Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. The positive action alongside the negative prohibition: destroy the religious infrastructure. The altars, sacred stones, and Asherah poles are the physical means by which the Canaanite religious system is maintained. Deuteronomy 7:5 repeats this command. Judges 2:2–3 records the consequence when Israel made covenants instead of demolishing altars. The failure to carry out this command becomes the seed of Israel's greatest recurring sin. Physical structures of false worship are not neutral — they shape the community that lives among them. What is left standing becomes what is eventually worshipped.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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