The LORD made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses. [Jeremiah 51.15-16]
When people do not believe the Bible and what it says about God, they likewise do not believe what it says about themselves:
The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge! The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make, for their carefully shaped works are a fraud. These idols have no breath or power. Idols are worthless; they are ridiculous lies! On the day of reckoning they will all be destroyed. [Jeremiah 51.17-18]
When people do not believe what the Bible says about God, they naturally make idols to do for themselves what otherwise they would depend on God to do.
Imagine for a moment what man-made idols look like... Do statues, trinkets, pictures, or dolls come to mind? I think for most people that is exactly what they envision. However, for anyone who actually believes that the Bible has relevance to mankind today, it should be understood that man's idols have kept pace with man himself.
If the Bible is true and relevant today, how can we accept Jeremiah 51.17?
The whole human race is foolish and has no knowledge! The craftsmen are disgraced by the idols they make, for their carefully shaped works are a fraud. [Jeremiah 51.17]
Do not man's wisdom and knowledge - his modern accomplishments - render Jeremiah 51.17 inaccurate and therefore unreliable? Are not man's accomplishments proof positive of his wisdom and knowledge? While we are highly tempted to think so, man's modern accomplishments are in fact his disgrace. For all man's effort invested in the development of his industries of finance, insurance, medicine and technology (to name the big ones), when compared to God, that effort is pure futility.
Man's accomplishments can never do for man what God said He would do for man. How do we know this to be true? Because every accomplishment of man costs man money. And, it keeps costing man money.
When the LORD our Provider provided a ram for Abraham to sacrifice, it cost Abraham nothing.
When the LORD our Protector protected Israel by parting the Red Sea and closing it back upon the army of Egypt, it cost them nothing.
When the LORD our Healer healed numerous people all through the Bible, no money was exchanged.
When the LORD our Banner covered Israel with military success as Moses simply held his rod in the air against the Amalekites, again, no money was exchanged.
And yet, man blindly hands over money for interest payments, insurance premiums, prescription co-payments, and for gadgets and technology that is obsolete by time the money is exchanged for it, and is none the wiser. Man is, in fact, disgraced by this his foolishness and, what's more, a day of reckoning is coming. Is this day of reckoning an event in history, or, is it the day a man dies and stands before God as a foolish disgraced idolater having not trusted God ALONE by giving up his own way, taking up his cross, and following Jesus?
Why should man, whose God is the LORD God of Israel, Who is Creator of everything, have to pay God for anything? Does God need man's money to cover His expenses? Think about it!
But the God of Israel is no idol! He is the Creator of everything that exists, including his people, his own special possession. The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is his name! [Jeremiah 51.19]
God demands nothing from His people except obedience. Jesus echoed this truth:
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. [Matthew 6.33]
And,
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. [Matthew 16.24 (also, Mark 8.34 & Luke 9.23)]
While religious people will argue against everything suggested here with reasonable religious explanations (yeah, but...'s) - some even with elaborate and deeply academic rhetoric, true followers of Christ (the Word of God) will see just how far mankind has plunged into the pit of idolatry today. The remedy is simple but it will not be easy.
"Giving up" our every effort to "help ourself" is the simple part refusing to continue to pay our idols. "Taking up our cross" facing every obstacle of life trusting God ALONE -fearless even to the point of death, is the hard part - it will not be easy. In fact, most will never do it - they may indeed participate with popular religion finding comfort in their numbers and their reasonable agreement, but they will not take Jesus' words literal... Jesus warned us of this very thing:
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. [Matthew 7.13-14]
For all the prevailing (and even valid) arguments against the institutionalized church today, none are so damning as the fact that the Church (as we know it today in the Western world) is a hotbed for the modern idols of man's making: finance, insurance, medicine and technology. A true believer in Jesus Christ would never immerse himself or herself in such faithlessness except for one reason and one reason only - to decry the idolatry therein. But, who's going to invite that guest speaker? Unironically, a relevant passage is found in today's One Year Chronological Bible reading:
Likewise, all the leaders of the priests and the people became more and more unfaithful. They followed all the pagan practices of the surrounding nations, desecrating the Temple of the LORD that had been consecrated in Jerusalem. [2 Chronicles 36.14]
Man's idols, even those that "Christians" claim are "gifts from God" are, as Jeremiah stated, a fraud.
Sadly, "God's people" today trust the "weather man" about the temperature tomorrow with absolutely no regard that God controls the weather to serve His purposes (usually to point out unfaithfulness and sin).
The LORD made the earth by his power, and he preserves it by his wisdom. With his own understanding he stretched out the heavens. When he speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses. [Jeremiah 51.15-16]
God is either God of everything, or, He is God of nothing. How we live proves beyond doubt what we believe regardless what we say.
Father in heaven, man's increased wisdom and knowledge through the ages has only further advanced his disgrace evident in the idols of his making. May Your true followers set themselves apart for You ALONE, giving up their own way, taking up their cross, and following Jesus. So be it.
