I haven’t taken the time to count the number of references in Deuteronomy to the avoidance of the Canaanite idols, but they are many. Deuteronomy 12 contains one of the many instances of prohibition against idol worship.
“You must demolish completely all the places where the nations whom you are about to dispossess served their gods, on the mountain heights, on the hills, and under every leafy tree.
Break down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their sacred poles with fire, and cut down the idols of their gods, and thus blot out their name from their places.
You shall not serve the Lord your God in such ways” (Deuteronomy 12:2-4).
Why did God concern Himself with the temptation to worship the idols of the land?
First, the Israelites were His covenant people. God freed them from Egyptian slavery and made them a nation to represent His character and nature to the world. If they blended the worship of Yahweh/Jehovah with the gods of the nations, they would negate the positive influence they were called to have.
Second, humans become like the gods they serve. From temple prostitution to child sacrifice, idolatrous people believed this was required by their gods.
Third, idolatry is essentially self-centered and manipulative. Humans decide what they need and attempt to manipulate the gods to give them what they want.
Paul outlined the character of God when he wrote about the fruit of the Spirit. This is the God to whom His followers have been called to reflect to the world.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
Whether it is the Israelites who are on the cusp of entering the promised land or modern Americans, the world is impoverished if God’s followers attempt to blend the worship of the world’s idols with that of the one and only God.
Community and Worship
Canaanite idolatry was characterized by places of worship at any location the people desired. If they found a suitable tree, they established it as a place to worship their fertility goddess.
If a tree wasn’t available, they erected a pole or stone pillars and worshiped their idols there.
Canaanite idolatry was human-centered. By contrast, the worship of Yahweh/Jehovah was to be centered around His will, even extending to the place where worship was to take place.
But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes as his habitation to put his name there. You shall go there,
Bringing there your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and your donations, your votive gifts, your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks.
And you shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God, you and your households together, rejoicing in all the undertakings in which the Lord your God has blessed you (Deuteronomy 12:7-7).
The fact that God determines the place and method of human worship teaches us three valuable lessons.
Our worship experience will be greatly enhanced if we take the time to recognize we are in the presence of God during times of worship and prayer.
We do well to ask God how He wants us to worship and pray. He may change our methods that will improve our connection with Him if we are willing to ask Him for guidance.
The Israelites were to worship together at a location that God designated. For a time, it was Shiloh, and later it was Jerusalem.
Henry Blackaby reminds his readers that we need to discover God’s appointment when selecting a church to attend. Once we have been led by God to a church, we will honor God by joining with other believers in His worship. God knows the value of corporate worship and calls His people to that practice.
Reflections
We can see how important idolatry is to God by the number of references to it in the Bible. Just as the ancient Hebrews were commanded not to blend the worship of the one and only God with idols, we need to do the same.
The idols that humans worship have changed over time. However, the principles behind them remain the same. They are self-centered and manipulative. Even though they are empty and without value, they demand sacrifices from their adherents.
People who serve idols become like the gods they serve.
Followers of the one and only God deprive a watching world of learning about God’s nature when we blend our service of God with that of culture’s idols.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 