|
“Substitutes
for God” Jeremiah 10:1-16 We are far removed from the
times and the lands of the prophecies of Jeremiah as he spoke the words
of Jehovah to the people of Judah. His prophecies took place in
and around ancient Jerusalem more than 1600 years ago up just prior
to Judah being taken captive and carried off to Babylon. A lot
has changed since that time as to the customs, the dress, the foods,
the technology, the way we seek our pleasures, and the houses in which
we live. However, in the very essence of man there is that which
has not changed nor never will change. Man cries out for a god
to worship. Man was created in the image and likeness of his Creator
and in that, although marred, defaced, damaged, and ruined the central
being of man cries out to know Him. Man acknowledges his need
for God by seeking after Him, or by attempting to substitute other things
to satisfy the cry of his spirit. God has placed in our hearts
the desire to know Him. We either seek Him or we seek substitutes.
Either way we will serve, worship, and obey some kind of a god.
We will serve the Living God and live or we will serve the substitute
gods who are dead and we will die. According to 2nd
Chronicles 34:32 Josiah, the king, made all who were present in Jerusalem
take a stand for God. He had all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
to do according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.
However, Jeremiah’s prophecy shows clearly that the stand they took
that day was superficial and did not last for very long. Idolatry
was never wholly suppressed, and the national deterioration continued
toward destruction and slavery to a foreign nation. When men lose the consciousness
of God they do not lose their sense of the need for God, and consequently
they substitute the false for the true. And hence, the making
of an idol follows. Disloyalty to God does indeed
darken the vision of God. Although man may be disobedient to Jehovah,
his need for God does not diminish. It is in these moments or
hours or even days of our disobedience to a loving God that we, having
lost the sight of God begin to make substitutes for God. In the
moment we disobey the voice of God grows faint, and it is at that time
we begin to make gods for ourselves. Having lost the vision, the
apprehension, the sight of God, we set about making idols for ourselves. This is the story of Judah.
This is the story of history repeating itself throughout the 1600 years
since the time of Jeremiah. It is the story of today. The steps we take to making idols are simple.
That is the inevitable
outcome of our disobedience to the Living God. The times have changed, the
location is different, but the abiding principles have not changed.
It is to principles that we must pay particular attention to.
The forms, names, types, shapes, and the kinds of idols that we make
for ourselves today are different than those that those Judeans made,
the value of this prophecy is permanent. Jeremiah contrasts between
the false gods and the true God, and the contrasts between the two are
startling, clear, and very noticeable. Jeremiah looks at three different aspects of idols.
Where do
idols come from? Of all the idols that the Jews
were worshipping at the time, Jeremiah looks at only one instance.
The worship of Baal, Molech, and the gods of the Assyrians were being
carried out. Verses 3-5 tell us about the
kind of idol that the Jews were worshipping.
In our imagination let us see
what men are doing to make an idol. Where do idols come from?
From the imagination and work of a man’s hands. The idol that
man makes is inferior to himself because the inferior man has made an
inferior god for himself. Jeremiah proceeds to contrast
the making of a god by man and the Maker of man by Jehovah. The tree is cut down. God is exalted and enthroned on high. The tree is killed. It is God who gives life to everything. The tree is formed. It is God who is the Former, the Framer, and the Fashioner of all things. Man fashions an idol. God fashions life. Idols are made. It is God who makes. The idols are less than the man who makes them. God is more than the man who
makes the idol. What then
is the nature of the idol? Look at verse 5: “They are
upright, like a palm tree.” Reading other versions have a different
rendering. Jer 10:5 Like a scarecrow in
a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because
they cannot walk. NIV Jer 10:5 Their gods are like
helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and
they need to be carried because they cannot walk. NLT Jer 10:5 It's like a scarecrow
in a cabbage patch — can't talk! Dead wood that has to be carried
— can't walk! THE MESSAGE What are we trying to say:
Take your dead tree, frame
and form and fashion it in some outward, external sense in the likeness
of a god or a man; lay on gold and silver; deck and drape it with blue
and purple; fasten it with nails and hammer lest the wind should blow
it about. Then lay your head upon its bosom, and wait to feel
the heaving breast that speaks of breath. There is no breath in
them. On the other hand God is fear-commanding,
duty-demanding, trust inspiring, because in him is breath. There
is Spirit in Him. There is life in Him. Idols are impersonal.
They have no breath. They have no life. They cannot move
unless they are carried. They cannot save in the times of trouble.
They are dead trees. They make no response to individual cries
and agonies of the soul. They cannot give life and cannot answer
your cry in the time of need. But God is living, and listen
very carefully and closely, God is personal! A man or woman who knows God
may live with Him, talk to Him, listen to Him, and walk with Him; have
all His heart to himself, all His wisdom for his guidance, all His strength
for companionship. God is faith building, life
giving, love reaching, word sending, health restoring. He is the
reconciler and the lover of my soul. He is the intimate lover.
He is merciful, tender, trustworthy, faithful, everlasting, true, and
sustainer. What is the
value of an idol? The prophet Jeremiah gives us this answer in three ways:
The value as to power
is stated this way: They do not speak and they must be carried
because they do not have the power to carry themselves. The value as to intelligence is stated this way in verse 8: “People who worship idols are stupid and foolish. The things they worship are made of wood!” NLT In other words, the instruction,
the wisdom, the philosophy of idols, is wooden! Their influence is a work of delusion. Jer 10:15 “Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies! On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.” NLT Idols are a work of mockery!
In their silence they laugh at the men who made them. In their
inability to speak they utter contempt for the men who created them. Idols are unresponsive burdens
that men have to carry if they go anywhere. The greatest and lasting difference
between idols and God, is that they are carried, while it is God who
carries. A man may make his idol, and then He must carry the thing that
he has made. God makes a man. God carries the man He has
made. That is true of false and true religion everywhere. False religion is the religion you carry. It is a burden you bear. Christianity is idolatry to
some people, because they carry it. True religion is the religion
that carries you, that bears you, that strengthens you, that upholds
you. Idols are of the earth, and therefore under heaven; God is
over the heaven, and the earth is of Him. They are a mockery;
He is the portion of His people. They perish; He cannot perish;
and He possesses those who put their trust in Him, so that neither can
they perish. The years have come and gone.
The country has changed in which we live. The need for God in
the heart of man and the desire to worship has not. Idols come
in many forms, shapes, and types. Worship to God or a god which
we make for ourselves takes place. What then is worship?
Basically it means to bow down, to render homage to. We worship
that to which we attach great worth. Worship is a response to
worth. It is bowing down, giving homage to, serving that to which
we feel has worth. If I want to know what a man is worshipping
then all I have to do is see what he bows down to, gives himself to,
serves, because that to which the man serves is that to which he is
worshipping. We can worship mammon which
takes the forms of power, wealth, materialism, money. We may worship beauty or the
worship of sensations. This is the worship of Baal. We worship
the emotions, the passions, the fleshly appetites that assault the soul
of man and we give ourselves to them, freely, unrestrained. Our
anger, our speech, our pride, our selfish natures, our egos become acts
of worship, idols in our life, as we bow down to them, give ourselves
to them without thought, allow them to rule in our lives. Idols
rule us, we carry them, we make them, we worship and bow down to them. Whenever a man puts a substitute
for God before mind and heart and will, to give homage to, to yield
to, to bow down to, to put great worth towards by our service to such
things which in turn determines our conduct towards God and our fellow
man, he is creating for himself great agony, because in the hour of
need, in the hour of suffering, in the hour of bereavement, these things
that we place great worth on cannot relieve us, cannot meet the cry
of our soul. Only the God who gives life can do that. Let
us recall those words of Jesus: “Seek first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness.” Let us bow down, give Him reverence, give
Him obedience in all areas of our life and look to Him for the present
help in the time of need. “Substitutes
for God” Jeremiah 10:1-16 I. 1600 years have passed. Times, customs, dress, the places have changed. Man’s cry for a god to worship has not changed.
2nd Chronicles 34:32 Josiah made people to take a stand for God. However, Jeremiah’s prophecy
shows clearly that the stand was superficial and did not last for very
long. Idolatry was never wholly suppressed. When men lose the consciousness
of God they do not lose their sense of the need for God, and consequently
they substitute the false for the true. And hence, the making
of an idol follows. Disloyalty to God does indeed darken the vision of God. We, having lost the sight of God, make substitutes for God. The voice of God grows faint. Having lost the vision we set
about making idols for ourselves. This is the story of Judah.
This is the story of history repeating itself throughout the 1600 years
since the time of Jeremiah. It is the story of today. The steps we take to making idols are simple.
That is the inevitable outcome
of our disobedience to the Living God. II. Jeremiah looks at three different aspects of idols.
Where do
idols come from? Of all the idols that the Jews were worshipping at the time, Jeremiah looks at only one instance. The worship of Baal, Molech, and the gods of the Assyrians were being carried out. Verses 3-5 tell us about the
kind of idol that the Jews were worshipping.
In our imagination let us see
what men are doing to make an idol. Jeremiah proceeds to contrast
the making of a god by man and the Maker of man by Jehovah.
What then
is the nature of the idol? Look at verse 5: “They are
upright, like a palm tree.” Other versions of this verse read
this way: Their gods are like helpless
scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need
to be carried because they cannot walk. NLT It's like a scarecrow in a
cabbage patch — can't talk! Dead wood that has to be carried
— can't walk! THE MESSAGE What are we trying to say?
Take your dead tree, frame
and form and fashion it in some outward, external sense in the likeness
of a god or a man; lay on gold and silver; deck and drape it with blue
and purple; fasten it with nails and hammer lest the wind should blow
it about. Then lay your head upon its bosom, and wait to feel
the heaving breast that speaks of breath. There is no breath in
them. On the other hand God is fear-commanding,
duty-demanding, trust inspiring, because in him is breath. There
is Spirit in Him. There is life in Him. Idols are impersonal.
They have no breath. They have no life. They cannot move
unless they are carried. They cannot save in the times of trouble.
They are dead trees. They make no response to individual cries
and agonies of the soul. They cannot give life and cannot answer
your cry in the time of need. But God is living, and listen
very carefully and closely, God is personal! A man or woman who knows God
may live with Him, talk to Him, listen to Him, and walk with Him; have
all His heart to himself, all His wisdom for his guidance, all His strength
for companionship. God is faith building, life
giving, love reaching, word sending, health restoring. He is the
reconciler and the lover of my soul. He is the intimate lover.
He is merciful, tender, trustworthy, faithful, everlasting, true, and
sustainer. What is the
value of an idol? The prophet Jeremiah gives us this answer in three ways:
The value as to power
is stated this way: They do not speak and they must be carried
because they do not have the power to carry themselves. The value as to intelligence is stated this way in verse 8: “People who worship idols are stupid and foolish. The things they worship are made of wood!” NLT In other words, the instruction,
the wisdom, the philosophy of idols, is wooden! Their influence is a work of delusion. Jer 10:15 “Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies! On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed.” NLT Idols are a work of mockery!
In their silence they laugh at the men who made them. In their
inability to speak they utter contempt for the men who created them. Idols are unresponsive burdens
that men have to carry if they go anywhere. The greatest and lasting difference
between idols and God, is that they are carried, while it is God who
carries. A man may make his idol, and then He must carry the thing that
he has made. God makes a man. God carries the man He has
made. III. That
is true of false and true religion everywhere. False religion is the religion you carry. It is a burden you bear. Christianity is idolatry to some people, because they carry it. True religion is the religion
that carries you, that bears you, that strengthens you, that upholds
you. Idols are of the earth, and therefore under heaven; God is
over the heaven, and the earth is of Him. They are a mockery;
He is the portion of His people. They perish; He cannot perish;
and He possesses those who put their trust in Him, so that neither can
they perish. The need for God is there.
Worship needs to take place. What then is worship?
Basically it means to bow down, to render homage to. We worship
that to which we attach great worth. Worship is a response to
worth. It is bowing down, giving homage to, serving that to which
we feel has worth. If I want to know what a man is worshipping
then all I have to do is see what he bows down to, gives himself to,
serves, because that to which the man serves is that to which he is
worshipping. We can worship mammon. We may worship beauty or the
worship of our desires. Idols rule us, we carry them,
we make them, we worship and bow down to them. Whenever a man puts a substitute for God before mind and heart and will, to bow down to, to put great worth towards by our service which in turn determines our conduct towards God and our fellow man, he is creating for himself great agony, because in the hour of need, in the hour of suffering, in the hour of bereavement, these things that we place great worth on cannot relieve us, cannot meet the cry of our soul. Only the God who gives life can do that. Let us recall those words of Jesus: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” Let us bow down, give Him reverence, give Him obedience in all areas of our life and look to Him for the present help in the time of need. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. |