Modern Idolatry
In Isaiah 44:9-20, the prophet ridicules people who carve a statue out of wood and worship it. I can just hear his sarcasm as he tries to make the Israelites realize how stupid they are for worshipping something they made instead of the God who made them. Below are excerpts from that passage from the Easy-to Read Version of the Bible.
Some people make idols, but they are worthless.
Who made these false gods? Workers made them, and the workers are only human.
One worker uses his tools to heat iron over hot coals. Then he uses his hammer to beat the metal to shape it into a statue. Another worker uses his string line and compass to draw lines on the wood to show where he should cut. In this way the worker makes the wood look exactly like a man, and this statue of a man does nothing but sit in the house.
When the man wanted a fire, he took some of the wood to keep him warm. He also used some of it to bake his bread. But then he used that same wood to make a statue to worship as a god! He burns half of the wood in the fire. He says, “Good! Now I am warm, and I can see by the light of the fire.” There is a little of the wood left, so he makes a statue and calls it his god. He bows down before it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “You are my god, save me!”
People like that don’t know what they are doing! They don’t understand. They aren’t smart enough to think, “I burned half of the wood in the fire. I used the hot coals to bake my bread and cook the meat I ate. And I used the wood that was left to make this terrible thing. I am worshiping a block of wood!”
Someone like that is deceived. They cannot save themselves, and they will not admit, “This statue I am holding is a lie!”
We laugh at those ancient idol worshippers, too, don’t we? We’re way too sophisticated to do something like that, right? Or are we?
Are there any man-made things you put before God? How about your car, your house, your money? How much time do you spend in front of a screen versus reading God’s word?
Before you laugh too hard at the stupid idol worshippers of old, make sure you’re not doing the same thing today.