In ancient times, false religion took the form of pagan practices and idol worship. Abram, the revered patriarch from Ur, believed God and left his family of idol worshippers to journey westward to a land of promise. When he arrived there, the Amorite people were also steeped in idol worship.
Simply put, idol worship involves any religious practice that elevates a false god. Since the only true and living God is Yahweh — revealed as three Persons in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — all other gods are, by definition, false. Men frequently craft idols of wood or stone or precious metals (Isaiah 44:10-20), but at times the gods are recognized as spirit beings who inhabit another realm altogether.
The Canaanite gods included the bloodthirsty Molech, Ashtoreth, and Baal. In Egypt, the sun was revered as a god and given the name Ra. Eventually, the pharaohs were elevated to godlike status — although that label did not prevent them from succumbing to death like every other mortal being. When the Romans ruled over the Mediterranean basin, they simply adopted the Greeks’ array of gods and gave them distinctively Roman names. Beginning with Julius Caesar in 42 BC, the Roman Senate began “deifying” their rulers — as if the pronouncement of man could elevate another mere mortal.
There is no record that the false gods ever spoke audibly in the manner that God did.
But they still convey their insatiable desire for sacrifice — often consisting of human sacrifice, including children. In fact, the most detestable of the offenses recorded in scripture is the practice of making children “walk through the fire,” a euphemism for being burned alive (Deuteronomy 18:9-12). The pagan peoples of the land of Canaan (and all of the ancient world) believed such religious devotion would confer blessings of prosperity and fertility.
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