1 Kings 13 is an odd chapter in the Old Testament. At least it seems odd to me. Solomon had died, his son Rehoboam had foolishly acted in a way that split the nation. The tribes Judah and Benjamin remained faithful in Jerusalem (becoming the Kingdom of Judah) while the remaining tribes split from them under the leadership of Jeroboam and set up their capital in Samaria (becoming the Kingdom of Israel). Jeroboam, worried about people returning to Jerusalem to worship at the temple and thus reunite with the House of David, set up a false worship, and installed anyone who wanted to be a priest to lead that false worship.
God sent a prophet to Jeroboam to proclaim judgment on the false altar and worship. Then it gets weird with that prophet being seduced by another and eventually killed.
But it is not the weird part I focused on this morning as I read the chapter. It was what Jeroboam did not do at the end of the chapter. “After all this Jeroboam did not repent of his evil way but again set up priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained whoever so desired it, and they became priests of the high places. This was the sin that caused the house of Jeroboam to be wiped out and annihilated from the face of the earth.” [vs33-34 HCSB]
Jeroboam, even after being warned about the evil of setting up false worship and idolatry, did not repent. He continued in his wickedness and was eventually destroyed.
God is calling His people to repent. That is the theme for this September 2020. Everywhere I look I hear the call of repentance. And as we know so well, it must begin with the church. We need to look at our ways and see if we have allowed a false worship or a shallow or perverted Gospel to infiltrate our gatherings. We need to determine if our leaders are following God as they should or if they have “become priests of high places.”
To repent involves sorrow and an acknowledgement of guilt as well as the courage to turn from our wicked ways back to our Savior and King. I pray, beloved, that the church finds that courage. Amen
