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:
Thank you, Brother Maurice, and HIGH Five to everything you said! I just want to add:
What happened to those seventy Elders in "Exodus 24:1,9-11", who saw and heard God themselves for the second time (in the cloud of course). GOD, not Moses, but God cried these men to come meet with HIM and Moses; they eat and communed personally with God. After this meal, God told Moses to come up into the Mountain, by himself.
Only a short time later, 40 days, a little over a month, the children of Isreal went "buck wild".
People always want to "blame" Aaron for his part in this chaos; but I say: "Where was those other 70 Elders?" Why didn't they try to stop this? And maybe some of them did try to stop it.
If we are Leaders among God's people today, then we have to attempt to stop "the nonsense" that is happening in our churches, even if no one wants to listen.
God will hold the Leaders accountable. You probably don't want to remember this part of what happened next; I have read this story many, many times, and I didn't remember this either. When Moses came down and saw the chaos with his own eyes, he called for the people that were on "the Lord's side" to come to him. Then he told those people to go throughout the camp and kill all that were involved in starting this foolishness, see Exodus 32:26-29; as a result, 3,000 men were killed that day. This was God dealing with those responsible (whether Leaders or everyone in the camp) through Moses. Then Moses went back up into the Mountain to talk with God and to get another set of the Commandments stones.
We are not exempted from the same kinds of chaos that the Israelites experience. There's a lot of chaos in the God's church today, but it is just disguised differently.
Do we have the "COURAGE" to stand up for God's covenant Law in the midst of "chaos" today? If not, NOT TO WORRY, God's church will go through to the PROMISED LAND.
Be Blessed.
I agree with you, Toni. What were those 70 elders thinking? We are not told, but the crowd dynamic had taken over, and I can only assume they either folded or were ineffective. Having an idea of how crowd dynamics works and having seen crowds turn ugly in recent times, I can understand.
The question I asked my team this week was, Indirectly, I was asking them how they would behave when no one was watching. The answers I received were quite sanitized and clean-cut. However, the truth is that most humans have a tendency to switch between being "publicly" good and being their true selves.
This "on/off" switch attitude has also infiltrated the church, where two-faced Christianity is alarmingly visible. It's not a new phenomenon – just 40 days was all it took for those who had pledged, to turn away. It's a sobering reminder that our true character is revealed not in the crowd, but in solitude.
When we're alone, with no one watching, would we still remain true to our worship? Would our actions align with our professed faith? These are questions that warrant honest introspection.
That is why every day when we are alone, we spend time with the One who died for our sins and if we don't, we are no better than the Israelites. The reason God did not just eliminate them is because He saw a potential for redemption in them, by giving them more chances to be redeemed. Same with us, the reason we carry on with a relationship with Our Lord is because of the realization that He sees in us jewels to fill His crown. If we come to the realization that the road before us becomes a pleasure to travel it allows our paths to be made straight, yes again by the One who died for our sins.
Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths."
Life is good cause God is, life is good cause I am His.
Amen.
Thank-you Stanley for your detailed analysis and scenario of the Israelites Road to the promised land. I do enjoy your posts.
Also, thank you Brother Stanley for your Thought Question. I want to add:
More importantly, if the world went dark for two hours, would WE be able to encourage those that are around us? Or would we be among those that are in a state of PANIC?
We, as God's People, have to prepare our Hearts and Minds now for such a time as this, because this time is going to happen. How do we prepare? Read and study Phillipians 2:4-5.
But thank you for putting a "Lighter" spin on it.
Be blessed!
"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).
Who can possibility not be touched or moved by the man Moses! Moses was willing get his named erased from the book life if that would be the cost of saving his people. Moses was so committed and actually loved his people so much that he was ready to trade off his eternal destiny for the sake of having God to forgive the Israelites for the sin done. How can a mortal human being come such noblest commitment? It is no wonder the Bibles says, “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth."(Numbers 12:3, NIV). This passage of scripture tells us that we mortal sinners by God’s grace can rise up and conquer the love of self. This is also captured is Paul’s sentiment.
“For my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them” (Romans 9:3, NLT).
Moses was a true servant leader. His willingness to sacrifice himself to be identified with his people even when they were guilty, should be an example to our leaders. Leaders should bear the burden of their people and not self-serving. Moses is teaching us that selfless love is sacrificial. Moses interceding for his guilty people serves as a lesson to us that we should pray even for those whom we consider undeserving.
It is interesting to note that God did not take Moses’ offer. “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book” (Exodus 32:33). There are important lessons to from God’s response. Firstly, each person is responsible for his/her sin. Secondly, even when other people intercede for us, we have got personal responsibility to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour. Human intercession has got a limit. Each person is accountable to God. Praise be to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who is our good shepherd who died for our sins.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep” (John 10:11, NLT).
Great work done 👍
Moses refuses a deal given by God
Let's us jog our memories to the fact that Moses was not interceding and praying for a group of saints, but for a bunch of rebellious people. They had just bowed down to a golden calf, copying Egyptian idolatry (Exodus 32:1–6). Even before this “golden calf affair,” the Israelites had been a constant source of grief and pain in Moses neck—complaining, grumbling, and even threatening Moses’ life (Exodus 16:2–3; Numbers 14:10).
God declared that He would wipe them out and raise up a new nation from Moses instead (Exodus 32:10; Deuteronomy 9:14). Any ordinary leader might have said, “That sounds good, Lord.” But Moses’ answer was astonishing: he said “No” to God’s offer. Instead, he pleaded for mercy, showing deep love for his people and a longing to see God’s covenant promises fulfilled (Exodus 32:11–13). In the book of (Exodus 32:32) Moses portrays sacrificial intercession that is not natural but is the work of the Spirit of God shaping the heart of a true shepherd (Romans 9:3; Galatians 6:2).
As long as ‘worshipping God’ is perceived as a ritual, man will struggle with his faith. Yes, all faiths call for tangible evidence to express themselves, but our God reveales Himself to the heart and mind through faith in His Goodness – His Love for us! 1 John 4:7-11.
How long has God worked on our redemption? Has He come to the point of ‘giving up’ before Israel temped Him in the ‘Wilderness’? Records of Noah’s times come to mind. No need to 'point the finger' at anyone, for 'all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God' Rom.3:23. What is that which sets Him apart from the other 'gods' – is it not His unwavering desire for His Spirit to reside in man?
Again and again, our God promises to not leave us stranded in the ever changing ebb and flow of our faith, encouraging us to keep our eyes steadfastly focused on Him. He gave to man His Sabbath, providing access to Him through prayer for a fitting retreat to refresh us - to ‘remember and know that He loves us’, so preparing us for loving Him in return – 1 John 4:19.
The lesson asks "after so many mighty miracles on their behalf, how could 'God's people' turn away from Him?" I'm thinking of how often we receive from God, but out of relationship with Him. We take His love without being in love.
Like Gomer with her husband Hosea. I imagine she stood there in the marriage ceremony and promised to be faithful for better or for worse, but it was not in her to be this way or to do this. She was not in love with Hosea because somehow she was broken when it came to receiving and giving true love. She was in slave mentality, like the Israelites were still in slave mentality, standing there at the bottom of the mountain. They were out of Egypt, but Egypt was not out of them.
Meanwhile, Hosea knew Gomer would not be a wife who was faithful to him, or who would live up to the promises of faithfulness that she was saying in her marriage vows, but he still yoked himself to her and poured out his love on her (Hosea 1:2-3). Hosea shows us God's Spirit. He yokes Himself to His people even when they have no idea what it means to be "His people" and are far from Him in their hearts, crawling into other beds days after pledging themselves to Him, worshiping passionately at other altars - altars of twisted sinful habits, altars of pride, altars upon which they give others credit for what God is giving them, just like Gomer did (Hosea 2:5) - I'm also thinking of so many who attribute blessings to a supposed law of attraction, karma, or manifesting what one wants.
How typical it is to come home to God only to offer Him whatever little one has left, like Gomer dragging herself home and also like the Prodigal Son. It is only the faithful husband, God, who turns the marriage with His people into something enviable and beautiful. But with His tenderness, we hear God's pain in Hosea 2:13-14. His bride, brushing past Him smelling of cheap perfume, dressing herself up for someone else, taking off His ring, chasing after false lovers who don't even want her and are abusive, spending herself, covered with bruises and forgetting Him. God wants the bride no one else would want (Hosea 2:19-20). God looks at His people like she is the most desirable bride and irresistible (Eph. 5:25-27). He covers over all the reasons to leave us.
References concerning Sabbath and Sunday Lesson: Patriarchs and Prophets pages 315-330 Chapter 28 "Idolatry at Sinai"
PP page 315-318.
During this period of waiting (Moses up the Mount Sinai), there was time for them to meditate upon the law of God which they had heard, and to prepare their hearts to receive the further revelations that He might make to them. They had none too much time for this work, and had they been thus seeking a clearer understanding of God's requirements, and humbling their hearts before Him, they would have been shielded from temptation. But they did not do this and they soon became careless inattentive, and lawless.
Feeling their helplessness in the absence of their leader, they returned to their old superstitions...The people desired some image to represent God, and to go before them in the place of Moses...The mighty miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea were designed to establish faith in Him as the invisible, all-powerful Helper of Israel, the only true God. And the desire for some visible manifestation of His presence had been granted in the pillar of cloud and of fire that guided their hosts, and in the revealing of His glory upon Mount Sinai. But with the cloud of the Presence still before them, they turned back in their hearts to the idolatry of Egypt, and represented the glory of the invisible God by the similitude of an ox.
...There are some who remained true to their covenant with God, but the greater part of the people joined in the apostasy. A few who ventured to denounce the proposed image making as idolatry, were set upon and roughly treated, and in the confusion and excitement they finally lost their lives.
...(Aaron) His first act was to direct that the golden earrings be collected from all the people and brought to him, hoping that pride would lead them to refuse such a sacrifice. But they willingly yielded up their ornaments; and from these he made a molten calf, in imitation of the gods of Egypt.
The lesson we can learn from this today: How often, in our own day, is the love of pleasure disguised by a "form of godliness. "! A religion that permits men, while observing the rites of worship to devote themselves to selfish or sensual gratification, as pleasing to the multitudes now as in the days of Israel. And there are still pliant Aarons, who, while holding positions of authority in the church, will yield to the desires of the unconsecrated, and thus encourage them in sin.
God's covenant with His people had been disannulled, and He declared to Moses,"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."
Sunday: Such crisis demanded a man of firmness decisions and unflinching courage; one who held the honor of God above popular favor, personal safety, of life itself. But the present leader of Israel was not of this character.
Thanks so much Barbara for your sobering exposition. We are undone, because although we have their behaviour and consequences as an example we are nonetheless just as guilty or worse, because we are living in the light of the cross and in anticipation of the imminent Second Coming. GOD extend your mercies a little longer until Your servants are sealed. May we and our loved ones, be sealed with Your character of love.
God is so merciful! But in the end, His mercy will also destroy those who do not want to trade their gods with Him. Sometimes, we are so attached to earthly things that we don’t realize they become first. Whatever is first in my life is what I truly worship - this is my god.
Thanks Barb for tying Sabbaths lesson with Sunday's lesson, it fits. 👍
You are more than welcome.
Have a blessed new week!
Reminded me of this by Ellen White,
And that, in turn, reminded me of a wonderful book written by church historian George Knight, entitled Lest We Forget. In it Knight tells the story of our church in his engaging style in in 365 pages designed to be read as a daily devotional. (Okay, so I couldn't wait but read the book in major chunks so that I was soon finished!) I think I need to read it again, "lest I forget."
How is your church history quotient? Do you remember? Or have you ever studied our history? We have not only the history of Israel as our lessons but the divinely guided history of our own church!
Unfortunately, it's not available in Kindle format and is listed as a "Collectible" with likely not many copies. But you can still find it at AdventistBookCenter.com