Scripture Reading: Exodus 32 | Sabbath: January 11, 2025
Memory Verse: 1 Corinthians 10:20-21
1 Corinthians 10:20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
1 Corinthians 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.
Weekly Proverb: Proverbs 7:4-8, 27
Proverbs 7:4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:
Proverbs 7:5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
Proverbs 7:6 For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,
Proverbs 7:7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
Proverbs 7:8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
Proverbs 7:27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
Introduction: Syncretism is a fancy word for “mingled religion.” Some new beliefs and some old beliefs. Some true doctrine and some false doctrine. Half biblical teaching and half pagan rituals. The following scriptures are not ambiguous. The Bible teaches that we are to worship God alone without influence from outside of the Bible.

1. In our respect of God, what is one characteristic that we should keep in mind? Exodus 34:14.
Exodus 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
2. What does this jealous God think of the worship we give to Him? Isaiah 42:8
Isaiah 42:8 I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.

Note: Any husband or wife knows the meaning of the word jealousy. What husband or wife would share their spouse? Similarly, the Almighty God does not share His glory.

3. What is the fate of those who swear by the Lord and by other gods? Zephaniah 1:3, 5, (2-8).
Zephaniah 1:3 I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked: and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the Lord.
Zephaniah 1:5 And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the Lord, and that swear by Malcham;
4. The Israelites wanted Aaron to “make us gods,” so he made a “molten calf,” and declared the next day “a feast to the Lord.” What did Moses and the Lord God of Israel think of this mingled worship? Exodus 32:4-5, 24-27.
Exodus 32:4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Exodus 32:5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the Lord.
Exodus 32:24 And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.
Exodus 32:25 And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)
Exodus 32:26 Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
Exodus 32:27 And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.
5. What was Jeroboam’s great sin? 1 Kings 12:28, (25-33).
1 Kings 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
6. Jeroboam and all the kings of Israel would have known the scriptures, and should have known what? Deuteronomy 12:32.
Deuteronomy 12:32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
7. The Samaritan people were not of Israel? How were they established? 2 Kings 17:23-24, 41, (1-41).
2 Kings 17:23 Until the Lord removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to Assyria unto this day.
2 Kings 17:24 And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
2 Kings 17:41 So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images, both their children, and their children's children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
8. How was the Samaritan religion established? v 25-33.
2 Kings 17:25 And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them.
2 Kings 17:26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
2 Kings 17:27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the priests whom ye brought from thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him teach them the manner of the God of the land.
2 Kings 17:28 Then one of the priests whom they had carried away from Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
2 Kings 17:29 Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.
2 Kings 17:30 And the men of Babylon made Succothbenoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
2 Kings 17:31 And the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak, and the Sepharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
2 Kings 17:32 So they feared the Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests of the high places, which sacrificed for them in the houses of the high places.
2 Kings 17:33 They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.
9. In the gospel of John, Jesus says, “ye worship ye know not what.” What does that mean? John 4:22.
John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
10. He also says, “salvation is of the Jews.” What does that mean? v 22.
John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
11. Should we mingle our worship of God today? 1 Corinthians 10:20-21.
1 Corinthians 10:20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
1 Corinthians 10:21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

Conclusion: Based on what we have learned about the Samaritans, syncretism is not new. Through Jesus’s conversation with the Samaritan woman we know that there is no salvation in syncretism. The same truth applies to today’s “modern Samaritans.”