I Kings 12-13

“After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people ... Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt” (12:28). The kingdom had split; King Jeroboam ruled over the ten northern tribes (Israel), while King Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, ruled over Judah and Benjamin. Jeroboam didn’t want Israelites going into Judah to worship at Jerusalem’s temple, so he made golden calves as substitute gods for the people. But God’s prophet cried out judgment against this false altar (13:1-3).

Jeroboam didn’t fear God; he used religious worship to increase his personal power, leading to “downfall and destruction” (13:34). Instead of manipulation, God desires the sacrifice of a “broken and contrite heart” (Ps 51:17).