Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 214
202
IMMERSE
•
KINGDOMS
1K
| 12:25–13:6
doing!’” So they obeyed the message of the Lord and went home, as the
Lord had commanded.
Jeroboam then built up the city of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim,
and it became his capital. Later he went and built up the town of Peniel.
Jeroboam thought to himself, “Unless I am careful, the kingdom will
return to the dynasty of David. When these people go to Jerusalem to offer
sacrifices at the Temple of the Lord, they will again give their allegiance
to King Rehoboam of Judah. They will kill me and make him their king
instead.”
So on the advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He
said to the people, “It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem.
Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!”
He placed these calf idols in Bethel and in D
an—at either end of his
kingdom. But this became a great sin, for the people worshiped the idols,
traveling as far north as Dan to worship the one there.
Jeroboam also erected buildings at the pagan shrines and ordained
priests from the common people—those who were not from the priestly
tribe of Levi. And Jeroboam instituted a religious festival in Bethel, held on
the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in imitation of the annual Festival of
Shelters in Judah. There at Bethel he himself offered sacrifices to the calves
he had made, and he appointed priests for the pagan shrines he had made.
So on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, a day that he himself had designated, Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar at Bethel. He instituted
a religious festival for Israel, and he went up to the altar to burn incense.
At the Lord’s command, a man of God from Judah went to Bethel, arriving there just as Jeroboam was approaching the altar to burn incense.
Then at the Lord’s command, he shouted, “O altar, altar! This is what the
Lord says: A child named Josiah will be born into the dynasty of David.
On you he will sacrifice the priests from the pagan shrines who come here
to burn incense, and human bones will be burned on you.” That same day
the man of God gave a sign to prove his message. He said, “The Lord has
promised to give this sign: This altar will split apart, and its ashes will be
poured out on the ground.”
When King Jeroboam heard the man of God speaking against the altar at
Bethel, he pointed at him and shouted, “Seize that man!” But instantly the
king’s hand became paralyzed in that position, and he couldn’t pull it back.
At the same time a wide crack appeared in the altar, and the ashes poured
out, just as the man of God had predicted in his message from the Lord.
The king cried out to the man of God, “Please ask the Lord your God
to restore my hand again!” So the man of God prayed to the Lord, and
the king’s hand was restored and he could move it again.