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Deuteronomy 32 · a question people ask

The song says Israel "sacrificed to demons" (32:17), and also that their gods are "not God" and "vanities" (32:21). Which is it?

In the text

The song says both. "They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread" (32:17). And the LORD says, "They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities" (32:21). Paul holds the same two things together. He asks, "What am I saying then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?" (1 Corinthians 10:19), and answers, "But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God" (1 Corinthians 10:20). Earlier in the same letter he says, "we know that no idol is anything in the world" (1 Corinthians 8:4); here he says the sacrifices still go to demons. Paul then asks, in words close to 32:21, "Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?" (1 Corinthians 10:22).

The verses

“They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread.”
Deuteronomy 32:17 · World English Bible
“They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.”
Deuteronomy 32:21 · World English Bible
“What am I saying then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I don’t desire that you would have fellowship with demons. You can’t both drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can’t both partake of the table of the Lord and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?”
1 Corinthians 10:19-22 · World English Bible
“Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one.”
1 Corinthians 8:4 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Deuteronomy 32

Deuteronomy 32: The Rock

The song Moses taught Israel names God "The Rock" (32:4), and it is a song the New Testament keeps quoting. Its last call, "Rejoice, you nations, with his people" (32:43), is one of the scriptures Paul gives for why Christ became a servant: "that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy" (Romans 15:9).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions