Bird's-eye view
In these closing verses of the chapter, we are brought back to the root of the problem, which is the hardened heart of a rebellious king. The entire dramatic episode with the man of God from Judah, the prophecy against the altar, the withering and restoration of Jeroboam's hand, and the subsequent mauling of the disobedient prophet by a lion, all of it was a megaphone from heaven. It was a gracious, albeit terrifying, warning. But some men are so far gone in their rebellion that even a direct confrontation with the living God serves only to harden them. Jeroboam had established a counterfeit religion, a worship of political expediency, and he was not about to let it go. These two verses serve as the capstone on his rebellion, showing us that his sin was not a one-time mistake but a settled posture of defiance. This defiance sets his house on a trajectory of utter destruction, a clear outworking of the covenant curses he had invoked.
Clause-by-Clause Commentary
v. 33 After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way, but he returned and made priests of the high places from among all the people; any who delighted to be so, he ordained. So they became priests of the high places.
"After this event Jeroboam did not return from his evil way..." The phrase "after this event" is freighted with meaning. After what? After seeing his altar split apart by a word from God. After having his hand shriveled and then restored by that same power. After hearing a direct prophecy against his entire religious system. God had given Jeroboam a front row seat to a display of supernatural power, a sign and a wonder intended to provoke repentance. But Jeroboam's response is to double down. He did not return. The word for return, shuv in the Hebrew, is the foundational word for repentance. Jeroboam would not repent. His way was evil not simply because it was innovative, but because it was a direct violation of the first and second commandments. He had established a worship system for his own political convenience, and his heart was set in that direction. This is the picture of a man given over to his sin. When God's warnings no longer penetrate, the heart becomes like sun-baked clay.
"...but he returned and made priests of the high places from among all the people..." Notice the perverse twist. He did not "return" to God, but he did "return" to his sin. He went right back to what he was doing, but now with more vigor. His sin was the establishment of an illegitimate priesthood. God had consecrated the tribe of Levi, and the house of Aaron, for the priestly office. This was not a suggestion; it was a command rooted in the covenant. Jeroboam's sin was to democratize the priesthood. He threw the doors open, making priests "from among all the people." This is the essence of man-centered religion. Instead of submitting to God's ordained structure, he created a structure that would serve him. He wanted priests who owed their allegiance to him, not to the God of Israel. This is religious populism, and it is always an abomination. It replaces God's revealed will with the popular will, or in this case, the king's will.
"...any who delighted to be so, he ordained." Here is the criterion for ministry in Jeroboam's cult. Not a divine call, not holiness, not Levitical lineage, but rather personal ambition. "Any who delighted to be so." If you wanted the job, and were willing to play by his rules, you were in. This is the rot at the heart of all apostate religion. It caters to the desires of men. The man who "delighted" in being a priest was a man who loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Jeroboam's system was built on the foundation of human pride and self-will. He filled his priesthood with unqualified, illegitimate, and ambitious men who would necessarily be loyal to the system that created them. He consecrated them, literally "filled their hands," which is a mockery of the true consecration of Aaron's sons.
v. 34 And this event became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to blot it out and destroy it from off the face of the earth.
"And this event became sin to the house of Jeroboam..." The sin was not just Jeroboam's personal failing. It became an institutional reality, a corporate sin that attached itself to his entire dynasty. His house was now defined by this rebellion. This is how covenant works. The head of the house, the king, acts for his people, and his actions have generational consequences. Adam's sin became sin for all his posterity, and in a similar way, Jeroboam's rebellion became the defining sin of his house. It was not just one sin among many; it was the sin. The "sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat" becomes a grim refrain throughout the rest of the history of the northern kingdom. It was a spiritual poison that contaminated everything it touched.
"...even to blot it out and destroy it from off the face of the earth." Here are the covenant curses in their stark reality. The God who establishes is also the God who destroys. The language is absolute: "to blot it out and destroy it." This is not a minor course correction. It is total eradication. Why such a severe judgment? Because Jeroboam's sin was an attack on the very heart of the covenant: true worship. To corrupt worship is to corrupt the relationship between God and His people at its source. God will not be mocked. A counterfeit religion, led by counterfeit priests, worshiping counterfeit gods, will inevitably lead to a real judgment. Jeroboam built his kingdom on a foundation of rebellion, and God promised that the entire structure would be demolished, wiped from the face of the earth. And as the subsequent history shows, God is always true to His word.
Application
We are tempted to look at Jeroboam as a relic of a distant past, but his sin is perennial. The temptation to tailor worship to our own tastes, to make it more convenient, more entertaining, or more politically palatable, is ever-present. Jeroboam's great sin was to subordinate the worship of God to the political needs of the state. He wanted to keep the people from going to Jerusalem, and so he offered them a cheap and easy alternative closer to home.
Whenever the church begins to ordain leaders based on their desire for the office rather than on God's clear qualifications laid out in Scripture, we are walking in the way of Jeroboam. Whenever we alter the gospel message to make it less offensive to the surrounding culture, we are setting up golden calves in Bethel and Dan. Whenever we treat worship as a consumer activity, designed to meet the "felt needs" of the congregation, we are making priests of "any who delighted to be so."
The lesson here is that God takes worship with the utmost seriousness. He has told us how He is to be approached, and to disregard His commands is not a small matter. It is a foundational rebellion that invites covenantal judgment. The house of Jeroboam was utterly destroyed because its very foundation was rotten. We must therefore be diligent to ensure that our worship, our leadership, and our doctrine are built squarely on the foundation of God's revealed Word, and not on the shifting sands of human convenience and desire. To compromise here is to set our own houses on a path to destruction.