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Jeroboam Establishes Bethel and Dan
In 1 Kings 12:25–33, the narrative focuses on jeroboam’s golden calves. This belongs to the divided-kingdom story. Political fracture becomes religious fracture as rival worship, dynastic violence, prophetic warnings, and repeated royal evaluations show how the northern and southern kingdoms respond to the LORD after Solomon.
Kings narrates the establishment of the northern royal worship center and altar at Bethel; Amos explicitly announces judgment on Bethel’s altars. Amos’s audience is not hearing about an abstract sanctuary but a central institution in the northern kingdom.
Amos’s sarcastic command to “come to Bethel, and transgress” attacks the northern cult center established under Jeroboam and shows how a royal worship policy became a long-term prophetic symbol of covenant rebellion.
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