Idols vs Yahweh
You may have heard someone say that Jeremiah 10:3-4 is about Christmas Trees. 🎄
That only works if you rip those verses out of context and ignore the rest of the chapter.
Now, if you burn incense to your Christmas Tree and bow down and worship it, then this text totally applies. Or even if you don’t but you slavishly serve the trappings of the holiday and seek your security and significance in it… then it still applies.
The top 3 rules of interpreting the Bible are:
- Context
- Context
- Context
Verses 1-16 are one long argument from Yahweh about why He is superior to the gods of the nations and why His people should not worship them.
OPENING STATEMENT:
“Thus says Yahweh: “You must not learn the way of the nations, and you must not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens, for the nations are dismayed by them.”
Jeremiah 10:2 LEB
Worship of the sun, moon, stars, and planets is as old as Methuselah. Now, are there legit signs in the heavens? Yes. Yahweh said that was one of the reasons He made them:
“Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and they shall serve as signs and for seasons, and for days and years;”
Genesis 1:14 NASB2020
“There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,”
Luke 21:25 NASB2020
But Yahweh’s interpretation of “signs” and the pagan interpretation of “signs” are two different things.
The position of the astronomical bodies function as a clock and calendar for humanity. We need them in order to know when Yahweh’s “appointed times” are. But when rebel influence gets involved, the objects in the heavens begin to be used for divination.
Here’s how the online dictionary defines divination:
“Divination is the practice of seeking hidden knowledge, future events, or divine guidance through supernatural means, omens, or ritualistic techniques. It bridges the seen and unseen worlds to uncover information, often utilizing tools like tarot cards, astrology, or scrying to interpret signs.”
It’s all about accessing hidden information through the interpretation of signs.
The people of other nations have priests and wisemen who are initiated into the secret rites and have access to esoteric books. They interpret the signs in the heavens as communication from the gods. And they share this information with the people who live in fear of these gods which are represented by idols.
SUPPORTING ARGUMENT:
You shouldn’t worship these idols because: the gods of the nations are made by man. They have no power.
“For the customs of the peoples are futile; For it is wood cut from the forest, The work of the hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. They decorate the idol with silver and gold; They fasten it with nails and hammers So that it will not totter. They are like a scarecrow in a cucumber field, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good.”
Jeremiah 10:3-5 NASB2020
Then Jeremiah expands upon this argument by describing the steps involved in making an idol. He shows that it did not make itself. So why would anyone think that it could make the universe? Someone else had to make its clothes. It can’t clothe itself. So why would you pray to it to provide clothing for you? Someone else has to carry it about. It cannot move. So why would you ask it to protect you when it has to have people to protect it from toppling over?
It’s a bit like the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes. If the higher-ups “see” the clothes that only the “wise” can see, then out of pressure to conform and not be thought a simpleton, others will go along. The ancient pagans are ooo-ing and ahh-ing over a chunk of wood because “If you can’t see that this is a powerful god, you’re a fool!”
Jeremiah is the kid pointing and saying, “The god is just a piece of wood!”
[This is why you should read The Emperor’s New Clothes to children.]
THE EVIDENCE
We come to the crux of the matter. God states His claim and the evidence:
“But the Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. The earth quakes at His wrath, And the nations cannot endure His indignation. This is what you shall say to them: ‘The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens.’”
Jeremiah 10:10-11 NASB2020
Here is how you can test the claim:
- Where did each deity come from?
- Yahweh – everlasting, self-existent
- Idols – trees or metal
- Which deity is alive?
- Yahweh – has verifiably appeared over centuries in clouds, fire, and even human form. He has spoken audibly. This is documented.
- Idols – statues made of dead materials, no breath or voice.
- Who can be destroyed?
- Yahweh – good luck with that.
- Idols – yup. It’s been done a lot.
The bottom line is a contest of who made the heavens and the earth. Yahweh says that HE is the Creator.
👩🏼💼 Mr. Idol. Would care to comment? 🎤🗿
⏳
⌛️
👩🏼💼 There seem to be no comments at this time. Back to you, Bob.
But there is another layer to this discussion. And for that, we need to notice the thread that LORD quotes from Deuteronomy.
“They are vanity, a work of mockery, at the time of their punishment, they will perish. The portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the creator of everything, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance, Yahweh of hosts is his name.”
Jeremiah 10:15-16 LEB
“When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.”
Deuteronomy 32:8-9 ESV
You may recall that this text has come up several times so far. That’s because it’s describing a pivotal moment in human history. God divided up the nations when? At Babel. And then He immediately calls Abraham and invents out of nothing a brand new nation all His own. Why His own? Because He “fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.” All the other nations are stuck with lesser beings – the sons of God – because The Tower of Babel was basically all of mankind protesting God with a giant picket line while chanting, 🪧🪧🪧🪧🪧🪧🪧🪧🪧🪧
“We want our way! We don’t want Yahweh!”
So Yahweh says, Fine. I’ll divide you up amongst my angelic sons. They each get a portion of humans. I won’t take a portion. I’ll make a new portion of humans for myself.
Humanity had already worshipped the sons of God from Genesis 6. They also worshiped their offspring, the Nephilim. That’s what led to the Flood. And now, right after the Flood, here they go again.
I encourage you to open and read all of Deuteronomy 32. It’s both the history and future of the children of Israel. Verses 9-14 describe how Yahweh built up this whole nation from one little family. Then verses 15-21 describe how they slid into idolatry, while verses 22-43 describe (prophetically!) what Yahweh will do to His wayward people and why.
At the time of Jeremiah, this prophecy, written centuries before by Moses, is being fulfilled!
But what I want to notice is this:
“They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were not God, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded.
They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.”
Deuteronomy 32:16-17, 21 ESV
In the physical realm there are idols. Blocks of lifeless, powerless, wood, stone, or metal. They are not gods. They aren’t sentient.
But in the spirit realm there are demons. The Hebrew here is shadim [shay-deem]. Shades. Shadows. Disembodied spirits.
An idol gives a shade physical locality in the material world; an interface. It’s like how windows and icons and a mouse curser give the 1s and 0s of computer coding (which is immaterial) an interface so non-coders can use it.
We see in the NT demons seeking to inhabit people or even a herd of 2000 pigs. They seek locality; embodiment in the physical world.
That’s why there is this dual aspect to an idol. Is it a harmless block of wood or stone? Yes. Should we be afraid of it? No. But is it the same as a stuffed animal or coffee table? No. It can be harmful because of its connection to the demonic realm so we shouldn’t have them sitting around as decor.
Paul spills quite a bit of ink explaining this to the believers in Corinth (where there was a LOT of idolatry). The immediate context for this is 1 Corinthians chapters 8-10, which I would encourage you to read in entirety. But here are these two different aspects: physical and spiritual as Paul explains them. The first quote addresses the physical idol. The second addresses its spiritual connection:
“Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “Lords”— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”
1 Corinthians 8:4-6 ESV
Paul is not denying the existence of other spiritual beings. You only need to read his other epistles where he writes about the principalities and cosmic powers that war against us. The quote above is acknowledging that the physical idol is just a dead lump of stone or wood. It is not sentient. It is not alive. We do not regard it as God.
But after explaining how we should be careful with our liberty in Christ to not cause a brother to stumble, (along with a whole side-discussion on rights and liberty in chapter 9), Paul picks back up with the debate about food offered to idols.
The idol is just a block of wood, so why is there a problem eating meat that was offered to it? Why is this even an issue? It’s like saying the Tooth Fairy will be upset if I don’t put my tooth under my pillow. The Tooth Fairy doesn’t exist. She neither knows nor cares about my teeth or what I do with them. And many people stop here. But Paul does not.
“What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons.”
1 Corinthians 10:19-21 ESV
And THAT’s the problem. There are very real demonic entities on the other side of this dead chunk of wood receiving the worship and connecting to the worshiper. THEY are the problem and always have been.
And so Paul tells them to avoid any participation with demonic activity.
Paul goes on in 1 Cor. 10:23-33 to give some very practical advice on how to handle this thorny problem. And it’s advice Christians can apply to other thorny issues today.
So what is the fate of these idols?
The answer in Jeremiah again hints at their dual nature:
“Every man is stupid and without knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his images are false, and there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.”
Jeremiah 10:14-15 ESV
- They are a false, lifeless delusion.
- They have an appointed time of punishment.
How can you “punish” a lifeless, non-sentient lump of stone? Does it know it’s getting punished? How can a stone “perish”?
🤔 I suppose you could smash it into gravel.
Yes. And perhaps that’s what is meant here. But this isn’t the only text that refers to a set time of punishment for the inhabitants of the spiritual realm:
“So it will happen on that day, That the Lord will punish the rebellious angels of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on earth.” Isaiah 24:21 NASB2020
“And angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling place, these He has kept in eternal restraints under darkness for the judgment of the great day,” Jude 1:6 NASB2020
“For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, held for judgment…” 2 Peter 2:4 NASB2020
In my view, it is important to keep these seemingly opposing facts about idols in balance. Physically they are nothing but lifeless matter. But spiritually, they are demonic interfaces. I don’t think this is an either/or argument. I think it’s a both/and situation.
But it kinda reminds me of this scene with Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof…
🧔🏻 “Idols are nothing. They aren’t real.”
👨🏻🌾 “He is right. As the Good Book says, ‘If you stump your toe on an idol, you do the Devil no harm.’
🧔🏽♂️ “I don’t think the Good Book says that.”
☝🏼👴🏼 “An idol is fellowship with a demon!”
👨🏻🌾 “You know… he is right.”
🧔🏽♂️ “He is right. And he is right. They can’t both be right.”
👨🏻🌾 “You are also right.”
I’d say that if Rabbi Paul jumped into this discussion, He would say
👳🏽♂️ “Only Yahweh is right.”
To The Reader 