In First Kings, chapter twelve, verse twenty-eight, Jeroboam of the northern kingdom established a counterfeit religious system by offering the people worship of their gods through idols, as in verses twenty-seven through thirty, and the warning stanza of Exodus twenty, three to four, after the pattern of the golden calf made by Aaron in Exodus thirty-two, verse eight. Jeroboam appointed priests “which were not the sons of Levi,” in verse thirty-one, therefore ordaining men to the ministry who did not qualify according to God’s law.
Jeroboam’s establishment of a false religious system produced two results. Most people who remained in the northern kingdom accepted Baal worship along with its immoral practice of cult prostitution. The majority of the godly remnant that desired to remain loyal to God and His law suffered greatly as they “left their possession and moved to the southern kingdom to worship the Lord according to His original revelation and commandments as in Second Chronicles eleven, thirteen to fourteen. “They out of all their tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the Lord God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the Lord God of their fathers,” as in Second Chronicles eleven, verse sixteen, and chapter fifteen, verse nine, respectively.
Today, believers become the children of God because they refuse to accept the current world system. They are the ones that came out from among them, as in Second Corinthians six, verse seventeen. However, followers of God that decide to follow will face challenges where they will have to give up their possessions to pursue the Holy One. Possessions do not mean personal belongings, although people may need something that a person may have extra. Still, believers may have to give up worldly things that would prohibit God from having a growing relationship in their life.