The Problem with Idols

Idols are like flies - they multiply and overwhelm you. Israel was warned consistently both before they entered the promised land and after they took occupancy and lived among the judges and also throughout the monarchy that idolatry would be their downfall. They never could change it. And Jeremiah prophesied at a time when idolatry was overrunning the nation.

Jeremiah 11:13 (ESV) Look now, people of Judah; you have as many gods as you have towns. You have as many altars of shame—altars for burning incense to your god Baal—as there are streets in Jerusalem.

God calls them to look. Perhaps they did not notice. Their idols were abundant. As many towns and streets in the land - so they had idols. I tend to think this is a cultural reality. Every town has a particular idol in the world. Whether that be sports, money, gambling, celebrity, or fame, I believe idolatry is regional as it is national. The point is - the human race can make a "god" out of almost anything. 

God then tells Jeremiah to say something we don't expect: Don't pray for them!

Jeremiah 11:14 (ESV) “Pray no more for these people, Jeremiah. Do not weep or pray for them, for I will not listen to them when they cry out to me in distress.

God has decreed disaster for them. It is the only thing that will ultimately set them free from this mess. Their idolatry was not simply an issue of offense against God, it was a huge blindspot as they continued on in their religious profession.

Jeremiah 11:15 (ESV) “What right do my beloved people have to come to my Temple, when they have done so many immoral things? Can their vows and sacrifices prevent their destruction? They actually rejoice in doing evil!

Then God stipulates that though He created Israel, He will also destroy them through the nations around them. 

Jeremiah 11:16-17 (ESV) I, the LORD, once called them a thriving olive tree, beautiful to see and full of good fruit. But now I have sent the fury of their enemies to burn them with fire, leaving them charred and broken. 17 “I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, who planted this olive tree, have ordered it destroyed. For the people of Israel and Judah have done evil, arousing my anger by burning incense to Baal.”

God, not Nebuchadnezzar was the judgment on Israel. God, not Babylon was in control of their turmoil. And in that there is hope. We learn that nothing that happens to Israel is outside the purview and plan of God. 

But such messages were hard to hear for Israel, and they plotted to take the messenger's life. 

Jeremiah 11:18-19 (ESV) Then the LORD told me about the plots my enemies were making against me. 19 I was like a lamb being led to the slaughter. I had no idea that they were planning to kill me! “Let’s destroy this man and all his words,” they said. “Let’s cut him down, so his name will be forgotten forever.”

Jeremiah shares that men from his own hometown of Anathoth were demanding he cease and desist in prophesy. And they threatened to kill him for these words. Sometimes we need to recognize the validity of a prophet's message by the rejection of that message! In a world where pastors often look for approval of the Word, Jeremiah reminds us that sometimes the Word will bring great rejection even from those to whom we are sent to speak. 

Jeremiah 11:22–23 (ESV) therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: “Behold, I will punish them. The young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine, 23 and none of them shall be left. For I will bring disaster upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their punishment.”

God was leading Jeremiah through the threats, warning and directing him regardless of their offense. And so the man of God must remember that God will make sure His Word is heard even when men will not bear to hear it.