The kind of religion we have described was found in various forms all over the ancient Middle East countries, and there was 'borrowing' of religious ideas with resulting in syncretism. It is not surprising to find that a god worshipped in one place had characteristics resembling those of a god worshipped somewhere else, although the names were different. Because we can see obvious differences between Canaanite religion and the covenant faith of the Israelites, it may not be immediately clear why there should have been any temptation for the Israelites to become involved in the Canaanite beliefs and rituals which they found when they settled in Canaan. To understand that there was in fact such a temptation we need to be clear about the very different situation in which the Israelites found themselves after their conquest of Canaan. In the wilderness they had lived as semi-nomads, depending on their flocks and herds. It was a hard tough life, and it hardened them for their attack on Canaan whose cities they destroyed.

As the Israelites took over the hill country of Canaan and moved into the cities that they had captured, they had to adjust to a different way of living. They could still keep their herds and flocks in the hills but they also needed to turn to farming, and those who settled in the cities faced an even greater change in their life style. In this changing situation, the temptation which came to many Israelites was a subtle one; they were tempted, not to give up their covenant faith but to combine aspects of it with aspects of Canaanite religion, to try to ensure that the forces of nature with which they did not yet feel at ease would not overwhelm them. There seemed little wrong in performing rituals which appeared to bring the desired rain or the desired fertility in animals and human beings. The rituals and magic practices of Baal worship seemed to offer very practical help to farmers and to ignore this help seemed foolish to many Israelites who were turning to farming as a new way of life. We should remember that sexual potency in animals and human beings, and fertility in crops, was not understood at all in the modern scientific sense; reproduction was looked upon as a great and mysterious power upon which the continuing life of plants, animals and human beings depended. If ever that power failed, life in the world would fail. Man's desire to control that power, although they had no scientific understanding of it, was therefore understandable, and the only way that the Canaanites knew was through magic rituals.

But to compromise with the Baal rituals undermined the foundation of the Israelite faith: 'Worship no god but me' (Exodus 20:3). 'Israel, remember this! The LORD-and the LORD alone-is our God' (Deuteronomy 6:4). Whatever the apparent advantages, no ritual or ceremony performed in the name of any other god was permissible for Israel, who had bound themselves in covenant to their God alone. To take part in a ritual in the name of Baal was to imply that the Lord their God, who had revealed himself to the Israelites in Egypt and the wilderness, was no longer Lord in Canaan, unable to control the rain, the productivity of the crops and herds, and the increase of his people in their new land. The Israelite farmers who tried to combine Baal rituals with sacrifice to the God of the covenant were failing completely to understand the Lordship of God over all created things. The God whose living presence had been experienced in the events of the Exodus, the journey in the wilderness, and in the successful invasion of Canaan, would continue to reveal his living presence to Israel in the land that had been given to them, but Israel had to continue to trust him to do this, according to their covenant promise. Yahweh is lord of fertility for he is the source of all life, but he is not a fertility god whom men might hope to control and manipulate through magic rituals.

The significance of the renewal of the covenant at Shechem, and Joshua's challenge to his people to choose whom they should worship, becomes clear when the temptation of Baal worship is understood. As we look at the experiences of the Israelites in the times of the judges, we shall find that the temptation proved very strong.