“And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned
and who made Israel sin.”
Sin is sin. King
David sinned. He committed adultery and
then murder. Jeroboam is famous for
breaking the first and second commandments with his sin of idolatry and
bringing all of the northern kingdom (Israel, as opposed to Judah) into the sin
of idolatry.
So what is the difference?
God explains that to us in His Word.
“Because I exalted you from among
the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel, and tore the kingdom away
from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My
servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart,
to do only what was right in My eyes” (1 Kings 14:8b-9). God says that David kept the commandments –
yet we know he broke numbers six and seven.
The difference is at least two-fold:
Repentance - There is a difference in response when
these men are called out on their sins. David
confessed when he was told of his sin by Nathan. “So David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned
against the LORD.’ And Nathan said to
David, ‘The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.’” (2 Samuel
12:13) Conversely, Jeroboam did not
confess and repent when he was called out by the man of God. “After
this event, Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but again he made priests
from every class of people for the high places; whoever wished, he consecrated
him, and he became one of the priests of the high places, and this thing was
the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the
face of the earth.” (1 Kings 13:32-33)
A Prepared Heart – After understanding the
consequence of his sins, David pleaded with the LORD. When David saw the outcome was not changed
after fasting and praying, he went and worshiped the LORD. “So
David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his
clothes; and he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he
requested, they set food before him, and he ate.” (2 Samuel 12:20) God explains why Jeroboam
continued in evil: “And he did evil,
because he did not prepare his heart to seek the LORD.” (2 Chronicles
12:14)
Yes, sin is sin. And
there will be consequences from that sin.
Even so, God has made a way to “put away your sin and you shall not
die.” It is through His son Jesus, “in whom we have redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:14). If the Holy Spirit has shown you sin in your
life, confess it, turn from it and prepare your heart to seek the Lord. God is full of mercy, obviously, if He gave
His son to save your soul. Preparing
your heart to seek God daily will give you the faith and strength to bear the
consequences of your sin and remain useful to God.
May you grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ.
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