Jeroboam's High Place. These are the excavated ruins where the Israelites worshiped idols at Dan.

TEL DAN Worshiping at the Altar of Convenience

1 KINGS 12

 AFTER THE REIGN OF KING SOLOMON,the nation divided and a practical problem arose. There were two nations: Judah and Israel. There were two kings: Rehoboam and Jeroboam. There were two capitals: Jerusalem and Shechem. But there was still only one place where God allowed His people to worship: the Temple in Jerusalem.

King Jeroboam didn't like that arrangement. He was afraid that if his people went to Jerusalem the capital of Judah for worship, their hearts would also be with Judah. So Jeroboam made two gold calves and told his people, "It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!" (1 Kgs. 12:28). He set up one of the calves in Bethel on the way to Jerusalem. He set up the other one in Dan. At Tel Dan, archaeologists have uncovered Jeroboam's high place a large, excavated podium that still stands at the highest point on the tell. In addition to the alternative place of worship, Jeroboam also introduced an alternative priesthood and an alternative worship festival (1 Kgs. 12:31-32).

By providing alternative places of worship, Jeroboam appealed to the laziness of the human spirit. Worshiping at Tel Dan was far more convenient than travelling all the way to Jerusalem. Substituting the priests, the festival, the places it all fell outside of God's will. The world, the flesh, and the devil will always tempt us with Jeroboam's words: "It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem". Whether it's a church that offers easy and comfortable religion instead of biblical faith, a good-looking and clever date who isn't a Christian, or a lucrative job opportunity that requires moral compromise, sin always provides a substitute that is more convenient and more attractive to our sinful nature. But our relationship with God must remain a matter of obedience before convenience. In the end, we'll find it far more satisfying because it honors God.