In the OT the terms of the covenant with God were constantly broken by Israel by acts of idolatry and disobedience. The consequence was God's judgment, which eventually included exile.
Warnings within the covenant
Nehemiah 1:8; Leviticus 26:1, Leviticus 26:14–17, Leviticus 26:31–33; Deuteronomy 4:25–27, Deuteronomy 8:19–20; Proverbs 2:22; Ezekiel 14:13, Ezekiel 15:8
Unfaithfulness seen in idolatry
Idolatry as marital unfaithfulness
Jeremiah 3:20 The covenant between God and Israel at Sinai viewed in terms of a marriage contract; Jeremiah 3:6–9 See also Jeremiah 3:12–14, Jeremiah 9:2, Jeremiah 31:32; Hosea 1:2
But as a woman may betray her husband, so you have betrayed Me, O house of Israel,” declares the LORD.
Now in the days of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree to prostitute herself there. I thought that after she had done all these things, she would return to Me. But she did not return, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. She saw that because faithless Israel had committed adultery, I gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away. Yet that unfaithful sister Judah had no fear and prostituted herself as well. Indifferent to her own infidelity, Israel had defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.
Idolatry as prostitution
1 Chronicles 5:25; Hosea 4:10–12, Hosea 9:1
Idolatry as abandoning God
Jeremiah 1:16 See also Judges 10:13; Jeremiah 5:19, Jeremiah 15:6
I will pronounce My judgments against them for all their wickedness, because they have forsaken Me, and they have burned incense to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.
Unfaithfulness seen in other forms of disobedience
Trust in money and possessions
Job 31:24–28 See also Jeremiah 49:4
If I have put my trust in gold or called pure gold my security, if I have rejoiced in my great wealth because my hand had gained so much, if I have beheld the sun in its radiance or the moon moving in splendor, so that my heart was secretly enticed and my hand threw a kiss from my mouth, this would also be an iniquity to be judged, for I would have denied God on high.
Doing wrong to others
Numbers 5:5–6 See also Leviticus 6:2; Proverbs 11:3, Proverbs 13:2; Isaiah 1:21–23; Hosea 6:6–7
And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites that when a man or woman acts unfaithfully against the LORD by committing any sin against another, that person is guilty
Marrying foreign wives
Ezra 10:2 See also Ezra 9:1–4; Nehemiah 13:27
Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel, an Elamite, said to Ezra: “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the land, yet in spite of this, there is hope for Israel.
Withholding tithes and offerings
Joshua 7:1, Joshua 22:20; Malachi 3:8
Breaches in the ritual law
Unfaithfulness as a characteristic of God's people throughout the OT
Jeremiah 5:11 See also Acts 7:37–41; Judges 2:16–17; Nehemiah 9:26; Haggai 1:7–9
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to Me,” declares the LORD.
Unfaithfulness among Israel's leadership
The unfaithfulness of the priesthood
Ezra 9:1–2 See also 2 Chronicles 36:14; Ezekiel 22:26; Malachi 2:7–8
After these things had been accomplished, the leaders approached me and said, “The people of Israel, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the surrounding peoples whose abominations are like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians, and Amorites. Indeed, the Israelites have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, so that the holy seed has been mixed with the people of the land. And the leaders and officials have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness!”
Unfaithful kings
Solomon's unfaithfulness leads to unfaithfulness among his subjects: 1 Kings 11:4–5, 1 Kings 11:33; 2 Chronicles 12:1–2 Rehoboam; 2 Chronicles 26:16–18 Uzziah's bad example; 2 Chronicles 28:19–23, 2 Chronicles 29:19; 2 Kings 21:9 parallel 2 Chronicles 33:9; 2 Kings 21:16; 2 Chronicles 33:19
Unfaithfulness leads to judgment
Deuteronomy 32:20; Psalm 73:27, Psalm 78:56–59; Proverbs 21:18
Individuals judged for unfaithfulness
Joshua 7:1, Joshua 7:25; 1 Chronicles 10:13
Wandering in the desert
Numbers 14:33 See also Numbers 14:34–35
Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lies in the wilderness.
The people taken into exile
Ezekiel 39:23 See also 1 Chronicles 9:1; Daniel 9:7
And the nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to Me. So I hid My face from them and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, so that they all fell by the sword.
Restoration following repentance
Ezekiel 39:25–26 God's purpose through the exile is to bring about the eventual repentance and restoration of his people. See also Leviticus 26:40–42; Deuteronomy 30:1–3; Nehemiah 1:8–9
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name. They will forget their disgrace and all the treachery they committed against Me, when they dwell securely in their land, with no one to frighten them.
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.