Biblical Answer

The Israelites were instructed to avoid various pagan practices, including the worship of idols, the consumption of sacrifices offered to idols, and the practice of child sacrifice. The Israelites were also warned against embracing pagan customs and engaging in ritual feasts and orgies. These practices were seen as a threat to their spiritual purity and election as God's people. The Israelites were expected to take land from their neighbors and destroy their religious items, which was a significant part of their pagan worship. God listed the things that the Israelites were not to do, including not having any godly influences, not worshiping the true and living God, and not engaging in pagan practices.

The Israelites were also instructed to seek the place of the Lord's choosing, which may have implied pilgrimage to a designated sacred place motivated by a desire to worship the true God. The priests were expected to be holy and not engage in pagan practices, such as ritualized myths, that were connected to pagan rites. The Israelites were expected to occupy Canaan, destroying the previous inhabitants and the religious items they used in worship. God's warning to Israel listed the very things that we see today in the kingdom of the occult, including idol worship and child sacrifice.

In terms of the question of whether Christianity neglects ecology, the biblical account of creation and the Israelites' instructions to avoid pagan practices provide a different perspective. The biblical account of creation emphasizes God's sovereignty and care for the world, and the Israelites' instructions to avoid pagan practices reflect a concern for spiritual purity and the avoidance of practices that would compromise their relationship with God. While it is true that the biblical account of creation does not emphasize environmental stewardship in the same way that some modern ecological theories do, it does emphasize the importance of living in harmony with God's creation and caring for the land that He gave them. The Israelites' instructions to avoid pagan practices and occupy Canaan, destroying the previous inhabitants and the religious items they used in worship, may be seen as a form of environmental stewardship, as they were instructed to take care of the land and destroy the things that were associated with pagan worship. However, this is not the same as the modern concept of environmental stewardship, which emphasizes the importance of caring for the natural world for its own sake. The biblical account of creation and the Israelites' instructions to avoid pagan practices provide a different perspective on the relationship between God, humanity, and the natural world.