Why do people naturally gravitate toward worshiping false gods?
Human nature is innately bent toward worshiping false gods or idols; this drawing power has plagued the human race since the Tower of Babel. Even Israel, despite having proof of the living God, followed pagan gods, as seen in Jeremiah 44 and the Mount Carmel controversy.
Les explains that idolatry and pagan worship include a wider cluster of sins listed in verse 20—idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, and heresies. He then goes back to Jeremiah 44 to show that this bent to worship a false god has plagued the human race since at least the Tower of Babel. It is innate in human nature to follow that drawing power toward idols of one sort or another. Even Israel, who had proof of the living God from their beginning and should have known better, followed after pagan gods. That was the same controversy Elijah had on Mount Carmel with the prophets of Baal.