God is
faithful; He doesn’t do anything haphazardly. He always finishes what He
starts. After creation, He announced: “It is good.” He always brings His work
to completion. And the apostle Paul admonished the Philippians: “God, who began
the good work within you, will continue until it is finally finished on the day
when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6).
For example,
as a result of King Solomon ending his reign so poorly through disobedience,
God raised up Jeroboam to be king over ten of the tribes of Israel, the
northern tribe, leaving only two tribes for the house of David under Rehoboam.
If God called Jeroboam to be king, you’d think he would trust the same God to
help him reign. But that’s not what happened.
Instead, soon after Jeroboam became king, he
started to worry about the possibility of his subjects defecting to the king of
Judah. Fearing that scenario could actually happen, he devised a plan. He
imagined if he stopped them from going to worship in Jerusalem as God had
commanded, his fears wouldn’t be realized. So instead of going down to
Jerusalem to worship, Jeroboam made two golden calves on the advice of his
counselors -- (not on God’s advice), and said to the people: “It is too much
trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who
brought you out of Egypt!” (1 Kings 12:28) Really? Where was the God who
appointed him to be king? Shouldn’t he have consulted Him instead? Wasn’t a
golden calf a problem in the wilderness with their ancestors? How quickly we
forget!
To complete
his plan, he built shrines and ordained priests (not from the priestly tribe of
Levi), and then instituted a religious festival in Bethel to correspond with
the annual Festival of Shelters in Judah. On his appointed date, he went up to
the altar to burn incense.
Needless to say, God was not happy! He rebuked Jeroboam
through His prophet from Judah (see 1 King 13:2). In the same way, the apostle
Paul rebuked the Galatia church for allowing themselves to be misled by his opponents,
who were teaching something totally different from salvation through faith in
Jesus. Paul said to them: “I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from
God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ” (Galatians
1:6). Paul’s frustration with the Galatians is evident here: “Oh, foolish
Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? … How foolish can you be? …After
starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect
by your own human efforts?” (Gal 3:1-3) Quoting Paul, we could say to Jeroboam,
“After being made king by God, are you trying to reign in your own strength?
How foolish!”
How are you
running your race? Didn’t you come to God through faith in Jesus? Well then,
“Trust the LORD with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs
3:5-6). Since He saved you, He is also able to keep you until the end of time;
just obey His Word.
God does not
expect us to go out on a limb and try to figure out on our own how to grow in
faith. Instead, He expects us to seek guidance from His Word and the Holy
Spirit, and then rely on His prayers for us: “He lives forever to intercede
with God on their behalf” (Hebrews 7:25). Had Jeroboam shared his fears with
God, God would have shown him what to do. He would not have gone through all
the trouble he went through in an effort to secure the throne. Let’s seek God
in all we do, turning our fears and concerns over to Him, because He is able!
He is the author and also the finisher of our faith.
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