The Religion of the House of Israel

TheReligionoftheHouseofIsrael.mp3

by Pastor Don Elmore

December 7, 2014

Scripture Reading:  1 Kings 12:25-33

Location of where Jeroboam's temples in ancient IsraelThis map shows the two cities where Jeroboam 1 built his false temples; one in the South, the other in the North.  From the very beginning, the House of Israel did not worship their God correctly.

Let’s see what the opening Scriptures say about how the House of Israel began; The House of Israel had the:

  • Wrong King:  Had a man who was not of the seed of David:  Jeroboam was a king who was born from the seed of Ephraim (2 Kings 11:26).  God ordained that all kings were to come from the family of David, of the lineage of Judah.
  • Wrong Priests:  Jeroboam made priests of the lowest of the people:  None were of Levi.  God ordained that all His priests were go come from the line of Levi; no other tribe.
  • Wrong Temple:  Jeroboam made two new temples; one in Bethel and the other in Dan.  Inside each temple he put what he said were the “gods that brought you out of Egypt”:  two golden calves.  God had built His house in Jerusalem.  His throne was in the inner court on the Ark of the Covenant.
  • Wrong feast days:  Jeroboam made a feast that was similar to Judah’s but he celebrated it on the wrong month; the 8th instead of the 7th.
  • Wrong laws kept:  Jeroboam kept a different set of laws than what God told them to do.   In fact, it says that the kings of Israel all followed after the commandments of other gods, particularly Baalim. 

The House of Israel experienced in 205 years: 19 kings; 9 dynasties; 7 assassinations; 1 suicide; 1 killed in battle; 1 died falling through a lattice and each new king was worse than his predecessor.  There was not one good king in the whole bunch according to the Bible.  The Old Testament refers to the kingship of Israel as all being disobedient to the Laws of God.