The faithful men of old who walked with God to the end were no different from us Christians of today for we all had similar weaknesses. Their walk with God was not as smooth as we might think. Some like King Saul who walked with God fell and ultimately fell away and were never restored to the Lord. However, some faithful men fell and rose again for they chose not to abandon their relationship with God or quit the task he had given them to do proving that though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again (Proverbs 24:16).
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman, were our first ancestors. After they were created, God put them in a garden and commanded them to eat from all the trees except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which was at the center of the garden. At some point, Adam and Eve disobeyed and ate from the forbidden tree (Ge 3:1-8). God was displeased and banished them from the Garden of Eden (Ge 3:1-23).
However, Adam and Eve did not continue on the path of disobedience and evil nor was their relationship with God completely destroyed. Their faith and respect for God were well preserved for which reason when Eve gave birth to Cain, she openly acknowledged that it was God who helped her to give birth to a son (Ge 4:1).
Aaron
When Moses was on Mt. Sinai to take the Ten Commandments, Aaron and Hur were left in charge of the people. The people grew impatient because, after a long wait, Moses was not coming down from the mountain. Then they demanded that Aaron make them a god who would lead them to the Promised Land. Aaron consented and had them bring all the gold rings. Then he melted the gold and molded a calf out of it. Seeing that the people were pleased with the golden calf, he announced that there would be a feast the next day. The next day, the feast started with sacrifices to the golden calf, after which it turned into a wild merry-making.
In the course of the feast, Moses came. Seeing what was happening, he angrily confronted Aaron for leading the people into idolatry and apostasy. This was the last time Aaron committed such a grave sin of apostasy. He learned his lesson that day for the consequences of his action were very great. Though God had wanted to kill Aaron, Moses interceded for him, and his life was spared (De 9:20). After the incident, Aaron’s faith became firmly grounded in the Lord and he walked before Him in relentless obedience. Even when God killed his two sons, Nadab and Abihu, for their disobedience, Aaron did not complain or lament against God but kept silent and accepted God’s will (Le 10:1-7). He continued serving God as a high priest until he died at the age of 123 years (Nu 20:22-29). Reference Exodus 32:21-24
Moses
Moses is the most praised hero of the Israelites for he was the one who led them from Egypt. However, before he became great, his life suffered some falls. First of all, Moses, as a baby, was adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh. He grew up in Pharaoh’s palace, enjoying all the privileges of a prince of Egypt. As an adult, Moses loved his people the Israelites so much that, one day, he killed an Egyptian who was maltreating an Israelite (Ex 2:12). Then he ran away to Midian to avoid execution. In Midian, Moses turned over a new leaf; he did not continue on the path of killing people but adopted a humble life. The one-time price of Egypt became a shepherd who tended the sheep of his father-in-law, Jethro (Ex 3:1).
Later, God called Moses into the limelight and made him the shepherd of the Israelites to bring them out of Egypt (Ex 3:1-17). While leading the Israelites in the wilderness, it got to the point where the people quarreled with Moses because they had no water to drink (Nu 20:3). Moses and Aaron inquired of God and He instructed Moses to take his staff and go to the rock and speak to the rock to yield water in the presence of the people (Nu 20:8).
Moses took the staff and assembled the people, but filled with anger, he did not speak to the rock as instructed, rather, he used the staff to strike the rock twice and water came out abundantly for them to drink (Nu 20:11). God was displeased with Moses’ disobedience and for this reason, denied him entry into the Promised Land. However, this was the last of Moses’ disobedience to the Lord for he got up onto his feet and did not continue on the path of disobedience again. In humility, he served the Lord, ending his days as a great prophet of God throughout the ages. Reference Nu 20:2-9; Nu 20:10-13
David
King David is one of the greatest heroes of the nation of Israel. However, he had experienced a fall in his life before. One day while walking on the top of his house in the evening, he saw a beautiful woman bathing (2Sa 11:2). Her beauty charmed David and he invited her into his palace and had an affair with her, making her pregnant. To cover up his adultery, David cleverly had her husband Uriah killed in battle (2Sa 11:15). Later, the prophet Nathan rebuked King David, making him admit that he was guilty of adultery and murder (2Sa 12:1-15).
David did not remain lying in sin. He got back up and repented and in his repentance, he wrote a psalm, Psalm 51, praying to God for mercy and restoration. Though God punished him and killed the first son he had with Bathsheba (2Sa 12:15-23), He did not give up on his faith in God for he continued in obedience to God. After this incident, we do not read anymore that he did something evil against the Lord. He died as a good king whom God would forever remember.
Peter
At the last supper, Peter vowed never to forsake Jesus even if it was a matter of life and death. Some hours later, while in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus was arrested. Though the disciples ran for their lives into the night, Peter followed the crowd into the high priest’s palace. There, Jesus was interrogated and tortured. According to Matthew 26:69-75, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. A servant girl came to him and accused him of being a disciple of Jesus. But he denied it. Then he went out to the entrance and another servant girl saw him and accused him of being a follower of Jesus. Again he denied it. After a while, the bystanders came and accused Peter of being Jesus’ disciple. Once again, he began to invoke a curse and swore that he did not know Jesus.
Immediately the rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” After such a denial, Peter went out and wept bitterly in repentance. Peter, even though he denied Jesus, he did not fall away like Judas Iscariot. He kept the faith and kept company with the rest of the disciples. When Jesus rose from death, he was among the few who visited his tomb (John 20:1-10). Jesus entrusted the church to his care (John 21:15-19). He became the leader of the apostles and through him many miracles were done, many souls were won for Christ, and the church grew.
Conclusion
To err is human. Often in our lives, we make mistakes. Sometimes, these mistakes are very serious and the consequences, very grave. It is not unheard of for a believer to sin or fall. However, when you fall, you have an option to rise up again or continue in sin. The individuals covered in this article are highly praised and spoken well of because when they fell, they did not apostatize, they chose to rise up and continue their walk with the Lord until their last breath.