Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and built Penuel.
God had just given Jeroboam ten tribes, and the first thing recorded of his reign is building work. Commentators read those two projects as a window into his heart: what a man fortifies shows what he fears losing, and Jeroboam was guarding what God had already promised him.
The promise already in his hands
Jeroboam already had a word from God about his throne. Writers point out that its two parts came on different terms.
Truth & TestimonyGod's promise to Jeroboam was plain. The kingdom was his unconditionally. "You shall reign over all that your soul desires, and you shall be king over Israel." But keeping the kingdom depended on his obedience. "If you will listen… walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight… I will be with you, and build you a sure house." The kingdom was his. He had only to believe the promise of God for that. Yet, like Jacob, he felt he needed to work out his own schemes to get the promise fulfilled. Are we not sometimes guilty of the same mistake? So often we are not content with God's clear promise. We try by our own efforts to get what we want, sometimes at the cost of obeying God's Word.
Shechem, a capital with a past
Shechem was not a blank site. It was where the tribes had gathered to crown Rehoboam, and Jeroboam now took it over as his own headquarters. One writer notes what kind of place he picked, and what he did to it.
C. KnappHe made historic Shechem his capital, and fortified it. Of Shechem one writer says: "The setting is lovely; the valley runs west, with rich black soil, watered by springs… orchards of fruit, olive groves, and greenery on every side, delight the eye" — the very spot for a man bent on pleasing himself and aiming at a life of luxury.
Penuel, a name he did not hear
The other place Jeroboam built carried a name from Israel's past.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinJeroboam also built the ancient Penuel — "the face of God" — but he did not meet the Lord there as Jacob had. Then he took the step that brought on idolatry.
Walls in place of faith
Why build at all, when the kingdom was already his? Commentators point to what was missing.
Hamilton SmithWhen Jeroboam came to the throne, instead of depending on God and His word he tried to establish his kingdom by his own devices. Having no faith in God he fell back on natural reasoning and human schemes to keep the professing people of God together.
Another writer puts that habit of counting the odds bluntly:
H. L. RossierNot having confidence in God, he weighs up the probabilities and stops there. Faith never stops at probabilities — I would even say that it feeds on impossibilities and is the better for it.
From strongholds to rival altars
The fortifying did not stay a matter of stone. Once a man decides his security is his own project, worship becomes a tool of policy — and Jeroboam built two more centres, this time for religion.
Leslie M. GrantJeroboam had no real faith in the living God. So, on the advice of his officials, he decided to do what was convenient. He set up not one centre for Israel's worship, but two — and both stood in opposition to God's one centre.
A kingdom with no centre
Judah had the temple at Jerusalem. Jeroboam's kingdom had nothing of the kind.
C. KnappHis kingdom, unlike Judah with its temple at Jerusalem, had no centre given by God. It was, in fact, a circumference without a centre, and its worship a matter of convenience.
Those centres never won the hearts of the faithful. Years later a prophet born in the northern kingdom still turned to the old place.
W. W. FeredayJonah was born into the breakaway ten tribes. They had turned away from God's centre, and people knew them by the idol shrines at Bethel and Dan. Religious confusion disgraced the Lord's land in his time. Even so, Jonah's heart turned toward the centre God set up in happier days.
Summary
- Given — God's plain word made the throne Jeroboam's. Only keeping it rested on his obedience. The crown was never his to defend.
- Guarded — He made Shechem his capital and fortified it, then built Penuel. Walls now protected what God had given him by promise.
- Deaf — Penuel means "the face of God." Jeroboam rebuilt the place, but he never met the Lord there as Jacob had.
- Calculated — He would not rest in God. He weighed the odds and leaned on human schemes. Faith does not stop where the odds stop.
- Ruined — The same unbelief that raised walls set up two rival centres of worship. Yet hearts like Jonah's still turned to God's centre. Man's substitutes never hold.