Israel became a feared nation because of the things that the Lord did for her. However, he then turned to worshipping idols. This was not a one-off aberration, but a lifestyle. They made more and more idols. The idols were cleverly fashioned. Ie they devoted much care and attention to making the idols.
The worst thing is that they offered human sacrifices to these idols. When we worship things, the thing becomes more important than people. When we worship God, people become more important. A key fruit and test of whether someone is worshipping God is their love (or lack of love) for people. So the nation would become nothing at all.
Yet this would not be the end. They were God's people. And they were God's people because God had chosen them, not because they chose God. Time after time He had rescued them, but as soon as the immediate danger was over, they became proud, thinking that they could manage without God.
In turning against God, in denying Him, there were denying the one who was their helper, the One who gives them life. This is true of the whole human race.
A terrible fate would befall the nation.
In the midst of all this we get verse 14 which seems strangely out of place. It is a verse quoted by Paul at the end of 1 Corinthians 15, declaring the victory of the resurrection over death.
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