When Idolatry Reigns

Jeremiah 10:6 (ESV) There is none like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is great in might.

Who is like the Lord? No one. 

Israel learned the hard way that idols never live up to their promise. This very blessed nation, delivered and defined by the Lord failed to trust the Lord was enough all the way into exile. In what seems silly to us, they worshipped trinkets made by their own hands. 

In Jeremiah 10, we find out the fruits of idolatry in nations, communities, and individuals. 

First, when idolatry reigns, fear is common.

Jeremiah 10:2 (ESV) 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,

The signs of the heavens upset those who put their trust in their own hands. When someone believes they make their own way in the world, the creation has a funny way of reminding them they do not. Want to find idolatry? Look for those who fear what's happening to the Earth (even when nothing actually is happening). Climate change alarmism, anyone?

Second, when idolatry reigns, stupidity is common. 

Jeremiah 10:8 (ESV) They are both stupid and foolish; the instruction of idols is but wood!

The ancients cut pieces of wood, overlayed them with shiny metal and worshipped them. They fashioned their gods in their own image. And they looked to what their hands made and believed it could save them. This is peak stupidity. It is what we see in our world. People build a career, a home, a name for themselves thinking that this will save them. It cannot. It can only distract them from the inevitable judgment to come.

Third, when idolatry reigns, error is common. 

Jeremiah 10:15 (ESV) They are worthless, a work of delusion; at the time of their punishment they shall perish.

The word for "delusion" could be translated as "error". But to make errors, you are often under delusion. If you trust in your own creation to guide you, it's actually you leading you. Scripture says, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice." Proverbs 12:15. 

This is what Israel experienced as she worshiped vain idols. It is what all people will experience when they do not trust in the One who created them. In reality, even Jeremiah knew the propensity of man to follow his own designs. So he closes this chapter out by praying for himself after acknowledging how much he needs the direction of the Almighty. 

Jeremiah 10:23–24 (ESV) 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.