“When Adonai your God has cut off ahead of you the nations you are entering in order to dispossess, and when you have dispossessed them and are living in their land; be careful, after they have been destroyed ahead of you, not to be trapped into following them; so that you inquire after their gods and ask, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I want to do the same.’”-Deuteronomy 12:29-30
From the start of verse 29, we’re pretty much right where we started when we began Deuteronomy 12.
At the beginning of the chapter, the Lord started off by issuing a stern warning to Israel that they were NOT to worship Him in the way the Canaanites worshipped their false gods.
And now, here at the end of the chapter, the Israelites are being instructed to only worship God through their sacrifices at the central sanctuary (at a location of the Lord’s choosing).
To do otherwise would be rebellion, plain and simple.
Note verse 30 where it says the Israelites are not to “inquire after their gods and ask, ‘How did these nations serve their gods?‘”.
What did this mean exactly?
It meant that the Israelites under the pretense of being open-minded and educated were absolutely not to let their curiosity get the better of them to the point where they began participating in Canaanite worship practices.
Now isn’t this command completely opposite to how the world thinks today?
In our day and age, we’re encouraged to take comparative religion classes and attend the worship services of other faiths so we can learn to be more understanding of other cultures and traditions.
“Tolerance” is the operative word promoted in our day and age.
However, contrary to our modern way of thinking, why do you think God is so strongly against tolerance, assimilation and religious syncretism (the mixing of faiths)?
Well, the answer to that question also lies in verse 30.
“… be careful,
after they have been destroyed ahead of you,
not to be trapped into following them…”
Here’s a dangerous truth that I myself have personally experienced time and time again.
False religions and cults can be VERY enticing.
Why?
Because they appeal to our sensual desires and natural evil inclinations.
I remember one time while I was browsing in a Japanese bookstore I came across this book titled something along the lines of the following: “Why Successful Businessmen Visit Shinto Shrines And Temples”
I’m ashamed to admit that I let my curiosity and addiction to self-help get the better of me and I purchased the darn thing.
Now here’s what’s interesting.
As a follower of the God of Israel, deep down inside I knew I shouldn’t have purchased such a book but I did anyway
At the time, I made all these ridiculous excuses and rationalizations why it was okay.
I said to myself…
“There can’t be any harm in learning the faith systems of other peoples and nations and…
…won’t this knowledge help me better in relating to them when I want to share the truth of Hashem with them?”
Turns out no such thing.
That night something really spooky happened.
In the middle of the night I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep.
And then I swear…
…I sensed God telling me to get rid of that book I had purchased the night before.
In fact, He seemed to be saying if I wanted to get any sleep at all that night, I had better get off my butt and trash that book friggin’ immediately.
At first, I tried to rationalize that this voice in my heart wasn’t really God and it was just my stray thoughts going hog wild out of control.
So I tried to ignore the voice and get back to sleep.
But I couldn’t.
In spite of my rationalizations, God was clearly communicating to me through my heart and soul to get rid of the book pronto.
The Lord wasn’t letting me have any peace at all.
Finally, I said “Screw it!”
I got up in the middle of the night, grabbed that book of idolatry from the bookshelf and went outside and trashed it.
Afterwards, I returned to my room and slept like a baby.
That’s a personal example from my own experience on why the Lord commands His people to stay away from the religious practices of the heathen.
On a more practical level, have you heard of what has happened to some Western women who end up marrying Muslim men?
A well-to-do and refined Muslim man will start dating an American or European girl.
The couple will fall in love and marriage will result.
What happens afterwards is a nightmare…
…for the woman that is.
The wife will often be asked to go meet her husband’s family in some Arab country where the laws are totally different than those in the West.
To make a long story short, if the husband decides to stay in his home country, the woman is not allowed to leave.
She becomes a slave to her husband and his family.
Or if the couple has children and later the marriage turns sour grapes, even if the woman leaves whatever Arab country she was in, the laws dictate that the children will stay with the father.
In a worst case scenario, the price a western wife will have to pay in order to be freed from her Muslim husband may very well end up costing her life.
Again, this is just one example among many of what could happen if you yoke yourself with a person of a totally different faith.
The dangers of the Israelites mixing worship of HASHEM with worship of other Canaanite gods and goddesses weren’t that they would just lose their blessings.
No…we’re talking about the danger of their very identity being obliterated.
Unfortunately, we’re going to find that Israel had barely set foot into Canaan before they began intermarrying with the Canaanites and exploring their religious beliefs and customs.
Exactly, how did this rebellion of the Israelites against Adonai begin?
It began the way all rebellion against the Creator begins…
…via tiny baby steps.
First, there’s just a little curiosity.
Second, there’s a bit of retarded rationalization.
Third, the people began adding just a teeny bit of the local pagan belief system into their own worship of God…
…usually as a bid to show tolerance and friendliness.
And then finally, before you know it, BOOM, we’ve got full blown idolatry.
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