I Kings 12:26,28,30

I Kings 12:26,28,30 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: Whereupon the king … made two calves of gold, and said unto them, 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 this thing became a sin ... Jeroboam stole away the hearts of the people in the ten northern tribes that was known as Israel. Only the tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to Solomon’s son, Rehoboam. But Jeroboam was nervous. He knew that the people went down to Jerusalem every year to worship at the Temple of God. He knew that they would see the majesty and power of Solomon’s son and Jeroboam was afraid that they would eventually boot him out as their king. So he devised a wicked plan. Jeroboam made two golden calves and set them up in the north of Israel for his people to worship so that they would not go down to Jerusalem. Jeroboam’s evil plan worked. Israel remained loyal to him. But it had sad consequences: His people began to worship Rehoboam’s golden calf idols and turned their backs on the true God of their fathers. Rehoboam had his kingdom all right, but the country began to go downhill fast. Evil and wickedness became common. The northern kingdom of Israel fell into evil times! Jeroboam had put his politics above God. Not a smart move and certainly not good results. Hey, God is all important. Put Him first - in everything!