Charles Spurgeon Commentary 1 Kings 12:29-30

"And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin; for the people went [to worship] before the one, even unto Dan." — 1 Kings 12:29-30 (ASV)

I suppose that Jeroboam did not mean to draw them away from worshipping Jehovah; but he would have Jehovah worshipped under some visible image, and not according to the rule which God had laid down.

That is just where mischief often begins, both in the church and in the world. Men are willing to worship God if they are allowed to have a ritual and symbols which they have themselves devised.

So, instead of the divine simplicity of the New Testament, they have many things added—things to please the taste, things aesthetic, beautiful, and sensuous—all of which draw the mind away from that sublime worship of the invisible God, which alone can be acceptable before Him.

It is not for us to determine how we will worship God; we are to worship Him in His own manner, for His commandments are still in force: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them.

"Well, but the cross," someone says, "surely that is a truly venerable symbol?" Let it be as venerable as you please; but we must not use it in divine worship.

The ox was supposed to represent strength; surely it was an admirable emblem of the Almighty. Yet God pours contempt upon it when He bids His inspired servants to speak of it as the image of an ox that eateth grass, as if that could be any symbol of the Most High!

This thing became a sin.