Today we read the disappointing account of the younger generation of Israelites in the Promised Land: "They forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They provoked the LORD to anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths" (Judges 2:12-13).
I just read from a very interesting book titled "Digging for Insights" by John F. Brug about the effect of the seasons and rain on idol worship in Canaan. I want to share that with you:
"The value of water was especially clear to the Israelites, who lived in a water-challenged environment . . . Israel has no major river. Even the Jordan is barely big enough to be called a river. A further challenge is that the rains in Israel are very seasonal. The 'early rains' in October get the grain started. Most of the rain falls in midwinter, in January and February. The 'latter rains' in March and April are needed to ready the grain for harvest. From May to September there is virtually no rain . . . Israel was dependent on getting rain at just the right time . . . Israel's environment taught them to depend on the Lord for rain in its season (Deuteronomy 11:11-17). Much of Israel's tragic history revolves around the quest for water. All too often they turned to the baals, the rain gods, for help."
The worship of these false gods also played to people's sinful natures because it involved sexual rituals intended to encourage the gods to send rain and to provide fertility for crops. It definitely was an act of defiance for the Israelites to trust these idols rather than the God of their fathers, since he promised not only to send rain if they'd obey him, but also to withhold rain if they would disobey him. By their actions they were testing God in the worst kind of way.
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