Drifting From God – False Religion Established
Deuteronomy 13:1-6
1 Be careful to observe only that which I enjoin upon
you: neither add to it nor take away from it.
2 If there appears among you a prophet or a
dream-diviner and he gives you a sign or a portent, 3 saying, “Let us follow
and worship another god”—whom you have not experienced—even if the sign or
portent that he named to you comes true, 4 do not heed the words of that
prophet or that dream-diviner. For the Lord
your God is testing you to see whether you really love the Lord your God with all your heart and
soul. 5 Follow none but the Lord
your God, and revere none but Him; observe His commandments alone, and heed
only His orders; worship none but Him, and hold fast to Him. 6As for
that prophet or dream-diviner, he shall be put to death; for he urged
disloyalty to the Lord your
God—who freed you from the land of Egypt and who redeemed you from the house of
bondage—to make you stray from the path that the Lord your God commanded you to follow. Thus you will sweep
out evil from your midst.
1 Kings 12:1-13:34
1 Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to
Shechem to acclaim him as king. 2 Jeroboam son of Nebat learned of it while he
was still in Egypt; for Jeroboam had fled from King Solomon, and had settled in
Egypt. 3 They sent for him; and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came
and spoke to Rehoboam as follows: 4 “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now
lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke which your father laid on us, and we
will serve you.” 5 He answered them, “Go away for three days and then come back
to me.” So the people went away. 10 And the young men who had grown up with him
answered, “Speak thus to the people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke
heavy, now you make it lighter for us.’ Say to them, ‘My little finger is
thicker than my father’s loins. 11 My father imposed a heavy yoke on you, and I
will add to your yoke; my father flogged you with whips, but I will flog you
with scorpions.’”
12 Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the
third day, since the king had told them: “Come back on the third day.” 13 The
king answered the people harshly, ignoring the advice that the elders had given
him. 14 He spoke to them in accordance with the advice of the young men, and
said, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father
flogged you with whips, but I will flog you with scorpions.” 15 (The king did
not listen to the people; for the Lord
had brought it about in order to fulfill the promise that the Lord had made through Ahijah the
Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.) 16 When all Israel saw that the king had
not listened to them, the people answered the king:
“We have no portion in David,
No share in Jesse’s son!
To your tents, O Israel!
Now look to your own House, O David.”
So the Israelites returned to their homes. 17 But
Rehoboam continued to reign over the Israelites who lived in the towns of
Judah.
18 King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was in charge of the
forced labor, but all Israel pelted him to death with stones. Thereupon King
Rehoboam hurriedly mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. 19 Thus Israel
revolted against the House of David, as is still the case.
20 When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned,
they sent messengers and summoned him to the assembly and made him king over
all Israel. Only the tribe of Judah remained loyal to the House of David.
21 On his return to Jerusalem, Rehoboam mustered all
the House of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 picked warriors, to fight
against the House of Israel, in order to restore the kingship to Rehoboam son
of Solomon. 22 But the word of God came to Shemaiah, the man of God: 23 “Say to
King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah, and to all the House of Judah and
Benjamin and the rest of the people: 24 Thus said the Lord: You shall not set out to make war on your kinsmen the
Israelites. Let every man return to his home, for this thing has been brought
about by Me.” They heeded the word of the Lord
and turned back, in accordance with the word of the Lord.
25 Jeroboam fortified Shechem in the hill country of
Ephraim and resided there; he moved out from there and fortified Penuel. 26
Jeroboam said to himself, “Now the kingdom may well return to the House of
David. 27 If these people still go up to offer sacrifices at the House of the Lord in Jerusalem, the heart of these
people will turn back to their master, King Rehoboam of Judah; they will kill
me and go back to King Rehoboam of Judah.” 28 So the king took counsel and made
two golden calves. He said to the people, “You have been going up to Jerusalem
long enough. This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of
Egypt!” 29 He set up one in Bethel and placed the other in Dan. 30 That proved
to be a cause of guilt, for the people went to worship [the calf at Bethel and]
the one at Dan. 31 He also made cult places and appointed priests from the
ranks of the people who were not of Levite descent.
32 He stationed at Bethel the priests of the shrines
that he had appointed to sacrifice to the calves that he had made. And Jeroboam
established a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month; in imitation
of the festival in Judah, he established one at Bethel, and he ascended the
altar [there]. 33 On the fifteenth day of the eighth month—the month in which
he had contrived of his own mind to establish a festival for the
Israelites—Jeroboam ascended the altar that he had made in Bethel.
As he ascended the altar to present an offering, 1 a
man of God arrived at Bethel from Judah at the command of the Lord. While Jeroboam was standing on
the altar to present the offering, the man of God, at the command of the Lord, cried out against the altar: 2 “O
altar, altar! Thus said the Lord:
A son shall be born to the House of David, Josiah by name; and he shall
slaughter upon you the priests of the shrines who bring offerings upon you. And
human bones shall be burned upon you.” 3 He gave a portent on that day, saying,
“Here is the portent that the Lord
has decreed: This altar shall break apart, and the ashes on it shall be
spilled.” 4 When the king heard what the man of God had proclaimed against the
altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his arm above the altar and cried,
“Seize him!” But the arm that he stretched out against him became rigid, and he
could not draw it back. 5 The altar broke apart and its ashes were spilled—the
very portent that the man of God had announced at the Lord’s command. 6 Then the king spoke up and said to the man
of God, “Please entreat the Lord
your God and pray for me that I may be able to draw back my arm.” The man of
God entreated the Lord and the
king was able to draw his arm back; it became as it was before.
7 The king said to the man of God, “Come with me to my
house and have some refreshment; and I shall give you a gift.” 8 But the man of
God replied to the king, “Even if you give me half your wealth, I will not go
in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water in this place; 9 for so I was
commanded by the word of the Lord:
You shall eat no bread and drink no water, nor shall you go back by the road by
which you came.” 10 So he left by another road and did not go back by the road
on which he had come to Bethel.
11 There was an old prophet living in Bethel; and his
sons came and told him all the things that the man of God had done that day in
Bethel [and] the words that he had spoken to the king. When they told it to
their father, 12 their father said to them, “Which road did he leave by?” His
sons had seen the road taken by the man of God who had come from Judah. 13
“Saddle the ass for me,” he said to his sons. They saddled the ass for him, and
he mounted it 14 and rode after the man of God. He came upon him sitting under
a terebinth and said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
“Yes, I am,” he answered. 15 “Come home with me,” he said, “and have something
to eat.” 16 He replied, “I may not go back with you and enter your home; and I
may not eat bread or drink water in this place; 17 the order I received by the
word of the Lord was: You shall
not eat bread or drink water there; nor shall you return by the road on which
you came.” 18 “I am a prophet, too,” said the other, “and an angel said to me
by command of the Lord: Bring him
back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.” He was
lying to him. 19 So he went back with him, and he ate bread and drank water in
his house.
20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of
the Lord came to the prophet who
had brought him back. 21 He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah:
“Thus said the Lord: Because you
have flouted the word of the Lord
and have not observed what the Lord
your God commanded you, 22 but have gone back and eaten bread and drunk water
in the place of which He said to you, ‘Do not eat bread or drink water [there],’
your corpse shall not come to the grave of your fathers.” 23 After he had eaten
bread and had drunk, he saddled the ass for him—for the prophet whom he had
brought back. 24 He set out, and a lion came upon him on the road and killed
him. His corpse lay on the road, with the ass standing beside it, and the lion
also standing beside the corpse. 25 Some men who passed by saw the corpse lying
on the road and the lion standing beside the corpse; they went and told it in
the town where the old prophet lived. 26 And when the prophet who had brought
him back from the road heard it, he said, “That is the man of God who flouted
the Lord’s command; the Lord gave him over to the lion, which
mauled him and killed him in accordance with the word that the Lord had spoken to him.” 27 He said to
his sons, “Saddle the ass for me,” and they did so. 28 He set out and found the
corpse lying on the road, with the ass and the lion standing beside the corpse;
the lion had not eaten the corpse nor had it mauled the ass. 29 The prophet
lifted up the corpse of the man of God, laid it on the ass, and brought it
back; it was brought to the town of the old prophet for lamentation and burial.
30 He laid the corpse in his own burial place; and they lamented over it,
“Alas, my brother!” 31 After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die,
bury me in the grave where the man of God lies buried; lay my bones beside his.
32 For what he announced by the word of the Lord
against the altar in Bethel, and against all the cult places in the towns of
Samaria, shall surely come true.”
33 Even after this incident, Jeroboam did not turn
back from his evil way, but kept on appointing priests for the shrines from the
ranks of the people. He ordained as priests of the shrines any who so desired.
34 Thereby the House of Jeroboam incurred guilt—to their utter annihilation
from the face of the earth. [1]
Matthew 7:15-20
15 Beware of false prophets,
which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather
grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17 Even
so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth
evil fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn
down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by
their fruits ye shall know them.
Matthew 24:11-13; 24-26
11 And many false
prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And
because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved….24 For there shall arise false Christs,
and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it
were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the
desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it
not.
Galatians 1:6-12
6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that
called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not
another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of
Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto
you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we
said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto
you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I
seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of
Christ. 11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of
me is not after man. 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it,
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be
troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the
day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day
shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin
be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above
all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. 5 Remember ye not, that, when I
was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth
that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth
will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked
be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and
shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose
coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying
wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;
because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11
And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but
had pleasure in unrighteousness.