Isaiah 44: The Worthlessness of Idolatry

"Half of [the idol] he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, 'Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!' And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, 'Deliver me, for you are my god!'" Isaiah 44:16-17

This morning the subject at hand is the sin of idolatry. Idolatry is forbidden in the second commandment (see Ex. 20:1-3), but what exactly is idolatry? How would you define it? This morning, we're going to look at how the Bible defines it.

In Isaiah 44, we find the foolishness of idolatry. In this great chapter, God first sets himself up as the supreme God. "I am the first and I am the last," says the LORD, "There is no God but Me" (Is. 44:6). Yet in contrast to God's greatness and supremacy, there is an unworthy adversary: idols. In Isaiah's day, these idols looked like wooden or metal statutes created by the hands of men. Though they were tempting to worship, the Lord points us here to the ludicrousy and foolishness of them. Firstly, God shows us the lack of practicality of idols: they do not profit (v. 9). Although the Israelites sought prosperity from the worship of their idols, they did not receive it. For how could a manmade idol fulfill all of their needs and wants? Secondly, God shows us the foolishness of idols. From verses 12-17, God paints a picture of a man who cuts down a tree, burns half of it for fuel, and turns the other half into a carved idol. How foolish! Yet this is exactly what happened in Isaiah's day. And although these idols did not bring prosperity and they were made by the hands of men, the Israelites were still so depraved of mind that they worshiped them daily (v. 18-20).

Thus we find from Isaiah's words that idolatry is ultimately worship in the wrong direction (Bob Kauflin, True Worshipers). God is supreme, and to place our graze, attention, and longing on anything other than him is to commit the sin of idolatry. When we read chapters in scripture speaking of idolatry, like Isaiah 44, we often think that we are off the hook because we don't struggle with worshiping man-made idols...or do we? We might not place wooden statues in our homes to bow down to, but what about man-made iPhones? Man-made televisions? Man-made entertainment? What about man-made sports? Man-made security? Although all of these things are certainly not wrong in themselves, to worship them wholeheartedly, looking to them for our satisfaction in life, is to commit the sin of idolatry. And we know from Isaiah's words here that idolatry does not profit or satisfy.

Yet, let us realize as well that there is grace in the area of idolatry. We have all fell to this sin, and in fact, we do so each and every day. Yet Isaiah tells us that, "I [God] have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you." For those of us who are truly repentant children of God, Christ went to the cross for our idolatry, and because of this, God has fully forgiven us. Thus, we can exclaim with the poet:

Forgiveness! Forgiveness! This blessed gift is mine:

Pardon eternal by the Holy and Divine.