God gave strict orders to the Israelites, that when they entered Canaan they should “break down the altars” of the Canaanite gods, “smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire,” Deuteronomy 7:5. But instead the Israelites “prostituted themselves to other gods and worshipped them,” Judges 2:17.
So what was the appeal of these other gods?
Well, imagine being an Israelite and all you’d ever known was God taking care of your needs, which he’d faithfully done too. But in Canaan the people had other gods taking care of their needs. They had Ba’al, the ‘lord’ god who had mastery over the weather, and his female consort Asherah, the goddess of motherhood and fertility. So here were gods providing physical security in an uncertain world, dealing with crop-destroying storms, providing rain in season, and enabling couples to have children.
It was a totally new experience for the Israelites, which might excuse them being curious, but what led them to “prostituting themselves to these gods and worshipping them” as well?
In a word, it was sex. And God knew that because he’d spent much of Leviticus 18 and half of Leviticus 20 warning the Israelites about the sexual practices of the Canaanites that they should strictly avoid. But sex was a strong draw, especially when it was associated with releasing the power of these gods. Asherah, for instance, was the goddess of fertility so to release her power temple prostitutes were provided to have sex with. Imagine, then, having gods that condoned sex with prostitutes to guarantee fertility. It was very easy, therefore, for women to attract Israelite men into sacrificing to their gods (Numbers 25:1-3).
The Israelites understandably had deep concerns about their livelihoods and families, about survival, security and their hope for health, wealth and happiness in the future – and the Canaanites had gods offering the exact powers to take care of those needs, which was a draw in itself. But add in sex with no boundaries – and condoned as worship too – and it’s no wonder that God told the Israelites to get rid of the Canaanite religion totally.
And especially because there was a sinister and highly destructive side to these gods too, which we see in Jesus talking about “The gates of hell”….(next blog)
