Throughout the history of the kings of Israel, one bad king set the standard for the onslaught of evil kings to follow: King Jeroboam. Subsequent kings were measured by whether they continued in the "sins of Jeroboam" (1 Kings 15:34, 1 Kings 16:19, etc.), and no king achieved a higher degree of infamy. Jeroboam did many evil things, but the most distinctive offense, the one that really belonged to Jeroboam, was changing God's Feast of Tabernacles!

After Solomon's reign, God split the 12 tribes of Israel into two distinct nations. God chose Jeroboam as the first king of the newly formed "house of Israel," consisting of the 10 northern tribes, and promised to bless him with an enduring line of kings if he would follow God's law (1 Kings 11:38). However, many of God's commandments revolved around worshiping at the temple in Jerusalem - located in the rival "house of Judah" consisting of the southern two tribes. Specifically, God commanded the people to return to Jerusalem each year for His appointed festivals, and Jeroboam feared that these annual visits would sway the allegiance of the people (1 Kings 12:26-27). As a result, Jeroboam decided to replace the problematic laws of God with a counterfeit religious system that consolidated his power.

Jeroboam set up temples full of idols for the people to worship and established his own priesthood (1 Kings 12:31). As sinful as these actions were, they were nothing new and were certainly not unique to Jeroboam! The people of Israel had been committing idolatry ever since the golden calf at Mount Sinai (Exodus 32:1), and they had already defiled the office of the priesthood by setting up their own priests (Judges 17:5-6). Though he instituted much evil, there is only one "sin of Jeroboam" that was truly original:

"Jeroboam ordained a feast on the 15th day of the 8th month, like the feast that was in Judah... in the month which he had devised in his own heart" (1 Kings 12:32-33).

The "feast that was in Judah" is the Feast of Tabernacles, which begins yearly on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. The sin which truly set Jeroboam apart was changing God's commanded Feast of Tabernacles from its appointed time to "the month which he had devised in his own heart." Many Israelites were led astray by this deception, but did you know that an even greater deception now afflicts the majority of Christianity? Have you ever wondered why Christmas and Easter are not mentioned by name in the bible, and why there is no command to celebrate these events? Like Jeroboam's feast, these holidays were devised in the hearts of men as a counterfeit of God's Holy Days!

The Feast of Tabernacles, the very observance that Jeroboam infamously turned Israel away from, just ended. God wants Christians to worship Him in "spirit and truth" (John 4:23-24). Take the time to learn the ugly truth about the holidays that you have been taught, and even more so the amazing truth about God's Holy Days that you have not been taught!