WORTHLESS, SHAMEFUL, IGNORANT, AND BLIND

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit nothing?”

People who do that will be put to shame; such craftsmen are only human beings. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and shame.”

“The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint.”

“The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in human form, human form in all its glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is used as fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.” From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!”

They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, And their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”

Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

Isaiah 44:9-20

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Do a survey across the relationship between God and His people of Israel in the Old Testament and you will quickly find that the people seemed to get themselves in trouble constantly, mostly because they violated one important commandment.

They decided to worship another god outside of God (capital “G”). As we’re going to see from our continued study of the Book of Isaiah, and particularly chapter 44, the Israelites were seen by God as worthless, shameful, ignorant, and blind as a result of this one sinful tendency. Look at these words of the Lord as He chastises His people:

All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame. Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit nothing?”

People who do that will be put to shame; such craftsmen are only human beings. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and shame.”

“The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint.”

“The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in human form, human form in all its glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is used as fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.” From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!”

They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, And their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”

Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”  Isaiah 44:9-20

Did you get the sense that God was less than happy with what His people were doing?

Note that the people of mention here were people with gifts and special skills. Not everyone possessed the knowledge or handiwork to be a blacksmith or a carpenter and yet instead of using these skills to the glory of the God who blessed them with those abilities, these men used them to commit sins against God. They fashioned idols out of metal or wood and then worshipped these inanimate objects as if they would be able to do something for them. They were completely blind to the foolishness of such a notion. They could have been something if they had only used their abilities to the honor of the Lord God Almighty but in producing idols seen by God as detestable, they followed a deluded heart and became nothing, worthless and ignorant as a result of their shameful behavior.

Friends, the Lord is speaking to you and me today and doing so in a powerful way. He is asking us one simple question:

“Do you worship Me and Me alone?”

You see, there are many idols available to us in the world today, idols beckoning for our attention and adoration. Those idols may not come in the form of shaped metal or wood but the end result is still the same. They draw our worship to them and away from the God who truly deserves it. Worship enough idols and you will find yourself left with no time for God. In fact, you may not even find a thought of God entering your mind as it is awash with all the pleasures this world presents it. If this is happening, you are no better than the Israelites the Lord is chastising in this passage from Isaiah.

For when we worship the things of the world, we are worshipping worthlessly and shamefully, left blind by our ignorance and empty from losing the true wisdom, knowledge, protection, healing, and love that only comes from the Lord God Almighty.

The Lord who gives us everything we could ever ask for to include the life we are blessed with deserves better than that. He and He alone merits our complete adoration and worship, giving Him all honor, glory, and praise, now and forever more.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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