Week of Monday February 3 - February 9
Futility of Idolatry – Man as Chaplain
There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you. - Jeremiah 10:6-7 ESV
Have you ever heard the sayings “dumb as a rock” or “dumb as a post”? Don’t worry; this isn’t another one of my Marine jokes. When someone uses these expressions, they’re questioning another person’s intelligence by comparing them to inanimate objects like wood or stone.
This concept is similar to what God was expressing in Jeremiah 10 about His people who were worshiping idols. It’s not only foolish to worship an inanimate object; the idolater also becomes like the thing he worships.
In this chapter, God revisits a common theme from the book of the law: “Don’t follow the practices of the pagan nations” (see verses 2-3a). In fact, God says their ways are “vanity,” or futile. To borrow from Paul in Romans: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:21-23, emphasis added).
God tells us here that in their futility, His people turned to idolatry, and His description of their practice drips with satire. First, there is the production of the idol: “A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman” (verse 3b). An idol is essentially the “work of our own hands.” We reject our Creator by trying to create our own fake god as a replacement for the true. An idol is a product of the imagination of sinful hearts and crafted by fallible hands. Later, Jeremiah speaks of the professionals involved in production, the “craftsman,” the “goldsmith,” describing the product as the “work of skilled men” (verse 9).
Next comes the beatification of the idol. Precious metals are imported (verse 9), and these craftsmen take the piece of wood and “decorate it with silver and gold” (verse 4a). They dress it up: “their clothing is violet and purple” (verse 9). Then comes the stabilization of the idol: “they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move” (verse 4b). In fact, he gives this humorous description of idols: “Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good” (verse 5). Now that’s dumb!
But notice the stark contrast between these dumb, do-nothing idols and the Almighty God. In fact, Jeremiah can’t help himself because, in the middle of God’s description of idol worship, the prophet breaks out in praise in verses 6 and 7, as we read in the text above. He continues in verses 10, 12, and 13:
But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation. … It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
Jeremiah closes with this declaration in verse 16: “Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name” (verse 16).
Listen, our God doesn’t have to be created and produced like an idol; He is the Almighty Creator who made the heavens and the earth. Our God doesn’t have to be decorated and beautified, because He makes all things beautiful. Our God doesn’t have to be stabilized so He doesn’t fall like an idol; He is the one who gives us stability, gives us a foundation on which to stand! Let’s stay away from dumb idols and point our families and our friends to the one true God!
- Is there anything or anyone, including yourself, that has first place in your life besides God? That claims the lion’s share of your time, thoughts, passion, and money? That is an idol. God will not tolerate rivals. Will you allow the Spirit of God to remove that idol from your life and help you restore God to His rightful place as sovereign?
- How are you leading your family away from the lure of dumb idols and toward the uniqueness and majesty of Almighty God? How are you pointing to His superiority?
- Pray in agreement with the apostle John that the Spirit of God would keep you and yours from idols (1 John 5:21).
Futility of Idolatry – Man as Chaplain
There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might. Who would not fear you, O King of the nations? For this is your due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you. - Jeremiah 10:6-7 ESV
Have you ever heard the sayings “dumb as a rock” or “dumb as a post”? Don’t worry; this isn’t another one of my Marine jokes. When someone uses these expressions, they’re questioning another person’s intelligence by comparing them to inanimate objects like wood or stone.
This concept is similar to what God was expressing in Jeremiah 10 about His people who were worshiping idols. It’s not only foolish to worship an inanimate object; the idolater also becomes like the thing he worships.
In this chapter, God revisits a common theme from the book of the law: “Don’t follow the practices of the pagan nations” (see verses 2-3a). In fact, God says their ways are “vanity,” or futile. To borrow from Paul in Romans: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:21-23, emphasis added).
God tells us here that in their futility, His people turned to idolatry, and His description of their practice drips with satire. First, there is the production of the idol: “A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman” (verse 3b). An idol is essentially the “work of our own hands.” We reject our Creator by trying to create our own fake god as a replacement for the true. An idol is a product of the imagination of sinful hearts and crafted by fallible hands. Later, Jeremiah speaks of the professionals involved in production, the “craftsman,” the “goldsmith,” describing the product as the “work of skilled men” (verse 9).
Next comes the beatification of the idol. Precious metals are imported (verse 9), and these craftsmen take the piece of wood and “decorate it with silver and gold” (verse 4a). They dress it up: “their clothing is violet and purple” (verse 9). Then comes the stabilization of the idol: “they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move” (verse 4b). In fact, he gives this humorous description of idols: “Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good” (verse 5). Now that’s dumb!
But notice the stark contrast between these dumb, do-nothing idols and the Almighty God. In fact, Jeremiah can’t help himself because, in the middle of God’s description of idol worship, the prophet breaks out in praise in verses 6 and 7, as we read in the text above. He continues in verses 10, 12, and 13:
But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation. … It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
Jeremiah closes with this declaration in verse 16: “Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name” (verse 16).
Listen, our God doesn’t have to be created and produced like an idol; He is the Almighty Creator who made the heavens and the earth. Our God doesn’t have to be decorated and beautified, because He makes all things beautiful. Our God doesn’t have to be stabilized so He doesn’t fall like an idol; He is the one who gives us stability, gives us a foundation on which to stand! Let’s stay away from dumb idols and point our families and our friends to the one true God!
- Is there anything or anyone, including yourself, that has first place in your life besides God? That claims the lion’s share of your time, thoughts, passion, and money? That is an idol. God will not tolerate rivals. Will you allow the Spirit of God to remove that idol from your life and help you restore God to His rightful place as sovereign?
- How are you leading your family away from the lure of dumb idols and toward the uniqueness and majesty of Almighty God? How are you pointing to His superiority?
- Pray in agreement with the apostle John that the Spirit of God would keep you and yours from idols (1 John 5:21).