After Solomon departed from the LORD by building altars to serve other gods, the prophet Ahijah told him that God would take the kingdom from Solomon during his son’s reign, transferring ten tribes to Jeroboam and leaving one tribe (Benjamin) with the house of David. After Solomon died, Rehoboam, his son, inherited his throne, and the LORD tore ten of the twelve tribes away from the house of David and gave them to the tribe of Ephraim to rule over as he had said.

The House of Israel was established independently of Judah, and God set Jeroboam over the House of Israel and offered him promises like those he had made to David.

But the promises came with a condition. God told Jeroboam that if he listened to all that was commanded, followed God’s ways, and acted righteously by keeping the statutes and commandments as David did, then all the promises would be fulfilled.

Jerusalem Against the High Places

Nonetheless, even though Israel and Judah were divided into two kingdoms, the House of the LORD remained in Jerusalem, and all the people of Judah and Israel were required by the LORD to gather in Jerusalem three times a year: in spring for Passover, in summer for Shavuot, and in the fall for Sukkot.

Then, Jeroboam, fearing the pilgrimages to Jerusalem would eventually diminish his power, said in his heart, “Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David.” (1 Kings 12:26) And he trusted not in the promises God made to him.

He set up his own high places in Israel to keep worshipers from going to Jerusalem. And he made two golden calves and placed one in Bethel and the other in the city of Dan. And he said to Israel, “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.” And he turned Israel away from worshiping the LORD to serve the gods he made.

And for what reason did he craft two calves and place them in two distant locations? The motives were political, and the design was for convenience. Jeroboam sought a religion that would be inclusive and appealing to the diversity of lifestyles and moral standards.

Bethel was chosen for its proximity to Jerusalem. Being closer to the temple, the people of Bethel shared things in common with the people of Judah and Jerusalem, both culturally and morally. Bethel means “House of God”; politically speaking, today Bethel would be “conservative.”

To the contrary, the city of Dan was located about 104 miles from Jerusalem, almost as far away as it could possibly be while remaining in Israel. In the book of Judges, we read that the city of Dan was previously named Laish. Laish was a place of unwalled cities where the people were carefree, morally depraved, and self-willed. The Dan tribe conquered Laish when they expanded their inheritance and renamed it Dan.

However, the Danites mingled with the people, embraced their lascivious ways, and worshipped their gods. The left represents Dan in today’s world. Neither Bethel nor Laish was an acceptable place to worship God.

The True Place of Worship

The high places of worship that were condemned by God were not only places erected for strange gods, but many of the high places in Israel were erected in the name of the LORD. However, the offerings made in the name of the LORD were not performed at the location God appointed or according to His laws.

Likewise, many Christians are not in a place before God of his choosing. They are worshiping in a place they imagine to be of his choosing. They are being deceived by a false construct of God they were taught or have created in their imagination. They worship in high places resembling the true, but they are not in the spirit of the true.

Unless we constantly seek God in prayer and know his word, false constructs of Christianity can be believed when in reality they present a false image of God and Christ.

While altars made of cut stones fit together nicely, God commanded that man is not to lay a tool upon the stones used to build an altar to the LORD. All of God’s words are as stones. We are to accept them exactly as they are. They are not to be modified. Only the unchanged word of God is acceptable for building an altar before Him.

If agendas, ideologies, or politics serve as the foundation of righteousness, then the choice of high places will be either Bethel, Dan, or a location somewhere in between.

Every religion not founded upon the word of God is a false god, even when it uses the Bible. Out of context, the Bible is a false god.

The only acceptable place for worshiping and offering sacrifices is upon the Rock, Jesus Christ. Jesus told the woman at the well, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes when you shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father… for the hour comes, and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

Most surely, for the child of God, Spirit and Truth is the spiritual Jerusalem, the Holy City, the place the LORD has chosen for his name to be worshiped.