1 Kings 14: 21

1 Kings 14:21 says, And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess.  Rehoboam ruled over Judah in Jerusalem, God's chosen city, for seventeen years.  He was born while David was still alive and grew up under the wisdom of Solomon, but he still failed to follow God.  Matthew Henry says that the fact that his mother was an Ammonite and that Solomon began to worship false gods at last seemed to have influenced Rehoboam more than God's truth had.  We cannot allow false ideas to enter our lives as Christians.  Verse twenty-two adds, And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.  Like the people of Israel, the rest of God's chosen people under Jeroboam, the people of Israel angered Him by doing evil in His sight.  Just because we call ourselves a Christian nation does not mean that we can do things that are against His will without provoking His anger.  They were even worse than their fathers in sinning.  Sin does seem to get worse the longer it is allowed to go on.  Verse twenty-three continues, For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.  They built places of worship to false gods in the high places.  They had God's temple, that was built by Solomon, the most magnificent temple ever built, but they weren't satisfied to worship there.  No matter how beautiful our houses of worship may be today, if we aren't there simply to worship God in them, then we are not going to be satisfied.  Veres twenty-four concludes, And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel.  They were also influenced by the practices of the Sodomites living in the land, even though God had destroyed Sodom because of their sinful actions.  The people of Judah had become totally corrupt in their relationship of God.  We should never allow corrupt practices or teachings into the church today.  Verse twenty-five states, And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:  In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, Shishak the king of Egypt went to war with Judah.  They no longer had God's protective hand on them, and neither will we today if we turn away from God.  Verse twenty-six adds, And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.  Shishak took away all the golden vessels that Solomon had made, both from the temple and from the king's house.  When we as followers of Christ stray away from Him, He will remove His protective had from us and we may lose everything of value in our life.  Verse twenty-seven continues, And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house.  Rehoboam didn't repent and ask God to help him reclaim all he lost but built inferior substitutes to replace them.  We should never be satisfied with anything less than a real relationship with God.  Verse twenty-eight says, And it was so, when the king went into the house of the Lord, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.  The guards had been given these brass shields brought them whenever Rehoboam went into the temple.  We should never rely on substitutes for what God has blessed us with and view them as being just as good.  Verse twenty-nine adds, Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?  We are told that the rest of what Rehoboam did was written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah, though it is posed as a question.  What we need to know is that anything done for God will be kept track of by Him and if no one else knows about it, that is okay.  Of course, He also knows the bad things we do, but as Christians, they will be covered by the blood of Christ.  Verse thirty continues, And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.  Rehoboam and Jeroboam were at war for all their lives after they split God's kingdom.  We cannot afford to split the church today and be at war with other Christians.  Verse thirty-one concludes, And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.  After Rehoboam died, his son Abijam ruled in his place.  We can be certain that church leaders are going to die today and need to be replaced, and we need to pray that they will be replaced by people devoted to doing God's will.

1 Kings 14:7

1 Kings 14:7 says, Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,  Ahijah told her to return to Jeroboam with a message from God.  We as Christians need to make sure that what we say is from God.  Ahijah then begins by telling Jeroboam what God had done for him.   Verse eight adds, And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;  Ahijah told her to tell Jeroboam that even though He had taken the kingdom away from the house of David and given it to Jeroboam, that Jeroboam had not been faithful to Him as David was.  If God does give us some special spiritual blessing, we need to remain faithful to Him in utilizing it.  Verse nine continues, But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:  Ahijah told her to tell Jeroboam that he had created idols to worship while ignoring God.  We need to pray that we never allow something to become an idol in our lives as Christians, but if we do, we can be certain that God will know about it and I believe make us aware of it as well.  Verse ten states, Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.  God said that because of Jeroboam's idolatry that all the males in his family were going to die.  He would not leave an heir to reign over Israel. If we worship idols instead of worshipping God today, it does not mean that our descendants are condemned, but it may make it more difficult for them to ever accept Jesus Christ themselves.   Of course, even if it does, we are ultimately responsible for our own relationship with God.  Verse eleven adds, Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the Lord hath spoken it.  God said that Jeroboam's descendants would not even be buried but would be eaten by dogs if they died in the city and by fowls if they died in the field.  They were to find no honor or glory even in their death.  Even though no one wants to think about their body being desecrated after they die, what happens to the body really isn't important from a spiritual perspective.   We are promised that God will resurrect us to live with Him forever with a new body, but the spirit is really what matters.  Verse twelve continues, Arise thou, therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.  Ahijah told Jeroboam's wife to arise and go home.  He also told here as soon as her feet entered the city that the child would die.  This had to have been hard for a mother to hear, and she probably had less to do with the worship of idols than Jeroboam did, but we are not told that she had remained faithful to God either.  We may not be openly professing other gods, but if we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, we are just as condemned as those who do.  Verse thirteen says, And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.  She was also told that this child would be the only one of Jeroboam's children to be buried and mourned, because he had a true relationship with God.  Once we are old enough to know right from wrong, we become responsible for our own relationship with God.  We are neither saved nor condemned because of the actions of our parents.  Verse fourteen adds, Moreover the Lord shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.  She was told that God was going to raise up a king who would cut off the house of Israel, much as He had called Jeroboam to rule over Israel instead of Rehoboam.  Had Jeroboam been faithful to God, there would have been a different outcome.  God calls all people to salvation, and I believe He has a purpose for all of us in His kingdom, but He allows us to make the choice of whether or not to accept His gift of salvation.  If we don't, we are forever condemned, and He will call another to fill our position.  She was also told that this was going to happen soon.  Verse fifteen continues, For the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the Lord to anger.  This was not going to affect only Jeroboam and his descendants, but all of Israel was going to be defeated and scattered because of their worshipping other gods.  We who call ourselves a Christian nation may be defeated and scattered if we turn our back on God and start worshipping other gods.  Verse sixteen continues, And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.  God said this was going to happen because of Jeroboam sinning and leading the nation of Israel to sin.  Still, though our sins may cause others to sin, we are each ultimately held accountable for our own sins.  Verse seventeen states, And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;  The mother got to the threshold of the door before the child died, but after she left on her mission for Jeroboam, she never saw her child alive again in this lifetime.  Still, if she had put her faith in God, she would see him again in his heavenly home.  If we have a child die when they are really young or after they are old enough if they have accepted salvation through putting their faith in Jesus Christ and we have done the same also, one day we will see them once more in our heavenly home.  Verse eighteen adds, And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.  As Ahijah had foretold by God's revelation to him, the child was buried and all of Israel mourned his death.  Still, this didn't really matter in terms of his soul's destination.  Likewise, once we die, our everlasting destination is already determined based on our relationship with Jesus Christ.  Verse nineteen continues, And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.  We really aren't told about the reign of Jeroboam after this, but he died soon afterward.  There was a book of chronicles that contained more about Jeroboam's reign.  The things that we do in this world really are not the important thing, and people may never know about them, whether they were good or bad, but our relationship with God through either accepting Jesus Christ our personal Savior and Lord or rejecting Him is all that matters spiritually.  Verse twenty concludes, And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.  Jeroboam died, and his son Nadab ruled in his place, but we know this could not last because God had taken the kingdom from Jeroboam and his descendants.  People who are not Christians may rule in the world today and even be followed by their children who are not Christians, but their reign will one day be cut off by God, after the return of Jesus Christ if not before. 

1 Kings 14:1

1 Kings 14:1 says, At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.  At this time, which I would assume was shortly the prophet of God had denounced his idolatry, Jeroboam's son fell sick.   People in power are not exempt from sickness themselves or in their families.  Verse two adds, And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.  Jeroboam told his wife to disguise herself and go to Shiloh where the prophet of God, Ahijah, lived.  Ahijah was the one that told him he would be king, so he may have put more faith in him since this came to pass.  Still, he had all his false prophets with him, so he must not have put much faith in them.  I believe that instead of sending his wife in disguise, he should have gone openly to Ahijah himself confessing his sins and repenting and seeking God's forgiveness.  Of course, he should have confessed his sins to God first and personally asked his forgiveness.  If we are out of God's will or if we have never accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord to start with, we must go to Him personally, confess our sins, and ask His forgiveness.  Verse three continues, And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.  Jeroboam told his wife to take some gifts for Ahijah with her.  I don't know if he was doing this in an attempt to get Ahijah to give him a good answer about his son or not, but it seems that he might have been.  I do know that we should never attempt to bribe God or His appointed leaders in order to get what we want.  Verse four states, And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.  Jeroboam's wife did as he asked and came to Ahijah.  I am sure that she was concerned about the son as well, so this may have motivated her even more.  We should always be concerned about the sick people our family, including our spiritual family, but we need to go not just to a church leader to seek their healing but to God Himself.  Ahijah was old and blind by this time.  His physical sight might have been gone, but that doesn't mean that his spiritual sight was.  Physical limitations should never stop us from serving God.  Verse five adds, And the Lord said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.  As just stated, Ahijah's physical sight may have been gone, but spiritually his spiritual sight was still good.  If we as followers of Christ are following the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we should never be deceived by anyone.  God also told Ahijah what he as to say to Jeroboam's wife.  Whatever we tell people today, it should be based on the truth of God.  Verse six continues, And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.  Ahijah told her to come in, acknowledging that he knew that she was the wife of Jeroboam.  He asked her why she was pretending to be someone else, and then told her he was sent to her with heavy tidings.  He was following God's instructions to him, and so must we today.  Like Jeroboam's wife, it will do us no good to pretend to be someone or something that we aren't when we come to God.  

1 Kings 13:25

1 Kings 13:25 says, And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.  Some people came along and saw the carcass of the prophet with the lion standing by it and went and told people in the city where the old prophet lived. We are not told that they had attempted to retrieve the body of the prophet, but only that they brought news of what they had seen.  Some people are better at talking about things than they are at taking action.  Verse twenty-six adds, And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the Lord: therefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him.  The old prophet who had lied and led the other prophet to disobey God did not take responsibility for what had happened but said that it was the prophet who had disobeyed God who was destroyed by the lion in punishment for his sin.  Those who lead us away from God's will by lies are never going to be quick to take responsibility if God punishes us.  Of course, ultimately the responsibility for our sins is ours personally.  Verse twenty-seven continues, And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.  The old prophet did begin to take some responsibility, telling his sons to saddle an ass for him, but it was too late to help the prophet who had been killed.  We may ultimately take responsibility for leading others astray, but it is often too late to undo the consequences of our sins.  Verse twenty-eight states, And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.  The old prophet found the body of the other prophet and the ass standing by it unharmed.  The lion had neither eaten the body nor torn the ass.  The ass was not being punished, and what happened to the body of the prophet after he was dead had nothing to do with God's punishment of him.  Punishment for our sins will never ultimately focus on our earthly body but on our soul and what happens in God's everlasting kingdom.  Verse twenty-nine adds, And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.  The old prophet brought the body of the other prophet back to the city to mourn and bury him.  We are not told if he did this because his lie had influenced the other prophet to disobey God or not, but we may mourn our actions if we lead others to sin, but that is going to do nothing to change the situation.  Verse thirty continues, And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!  The old prophet buried the other prophet in his own grave saying. Alas my brother.  I don't know if this was more because of what had happened to the other prophet or out of regret for his lie or both.  We may be sorry if our lies lead others to harm, but it may be too late to do them any good.  Verse thirty-one says, And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:  The old prophet instructed his sons to bury him with the man of God, or other prophet, when he died.  He recognized that the other man had indeed been a man of God, and I believe that he was also acknowledging that he had not acted like a man of God in the situation.  Our actions after someone we have led astray has died are never really going to matter, nor is it going to matter if we try to honor them when we die.  Verse thirty-two adds, For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.  The old prophet said that all that the prophet had declared against the altar at Bethel and the high places would come to pass.  Of course, this was because the judgment was not the other prophet's but was God's.  Even if we aren't always faithful to God, His promises will always come to pass.  Verse thirty-three continues, After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.  The prophesy of the prophet had no effect on Jeroboam except to make him even worse in his sinful actions and idolatry.   Some people are not going to accept God's truth no matter how clear it may become to them because they do not want to take themself off the throne of their live here in this world.  Verse thirty-four concludes, And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.  Jeroboam's sinful actions would lead to his house being cut-off from God's kingdom forever.  Though our actions cannot cause anyone else to be denied salvation and everlasting life with God, if we reject Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, this will cause us to be cut off from His kingdom forever.

1 Kings 13:11

1 Kings 13:11 says, Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father.  The sons of an old prophet in Bethel came and told him all that the prophet had done in Bethel that day.  I don't know why God had not spoken through this prophet, but He chose to use someone else instead, but it may be because of his character as we will see.  Still, when someone is doing a great work for God today, we need to let others know, and we can never be jealous of their work.  Verse twelve adds, And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.  The old prophet asked his sons which way the other prophet went, and they told him toward Judah.  The prophet who had confronted Jeroboam was doing what God had told him to do, and so must we today.  Verse thirteen continues, And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,  The old prophet had his sons saddle him an ass and he rode on him after the other prophet.  Since we are not told the name of either prophet, this can become confusing when talking about them.  As we know though, we don't know the names of all those who had worked to spread the gospel of Christ nor of all those who have professed to but really don't, as we will see was the case of the old prophet.  Verse fourteen states, And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.  The old prophet caught up with the other prophet as he was sitting under an oak.  I am not sure why he had stopped, but He wasn't still on his way home as God had told him to be.  I do know that we should never stop short of doing what God has commanded us to do.  Verse fifteen adds, Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.  The old prophet invited the other prophet to come home with him and eat bread.  Having a meal seems to be a simple and non-sinful thing to do, and some things that we as Christians may be invited to do today may seem simple and unoffensive to God.  Verse sixteen continues, And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:  The prophet told the old prophet that he couldn't do this.  Verse seventeen declares, For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.  He then told the old prophet why he couldn't.  God had told him not to eat or drink until he got back to where he came from.  This should have been the end of the conversation as far as the prophet was concerned.  God had told him what to do, and until God told him otherwise, he should have simply obeyed God.  So must we today.  Verse eighteen adds, He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.  The old prophet said he was also a prophet and that an angel had spoken to him and told him to bring the prophet home with him so he could eat and drink, but he lied.  We are never actually told that this old prophet was a prophet of God, and by his actions, we have to conclude that if he had been, he no longer was acting as one.  Just because someone claims to be speaking for God today by His authority doesn't mean that they are, and we as followers of Christ must be careful that we aren't deceived by them.  Verse nineteen continues, So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.  The prophet went with the old prophet and ate and drank with him, even though God had told him not to eat and drink there.  We are not told that the prophet sought God's guidance in the situation and that should have been the first thing he did.  If God had spoken to him to send him there and tell him what not to do while he was there, he should have questioned why God would not speak to him directly if he had changed His order to the prophet.  If God calls us to do something for Him today, and someone tells us that God told them something different, we need to do what God has told us to do.  We should certainly not just follow what they tell us to do without praying about it, because as Christians, the Holt Spirit will always lead us to the truth of God.  Verse twenty says, And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back:  This time, God did speak through the old prophet.  We may not always understand God's ways, but we can always be sure that He is aware of what is going on in the world.  Verse twenty-four adds,  And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,  The old prophet told the other prophet that God had told him that God was aware of his disobedience, and He will always be aware of ours today.  Matthew Henry says we might wonder why the old prophet wasn't punished for lying to the other prophet, but this sin was on the other prophet alone.  He had disobeyed God's command to him.  Our concern should never be whether God punishes others or not, but it should be whether we are obeying Him or not no matter what anyone else may tell us.  Verse twenty-two continues, But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers.  God told the prophet that since he had disobeyed Him, he would not be buried with his ancestors.  As Christians, where we are buried should be of little importance and if we are a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, we will never lose our place in God's family, but there will be consequences in this lifetime, if it is only a feeling of guilt. Verse twenty-three states, And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.  After the prophet ate, he was given or loaned an ass by the old prophet and he left.  I have to wonder what both of them were thinking at this time.  If we have allowed ourself to be led astray today as Christians, it doesn't really matter if someone else tries to make life easier for us if God has already pronounced His judgment on us.   Of course, the sentence that God pronounced on the prophet concerned only his physical state and not his everlasting soul.  Though God may punish us in this lifetime, if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, our soul is safely in God's care forevermore.  Verse twenty-four adds. And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.  On his way home, a lion killed the prophet and stood by his carcass.  God's word to the propjet was fulfilled, just as it always will be today.  Though we may think it unfair that this prophet was punished, and we aren't told that the old prophet who lied was, what we need to understand is that we are only responsible for our own actions, and no matter what someone else may tell us, we must be faithful to God's calling in our life.

1 Kings 13:1

1 Kings 13:1 says, And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the Lord unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.  A man of God, a prophet out of Judah was sent by God to Bethel, and Jeroboam was standing before the altar of his false god ready to burn incense.   God sent him straight to the source of the problem, which was Jeroboam and his false gods.  God will still send people to address false gods today I believe, and He will make it clear when He does.  Verse two adds, And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee.  This prophet didn't address Jeroboam, but he addressed the altar instead.  This was where the people were worshipping the false gods.  God today will condemn the sin while still reaching out to the sinner with His love.  I am sure that God would have preferred for Jeroboam to repent and be saved instead of being destroyed.  Matthew Henry says it was about 356 years before this prophesy was fulfilled totally fulfilled, but it was always a certainty that it would be, just as the return of Christ is, no matter how many years may pass before He returns.   Verse three continues, And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the Lord hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.  The prophet gave a sign that this was going to happen, and that sign was that the altar would be rent and the ashes on it would be poured out.  This would show God's superiority over these false idols, and we would have thought would have made Jeroboam repent and return to worshipping God.  I don't believe that God is going to destroy all the false religions today, but when Jesus Christ died on the cross, all these false religions were already defeated and one day all their places of worship will be destroyed.  All we can do in the meantime is share the gospel.  Verse four states, And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.  When Jeroboam heard what the prophet had to say, instead of repenting, he removed his hand from the altar and told those there to grab the prophet.  This prophet was not afraid of what Jeroboam might do to him, but was ready to do as God had commanded him to do, and so must we be ready to do whatever God calls us to do.  Jeroboam's hand dried up and he couldn't pull it in again.  This should have been a pretty good sign that the prophet was speaking for God.  Verse five adds, The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.  What God had said was going to happen to the altar then happened, and so would the things that He foretold about the future.  When Jesus Christ died and arose, all earthly barriers between man and God were removed, but this only matters if we accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord.  We can also be certain of His return when God says the time is right.  Verse six continues, And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.  Jeroboam asked the man of God to pray to his God and ask that his hand might be restored.  Of course, this should have been Jeroboam's God as well, and I believe it tells us a lot that he didn't pray to his god.  False gods will always be powerless to do anything.  The prophet then prayed to God and Jeroboam's hand was restored, which once more showed the power of God.  Verse seven says, And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.  Having just been ready to seize the prophet, Jeroboam then asked him to come home with him and he would reward him.  If God does something great through Christians today, the people of the world may want to reward us materially, but we need to make sure that God gets the credit and the glory instead.  We should never do anything for God expecting any material reward for it.  Verse eight adds, And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place:  The prophet told Jeroboam that he would not go with him if he offered him half of his kingdom, and he added that he would not eat or drink in that place.  If we are offered a reward for doing God's work today, we likewise need to decline ifr God has told us to have nothing to do with the place where we have been sent after we proclaim His word. Of course, we are supposed to reach out to sinners, but even in doing this we must act under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Verse nine continues, For so was it charged me by the word of the Lord, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.  The prophet said God had charged him to not eat bread or drink water there, but to deliver the message and leave.  Sometimes, all God calls us to do is deliver His message of salvation and then to be on our way.  Verse ten concludes, So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.  Having been told not to return the way he came, the prophet took a different way back to Bethel.  We must also go where God sends us and leave it up to Him where we go next.

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.