How Guilty Are We of Apostasy?

Do We Commit Apostasy?

Answering the question, “What is apostasy?” A negation of religious faith, renunciation of allegiance, defection from one’s original allegiance, or giving up on one’s religion.

Biblical Examples of Heresy

God instructs Zechariah to distinguish between two kinds of shepherds in this revelation. Since God’s people (the sheep) had rejected the chief shepherd, he was to demonstrate how God would abandon them (11:1-14).

The next shepherd was supposed to symbolize how God will hand over his people to tyrants (11:15-17).

To prepare for their eventual slaughter, a flock of sheep needed a shepherd, and God told Zechariah to assume the job. The Messiah would lead God’s people through a time of political and spiritual chaos.

The Jewish establishment didn’t give a hoot about the people’s moral well-being; they were just concerned with making a buck. The flock represents the people who, up to the point of God’s punishment, reaped the benefits of their own gluttony and vile desires.

Two shepherd’s sticks that Zechariah took and christened Beauty (Grace) and Bands (Union). First, he shattered Beauty to demonstrate that God’s generous covenant with his family had been breached. He shattered Bands, the second, to symbolize the severing of ties between Judah and Israel (11:14).

There’s no telling who these three horrible shepherds were, but God knows they weren’t cut out to lead his people. Accordingly, he decided to get rid of them.

God shattered the Beauty staff in this fashion to show that he no longer approves of protecting Israel after they abandoned the good shepherd. They were struck by tragedies and epidemics, and many people perished.

It was an insult that the villagers gave the shepherd 30 silver coins. This was the price given to a landowner for a slave who had been eaten alive by a bull (Exodus 21:32).

That’s how much Judas was paid to betray Jesus (Matthew 27:3-10). The price of the Messiah, whom everybody must have, was the life of a slave.

There was a strong social divide between the upper classes and the lower classes, with potters falling among the latter. The “goodly price,” a sarcastic comment, was so little that it could be thrown away with the pottery.

The fact that Judas returned the 30 pieces of silver he received for betraying Jesus to the Temple and used the money to buy a potter’s field is significant (Matthew 27:3-10).

Zechariah’s symbolic breaking of the staff named Bands symbolized God’s eventual dismissal of the people for rejecting the Messiah.

The Jews began to split into several sects not long after Zechariah’s day, including the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Herodians, and Zealots.

The fact that these factions weren’t working together contributed significantly to Jerusalem’s destruction in AD 70.

Israel preferred to recognize a silly (ineffective) shepherd than the real thing.

This shepherd would care more about his personal needs than those of his flock, and he would destroy them rather than protect them.

Since he put faith in his armed power and his eyes, he deserves to be judged (intelligence). God would destroy both parts completely.

When God’s people have spiritual leaders who don’t care about them, it’s a huge tragedy. Pastors have a heavy burden of responsibility before God for the welfare of their flock.

“Not many of you should become instructors, my fellow believers, for you know that we who teach will be judged more rigorously,” the New Testament says of church leaders (James 3:1).

If God chooses you for a leadership role, you should know that with great power comes great responsibility.

Some may ask how the plot is related to the concept of apostates. Who or what did the tale focus on, the shepherds or the people?

As we read the tale, we learn about the actions of the shepherds and their impact on the people’s spiritual well-being.

The story’s main focus should be on the characters. The Israelites were well-versed in God and His ways, yet they turned their backs on Him out of compromise with the world.

They abandoned the Truth in favor of falsehood. How prevalent is that in today’s culture? What percentage of individuals living in this century can say that?

How Do We Define Apostasy?

Merriam-Webster defines apostasy as “the act of declining to continue to accept, obey, or acknowledge a religious religion; the abandoning of a former allegiance.” Sinful in tone, to put it mildly.

When the people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Following this line of reasoning, we reach the conclusion that apostasy and apostate status are appropriate terms to describe someone who is aware of the truth yet chooses to reject it. Hmmm? Backsliders also sound like that to me. You may be wondering, “What is a backslider?”

To backslide is “to slip morally or in the practice of religion, or to relapse to a worse state,” according to Merriam-online Webster’s definition. Once again, it had the feel of sin.

And because they did not value keeping the knowledge of God, God handed them up to a perverted mentality to do what they should not (Romans 1:28).

Seek self-knowledge through putting your beliefs to the test. Do you not know that you have Christ Jesus living inside of you? And I have faith that you will find we passed the exam with flying colors. Now we beg God to keep you from making any mistakes, not so that others can see that we’ve made it through, but so that you can do the right thing even if we seem to have failed (2 Corinthians 13:5-7).

Like Jannes and Jambres before them, these educators stand in the way of the truth. As far as the church is concerned, these are men of corrupt minds (2 Timothy 3:8).

So, what does this entail?

We have individuals in our churches today who preach nothing but the virtues of love and togetherness, but never warn against the destructive power of sin. It has been argued that warning people about their impending doom in hell discourages them from trusting Christ because it highlights their own imperfection.

Sin and hellfire sermons are meant to be terrifying. Soul immortality hinges on whether or not we embrace Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

In the end, our eternal well-being (whether in heaven or hell) depends on whether or not we repent of our misdeeds and beg God to pardon us.

Because God’s gift to us in Christ Jesus our Lord is everlasting life, we should not boast but repent (Romans 6:23).

All you have to do to be saved is to confess with your lips, “Jesus is Lord,” and to believe in your heart that God resurrected him from the dead. Belief comes from the heart, which justifies us; confession of faith comes from the lips, which leads to salvation (Romans 10:9-10).