Short and Long Reign Jeroboaism

"The period that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. So he rested with his fathers. Then Nadab his son reigned in his place." - 1 Kings 14:20

This verse is hardly Earth-shaking. You won't see denominations springing up around it, heresies forming based on it, divisions arising because of it, or skeptics raging against it. But what if we did? What if, for example, some nutter decided Jeroboam actually reigned 220 years, and that Nadab wasn't his son, but his great great great great great grandson? Not only did they cling to this, but they spread it, and they inserted it into mainstream academia, and it even infiltrated the churches, until finally, no one believed 1 Kings 14:20 anymore. They allegorised it, ignored it, retranslated it, and generally compromised it to make it say anything other than what it actually says. What would we say then?

At this point, Christians would have to pay a little more attention to Jeroboam and Nadab. We would form a doctrine around it, and maybe name that doctrine "Jeroboaism". Even then, I guarantee you certain people would insist on calling the literal interpretation "short-reign Jeroboaism", while holding to, or at least legitimising "long-reign Jeroboaism", because they believe Jeroboam existed, but each year in his reign could be a figure of speech, representing a century, since with God, a day is a thousand years.

In this scenario, it's not that Jeroboam would be more significant than Christ. It's not as if someone who genuinely believed in Christ would be condemned for not taking 1 Kings 14:20 seriously. It's just that Satan chose to attack this particular aspect of our God-breathed book (2 Tim 3:16). As a result, Christians stumble over that which God saw fit to reveal, and unbelievers have a barrier to faith, because they would believe our book is just as filled with errors as any other religious text.

This analogy explains the current state of Creationism, only Creationism is far deeper than Jeroboaism. It's not that Scripture is unclear, it's that someone decided to believe something different, it became mainstream in academia, and it infiltrated the Church, who quickly began compromising. Thus, we formed a doctrine around far more than just a simple verse. Compromisers muddied it further by taking classic Creationism and dividing it between "young" and "old" Earth, taking it as true but figurative. It's not that you're unsaved if you believe Christ, but reject Creationism. But Satan chose to attack Creationism in order to stumble the Church, and erect a barrier for future entry. If Evolution is true, Christianity isn't, and so anyone not dedicated enough to the latter will reject it for the former.

There is a tragically large portion of the Church who will say the origins debate isn't a huge deal. That it's not worth arguing over, and we should just focus on Christ. But when we focus on Christ, what we find is "If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" (John 3:12), "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”" (John 5:46-47) And "It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Matthew 4:4 cf. Luke 4:4; Deuteronomy 8:3).

If we focus on Christ, we naturally focus on Scripture. Not some Scripture. Not the easy parts. Not the fun parts. Not the uplifting parts. Not the academically popular parts. Not "only the Gospel" parts. Not the essential parts. Not the politically correct parts. Not the red parts. Not the New Testament parts. Not the doctrinally altering parts. My brethren, if there is one thing God saw fit to tell us that you see fit to ignore just for sake of following and preaching Jesus, you are neither following, nor preaching Jesus.

As a Church, we are a body. As we read in 1 Corinthians 12:21-25, "And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another."

Just as the Church are a body, so also is Scripture one body, made of 66 books, in many verses. There may be verses we consider "less honorable", or "unpresentable". But these, we must honor nonetheless, because they are, in fact, the word of God. Whatever parts of it Satan sees fit to attack - and he does see fit to attack Genesis - we should be motivated to defend.

And so defend it we shall. There will be many in the Church who cede some ground to Satan. To them, I say repent, because you cannot change the word of God, any more than you can change the past it describes. There will be many in the Church who consider this battle not worth fighting. To them, I say, then do not fight it, either on Satan's side, or on the Lord's. Fulfill your job in the body, but do not hinder others. There will be those who seek to fight it, but may not be equipped. To them, I say train hard, with prayer and diligence, for there is no greater liability in a war than an incompetent soldier. And finally, to those who are well trained, who went before me in battle, I say thank you, because I, myself, converted from Darwin's faith, which would assuredly have seen me damned had I stayed.

This, my brethren, is what is at stake. The Lord's word will stand forever, but no human soul has that same guarantee. Satan chooses his targets well, and the origins debate is a clever one. God makes Himself known through His creation, and so if Satan can blind us to Creation, he can blind us to the Creator. Furthermore, if they forget the first global judgment, Peter warns us they will forget the next (2 Peter 3:1-9). The origins debate is by no means trivial, least of all in the minds of the unbeliever. As Christians, we may say "forget origins, focus on Christ", but as atheists, they say "your Christ is as worthless as your theory on origins". It is a barrier that needs breaking, for as Scripture says, "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ," (2 Corinthians 10:5). Not some arguments. Not a minority of lofty opinions. All.

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