If you recall, there was a time when Hezekiah became King of Judah, and the Bible said he was a good king. He did right in the eyes of God. He removed idols and destroyed idols. And it said right there in 2 Kings that he also destroyed the bronze serpent that Moses had made. Apparently, the Israelites burned incense to Moses’ bronze serpent, and I take this to mean that the Israelites were worshipping the bronze serpent. Unbelievable. What happened there? Why did the Israelites in the Old Testament feel so pulled to worshipping idols? Even after God’s repeated warnings to them to not have anything to do with idols, why did they go back to them again and again, and provoke God to anger?
The first reason that comes to my mind is because Israel desired to see and touch that something they worshipped. The Israelites could not see or touch Yahweh. It didn’t seem natural to them to worship a god who could not be seen or touched. A god that couldn’t be seen or touched felt less real and awkward. The human mind is funny. Even though Israel knew full well an idol was only a representation of a god, Israel treated it as if the idol was the god itself. Consequently, an idol becomes more than the means of worshipping the god. It becomes the object of worship. Israel worshipped the idol. Therefore, it seemed logical to them they must treat the idol with care. To break or damage an idol was equivalent to break or damage the god itself. You and I won’t think much about it but it was a big deal when Moses burned the golden calf, ground it to powder, scattered it over the water, and made the Israelites drink it. Nothing good would happen when one breaks or damages an idol, whether intentionally or by accident.
The second reason that comes to my mind is because of Israel’s desire to conform. Israel wanted more than anything to be like all the other nations. For most people, there is a strong desire to conform. We understand that. We don’t wish to stick out. We don’t wish to be too tall, and we also don’t wish to be too short too. We wish to be in the middle. We don’t want to draw attention, and have others talk about us. When Israel moved into the Promised Land, they did not live among the Canaanites only. There were the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites as well, and these people worshipped Baal, Asherah poles, Molech, Chemosh, etc. The Israelites would have invited a lot of unwanted attention if they didn’t worship idols like the rest of the nations. Israel didn’t want to be different, and be the odd man out. Another time we saw this happen was when the Israelites didn’t like the idea for Yahweh to be their King. They wished to be normal and to have a human king just like all the other normal nations. They didn’t want to be the only nation that did not worship idols. Who does that? God called Israel to be holy, to be set apart for him. But we don’t stop to think how hard it really was for Israel to do just that. Being set apart was really hard for the Israelites. They just wanted to be like all the rest. Israel only wanted to be a normal nation. The desire to conform is real.
The third reason that comes to my mind has to be the most serious, in my opinion. Israel was constantly drawn to worshipping idols because Israel did not believe God was the only God. It is true Israel worshipped Yahweh. But it is also true Israel also wanted to worship idols, just in case they work. Israel coveted peace from their enemies, calm, rain, cattle, fertility, prosperity, you get the picture. That was everything they cared about. It mattered very little to them from which god they got what they wanted, as long as they got what they wanted. Who really knows if Yahweh was the only God? Just in case Yahweh was not the only God, Israel didn’t want to waste all its time worshipping Yahweh only. Israel wanted to already be worshipping idols if there were other gods besides Yahweh who could deliver the same goods. Generation after generation, the Israelites wondered if there may be other gods out there besides Yahweh. Israel had wandering eyes. Israel refused to keep their eyes on God only.