“The
Futility of Idols”
(Isaiah
41:21-29)
June
14, 2020 YouTube
We return to our look at the book of Isaiah this morning,
and we will remember that God tells Jerusalem that in the coming days they will
be conquered by the Babylonians and taken into captivity for seventy years. God comforts Jerusalem by telling them that
God’s Word never fails, and the Character of God never changes. God is Absolutely Sovereign over all things –
nothing like an idol. So, God tells them
not to fear the exile, but to trust that God will raise them up such that they
defeat their captors.
At this point in the text, God invites any who would turn
to idols for their protection and salvation to come into the courtroom of God
and plead their case. God promises to
deliver them from captivity after seventy years – what can idols do?
As we turn to our text, we see:
First, God, alone, knows all things.
“Set forth your case, says the LORD; bring your proofs,
says the King of Jacob. Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell
us the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, that we may
know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come. Tell us what is to
come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods; do good, or do harm, that
we may be dismayed and terrified.”
God, Who is the King of Jacob, opens the court case and tells
those who put their faith in idols to bring them into the court room that they
may testify to why they are more to be believed than God.
God asks them to explain the superiority of idols: can they predict the future?
“Do you know what will happen in the former days – in the
near future?”
Silence.
“Do you know what will happen in the future for this
generation?”
Silence.
“Can you tell us – do you know what will happen in the
distant future?”
Silence.
“If you are gods, you should be able to tell us –
accurately – what the future will be.”
Silence.
“If you are gods, you should be able to make something
good happen – or something bad happen – so we would be dismayed and terrified.”
Silence.
“Can’t you do anything to prove that you are gods?”
Silence.
God responds, “Behold, you are nothing, and your work is
less than nothing; an abomination is he
who chooses you.”
How can anyone trust something that can’t do
anything? How can anyone trust a god
that does not know the future?
How can someone worship and trust a piece of stone or
wood?
Anyone who worships and idol is an abomination. Anyone who worships an idol disgusts God and is
the object of God’s hatred.
And we might think, “Oh, well. That’s the olden days. We don’t worship idols anymore.”
What do you trust?
We need to be very careful – what do you think will bring
you through?
Do you believe that the United States of America will
never fall? Nations and civilizations
fall throughout history.
Do you believe that our government will never fail? Our leaders rise and fall all the time.
Do you believe you are fine because your money is in a
good bank? Banks fail.
“But my money is insured by the United Sates
government!” But, if the government
falls, that is meaningless, and your money is lost.
“Well, I have tenure – or, I’m a CEO.” And your job can be lost in a moment.
So, what is an idol in your life?
But it’s not just things, is it? God says it’s our attitude as well:
Paul writes to the Christians at Colossae:
“Put
to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity,
passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians ESV).
Covetousness
is idolatry.
Covetousness
is saying to yourself that you deserve something that someone else has more
than they do. It’s one step past
jealousy which says that you deserve what someone else has. Covetousness says you deserve it more that the
person who has it. It’s saying why did
so-and-so get this or that when I am more deserving – needy – whatever – than
they are.
It
is idolatry.
When
you get your grades back and your classmate gets a better grade than you did
and you think, “Why did she get a better grade than I did? I should have gotten that grade – not her – I
put in more effort and did better work than she did.”
When
your neighbor wins the lottery and you think, “Why did he win the lottery? I’m a better person that he is. I do more good works that he does. I should have won the lottery instead of
him.”
When
you think, “Why does my co-worker make six figures? I am better educated and work harder and have
more clients – I should make that salary, not him.”
That
is covetousness. That is idolatry.
God
hates and is disgusted by idolatry.
Our
idols do not know the future – they cannot be counted only – they cannot do
good or evil and amaze with their power, because they are nothing. Those desires are nothing. Those things are nothing. All of them are like the blowing of a breeze
and bring down God’s Wrath.
God,
alone, knows all things.
Second,
God, alone, causes all things to come to pass.
And now God testifies:
“I stirred up one from the north, and he has come, from
the rising of the sun, and he shall call upon my name; he shall trample on
rulers as on mortar, as the potter treads clay.”
Who is God talking about – the one who comes from the
north and from the east – “from the rising of the sun”? Who is this who calls upon the Name of the
Lord and tramples the nations?
The person who fits this description is Cyrus, King of
the Medo-Persians.
How can he be from the north and the east?
Cyrus was born about 600 B.C. is what we now call Iran –
which is east of Israel. And by 540
B.C., he had conquered the Babylonian Empire which ran from Egypt to India –
across the north of Israel – which was the pathway of attack.
Daniel was taken into captivity to Babylon in 605 B.C.
and remained there until Cyrus freed Israel in 538 B. C. (https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/daniel-taken-babylon/)
Daniel foretold the conquering of the Babylonians by Darius the Mede and his
co-emperor, Cyrus, according to the revelation of the Plan of God:
“That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed.
And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old” (Daniel
5:30-31, ESV).
And Ezra tells us that God compelled Cyrus to acknowledge
Him and to set Israel free:
“In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word
of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up
the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout
all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
“’Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The LORD, the God of
heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to
build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all
his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is
in Judah, and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel—he is the God
who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be
assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with
beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem’”
(Ezra 1:1-4, ESV).
And this was as Jeremiah had prophesied during the reign
of Zedekiah, and before the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem (cf. Jeremiah
25:12, et. al.).
So, God is the One Who ordained Cyrus to come and conquer
the Empire of Babylon.
“Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know, and
beforehand, that we might say, ‘He is right’? There was none who declared it,
none who proclaimed, none who heard your words.”
God ordained everything that comes to pass before the
Creation – God began with a plan that is unfolding exactly as He planned it from
before the Creation. And we know it is before the Creation because God says no
one was there to hear the plan.
So, God is the One Who prophesies the near future and the
future to come and the future in the latter days.
“I was the first to say to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are! ‘and
I give to Jerusalem a herald of good news.”
God is the One to Whom we answer, “Look, this is just as
God said! This is exactly what God said
would happen!”
And God – not any idol – God gives Jerusalem good news
about their return from captivity before they are taken away. God gives them good news so they can hold
onto it and know it is true and certain and will come to pass as God is
willing.
On Maundy Thursday when everything seems to be going sideways
and the disciples are beginning to panic, Jesus says, “’Let not your hearts be
troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many
rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place
for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will
take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to
where I am going.’ Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are
going. How can we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the
truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had
known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and
have seen him’” (John 14:1-7, ESV).
Jesus tells them and He tells us, “Don’t worry, God the
Father and I are the same One God.
Things are not out of control.
Everything is happening as it was planned. And now I am going to prepare a place for you,
and I will return and bring you there because I am the Way, the Truth, and the
Life, and there is no salvation except through believing that I am God and
Savior.”
God, alone, causes all things to come to pass.
Do you check your horoscope – just for fun?
Do you use a Ouija board or Tarot cards?
Do you call a psychic?
Do you have lucky charms – not the cereal?
God looks for a rebuttal for the idol worshippers, “But
when I look, there is no one; among these there is no counselor who, when I
ask, gives an answer. Behold, they are all a delusion; their works are nothing;
their metal images are empty wind.”
After God speaks, He turns and waits for a response, but
the silence continues. The idols have to
wisdom – no knowledge to give. They are
a delusion – they are not a thing. They
are not beings – they are not gods. They
are a bunch of hot air.
But your neighbors are looking to them as if they hold
the secrets to the universe!
Rabbits feet are lucky!
Black cats give you bad luck.
I have a friend who doesn’t pick up coins that are face
down, because you never know.
God allows us to follow after absurdities – idolatry – so
He will be shown to be righteous in His condemnation of those who never believe
in Jesus, the Savior.
Paul
writes, “Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe
what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth
but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II Thessalonians 2:11-12, ESV).
God gives Jerusalem a strong example of why not to follow
after idols. God, alone, knows all
things. Idols know nothing – they sit
there in dumb silence. God, alone,
causes all things to come to pass. Idols
do nothing – they are empty and immobile.
Let us put away out idols – whether they be physical
things, covetousness, or superstitions.
They are useless – less than useless – they lead to condemnation.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for Your witness against idols
and idolatry, and we thank You that Jesus secured our salvation long before we
foolishly tried to get answers or action from any idol. May the Holy Spirit increase our trust in the
Only One Who is trustworthy, the One Almighty God, and may we be ever looking
to Your Word for wisdom and guidance.
For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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