You shall not bow down to them or worship them, for i the lord your God is Jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third generation and fourth for those who hate me Exodous 20:5
Here God is very specific about idol worshippers, declaring such heavy punishment on them, God says i am a jealous God, and warns us to stay away from their path, he will punish those who hates him,,
Bro Eli said it outloud that God does not listen to idols worshippers, they have no business whatsoever, Joshua had to make it very clear to the children of Isreal at the time that they should choose which God they want to serve, cause for him and his household they will serve the only true God, God frowns at those who worship idols.
Recall that Abrahams father was an idol worshipper but Abraham was not into it, in his heart there was a true God who created the heavens and the earth, amd so his heart seeks him, thats when God took him out of his kindred to establish in him a separate generation and lineage that will serve him and only him
In John 4:23(c) it says, That God seeks those true worshippers that will worship him in spirits and in truth, God is looking for unbiased, true worshippers, not those worshipping idols and pretending to serve God, but also partly serving idols, God hates them and he will punish them, he will never listen to them for light and darkness has nothing in common.
2Corinth. 6:14-19 speaks of us not being equally yoked with unbelievers in anyway, vs 15 & 16 ask a question of what relationship has Christ and Belial or what things in common has the temple of God with idols, for we are the temple of God, God will dwell in us but if we are worshipping idols God will depart from us and will not hear us when we pray to him.
Mathew 6:24 says no one can serve two masters , he will either love one and hate the other, you cannot serve God and mammon, God said be ye separated from among them, don't be equally yoked together with them, God loves us so much...
You see in 1peter 2:9 there is a vivid description of who we are in Christ Jesus, all that is to tell us that we are special highly placed above principalities and powers above all the imaginations in high places so why should we involve our selves with what we have been redeemed from....
God condems idol worshippers in all ramification....
Thanks for Reading