Day 224: God's that totter! - Jeremiah 10 vs 1- 16
1-2 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O Israel! This is what the Lord says: “Do not copy the other nations, who try to read their future in the stars. Do not be afraid of their predictions, even though other nations are terrified by them. 3-4 Their ways are futile and foolish. They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol. They decorate it with gold and silver and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails so it won’t fall over! 5 Their gods are like helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field! They cannot speak, and they need to be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of such gods, for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.”
6-7 Lord, there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power. Who would not fear you, O King of nations? That title belongs to you alone! Among all the wise people of the earth and in all the kingdoms of the world, there is no one like you. 8-9 People who worship idols are stupid and foolish. The things they worship are made of wood! They bring beaten sheets of silver from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz, and they give these materials to skilful craftsmen who make their idols. Then they dress these gods in royal blue and purple robes made by expert tailors. 10 But the Lord is the only true God. He is the living God and the everlasting King! The whole earth trembles at his anger. The nations cannot stand up to his wrath.
11 Say this to those who worship other gods: “Your so-called gods, who did not make the heavens and earth, will vanish from the earth and from under the heavens.” 12-13 But the Lord made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses. 14-15 The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge! The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make, for their carefully shaped works are a fraud. These idols have no breath or power. Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies! On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed. 16 But the God of Israel is no idol. He is the Creator of everything that exists, including Israel, his own special possession. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is his name! Jeremiah 10:1-16 From the New Living Translation (English Standard Version link)
I'm sure you will have picked up that this section was about the nothingness of the idol gods the nations worshiped, and the mighty power of the only true God. Their gods needed to be made secure with hammer and nails so they didn't topple over, and had to be carried about like scarecrows to be set up in a field. Contrast that to what Jeremiah said about the God of Israel in vs 12-13, and vs 16.
No wonder he said in vs 6-7: “Lord, there is no one like you! For you are great, and your name is full of power. Who would not fear you, O King of nations? That title belongs to you alone! Among all the wise people of the earth and in all the kingdoms of the world, there is no one like you.” Even as Christians we need to let that sink in. Why? Because of what God said through Jeremiah in vs 1-2.
Because Israel knew the only true God, they were not to copy the nations who looked to astrology and idols to direct their path. They were not even to be afraid of any predictions those so-called gods had made. That’s something people still need to hear today. Even apart from those who look to fortune tellers and horoscopes, how many others look to the news media and other atheistic spokesmen for guidance? And what about the multitudes who copy the lifestyles of celebrities. Many young people pay more attention to rock singers and movie stars than to Jesus Christ. But those people are also like idols that totter, no matter how impressive they look on the outside. Jeremiah said that the idols t worshipped in his day were ‘dressed in royal blue and purple robes made by expert tailors’. But even in the best clothes, a scarecrow is still a scarecrow! May we always be on guard that we are not copying the ways of the world. Jesus calls us to 'abide' in him, and for his words to 'abide' in us.