Baruch 4:7
Deuterocanon
5 Take courage, my people, who perpetuate Israel's name! 6 It was not for destruction that you were sold to the nations, but you were handed over to your enemies because you angered God. 7 For you provoked the one who made you by sacrificing to demons and not to God. 8 You forgot the everlasting God, who brought you up, and you grieved Jerusalem, who reared you. 9 For she saw the wrath that came upon you from God, and she said: Listen, you neighbors of Zion, God has brought great sorrow upon me; 10 for I have seen the exile of my sons and daughters, which the Everlasting brought upon them.
Date: 150-100 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
1 Corinthians 10:20
New Testament
17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread. 18 Look at the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? 19 Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything? 20 No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take part in the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 22 Or are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we really stronger than he is?
Date: 55-57 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Notes and References
"... Tobit and Baruch are two Second Temple Jewish literary works that were part of the LXX, the contents of which, therefore, extend beyond the books of the Hebrew Bible ... The fact that magical means are necessary to deal with Asmodeus makes it clear that he is a supernatural figure. The demon draws interest from scholars because the story of Tobit attributes a range of tragedies, including death, to demons. Some scholars view this as a theological innovation ... It is not clear why this would be viewed as an innovation. Other Second Temple literature clearly has divine beings choosing to rebel against God. The content of the two references in Baruch will sound familiar ... The language and theology of Baruch 4:7 echoes Deuteronomy 32:17, a passage on which we spent considerable time. The reference is to Israel’s apostasy, rejecting its status as Yahweh’s portion and people (Deuteronomy 32:8–9) in sacrificing to the gods allotted to other nations ..."
Heiser, Michael S.
Demons: What the Bible Really Says about the Powers of Darkness
(p. 54) Lexham Press, 2020
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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