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 encamped in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. Wherefore the people contended with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said to them, Why chide you with me? why do ye tempt the LORD? And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Why is this that thou hast brought us out of Egypt to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?read more.
And Moses cried to the LORD, saying, What shall I do to this people? they are almost ready to stone me. And the LORD said to Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel: and thy rod, with which thou smotest the river, take in thy hand, and go. Behold, I will stand before thee there on the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and water shall come 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 chiding 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 from the mount, the people assembled themselves to Aaron, and said to him, Arise, make us gods which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. And Aaron said to them, Break off the golden ear-rings which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me. And all the people broke off the golden ear-rings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron.read more.
And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To-morrow is a feast to the LORD. And they rose early on the morrow, 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 to Moses, Go, go down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: They have turned aside quickly from 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 thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt. And the LORD said to Moses, I have seen this people, and behold it is a stiff-necked people: Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast forth from the land of Egypt, with great power, and with mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians speak and say, For evil did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel thy servants, to whom thou sworest by thine own self, and saidst to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do to 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, graven upon the tables. And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said to 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 nigh to the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses's anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables from 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 strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. And Moses said to Aaron, What did this people to thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people that they are set on mischief. For they said to me, Make us gods which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him. And I said to them, Whoever hath 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 made them naked to 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 to me. And all the sons of Levi assembled themselves to him. And he said to them, Thus saith 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 to-day to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said to the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up to the LORD; it may be I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned to the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt, forgive their sin: and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said to Moses, Whoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore now go, lead the people to the place of which I have spoken to thee: Behold, my angel shall go before thee: Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. And the LORD afflicted the people, because they made the calf which Aaron made.

But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted 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 similitude of an ox that eateth grass. They forgot God their savior, who had done great things in Egypt; Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible 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. Yes, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word: But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not to the voice of the LORD. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness: To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also to Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague broke in upon them. Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed. And that was counted to him for righteousness to all generations for ever. 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 unadvisedly 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 Timnath-heres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that generation were gathered to their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which 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, of the gods of the people that were around them, and bowed themselves to 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 spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies around, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them: and they were greatly distressed. Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, who delivered them out of the hand of those that spoiled them. And yet they would not hearken to their judges, but they went astray after other gods, and bowed themselves to 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 up judges for them, 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 repented because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and burdened 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 to 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 that this people hath transgressed my covenant which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened to my voice; I also will not henceforth drive out from before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died: That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not. Therefore the LORD left those nations, without driving them out speedily, neither did he deliver them into the hand of Joshua.

They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them: But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols: which were a snare to them.read more.
Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went astray with their own inventions. Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; 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 by his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.