Evening star., 1921-12-31
Sunday School Lesson

dence and dislike of Capitalization Of
power. 1t was an industrial, econom-
ic and democratic revolution that re-
duced Jerusalem from being the
proud capital city TO a religious
center.
When Rehoboam saw that he had
made d mistake he tried to make
amends by sending his chief tax col
lectOr with promises which II ne NAG
made when relief was requested
would have appeased the people, but
factional spirit had aroused such
antipathy that the kings messenger
was stoned to death. The young King
then organized an army OF lho,ooo
trained men from the ranks OF judah
and d portion Of Benjamin, VINO re
mained loyal to the house of DAVID.
The size of the force that he m"bi-
lizcd indicates the result of peace and
prosperity under David and solomon.
Shemaah, a fearless prophet OF IN"
everything God. turned them awaE
from battling with their own blo"d
by pointing out that the disruption VI
the kingdom was of God.
MANY a modern historian has falled
to see the hand Of God in the analrs
Of men. No one can separate the
golden rule from the solution OF the
industrial and economic problems that
are being faced by all government
at this very hour. Prof. Kari Bchr
of Munich. who was not a member "i
any religious organization, taught
his students That the best-estab-
lished doctrine OF historical phlI"-
sophy was thae all the power, pros
perity and mental energy of race
or nation sprang from and lived by
it's religion: that when its reaaSloh
ceased to be its faith-that a. ITS
energizing principle - The ihSf1ect.
nation died away in proporttSA ana
ultimately perished. both mentally
and physically" This truth was the
secret Of Gods selection of Joro-
bOam.
When the parliament of Israel re-
fused to ratify the selection of Reho-
boam as their king and selected a
new leader, their choice fell upon
Jeroboam. whose service and execn-
tive ability had made him marked
lca,Ier of men under Solom' II. He had
been summoned by his followers from
his exile in Egypt. where he was en-
ioying the protection of SEiskah. One
Of his fatal errors was the forming
of an alliance with this Egyptian
ruler instead Of trusting to Jehovah,
who had informed Jeroboam. through
the prophet, that he planned to d.
vide the nation and make him the
ruler over ten tribes feven before he
was forced by Solomon to seek the
protection of Shiskah Of EgypD, be-
cause the nation had forsaken Je
hoVah.
Jeroboam commenced to build up
and enlarge ancient Shechem the
capital of the northern nation OF
Israel. He restored the forts that
commando the Jabbok fords of the
Jordan. The far-sighted master
builder found that it was easier to
erect the outward buildings of the
nation than il was to dev aloD loyalty
among the citizens of Israel. The
gifted son of the worthless widow.
Zeruah. ard of Nebat failed becaus.
he evidently forgot God. who had
lifted him UP and established hIIa
1rmly upon the throne of Israel.
Like Napoleon. he recognized that the
religious nature of his subjects need
ed TO be met, and he proceeded to
develop two new centerS of religion,
which would break them from ;h,. re-
tiGiouS tie which united them [" Je-
| rusalem and the worship of Jeaova h
in connection with the temple serv-
ices.
He met the earthly difficulties of
MS kingdom in materialistic way
which tried to make religion easier
! for men and consequently less val
uable and helpful. H.. created coun-
terfeit religious centcrs at two old
, ana historic places Of worship. one in
the northern part and IN" Other 81,
! the southern portion of his I ng-
dom. BY dehas!ng rellEio. h..
brought a decayinc infiueu.a into
the patriotism of the peop.- The
very thing that he desired 10 develop
he weakened by establishing the false
faith. Ely making religion a s.con-
dary consideration he prepared the
way for the Introduction of idoiatry
from the heathen faiths His con-
demnation was the result of his in
ducinG the nation to share in idola-
| trous worship.
In considering his sin let us not for
get that Jeroboam probably did not
u n s.h 1G asl
ship of Jehovah. but rather to pre-
vent their worship Of Him to alien
ate them from Loyalty to Israel and
/ their king. He probably selected the
sites for the erection of the two
golden calves because Dan and Bethel
| were venerated as places of religious
worship in the thoughts of the peo-
( pie. He filled the ranks of the priest
hood from all classes because the
Levites probably deserted him when
worship and sought 10 influence the
nation to worship God at those points
rather than Jerusalem He knew
that it would be a popular move to
save the nation from the long Jour
ney to Jerusalem. which he did in
| an effort to decentralize the worship
which had been centralized in the.
Temple of Jerusalem. He stands con-
demned because he placed eXpediency
before righteousness. He made the
fatal mistake of using religion for
political ends. The union of church
and state has always proved disas-
trous TO faith. for politicians seek to
use religion to further their own
ends rather than the glory of God.
He brought upon himself and the
people the condemnation of Jehovah.
who had made him king because he
tried to substitute something else in
the place of the worship of the ever
living God and used his power for the
f,,,- l.,
Spelled the ultimate donln of Israel