On the heels of glorious triumph, Israel plunged into idolatry on the flimsiest of excuses. God’s nation flunked the loyalty test, with disastrous consequences. From our vantage point, it seems incomprehensible that Israel fell into idolatry. As we study this sad story, we do so in light of what the prophet Jeremiah declared, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”