Contemplative Bible Reading

1 Kings 12:28-29 (New International Version 2010)

²⁸ 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, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” ²⁹ One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. ³⁰ And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.

Something a little different from this blog. Today’s verses come right after those of yesterday’s post.

A little reminder, Jeroboam is king of Israel. Well, he was king of the Northern Ten tribes of Israel. These tribes had split from the southern two tribes when Solomon died and left his son Rehoboam as king of all the tribes. Rehoboam didn’t last long as king of all the tribes. I contend that he lasted only three days.

Jeroboam had a little problem: God’s people were required to go to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. Jeroboam takes a different angle in these verses to convince the people to stay with him in his kingdom.

Jeroboam turned worship into convenience.

No need to make the long journey to worship. You can worship close to home instead.

Today, we aren’t required to worship God in a certain place like Jerusalem. I believe that we worship where we are everyday of the week. Worship is how we live every day.

I could think of more convenient ways to worship God. For example, if I only worshiped God one hour on Sunday morning, that would be more convenient. Another example, if I only worshiped God when in an official “church” building, that would be more convenient. Another example, if I only worshiped God when I was with other Christians, that would be more convenient. I could go on with more examples. I can think of these examples because unfortunately I have lived them.

I guess things haven’t changed much in the centuries since Jeroboam.