So the king came up with a plan: He made two golden calves. Then he announced, "It's too much trouble for you to go to Jerusalem to worship. Look at these—the gods who brought you out of Egypt!" He put one calf in Bethel; the other he placed in Dan. This was blatant sin. Think of it—people traveling all the way to Dan to worship a calf!Most people know that when Moses led God’s people out of Egypt, he went up to a mountain and carried down the Ten Commandments. When he came down to the people, he saw that they had constructed a golden calf to worship. You might think their descendants would tell that story enough times that no one would dare construct another golden calf to worship.
However, many years later, the people had forgotten much of the story about Moses and what happened when the people worshipped the golden calf. At least, they had forgotten the part about it being sin.
When I read chapter twelve of 1 Kings, I was reminded of the 1979 Bob Dylan song, “Gotta Serve Somebody.” A king can reject God’s wisdom, but he’s still going to serve someone. A king can rule over multitudes, but he’s still going to serve someone. A king who doesn’t serve Almighty God will find out sooner or later that he should have.
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