Episode 2509 - Lesson 11 - Sabbath - Sep. 06 - Apostasy and Intercession

Sabbath AfternoonRead for This Week’s Study: Exod. 32:1-6; Ps. 115:4-8; Isa. 44:9-10; Rom. 1:22-27; Exod. 32:7-32; Isa. 53:4Memory 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, the 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 but, 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? Did they so quickly forget the mighty acts of God (Ps. 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" (Deut. 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.