7 Bible Verses about Apostasy, Ot Examples

Most Relevant Verses

Deuteronomy 13:1-11

"A prophet or a diviner of dreams may arise among you, give you an omen or a miracle that takes place, and then he may tell you, "Let's follow other gods (whom you have not known) and let's serve them.' Even though the sign or portent comes to pass, you must not listen to the words of that prophet or that diviner of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to make known whether or not you'll continue to love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul. read more.
You must follow the LORD your God, fear him, observe his commandments, listen to his voice, serve him, and cling to him. That prophet or diviner of dreams must be executed, because he advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and because he lured you from the way in which the LORD your God instructed you to live. Purge the evil from among you." "Your own blood brother, your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your friend who is like your soul mate may entice you quietly. He may tell you, "Let's go and serve other gods,' (whom neither you nor your ancestors have known from the gods of the people that surround you whether near or far from you from one end of the earth to the other). You must not yield to him, listen to him, look with pity on him, show compassion to him, or even cover up for him. But you must surely execute him. You must be the first to put him to death with your own hand, and then the hands of the whole community. Stone him to death, because he sought to lure you from the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the land of slavery. Then all Israel will hear about it, be afraid, and won't do this evil thing again among you.

2 Samuel 7:15

But I'll never remove my gracious love from him as I did from Saul, whom I removed from your presence.

2 Chronicles 26:16-21

But after he had become strong, in his arrogance he acted corruptly and became unfaithful to the LORD his God, and he dared to enter the LORD's Temple to burn incense on the incense altar. Azariah the priest ran after him, along with 80 of the LORD's valiant priests, and they opposed King Uzziah. "Uzziah, it's not for you to burn incense to the LORD," they told him, "but for the priests to do, Aaron's descendants who are consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary now, because you have been unfaithful and won't receive any honor from the LORD God."read more.
Uzziah flew into a rage while he held in his hand a censer to burn incense. As he got angry at the priests, leprosy broke out all over his forehead right in front of the priests beside the incense altar in the LORD's Temple. So Azariah the chief priest and all the priests stared at Uzziah, who was infected with leprosy in his forehead! They all rushed at him and hurried him out of the Temple. Uzziah was in a hurry to get out anyway, because the LORD had struck him. King Uzziah remained a leper until the day he died. Because he was a leper, he lived in a separate residence and remained disqualified to enter the LORD's Temple. His son Jotham served in the royal palace, judging the people of the land.

2 Chronicles 28:19-27

because the LORD was humiliating Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel, since Ahaz had brought about a lack of restraint within Judah and had remained unfaithful to the LORD. King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria attacked Ahaz and, instead of helping him, attacked him. Even though Ahaz took some of the assets belonging to the LORD's Temple from the royal palace, and from the palaces belonging to the princes, and gave them to the king of Assyria, none of his gifts did any good.read more.
In the midst of his troubles, King Ahaz became more and more unfaithful to the LORD. He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus that had defeated him, reasoning, "The gods of the kings of Aram helped them, so I'll sacrifice to them so they will help me!" But those gods brought about his downfall, and the downfall of all of Israel, too. Ahaz also collected the utensils of God's Temple, cut them all into pieces, and closed the doors of the LORD's Temple. Then he made altars to himself on every corner in Jerusalem and established high places in every city of Judah where incense was burned to other gods, thus provoking the LORD God of his ancestors to anger. The rest of his accomplishments, and records of everything he did from first to last are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. So Ahaz died, as had his ancestors, and he was buried in the city of Jerusalem, but they didn't bury him among the tombs of the kings of Israel. Ahaz's son Hezekiah reigned in his place.

Exodus 32:1-35

When the people saw that Moses took a long time to come down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and told him, "Come here and make us a god who will go before us, because, as for this fellow Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him." Aaron told them, "Tear off the gold rings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me." All the people tore off the gold rings that were in their ears and brought them to him. read more.
He took them from them and, using a tool, fashioned them into a molten calf. The people said, "This, Israel, is your god who brought you out of the land of Egypt." When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of it, and then he proclaimed, "Tomorrow is to be a festival to the LORD." They got up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. Then the people sat down to eat and drink, and then they got up to play. The LORD told Moses, "Go down immediately, because your people whom you led out of Egypt have behaved corruptly. They have been quick to turn aside from the way I commanded them, and they have made for themselves a molten calf. They have bowed down to it in worship, they have offered sacrifices to it, and they have said, "This, Israel, is your god who brought you out of the land of Egypt.'" Then the LORD told Moses, "I've seen these people and indeed they're obstinate. Now let me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may consume them, but I'll make a great nation of you." But Moses implored the LORD his God: "LORD, why are you angry with your people whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a show of force? Why should the Egyptians say, "He brought them out with an evil intention to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your anger and change your mind about the calamity against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants to whom you swore by yourself as you told them, "I'll increase the number of your descendants like the stars of the heavens, I'll give your descendants all of this land about which I have spoken, and they are to possess it forever.'" So the LORD changed his mind about the calamity he had said he would bring on his people. Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two Tablets of the Testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides. They were written on one side and the other. The tablets were the work of God and the writing was God's writing, inscribed on the tablets. When Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he told Moses, "The sound of war is coming from the camp." Moses said, "It is not the sound of a victory shout, and it's not the sound of a shout of defeat, but it's the sound of singing that I hear." As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he became angry. He threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the base of the mountain. He took the calf that they had made, burned it with fire, and ground it into powder. He scattered it on the water and made the Israelis drink it. Then Moses asked Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you brought such great sin upon them?" Aaron said, "Sir, don't be angry. You know the people that they're intent on evil. They told me, "Make a god for us who will go before us because, as for this fellow Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him.' So I told them, "Whoever has gold ornaments, tear them off.' When they gave it to me, I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf." When Moses saw that the people were out of control since Aaron had let them get out of control, something that incited ridicule from their enemies he stood in the gate of the camp and called out: "Whoever is for the LORD come over to me," and all the sons of Levi gathered around him. He told them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says, "Every man put his sword on his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and each of you kill his brother and friend and neighbor.'" The descendants of Levi did just as Moses told them, and about 3,000 people died that day. Moses said, "You have been ordained to serve the LORD today, and you have brought a blessing on yourselves today because every man opposed his son or brother." The next day Moses told the people, "You committed a great sin, and now I'll go up to the LORD, and perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." Moses returned to the LORD and said, "Please, LORD, this people committed a great sin by making a god of gold for themselves. Now, if you will, forgive their sin but if not, blot me out of your book which you have written." The LORD told Moses, "Whoever sins against me, I'll blot him out of my book. Now, go, and lead the people where I told you, and now my angel will go before you, but on the day when I do punish, I'll punish them for their sin." Then the LORD sent a plague on the people because they made the calf (the one Aaron made).

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