“[I]f you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
We often have more than one reason for saying the things we say. God could have said, “If you serve their gods, I will be offended.” That would certainly have been true. He could also have said, “If you serve their gods,
you will find it useless.” This too is true. Inanimate carvings of wood and stone have no power to protect
or deliver. He could have said, “You don’t understand that serving their gods
is really serving demons.” Once again, entirely true. He could even have said, “If you serve their gods,
I will punish you severely.”
This was most definitely the case.