God’s People Are Set Free by Knowing the Folly of Idolatry
9What
fools they are who manufacture idols for their gods. Their hopes remain
unanswered. They themselves are witnesses that this is so, for their idols
neither see nor know. No wonder those who worship them are so ashamed. 10Who
but a fool would make his own god—an idol that can help him not one whit! 11All
that worship these will stand before the Lord in shame, along with all these
carpenters—mere men—who claim that they have made a god. Together they will
stand in terror. 12The metalsmith stands at his forge to make an ax,
pounding on it with all his might. He grows hungry and thirsty, weak and faint.
13Then the woodcarver takes the ax and uses it to make an idol. He
measures and marks out a block of wood and carves the figure of a man. Now he
has a wonderful idol that can’t so much as move from where it is placed. 14He
cuts down cedars, he selects the cypress and the oak, and he plants the ash in
the forest to be nourished by the rain. 15And after his care, he
uses part of the wood to make a fire to warm himself and bake his bread, and
then—he really does—he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god—a god for men
to worship! An idol to fall down before and praise! 16Part of the
tree he burns to roast his meat and to keep him warm and fed and well content, 17and
with what’s left he makes his god: a carved idol! He falls down before it and
worships it and prays to it. “Deliver me,” he says. “You are my god!”
18Such stupidity and ignorance! God has shut their eyes so that they cannot see and closed their minds from understanding. 19The man never stops to think or figure out, “Why, it’s just a block of wood! I’ve burned it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god? Should I fall down before a chunk of wood?” 20The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes; he is trusting what can never give him any help at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, “Is this thing, this idol that I’m holding in my hand, a lie?”[1] (Isaiah 44:9–20)
God’s People Are Set Free by Knowing the Absurdity and Folly of Idolatry and False Worship. It took great courage for Isaiah to preach about idols and false worship. He lived in a society in which almost every person practiced idolatry. In fact, the people and nations who seemed to be the most successful and powerful were those who honored false gods. True believers of the Lord were ridiculed and oppressed by the society of Isaiah’s day. Thus, it required enormous courage to bear witness to the Lord and to oppose the people’s idolatrous practices. In these verses, Isaiah launches a sharp attack against the idols and false gods of his day:
a. True Believers Know the Stupidity of Idolatry (vv. 9–10). In God’s eyes, idols are utterly worthless, amounting to nothing. Idol worshippers are blind and ignorant, failing to see or know the truth. They are like the blind who stumble and stagger about as they try to find their way in a world of darkness. To their discredit, they are ignorant of the truth and will ultimately be ashamed.
b. True Believers Know that Idolaters Will be Judged (v. 11). The day is coming when idolaters and the craftsmen who make the idols will face the wrath of God. They are mere men, appointed to stand before the God of the universe to give an account of their deeds, whether good or bad. If they have had anything whatsoever to do with idols, they will stand before God terrified. And they will be ashamed because they rejected the only living and true God and chose instead to worship idols and false gods.
c. True Believers Know the Physical, Material Nature of Idolatry (vv. 12–14). They know that idol makers—both the blacksmith and carpenter—are only human beings and that the works of their hands are only material objects. The blacksmith who makes an idol is only flesh like every other person, a being who hungers and tires. So, it is with the carpenter. Being a mere human, he creates his so-called god out of his own imagination (vv. 13–14). Based upon his idea, he chisels and shapes the god into a form resembling man’s image. Furthermore, he carves the idol from a tree he cuts down, either one he finds in the forest or has planted. Everything and everyone involved in idolatry—the idol maker, the idol, and the idolater—are just physical matter. All have a material nature.
d. True Believers Know the Importance of Re-Emphasizing the Utter Foolishness of Idolatry (vv. 15–17). Courageously, Isaiah stressed that an idol is nothing but physical, material substance. In this example, Isaiah spells out that the idol is made of wood, which is used for heating and cooking (v. 15). The implication is that it is not from the spiritual or eternal world. Half of the wood is used for heat and cooking, and the other half is used to make an idol. And incredibly, the unbeliever actually worships and prays to the idol. In times of desperation and hardship, he cries out: “Save me; you are my god” (v. 17).
e. True Believers
Know the Cause of Idolatry (vv. 18–20). Three causes are mentioned:
1)
People worship idols because they are
spiritually blind. Their eyes and mind are closed, shut tight, and hardened
against the Lord. As a consequence, they do not know the Lord, nor can they
understand the truths He reveals.
2)
People worship idols because they lack a
sense of judgment or reasoning and are unthinking (v. 19). Idol worshippers
do not have enough knowledge or understanding to accept the truth. It takes an
honest heart to confess that one’s so-called god is a mere creation of man’s
hands, only an idea in one’s mind about who God is.
3) People who worship idols or false gods are deceived (v. 20). Thinking they have the approval and blessing of their so-called god; they try to feed their souls on something that is no better than ashes. They are trusting something that can neither save nor help them. They are totally deceived.
Thought 1. Idolatry is Worshipping Anything
Other than the Lord Himself. We commit idolatry when we put ourselves, our
families, and our loved ones before the Lord. It is even possible to put work,
recreation, food, pleasure, and comfort before the Lord. If our major focus is
on anything other than God, we are placing God second. And God will not take
second place. He demands first place in our lives. Our thoughts and energy and
activities should all be dedicated to the Lord. At the beginning of every day,
our hearts and lives should be so devoted to Him that He is the focus of our
very being. Anything less than this is idolatry. Listen to what God’s Holy Word
says about idolatry:
V “For as I passed by, and beheld your
devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom,
therefore, ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you. God that made the
world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth,
dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s
hands, as though He needed anything, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath,
and all things; And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on
all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and
the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they
might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us:
For in Him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own
poets have said, For we are also His offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the
offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or
silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this
ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:
Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in
righteousness by that Man whom He
hath ordained; whereof He hath given
assurance unto all men, in that, He
hath raised Him from the dead” (Ac.
17:23–31).
V “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in
unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them;
for God hath showed it unto them. For
the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without
excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be
wise, they became fools.… And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a
reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with
all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full
of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of
God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to
parents, Without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection,
implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit
such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but have pleasure in them
that do them” (Ro. 1:18–22, 28–32).
V “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not
inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor
extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but
ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the
Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Co. 6:9–11).
V “Now the works of the flesh are manifest,
which are these; Adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders,
drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I
have also told you in time past, that
they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Ga. 5:19–21).
V “And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved
us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling-savor.
But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named
among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor
jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye
know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an
idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man
deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of
God upon the children of disobedience” (Ep. 5:2–6).
V “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Amen” (1 Jn. 5:21).
V “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the
abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and
all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone: which is the second death” (Re. 21:8).
V “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is
in the earth beneath, or that is in
the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve
them: for I the Lord thy God am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the
third and fourth generation of them
that hate me” (Ex. 20:3–5).
V “Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image,
neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow
down unto it: for I am the Lord your
God” (Le. 26:1).
V “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be
not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them” (De. 11:16).
V “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto
thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and
for thy truth’s sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: He hath done
whatsoever He hath pleased. Their idols are
silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not:
eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have
they, but they smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they,
but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them
are like unto them; so is everyone
that trusteth in them” (Ps. 115:1–8).
V “I am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images” (Is. 42:8).[2]
Today’s Idolatry
Here Isaiah describes how people make their own gods. How absurd to make a god from the same tree that gives firewood. What are the gods we make—money, fame, or power? We deceive ourselves if we expect them to empower our life.
Isaiah tells us, “Who but a fool would make
his own god—an idol that cannot help
him one bit?” (44:10). We think of idols as statues of wood or stone, but
an idol is anything natural that is given sacred value and power. If your
answer to any of the following questions is anything or anyone other than God,
you may need to check out who or what you are worshiping.
• Who created me?
• Whom do I ultimately trust?
• Whom do I look to for ultimate truth?
• Whom do I look to for security and
happiness?
• Who is in charge of my future?[3]
[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible,
Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.
[2] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters 36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.
[3] Life Application
Bible Notes. 2007. Tyndale.
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