Deuteronomy 32:16-17 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Actually, there is no other god than the One True God, who loves you forever, but humans construct things as gods in their minds and then live according to their misbelief. God’s truth is that those other things we trust in are in reality devils. The demons we turn to are actually enemies of God and seek our destruction. Humans have always worshipped creatures of God (sun, moon, etc,) and idols made by human hands. It turns out that the most common devil we turn to and live for is Self. Horrifically, the devil disguises himself as me.
Living for anything other than God alone provokes God to jealousy. He has set His love upon us, committed Himself to us, and built an intimate relationship with us. And He is naturally provoked to jealousy when we pay more attention to self. He is zealous for us and so is jealous. James 4:5: “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us.” He went to extreme lengths to procure us for Himself.
Naturally, He is hurt when we believe, love, or trust something else. Ephesians 4:30: “Do not grieve the the Holy Spirit of God.” And hurt always produces anger. Thus our Idolatry provokes the Lord to anger. Every sin hurts the Jesus we love. So daily repentance and forgiveness is necessary for wellbeing. Thankfully, a jealous and angry God loves, forgives, and receives for Christ’s sake.