2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. 3 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.
When taking over a nation, the Israelites were to destroy every pagan alter and idol in the land. Why did God want them to do that? He knew it would be easy for them to change their beliefs if they started using the pagan alters. We have to remember it is more difficult to follow the narrow path to salvation than the wide open path to destruction. It is easier to get pulled off track if you put yourself into situations that will encourage you to compromise. It is more difficult to keep on the path of righteousness if you put yourself around those who are not on that path. Do you find yourself compromising? If you do, ruthlessly find and remove any centers of false worship in your life. What could that be? What activities are you participating in, what attitudes are you struggling with, do you have possessions that take priority, what relationships are destructive, do you go to places or have habits that are compromising your relationship with God? If you have anything in your life you need to remove, do it today with God’s support. God wants you to prosper, and to do this, you need to remove compromising things from your life.
Spirit and Truth
