The Sins of Jereboam

"One Year Bible" Old Testament History Passage
I Kings 12:20-13:34

"Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, 'It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem.  Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!'  And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.  Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worhsip before the one as far as Dan."  I Kings 12:28-30 (NKJV)

Conflict produces confusion and compromise.  When Israel and Judah divided into the Northern and the Southern Kingdoms, it was like a family split.  It was like a divorce.  In the wake of this internal war, Israel (the Northern Kingdom) was faced with a serious dilemma.  Jerusalem was the designated place of worship.  But Jerusalem was now in Judah -- "enemy territory."  Israel's new king, Jereboam, knew that if his people were continually traveling down to Jerusalem to worship, they would eventually return their allegiance to the king of Judah.  He couldn't have that, so he came up with a solution: build new worship centers in Israeli territory.

Conflict produces compromise.  When people fight over rights and relationships, usually everyone loses.  The solution is often some makeshift arrangement that satisfies no one.  This is the tragedy of church splits and broken relationships.  We usually end up with something less than the best.  It's a compromise. 

Good, clean relationships are an invaluable ingredient to our walk with God.  When pride and self-preservation control the day, we usually end up with a golden calf. 

One last word: THIS IS NOT EASY.  By no means are the solutions simple.  It can get very complicated very quickly, so I by no means suggest that conflict resolution is a piece of cake.  But, we MUST seek with all our hearts to bridge the gap, to solve the problems, to correct the misunderstandings.  No only does the Word of God command this, but also, the rewards are fantastic!

Israel never really recovered from this original sin.  It became standard in the history of Israel to say, "they did not depart from the sins of Jereboam."  How they started ended up being how they finished.