In Joshua, chapter twenty-three, verse twelve, with Baal, one of the principal male deities, the religion of the Canaanites was the most degrading. Their belief promotes male and female cult prostitution, and their worship consists of immoral orgies and sexual acts. Their prophets and priests were the official murderers of little children, sacrificing newborn babies in their temples. God knew that if His people were associated with the Canaanites, they too would adopt those shameful ways. The call of God for the separation of his people from the ungodly world remains the same in the New Testament.
Joshua crowds his figures together to depict the misery and oppression which would be sure to result from fellowship with the Canaanites: because, from his knowledge of the fickleness of the people, and the wickedness of the human heart in its natural state, he could foresee that the apostasy of the nation from the Lord, which Moses had foretold, would take place but too quickly. The problem for these Israelites is the potential to be easily influenced by the Canaanites. God did open the door to freedom for His people from the Egyptians, yet they still became accustomed to their ways to some degree. When the Israelites began their journey in the wilderness to the promised land, the murmurings made them resort back to thinking about Egypt when they did not have the necessities available to them.
Joshua’s concerned that the Israelites could fall under the influence of the Canaanites because they were in bondage for a long time and could get so accustomed to the new people they would encounter. Today, parents have the same concerns about negative influences that may surround their family environment. Their kids getting bad habits that could alter their life in the wrong direction is a parental challenge.