but you have done evil above all who were before you and have gone and made for yourself other gods and metal images, provoking me to anger, and have cast me behind your back,
Ahijah the prophet carries God's message to a king who owed Him everything: the throne, the ten tribes, the promise of a lasting house. Verse 9 counts up what he did with it all, and the charge is not just idolatry but contempt — God pushed out of sight, behind a man's back.
The gift that came first
The charge weighs against what God had already done for this man. God raised him from nothing and handed him a kingdom on clear terms.
W. W. FeredayIn Jeroboam we see the worthlessness and hopelessness of the flesh, however favoured by God. Lifted out of obscurity by the God of Israel, and granted rule over ten of the tribes, Jeroboam began his reign with every advantage. The Lord promised to be with him. He would build him a sure house, if he would pay attention to His commandments and walk in His ways.
A religion of his own making
No enemy forced these other gods on Jeroboam. They came out of a calculation about how to hold on to power.
William KellyHe was afraid of what would happen if he let his subjects go up to Jerusalem. They would think again of their old king. They would think again of the grand purposes of God connected with Jerusalem. So what does he do? He devises a religion out of his own head.
But was this still worship of the true God, only with a visual aid? Commentators answer no.
Truth & TestimonySome argue that Jeroboam was truly worshipping the Lord, only with the help of visible images. People urge the same thing today to excuse open idolatry. The Bible does not support it. It says plainly: "This thing became a sin." God does not need an image to enable people to worship Him. In fact, Scripture condemns the very idea throughout.
Going further than Sinai
Jeroboam's new religion looked like a compromise rather than an outright rejection of God.
H. L. RossierTo forsake the worship of the true God is to fall into idolatry, whatever form it takes. In religion there is no middle ground. No doubt Jeroboam thought he had found such a middle ground... He brings back into honour the Jewish idolatry the people practised at the foot of Mount Sinai. That sin had brought God's judgment down on them. Only he goes further than Israel had in the wilderness: his forsaking of God is more complete... He does not add, as Aaron had done, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord!" The Lord is completely set aside.
Casting God behind the back
The last phrase of the verse describes something people still do without building any image.
H. L. RossierJeroboam had done without God, had despised Him as a useless object. And is it any different today? Man treats God as a "negligible quantity" and does without Him. He banishes Him from his life, casting Him behind his back so as to see Him no more. In front of him he has his own plans, his ambition, his well-being. He does not think about what he has cast behind him.
Evil above all before him
The verdict outlived the man.
Morrish Bible DictionaryScripture charges Jeroboam with doing evil above all who were before him, and his doings became a proverb. For Israel to sin "as Jeroboam the son of Nebat" was a mark of the very worst wickedness.
His sin did not stay his own. He carried a whole nation with him.
H. J. VineLike a death knell, the Spirit marks out this man with the same sad words again and again: "Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin."... Personal sins are bad enough, but to turn away God's people from the centre which He has set up — what could be worse?
Summary
- Given — God gave Jeroboam the kingdom, and promised him a lasting house if he obeyed. Verse 9 weighs the man against that gift.
- Grasped — Fear for his throne, not conviction, produced his religion. He devised a worship out of his own head.
- Guised — Images do not help people worship the true God. God needs none, and the Bible calls the arrangement sin.
- Gone — To cast God behind your back is to treat Him as useless. Your plans, ambition and well-being stay in front of you; He stays out of sight.
- Grown — What one man put behind his back, a nation followed. His name became the label for the very worst wickedness.