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FOR A TIME (28 OF 52)

by Christopher Harbin

Scripture: 1 Kings 13:1-10
This content is part of a series.


For a Time (28 of 52)
Series: Discipleship Part Three
Christopher B. Harbin
1 Kings 13:1-10


Life is far too impermanent for us. Change is all around and integral to the very fabric of life. Regardless, we want things to be permanent, fixed, immutable. We don't want to have to keep relearning how to live and how to expect our interactions with others to go. When it comes to God and faith, we want to stop growing and changing as though we had already arrived at the limits of God's perfection. All the while, we know that we have still not attained all we could or should be. We still find it difficult to see that we are all in that process of growth, development, and learning to become the servants God has called us to become. How can we more fully recognize our need to allow God to transform us along with the leaders of faith we would prefer to set up on a pedestal for all time?

Jeroboam was appointed by Yahweh as king for the ten tribes of Israel. Solomon had forsaken the will and plans of Yahweh, and Solomon's son had done no better in his own rise to power. Yahweh divided Israel, placing ten tribes under Jeroboam, while reserving the tribe of Judah for David's line. It did not take long for Jeroboam to depart from Yahweh's plans for Israel. Indeed, serving Yahweh was never really one of his priorities. One of the very first things he did when he rose to power was to establish altars in two significant sites within Israel, placing golden calves there as idols for worship.

This was in no way part of Yahweh's will for Jeroboam and for Israel. Jeroboam, however, was not very concerned with what Yahweh wanted. His concern was that the Temple remained in Jerusalem. He feared that would split the allegiance of Israel. He believed it would cause his people to effectively abandon him as their king in order to continue worshiping in Jerusalem. His anxiety over coming to power in opposition to Solomon's son was far stronger than any notion of his remaining faith ...

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