The worship of these nature gods worked for the Canaanites. They had been in the land a long time. They knew how to raise the kinds of crops that fed their families and made them prosperous, and they attributed their success to the worship of their gods. Well, now Israel comes along. And Israel had not previously had the kinds of experiences that Canaan had. Israel’s ancestors had been slaves in Egypt, where they depended on Pharaoh for food. In the wilderness, God had fed them manna. But now in Canaan, the manna had stopped falling (Joshua 5:12). Israel had to farm the soil and feed themselves as their neighbors did, but they didn’t know how to. What could make more sense, in these circumstances, than to learn from the native inhabitants of the land? And what harm could there be in 'enriching' their worship by incorporating some elements of the local culture?¹ So Israel assimilated, and adopted pagan practices, which is exactly as the Lord had warned would happen. Israel exchanged the worship of the living God for the service of wood and stone. Fertility religion was a whole lot more exciting for them than the worship of the Lord.