THE TWO HOUSES OF ISRAEL (6) Jeroboam’s Plan

During the time of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms:

1. HOUSE of JUDAH

Formed by two tribes: Judah and Benjamin

Under the authority of king Rehoboam, who kept Jerusalem as his capital, where the Temple was located.

2. HOUSE of ISRAEL

Formed by 10 tribes: Reuben, Simeon, Ephraim, Manasseh, Asher, Naphtali, Gad, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan.

Under the authority of Jeroboam, who established his capital in Samaria.

As for the tribe of Levi, let’s remember that it was scattered throughout all of Israel’s territory. The Levites were given 48 cities to dwell in the midst of the people of Israel (Joshua 21).

THEY KEPT THE NAME

It is important to note that the Northern Tribes kept the name “Israel”. Why? Because that was their inheritance.

As we previously mentioned (in part 4 of this study), the name of the father (Israel) was given to the firstborn, and Israel’s birthright was given to Joseph (1 Chronicles 5:1-2).  As the firstborn, Joseph also received a double portion of the inheritance, and he was given two tribes, each with the name of one of his two sons: Manasseh and Ephraim. However, out of his two sons, Ephraim was the one who received the blessing of the firstborn (Genesis 48) and with the blessing he obtained the honor of keeping the name of Israel. That is why when the kingdom was divided, the tribe of Ephraim kept the name of “Israel” and therefore the Northern Kingdom received the name: House of Israel.

Even though Rehoboam was the legitimate king from David’s lineage, his kingdom received the name “House of Judah”, because he was from the tribe of Judah. Benjamin was the only tribe to remain faithful to Judah, probably because the Temple and the kingdom’s capital, Jerusalem, was located in their territory. They were later joined by the tribe of Levi. Not only by the Levites who lived in their territories, but also by the rest of their tribe who fled from the north because of the appalling decisions Jeroboam made, which we will now see…

NORTHERN KINGDOM

Jeoroboam was elected as the first king of the Northern tribes. Everything seemed to be going well at first, but then Jeroboam began to feel insecure and vulnerable. He began to fear that at any moment his position as elected king could be taken away.

(I Kings 12:26-27)  And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David.  (27)  If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah." 

All the tribes of Israel would go up to Jerusalem three times a year, to celebrate the feasts of the Lord in the Temple (Leviticus 23). By so often going to Jerusalem, Jeroboam feared that his people would see that Rehoboam had changed and they would want to go back to serve the king of Judah, David’s descendant.

To prevent the Northern tribes from returning to Rehoboam, Jeroboam designed the following plan:

a. Substitute the place of worship

b. Substitute the priesthood

c. Change the biblical calendar

The strategy was to change the Northern tribe’s religious system in order to prevent them from going up to Jerusalem to praise God.

We will now see each of the measures Jeroboam took as part of the plan he developed to keep his kingdom…

a. Substituted the place of worship  

(I Kings 12:28-30)  So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt."  (29)  And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.  (30)  Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one. 

Jeroboam revived the worship to the “golden calf”, just as the Israelites had done while they were in the wilderness (Exodus 32). More than a “pagan idol” that calf was a false image of God, who had taken them out of Egypt.

How could the people accept such a thing? It may have been because of the convenience. Jeroboam set two golden calves: one in Bethel, on the southern border of his kingdom, and the other in Dan, on the northern border. The Israelites living in the north did not have to travel a long distance to “worship God”, since they could now do it in Dan. Those living in the south no longer had to cross the border towards Judah, since they had their place of worship in Bethel.

The ones who were truly opposed to these changes were the Levites, therefore Jeroboam took the following measure…

b. Substituted the priesthood

The Levites knew the Word of God, and did not give in to Jeroboam’s manipulation. That is why the king appointed other “priests” to serve in the new worship system that he was making up.
(I Kings 12:31)  He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. 

The role of the Levites among his brothers was to teach the Torah. That is why God had scattered the Levites among all the tribes of Israel, having them dwell in the 48 Levite cities. The rest of the tribes would give them their tithes so they could work on the occupation God chose for them. However, when Jeroboam changed the priesthood, the Levites living in the north had to run away.

(2 Chronicles 11:14-15)  For the Levites left their common lands and their holdings and came to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons cast them out from serving as priests of the LORD, and he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat idols and for the calves that he had made.

c. Change the biblical calendar

To prevent the Israelites from desiring to go to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts of the Lord in their appointed times, Jeroboam proclaimed a new feast to be celebrated among the northern tribes.

(I Kings 12: 32-33)  And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.  (33)  He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar to make offerings.

The new worship system established in the House of Israel was slowly transforming them into a nation that seemed more gentile than Israelite, away from their Hebrew roots and the traditions the Lord had instituted for them in His Torah.

(Hosea 8:11-12)  Because Ephraim has multiplied altars for sinning, they have become to him altars for sinning.  (12)  Were I to write for him my laws by the ten thousands, they would be regarded as a strange thing.

However, God will call them to repentance…