The kind of thing that unfaithful Israelites did was then simply unheard of. It was shocking. Jehovah’s word through Jeremiah states: “But pass over to the coastlands of the Kittim and see. Yes, send even to Kedar and give your special consideration, and see whether anything like this has happened. Has a nation exchanged gods, even for those that are no gods?” In other words, go westward to Kittim and eastward to Kedar and see whether any nation has exchanged its gods for others.

Jer. 2:10,