2 Chronicles 11:13

THE TRUE WORSHIPPERS OF GOD MIGRATE TO JERUSALEM

"And the priests and the Levites that were in all Israel resorted to him out of all their border. For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons cast them off, that they should not execute the priest's office unto Jehovah; and he appointed him priests for the high places, and for the he-goats, and for the calves which he had made. And after them, out of all the tribes of Israel, such as set their hearts to seek Jehovah, the God of Israel, came to Jerusalem to sacrifice unto Jehovah, the God of their fathers. So they strengthened the kingdom of Judah, and made Rehoboam the son of Solomon strong, three years; for they walked three years in the way of David and Solomon."

There is important new information here. Jeroboam's "casting off" of the Levites, his images of the he-goats, and the fact of the Levites losing their possessions in order to live in Judah are not mentioned in Kings. Thus the Chronicler makes it clear enough that there was absolutely nothing whatever honorable or legitimate in the sinful worship Jeroboam installed in Israel. "The priests and Levites who were deposed could still have kept their lands, but they relinquished them in order to live in Judah where they could carry on their calling. They were accompanied by laymen who shared their disillusionment."[1]

Moses told us what this worship of the he-goats was like, when he forbade it to Israel. "They shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices unto the goats, after which they play the harlot" (Leviticus 17:7). There can be little doubt that the golden calves set up by Jeroboam were also used in the same licentious manner.

"They strengthened ... Judah ... three years" (2 Chronicles 11:17). These are ominous words, for they indicate a drastic change afterward. The change came in the fourth year, for in the fifth year, Rehoboam and all Israel forsook the God of Israel; and God's punishment quickly fell upon them in the invasion of Shishak, recorded in the next chapter.