Despite the fact that Canaan promises to be a land flowing with rich natural resources, Moses provides a stark warning: Whatever you do, do not follow the Canaanites’ pagan rituals.
The fact that Moses uses the word “ensnared” in Deuteronomy 12:30 to describe the path into idol worship is a little bit confusing. The idea is not that the Canaanites will try to trick them some way. Instead, it’s more akin to getting caught in a trap. You’ll think everything is fine, only to have the rug pulled out from under you at the last minute.
The reason that Moses tells them to “be careful” about these types of traps is that you usually can’t see where those traps will lead. They begin with a simple question—“How do these nations serve their gods?”—and end in some pretty dark places.
How dark? According to Deuteronomy 12:31, some of them end up in child sacrifices.
To be fair, nobody ever starts their worship rituals thinking that burning children alive is a good idea. It’s arguably the most heinous act any one person could engage in, so how do otherwise sane people end up thinking it’s a good idea?
And yet, this is exactly how sin operates.
Think about all the worst types of sin you can possibly imagine—the ones people have actually participated in. How do they end up in that position?
Most of the time, it starts with simple curiosity. I’ll go to this website, I’ll talk to that person, I’ll ask these questions. The actions themselves may or may not be wrong, but they act as gatekeepers to something much worse.
The story of the dumb youth in Proverbs 7 is a perfect example. He meets the harlot, thinks he’s in for a wild time, and yet “doesn’t know it will cost him his life.” That’s why sin is labelled as a trap. Oftentimes, you don’t know just how bad it really is until you’re caught all the way in it.
This verse should sound familiar to anyone who has read 1 Samuel 8. In that chapter, the nation asks for a king “so they can be like all the nations.” What they eventually found out is that “being like all the nations” eventually ended in their own destruction, just like all the nations.
Moses has spent the majority of Deuteronomy 12 talking about the nature of worship. He’ll continue to do so in chapter 13 and beyond.
But in this moment, he takes a moment to caution Israel against even stepping foot on this path. They won’t like where it leads.