Title: Foolish idolatry / Isaiah 40:18-26
In this text, the words of God's rebuke through the prophet are recorded. These are the words of the prophet's rebuke to those who dishonored God's glory, those who made idols and worshiped them, saying they resembled God.
The reason people do not believe in God is because they are full of idols. The nations think that Jehovah God is also a god of idols (37:12 - 13). People may not serve idols they see. But they have an invisible idol, an idol that they trust, depend on, and love more than God. To love more than God, that is an invisible idol.
There are many different types of idols you can see. But all idols made of gold and silver wood are vain and powerless. Only when we completely throw away this vain thing can we stand right before God. Idols are made by artisans (those who melt iron, carvers) and craftsmen (those who polish iron). The first commandment of the Ten Commandments is “You shall have no other gods before me.” It is as if the bridegroom told the bride not to have any other man as the groom except me. Every human being has a God. The question is whether to serve the right god or whether to serve a god who is not a god.
1. Idols Are Despised
In the study of religion, there are polytheism and monotheism, and Christianity insists on monotheism. Polytheism refers to pantheism in a way that uses several creatures as gods, while monotheism recognizes many gods and chooses one among them.
However, Christianity serves only one God, that is, God. God is the One who creates and rules the heavens and the earth, operates history, insists on life and death, and gives the final judgment. Jehovah God is not one of many gods, nor is he the patron deity of a nation or nation. Jehovah God is not the God of the nation of Israel. He is the One who created the whole heavens and the earth, the universe, all things, and mankind. Therefore, any god other than God is a man-made creature, not a creator.
2. The fallacy of idolatry
(1) The precepts of the law forbid idolatry.
“Have you not known, have ye not heard” (verse 21).
The Ten Commandments already say that idolatry is wrong.
(2) From the beginning, the knowledge of God has been revealed to creation.
“Did not I tell you from the beginning, did you not understand from the creation of the earth?” (verse 21).
God created nature and explained that God is the Creator through it. So we can see God through natural revelation as well. Therefore, worshiping other gods after that God is idolatry.
⑶ Great is the providence and rule of God.
“He sits upon the round earth… ” (verse 22).
God cannot be compared with a lifeless idol. God's dominion over all things in the universe is like sitting in the high firmament, ruling the inhabitants of the earth as easily as a grasshopper. Therefore, it is not a problem for God to abolish nobles or judges. Even the rulers who claim to have firmly established their power are like seeds sown and sown 'only' in the sight of God, and when God blows their breath, their roots and stems dry up and fly away like a chaff blown away by a tornado. They are fools (verse 25).
3. The creation of all things confirms that Jehovah God is the true God
“Lift up your eyes high and see who created all these things” (verse 26).
Of all creation, the world of stars is the most mysterious. The world of stars is still shrouded in mystery due to research done with the cutting-edge science of the 21st century.
“The Lord brought out the hosts by number” (verse 26). The stars move regularly like an army.
God rules and moves by number, as if rolling out the soldiers, and He knows them all, as if calling them by name. Because God's authority is great and powerful, not one of them is missing.
It would be foolish to compare such a God with human power. Compared to God, humans are inferior to useless insects (Numbers 13:33). Even in our own eyes, we are ‘like grasshoppers’.
The greatness of God is also revealed through the rise and fall of nature and nations. Even those who possess great power have no power compared to God, and the judges of the world are just useless in the sight of God.
Nineveh and Babylon seem to be firmly rooted, but in the eyes of the prophet they were like blades of grass that wither in time. The great God commands the army of heaven and has control over the natural and spiritual realms. Therefore, man should praise and rely on God's infinite power.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Many people today worship themselves, their money, their ideology, their honor, their children as idols. When we serve others, God has said that He will attack you like fire. Who can stop a jealous God? God never leaves anyone usurping his glory.
We must quickly remove the idol from within us. And we must serve and exalt only God, who is the Lord of heaven and earth.