12:30 this thing became a sin. The establishment of national religious centers in competition with the one in Jerusalem is repeatedly referred to in the books of Kings as the sin of Jeroboam (13:34; 14:16; 15:26, 30; 16:2; 2 Kin. 3:3; 10:29; 13:2; 17:22). Unfortunately, every northern king followed the path first blazed by Jeroboam. None of them tried to institute a thorough reform. Without determined opposition, the sin of Jeroboam brought about the deterioration and demise of Israel (2 Kin. 17:22, 23).