Surrounded as they were in Egypt by idolaters, and living now among nations that practiced the most degrading forms of worship, Israel found it difficult to be God’s peculiar people and to bear witness by their lives of a better way to meet the tangled problems of life. The styles of worship were then as fixed as styles of dress are today. It took a great deal of courage to withstand the tide of public opinion, and few were willing to attempt to do so. Long before the migration to Egypt, Lot had felt that he and his family could live in Sodom and not be influenced by the prevailing customs about them. Sad were the results of his decision. God forbade Israel to make any alliances with native idolaters. But, weary of war, they thought it better to associate intimately with the Canaanites. Sad were the resulting oppressions of Eglon, king of Moab (Judges 3:12-14), of Sisera, captain of the hosts of Jabin (Judges 4:2), of the Philistines (Judges 13:1), and of others.