In dictionary.com, the above is defined as: “a total desertion of or departure from one’s religion, principles, party, cause, etc.”
Webster’s Dictionary has a more defined definition: “the public abandoning of a religious faith, esp Christianity, for another”
Although this word per se is not used in the Bible [except occasionally in some newer translations] there are many examples of this activity given in Scripture. In the book of Judges, the nation of Israel is seen to honour God and then fall away time and time again; rejecting God only to become defeated and demoralized and calling on Him again to restore their prosperity. In essence, they became apostate on many occasions.
One of the better examples of apostasy is found in the Old Testament concerning King Josiah. He was the great grandson of Hezekiah, the grandson of Manassah, and the son of Amon. All these kings were increasingly apostate in their relationship to God from the more righteous Hezekiah to the evil Amon. During the reigns of these kings, worship turned more and more away from the worship of God and more toward the worship of Pagan deities - gods which had previously been banned from Judah because of the worship of God. When Josiah came to the throne following his father Amon, there were again articles of worship in the Lord’s temple to Baal, Asherah, and as well as to other gods in other places.
Now when Josiah was about 26 years old, he set about to repair the Temple in Jerusalem and there found a copy of the Book of the Law. Apparently, it was the Book of Deuteronomy, which spelled out the consequences and judgement a falling away from God would trigger. Then the king…
…made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord
and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes…
(2 Kings 23:3)
Found in the same book and chapter, Josiah removed the articles of worship to Baal and Asherah and destroyed them. He also tore down the ritual booths, pulverized the alters that were on the roof, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. After performing these acts, and others, he:
commanded all the people, saying,
“Keep the Passover to the Lord your God,
as it is written in this Book of the Covenant."
(2 Kings 23:21)
Josiah overturned the culture of his day by his actions against the shrines and temples of the gods which had crept back into the lives and actions of the people of Judah. He destroyed the alters of Baal, Ishtar, Chemosh, and Milcom, the gods of foreign lands whose alters were the places of child sacrifice.
Today, the countries which were founded on the principles of the Bible are again falling into apostasy as other influences creep into our culture and even the church. In an attempt to be inclusive, we often end up being assimilated much as the culture and peoples of Judah were doing the reigns of the kings before Josiah. Perhaps this is referring to the time mentioned in Thessalonians because many are left thinking assimilation is only being inclusive.
Let no one receive you by any means; for that Day will not come
unless the falling away [the apostasy] comes first,
and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition…
(2 Thessalonians 2:3)
We seem to be living in a time when apostasy is present, when even many who profess to be Christian live otherwise and when the attempt to include all, results in apparent abandonment of principles and beliefs. It is truly an age of apostasy.
Perhaps we need another Josiah.
And that is something we should all think about.
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