After the division of Israel, Jeroboam feared losing his kingdom if the people continued worshiping in Jerusalem. Rather than abolish religion, he reshaped it. He placed golden calves at Dan and Bethel and declared, “Here are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt” (1 Kings 12:28). He kept the name of Yahweh but changed the worship to fit political and cultural needs.
Progressive Christianity walks the same path. It keeps the language of faith while redefining the terms. Jesus becomes a moral teacher rather than the risen Lord. Sin becomes injustice rather than rebellion. Salvation becomes social healing rather than spiritual redemption. Just like the Northern Kingdom, modern progressives offer a god who is familiar in name but foreign in nature.
“Open-Minded” Idolatry
The people of Israel did not see themselves as rejecting Yahweh. They simply wanted to be open to other spiritual options. Baal was worshiped for rain, Asherah for fertility, and Molech for prosperity. The land was filled with high places, groves, and alternate shrines. In their minds, it was not apostasy. It was balance. It was maturity.
Progressive Christianity mirrors this impulse. Its leaders are often proud to affirm all religions as valid paths to the divine. Jesus is presented as one example among many. Interfaith services blend Scripture with mantras, chakras, and meditation. This “open-mindedness” is not new. It is the same spiritual adultery that the prophets condemned as whoredom. God does not share His throne.
Pagan Intrusion in Sacred Clothing
The Israelites introduced forbidden elements into their worship. They practiced divination, consulted mediums, and used cultic rituals they learned from their Canaanite neighbors. They may have justified these things as “spiritual tools,” but the prophets saw clearly what was happening. Paganism was creeping into the house of God.
Today, angel cards, energy healing, astrology, aura readings, and manifesting are all being imported into churches, especially those influenced by progressive and New Apostolic Reformation theology. These practices are often wrapped in Christian language. They speak of light, Spirit, and destiny. But they are no different from the forbidden rituals of ancient days. Their power does not come from the Holy Spirit. It comes from the same deceiving spirits that always wait behind the idols.
The Rise of Prophetic Theater
In the Northern Kingdom, the prophets became professional performers. They declared victory and blessing without requiring repentance. They contradicted the true prophets, promising peace while ignoring rebellion. Jeremiah lamented, “They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’” (Jeremiah 23:17).
Today’s “prophecy schools,” such as Bethel’s School of Supernatural Ministry, follow a disturbingly similar pattern. They claim to train individuals to “activate” prophetic gifts, to decree and declare realities into being, and to access heaven’s secrets at will. But true prophecy in Scripture was never a skill to be mastered or a sensation to be invoked. It was a calling given by God to speak His Word with fear and trembling.
At Bethel and similar movements, prophecy becomes performance. It centers on personal revelation, emotional experience, and “manifesting” outcomes rather than repentance, obedience, and holiness. Like the prophets of the Northern Kingdom, these teachers proclaim peace where there is no peace and glory without the cross. The emphasis on “prophetic activation” closely mirrors the divination condemned by Moses, where the divine is manipulated for human ends rather than received with reverent submission.
Cultural Syncretism Rebranded as Revival
Ancient Israel thought it could have both Yahweh and Baal. It thought it could use Canaanite worship styles to honor the God of Abraham. But Yahweh had already spoken at Sinai. His worship was not negotiable. Israel’s attempt to blend cultures resulted in divine rejection.
Progressive Christianity makes the same mistake. It borrows the language of self-help, the values of humanism, and the practices of mysticism. It attempts to wrap them in Christian terms, calling it “revival” or “awakening.” But Yahweh does not share His glory. He is not worshiped on the high places. He is not accessed through emotion, technique, or personal preference. He demands covenant faithfulness.
The Prophets Were Never Popular
In the Northern Kingdom, the true prophets were persecuted. Elijah was hunted. Amos was silenced. Hosea was scorned. They did not tell people what they wanted to hear. They told them what God said. The people preferred the false prophets who promised peace, affirmation, and national greatness.
Today, biblical voices that warn against false spirituality are called judgmental. They are told they are stifling the Spirit. They are accused of division and fear-mongering. But their words match the prophets of old. God does not change, and neither does the nature of rebellion.
The Consequence of Compromise
The Northern Kingdom fell. Assyria crushed it, and its people were scattered. The fall was not just political. It was spiritual. The gods they welcomed could not save them. The prophets they trusted led them into ruin. God gave them over to what they had chosen.
Progressive Christianity is on the same path. It trades revelation for reinvention. It welcomes what God forbids. It builds golden calves and calls them Jesus. Its trajectory is not renewal but collapse. A house built on sand will fall.
Conclusion
The Northern Kingdom did not fall because it rejected religion. It fell because it redefined it. It kept the name of God while reshaping everything else. It embraced the gods of the age and called it progress. Progressive Christianity is repeating this rebellion. It is time to choose whom we will serve.
Discussion Questions
- Why do you think Jeroboam chose to redefine Israel’s worship rather than abolish it outright? How does this reflect the way progressive Christianity reshapes faith today?
- What are the dangers of being “open-minded” about spiritual truth? At what point does openness become compromise, and how can we recognize the difference?
- How do modern practices like angel cards, manifesting, and prophetic activation parallel ancient forbidden rituals? Can these practices ever be redeemed or are they inherently incompatible with biblical faith?
- Why were the true prophets in Israel often unpopular and rejected? How does this help us evaluate popular spiritual leaders today?
- If the Northern Kingdom’s downfall was theological more than political, what does that suggest about the long-term consequences of doctrinal compromise in the Church today?
Want to Know More?
- Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible
Explores the cosmic context of biblical truth and the danger of spiritual compromise. - Derek Gilbert, The Great Inception: Satan’s Psyops from Eden to Armageddon
Unmasks the spiritual strategies of deception that repeat throughout history. - John MacArthur, Strange Fire
A detailed critique of counterfeit spiritual gifts and emotional manipulation masquerading as revival. - Joel Richardson, When a Jew Rules the World
Confronts the clash between biblical loyalty to Christ and the world’s pressure to compromise. - Stephen De Young, The Religion of the Apostles: Orthodox Christianity in the First Century
Examines how the earliest Christians maintained fidelity to truth in the face of pagan culture and false spiritual authority.
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