Who is Like Our God
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Have you ever heard someone give a nominating speech for a candidate that they would like to put up for a position? We are in the midst of convention season in the Georgia Baptist Convention and this also happens at the national level. It will be time to receive nominations for positions like President or vice president.
Most of the time, there are some recognizable candidates that are put forward for president. However, for the vice president, we have a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th vice president. I don’t know why and I guess it is just a massive succession plan should something go very wrong, but we have these positions.
I couldn’t even tell you what the difference in their job descriptions are. However, when candidates get put up for these positions, the way most people vote on them is based on the nomination speech.
If the nominator gave a good speach, they might make their candidate sound good enough to vote for. If you are plain or boring, you might not get voted on at all. It is all based on how well the nominating person was in presenting your name.
Well, we have here in Jeremiah 10 on display God vs. the contenders. The false gods are being weighed in the balance.
1 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2 Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them,
3 for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.
5 Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”
6 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 due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.
8 They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood!
9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple; they are all the work of skilled men.
10 But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
11 Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
12 It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
13 When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
14 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.
15 They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name.
Pray
Structure of the passage:
vv.1-2- God’s Exhortation to the People to Abandon Idolatry
vv. 3-5 - The Lengths people go to construct their idols
vv. 6-10 - The People’s Confession of Who God Is
vv.11 - A Warning to the Nations
vv. 12-16 - A Hymn of God’s Greatness
vv.17—24 - God’s Punishment on His People
vv. 25 - A Plea for Mercy and Judgment on the Wicked Nations
1. Consider the Vanity of Idols (vv. 1-5)
1. Consider the Vanity of Idols (vv. 1-5)
1 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel.
2 Thus says the Lord: “Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them,
3 for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
4 They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move.
5 Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, for they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.”
The nations looked to the stars and the constellations
They used signs and omens and had fears of the false gods
They sacrificed even their children to these idols that they had made
Illustration: Superstition of walking under the arch at UGA
God describes the idols like a scarecrow in a field.
How many of you have ever seen birds roosting on a scarecrow’s arms, oblivious to the fact that the scarecrow is supposed to scare them away?
God is saying these idols are so clearly unable to do anything
They can’t speak
They can’t walk
They can’t even do good or evil
Ex - Dagon before Yahweh in 1 Sam. 5
2. Consider the Exclusivity of God's Glory (vv. 6-16)
2. Consider the Exclusivity of God's Glory (vv. 6-16)
God’s wisdom and power
God’s due is that people would praise Him
No one is a true atheist
6 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 due; for among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you.
The idols compared to God
8 They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood!
9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz. They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith; their clothing is violet and purple; they are all the work of skilled men.
10 But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
They are stupid - cannot talk and cannot move
They are the creation of our own hands
Idols are sometimes inspired by demon worship
A warning is given to the nations in v.11
11 Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
Notice the footnote on this verse. It is in Aramaic
Aramaic is the international language of the people at this time (like English today)
The message is not for Israel alone, but for the whole world
Hebrew returns in vv. 12-16 as a hymn of God’s greatness is sung
12 It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
13 When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
14 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.
15 They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob, for he is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the Lord of hosts is his name.
Application
Why would we ever want to serve the work of our own hands rather than an almighty God?
When you consider the power and wonder of God, does it make you want to sing and praise the Lord?
3. Consider the Certainty of God's Judgment (vv. 17-22)
3. Consider the Certainty of God's Judgment (vv. 17-22)
17 Gather up your bundle from the ground, O you who dwell under siege!
18 For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress on them, that they may feel it.”
19 Woe is me because of my hurt! My wound is grievous. But I said, “Truly this is an affliction, and I must bear it.”
20 My tent is destroyed, and all my cords are broken; my children have gone from me, and they are not; there is no one to spread my tent again and to set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds are stupid and do not inquire of the Lord; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.
22 A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!— a great commotion out of the north country to make the cities of Judah a desolation, a lair of jackals.
Two parts:
The Judgment Pronounced
Woes for the City
Condemnation on the shepherds (leaders) of Israel
4. Consider the Mercies of God (vv. 23-25)
4. Consider the Mercies of God (vv. 23-25)
Jeremiah cries out for God to have mercy though He knows that God has to judge His people
23 I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
24 Correct me, O Lord, but in justice; not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
25 Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, and on the peoples that call not on your name, for they have devoured Jacob; they have devoured him and consumed him, and have laid waste his habitation.
We cannot help ourselves
We need God to intervene and have mercy on us
When we come to God in sincerity, He will receive us and cleanse us
While God may use wicked nations, He will also punish the wicked
Conclusion
As we close tonight, who have you been placing your faith in?
Have you any idols that need to be broken down?
