Monday 21st September
Read Jeremiah 10:1-5
“Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel. 2 This is what the Lord says:
‘Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
though the nations are terrified by them.
3 For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it will not totter.
5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them;
they can do no harm
nor can they do any good.’” (NIVUK)
Jeremiah demonstrates his mastery in this amazing chapter. A concatenated passage that ridicules idolatry amidst praise of Yahweh, heightening the effect of both the mockery and the praise in consequence. A rhetorical masterclass. He begins with the foolishness of idolatry but in doing so betrays its attractiveness. He answers the underlying question we have concerning how people could worship something they have so patently made themselves?
First, it is universally done (v2). We are so inured as a species to false alarms that when they go off we usually wonder if it is worth the fuss and wait to see what other people do before acting. So, if all the nations, successful nations at that, follow idols without consequence, then there is no harm in doing so themselves. Maybe it is necessary and wise? Maybe that explains the final caution also (v5b)?
Second, they secure prosperity. Like houses today, a repository of wealth that accumulates in value with time, idols also stored value (v4a). One doesn’t want them falling off the mantelpiece though (v4b). They present themselves as a source of security in times of trouble.
How seriously should we take these two ‘truths’? Very seriously indeed. For the idols of our time present themselves in precisely the same way. They present themselves as sensible, common, universally adopted practices that secure prosperity against hardship and trouble. They are the things we put our faith in. Man-made, worthless and vain though they are – they remain incredibly attractive – and have done throughout history.
Are we wise enough?
