The fruit of the tree is the nature of the tree. A fig tree doesn't bear oranges. A sinful people will sin because they're sinners.
God said:
Micah 2:1 "Woe to those who dream up wickedness and prepare evil plans on their beds! At morning light they accomplish it
because the power is in their hands."
They said:
Micah 2:6 "“Quit your preaching,” they preach."
“They should not preach these things; shame will not overtake us.”
God replies:
Micah 2:11 "If a man comes
and utters empty lies"—'I will preach to you about wine and beer'—
"he would be just the preacher for this people!"
Micah 3:1-2 "Aren’t you supposed to know what is just? You hate good and love evil."
The Hill of Ophel, adjacent to the south side of the ancient Temple Mount in Jerusalem, is one of the most important archaeological sites of the Second Temple-period in Israel. Each year thousands of pilgrims visit the temple city through this area. And archaeologists have discovered there the homes of the ancient people who lived on this site at the time of the prophet's. And these excavations have unearthed multitudes of little pagan idol artifacts. The people of Israel were involved in worshipping Canaanite gods and practicing fertility rites—Israelites were involved in extreme depravity, including temple prostitution. And it's interesting that most of these fertility idols they discovered in Jerusalem have had their heads, legs or pedestals, and breasts snapped off. God utterly destroyed them in his wrath.
Much of the excavations unearthed the pagan god Baal which is mentioned 62 times in the Bible—the most referenced of the many pagan gods. The primary god the Israelites continued to stubbornly worship in defiance to God's warnings.
And it wasn't just that the infertile women were toying around with pagan superstitions, a number of official seals and seal impressions have been discovered in Jerusalem, which also bore pagan imagery. Thousands of these official seal impressions with pagan gods on them have been found around Israel. It seems like a surprising find, but honestly the scriptures clearly outline that these practices are historical facts. And so it shouldn't surprise us at all that Israel was sin sick, drowning in pagan idolatry.
The prophets didn't prophesy about this idolatry because they enjoyed being stoned, ostracized, or killed. Being a true and honest prophet was not profitably accepted, it's wasn't a good idea for the prophet, probably brought nothing but shame and dishonor on them. They weren't making a profit from it. And the apostles as well didn't preach the good news as outlaws, preaching against the lawful orders of the temple authorities because they enjoyed being imprisoned and executed. These prophets spoke out for God in the face of great idolatry. They did it because they were called by God to be the bearer of his word. They preached against the false narratives. And the false-preachers told them to stop. They wanted prophets who spoke about peace and hope. They didn't want to hear about God's love becoming wrath because of their many sins. And when the prophets wouldn't be silenced, the authorities took greater measures to shut them up.
And so the scriptures chronicle the Babylonian's brutal takeover of the capital city. God's judgment. And just as relayed by Israel’s prophets, pagan gods are now found everywhere. They were drowning in idolatry. The images weren't only found on their altars, they wore them and had them tattooed on their bodies, on their official government seals, on their jewelry, on their food and money vessels, on their door posts, and adorning just about every aspect of their lives.
These are the people of God. Children of the jealous God who commanded that they have not ANY idolatry in ANY form before him. These people took pride in and spoke about their national faith and identity in Yahweh, while carrying all sorts of pagan images in direct defiance to his will. Is it any wonder that God completely destroyed their temple city?
These excavations prove that ancient Jerusalem wasn’t as overly “righteous" as they thought about themselves.
And we can see how the restored Jerusalem of prophecy is going down that same road into idolatry.
Ezekiel had prophesied a national resurrection for Israel (Ezekiel 37:1–14). On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted 33 to 13 (10 abstentions) to recognize Israel as a sovereign nation. Since then the Israeli people have transformed that region just as it was described in the ancient prophecies. And scriptures clearly teach that Israel will face world-wide opposition and unprecedented tribulation in the last days. They will face terrible tribulations. What the Jewish scriptures call “the time of Jacob’s trouble”. But it isn't just a war against the Israeli people out of an antisemitic hatred for all things Jewish. This is again a God sent judgement against the paganism that will once again take hold of Israel. The Temple will become paganized again, in fact in a horrible way. And this will come about because the leadership and the people will welcome it. Daniel prophesied, “Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week” (Daniel 9:27). The “he” refers to the Antichrist. He will “confirm” a new—not an existing—binding agreement with the nation of Israel. And they will welcome it. And it's all part of God's prophetic program.
Nothing new under the sun.
Idolatry will once again bring about catastrophic consequences upon the people of Israel. And this is how it happens, it always begins with people not wanting to hear about God's commandments. It happens because the preachers tell the prophets to preach only good news or be silent.
They want easy believeism, they get wrath. There is no other way. As Jesus said..."The sinful people of this day look for something special to see. There will be nothing special to see but the powerful works of the early preacher Jonah." (Matthew 12:39)
Sinners sin because they're sinners. They freely choose to sin. They reject the truth because there's no truth in them. It's that simple. In the day that all people stand before God, the truth will be their judge. Their idols will be exposed and destroyed completely because they refused to hear the wise sayings.