“Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!'” (I Kings 12:28).

 

So begins the sad testimony of Israel’s fall from being a holy people to a backslidden nation of idol-worshippers. How is it that, in such a short time after the completion of the Temple in Jerusalem, Israel could be led astray?

 

There is a prophetic application to our current situation. These things are written as an example to us, so let us look at this defining moment in Israel’s history and see what lessons can be learned.

 

It is never wise to force any interpretation beyond a few main points, because the Kingdom of Judah was not much better than the Kingdom of Israel. But by way of a general application, we will simply note that Judah contained Jerusalem; and however much it failed to measure up to God’s full thought, Jerusalem was intended as the center of worship and the place where the Lord said He would make His presence to dwell.

 

We know that Jerusalem contained the Temple and the Levitical priesthood. After the death of Solomon, the kingdom was divided between two men: Rehoboam, the son of Solomon; and Jeroboam, the servant of Solomon. Rehoboam became the king of Judah, and had Jerusalem as his capital. Jeroboam became the king of Israel, and his territory was all the land to the north.

 

And so we have a kingdom divided against itself; essentially, two nations existing side-by-side. This sets us up for controversy and competition. Judah is centered in Jerusalem, worships God in the Temple, and is led in that worship by the Levitical priesthood. It is not too difficult to see that Judah represents a remnant within Israel.

 

Judah is one tribe, while Israel is ten tribes. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. All who belong to Christ are spiritually counted in this tribe of Judah. Our Jerusalem is from above, we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and we are all kings and priests in this holy nation of peculiar (set apart, special) people. I trust you are familiar enough with your New Testament to recognize these truths without me having to provide chapter and verse.

 

Well, Israel came to represent something quite different from Judah. Although Judah came out of Israel, it definitely stood apart from Israel. So what do we see in the divided kingdom? We see the Church that Jesus is building as something over and above the “Church” that man is building. Whether you call it the Institutional Church or Organized Religion or the Harlot Church, it is an alternative religious system that exists right alongside the true expression of Spirit and Truth in New Jerusalem. As we will discover, Organized Religion is, for all intents and purposes, a Convenient Cult.

 

 

“And Jeroboam said in his heart, ‘Now the kingdom may return to the house of David: if these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah'” (I Kings 12:26-27).

 

So here is Jeroboam, the rebel king of Israel. He has control of ten tribes. He has more land and more people than Judah. Even so, he is troubled. What troubles him? There is the issue of people being commanded by God to go up to Jerusalem to worship. Jeroboam correctly surmised that once the people went up to Jerusalem to worship they would be more inclined to live there, and his kingdom would be diminished.

 

I would suggest that today God is calling on us to come up to Jerusalem and worship – that is, to worship Him in Spirit and Truth (cf. John 4). The Father seeks those true worshippers who do not think of geographical places of worship, but a Spirit-and-Truth place of worship: a spiritual place, a place of the heart. That is what it means for us to “go up to Jerusalem”. This Jerusalem is from above, it is from the heavens; we have to “go up” to it because it exists on a higher level, a greater dimension. It is a spiritual place. We read about it in the Book of Revelation, coming down from heaven, filled with the glory of God and the presence of the Lamb.

 

Many are responding to this call to go “up to Jerusalem” and out of Babylon, out of Churchianity, out of Organized Religion. As a result, all the Jeroboams of this world are in a state of consternation! How can we prevent this mass exodus of people from leaving our churches? Jeroboam’s concern is not for the people. His concern is not for the Lord, or for what the Lord requires. Jeroboam’s concern is only for self-preservation: the safeguarding of his leadership, the continuance of his kingdom, the prolongation of his own life.

 

The solution he came up with was quite resourceful. He created what I am calling “A CONVENIENT CULT.” This convenient cult has three characteristics: 1) a convenient place; 2) a convenient priesthood; and 3) a convenient feast to bind the worshippers together. Let us look at each one particularly, and see if we can find a prophetic application to the time and season that we are a part of.

 

 

“Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!’ And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.” (I Kings 12:28-30).

 

Jeroboam was smart enough to appeal to that part of human nature that is attracted to convenience. Convenience! “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem.” In other words, it’s too inconvenient to worship God in the way that God requires. The cost is too great.

 

If you consult a Bible map you will find that Jeroboam strategically located his golden calves in the extreme northern and southern reaches of his kingdom. You could simply attend the golden calf that was closer to you. This is a clever bit of marketing that good restaurants use when selling desserts. They do not ask if you want dessert; they ask if you prefer chocolate cake or banana cream pie for dessert! Of course, you could refuse both, but when the question is put to people in this way, statistics show that most of them will select one of the options presented, and they end up buying a dessert.

 

So Jeroboam did not ask anyone to decide between a golden calf and Jerusalem; he simply offered them a choice of “desserts” – which alternative do you prefer: Bethel, or Dan? He reduced it all down to a matter of convenience. “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem.” Too much!

 

Today we have a myriad of worship choices, a multitude of golden calves located on every street, some sitting right next to each other, each one competing for people. What is the basis of their marketing message? Convenience! A choice of service times so you can choose the one that is convenient for you. A choice of worship and preaching styles so you can choose the one you are most comfortable with. So many choices, so many options.

 

If we stop and think about it we may realize that God is not asking us to choose which golden calf out of thousands we want to worship at. He is asking us to choose between that whole “golden calf system” and a Spirit-and-Truth life in New Jerusalem! God is calling us to leave that false system behind and do something that is totally inconvenient – to “go up to Jerusalem”, join the Church that Jesus is building, and learn how to be a nation of kings and priests.

 

It should be noted that when Israel did the convenient thing, the most expedient thing, the most practical thing, it became a sin to them. It led them far away from God and brought them under judgment. The convenient path is a wide path, and it leads to destruction. Worshipping God in Spirit-and-Truth and leaving behind the familiar ways and the popular paths is inconvenient and costly, but that is precisely why Jesus said to count the cost before you become His disciple.

 

 

“[Jeroboam] made shrines on the high places, and made priests from the lowest of people, who were not of the sons of Levi” (I Kings 12:31).

 

A convenient cult needs a convenient priesthood to manage, maintain, superintend, and lead it. According to God’s thought, only the Levites were called to serve Him as priests. Since all the Levites were in Jerusalem serving in the Temple, Jeroboam has to find another priesthood to support his false system.

 

Jeroboam’s solution was to make it easy – convenient! – for anyone to become a priest. Never mind the calling of God. Anyone who took it upon themselves to be a priest would be ordained by Jeroboam and could achieve instant leadership status. And so the lowest of the people could now seize the opportunity to become lifted up above the people.

 

What does it take to be an apostle? What does it take to be a prophet? These days, apparently little. Simply calling yourself something, or allowing other people to call you something, is enough to make you somebody special. How very convenient! We are inundated with people who take upon themselves the title of apostle, bishop, prophet, prophetess, pastor and “first lady” (perhaps the most carnal title of all).

 

The point is that when “everyone” is a priest then it is very difficult to tell the difference between the priests of the Lord and the priests of the golden calf. When “everyone” is a prophet, how do you discern between a true word and a false word? Most people cannot, and so the deception is perpetuated by way of convenience.

 

The reality is that there is a tremendous cost associated with answering the call of God on your life, and if you really live the Christian life the way it is intended to be lived – “not I, but Christ” – it will (at times) be inconvenient, awkward, untimely, and problematic. And when God places you in a position of responsibility for others then the difficulties will increase a thousand fold. It will not be “easy”, but for those who value the truth above convenience, this way of life in Christ is its own reward.

 

 

“Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made. So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense” (I Kings 12:32-33).

 

A convenient cult needs some kind of convenient celebration, or feast to bring its worshippers together on a regular basis. Jeroboam decided to hold a festival “like the feast that was in Judah.” Of course, it was NOT the same feast, it was only a counterfeit of the feast of tabernacles. The real feast was in Jerusalem. Jeroboam’s feast was something devised, invented, and designed by Jeroboam.

 

Was this a gathering to honor the Lord? Was it an assembly to worship God? By no means. It was a distraction from spiritual worship, a convenient alternative to making a trip up to Jerusalem to worship in the Temple. Of course it was religious in nature – it was not a wild party, but a religious feast “like the feast that was in Judah.”

 

A convenient place, a convenient priesthood, and a convenient feast makes the convenient cult complete. The end result is an alternative system of religious activity that claims to worship God, and has an appearance of piety, but is far more convenient and appealing to the flesh.

Judgment On the Cult of Convenience

 

“And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said…” (I Kings 13:1-2a)

 

God used a prophet from Judah to challenge the false system of religious worship that Jeroboam had installed, and prophesied its destruction. It was not a “convenient” word to deliver. After pronouncing destruction upon Jeroboam, the prophet himself was disobedient and destroyed by a lion. If you would not listen to the prophet’s word, maybe you would learn from the prophet’s example! Jeroboam, though momentarily shaken, simply continued in his disobedience, and was judged accordingly. But the damage was done and Israel was doomed.

 

It isn’t difficult to see how history has repeated itself in the last two thousand years. Like Israel of old, we live in a “divided kingdom” where the Religious Majority perpetuate a cult of convenience, and the Remnant Minority seek the Lord’s full thought, mind, heart, and will for the Church that Jesus is building, a spiritual house of living stones, a “New Jerusalem” of kings and priests. Both are considered “Israel”, but only one is the true Church, while the other is a convenient distraction.

 

Eventually, even Judah fell to idolatry and came under judgment. The Temple was destroyed and Jerusalem was burned. God had to work with a Remnant within the Remnant, and He continued His Kingdom along spiritual lines.

 

The Lord continues to work with a Remnant today, calling them to “go up to Jerusalem” and set their affection on things above. Because God is working along spiritual lines to accomplish a spiritual purpose, the boundary between backsliding Israel and spiritual Judah, between golden calf worship and Spirit-and-Truth worship, is a lot more subtle. But once you have seen the Church that Jesus is building it is much easier to reject the golden calves. Jeroboam knows this, and will make his alternative very attractive – and very convenient.

 

May the Lord quicken this word to our hearts. Amen.

 

Using Reuben (note: ‘Behold a son!’) and his position as the firstborn son of Jacob, I would like to address the meaning of the river in a spiritual context, because Reuben is related to the moving water (see Genesis 49:3-4a).

Genesis 49:3-4a:
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, the first sign of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.

4a Turbulent as the waters, …

Furthermore, it is also the voice of the Almighty and the voice of Jesus Christ, which is like the sound of many waters (see Ezekiel 1:24a i.c.w. Revelation 1:15b).

Ezekiel 1:24a:

24a When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty (note: Shaddai), …

Revelation 1:15b:
… 15 b and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.

Looking at Rubens' turbulent waters from Jesus' work of redemption, it is a reference to the prophetic voice that reveals the speaking of God and the presence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

 

The Fourfold Quality of Ruben

It is the tribe of Reuben that, based on the son of Jacob of the same name, has a fourfold quality in itself, which includes the inheritance of the firstborn.
 

This is about might, excellence in strength, honor and power.
This inheritance brings with it great responsibility that must be preserved without defining oneself by the value of it.

Ruben reveals the principle of sonship in Christ Jesus, who is the firstborn among many brothers (see Romans 8:29).

Romans 8:29:
29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

It is no coincidence that Ruben has a fourfold value and that the name of the God of Israel also consists of four Hebrew letters (note: ‘Yod, He, Waw, He’ => YAHWEH). It divided the river of origin in the Garden of Eden into four river beds (see Genesis 49:3 i.c.w. Genesis 2:10-14).

Genesis 49:3:

3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might (1), the first sign of my strength (2), excelling in honor (3), excelling in power (4).

Genesis 2:10-14:

10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.

11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)

13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.

14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

The fourfold value of Ruben corresponds to the principle of the four rivers of Eden, which brought the treasures of the soil in the respective regions into which they flowed to the surface. Even if only one river (note: Pishon) is mentioned, which is named directly with treasures of the soil, it can be assumed that this principle is imparted to the other rivers as God is a God of abundance and fruitfulness (see Psalm 65:9-13).

Psalm 65:9-13:
9 You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it.

10 You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops.

11 You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance.

12 The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.

13 The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.

 

The River and the Future

It is the power of the ‘river’ that is an indication of the good future in Christ Jesus, which brings the hidden heritage in our God-given territory of promise to the surface at the right time.

Furthermore, it is the power of the Holy Spirit that becomes active and originates in a fourfold way from those who believe in Jesus Christ and His Word (see John 7:38-39a).

John 7:38-39a:
38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

39a By this he meant the Spirit, …

I am personally convinced that these streams of living water Jesus mentions are four rivers, because it is about the revelation of the identity and presence of the God of Israel, who is also our Heavenly Father (see Romans 8:15).

Romans 8:15:
15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

It is the river of sonship in Christ that carries the identity of the Heavenly Father, so that the Father appears before men in the facet in which He wants to reveal Himself as Father (see John 14:9b).

John 14:9b:

… 9b Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. …

 

 

It is no coincidence that the number ‘4’ is associated with the Hebrew letter ‘Daleth’, which, among other things, is associated with an ‘open tent door’.

Jesus Christ, the firstborn son of God, is the door who leads into the realm of the presence and provision of the Heavenly Father, represented by the green pasture (see John 10:9 i.c.w. John 14:6).

 

9 I am the gate (note: door); whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.

 

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

Moreover, it is the seat of government of the Heavenly Father, which is surrounded by a vault – the rainbow – and encased in a green light (see Revelation 4:2-3).

 

2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.

3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.

 

The rainbow is above the head or seat of the government of the Father and is there to cover Him.

Thus Jesus Christ is the door into the covering presence of the sons of God, which has its seat in the glory and wealth of the Heavenly Father.

 

The biblical characteristic of a river (note: Hebrew ‘nâhâr’) involves carrying the mysteries of the Spirit to reveal the presence (note: face) of the Heavenly Father at the right time. This is closely related to the sparkling of the glory of God.

 

Therefore, it is important that we as God's people make sure that we stay close to the river of the Spirit, no matter in which cooperative or personal circumstance or challenge we find ourselves.

 

 

We should keep in mind that the Lord, for example, revealed Himself to the prophet Ezekiel and also to the prophet Daniel at the river with His presence, while the people of Israel were in Babylonian captivity (see Ezekiel 1:1-4; Daniel 8:1-2; Daniel 10:4-7).

 

1 In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar (note: means ‘great, length’) River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.

2 On the fifth of the month – it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin – 3 the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the Lord was on him.

4 I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north – an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, …

 

1 In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me.

2 In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai (note: means ‘gate’) Canal.

 

4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris, 5 I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist.

6 His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.

7 I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves.

 

The visitation of Ezekiel and Daniel shows an important principle about the reception and sensitivity of divine revelation.

 

This principle involves remaining close to the river of God, walking in the understanding of His biblical times as well as in His understanding of authority, and to keep in mind your personal and collective circumstance of life.

 

The river of God contains the specific movement of the Holy Spirit that the particular community of saints is in need of. This presupposes the collective residence of the respective saints in the presence of God, even if someone finds himself in a challenging life situation.

 

Even the Apostles in the time of Acts expected a spiritual ‘birthplace of prophetic intercession’ near the river, which is represented by the presence of women (see Acts 16:13).

 

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.

 

Among other things, it is God's gift to the woman to receive her husband's seed in order to carry it to the maturity of a child so that it can break through the womb at the right time. This appointed time of breakthrough has already been set by God, as we are reminded by Ruben to reveal the Son of God.

 

Amen and Amen.

 

In His Wisdom,

 

Daniel Glimm