How do you convince people to put their trust in the Lord? How do you convince people that the idols they are holding on to are empty and worthless? Even more, how do you convince God’s people to fully put their trust in the Lord? There are many places in the scriptures where we are told to not act like the world but to put our trust in the Lord. The apostle Paul proclaimed that we are not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (cf. Romans 12:2). So how can we do this? God’s answer is that we would know that it is just a scarecrow. Open your copies of God’s word to Jeremiah 10 and we will see what this means and how this helps us fully put our trust in the Lord.
The Nonsense of Idolatry (Jeremiah 10:1-9)
The Lord opens Jeremiah 10 with the proclamation that God’s people are not to be like the world. Do not learn the way of the nations and do not be terrified by the signs in the sky even if the world is. Do not think the way the culture thinks and do not act the way society acts because their ways are worthless (Jeremiah 10:3). Their ways are futility and emptiness. Now God is going to show us in a very clear and dramatic way why we should not think the way the world thinks or act in the way the world acts. Notice God’s illustration beginning in verse 3.
God describes people cutting a tree in the forest and carving that wood into an idol. They decorate the idol with silver and gold. They hammer the idol with nails so that it will not move or tip over. The idol is nothing more than a scarecrow in a field. The idol cannot speak. The idol has to be carried because it cannot walk. The point is to see how an idol is nonsense and yet people put such value into it. Listen to the end of verse 5. Do not be afraid of them because they cannot do harm nor can they do any good. Idols are worthless. Idols are useless. Please listen to what God is saying. It does not make any sense to devote yourself to your idols because they have no power for good or for bad. It is foolish to give our time, money, and effort for things that are powerless. They are foolish and silly.
Now we want to pretend that idolatry is an ancient problem. But idolatry is certainly not a problem today for such sophisticated people like us today, right? But think about how many things we give power to in our lives that do not have power at all. Think about how many things we elevate that are just emptiness. We make idols out of wealth and possessions. We value metal, plastic, and fabrics and we give them a supreme place in our lives. We see having them as status. We try to have them to make us think that we are comfortable and that nothing can happen to us. I try to help us not forget 2020 and what we experienced in Covid. All of your wealth and possessions did not make it easier for you to have toilet paper. Wealth and possessions are empty idols. We make idols out of our careers, trying to derive our value and self-worth from it. We make idols out of our reputation and power. We find our value in what other humans think about us. We make idols out of our families. If we were only married, then we would be satisfied. If we only had children, then we would be happy. If we only were divorced, then we could be our full true self. We make idols out of sexuality, pretending that this is the path to true happiness. We make idols out of politics. We think that if our candidate and if our party wins, then we will experience true joy in our country. We have so many idols in our hearts that we try to use for joy and satisfaction. But they are empty. They cannot do harm or do you any good. It is so foolish to give our time, money, and effort to any of these things because they are empty.
The Power of God (Jeremiah 10:10-16)
The reason to reject your idols and to fully trust in the Lord is because he is the true God. He is the living God. He is the eternal king (Jeremiah 10:10). The earth quakes at his wrath and the nations cannot endure his indignation. False gods are nothing and will perish. But listen to the attributes of the true and living God. He made the earth by his power (Jeremiah 10:12). He made the earth. Just think about that. He made the earth. He established the world by his wisdom. He stretched out the heavens by his own understanding. He made the world and he made the world in the way he wanted it by his own wisdom and understanding. When God thunders with his voice, the waters in the sky roar. He makes the clouds rise. He makes the lightning for the rain. He brings the winds out of his storehouses. You are supposed to step back and just take in the power of God and draw the conclusion that our idols and false gods are frauds. Look at verse 14. Every idol stands as a monument to our human foolishness. Idolatry puts us to shame. Idolatry shows that we have put our hope and trust in the wrong place. They have no life or breath in them. They are worthless. They are a delusion. They are worth being mocked. But God is completely the opposite. In him is life and breath. He can move and cannot be carried. There is no one like God (Jeremiah 10:6)! The idols can do nothing. But God can do anything!
The Pain of Foolishness (Jeremiah 10:17-22)
God said that idols cannot do harm or do any good. But since the people have rejected the good of God, judgment must come against his people. The people will be hurled out of the land for their idolatry (Jeremiah 10:18). Great distress is coming on the people and Jeremiah is already feeling pain at the thought of the severity of God’s judgment. All of this is because the people and the leaders did not seek the Lord (Jeremiah 10:21). The shepherds are foolish and senseless. Why would you trust in idols when they are empty and worthless? Why would you refuse to seek the Lord and inquire of his ways when he is the only God who can respond and act? Idols are helpless but God can help you. Idols cannot judge you but God will judge you. Our idols are nothing more than scarecrows in a field. They can do nothing.
Jeremiah’s Prayer (Jeremiah 10:23-25)
So what should be our response to these things? Look at how Jeremiah responds to this news in Jeremiah 10:23-25. Jeremiah responds first by proclaiming his understanding that it is not within us to direct our steps. This is a very important truth and a key foundation to fighting idolatry. The world’s idol today is that you need to find your true self and follow your true path which can only be found by looking deep inside of you. But Jeremiah states the exact opposite. Idolatry is seeking and following what is inside of ourselves. We were not created to be self-determined, do what we want to do people. It is not for us to listen to our inner self to determine our course of life. The way is outside of ourselves and the way is in God alone. Jesus challenged all idolatrous thinking by teaching that he is THE Way. He is not a way to God. He is the way to God and life in him (cf. John 14:6).
Second, Jeremiah prays for correction. When we acknowledge that it is not within us to direct our steps, then we are asking for God to correct us and direct us in the right paths. Correct me, not in anger, but according to your justice. In essence, we are calling for God to do what is right in our lives. Correct us and do not act according to your wrath (which we deserve) because we would be reduced to nothing. When we humbly accept that it is not within us to direct our steps, then we must make ourselves open to correction. Please see Jeremiah showing this important way of thinking about God. I need God to correct me. I need God to change me. I need God to order my steps and show me the right direction. Let me ask you to think about the last time you asked God to correct you. When is the last time you asked for God’s correction? We need correction because our default is to listen to ourselves and it is not within us to direct our steps.
Finally, Jeremiah prays that God’s wrath would rightly fall on wickedness, on those who that do not have a relationship with God nor call on his name. Now this might seem like a strange ending. But please consider how this is a right expectation based on what we have seen in this chapter. If we are not acknowledging the Lord and calling his name, then we have shown that we have exchanged the glory of God for worthless idols. Its shows that we have violated the first verse of this chapter. We have conformed to the nations and are putting our hope in the idols of the world.
Ending Idolatry
I want to end the lesson where the apostle John ended his first letter. Listen to how he ended his letter.
Little children, keep yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21 ESV)
Now here is what is curious about this ending to John’s letter. John did not talk about idols in that letter at all. So what did John talk about? John talked about walking in the light. John talked about walking in love. John talked about how doing these things will allow you to know that you have eternal life. When we are not walking in the light and walking in love then we are submitting to the idols that are in our lives. I hope for us to be able to look at some lessons from 1 John next month. But let’s wrap up the lesson before us today. How do we end idolatry?
First, we must honestly determine what are idols are. What are the ways of the world that we have adopted in our thinking or in our behavior? What have we placed an importance on in our lives that should not hold that kind of power over us? Some of the idols of the world are wealth, possessions, career, power, family, sexuality, success, and country. There are many other idols in the world. But these are some of the common ones. Identify your idols.
Second, understand that our idols cannot help us by devoting our attention to it and cannot hurt us by neglecting them. Idols have no power. Nothing that you put your hope in can help you. None of our idols can give us the satisfaction we are looking for. Please look at this in your own life and see how true this is. What did you hope would be the greatest thing that turned out to let you down and not fulfill the way you thought it would? There are so many things in which we put the weight of all our greatest hopes and dreams that break under that weight. Our idols do not help.
Third, there is no one like God. Only God can give you life, joy, peace, and satisfaction. Only God can fulfill all that you need and long for in this world. God is not empty but idols are empty. God made everything and shows his power in the world. Why would we ignore him to follow our idols?
Finally, God is in control. God must direct our steps. We need his correction. We cannot determine the right direction from within us. Our lives are in God’s hands. When we remember this, then we will see the foolishness of idols. The direction you need is not in you. The direction you need is not in your idols. The direction you need is in God. Your car, your stuff, your job, your desires, and everything else are just scarecrows in a field. God is the reality. Let God lead you in paths of righteousness.