What is the meaning of Psalm 106:37? They sacrificed - The verb signals a deliberate, ongoing practice, not a one-time slip. - Israel was copying the customs of Canaanite neighbors (2 Kings 17:15-17). - Moses had forewarned, “They sacrificed to demons, not to God” (Deuteronomy 32:17). - God views any worship outside Himself as treason (Exodus 20:3-5). - Modern takeaway: whenever we give our highest allegiance elsewhere—career, pleasure, politics—we repeat the same heart-level betrayal (Matthew 6:24). their sons and their daughters - The victims were not animals or criminals but covenant children, gifts from the Lord (Psalm 127:3). - Child sacrifice was explicitly outlawed: “You must not give any of your children to sacrifice them to Molech” (Leviticus 18:21). - King Ahaz “burned his son as an offering” (2 Kings 16:3) and set a national trend (Jeremiah 7:31). - By trading children for hoped-for prosperity, Israel inverted God’s design—protecting self at the cost of the innocent (Proverbs 6:16-17). - Today’s culture may not heat bronze altars, yet whenever unborn or vulnerable lives are discarded for convenience, the same logic prevails (Psalm 94:20-21). to demons - Scripture pulls back the curtain: idols are fronts for real spiritual powers. - Paul echoes, “The sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons and not to God” (1 Corinthians 10:20). - Demons exploit human desires—power, safety, fertility—offering counterfeit blessings and demanding devastating payments (John 10:10). - Turning to any spiritual source other than the Lord invites bondage, not freedom (Ephesians 6:12). - The antidote is wholehearted loyalty: “Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee” (James 4:7). summary Psalm 106:37 exposes Israel’s darkest compromise: they deliberately offered their own children—God’s priceless gifts—to sinister spiritual forces. The verse warns that idolatry always escalates, devalues human life, and entangles worshipers with demonic powers. God’s people then and now are called to reject every rival allegiance, cherish the vulnerable, and serve the Lord alone. |
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