The Bible doesn't provide a specific number for how many times the Israelites turned away from God. Instead, it presents a recurring pattern of faithfulness followed by disobedience and idolatry throughout their history. This cycle is a central theme in the Old Testament. Some key periods of turning away from God include:
* The Golden Calf: Shortly after receiving the Ten Commandments, the Israelites built and worshiped a golden calf while Moses was on Mount Sinai (Exodus 32).
* The period of the Judges: The Book of Judges describes a repeating cycle: the Israelites would sin, God would allow them to be oppressed by enemies, they would cry out to God, God would raise up a judge to deliver them, and then they would sin again after the judge died.
* The Kings of Israel and Judah: Many of the kings, both in the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, led the people into idolatry and disobedience. This ultimately led to the exile of both kingdoms.
Because this was a recurring pattern throughout the history of the Israelite people, it is not something that happened a finite number of times, and therefore does not have a number associated with it.