The State Church of Pragmatism
Introduction: The Tyranny of the Practical
Every great apostasy begins not with a defiant roar against God, but with a quiet, reasonable calculation in the heart of a man. It starts with a spreadsheet, not a séance. It begins with the question, "What is practical?" instead of the question, "What is true?" We live in an age that worships at the altar of pragmatism. If it works, it must be good. If it grows the numbers, it must be blessed. If it keeps the peace, it must be wise. But the Scriptures teach us a very different lesson. The Scriptures teach us that the most impractical thing in the world is to disobey God, and the most pragmatic thing in the world is to obey Him, regardless of the apparent cost.
Jeroboam is the archetypal religious pragmatist. He is the father of all who would tailor the worship of God to fit the political needs of the moment. He is a man who looks at the commands of God, not as a blueprint for blessing, but as a political liability. His problem is not that he is an atheist; his problem is that he believes in God but fears man more. He wants God's blessing on his kingdom, but he wants it on his own terms. He wants a religion that will serve the state, instead of a state that serves God.
What Jeroboam devises here is not just a momentary lapse in judgment. It is a comprehensive, top-to-bottom counterfeit religion. He establishes a new object of worship, new locations for worship, a new priesthood for worship, and a new calendar for worship. And he does it all because of a fear-driven calculation in his own heart. This passage is a master class in how to construct a state church, a designer religion built for political convenience. And the principles he employs are alive and well today, tempting pastors and politicians alike to trade the difficult, narrow path of obedience for the broad, easy road of compromise. The sin of Jeroboam became a spiritual disease that infected the Northern Kingdom for the rest of its existence, and it serves as a perpetual warning to the Church: worship God as He has commanded, or you will inevitably end up worshiping a golden calf of your own making.
The Text
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of Yahweh at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah." So the king took counsel, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt." And he set one in Bethel, and one he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam made a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, to sacrifice to the calves which he had made. And he had the priests of the high places, which he had made, stand in Bethel. Then he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised in his own heart; and he made a feast for the sons of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense.
(1 Kings 12:25-33 LSB)
The Unbelieving Calculation (vv. 25-27)
The story begins with legitimate kingly activity that quickly sours into paranoid unbelief.
"Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, 'Now the kingdom will return to the house of David...they will kill me...'" (1 Kings 12:25-27)
Building cities is what kings do. Shechem and Penuel were strategic locations, important for consolidating his new kingdom. There is nothing inherently sinful here. But the camera immediately zooms in from his external actions to his internal monologue. "Jeroboam said in his heart." This is where all apostasy is conceived. God had explicitly promised Jeroboam the ten tribes through the prophet Ahijah (1 Kings 11:31). God gave him the kingdom. But Jeroboam, having received the kingdom by faith, now thinks he must secure it by sight.
His logic is entirely secular. It is the logic of a political analyst, not a covenant king. He identifies a problem: the law of God requires all male Israelites to go to Jerusalem three times a year for the feasts. Jerusalem is the capital of his rival, Rehoboam. His conclusion? If my people obey God's law, they will develop an affection for my enemy, and then they will assassinate me. Notice the foundation of his reasoning: fear. Fear of Rehoboam, fear of the people, fear of losing his grip on power. The one person he does not fear is Yahweh, who gave him the kingdom in the first place.
This is the fundamental choice every leader faces. Will you govern by the Word of God or by the polls? Will you trust God's promises or your own political maneuvering? Jeroboam sees the worship of Yahweh not as the source of national blessing, but as a threat to his national security. As soon as worship becomes a means to a political end, it ceases to be worship at all. It becomes manipulation.
A Convenient Counterfeit (vv. 28-30)
Jeroboam's fear-based analysis leads him to create a state-sponsored alternative religion.
"So the king took counsel, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, 'It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.'" (1 Kings 12:28 LSB)
He "took counsel," but not from God or His prophets. He consulted his own fears and likely a cabinet of yes-men who told him what he wanted to hear. The solution is breathtaking in its blasphemy. He creates two golden calves. This is not an act of theological ignorance; it is a deliberate echo of Israel's primal sin at the foot of Sinai. Aaron, under pressure from the people, made one golden calf. Jeroboam, under pressure from his own paranoia, makes two.
He is not trying to introduce a foreign god like Baal or Molech. That would be too jarring. Instead, he engages in syncretism. He attempts to pour the worship of Yahweh into a pagan mold. He even uses the language of redemption: "behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt." This is the great lie of all liberal and compromised religion. It uses the vocabulary of orthodoxy to sanctify its idolatry. It talks about God, salvation, and deliverance, but it points you to a golden calf, a tangible, manageable, state-approved idol, instead of the transcendent, holy God of the Bible.
His marketing slogan is the anthem of all false teachers: "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem." True worship is hard. It requires travel, sacrifice, and obedience to difficult laws. My religion, Jeroboam says, is easy. It's convenient. I'll bring the worship to you. He places one calf in Bethel, on the southern border, to intercept anyone heading to Jerusalem. He places the other in Dan, in the far north, for the convenience of the northern tribes. It is a brilliant political strategy and a damnable spiritual one. He is making it easier to sin than to obey. And the tragic result is stated plainly: "Now this thing became a sin." The people, loving convenience more than covenant, went right along with it.
An Illegitimate Infrastructure (vv. 31-33)
A counterfeit god requires a counterfeit system to support it. Jeroboam proceeds to build out the entire apparatus of his new state church.
"And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi... And Jeroboam made a feast in the eighth month... even in the month which he had devised in his own heart..." (1 Kings 12:31-33 LSB)
First, he builds new places of worship. God had chosen one place for His name to dwell: Jerusalem. Jeroboam decentralizes worship, building shrines on "high places," which were already associated with pagan worship. This was a direct violation of God's command.
Second, he creates a new priesthood. God had set apart the tribe of Levi and the house of Aaron for priestly service. Jeroboam throws this out and "made priests from among all the people." He created a democratic, non-hereditary priesthood. Anyone could be a priest in Jeroboam's church. This was an assault on God's sovereign right to determine who would mediate His worship. He wanted priests who owed their loyalty to him, the king, not to God's law.
Third, he invents a new calendar. God had established the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month. Jeroboam creates a parallel feast in the eighth month. The text is devastatingly precise: it was a month "which he had devised in his own heart." This is the very essence of false worship. It originates in the heart of man, not in the revelation of God. He has replaced "Thus saith the Lord" with "It seemed good to me."
Finally, he appoints a new high priest: himself. "He went up to the altar to burn incense." This was a role reserved for the priests alone. King Uzziah would later be struck with leprosy for this very sin (2 Chronicles 26). Jeroboam combines the offices of king and priest. The state has completely absorbed the church. He is the head of state and the head of the church. He has created a totalizing system of rebellion, a complete, self-contained religion of his own making, with himself at the very top.
The Enduring Sin of Jeroboam
Why is this story so important? Because the sin of Jeroboam is perennial. It is the constant temptation to subordinate the church and the worship of God to some other agenda, whether it be political stability, church growth, cultural relevance, or personal convenience.
Every time a church alters the message of the gospel to make it less offensive to unbelievers, that is the sin of Jeroboam. They are saying, "The cross is too much for you to bear; behold this more palatable god of affirmation." Every time we ignore the clear commands of Scripture about church government and ordain men who are not qualified, that is the sin of Jeroboam. We are creating a priesthood of our own choosing. Every time we structure our worship services around what is trendy, entertaining, or convenient, rather than around what God has commanded in His Word, that is the sin of Jeroboam. We are devising a liturgy in our own hearts.
The core of this sin is a rejection of God's authority. It is the creature telling the Creator how He ought to be worshiped. It is an attempt to manage God, to make Him a safe, predictable part of our program. But the God of the Bible will not be managed. He will not be worshiped with golden calves, no matter how sincere our political anxieties may be.
The remedy for the sin of Jeroboam is to look to our true King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jeroboam built a kingdom of fear; Christ builds a kingdom of faith. Jeroboam usurped the priesthood; Christ is our great High Priest, who offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice. Jeroboam devised his own feasts; Christ has given us His own table, the Lord's Supper, as the true covenant meal. Jeroboam pointed to a calf and said, "This is your god." The Father points to Jesus and says, "This is my beloved Son; listen to Him."
We are not called to a convenient religion. We are called to take up our cross and follow Christ. We are not called to devise a worship that suits us, but to submit to the worship that pleases God. We must tear down every golden calf erected by our fears and our pragmatism, and worship the living God in Spirit and in truth, according to His Word alone. For He is the King who will not fail, and His is the kingdom that cannot be shaken.