1

Jeroboam Builds the Golden Calf in Bethel and Dan

2

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."
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."

(1 Kings 12:28-29)

3

Israel, ruled by Solomon, who received great wisdom from God, was truly blessed and happy. Solomon built the temple of God so that all the people could worship God.
But as he grew older, King Solomon fell into the sin of forsaking God and worshiping idols. Even though God warned Solomon, he was arrogant and did not listen to God.

4

God warned Solomon of the punishment he would receive for his sin of worshiping idols as follows.
[So the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates.
Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime.
I will tear it out of the hand of your son.
Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."
(1 Kings 11:11-13)]

5

After Solomon's death, God's word was fulfilled. In the time of Solomon's son Rehoboam,
the 10 tribes did not serve Rehoboam as king, but served a new king named Jeroboam.
Israel was divided into two countries, Judah South and Israel North, according to God's word.

6

Jeroboam, who became the first king of northern Israel, was originally Solomon's subordinate. When King Solomon left God and fell into the sin of idolatry, God sent the prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam. The prophet Ahijah met Jeroboam in the field wearing new clothes.

7

The prophet Ahijah tore the new garment into twelve pieces and spoke the word of God to Jeroboam. “Take the ten pieces, and I will take the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes, leaving Solomon with only one tribe.
But I will not do this while Solomon is alive.”

Because of the sin of idolatry that Solomon committed, God said that after Solomon's son became king, he would divide Israel into two nations and give ten tribes of them to Jeroboam.

8

Prophet Ahijah continued to preach the word of God to Jeroboam.

[If 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. (1 Kings 11:38)]

9

According to God's word, Jeroboam became the first king of northern Israel with 10 tribes. Jeroboam did not become king on his own. He became the first king of northern Israel because God gave him grace because of Solomon's sin of idolatry.
God promised Jeroboam through the prophet Ahijah that if Jeroboam obeyed God's word,
He would be treated him like King David.

10

However, Jeroboam couldn't live according to God's Word and was preoccupied with absurd things. At that time, there was no separate temple in northern Israel.
Because of this, the northern Israelites went down to the temple in southern Judah and offered sacrifices to God. Jeroboam was displeased with his people going to southern Judah.

11

Jeroboam saw the people going to the temple in southern Judah to offer sacrifices and thought to himself:
'I don't know if this country will go back to the house of David.
The people will continue to go to the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem to offer sacrifices.
If they go that way, their hearts may turn to Rehoboam, king of Judah.
Eventually they will kill me and follow Rehoboam king of Judah.’

After thinking this, Jeroboam was seized with great anxiety and thought about what God hates the most.

12

Jeroboam gathered his servants and consulted to prevent the people from going down to Judah. After consulting with his servants, Jeroboam told the people what he wanted to do.

“It is too difficult for you to go to Jerusalem and worship. O Israel, your god who brought you out of Egypt is here.” Jeroboam said that Northern Israel had a god who would play the role of God.

13

What Jeroboam said was a god to replace God was, surprisingly, a golden calf idol.
Jeroboam made two golden calves and set them up at Bethel and in only two places.
In order to prevent the Northern Israelites from going down to Judah, Jeroboam made the Israelites worship idols by setting up a festival to offer sacrifices according to his own will.

14

The people of Northern Israel followed the words of Jeroboam and worshiped the golden calf at Bethel and Dan, and committed the sin of idolatry with false worship.
Jeroboam did not stop there. He built many high places.
There he selected priests from among the common people, who were not Levites, and put them to work there.

15

Jeroboam himself offered sacrifices and worshiped in front of the golden calf idol.
And at the feasts he set according to his own heart, he offered sacrifices at the altar in Bethel and went up to the altar to burn incense. Jeroboam committed the same sin even though he knew that Solomon was punished by God for his sin of worshiping idols and that the kingdom was divided.

16

Prophet Ahijah, who prophesied that Jeroboam would become king after a while, delivered the following scary prophecy to Jeroboam, who fell into idolatry.
[You have done worse than those who ruled before you. You have angered me greatly by betraying me and making other gods and idols. Therefore I will punish Jeroboam's family.
I will kill every male in your household, whether slave or free.
I will completely destroy your family like trash is burned with fire. Dogs will eat the body of any member of your family who dies in the city, and birds will eat the body of anyone who dies in the field.]

17

God's word of prophecy was fulfilled in the time of Baasha, the third king of Northern Israel.
In the third year of Jeroboam's son Nadab's reign, a man named Baasha killed Nadab and became king of northern Israel. Baasha killed all the members of Jeroboam's family.
Just as God had said, everyone in Jeroboam's family died and perished.

18

God raised Jeroboam, who was not qualified, as the first king of Northern Israel.
Jeroboam failed to do as God commanded. He ignored the fact that God, who had made him king, was the only one who would keep the position, and thought that his family would be able to rule for a long time as long as the northern Israelites were not allowed to go down to Judah, so he made idols in Bethel and Dan. It is. However, because of this sin, his family was completely destroyed.

We must not fall into the sins of Jeroboam. We must not forget the grace of God who saved us who did not deserve salvation. And we must believe that God is the one who will make us prosper on this earth, and we must strive to keep the Word of God and do it.
Then God will exalt us like King David and raise us up as great figures of faith.

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)