Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 12:25-33
“‘If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam king of Judah.’ Therefore the king (Jeroboam) asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, ‘It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!’”—1 Kings 12:27-28
Amongst the evils found in the human heart, few can compare to the evil that results from the lust for power. The pursuit of power propels us into a rampant quest to control and manipulate people, regardless of the cost to ourselves or others.
As a result of Solomon’s idolatry, God stripped all but one tribe from the rule of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, and raised up Jeroboam to be king over the other 10 tribes—the northern kingdom of Israel (1 Kings 11:26-35). The nation may have been divided but Jerusalem, the capital of Judah, remained the center of worship for all Jews. Jeroboam feared the people’s travels to Judah for worship would result in his loss of power. So, he created idols, golden calves, to be the object of worship. With these new gods in place, Jeroboam hoped to keep the people from going to Jerusalem and to ensure his base of power remained intact.
By creating new gods, Jeroboam betrayed his own spiritual integrity, introduced and advocated idolatry to his people, and betrayed the God who put him on the throne, simply to maintain power. Jeroboam’s sin resulted in generations of Israelites falling prey to idolatry.
The quest for power can be an obsession that makes us do nearly anything to gain and maintain control. A relentless pursuit of power is a pathological path of destruction pursued by insecure people who disguise their insecurities with conquests, embellishment of their accomplishments, and an insatiable quest for acceptance and popularity. The power hungry manipulate emotions, pit people against each other, and fabricate issues to position themselves or their agenda as the solution to the self-proclaimed ills within their sphere of influence.
While the pursuit of power is typically associated with the political and business realms, power grabs take many forms: financial control, emotional manipulation, bullying, sexual exploitation, encouraging strife and division, and as with Jeroboam, establishing oneself or something else as worthy of worship. However it is packaged, the quest for power is intended to elevate oneself by devaluing what is of legitimate value. Whether it is a social organization, a place of business, a house of worship or a nation, we should be weary of anyone who points to themselves as the central figure of power instead of pointing to the one who is the center of power, God.
Lesson to Remember: Every position of “power” is a temporary assignment—remember Who placed you there.
“God has spoken once,
Twice I have heard this:
That power belongs to God.”—Psalm 62:11
