Those who Bow to them Become Like Them

Intro

**Pray, and do these illustrations first**

Gen Illustration

Darwin -> Nazis

In 1859, Charles Darwin published the origin of the Species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle of life, a book which which, for the first time in human history, attempted to a put a scientific veneer on a long held superstition, namely, the idea that mankind originated from and evolved from the animal kingdom over a long period of time, moving gradually from a less complex state to a more complex and intelligent state. Darwin’s theory included the thought that through the natural selection of the environment, weaker organisms die off, and the stronger organisms survive. Over the course of time, the preservation of the strongest, passing on their genes to their offspring, results in more complex and higher evolved forms of life.

Again, Darwin was not the first to propose that man evolved from animals, but his book was unique in its impact on the European mind. His ideas spread. They met large resistance initially from Christians, but convinced many in academic circles, and still do to this day.

Of course, this story is in complete conflict with the Christian worldview. Those who hold to atheistic human evolution attribute to the creation, nature and time, the diverse and creative capabilities of God almighty. This is a form of idolatry.

As Darwin ideas spread throughout Europe, they had an impact on a young lad named Adolf. When Adolf was in prison for attempting to overthrough the governement, he wrote a book called Mine Kamf.

In his chapter on nation and race, the influence of Charles Darwins ideas on him are apparent, he wrote:

In the struggle for daily bread all those who are weak and sickly or less determined succumb, while the struggle of the males for the female grants the right or opportunity to propagate only to the healthiest. And struggle is always a means for improving a species’ health and power of resistance and, therefore, a cause of its higher evolution.

Hitler was a convert of Darwinism. Evolution coupled with the ideas (along with the ideas of philosopher Fredrick Nietzsche) fueled his evil plan to achieve a total domination of Europe and eventually the world.

When Darwins ideas were believed, internalized, and acted, the the continent became a Darwinian hellscape. The Germans took Darwin theory and put flesh and bones on it, carrying out the systematic extermination of millions of people who were considered by them to be unfavored races, and holding back evolution.

They worshipped this idea first, and then they became like the thing they worshipped.

Specific Illustration

There’s a line of thought, which one will encounter on the streets, which goes as follows.

-That the Christian needs to be winsome. The Christian, in his evangelism needs to do everything he can to not give offense. He needs to only stick strictly to “Gospel” issues.

-It’s sometimes called be “the Gospel-centered movement”.

-The Gospel is narrowly defined only as penal substitutionary atonement, and the Christian is to only stand or fall on that doctrine, and not focus on any other societal issue, which may unnecessarily turn people away from the church.

-Hence the Gospel then doesn’t have much to say, at least publically, on things like abortion, tax policy, public education, gender roles, same sex mirage, or any other minor issue of societal righteousness, these things aren’t gospel issues! The Christian should not talk about these things, because he may and ruin his witness and his testimony.

Jesus doesn’t want us to get caught up in politics, worrying about civic governments, his kingdom is not of this world, there’s another way, a third way, a Gospel way.

-It’s assumed and accepted in this thinking that we just live a pluralistic society, a neutral society, Christians need to be ok with simply being another voice at the table. The unbeliever doesn’t believe that this is God’s world, and therefore we shouldn’t act like it is.

-The public square is open to all, to every god. Pluralism and neutrality are the greatest and highest societal values.

-Therefore you have "Christian” leaders like Russel Moore say things like “drag queen story hour is simply a benefit of liberty”

-a “Christian” congressmen says that Christians need to be ok with raising a statue of Satan in the state capital, and criticized the Christian who boldly destroyed it.

-Professing believers who say that if we can’t have the sodomy parade downtown, we also can’t have the Christmas parade. We have to be equal to all, we must be far to all. It wouldn’t be fair to the unbeliever.

-In prioritizing not offending the unbeliever, this movement makes an idol out of the opinions of unbelievers, seeking to be reasonable to an unreasonable people.

- the Christians “cultural witness” is not primarily governed by what the Lord has said, but what the unbeliever will or will not find offensive.

They bow down to the opinion of the world.

They bow down to the opinions of the world,

And they become like the world.

-Lets read, Isaiah 44:9-26

Purpose:

Today we’re going to be more deeply understanding idolatry, what it looks like and what are its unique consequences.

-We’ll then see God’s call to His children call to remember their deliverance from Idolatry,

-And we’ll see again another self-declaration of Yahweh’s difference from any and all false God.

PNP:

Under three headers we’ll see these things: God exposes the folly of idolatry, He exhorts His children to remember their redemption, and God establishes His will and His world.

To Review

we’ve been going through Isaiah, 40-66

-This is one long excuses, one continual prophecy, some of the most principle points we’ve spoke of so far are these:

-Israel is to be comforted, her punishment is done.

The Lord is coming, prepare the way.

-The Lords Arm is going to rule for Him.

-God’s is absolutely sovereignty over all creation, both in creating the world and in it’s constant governance:

-He establishes and deposes ruler.

-None are His equal.

-He renews the strength of His people

-The Lord call the ends from the beginnings, perfectly every time.

-He is raising up a conquering ruler who will sweep over the nations as a demonstration of this power.

-Those who chose Idols are abominations to God.

-He called forth Israel, His chosen servant, the seed of Abraham, to be His elect people for His glory, and as a vehicle for the conversion of the world.

-Though they are worms. They will thresh mountains. God is with them.

-Israel as a civic nation under the law became full of idolators,

-Therefore, God is going to purge and sanctify His nation.

-He will destroy the civic state, but He will not cast His people,

-The true Israel of God, the Israel within Israel, Jews who were Jews inwardly, the true seed of Abraham, will be preserved forever.

-They will be preserved through the fire and sea, and be secured and perpetuated by the grafting in of believing Gentiles, their brothers and sisters from far off nations.

-This Servant of Yahweh, who is spoken of repeatedly, is a corporate entity, with a Head and a body, in a similar, if not identical conception to Christ and the church as His body.

-Sometimes the Head is spoken of, sometimes just the body, sometimes both.

-The mission of the Servant is the conversion of and salvation of the world.

-He will successfully lead justice to victory and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.

-The Servant is given as a covenant for the world. This is the work of the Head, the Christ, the King of Israel.

-The work of Yahweh in saving His people will result in the total renovation of the creation.

-Yahweh is zealous for this purpose, as a mighty warrior.

-We will eventually see the Head save the body by His dying as a propitiatory sacrifice.

-We saw again that Idolaters will be put to shame.

-The Lord gives sight to the blind!

-He disciplines His blind servant, His nation which is full of foreign influences.

In 43

-The Lord reminds Israel that they are His, He purchased them, redeemed them from bondage, in exchange for other people.

-He will gather His children from the east and the the west,

-He will bring out His people who are blind, and given them sight.

-They are called by His name and created for His glory.

-He will assemble together all of the nations, and out of them constitute His nation, Israel.

-Their purpose is to be His witnesses.

-Yahweh made them so they will know and understand that YAHWEH IS HE.

-Before Him there was no god formed and there will be none after Him,

-He is the I AM, the HE IS and there is no Savior beside Him.

-He does what He purposes and no one can stop it!

We saw as well

He will destroy the enemies of God’s people, crushing the Babylonians, and the Babylonians are a representatives of all the enemies of God’s people forever.

-Yet despite this the nation has not called on Him.

-They’ve made Him weary with their sin.

-Nevertheless, Yahweh wipes out the transgressions of His people

In 44

-The Lord again speaks comfort to his people,

-HE will pour out His Spirit on the seed of Israel.

-They will spring up as a multitude.

-He again declares, that He is the first, and He is the last,

there is none beside Him.

No one. He is utterly unique.

That brings us to where we are today. In 44:9

PNP:

We’ll look at these three big ideas: God exposes the folly of idolatry, He exhorts His children to remember their redemption from it, and that the true God establishes His will and His world.

God Exposes the Folly of Idolatry (9-11)

To begin we will let the law define idolatry.

Exodus 20:3–6 LSB

3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

-Idolatry is to worship, or serve in an ultimate or improper sense, anything other than the one true God.

-It is also to fail to worship the one true God in the way He desires.

-Yahweh is to be at the center of your heart, your life, your mind, your strength. This is not just about statues, this is about your life, and your strength. It’s about what you value, and hold dear. It’s about why you do what you do.

-Our passage mocks those who build statues of men; a particularly egregious and demonstrable and obvious form of idolatry,

-but idolatry is about the heart. It’s about what a person values most.

In Ezek, the wicked rulers of Israel come to Ezekiel, the prophet of God, to inquire of Yahweh, and this is what He says:

Ezekiel 14:1–3 LSB

1 Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me. 2 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be inquired by them at all?

-Idolatry is to have any other gods before the face or presenence of the one true God.

-Every piece of everything in your life is in total subjection to the one true God.

The Stupidity

-Idolatry is stupid. And it comes with a curse.

-We have some glorious holy mockery and sarcasm to delight in today.

-His methods may not be very winsome to the idolater, but they are effective to anyone who will give ear to it.

(9) The whole illustration is summed in this verse. Idolatry is stupid, it blinds those who partake, and they will be put to absolute shame.

-Remember God’s witnesses are made to know and to believe the truth. The witnesses of idols here fail to see. It’s an oxymoron, a blind witness.

-false gods put to shame, those who worship and serve them will be humiliated. Those who worship blind idols, they become blind. Those who participate in shameful deeds, they themselves will be put to shame openly.

Those who bow to them become like them. You become like what you worship.

(10) Rhetorical question: “I will describe him to you.”

(11) all those who partake in this work of making idols will be put to shame. Let them all be gathered up and put to shame together.

-The idol and the idolater together will be put to shame.

(12) It takes him a ton of effort. He spends his strength. He is growing very weary.

Habakkuk 2:13 LSB

13 “Is it not, behold, from Yahweh of hosts That peoples toil for fire, And nations grow weary for nothing?

-The Lord curses those who worship false gods to toil building sandcastles on seashores. They toil for vanity and chase after the wind.

(13) Another crafts, see that it’s a group effort.

-Hereupon is a principle issue of the matter: man is the at the heart of idolatry. People build statues, worship cows and imaginary fish gods; half breeds and chimeras, bigfoots, vishnus and krishnas, lilleths. But it is MAN who stands at the center of all idolatry.

-all forms of idolatry are a result of man worshipping himself;

-his refusal of the true God is an act of worship toward himself as his own divine lawgiver.

-he uses himself as the measure and standard of all things. Man gives himself his own identity, action and purpose. Man defines himself first, and the truth by himself, and then gives whatever form of recognition he will give to God.

-Man then fashions a god after his own IMAGination. Men imagining that God is like man, that God is a man, or man self deceiving and imagining that there is no God. Whatever the form is, at the center of it is, man is there ignoring the truth revealed by God, and doing whatever is right in his own eyes.

Read 13 again

But God is not like man.

Numbers 23:19 LSB

19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not establish it?

-Man is a worshiping creature, so no matter what, he will find something to put at the center of his life, to be his life and the length of his days.

-Whatever that this is, if it is not the eternal, Triune God, Father Son and Spirit, it is an idol.

(14) see here the prolonged effort of idolatry.

-this is not a momentary lapse of reason, this effort takes the time it takes tree’s to grow. He plants his trees, his field of labor, and land is dedicated to this task.

(15) the man takes half, and he makes a fire and cooks a meal, keeps himself warm. And the other half, he makes into an image and falls down and worships it.

-when you put it like that, yea it sounds really stupid.

-It’s dumb! That’s what God is saying here, He is laying this out to mock it and make fun of it, to put it to shame.

People who serve and worship the creation rather than the creator.

(16-17)

The Penalty

(18)

-smeared: טַ֤ח - to plaster, to coat, to daub - like when a builder plasters a wall, and smears a substance upon it. Some of you manly men know what it is to plaster a wall, or patch a hole. God smears the eyes of the idolater, that they will not see.

-Notice here who is the agent of the smearing. God rightfully, and justly, blinds the sinner unto this foolishness.

(19) They are blinded and cannot see the foolishness of what they are doing.

(20) because of this, he feeds on ashes. His food is like dirt and dust in his mouth.

-The idolater rejects the good food; he wants it his own way; he gets it his own way.

-he wants to eat dirt, he gets to eat dirt;

-he want to reject the feast of the Lord, they he will feed on maggots and dust;

-People want to worship man? Then they will be ruled by wicked men! They want to reject the God of freedom? Then they will have the tyranny of the wicked.

-You can have it your own way and eat moldy bread and dust and sleep in a ditch.

-A woman once approached me on the street very late at night, and with desperation in her voice, offered to wash my car with paper towels and some blue substance. I didn’t want a cash wash; she was insistent, she was probably hungry, or needing money for shelter. She didn’t want to just beg, so she was trying to offer services, which I did not need.

-I questioned this woman a bit, and she confessed that she was homeless. So I offered to take her to a shelter, probably Durham or Raleigh rescue mission. They will feed you, and clothe you for free, All you have to do is work at their store, very normal and reasonable work hours. That’s at least what they ask of the men. I’d venture they ask something similar for women.

-She said with disgust and terror that she will not take part in a j.o.b., she abbreviated it, and couldn’t bring herself to say it. She wasn’t going to work for the man. She was going to make it her own way, she was going to be a free woman.

-Instead of the slavery of living in a warm house and being fed, and being equipped with education and resources, she was going to be free! Free to offer her services to people on the street in desperation in the middle of the night, with no where to sleep, and nothing to eat.

-Because she didn’t want to work, she had to work doubly hard!

-Not to put this poor women down, but it illustrates this:

-Those who don’t want to serve and worship God injure themselves. They reject the good portion, and feed on ashes!

-God blinds people in judgement. He takes the blind and gives them sight in grace, and He takes those who have some sight, and makes them blind in judgment.

-He does so to pagans who reject the light of God in revelation.

Romans 1:28 LSB

28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper,

-He also gives over to blindness even those in His covenant people.

Psalm 81:11–12 LSB

11 “But My people did not listen to My voice, And Israel was not willing to obey Me. 12 “So I released them over to the stubbornness of their heart, That they would walk in their own devices.

-When God comissions Isaiah to preach to Israel, He says:

Isaiah 6:9–11 LSB

9 He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not know.’ 10 “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Lest they see with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.” 11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He said, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, Houses are without people, And the land is devastated to desolation,

-The sovereignty of God is on display here. He gives sight to those whom He mercies, and those whom He wills He blinds.

Jesus said after He healed the eyes of the man born blind.

John 9:39 LSB

39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”

-Those whom He chose, He gives sight, and those whom He judges, He judges righteously, for they are guilty because of their sin.

This a fearful thing, I exhort you not to play footsie with idolatry, tempting God to give you over.

-Be open to other Christians, and hear humbly what they say as other may be able to see blind spots which you cannot.

-And also, if you’re conscience is oversensitive, they can help you understand where you may NOT be sinning, where you may think you are.

-It’s to have someone to say Someone to say, hey buddy, it’s fine to have art on your wall, to have money in the bank, to eat steak, to celebrate Christmas and to eat that steak, to drink that kumbucha, even though it has that little pagan eye thing on it.

-It’s actually good to enjoy creation, to admire men as the creation of God. Let us all be open to the correction and encouragement of one another.

So, God gives idolators over to stupidity:

Because those who bow to them become like them:

Now at this point in the sermon, I’ve taken it upon myself to list out a few of the big idols of the land that I see, which we all ought to guard against.

Idols of the land

Evolution: The believe that man is an evolved animal

Jeremiah 2:26–27 LSB

26 “As the thief is shamed when he is found, So the house of Israel is shamed; They, their kings, their princes, And their priests and their prophets, 27 Who say to a tree, ‘You are my father,’ And to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their back to Me And not their face; But in the time when their evil comes they will say, ‘Arise and save us.’

Evolution:

This is the belief that man was created by the creation, not by the creator. It attributes the creative power of God almighty to dirt and lightning, time and dead matter.

This is an act of worship toward the creation.y.

It maintains that, in chaotic random unguided universe (leaving aside the question of how the matter got there in the first place) the dead became alive, the “simple” life form became complex and diversified, the unconscious became conscious, the nonmoral became moral.

Those who live out consistently the ethic of Darwinian evolution, end up with social dariwnism, eugentics, and the Nazi genocides. That fruit comes from that tree.

That’s not speculation, that’s an honest look at the historical record.

Because, those who bow to them become like them.

Fame, desiring to be regarded highly and broadly of men

-Someone who’s value and status doesn’t come from God, but from men.

-This person is driven by the desire to be liked as much as possible by as many people as possible.

-They will be driven constantly to do and say things that get them into the center of attention.

-This act of worship leads turns men into husks; men into herd animals.

-This person has no regard for true and eternal values; their values are constantly changing, clout-chasing chasing the zeitgeist. What is good, is what everyone says is good. And what is evil is what is outside of the in crowd.

-Their god is the crowd.

-This is why Hollywood and LA are known as very vapid towns; everyone is trying to be famous, hold the right opinions, be in the in-crowd.

-This is why people post the absolute cringist and horrifying things on social media; clout chasing an algorithm for a large following so people will think they are important.

-Worshiping the crowd, they become herd animals,

-From men to husks, empty of all consistent standards, following the flowing herd.

The idol of the crowd.

And those who bow to them become like them.

Statism

-Doug Wilson once said that you can tell what a people worships by looking at what they cry out for in the time of their distress.

-To the statist, Every societal problem, every time issue, to whom do people? Daddy Washington.

-At all times and in all places, people cry to the the state to help them put their food on their spoon and feed it to them.

-Who should provide healthcare? The government. Education, the government should do it. Art and broadcasting? Governement. Protecting the environment? Self-defense, the governement should do it. Just tell me what to think, and where to put my boosters!

-Should we gather together and worship the living and true God? Well what does the government say?

-To statist, there is no God above the state. We simply cannot have laws which recognized a transcendent Creator.

-The government will tell us what’s right and wrong. We can’t judge our laws by His laws! We can’t allow the government to enforce true and accurate and eternal morality. (as if there was such a thing)

-The government being God’s deacon? What are talking about?

-Just tell me where to stick my boosters.

-The government knows best, he will teach your children. he will take care of the orphans and widows, he will provide for the families, he will raise your children and write their curriculum.

-Our Christian refuge shelter and asylum would share the gospel, but we’re funded by the government, so we’re not allowed.

-After all, we don’t live in theocracy.

-The statist, to the day and beyond when he is arrested without charges and sent into the gulag for a quarter of a century, he will ever be trusting and believing, in the state her programs.

-Rejecting the law of liberty, they become oppressed, doubly taxed, milked for all their labor and taken from their property. The men are cuckolded from their roles as providers.

-Wanting not to be ruled not by the God-man, they are ruled by godless men.

-Seeking to have autonomy from God law, they are given over to by tyrannized by the darkened mind the beast.

-God gives them over;

Because those who bow to them become like them.

Women

This one may sound strange to some of you. Many in our culture, and in the church worship women.

-The narrative is that women have been long oppressed by men, forced and subjected to be homemakers and mothers who raise happy children and cook good food.

-They have been held back by the patriarchy, not being allowed to do all the things men can do.

-until about 50 years ago when people became enlightened and realized that women ought to be free.

-Free to kill their babies so they have time to do spin-class and hot yoga after work.

-The future is female, women should be become the CEO's of all our companies.

-They should make up the entirety of the presidential cabinet, fight in the army,

-just to become feminist-bosses who star in action movies, and beat up evil white men.

For exibit A, I point to the modern cinema. Starwars and marvel movies, Dr. Who, Snow white, the Lord of the Rings, and many more

over time all these franchises have transitioned in near unanimous entirely to the narrative of the strong-female lead and her liberation from the oppression and prejudice of her surroundings.

You see, Captain marvel, was amazing all along, she just had to realize that it was patriarchy holder her back. She had to be free.

May it never be, that a man, mansplains to a women (mainsplain to the women) that she ought to dress modestly,

-Not wearing spray painted pants.

-Not post semi-naked pictures of yourself on Instagram.

-Maybe hey, your emotions, aren’t a firm foundation for determining right or wrong in a given scenario.

-God forbid someone point out that women actually, are capable of sinning too, and also need forgiveness just like we wretched men. And that the normative calling of women as a mother and home keeper is actually glorious, without which the human species will actually die off.

-But we have a culture of weak men, who bow down to women.

-What has happened over time is that men show their absolute love and subservience and obsequiousness to women, how much they value women, they have decided in an act of selfless love, to simply to become women!

They can transition and become the women of the year, win beauty pageants, proclaim their transitions to girlhood and document.

So women can fight in the wars while men make makeup tutorials.

And in the church, men simply don’t need to preach, or provide, or lead, or disciple, or rebuke, or lead worship, because the women will do it for them! So men can sit back and enjoy some emotional and effeminate “worship”

Groveling toward women, they became women.

Because those who bow to them, become like them.

Sexual Pleasure

The belief that man is an evolved animal is connected to another belief that man’s highest and chief end of man is sexual pleasure. This very common thinking in our day.

At the gay pride parade, we saw many signs that say “love is love”,

what that setence means in reality is that one should be able to have sexual relations with who or whatever they want.

To God, love is defined by Christ laying down His life for His friends. No greater love exists than self-sacrifice. These are not the same things.

To the idolator, love is using others to gratify lusts.

This community, gathers, works, labors, raises money, pours out their lives on the alter of worshipping unatural sexual relations. It is the whole principle, the god of their community.

That worships sexual pleasure as mans highest and chiefest end. Their alter to which they return again and again is their own belly, their own desires, and there is no end to the depth of it.

What is the result of it. There is a terrible poetry in it.

Homosexual to lesbianism to transgenderism

People are “transitioning” more and more, and transitioning their children at earlier and earlier ages.

Surgeries, which permanently castrate and seterilize themselves, and their children. Unatural Hormone injecections which completely destroy their bodies!

By rejecting God’s design and spiraling further and further into unnaturalness, the result are men and women, and their children, who can’t have sex at all.

They wanted freedom from God’s covenant of marriage, they got their many many partners,

Freedom from natural relations, they became homesexuals,

From the order of gender and their very own bodies, they mutilated themselves.

They wanted freedom from reproduction so they became sterile,

They wanted to chase their pleasure, so they lost all capacity to feel anything, them and whatever children they have or have trafficked from the foster care system.

They worshipped unatural sex and hated God, but sex itself was created by Him and is His natural gift in the created order, and so they have no sex all living a sterile and dying childless.

Because those who bow to them become like them.

Money

This one’s a classic.

-People spend their lives building up worldy wealth, they die and give it to another.

-The love of money is the root of all evils, so the Apostle says. People want money because they believe through it they can get whatever they want. It’s a vehicle for their lusts.

-People who bow to money, end up simply becoming slaves to the world. They live and have their riches in this life, ignoring the true riches of the kingdom of heaven. They store up treasures where moth and rust destroy, where theives break in and steal.

Because their treasure is on earth, so is their heart.

They are controlable, they are totally enslaved, and they have their good things.

Mark 4:18–19 LSB

18 “And others are those being sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Seeing to become rich they become poor, worshipping the creation rather than the creator.

Seeking worldly wealth, and not eternal riches, they become wordly people, and forsoke eternal life.

Because those who bow to them become like them.

They trust in riches to give them what they should trust God for.

And they trust in dead matter, the things of the creation, they become dead matter. They become blind and dumb like the paper or precious metals they worship, and they trade the freedom of simple trust in God’s provision to the slavery of seeking that which can never satisfy.

Man/the worship of oneself

In all these things, man in one way or another makes himself the ultimate standard of all things,

Man trades the incorruptible nature of God for an image made like corruptible man. And with every trade, there is an appropriate judgment.

It all flattens out though, no idolater will inherit the kingdom of heaven.

1 John 2:15–17 LSB

15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.

Those who worship the world will pass away with the world.

Because those who bow to them become like them.

Which Idols are you playing footsie with?

This list is not exhaustive,

-anything can become an idol.

-Most of the things on this list are good and wonderful when used correctly in obedience to God.

-Back to the main idea of the law, root out wicked idols, and remember that your first and foremost duty in life is to love the Lord with everything you have and everything you are are.

-all of these things that people worship, in the creation, is understood in it’s proper place by what God has said.

God Extorts His Children to Remember their Redemption

Redeemed From (idolatry) (21)

-Here we have another call to remember! (like in 43:26)

-Remember these things O Jacob folly from which you were redeemed.

-God’s chosen people, whom He formed for His glory. You covenanted people of God.

-Remember, that we have all been redeemed from idolatry.

-Those of us who come to the table, we are free from the condemnation of our former idolatry.

-God judicially and righteously blinds idolators, but God in His grace, formed from Abraham His people, and redeems them, so that they will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth

-By His salvation of His people He will establish the land, He creates a new people. Renewed people.

-Some of you are lifelong Christians born in a Christian household and raise Christian from birth. Praise God, remember from what your fathers were redeemed from.

-Remember that you were blessed by God saving your pagan fathers and bringing them into the light. You’re just as much a new creation as any other.

-The Christian has been delivered from idolatry, from it’s consequences in our justification, and it’s power over us in our sanctification.

So let us walk in step with that. God delivered his people. Let us put away all false gods.

God gives sight to the blind. He protects His children. He even heals them from the wicked effects of sin, in part in this life, and in full at the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Redeemed For (His Glory) (22-23)

(22) this is similar to the phrase from 43:25-26, that He wipes out the sin for His own sake.

The immediate purpose of God’s salvation of His people, turning idolators into true worshippers, is for Him to be glorified to all the creation.

He calls Abrahams seed out from the nations, makes them into a nation, His Servant to be His witnesses, to know and understand that He is, and there is no one besides Him.

Herein we knock down one more idol, man-centerd theology.

-The grand narrative oft he world is not man’s salvation, but God’s glory. Man’s salvation serves God’s glory wonderfully. But this is all about Him.

(23)-You see the trees of the field, and all the creation singing and rejoicing. The world awaits the final redemption of the sons of God, the resurrection in new bodies. And God commands all of creation to rejoice and have joy in the salvation of Israel, His elect, His church.

Finally:

God establishes His Will and His Word

Herein we have another self declaration of Yahweh about Himself, what He is like and what He does.

Let’s remember again what He has already said:

Isaiah 41:4 LSB

4 “Who has worked and done it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? ‘I, Yahweh, am the first; and with the last, I am He.’”

Isaiah 43:10–13 LSB

10 “You are My witnesses,” declares Yahweh, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no god formed, And there will be none after Me. 11 “I, even I, am Yahweh, And there is no savior besides Me. 12 “It is I who have declared and saved and caused it to be heard, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares Yahweh, “And I am God. 13 “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

Glorious:

Here you see that Yahweh is the Savior, and Christ is the Savior, very trinitarian verse. The fullness of God in Christ Jesus.

You see the eternality of Yahweh. From eternity, from forever, as long as there was, He is.

Isaiah 44:6–8 LSB

6 “Thus says Yahweh, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts: ‘I am the first, and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me. 7 ‘Who is like Me? Let him call out and declare it; And let him tell it to Me in order, From the time that I established the ancient people. And let them declare to them the things that are to come And the events that are going to take place. 8 ‘Do not be in dread and do not be afraid; Have I not long since caused it to be heard to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.’”

Let’s look what gauntlet’s the Lord is throwing down here in this one:

His Creation (24)

-He made all things. Nothing has ever existed except that which God created. He created all things. alone, by Himself. Stretching out the heavens by Himself, He was the one who did the creating

-No one else participated in the creation act, except God alone. He did it all alone.

-Similar to the testimony of Yahweh as the Savior, Again, Jesus Christ is spoken explicitly in the NT as the creator of all things as well.

Hebrews quotes this Psalm that it is speaking of the Son:

Hebrews 1:10–12 LSB

10 And, “You, Lord, in the beginning founded the earth, And the heavens are the works of Your hands; 11 They will perish, but You remain; And they all will wear out like a garment, 12 And like a mantle You will roll them up; Like a garment they will also be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not come to an end.”

In Collisions, without a full breakdown down the passage, Christ is said to be before all things, to have absolute preeminence, and that He created all things:

Colossians 1:16 LSB

16 For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.

-It’s because the full of God dwells bodily in Christ. The Father and the Son and the Spirit are one being, in distinct persons.

-So just as Yahweh is the one Savior, and yet Christ is the Savior, so also is Yahweh the only creator, and yet Christ is the creator.

His Consternation (25)

God makes fools out of the wisdom of the world. People who divine, who try to manipulate the natural world, whether it be by runes, or tarot cards, or ouija boards, or sayonces, or interpreting omens, or their horiscope, or by checking the livers of chickens, Yahweh frustrates it.

-False teachers, false spirits, false prophets cannot predict the future. Satan can counterfit a bit, as we see with the demoniac girl in acts, but He cannot come close to doing what God can do.

God’s prophets, these prophets, with first hand inspiration directed by the Holy Spirit for the giving of revelation are accurate all the time, 100% of the time.

If a prophet so called missed the mark one time, God commands His people to put that prophet to death, to separate from that prophet and not to fear that prophet.

-God confounds the counsel of the idolaters, the demoniac, He confounds them. He puts them to shame, so that people will know who is of the truth and who is of the lie.

-God puts them to shame in their predictions of the future, in their plans, and even in their so called knowledge. -He frustrates the so-called wise of this age, putting to shame the godless philosophies.

1 Corinthians 1:18–21 LSB

18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.” 20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased, through the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe.

His Confirmation (26)

Lastly His confirmation.

True Prophets

The true God establishes the word of His Servant, His Christ, and His prophets. His messengers speak infallibly.

What word is He establishing with His prophets here?

That

Jerusalem will be built!

-Any theologian or prophet or priest who doesn’t believe Zion will be built, who believes the church will fail, is false. Their eyes are not open. Jerusalem will be built, Zion will be built, the eternal city of God, not the busted city of the flesh, but the eternal city of God. The church, the assembly of God.

God actually came to establish Zion, He will make her a praise in the earth. Not someday, this is what God is doing today. He is building His church, His people. He didn’t give us these instructions to wait around.

-Oh maybe some other time, but we can’t build Zion now,

-Zion will be built! whether or not you participate. But I urge you to participate.

-We have no lasting city here, the Jerusalem above is free, she is our mother. Her foundation is laid, and she is being built today. Come into her gates and commune with her God and her children.

Conclusion

In conclusion, today We’ve seen the folly of idoatry, it’s stupidity and it’s punishements.

We looked in detail at some particular form of idolatry present in the land, that we may guard against them.

-We saw that God redeems His people out of Idolatry, and He calls His people to look back on this redemption and glorify God.

-And we saw that God establishes His will and His world. He made all things, He frustrates the counsel of the wicked, and establishes the word of His servants.

Today is the day to forsake idols, to reject false prophets, to repent and come to Christ, Yahweh in the flesh, as He is God’s covenent with the world, and there is no salvation apart from Him.

As you’re supposed to end a sermon with a poem, I’ll close with Psalm 115

Psalm 115 LSB

1 Not to us, O Yahweh, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth. 2 Why should the nations say, “Where, now, is their God?” 3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they do not speak; They have eyes, but they do not see; 6 They have ears, but they do not hear; They have noses, but they do not smell; 7 As for their hands, they do not feel; As for their feet, they do not walk; They do not make a sound with their throat. 8 Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them. 9 O Israel, trust in Yahweh; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in Yahweh; He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear Yahweh, trust in Yahweh; He is their help and their shield. 12 Yahweh remembered us; He will bless! He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. 13 He will bless those who fear Yahweh, The small together with the great. 14 May Yahweh give you increase, You and your children. 15 May you be blessed of Yahweh, Who made heaven and earth. 16 The heavens are the heavens of Yahweh, But the earth He has given to the sons of men. 17 It is not the dead that praise Yah, And it is none of those who go down to silence; 18 But as for us, we will bless Yah From now until forever. Praise Yah!