Introduction: We as human beings often think in pictures. When we think of words we will often have an animal’s name which represents a word. A few examples are – kingly – lion; strong – ox; cunning – fox; deceiving – a snake; proud – peacock. Here God says ‘How would you represent me?’ The common answer in ages gone by (and some still do it today) was to make an idol. Here God says, laughing at them, ‘What sort of idol would you make? Are you rich enough to cover it with gold and silver? If you are not rich enough for that at least chose a hard wood, so that it doesn’t rot and fall to pieces with wood rot or white ants! At any rate it is stationary and useless! Get the best man that you can to make it as nice as possible! It useless at any rate!’
18 To whom then will you liken God,
or what likeness compare with him?
19 An idol! A craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and casts for it silver chains.
20 He who is too impoverished for an offering
chooses wood that will not rot;
he seeks out a skilful craftsman
to set up an idol that will not move.
21 Do you not know? Do you not hear?
Has it not been told you from the beginning? – It’s as if God asks, ‘Surely you must know, you must have heard and at least have a glimmer of understanding of what I’m like!’ (Romans 1: 19-20 reads ‘For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world.’ God talks about the complexity of the Universe; The frailty of human leaders and the brevity of life before telling them (us) to look to the heavens and understand! He says, ‘Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?.’
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
23 who brings princes to nothing,
and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,
when he blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble.
25 To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name;
by the greatness of his might
and because he is strong in power,
not one is missing.
Isaiah 44:15-17 – He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. 16 Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” 17 And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
Prayer: Thank You that I don’t have to guess what You are like because of Your Library of letters to us, Your Creation of all things, and sending Your Son as a human whose character showed Yours!