Jeremiah 10 Worthless Idols & Coming Judgement

Review of Jeremiah

We are still within the 3 year gap between the defeat of Pharoah Necho and Babylon taking the first exiles from Jerusalem. In today’s passage, we find a poetic declaration that bounces between the mocking of worthless idols and the Glory of the true and living God! And then without warning, Jeremiah snaps back to reality and reminds us of the judgement that is coming soon.

Read Jeremiah 10

Jeremiah 10 TLV

Hear the word that Adonai speaks to you, house of Israel, Thus says Adonai: “Do not learn the way of the nations or be frightened by signs of the heavens—though the nations are terrified by them. The customs of the peoples are useless: it is just a tree cut from the forest, the work of the hands of a craftsman with a chisel. They decorate it with silver and gold, and fasten it with hammer and nails so it won’t totter. Like a scarecrow in a cucumber garden, their idols cannot speak. They must be carried because they cannot walk! Do not fear them for they can do no harm —nor do any good.” There is none like You, Adonai! You are great and great is Your Name in power. Who should not fear You, Ruler of the nations? For it is your due! For among all the wise of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You. They are totally stupid and foolish. Discipline is useless—it’s wood! Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. The work of the craftsman and of the goldsmith’s hands is clothed in blue and purple— all the work of skillful men. But Adonai Elohim is truth. He is the living God and eternal King. At His wrath the earth quakes and the nations cannot endure His indignation. Thus you will say to them: “The gods—which did not make the heavens and the earth—will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out heaven by His understanding. When His voice thunders, waters in heaven roar. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings forth wind from His storehouses. Everyone is stupid, ignorant. Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idol! His molten image is a fraud. There is no breath in them. They are futile, a work of mockery. In the time of their punishment they will perish. Jacob’s portion is not like these. For He is the Maker of all things and Israel, the tribe of His inheritance —Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name.” Pick up your bundle from the ground, you who live under siege. For thus says Adonai: “I am about to hurl the inhabitants out of the land. At this time I will press hard on them so that they will be found out.” Oy to me because of my brokenness! My wound is incurable. Yet I said, “This is simply a sickness and I must bear it.” “My tent is destroyed and all my ropes are snapped. My children are gone from me and are no more. No one is left to stretch out my tent or set up my tent curtains. For the shepherds are stupid! They have not sought Adonai. Therefore they have not acted wisely and all their flocks are scattered.” Listen! The sound of a report is coming— a great commotion out of the land of the north— to make the cities of Judah desolate, a haunt of jackals. I know, Adonai, that a man’s way is not his own, nor does man, as he walks, direct his steps. Chasten me, Adonai, but with justice, not in Your anger, lest You reduce me to nothing. Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You and on the families that do not call on Your Name. For they have devoured Jacob, devoured and consumed him, and destroyed his homeland.

Jeremiah Uses Poetry

Some hyper critical scholars attempt to say that that this chapter was written by later authors, not Jeremiah. Part of the reason, is because of the change in style. However just because an author normally writes non-fictional works does not mean that he can not write fiction; just think of C.S. Lewis as an example. I see no reason to question Jeremiah’s authorship simply because he now decides to write in poetry.

Hebrew poetry differs from English poetry, in that instead of simply using rhyme and cadence, Hebrew poetry will alternate between several ideas. As an example Proverbs 1:7

Proverbs 1:7 TLV

The fear of Adonai is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Here we see that those who fear Adonai are learning wisdom and love discipline, where as those who don’t foolishly reject the knowledge of God. This verse from Solomon, in many ways, parallels the poetry of Jer. 10:1-16. Jeremiah bounces back and forth between two contrary ideas: the worthlessness of idols, and the glory of the true and living God.

Michael Brown writes:

[This passage] observes a distinct literary pattern, “ABABABAB, where A represents the critique of the false gods of the nations and B the praise of the Holy One, the ‘portion’ of Israel”.

Worthless Idols (vs. 1-5)

So in the first section of this poem, Vs. 1-5, we see that Adonai firstly addresses Judah as “house of Israel” and then goes into saying “Do not learn the ways of the nations.”

This is a reference back to the Torah in Lev. 20:23

Leviticus 20:23 TLV

You are not to walk in the ways of the nation which I am casting out before you, for they did all these things and therefore I abhorred them.

And again in Deut. 18:9

Deuteronomy 18:9 TLV

When you enter the land Adonai your God is giving you, you are not to learn to do the abominations of those nations.

The passage in Deuteronomy is especially important because Moses goes on to say, Deut. 18:12-14

Deuteronomy 18:12–14 TLV

For whoever does these things is an abomination to Adonai, and because of these abominations Adonai your God is driving them out from before you. You are to be blameless before Adonai your God. “For these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to soothsayers and fortune-tellers, but as for you, Adonai your God will not allow you to do so.

Jeremiah has been prophesying specifically that Adonai is about to bring judgement in the form of exile, and now is referring back to the Covenant that Adonai made with Beni Yisrael in the Wilderness. Also just as Adonai had told the people not to learn the same practices of the nations, they were also not to fear the things that the nations feared. We will talk more about this later.

Adonai mocks idols, they are useless pieces of wood or stone that can stand or speak or walk by themselves. They are no better than a scarecrow in a cucumber garden! Therefore do not fear false gods! Rather, fear Adonai!

Adonai is Powerful (vs. 6-7)

Jeremiah bursts into praise of Adonai. There is no one like our God! There are many things that the nations fear, even to this day. But really the nations should fear the awesome living God, who is about to bring judgement upon the whole earth! Adonai is not only the God of Israel, but He is the God of the whole earth; there is none in all the earth who is as wise or as powerful as our God!

Useless Wood (vs. 8-9)

Jeremiah now goes back to his first point, the idols are “stupid, foolish, useless wood.” Can Jeremiah get any clearer? Why do people still, to this day, set up idols in and around their homes? Are they looking for blessing? Are they trying to appease a god? Are they trying to stop a curse?

I talked to some local pastors who came to Yeshua from Hinduism. One of the things that they mentioned was that when they accepted Yeshua, they no longer felt any fear of judgement. All their lives they had lived in fear of all these millions of false gods, fear that if they did not appease each one, then something bad would happen to them. And when something bad had happened, they were constantly asking which god they had offended. Now they are following Yeshua in the freedom of knowing that He has paid for all their sins, and they freely follow the true and living God!

Adonai is Truth (vs. 10)

Verse 10 declares that YHVH God is Truth, is alive, is the eternal king! This brings to mind something that Yeshua also said: John 14:6-7

John 14:6–7 TLV

Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life! No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you have come to know Me, you will know My Father also. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”

Not only does Yeshua claim to be the only way to the Father, but by declaring Himself as “Truth”, He is in some way equating Himself with God. This statement of Yeshua to his Talmidim follows a teaching that He had made earlier in His ministry. John 8:32

John 8:32 TLV

You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!”

But what truth must we know to be set free? Well I am glad you asked :D John 8:36

John 8:36 TLV

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!

The truth we need to know is Yeshua the Messiah!

Change of Focus (vs. 11)

Jeremiah now shifts his focus to the surrounding nations in verse 11. Now how do we know that Jeremiah is now speaking to all the surrounding nations? Well, he switches from writing in Hebrew to writing this one verse in Aramaic. Aramaic, the language of Aram, or the Assyrian empire, was the normal language of the surrounding nations. Remember that Babylon was at this very moment gobbling up the Assyrian emipre, but had not yet made it to the Land of Israel.

Jeremiah declares to the surrounding nations, that the gods that they worshipped were not responsible for creating the heavens and the earth, they can not save them and these gods will themselves perish from under heaven.

Then in verse 12, Jeremiah switches back to Hebrew and declares the majesty of Adonai! Remembering that this is poetry we see that Adonai is declared to be powerful, wise, full of understanding.

Therefore as we see in verse 14, the false gods are weak, foolish and ignorant. Jeremiah also adds in “stupid” which is also translated “senseless”. On top of that, the one who makes the idols is just like the idols he makes. The work of our hands, reflects on the person that we are.

Jeremiah then finished up the poem by saying, Jer. 10:16 “Jacob’s portion is not like these. For He is the Maker of all things and Israel, the tribe of His inheritance —Adonai-Tzva’ot is His Name.””

Back to the Present

Then without warning, Jeremiah’s is jarred back to the present. Exile is almost here and Adonai declares to Judah: Jer. 10:18 “For thus says Adonai: “I am about to hurl the inhabitants out of the land. At this time I will press hard on them so that they will be found out.””

I almost wanted to stay in the first half of the chapter. It is much easier focus on the sins of others, the wickedness of the world around us, and especially the glory of Adonai that is made greater when comparing Him to the world. But Jeremiah does not have that luxury. He sees the armies of Babylon coming, and knows that in a few years the best and brightest will be sent off to exile.

Jeremiah cries out, “Oy to me because of my brokenness!” For a moment Jeremiah was seeing the glory of Adonai, but now the reality of his sinful people confronts him.

Wicked Shepherds

One of the accusations that Jeremiah point to is in Jer. 10:21

Jeremiah 10:21 TLV

For the shepherds are stupid! They have not sought Adonai. Therefore they have not acted wisely and all their flocks are scattered.”

The same description that was given to the false idols, is now applied to the senseless leaders of the people. The concept of wicked shepherds is used throughout the prophets, for as the leaders of a nation go, so goes the people. This idea was contrasted by Yeshua in John 10:11-16

John 10:11–16 TLV

“I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. The hired worker is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. He sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees. Then the wolf snatches and scatters the sheep. The man is only a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not from this fold; those also I must lead, and they will listen to My voice. So there shall be one flock, one Shepherd.

But the leaders in Jeremiah’s day were doing what ever they wanted to do, worshiping other gods, and leading the people away from Adonai. Therefore Jeremiah hears the sound of a report coming from the north. Babylon is coming to desolate the entire land of Judah.

Personal Prayer

Jeremiah went from focusing on the nations, to focusing on Judah, but now he prays for himself. Jer. 10:24 “Chasten me, Adonai, but with justice, not in Your anger, lest You reduce me to nothing.”

Application

So how do we apply this passage to our lives today?

A Good Balance

I think that there needs to be a good balance struck between recognising the sin and wickedness in the world and see God in His glorious majesty. I have had times when all I focused on was the glory of God, and while it was wonderful for me personally, it did not bring others closer to God. I spent my time soaking in God’s Presence, but did not give any time to bringing others closer.

But the same can be said for only focusing on the brokenness and sinfulness in the world. We can devote our lives to loving people and meeting their physical needs, to the point that we do not grow in our relationship with God.

It is not a matter of either/or, but both/and. We desperately need the times in Adonai’s Presence, those times of refreshing, but then we are also called to take the light of God into the world around us. We should get in a habit of coming to Adonai daily, so that we can then take what we have been given and freely give it out to others.

Don’t Fear What They Fear

I mentioned earlier that we are not to learn the same practices of the nations, nor fear the things that they fear. I think that this is very important today. Much of society today is based upon the fear of something. There are those who fear that the world will end through Climate Change, there are those who fear that the world will end through an Epidemic, there are those who fear that the world will end through nuclear war. But there are also other fears that drive our society. There is the fear of missing out, “If you don’t act now, you will miss out on this great deal!” Much of our advertising industry is built around this fear. Then there are the social pressure fears of not fitting in. A fear that we will be less liked, if we don’t keep our views silent, the fear that If we speak the truth that our eyes see, then we will get cancelled from social media, or the fear that we could lose our income, lifestyle, home if we don’t pretend to go along with what we know to be wrong.

These are all fears that may face today, but Yeshua taught his Talmidim a better way. When he was preparing the 12 disciples to go out on their own in Matt. 10, Yeshua tells them “do not fear” three different times. In this whole passage, Yeshua is warning the disciples of what they will face in the world. Yeshua says that we will face rejection, arrest, betrayal, and persecution. And then he says the following: Matt. 10:24-33

Matthew 10:24–33 TLV

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house beelzebul, how much more the members of his household! “So do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed and nothing hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear in your ear, proclaim from the housetops! And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them shall fall to the ground apart from your Father’s consent. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are worth more than many sparrows. “Therefore whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

So firstly, we are not to fear the people who treat us badly, or those who make fun of us, in secret. Because Yeshua says that whatever is done in secret will be made known openly.

Secondly, we are not to fear arrest or even death for the sake of the King of kings, because death is not the end. From God’s perspective, the first death is temporary. Rather we are to fear God, who after ending our life, has the authority and ability to throw us, body and soul, into hell.

And thirdly, we are not to fear being insignificant, or being below God’s notice. Yeshua assures us that Adonai values us, thinks of us, and watches over us. For those of us who have repented and turned to Adonai, He will complete the work in us that He started.

Yeshua then encourages His disciples that when we acknowledge Him before others, that He will acknowledge us before His Father in heaven. This is high praise.

We should be looking for ways to glorify Yeshua, to speak of how he has saved us, to declare how wonderful He is. It is not always easy, and the opportunities do not always come every day, but I hope that those that know you, know that you love and follow Yeshua.

So coming back to the fears of the world today. The climate will change, epidemics will come, and war has been almost constant throughout the history of mankind. But in all of these we need to remember what Jeremiah wrote, that Adonai is the one who is in control of all things. Jer. 10:10-13

Jeremiah 10:10–13 TLV

But Adonai Elohim is truth. He is the living God and eternal King. At His wrath the earth quakes and the nations cannot endure His indignation. Thus you will say to them: “The gods—which did not make the heavens and the earth—will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.” He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out heaven by His understanding. When His voice thunders, waters in heaven roar. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain and brings forth wind from His storehouses.