The only evidence needed to prove Israel’s unfaithfulness comes from her own words: I will go after my lovers. Israel’s lovers were the Canaanite fertility deities, especially the baals (local representations of the god Baal). The Israelites worshiped them because they believed these gods controlled nature's reproductive forces. The Israelites attributed to them the basic necessities of life: food, water, clothing of wool and linen, and oil used for both sacred and everyday purposes.