5 The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 6 They took their daughters in marriage and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
Othniel
7 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs.
The Israelites discovered that relationships affect faith. The Israelites made the mistake of letting the attractiveness of the pagan nations cause them to intermarry and accept the pagan gods. They allowed the gods in their homes and gradually accepted the immoral practices. The Israelites did not start out thinking they would be idol worshipers. They thought that they could add the pagan idols in their worship of God, and that would be fine. It was not. They found themselves absorbed not knowing right from wrong. We face a similar danger today. When we befriend those who do not believe in God, this can cause us to become entangled in unhealthy practices. It is important to accept people without compromising our beliefs or adopting their patterns of behavior. Hold fast to your faith and put godly people in your life to keep you from fading into wrong behavior.
