The Subject Of Idolatry Is No Fad

Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Have you no respect for me? Why don’t you tremble in my presence? I, the LORD, define the ocean’s sandy shoreline as an everlasting boundary that the waters cannot cross. The waves may toss and roar, but they can never  pass the boundaries I set. But my people have stubborn and rebellious hearts. They have turned away and abandoned me. They do not say from the heart, ‘Let us live in awe of the LORD our God, for he gives us  rain each spring and fall, assuring us of a harvest when the time is right.’ Your wickedness has deprived  you of these wonderful blessings. Your sin has robbed you of all these good things. [Jeremiah 5.21-25]

This is the fourth year in a row that this passage has drawn my attention on this 31st day of July. One year ago today, on July 31, 2024, I wrote Will We See And Hear? which is a candid look at idolatry as it exists in our present culture. The year before that (2023), I wrote Undiluted Faith. And, the year before that, I wrote Am I That Person? (2022).

The point I wish to make today in referencing the previous articles listed above is that the subject of idolatry is not a new or whimsical subject for me. While I may not be the brightest bulb in the academic pack of Bible scholars, I can say that I have faithfully and methodically read the Bible without missing a single day since long before the years mentioned above (documented in my blog https://one-year-bible.blogspot.com/). If the subject of idolatry was a "religious fad" for me personally, no doubt, it would have passed by now. But the subject of idolatry is no fad. "Eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear" is a phrase that Jesus Christ Himself used:

For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’ [Matthew 13.15]

Jesus' use of this analogy is in exact context with the Old Testament prophet Isaiah's use of it regarding the recurring sin of idolatry:

Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way, they will not see with their eyes, nor hear with their ears, nor understand with their hearts and turn to me for healing.” [Isaiah 6.10]

When people hold fast to their idols, they effectively blind themselves from seeing their sin and they cannot be healed. 

But those who trust in idols, who say, ‘You are our gods,’ will be turned away in shame. “Listen, you who are deaf! Look and see, you blind! Who is as blind as my own people, my servant? Who is as deaf as my messenger? Who is as blind as my chosen people, the servant of the LORD? You see and recognize what is right but refuse to act on it. You hear with your ears, but you don’t really listen.” [Isaiah 42.17-20]

Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell. They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. [Psalm 115.4-8]

The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear, and mouths but cannot breathe. And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them. [Psalm 135.15-18]

Not Understanding Is The Symptom Of Not Believing is an article that discusses this problem in depth.

Idolatry was and still is Satan's most effective tool to separate man from His God. The Bible has been saying this all along, but unless we subject and discipline ourselves to God's Word, WE WILL NEITHER SEE NOR HEAR IT. As long as we supplement God's Word with the ideas of man, God will continue to withdraw His interaction with us - He will not allow us to "see and hear and be healed" until we are committed to "see and hear Him ALONE!" Nothing in the Bible suggests otherwise.

We must repent. We must trust in Jesus Christ (God's Word) alone.

Father, Your Word is no lie. Your Word reveals the Truth if we will only give You the Sovereign Priority that is Yours and Yours alone so that we might see and hear. As Josiah discovered Your Word in today's One Year Chronological Bible reading, may we discover it with the same conclusion: Your people have abandoned You and offered sacrifices to pagan gods. Help us, LORD, we need only You! So be it.