Apis and Mnevis, which was by no means so gross and demoralising as the idolatry of the Canaanites, and he evidently could not see why the worship of Jehovah could not be carried on by those who believed in Him through the use of emblems, and, if need be, of idols.  Therefore he set about the establishment of the cult of Apis, and “made two calves of gold, and set the one in Bethel and the other put he in Dan.”  This was the sin for which he was condemned again and again with almost wearisome iteration.  He was by no means a fanatical idolater, and this act of his was simply the dictate of his worldly policy.  He was engaged in the establishment of the separate kingdom of Israel, which for many a long year was to exist side by side with the kingdom of Judah.  But this policy of separation would be impossible so long as there was the old spirit of unity in the nation.  And this unity was expressed and fostered most of all by the existence of the Temple in Jerusalem, the common centre to which all the tribes resorted, and from which all government emanated.  If this continued so to be, it was evident that the nation would sooner or later reassert its unity.  The men of Ephraim were just now exasperated by the taxation imposed by Solomon, and increased by Rehoboam, and they still resented the precedence and supremacy of the rival tribe of Judah; but this feeling might prove transient, it might be some day dissipated by the statesmanship of a wiser king, and then the separated kingdom would die out, and all God’s people would appear as one.  To prevent this was Jeroboam’s aim in the erection of the golden calves.

It was a policy which would naturally appeal to the jealous people, who were told that they ought not to be dependent for their means of worship on Judah, nor send up their tribute for the support of the Temple in Jerusalem.  And they would welcome a scheme which brought worship within easier range, and saved the cost of leaving business and undertaking a wearisome journey in order to keep the feasts.  Thus, without deliberate choice, they swiftly glided down into idolatry and national ruin.

Jeroboam thus led the people to a violation of one of the fundamental laws in the Decalogue.  For if the first command was not disobeyed by all the people, the second was, and these laws are still obligatory, nor can they be broken with impunity.  With fatal facility those who worshipped Jeroboam’s golden calf became identified with the heathen, and the kingdom thus set upon a false foundation was at last utterly destroyed.  And as surely as the tide flows in upon the shore, so surely will the laws of God bring retribution on all who are impenitent.  To every man the choice is proffered between the false and the true ideal of life.  On the one side the tempter points to wealth and position, which may often be won, as Jeroboam won it, by unscrupulousness; and on the other side stands the Son of God, who, though rejected and crucified, was nevertheless the Victor over sin, and who now from His heavenly throne exclaims, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.”