After Joshua told Israel that they needed to take careful heed to themselves, and to love the Lord, the great leader of Israel then warned,

“Or else, if indeed you do go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you” (Joshua 23.12–13).

The history of the Old Testament shows that Israel did intermarry with the Canaanites, and that the Lord then did not drive out all of the former peoples inhabiting the land, and that those idolators became snares, traps, scourges, and thorns to Israel.

When an experienced leader in the church warns against something, listen to him. He probably knows something that you need to learn.