Deuteronomy 32:17, commentary and pictures

Israel's offerings to false powers were offerings to evil spirits and demons rather than to God, to unfamiliar deities newly taken up that earlier generations had never reverenced. It stands in the sacred song formed from Israel's history to teach children and keep God's dealings in memory, recounting what He had done and pointing forward to the final triumph of the faithful at Christ's coming in glory. By forsaking the Maker who formed and cared for them and lightly esteeming the Rock of salvation, they stirred His jealousy and anger with abominations until He would hide His face and bring judgment for persistent rebellion. That same turning from God continues whenever people seek guidance from the dead, trust powers that do not serve Him, or worship at altars and temples raised to Satan even with human life, and those who do so cannot look for His deliverance. Where such worship exalted Satan as an unrivaled god, Christ's death shattered his power to reign.

Meaning in Moses' Song

Israel's offerings to false gods and to other powers were not worship of the true God at all, but sacrifices given to devils, demons and evil spirits. Those sacrifices went to demons rather than to God, for the people had forsaken the God who made them and turned aside to strange worship. The objects of that worship were gods whom Israel did not know, unfamiliar and newly introduced gods newly adopted and newly risen among them. They were new gods that came newly up, gods their fathers had not feared and had never known.

This charge belongs to the song Christ commanded Moses to form out of Israel's history, that the people might teach those events to their children and keep God's dealings with them in remembrance. That sacred song recounts God's past dealings with His people and at the same time foreshadows things to come. Among those future events is the final victory of the faithful when Christ comes again in power and glory.

Apostasy Provokes God's Judgment

Israel's sacrifice to devils was departure and unfaithfulness, forsaking the God who made them and formed and cared for them. They lightly esteemed the Rock of salvation, were unmindful of the Rock that begot them, and forgot the God that formed them. Their worship went not to God but to demons and evil spirits, to unfamiliar gods they did not know, to new gods newly risen and newly adopted whom their fathers had not feared. That turning to false gods was disregard, rebellion, corruption and rejection of God.

By this idolatry with strange gods and abominations Israel provoked God to jealousy and to anger. He would hide His face from them and bring judgment upon their persistent rebellion. The condemnation reveals God's abhorrence of sin and warns of the consequences of apostasy. The strange gods were introduced through evil spirits to turn the people from God, and this transgression contributed to their being scattered from the promised land. Despising God's law and Sabbath leads to such idolatry and to conflict with God.

Later Warnings and Deliverance

Seeking guidance from spirits of the dead is turning from God to devils and to unfamiliar gods, instead of trusting in the God who can deliver. Israel's worship of unfamiliar, newly adopted gods was idolatry directed to demons and not to God, by which they provoked God to anger and jealousy, forgot the Rock who formed them, and faced His judgment. God requires His people to trust in Him alone rather than seek help from those who do not serve Him. In application to the Civil War, leaders who follow spirits claiming to be dead warriors are trusting the prince of devils rather than the God of Israel, so they cannot expect God's help and deliverance.

Sacrifices offered to other powers are worship of devils, not of God, and this applies to worship at Satan's altars, including by priests who trample God's law and including the sacrifice of human beings. It describes temples erected to Satan and human sacrifices offered on his altars. There Christ's death broke Satan's power to reign as an unrivaled god.