52 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Whereupon the king took counsel,.... Of some of his principal men, that had as little religion as himself, and were only concerned for the civil state; and the result of their consultation was as follows: and made two calves of gold; in imitation of that which was made by Aaron, and encouraged by his example and success; and having been in Egypt...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. Truly, history repeats itself, only, if it be bad history, it is apt to grow worse. “Behold thy gods O Israel, which brought thee up out of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he set the one in Bethel,.... In the southern part of the land, on the border of Ephraim and Benjamin; and the rather he chose this place, because its name signifies the house of God, and had been a sacred place, where Jacob more than once enjoyed the divine Presence: and the other put he in Dan: in the northern part of the land, for the...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. I suppose that Jeroboam did not mean to draw them away from worshipping Jehovah; but he would have Jehovah worshipped under some visible image, and not according to the rule which God had laid down....
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And this thing became a sin,.... The cause and occasion of the sin of idolatry; it led them by degrees to leave off the worship of God, and to worship these calves as gods: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan; which was the furthest off, such was their great zeal for idolatrous worship; or they went thither before that at...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he made an house of high places,.... Or "altars" (s), built a temple at Dan, and set up several altars in it for sacrifice, both for burnt offerings, and for incense, as at Jerusalem: and made priests of the lowest of the people; this clause seems not so well rendered; for this would have been very unpopular, and brought his new form of...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And, he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. For the sons of Levi went over to Judah, and remained faithful to God; and the better sort of people probably dreaded to assume the office to which God had called the sons of Levi, and none would undertake it but the very lowest...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah,.... The feast of tabernacles, which was on the fifteenth day of the seventh month; this was done chiefly for the sake of an alteration; though Abarbinel thinks, because the fruits of the land were not so soon ripe nor so soon...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, He shifted the month, but retained the day, — the fifteenth day of the eighth month instead of the seventh. “That was quite unimportant,” say some. I do not agree with them, for nothing is unimportant that has to do with the...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth-el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth-el the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth-el the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; It is a strong...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month,.... As he had done in Dan: even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; the feast of tabernacles was of God's appointing, but the time of keeping he had devised himself, changing it from the seventh month, or Tisri, which answers to our...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense. Thus Israel was led astray at the very beginning. She came to the turning of the roads, and took the wrong course, and she went from bad to worse. God save all of us from following her evil example, but may we all serve the one living and true God,...