The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-07-06
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR JULY 10.
Subject: Jeroboam's Idolatry, I Kings
xiii, 25-33-Golden Text, I John, xv..
21-Memory Verses, 2s-30-Commen.
tarY on the DAYS Lesson.

21-Memory Verses, 28-30-Commen.
tary ON the Days Lesson.
|. I. Improvements made ". 25). %
"Then Jeroboam built" After he was
made king Jeroboam Immediately took
measures to establish himself in his king.
dom. There were bright prospects before
him. "Shechem." This city was enlarged
and fortified and thus made fit to be the
royal residence. But he soon removed his
capital to Trzah, a few miles north u
Kings l4:l7; Is, 2l), and this remained the
capital until Omri removed it to Samarla.
Mount Ephraim." See R. V. Not a sin:
Ephraim, extending from Bethel to the
most beautiful part OF the land. Went
out from thence" Shechem was the base
of operations in the building and fortifying
other cities. "Penuel." The place east OF
the Jordan, near the fords of Jabbok,
where Jacob wrestled with the angel (Gen.
32:30), and whose tower and inhabitants
in the time of the Judges Gideon had de.
stroyed (Judg. SID. Jeroboam probably
regarded it as an imnortant position, com.
handing the great caravan road to the
farther East, and accordingly fortified 1T.
II. Idolatrous worship established Tvs.
26-3l). 26. "Said in his heart" He did
not speak out his real motives. He would
have been ashamed to have done that, and
it would have been poor policy. His real
reasons were in lls heart, but he used an
other argument to the people. Return to
David" Jeroboam was eXaltlng policy
above principle. Josephus says The idea
was forced on the kings mind by the ap-
proach Of the feast of Tabernacies, at
which time it had been usual for the peo-
pie to 60 up in great numbers to Jerusa-
L.. e-l - 1,,o +hara for cnran dave u
"To offer sacrifices" (R. W. His keen eye
saw at once that the religious element in
mans nature IS a great power to be taken
into account in politics. Humanity, speak
ing, Jeroboam's fear was, it must be con.
fessed, well founded. "Shall kill me-"
When they we had time to repent of the
step taken. Such revulsion of feeling is
not Uneasy lies the head
that wears a crown" Jeroboam had for
tilted himself so ne did not fear war, but
now another danger seems to arise which
throws a gloom over his prospects. In re-
atty, however, there was no such danger,
for God had promised to establish his
kingdom on condition that he would serve
Him Il Kings 1883, and GcGs promise
was sure. .
%. "Took counsel" With his counsel
lors, or the heads Of the nation who had
helped him to the throne. They were evil
IDENTIFY like the king in worldly policy and
plans. Made two calves" Jeroboam's
residence in Egypt had made him familiar
with the calf worship SO largely practlced
there, and this, doubtless, had much to do
with the erection of these golden shrines;
besides, the people had already become &C.
customed to the sight of the figures OF
oxen in their religious ceremonial by their
presence as supporters of the molten sea
at the temple N Jerusalem. These calves
were not set up to be worshiped as idols
any more than were the ark and other sa-
cred shrines at Jerusalem, but Jeroboam
saw that he must provide for the religious
instincts of his people, and at once intro
duced a system of his own creation. Al
though he did not design to lead the peo-
pie into idolatry, yet he deliberately broke
the second commandment, and from wor-
Shipping God under a false and unauthor-
lied form, the people gradually learned to
worship other gods altogether. and the
the way for the temples of Ashtaroth and
Baal at Samaria and Jezreel." "Of gold"
1t was probably overlaid with gold. Too
much" The sense intended is probably
given in the margin of the Revised Yer
sion, aye have gone up long enough Je-
roboam's argument was, You have chosen
a new king, choose also new places for
worship" This was an appeal to the flesh
20. Bethel" A city in the extreme
southern part of the new kingdom. Dan"
Formerly called Laish, situated in the
northern part of the kingdom. There was
policy in choosing these places, as they
had been associated with religions worship
Sam. 1913; Judg. 1890. 30. Became a
sim" Tbs first and second commandments
were both broken; the service of God was
degraded, and the people were led into
idolatry, including the obscene rites prac:
ticed at idol shrines. Even unto Dan"
There are different views as to the mean
ing here. ~ 1t may mean that the people
went there to worship at once; or ~ it
may be intended to show that the people
preferred to turn from all associations with
Jerusalem and therefore went to far away
Dan on the northern frontier. 81. Made
an house." He built a temple or sanctuary
: at each of the two cities where the calves
were set up. "Of high places" Houses Of
worship were originally built on high
places and in groves on hill tops. MADE
priests" etc. See r. V. Jereoboam's sin was
not that he selected persons of low birth
or bad character to act as priests. but that
he selected them from among the people
without reference to tribes. thereby an
nulling the divine plan that they should be
of the tribe of Levi. "Sons Of Levi" Jer-
oboam would no doubt have been glad to
have retained the Levitical priests, but
they probably opposed his devices, for,
evidently banished by Jeroboam, they
went over in a body to Rehoboam.
III. A feast instituted Tvs. 80, 33). 90.
"In the eighth month" November. This
was to take the place of the feast of Taber-
nacles, one of the three great Jewish feasts
which, by divine appointment, was he'd on
the 18TH of the seventh month in Jerusa-
lem. Had Jeroboam provided no counter
attraction many OF his subjects would have
visited Rehoboam's capital at this time.
The reason generally given for changing
the time from the seventh to the eighth
month, in defiance Of the law OIev. 1884,
80, AZ, is that lin the northern districts
of his kingdom the grain Tipened at least a
month later than in southern Judah, and
this festival was to be kept at the ingather.
ing of the fruit of the land" 'He offered"
etc. "He went up into the altar" 4. V.
Affairs were assembled either by steps or az
inclined plane. The king assisted in the
dedication, thus initiating Solomon at the
dedication of the temple. So. He had de.
vised." The entire system of Jeroboam
receives it's condemnation in these words,
His main fault was that he left a ritual
and a worship whtre all was divinely all
thorized for ceremonies and services which
were wholly of his own devising. He was
placed in difficult circumstances. but he
met them with the arts of a politician, not
with the single-nindedness of a saint.
W.T.