1 Kings 12:25

1 Kings 12:25 says, Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.  Jeroboam began to build or fortify Shechem in Ephraim and Penuel in Gad, on the other side of the Jordan since he was not to rule out of Jerusalem.  He was including all of the tribes left for him to rule over.  God may call us to go and build a work in other places today, but that doesn't mean that He is not still at work where we have left.  Verse twenty-six adds, And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:  After this, Jeroboam asked rhetorically if the kingdom would now return to the house of David.  Matthew Henry says he was jealous of the people doing so and that building up these cities should encourage them to support him as king.  We can never build God's kingdom based on jealousy of others who are doing His work and still hope to be effective.  We must all work together.  Verse twenty-seven continues, If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.  Since the temple was in Jerusalem and Rehoboam was the ruler there, Jeroboam was afraid that when the people went to Jerusalem to worship God that they would follow Rehoboam and kill him.  He did not put a lot of faith in God and the fact that He had anointed him king over the ten tribes.  As followers of Christ, we should never be worried about those that God has placed us in a place of leadership over turning away to worship somewhere else.  If we are all following God's leadership, everything will be as God intends it to be.  Verse twenty-eight states, Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.  I am not sure who Jeroboam took council from, but it was bad advice.  Since he was worried about the people going to Jerusalem to the temple to worship, he made two golden calves and proclaimed them the be the gods that had brought them out of Egypt.  Not only was he making idols, but he was attributing God's work in the past to them.  We as Christians can never allow anything other than God to be what we worship, and we certainly should never attempt to attribute what God has done to some false god.  Verse twenty-nine adds, And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.  He put one of the golden calves in Bethel and the other in Dan.  He did not have much faith in the people or in God, and he should have also known that God was not confined to one place.  Instead of creating false gods. he could have built places to worship the true God other than the temple.  We should never believe that God is confined to one particular place.  Verse thirty continues, And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.  These idols became a source of sin for the people as they started to worship them.  It is surprising how easily God's people were led to worship false gods.  As followers of Christ, we must acknowledge that He alone can bring salvation to us, and if anyone attempts to teach anything else, we must reject their teachings.  Verse thirty-one says, And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.  Jeroboam then made a house of worship in the high places, and ordained his own priests, who were not Levites and were called the lowest of people.  We cannot afford to place people in positions of leadership in the church today who have not been called by God to serve in that position.  Verse thirty-two adds, And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.  Jeroboam then made a feast that would be like the one in Judah, except without God's blessing and put his priests, who were not God's priests, in charge of the sacrifices.   Our worship services must be in accordance with God's will, and we can never allow false leaders to lead us away from worshipping Him alone.  Verse thirty-three continues, So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.  Jeroboam led the people in worshipping what he himself had created.  Again, we can never allow manmade things to become a part of our worship service, but as Christians, we must always keep God at the center of our worship services.