6 Bible Verses about Backsliding, Israel Exanples

And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people did strive with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why do you strive with me? why do you test the LORD? And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Why is this that you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?read more.
And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they are almost ready to stone me. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with you of the elders of Israel; and your rod, with which you smote the river, take in your hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the striving of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, who shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.read more.
And he received them from their hand, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get you down; for your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed to it, and said, These are your gods, O Israel, who have brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may grow hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of you a great nation. And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why does your wrath grow hot against your people, whom you have brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from your fierce wrath, and change from this evil against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said unto them, I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever. And the LORD turned from the evil which he thought to do unto his people. And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear. And it came to pass, as soon as he came near unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger grew hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto you, that you have brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord grow hot: you know the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, who shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever has any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it to me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had let them be naked unto their shame among their enemies:) Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD'S side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. And he said unto them, Thus says the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon the cost of his son, and his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. And it came to pass on the next day, that Moses said unto the people, you have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; perhaps I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if you will forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray you, out of your book which you have written. And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto you: behold, my Angel shall go before you: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them. And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tested God in the desert. And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.read more.
The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshiped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their savior, who had done great things in Egypt; Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome things by the Red sea. Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them. Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: To overthrow their descendants also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices to the dead. Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds: and the plague broke in upon them. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed. And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations forevermore. They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke rashly with his lips.

And Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being a hundred and ten years old. And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, who knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.read more.
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth. And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of plunderers that plundered them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn unto them: and they were greatly distressed. Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, who delivered them out of the hand of those that plundered them. And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed themselves unto them: they turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, obeying the commandments of the LORD; but they did not so. And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for the LORD had compassion because of their groanings because of them that oppressed them and vexed them. And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel; and he said, Because this people has transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice; I also will no longer drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died: That through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not. Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out hastily; neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua.

They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: But were mixed among the nations, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.read more.
Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and played the harlot with their own deeds. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, so much that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the nations; and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did foreign women cause to sin.