Isaiah 44
Especially as I journey through the Bible, I am finding more and more “all-time favorite” chapters, but this one certainly ranks right up there. The undercurrent of sarcasm (and sadness) is strong. In this chapter, God is decrying the fact that among the nation of people He has chosen, there are a lot of idiots:
“[Cedar wood] is used as fuel for burning; some of it [the carpenter] takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire… From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, ‘Save me! You are my god!’ They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, ‘Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?’ Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, ‘Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?’” (vs 15-20)
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Unbelievable, isn’t it? That a person could expect to be saved by the very thing he manipulated and formed! He burned half of it in the fire, but asks the other half to save him. It’s beyond idiotic.
And yet, God says this is what happens when we refuse to acknowledge Him as sovereign. When we refuse to trust Him, to submit and surrender ourselves to Him, this is how we end up: deluded, confused, ridiculous. We don’t even have the inclination to admit the truth to ourselves—that we’re putting our “trust” in something we know is a lie.
Photo © Unsplash/Vivek Doshi
God doesn’t want you to be an idiot. He doesn’t want you to become dull in your thinking or futile in your efforts. He doesn’t want you to put your trust in anything or anyone but Him. There is no other besides Him. No other Rock, no other Savior, no other God.
Not one.