Worthless Idols

October 14

Jeremiah 19-21

Psalm 115:1-8

Proverbs 25:1-3

Titus 1

Worthless Idols

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of man’s hands.  They have mouths, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see; they have ears, but they do not hear;  they have noses, but they do not smell; as for their hands, they do not feel; as for their feet, they do not walk; they do not make a sound with their throat.  Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them.”  Psalm 115:3-8  LSB 

I have never understood worshipping idols.  It is an utterly absurd and ridiculous notion.  In Isaiah 44:1-17, the prophet describes the futility of it.  He explained that the craftsman plants a tree and watches it grow.  He cuts it down and takes half of it to burn in a fire to warm himself or to cook food to satisfy his hunger.  Then he takes the other half and makes an idol.  “Then falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, ‘Deliver me, for You are my god.” Isaiah 44:17 LSB  It makes no sense.  How can he make something with his own hands and then bow down and worship it as his god?  God understands the heart of man.  The first commandment He gave to Moses was, “You shall have no other gods before Me.  You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in Heaven above or on the Earth beneath or in the water under the Earth.  You shall not worship them or serve them.”  Exodus 20:3-5 LSB   God was very specific.  Not only are we not to worship other gods, but we are also instructed not to try to make a likeness of Him and bow to worship it.  He knows that our hearts would inevitably begin to worship the image instead of worshipping Him.  We cannot possibly make an image that could represent Him.  He is beyond our imagination or comprehension.  Any attempt would be insulting to His majesty and holiness.  Likewise any image of His Son is equally idolatrous.  We do not know what Jesus looks like because God does not want us to worship an image of Jesus.  I have visited several Cathedrals in Europe and the Vatican.  While the architecture is beautiful and the artwork and furnishings are elaborate, I did not feel the presence of God in any of them.  Bowing down to statues of Jesus and Mary is no different from bowing to the worthless images of the gods described by David and Isaiah.  This is a violation of the first commandment and is not pleasing to God. 

Romans 1:22-23, 25 is very clear about this as well, “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures…For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” LSB   Acts 17:29 says, “Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to suppose that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the craft and thought of man.”  LSB   God alone is worthy of our worship and we should be careful not to bow our knee to anything or anyone else.