The Ways of His Father Jeroboam
(1 Kings 15: 25~34)
Gods commandment needs to be interpreted from the viewpoint of love. Its neither about living ethical rules nor raising our children by moral standards. Many children whose parents were so proud of often turn out to follow their fathers example. In 1 Kings 15: 9~24, Abijah and Asa were described fully devoted to God all through their life thanks to the structure of true worship they belonged to. Todays passage is about the way of Israel differed from Judah. Lets see the ways of Jeroboam and his son.
1. Its part of an evil structure from Gods viewpoint. Although Jeroboams dynasty was sentenced to death by God, his sons managed to succeed the throne. Yet none of them truly repented, accelerating the time of Gods judgment. While Asa, the king of Judah did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, Nadab, the king of Israel did evil in the eyes of the LORD. He committed the evils of idolatry and tyranny because he didnt fear God, a feature of a hardened sinner. He seems to enjoy his earthly life for a while because of his success, but in reality his life is dreadful because he has no hope for tomorrow. Thus the sin of Jeroboam who left God was handed down to his descendants, the kings of Israel like original sin.
2. Its the way of their father, the devil. In John 8:44, Jesus called the Jewish leaders the offspring of their father, the devil, giving them a great insult. Yet whoever rejects Jesus is the devils descendant. We cannot be a middle-of-the-roader. The Jewish leaders turned out to be the devils descendants by standing against Jesus and trying to kill him. This is the way of the people in the world. Their devil father handed down the power of the golden calves to his children, urging them to keep walking the way of the devil from generation to generation, chasing the golden calves of money and power. The decisive evidence that they are the devils children is their greed, hatred, and lies. In John 8:45, 'a murderer from the beginning' means that the devil was behind the scenes of Cain and 'a liar and the father of lies' means that the devil pulls the wire of all lies. Thats why the Jews dont believe in Jesus, who speaks the truth. Thus those who belong to the devil dont listen to Jesus. The biggest murder in human history is Jesus crucifixion, caused by the wicked Jewish leaders, the puppets of Satan and carried out by the Roman soldiers. What matters to us is our golden-calf gospel that keeps us from believing in Jesus. Yet we care for the golden calves. Our feet are directed to Bethel, the worship place of the golden calves in search of success, which leads to the way of the devil.
3. Its the way of treason. After walking in his sinful ways, Nadab was killed by Baasha, who rebelled against him, which was not an accident, but the result of Nadabs sins. This was the end of Jeroboams dynasty. The Hebrew word rebel means to tie up. People of a kind tend to get together and build close ties with one another, which can lead to treason. Baashas treason shows that he had close ties with others. Yet Nadab didnt know that his people were leaning toward Baasha. Thus he neglected ruling his people, which helped cause treason. When we stand against God, we face betrayal in our human relations. We see treasons not only in our social relations, but also in our marital relations, which is the most destructive. We are spiritual beings. The most spiritual action we make is repentance. It makes us communicate with each other actively, enabling us to be what we are truly meant to be. When our spouse has an affair, we need to wait and repent of our sins, accepting that our poor spouse belongs to his or her devil father. Thats how we make our spouse truly repent. Discord leads a married couple nowhere. So it is with the church. Without unity and trust, it goes nowhere. The discord in the church stops salvation and other ministries.
4. Its the way of judgment that fulfills the Word. Notice the special focus on Baashas murder of Nadab. The king of Israel was killed at the critical phase of confronting the Philistines. This is a typical predicament that the children of the devil must face. Judah made proper succession to the throne within its structure of true worship service, but Israel couldnt. After Baasha was enthroned, he struck down the whole household of Jeroboam. God dethroned Nadab and destroyed his household using Baasha. The world follows the ways of Jeroboam. However, even in the household that God destroyed, Abijah, son of Jeroboam was blessed to die young of sickness. Thus God keeps some alive for their mission while letting others pass away. We need to heed Gods message in the book of 1 Kings we dont need to be afraid of death. God is 100% right. No matter how miserable the situation we are in, we need to take it as Gods warning and love for us in order to save us from the way of Jeroboam through his judgment. Jeroboams sins were handed down to his descendants in Israel, which brought Gods rage and judgment. Thus our forefathers of faith are important to us. Both the households of Jeroboam and of David offered their high-place sacrifices. However, God allowed Davids household to survive because God saw their faith in Him rather than their action.
5. Its the way of war-stricken life. Jeroboams dynasty fell after Baasha dethroned Nadab. All that Nadab did during his reign was besieging Gibbethon. Thus his authority without God left nothing behind. During the 41 years of Asas reign, there were constant wars. After his second Reformation, however, there was no war. Nevertheless, 1 Chronicles 16:1 deals with a war. So it is with our life. Even though our life is full of wars, we can make it warless by naming them as Gods. One deacon of our church made a bold application of cutting off his alcoholism, smoking, lewdness, and golf after coming to our church. However, he had to fight against his self-righteousness, worse than his other sins. To make things far worse, his wife got breast cancer. In order to avoid stress, he tried to purchase a camping car and travel around the country. Even after cutting off his old addiction, yet without repentance, he tried to leave his community in order to plunge into his old sinful life. However, because of stress and anger, he had to undergo surgery of a cerebral aneurysm. Then he stuck to his community and came to understand the message of Dont screw up the essential with the inessential. Later, he confessed that he would do QT every time he is disturbed and stick to his community. The way of Jeroboam is evil in the eyes of the LORD. Its spurning God and belonging to the devil. The lies and hatred in our heart cause constant treason and wars. In order to put an end to this war, we need to step forward with our eyes only on the Lord.
He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, walking in the ways of his father and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit. (1Kgs 15:26)
