nature. Finally, people fail to recognise God’s true son Jesus. Self-idols are created in people’s hearts as a result of this process.

b) Replace the Lord’s altar with human altar

People sacrifice on the altar. The Lord’s altar is the Cross. The sacrifice has already been made. Jesus is the sacrificed lamb of God. Human altar is the place or need of offering sacrifices rather that looking at finished work of the Cross. Blood of Jesus shed once washed away all sins of humanity from everlasting to everlasting. These false prophets will continue to urge people to offer sacrifices, such as excessive tithing, good deeds without Christ and participation in Godly work but not God’s work.

God’s work not done in God’s time and God’s will turns stale.

Instead of focusing on the Saviour, they encourage people to make additional sacrifices in an effort to earn God’s favour. The false preachers bring the message of earning God’s favour.

These false preachers remove the part of returning back to God by looking at Jesus sacrificed on the Cross. There is no way to return back to God without the Cross and the sacrifice of Jesus. False preachers entirely eliminate the returning part. They talk to people about blessings of God in spite being in a place of sin and without any repentance (coming back to God via Cross). Repentance is the communication channel of God. When this channel of communication is broken, God sends prophets to repair and restore it again.

Sacrifices on the Lord’s Altar – means repentance of sins by acknowledging the significance of Jesus’s atoning work on the Cross.

Sacrifices on Human Altar – generate fake repentance of sins by looking at their self-state and the lifestyle of the church i.e. elders, leaders, etc. For example – wearing of jewellery or white dress because of church’s standard is fake sacrifice. Wearing of jewellery or white dress acknowledging the reverence for Jesus reflecting unblemished nature of God can be true sacrifice.

c) Sacrifices dedicated to Golden calf

Sacrifice is offered to God for washing/taking away their sins. In Old Testament when sacrifice is offered, the unblemished animal takes away the sins. Sacrifices are made to appease God’s anger and wrath towards sinful people.

When a sacrifice is dedicated for the Golden Calf, we are using the sacrifice to appease Golden Calf’s wrath. We are thinking that the Golden calf is angry. We forget that God’s anger has come because of the sin. Sacrifice to False idol will increase God’s anger. In this God’s anger is still burning against the sin and people.