Walking in the Way of Jeroboam, Son of Nebat (part 2)

(continued from last week.)

We see again many in "Christendom" who have made adaptations to the authority system developed by God, and it will lead to their own destruction. We also see many examples of worship services which attempt to seem to be of the truth, but vary in many different ways. In how many worship services are there praise teams, choirs, instruments, and other additions, and in how many "churches" are there kitchens and fellowship halls? Do these not seem to be following God? After all, they preach and read the Bible-- but they have not conformed completely to God's plan. Similarity does not mean truth.

Jeroboam the son of Nebat eventually perishes, along with his whole family (1 Kings 14:18, 15:27-30). The path he established, however, continued along, with successive generations of increasing error: these kings "walked in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin" (1 Kings 15:26, 34; 16:7, 26, 31).

This development of error would also infect Judah to the south (2 Kings 8:18, 27), and cause almost the whole of the Israelite people to sin. Jeroboam the son of Nebat had begun to infect Israel with error, and those who later sat on his throne perpetuated the illness, to their own destruction.

Time would fail us if we were to demonstrate the development of error within "Christendom" today. It is very evident from history that the errors began small and progressively became greater; for example, elders in the church became an elder over the churches, which developed into one "archbishop" over many bishops each over many churches, leading to an "episcopal" govermnental system foreign to the Scriptures but prevalent today. Our own times speak of such a progression: from the division over the benevolence to non-saints we now have churches professing to be churches of Christ with praise teams, kitchens, fellowship halls, instruments, and look in all respects to be Evangelical. It is evident that many have walked in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat; truly, many have made it seem trivial to do so.

Finally, we see the reaction of God to the deeds of Jeroboam: destruction of his temples, calves, and priests (1 Kings 13:1-4), the destruction of the house of Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:7-14), and eventually the destruction of the kingdom of Israel altogether (1 Kings 14:15-16; 2 Kings 17:22-24). Judah was cast into captivity for their sins, which found their origin in Jeroboam (2 Chronicles 30:15-21).

God has made it perfectly clear that He will not tolerate the adaptation of His system of worship. If He was willing to destroy Israel and to cast out Judah because of their sins, initiated by Jeroboam, how shall we doubt His willingness to destroy those today who follow the way of Jeroboam yet professing Christ?

We must be diligent, constantly examining ourselves and our doctrine, staying away from the way of Jeroboam and holding fast to the way of David, that of following God and He alone (2 Corinthians 13:5). Many have followed after Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, thinking within their hearts that no harm will come to them. We can see the result of such things, for we see that there is little remaining of the ten tribes which followed after this belief of Jeroboam. Let us hold fast to God and His commandments so that such a calamity may not fall upon us in eternity.

Ethan R. Longhenry
evangelist@norwalkchurch.org

Questions to Ponder During the Lesson

AM: The Nature of the Church: Perceiving the Church of Christ

1. Does the word "church", in the NT, denote a religious organization?
2. What is the significance of the fact that the church has many subgroups within it, yet all have the same types of designations?
3. Can you be a member of a church of Christ but not be a part of the Church of Christ?

PM: The Nature of the Church: The Church as Ekklesia

1. What does ekklesia really mean?
2. In what ways is the ekklesia of Christ similar to the political ekklesia of ancient Greece?
3. How can this understanding help us in understanding the church?

Ethan R. Longhenry
evangelist@norwalkchurch.org

The church of Christ in Norwalk, Ohio

Thank you for reading the electronic version of our bulletin, Good News for Norwalk. If you live in Norwalk or happen to be traveling in the Norwalk area, we would certainly love to have you visit one of our assemblies!

Our location:

386 North Edgewood Drive (just off US 250 just north of Norwalk's city limits)
Norwalk, Ohio 44857

Our assemblies:

Sunday morning assembly: 10:30am
Sunday evening assembly: 6:00pm

Our Bible studies:

Sunday morning Bible study: 9:30am
Wednesday evening Bible study: 7:00pm

For More Information

If you have any questions or comments about anything you have read here, or desire more information, please contact our evangelist, Ethan Longhenry, at evangelist@norwalkchurch.org.

Please click here to return to the 2006 archive of Good News for Norwalk, or click here to return to the main page of Good News for Norwalk. Thanks!