Why did Jeroboam build temples in Dan and Bethel?

A:1 Kings chapter 12 tells us that the Israelite king Jeroboam made two calves of gold, setting one up in Bethel and one in Dan. He made priests and ordained a national feast day to the god symbolised by these calves, and the people came to worship. It may be that some of the biblical background of the split from Judah is not historical, after all the people of Israel should have been too poor to build two golden calves and their temples, but there is little doubt that the early Israelites did indeed have these temples in Dan and Bethel.

We know the moon god was represented at times by a bull, but at other times by a golden calf. This account is consistent with clues of moon god worship found in the stories of the Exodus and of the Israelite patriarchs. From this it can be seen that the moon god was a national god of Israel. The temples were for the worship of the moon god.