IDOLS ARE WORTHLESS

Jeremiah 10:1-25 / Keywords 10:16

He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the tribe of his inheritance--the LORD Almighty is his name.

 

God and Idols

10:1 Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:

“Do not learn the ways of the nations

    or be terrified by signs in the heavens,

    though the nations are terrified by them.

3 For the practices of the peoples are worthless;

    they cut a tree out of the forest,

    and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.

4 They adorn it with silver and gold;

    they fasten it with hammer and nails

    so it will not totter.

5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,

    their idols cannot speak;

they must be carried

    because they cannot walk.

Do not fear them;

    they can do no harm

    nor can they do any good.”

6 No one is like you, Lord;

    you are great,

    and your name is mighty in power.

7 Who should not fear you,

    King of the nations?

    This is your due.

Among all the wise leaders of the nations

    and in all their kingdoms,

    there is no one like you.

8 They are all senseless and foolish;

    they are taught by worthless wooden idols.

9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish

    and gold from Uphaz.

What the craftsman and goldsmith have made

    is then dressed in blue and purple—

    all made by skilled workers.

10 But the Lord is the true God;

    he is the living God, the eternal King.

When he is angry, the earth trembles;

    the nations cannot endure his wrath.

11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’”[a]

12 But God made the earth by his power;

    he founded the world by his wisdom

    and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.

13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;

    he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.

He sends lightning with the rain

    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;

    every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.

The images he makes are a fraud;

    they have no breath in them.

15 They are worthless, the objects of mockery;

    when their judgment comes, they will perish.

16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,

    for he is the Maker of all things,

including Israel, the people of his inheritance—

    the Lord Almighty is his name.

Coming Destruction

17 Gather up your belongings to leave the land,

    you who live under siege.

18 For this is what the Lord says:

    “At this time I will hurl out

    those who live in this land;

I will bring distress on them

    so that they may be captured.”

19 Woe to me because of my injury!

    My wound is incurable!

Yet I said to myself,

    “This is my sickness, and I must endure it.”

20 My tent is destroyed;

    all its ropes are snapped.

My children are gone from me and are no more;

    no one is left now to pitch my tent

    or to set up my shelter.

21 The shepherds are senseless

    and do not inquire of the Lord;

so they do not prosper

    and all their flock is scattered.

22 Listen! The report is coming—

    a great commotion from the land of the north!

It will make the towns of Judah desolate,

    a haunt of jackals.

Jeremiah’s Prayer

23 Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own;

    it is not for them to direct their steps.

24 Discipline me, Lord, but only in due measure—

    not in your anger,

    or you will reduce me to nothing.

25 Pour out your wrath on the nations

    that do not acknowledge you,

    on the peoples who do not call on your name.

For they have devoured Jacob;

    they have devoured him completely

    and destroyed his homeland.

Footnotes

a. Jeremiah 10:11 The text of this verse is in Aramaic.

1. It’s natural for us to imitate the people around us and absorb their ways of thinking. But the Bible teaches us not to conform to the pattern of this world (1; Romans 12:1). This passage shows us that the business of the world is to create and worship idols. An idol is anything we strive after to satisfy our souls apart from God himself. Following idols makes us fools (8).

 

2. The people of the world make good money by creating, advertising, and selling idols, and they are very skilled at it (9). However, despite people’s best efforts, they are inwardly shamed because what they produce corrupts the world and is not worthy of worship (14). God’s people should choose their careers very carefully so they are not ashamed of what they produce or live for.

 

3. Idols cannot be compared to God, who created everything. He is truly worthy of worship because he is so high and holy above us (12-13). Even when we are suffering and feel that our wounds are incurable, we can put our trust in God who is our Portion (16) and who directs our life and disciplines us for our good (19, 23- 24).

 

Prayer Father, thank you for Jeremiah’s words that warn me not to follow the idolatrous pattern of this world. Help me live only to worship you.

One Word Creator God, not idols