Deuteronomy 12:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The blessed Moses articulates this in Deuteronomy: ‘These are the ordinances and laws which you shall endeavour to fulfil in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you to possess, all the days that you shall dwell in that land. You shall destroy all the places where the peoples whom you shall possess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills, and under every branching tree; and you shall destroy their altars, and crush their pillars, and burn their groves with fire, and smash the statues of their gods, and destroy their name from that place’ (Deuteronomy 12:1-3). Greek philosophers and esteemed figures, particularly poets, refer to some mountain spirits and tree nymphs as demons. Moreover, those who intended to honor their deities in elevated settings constructed altars on mountains, tended to offerings of cattle, and established statues and images of demons among beautiful trees, engaging in the slaughter of sheep. However, it was imperative for those who worshipped the true God, fearing nothing, to dismantle these idols and distance themselves from such customs. Thus it is further stated, ‘When the Lord thy God shall destroy from thy face the nations to which thou goest to take possession of them, and thou, having taken them, shalt dwell in their land; then beware lest thou fall into the net, following them, after their destruction from thy face, and seek their gods, saying: `As these nations have served their gods, so will I do‘; thou shalt not do so to the Lord thy God: for all that the Lord abhorreth, that He hates, they do to their gods: they also burn their sons and their daughters with fire to their gods’ (Deut. 12:29-31). The Lawgiver rightly prohibits the imitation of the deluded and strictly commands the renunciation of such cruel practices against children, denouncing the bloodthirsty and false deities as agents of destruction for humanity, who cavalierly disregard the inherent laws of love. ‘He created all things for being, and everything in the world is salvific and there is no kingdom of hell on earth… by the envy of the devil death has entered into the world’ (Prem. 1:14:2:24). As the Divine will dismantles death and eradicates corruption while rejecting non-existence, saying ‘created all things for being’, those ensnared by the delusion and greed of demons offer to Satan like sweet incense the very lives created for existence. In this way, He sought to illustrate beautifully the extent of their (the Gentiles') wrongdoing, to highlight the offense to their nature, and to show how the sacred laws of familial love were transgressed. Thus, He earnestly called those who were noble-minded and opposed to evil to honor and embrace what He desired and commanded. Such a decree was established in ancient times to abolish wickedness among them.

Many Gentiles harbor these detestable practices in their territories. Shall we come and destroy them? Our first effort should be to shatter the idols of their hearts. Once they embrace Christianity, they may invite us to partake in this righteous act or lead the way themselves. We are called merely to pray for them and not to harbor anger against them.