Same Calves, New Kingdom: A Throwback Nobody Asked For

Reading 1 Kings 12–14, I was surprised to see golden calves making another appearance. After everything that happened in Exodus—the chaos at Sinai, Moses' anger, the breaking of the tablets—it’s hard to imagine anyone trying that again. But here we are. Jeroboam, newly crowned king of the northern tribes, sets up two golden calves and tells the people, "Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt."

History Repeats Itself, Clumsily

It sounds almost word for word like what Aaron said back in Exodus 32. That repetition makes me wonder: why return to something with such a loaded history? Jeroboam was afraid of losing control. He worried that if people kept traveling to Jerusalem to worship, their loyalties might shift back to Rehoboam in the south. So he creates a convenient alternative. The calves weren’t just symbols; they were part of a strategy.

That raises questions about how fear can shape belief. It’s easy to see Jeroboam as self-serving, but maybe his move also reveals how fragile new systems can be. He needed something tangible, familiar, and centralized. In that sense, the golden calves weren’t just about idolatry; they were about stability, even if it meant borrowing from a mistake.

When in Doubt, Recycle

This repetition also makes me think about how often we return to old solutions, even when they didn’t work the first time. There’s something comforting about the familiar, even if it comes with baggage. Maybe that’s why these calves show up again. Not because they’re spiritually meaningful, but because they’re recognizable. The people had seen them before. They knew how to worship in front of them. That predictability might have felt safer than embracing something uncertain or distant.

It’s also interesting that Jeroboam doesn’t introduce something entirely new. He doesn’t invent a fresh symbol or system. He recycles. That says something about how cultures and communities handle change. When there’s a split—political, social, or spiritual—people often try to recreate a sense of continuity. The calves might have been a flawed attempt at that.

Anchoring the Future in the Wrong Past

There’s a tension here between innovation and regression. Jeroboam was leading a new kingdom, but instead of forging a new path, he fell back on an older, discredited model. That’s not unique to him. History is full of moments where leaders reach for symbols of the past, hoping they can anchor the future. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they just repeat old mistakes.

What do we reach for when we’re unsure? How do we decide which parts of the past to carry forward, and which to leave behind?