7 Bible Verses about Apostasy, Ot Examples
Most Relevant Verses
If a prophet or an interpreter of dreams appears among you and gives you a sign or a wonder (portent) (omen) (forecast of the future), in order to lead you to worship and serve gods that you have not worshiped before, and even if what they promise comes true, do not listen to them. Jehovah your God is allowing them to test you. He will then know that you love Jehovah with all your heart.read more.
Follow Jehovah and respect him. Obey him and keep his commandments. Worship him and be faithful to him (stick to him) (stay close to him) (cleave, cling to him). Put to death any interpreters of dreams or prophets that tell you to rebel against Jehovah. For he (Jehovah) rescued you from Egypt, where you were slaves. Such people are evil and are trying to lead you away from the life that Jehovah has commanded you to live. They must be put to death, in order to get rid of this evil. If your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your very best friend tries to secretly entice you, saying: 'Let us go and serve other gods, gods neither you nor your fathers have known, the gods of the people who are around you from one end of the earth to the other end.' Do not yield to him or listen to him. Your eye should not have pity on him. You should not spare or conceal him. You must kill him! Your hand should be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. Stone him to death because he has sought to draw you away from Jehovah your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. All Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.
Jehovah's Spirit left Saul, and a distressing spirit sent by Jehovah tormented him.
I will never put an end to my agreement with him. I put an end to my agreement with Saul when he was king before you.
However when he became powerful, his pride destroyed him. He was unfaithful to Jehovah his God. He went into Jehovah's Temple to burn incense on the incense altar. Azariah the priest went in after him with eighty of Jehovah's courageous priests. They opposed King Uzziah. They said to him: Uzziah, you have no right to burn incense as an offering to Jehovah. That right belongs to the priests, Aaron's descendants, who have been given the holy task of burning incense. Get out of the holy place because you have been unfaithful. Jehovah God will not honor you for this.read more.
Uzziah held an incense burner in his hand. He became angry. As his anger with the priests grew, a skin disease broke out on his forehead. This happened in front of the priests in Jehovah's Temple as Uzziah was at the incense altar. When the chief priest Azariah and all the priests turned toward him, a skin disease was on his forehead. They rushed him away. Uzziah was in a hurry to get out because Jehovah had inflicted him with the disease. King Uzziah had a skin disease until the day he died. Since he had a skin disease, he lived in a separate house and was barred from Jehovah's Temple. His son Jotham was in charge of the royal palace and governed the country.
Jehovah humbled Judah because of King Ahaz of Israel. Ahaz had spread sin throughout Judah and was unfaithful to Jehovah. King Tillegath Pilneser of Assyria attacked Ahaz. Instead of strengthening Ahaz, Tillegath Pilneser made trouble for him. Ahaz took some of the things from Jehovah's temple, the royal palace, and the princes. He gave them to the king of Assyria. But that did not help him.read more.
When he had this trouble, King Ahaz became more unfaithful to Jehovah! He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus. These were the gods who had defeated him. He thought: The gods of the kings of Aram are helping them. I will sacrifice to them so that they will help me. But they ruined him and all Israel. Ahaz collected the utensils in God's Temple. He cut them up and closed the doors to Jehovah's Temple. He made altars for himself on every corner in Jerusalem. And in each city of Judah, he made places of worship to sacrifice to other gods. He angered Jehovah the God of his ancestors. Everything else about him from beginning to end is written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. Ahaz slept in death with his ancestors. He was buried in the city of Jerusalem because they did not put him into the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah succeeded him as king.
The people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain. They gathered around Aaron. They said to him: We do not know what has happened to Moses, the man who led us out of Egypt. Make gods to lead us. Aaron replied: Have your wives, sons, and daughters take off the gold earrings they are wearing. Bring them to me. The people took off their gold earrings and handed them to Aaron.read more.
After he worked on the gold with a tool, he made it into a statue of a calf. Then they said: Israel, this is your god, who brought you out of Egypt. Aaron built an altar in front of it when he saw what happened. Then he announced: Tomorrow there will be a festival in Jehovah's honor. Early the next day the people sacrificed burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. After that they sat down to a feast, which turned into an orgy. Jehovah said to Moses: Go down there. Your people whom you brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They have already turned from the way I commanded them to live. They made a statue of a calf for themselves. They have bowed down to it and offered sacrifices to it. They said: Israel, here is your god who brought you out of Egypt.' Jehovah added: I have seen these people. They have an iron sinew (stiff necked people) (are impossible to deal with). Now let me alone. Let my anger burn against them. I am so angry with them I am going to destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation. But Moses pleaded with Jehovah his God. Jehovah, he said, why are you so angry with your people? These are your people whom you brought out of Egypt using your great power and mighty hand! Do not let the Egyptians say: 'He was planning all along to kill them in the mountains and wipe them off the face of the earth. That is why he brought them out of our land.' Do not be so angry. Reconsider your decision to bring this disaster on your people. Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. You took an oath, swearing on yourself. You told them: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. I will give to your descendants all the land I spoke of. It will be their long lasting possession.' So Jehovah changed his mind and did not bring disaster on his people as he threatened. Moses went back down the mountain. He carried the two stone tablets with the commandments written on both sides. God made the tablets and engraved the commandments on them. Joshua heard the people shouting and said to Moses: I hear the sound of war in the camp. Moses replied: That does not sound like a shout of victory or a cry of defeat; it is the sound of singing. Moses came close enough to the camp at the foot of the mountain to see the bull-calf and to see the people dancing. He became furious! He threw down the tablets he was carrying and broke them. He took the bull-calf that they had made, melted it, ground it into fine powder, and mixed it with water. Then he made the people of Israel drink it. Moses asked Aaron: What did these people do to harm you? Why did you make them sin in this terrible way? Aaron said, Do not be angry with me. You know the people as well as I do. They are determined to do evil. They said to me: 'That man Moses led us out of Egypt, but now we do not know what has happened to him. Make us a god to lead us.' Then I asked them to bring me their gold earrings. They took them off and gave them to me. I threw the gold into a fire, and out came this bull. Moses saw that the people were naked. Aaron had made them naked to their shame among their enemies. Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said: Who is on Jehovah's side? Come to me. All the sons of Levi came to him. He said to them, Jehovah, the God of Israel says: 'Each man put his sword by his side. Go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp. Kill each one his brother, and each one his neighbor, and each one his kindred.' The sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses. About three thousand men died that day. Moses said: Today you are ordained as Jehovah's. God gave you a blessing today. Each of you fought with your own sons and brothers. The next day Moses said to the people: You have committed a serious sin. Now I will go up the mountain to Jehovah. Maybe I will be able to make a payment for your sin and make atonement with Jehovah for your sin. So Moses went back to Jehovah and said: These people have committed such a serious sin! They made a god out of gold for themselves. Will you forgive their sin? If not, please wipe me out of the book you have written. Jehovah answered Moses: I will wipe out of my book whoever sins against me. Now, go and lead the people to the place I told you about. My angel will go ahead of you. But on the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin. Jehovah killed people because they had Aaron make the calf.
I am sorry that I made Saul king. He has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands. Samuel was angry. All night long he pleaded with Jehovah.