ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 189 - Psalm 120-137 (The Stupidity of Idolatry)
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"The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men's hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
They have ears, but they do not hear;
Nor is there any breath in their mouths.
Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them."
(Psalm 135:15-18)
The Psalmist talks about the utter stupidity of idolatry in our text above. He accurately describes what idolatry is: idols are images made by man's hands usually of wood, stone or metal. Today, they also come in plastic. He further details an idol's life-like characteristics such as hands, ears, mouth and eyes yet it is devoid of life. Finally, he concludes that those who make and worship them become like them, that is, they become dead, devoid of spiritual life.
Whenever I consider those who practice idolatry meaning those who bow down and put their hope and trust in an image made by man's hands, I am dumbfounded. I cannot comprehend how anyone would go against common sense, let alone the first of the Ten Commandments given by God, and choose to put their trust in a lifeless material, shaped by someone whom they have never met, rather than call on the name of the living God Himself who came down to earth as a man in order to save us from eternal punishment in hell.
Although I cannot fathom it, I do understand the reason why people choose to worship idols; God says it is because they are spiritually blind. The Bible says that despite God manifesting Himself in creation, idolaters did nor glorify Him as God but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts became darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man (Romans 1:21-22).
The Bible teaches that unless the idolater repents of his idolatry and totally forsakes it and turns instead to the true and living God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, his end will be eternal damnation. Below are a few other Scripture passages concerning the stupidity of idolatry:
"Those who make an image, all of them are useless,
And their precious things shall not profit;
They are their own witnesses;
They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
Who would form a god or mold an image
That profits him nothing?
Surely all his companions would be ashamed;
And the workmen, they are mere men.
Let them all be gathered together,
Let them stand up;
Yet they shall fear,
They shall be ashamed together.
The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,
Fashions it with hammers,
And works it with the strength of his arms.
Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;
He drinks no water and is faint.
The craftsman stretches out his rule,
He marks one out with chalk;
He fashions it with a plane,
He marks it out with the compass,
And makes it like the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.
He cuts down cedars for himself,
And takes the cypress and the oak;
He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.
Then it shall be for a man to burn,
For he will take some of it and warm himself;
Yes, he kindles it and bakes bread;
Indeed he makes a god and worships it;
He makes it a carved image, and falls down to it.
He burns half of it in the fire;
With this half he eats meat;
He roasts a roast, and is satisfied.
He even warms himself and says,
"Ah! I am warm,
I have seen the fire."
And the rest of it he makes into a god,
His carved image.
He falls down before it and worships it,
Prays to it and says,
"Deliver me, for you are my god!"
They do not know nor understand;
For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see,
And their hearts, so that they cannot understand.
And no one considers in his heart,
Nor is there knowledge nor understanding to say,
"I have burned half of it in the fire,
Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals;
I have roasted meat and eaten it;
And shall I make the rest of it an abomination?
Shall I fall down before a block of wood?"
He feeds on ashes;
A deceived heart has turned him aside;
And he cannot deliver his soul,
Nor say, "Is there not a lie in my right hand?"
(Isaiah 44:9-20)
"What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it,
The molded image, a teacher of lies,
That the maker of its mold should trust in it,
To make mute idols?
Woe to him who says to wood, "Awake!'
To silent stone, "Arise! It shall teach!'
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
Yet in it there is no breath at all."
(Habakkuk 2:18-19)
