Saturday 13 February 2010
- Bible Book:
- 1 Kings
"So the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. He said to the people, 'You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'" (12:28)
Background
Following the rebellion of all but the tribe of Judah againstKing Rehoboam, Jeroboam (one of Solomon's officials) found himselfruling the majority of the nation of Israel. This turn of eventswas prophesied directly to Jeroboam (
Even after the most powerful experiences of God in our lives it iseasy to be prey to our own insecurities. Jeroboam had experiencedan amazing prophecy, but his instinct to protect his own life ledhim to lose sight of God and lead himself and others to embrace adistorted image of their god and their history as God's people. Thedistortion was completed by his appeal to convenience - "You havegone up to Jerusalem long enough" - and in one move the Israelitesare taken from monotheisim (the worship of one god) to idolatry:from the one true god to two golden calves.
Part of nurturing our own faith is continually asking the question,'How can I make my faith more accessible to the world around me?'Our attempts to answer this question will always be influenced byour insecurities and the pressures of the world in which we live.Done in haste, the result will be like that of Jeroboam and we willlose sight of the god who loves and guides us. But time spent inprayerful reflection and consideration of our individual andcollective history as God's people can change this dramatically. Ifwe take the time to decide carefully what is and is not negotiablewe will be strengthened in our own faith and better equipped toshare it as a result.
To Ponder
What images of God are most common in oursociety? Which appeal to you most? Which do you find hard tounderstand? What image of God are we called to present?
How can you make your faith more accessible tothe world around you? Think of one thing and try put it intoaction.