Worship the True Living God and Sovereign

Jeremiah 10:1-16 

1 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.

2 Thus says the LORD:
"Do not learn the way of the Gentiles;
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven,
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them.

3 For the customs of the peoples are futile;
For one cuts a tree from the forest,
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold;
They fasten it with nails and hammers
So that it will not topple.

5 They are upright, like a palm tree,
And they cannot speak;
They must be carried,
Because they cannot go by themselves.
Do not be afraid of them,
For they cannot do evil,
Nor can they do any good."

6 Inasmuch as there is none like You, O LORD
(You are great, and Your name is great in might),
7 Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?
For this is Your rightful due.
For among all the wise men of the nations,
And in all their kingdoms,
There is none like You.

8 But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish;
A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.

9 Silver is beaten into plates;
It is brought from Tarshish,
And gold from Uphaz,
The work of the craftsman
And of the hands of the metalsmith;
Blue and purple are their clothing;
They are all the work of skillful men.

10 But the LORD is the true God;
He is the living God and the everlasting King.
At His wrath the earth will tremble,
And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation.

11 Thus you shall say to them: "The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens."

12 He has made the earth by His power,
He has established the world by His wisdom,
And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.
13 When He utters His voice,
There is a multitude of waters in the heavens:
"And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
He brings the wind out of His treasuries."

14 Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge;
Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image;
For his molded image is falsehood,
And there is no breath in them.
15 They are futile, a work of errors;
In the time of their punishment they shall perish.

16 The Portion of Jacob is not like them,
For He is the Maker of all things,
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
The LORD of hosts is His name.

Why did Israel turn from worshiping the true and living God and sovereign King over them?  How could they worship idols, the works of the things made by their own hands and imaginations?  We do the same with different carved wood and forged precious metals, don’t we?  The word of the LORD was spoken then and we read it still now that we are not to be consumed in the false guidance of astrology as if the stars which God made can say more than He in His word to us.  Neither are God’s people to blindly follow the worldly customs to worship the works of our own hands.  Such idols of our attention and worship are like grasping after the wind, things without life or living substance to speak to or hear from for guidance and answers to life.  Only God gives answers and guidance though His word to us all.  Nothing we create or conjure up can do this.  Our creations can do no evil or good of themselves, nor can they move about truly on their own no matter how we make them appear to do so.  Our cry then should be as it is written here, “There is none like You, LORD!”  He alone is due all our fear and awe in worship and sole allegiance as our Sovereign.  Idols are vain and empty instructions for living because they can give no good and true answers to life for us.  This is also why God forbade fortune tellers and astrologers along with the physical idols and false images of nonexistent gods in the commandments.  God’s wrath on our sin includes all these kinds of false worship and who can stand in that day (Nahum 1:6, Malachi 3:2, Revelation 6:17)?  Unlike the false religions that claim we are all gods who made the worlds, God is the only one and He lays claim to all creation as His handiwork alone (Psalm 19:1).  He alone determines the rise and fall of the earth just like all nations and peoples, not particular countries or their leaders, nor any cult and their idolatrous teachings.  God alone has the power and wisdom to create the world and the nature we observe.  It is foolish to worship nature in place of God, for it is merely His hand sustaining us and not a disembodied or impersonal force we see watering the earth with powerful lightning and storms at His discretion (Isaiah 55:10-11).  Those who refuse to acknowledge and worship the LORD God only display ignorance as supposed wisdom and their theories and teachings will perish with them in the final judgment if they do not acknowledge and accept His work in His Son Jesus Christ (John 6:29, Luke 13:3).  The Creator of all things is Lord over His people, both those of Israel and the nations who have been called by faith into Christ.  He is our portion and our only God to worship.  We can therefore do nothing but worship the true living God and Sovereign King of all creation as the messenger Jeremiah communicated faithfully to us all here.