Sabbath: Apostasy and Intercession
Daily Lesson for Sabbath 6th of September 2025
Image © Pacific Press
Read for This Week’s Study: Exodus 32:1-6; Psalms 115:4-8; Isaiah 44:9-10; Romans 1:22-27; Exodus 32:7-32; Isaiah 53:4.
Memory Text:
“Then Moses returned to the Lord and said, ‘Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written’ ” (Exodus 32:31-32, NKJV).
Moses had been absent from the camp of Israel for only 40 days, and what happened? God’s people had turned away from Him and worshiped a human-made idol, a golden calf. After so many mighty signs, experiences, and miracles, how could they have done that?
There could be many answers, and perhaps some truth in them all. Did the people not understand who God really was? Or were their powerful experiences with Him overshadowed by their carnal and sinful desires? Did they not appreciate what God had done for them and, instead, took it all for granted? Was their understanding clouded, marred by their everyday preoccupations and old sinful thinking? Were they simply ungrateful for God’s merciful actions on their behalf? Had they so quickly forgotten the mighty acts of God (Psalms 106:13,21-23)? Or could it all be blamed on Aaron’s failed leadership? “ ‘The Lord was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him’ ” (Deuteronomy 9:20, NKJV).
Whatever the reasons for this terrible apostasy, what lessons can we draw from it, not only about human sinfulness but about God’s gracious love for humans, despite their sinfulness?
*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, September 13.
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We look at the spiritual journey of the Hebrews, not only during the Exodus, but through their entire life as a nation and find they repeatedly changed their allegiance. Sometimes they worshipped him and sometimes they worshipped other gods. Their spiritual historical track looks like a zig-xag! And in our short-sighted analysis we “Tut-tut!” and accuse them of all sorts of things that we would never do.
If we are truly honest with ourselves our own track is often crooked and shows waywardness as well. Many of us wear our religion like a garment. When the fashion changes it’s “Out with the old, and dress with the new!”
With the Hebrews, the absence of their charismatic leader for 6 weeks was enough to sow seeds of doubt and recrimination in their minds to the extent they forgot their direct communication with God and went back to their old ways. Their Egyptian baggage was just to heavy to shrug off.
This week we need to think about how we can learn from the Herew “boom and bust” spiritual journey – not just criticise them.
David said: