Jeremiah 42

Jeremiah 42:1

The General Dirge

The LORD calls for mourning (Jeremiah 9:17). Mourning women are called to come and wail. Judah is thereby likened to a death house. Death has also entered there in all its horrors, causing tremendous grief. More people need to come and help express their sorrow so that tears flow (Jeremiah 9:18). They want to unite with the mourning of Zion that mourns because she has been destroyed (Jeremiah 9:19). The occasion of the mourning is not the sin, but the consequences it must bear, such as the abandonment of the land and the overturning of their dwellings. When we mourn, we must not deceive ourselves and know the real reason for our sorrow.

The women, along with the children, suffer the most from the effects of sin (Jeremiah 9:20). To them comes the word of the LORD and the call to listen to it. The suffering is so great – and therefore the need for mourning women – that they must tell the cause of the suffering to their daughters and girlfriends, so that they will also mourn. They must tell what has happened in their palaces, their well-timbered dwellings, and to their little children and their young men (Jeremiah 9:21).

The LORD tells them to paint the results of sin in all their horror (Jeremiah 9:22). They are not to paint it more beautifully than it is. Nor is it so much the judgment of God as it is the results of their own actions. Death is presented here as a grim reaper who reaps ears from the field, binds them into sheaves and lays them on the ground. The corpses lie in the field like sheaves, and then not to be buried later, but as dung.

All the horrors that have befallen humanity in world wars have left many millions dead and countless physically and mentally crippled. There have also been economic losses of astronomical proportions. What is the result? Does man learn from it? We see that the love of wealth and pleasure has only increased and that God has been pushed further than ever from society.

Jeremiah 42:2

The General Dirge

The LORD calls for mourning (Jeremiah 9:17). Mourning women are called to come and wail. Judah is thereby likened to a death house. Death has also entered there in all its horrors, causing tremendous grief. More people need to come and help express their sorrow so that tears flow (Jeremiah 9:18). They want to unite with the mourning of Zion that mourns because she has been destroyed (Jeremiah 9:19). The occasion of the mourning is not the sin, but the consequences it must bear, such as the abandonment of the land and the overturning of their dwellings. When we mourn, we must not deceive ourselves and know the real reason for our sorrow.

The women, along with the children, suffer the most from the effects of sin (Jeremiah 9:20). To them comes the word of the LORD and the call to listen to it. The suffering is so great – and therefore the need for mourning women – that they must tell the cause of the suffering to their daughters and girlfriends, so that they will also mourn. They must tell what has happened in their palaces, their well-timbered dwellings, and to their little children and their young men (Jeremiah 9:21).

The LORD tells them to paint the results of sin in all their horror (Jeremiah 9:22). They are not to paint it more beautifully than it is. Nor is it so much the judgment of God as it is the results of their own actions. Death is presented here as a grim reaper who reaps ears from the field, binds them into sheaves and lays them on the ground. The corpses lie in the field like sheaves, and then not to be buried later, but as dung.

All the horrors that have befallen humanity in world wars have left many millions dead and countless physically and mentally crippled. There have also been economic losses of astronomical proportions. What is the result? Does man learn from it? We see that the love of wealth and pleasure has only increased and that God has been pushed further than ever from society.

Jeremiah 42:3

Boasting of Evil or of Good

Man boasts more than ever of “his wisdom”, “his might”, and “his riches” (Jeremiah 9:23). The LORD warns against doing that. What is said here sums up the whole world: 1. Wisdom, science without God, fills the world. Everything is reasoned by the so-called wise. This wisdom pervades our whole society, a wisdom that boasts. 2. Might, power, violence, is the second of which the world is full. The “mighty” determine with a game of power and politics what should be done. 3. The third, riches, money, possession, is also what the whole world pursues. Whoever has money has power and influence.

Of these three things man boasts, while the believer is also inclined to attach value to them. But none of these things can avert judgment and displeasure from the LORD. The wisdom of men is not like the wisdom of God (Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10). Their might is not the spiritual strength of righteousness. Their wealth is not the spiritual wealth that is immune from thief or destruction. Then as now, the student, the athlete, the warrior, and the financier are highly valued. Such persons tend to rely on their own resources.

Man has learned nothing from the past, how these things have worked. He is blind to the fact that they have brought nothing good, but only misery. The LORD in His grace holds out to man what true boasting is and that is boasting in understanding and knowing Him (Jeremiah 9:24). That is the key to all true wisdom, might and riches. Then the heart is turned to Him Who “exercises lovingkindness” and proves it, and Who does “justice and righteousness on earth”. In these things the LORD finds His delight (cf. Micah 6:8). We see that lovingkindness comes first, but it will not be proven at the expense of justice and righteousness.

Our highest good is to know God, not merely intellectually or philosophically, but in spirit and in His true features. To know means to have fellowship of life with Him, to have an intimate, personal relationship with Him. This is true and abiding wisdom. The source of the highest Christian blessing is the knowledge of the Father and of Jesus Christ, Who was sent by the Father. To know the Father and the Son is eternal life (John 17:3; 1 John 5:20).

Paul quotes these verses from Jeremiah to make it clear that nothing of man, but only the cross of Christ can save people (1 Corinthians 1:30-31; 2 Corinthians 10:17). Man’s wisdom is utterly reprehensible and cannot provide a solution in a person’s deepest need: his sins. The wisdom of God is evidenced by the redemption brought about by Christ for everyone who believes. In this may be boasted, not in anything of man.

Jeremiah 42:4

Boasting of Evil or of Good

Man boasts more than ever of “his wisdom”, “his might”, and “his riches” (Jeremiah 9:23). The LORD warns against doing that. What is said here sums up the whole world: 1. Wisdom, science without God, fills the world. Everything is reasoned by the so-called wise. This wisdom pervades our whole society, a wisdom that boasts. 2. Might, power, violence, is the second of which the world is full. The “mighty” determine with a game of power and politics what should be done. 3. The third, riches, money, possession, is also what the whole world pursues. Whoever has money has power and influence.

Of these three things man boasts, while the believer is also inclined to attach value to them. But none of these things can avert judgment and displeasure from the LORD. The wisdom of men is not like the wisdom of God (Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10). Their might is not the spiritual strength of righteousness. Their wealth is not the spiritual wealth that is immune from thief or destruction. Then as now, the student, the athlete, the warrior, and the financier are highly valued. Such persons tend to rely on their own resources.

Man has learned nothing from the past, how these things have worked. He is blind to the fact that they have brought nothing good, but only misery. The LORD in His grace holds out to man what true boasting is and that is boasting in understanding and knowing Him (Jeremiah 9:24). That is the key to all true wisdom, might and riches. Then the heart is turned to Him Who “exercises lovingkindness” and proves it, and Who does “justice and righteousness on earth”. In these things the LORD finds His delight (cf. Micah 6:8). We see that lovingkindness comes first, but it will not be proven at the expense of justice and righteousness.

Our highest good is to know God, not merely intellectually or philosophically, but in spirit and in His true features. To know means to have fellowship of life with Him, to have an intimate, personal relationship with Him. This is true and abiding wisdom. The source of the highest Christian blessing is the knowledge of the Father and of Jesus Christ, Who was sent by the Father. To know the Father and the Son is eternal life (John 17:3; 1 John 5:20).

Paul quotes these verses from Jeremiah to make it clear that nothing of man, but only the cross of Christ can save people (1 Corinthians 1:30-31; 2 Corinthians 10:17). Man’s wisdom is utterly reprehensible and cannot provide a solution in a person’s deepest need: his sins. The wisdom of God is evidenced by the redemption brought about by Christ for everyone who believes. In this may be boasted, not in anything of man.

Jeremiah 42:5

Israel Is Uncircumcised of Heart

Jeremiah 9:23-24 are a warning against trusting in human abilities. Jeremiah 9:25-26 condemn reliance on religious prerogatives. Just as the knowledge of the LORD is more important than wisdom, might and wealth, so faith in the heart is more important than any outward form of religion. Judgment comes both on all who bear only the outward sign that they belong to God’s people and on those who do not have that sign, the nations (Jeremiah 9:25). They are all equal before God because they all do not reckon with Him (Romans 2:12).

Judah is mentioned in the same breath as the nations (Jeremiah 9:26) because they behave like the nations. Shaving away the hair at the temples is a heathen custom and forbidden by the LORD for His people (Leviticus 19:27). Judah is far more guilty than the nations, for they have the outward sign that they are God’s people, but they behave like the nations. They are ‘uncircumcised circumcised’ people, circumcised in the body, but uncircumcised in heart. What is true of Judah is true of all the house of Israel: they are all physically circumcised, but uncircumcised of heart. The true circumcision before God is that of the heart (Romans 2:29).

Jeremiah 42:6

Israel Is Uncircumcised of Heart

Jeremiah 9:23-24 are a warning against trusting in human abilities. Jeremiah 9:25-26 condemn reliance on religious prerogatives. Just as the knowledge of the LORD is more important than wisdom, might and wealth, so faith in the heart is more important than any outward form of religion. Judgment comes both on all who bear only the outward sign that they belong to God’s people and on those who do not have that sign, the nations (Jeremiah 9:25). They are all equal before God because they all do not reckon with Him (Romans 2:12).

Judah is mentioned in the same breath as the nations (Jeremiah 9:26) because they behave like the nations. Shaving away the hair at the temples is a heathen custom and forbidden by the LORD for His people (Leviticus 19:27). Judah is far more guilty than the nations, for they have the outward sign that they are God’s people, but they behave like the nations. They are ‘uncircumcised circumcised’ people, circumcised in the body, but uncircumcised in heart. What is true of Judah is true of all the house of Israel: they are all physically circumcised, but uncircumcised of heart. The true circumcision before God is that of the heart (Romans 2:29).

Jeremiah 42:8

The Folly of Idolatry

Constantly the call to hear the word that the LORD is speaking is heard, also now again (Jeremiah 10:1). That call is made to the “house of Israel”, that is, all who belong to it, wherever they are, in the land or in the scattering. The Word is to govern all our thoughts and actions.

If we do not listen to the Word, we will learn the way of the nations (Jeremiah 10:2). Not learning the way of the nations means for us not to let the world influence our thinking (Romans 12:2). If the world does gain influence in our thinking, it will be seen in our behavior, in the things we pursue. We then shift the source of information about life from the Bible to idols.

The nations scour the heavens to observe signs from which they can make out the future. We call this astrology, which is thus condemned here. How many Christians are there who take note of horoscopes? Behind this are frightening demons, powers that “terrify”. For God’s people, from heaven comes what comes from God and He gives good to His people.

It is great folly to follow the methods of the nations, for they are nonsensical methods (Jeremiah 10:3). Paying attention to signs and not to what God says is nonsensical. Just look at how the nations operate. They worship wood that they 1. first cut from the forest themselves 2. and then worked on it and refurbished it into a god. 3. Then they decorated it with precious materials of creation (Jeremiah 10:4). 4. Finally, they nailed this god with their own hands in such a way that it could not totter or fall. 5. Later, they also put a royal robe on it (Jeremiah 10:9).

They should take a good look at it. Isn’t it too silly to have any respect for or expect help from a piece of wood that can’t even keep itself going, let alone its worshipers? Can they not see that such a god looks like a scarecrow (Jeremiah 10:5)? You have to be as dumb as a bird to be frightened by such an inanimate skeleton.

Such gods cannot do anything at all. They cannot say a word to comfort someone. They cannot take a step to come to the aid of someone in trouble. Instead, they themselves are a burden to be borne. Yet man bows down to it. What folly to pay any attention to such a god and become afraid of it, as if it could do anything, for better or worse. Yet it still happens today, for example, with a crucifix and other attributes that the roman catholic church sells and people walk around with.

God mocks the idols here (Isaiah 40:18-20; Isaiah 41:7; Isaiah 44:9-20; Isaiah 46:5-7). The sarcasm drips off. That seems out of place in our age of tolerance. But we must show no respect for idols. They are ridiculous, idiotic. To entrust yourself to them and expect anything from such idiocy is even more idiotic.

If someone does not have a personal relationship with the living God through faith in Jesus Christ, it does not mean that he has no need of a god. Such a person submits to a substitute god and replaces true worship with false worship. The result is idolatry. We see this in the worship of the pope and sports heroes, for example. We also see it in the worship of matter. Man’s greed indicates that he is an idolater. God’s Word speaks of “greed, which amounts to idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

Jeremiah 42:9

The Folly of Idolatry

Constantly the call to hear the word that the LORD is speaking is heard, also now again (Jeremiah 10:1). That call is made to the “house of Israel”, that is, all who belong to it, wherever they are, in the land or in the scattering. The Word is to govern all our thoughts and actions.

If we do not listen to the Word, we will learn the way of the nations (Jeremiah 10:2). Not learning the way of the nations means for us not to let the world influence our thinking (Romans 12:2). If the world does gain influence in our thinking, it will be seen in our behavior, in the things we pursue. We then shift the source of information about life from the Bible to idols.

The nations scour the heavens to observe signs from which they can make out the future. We call this astrology, which is thus condemned here. How many Christians are there who take note of horoscopes? Behind this are frightening demons, powers that “terrify”. For God’s people, from heaven comes what comes from God and He gives good to His people.

It is great folly to follow the methods of the nations, for they are nonsensical methods (Jeremiah 10:3). Paying attention to signs and not to what God says is nonsensical. Just look at how the nations operate. They worship wood that they 1. first cut from the forest themselves 2. and then worked on it and refurbished it into a god. 3. Then they decorated it with precious materials of creation (Jeremiah 10:4). 4. Finally, they nailed this god with their own hands in such a way that it could not totter or fall. 5. Later, they also put a royal robe on it (Jeremiah 10:9).

They should take a good look at it. Isn’t it too silly to have any respect for or expect help from a piece of wood that can’t even keep itself going, let alone its worshipers? Can they not see that such a god looks like a scarecrow (Jeremiah 10:5)? You have to be as dumb as a bird to be frightened by such an inanimate skeleton.

Such gods cannot do anything at all. They cannot say a word to comfort someone. They cannot take a step to come to the aid of someone in trouble. Instead, they themselves are a burden to be borne. Yet man bows down to it. What folly to pay any attention to such a god and become afraid of it, as if it could do anything, for better or worse. Yet it still happens today, for example, with a crucifix and other attributes that the roman catholic church sells and people walk around with.

God mocks the idols here (Isaiah 40:18-20; Isaiah 41:7; Isaiah 44:9-20; Isaiah 46:5-7). The sarcasm drips off. That seems out of place in our age of tolerance. But we must show no respect for idols. They are ridiculous, idiotic. To entrust yourself to them and expect anything from such idiocy is even more idiotic.

If someone does not have a personal relationship with the living God through faith in Jesus Christ, it does not mean that he has no need of a god. Such a person submits to a substitute god and replaces true worship with false worship. The result is idolatry. We see this in the worship of the pope and sports heroes, for example. We also see it in the worship of matter. Man’s greed indicates that he is an idolater. God’s Word speaks of “greed, which amounts to idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

Jeremiah 42:10

The Folly of Idolatry

Constantly the call to hear the word that the LORD is speaking is heard, also now again (Jeremiah 10:1). That call is made to the “house of Israel”, that is, all who belong to it, wherever they are, in the land or in the scattering. The Word is to govern all our thoughts and actions.

If we do not listen to the Word, we will learn the way of the nations (Jeremiah 10:2). Not learning the way of the nations means for us not to let the world influence our thinking (Romans 12:2). If the world does gain influence in our thinking, it will be seen in our behavior, in the things we pursue. We then shift the source of information about life from the Bible to idols.

The nations scour the heavens to observe signs from which they can make out the future. We call this astrology, which is thus condemned here. How many Christians are there who take note of horoscopes? Behind this are frightening demons, powers that “terrify”. For God’s people, from heaven comes what comes from God and He gives good to His people.

It is great folly to follow the methods of the nations, for they are nonsensical methods (Jeremiah 10:3). Paying attention to signs and not to what God says is nonsensical. Just look at how the nations operate. They worship wood that they 1. first cut from the forest themselves 2. and then worked on it and refurbished it into a god. 3. Then they decorated it with precious materials of creation (Jeremiah 10:4). 4. Finally, they nailed this god with their own hands in such a way that it could not totter or fall. 5. Later, they also put a royal robe on it (Jeremiah 10:9).

They should take a good look at it. Isn’t it too silly to have any respect for or expect help from a piece of wood that can’t even keep itself going, let alone its worshipers? Can they not see that such a god looks like a scarecrow (Jeremiah 10:5)? You have to be as dumb as a bird to be frightened by such an inanimate skeleton.

Such gods cannot do anything at all. They cannot say a word to comfort someone. They cannot take a step to come to the aid of someone in trouble. Instead, they themselves are a burden to be borne. Yet man bows down to it. What folly to pay any attention to such a god and become afraid of it, as if it could do anything, for better or worse. Yet it still happens today, for example, with a crucifix and other attributes that the roman catholic church sells and people walk around with.

God mocks the idols here (Isaiah 40:18-20; Isaiah 41:7; Isaiah 44:9-20; Isaiah 46:5-7). The sarcasm drips off. That seems out of place in our age of tolerance. But we must show no respect for idols. They are ridiculous, idiotic. To entrust yourself to them and expect anything from such idiocy is even more idiotic.

If someone does not have a personal relationship with the living God through faith in Jesus Christ, it does not mean that he has no need of a god. Such a person submits to a substitute god and replaces true worship with false worship. The result is idolatry. We see this in the worship of the pope and sports heroes, for example. We also see it in the worship of matter. Man’s greed indicates that he is an idolater. God’s Word speaks of “greed, which amounts to idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

Jeremiah 42:11

The Folly of Idolatry

Constantly the call to hear the word that the LORD is speaking is heard, also now again (Jeremiah 10:1). That call is made to the “house of Israel”, that is, all who belong to it, wherever they are, in the land or in the scattering. The Word is to govern all our thoughts and actions.

If we do not listen to the Word, we will learn the way of the nations (Jeremiah 10:2). Not learning the way of the nations means for us not to let the world influence our thinking (Romans 12:2). If the world does gain influence in our thinking, it will be seen in our behavior, in the things we pursue. We then shift the source of information about life from the Bible to idols.

The nations scour the heavens to observe signs from which they can make out the future. We call this astrology, which is thus condemned here. How many Christians are there who take note of horoscopes? Behind this are frightening demons, powers that “terrify”. For God’s people, from heaven comes what comes from God and He gives good to His people.

It is great folly to follow the methods of the nations, for they are nonsensical methods (Jeremiah 10:3). Paying attention to signs and not to what God says is nonsensical. Just look at how the nations operate. They worship wood that they 1. first cut from the forest themselves 2. and then worked on it and refurbished it into a god. 3. Then they decorated it with precious materials of creation (Jeremiah 10:4). 4. Finally, they nailed this god with their own hands in such a way that it could not totter or fall. 5. Later, they also put a royal robe on it (Jeremiah 10:9).

They should take a good look at it. Isn’t it too silly to have any respect for or expect help from a piece of wood that can’t even keep itself going, let alone its worshipers? Can they not see that such a god looks like a scarecrow (Jeremiah 10:5)? You have to be as dumb as a bird to be frightened by such an inanimate skeleton.

Such gods cannot do anything at all. They cannot say a word to comfort someone. They cannot take a step to come to the aid of someone in trouble. Instead, they themselves are a burden to be borne. Yet man bows down to it. What folly to pay any attention to such a god and become afraid of it, as if it could do anything, for better or worse. Yet it still happens today, for example, with a crucifix and other attributes that the roman catholic church sells and people walk around with.

God mocks the idols here (Isaiah 40:18-20; Isaiah 41:7; Isaiah 44:9-20; Isaiah 46:5-7). The sarcasm drips off. That seems out of place in our age of tolerance. But we must show no respect for idols. They are ridiculous, idiotic. To entrust yourself to them and expect anything from such idiocy is even more idiotic.

If someone does not have a personal relationship with the living God through faith in Jesus Christ, it does not mean that he has no need of a god. Such a person submits to a substitute god and replaces true worship with false worship. The result is idolatry. We see this in the worship of the pope and sports heroes, for example. We also see it in the worship of matter. Man’s greed indicates that he is an idolater. God’s Word speaks of “greed, which amounts to idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

Jeremiah 42:12

The Folly of Idolatry

Constantly the call to hear the word that the LORD is speaking is heard, also now again (Jeremiah 10:1). That call is made to the “house of Israel”, that is, all who belong to it, wherever they are, in the land or in the scattering. The Word is to govern all our thoughts and actions.

If we do not listen to the Word, we will learn the way of the nations (Jeremiah 10:2). Not learning the way of the nations means for us not to let the world influence our thinking (Romans 12:2). If the world does gain influence in our thinking, it will be seen in our behavior, in the things we pursue. We then shift the source of information about life from the Bible to idols.

The nations scour the heavens to observe signs from which they can make out the future. We call this astrology, which is thus condemned here. How many Christians are there who take note of horoscopes? Behind this are frightening demons, powers that “terrify”. For God’s people, from heaven comes what comes from God and He gives good to His people.

It is great folly to follow the methods of the nations, for they are nonsensical methods (Jeremiah 10:3). Paying attention to signs and not to what God says is nonsensical. Just look at how the nations operate. They worship wood that they 1. first cut from the forest themselves 2. and then worked on it and refurbished it into a god. 3. Then they decorated it with precious materials of creation (Jeremiah 10:4). 4. Finally, they nailed this god with their own hands in such a way that it could not totter or fall. 5. Later, they also put a royal robe on it (Jeremiah 10:9).

They should take a good look at it. Isn’t it too silly to have any respect for or expect help from a piece of wood that can’t even keep itself going, let alone its worshipers? Can they not see that such a god looks like a scarecrow (Jeremiah 10:5)? You have to be as dumb as a bird to be frightened by such an inanimate skeleton.

Such gods cannot do anything at all. They cannot say a word to comfort someone. They cannot take a step to come to the aid of someone in trouble. Instead, they themselves are a burden to be borne. Yet man bows down to it. What folly to pay any attention to such a god and become afraid of it, as if it could do anything, for better or worse. Yet it still happens today, for example, with a crucifix and other attributes that the roman catholic church sells and people walk around with.

God mocks the idols here (Isaiah 40:18-20; Isaiah 41:7; Isaiah 44:9-20; Isaiah 46:5-7). The sarcasm drips off. That seems out of place in our age of tolerance. But we must show no respect for idols. They are ridiculous, idiotic. To entrust yourself to them and expect anything from such idiocy is even more idiotic.

If someone does not have a personal relationship with the living God through faith in Jesus Christ, it does not mean that he has no need of a god. Such a person submits to a substitute god and replaces true worship with false worship. The result is idolatry. We see this in the worship of the pope and sports heroes, for example. We also see it in the worship of matter. Man’s greed indicates that he is an idolater. God’s Word speaks of “greed, which amounts to idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).

Jeremiah 42:13

The Majesty of God

Then comes the great contrast. Alternately, these verses speak of the utter idiocy of the idols, their absolute worthlessness and deadness, and in contrast to this the all-transcending glory of the LORD Who works mightily. Opposite the foolish idols, those nullities, Jeremiah places the absolute majesty of the LORD (Jeremiah 10:6). No one is equal to Him. He is indescribably great and His Name is great in might. His Name contains all that He is. That gives peace to everyone who believes. He is the “King of the nations” – not just of Israel (Romans 3:29) – and only He inspires fear (Jeremiah 10:7). No wise man of the nations compares to Him.

In Jeremiah 10:8-9, the absurdity of the peoples worshiping their self-made and decorated objects is pointed out once again. The material needed to make an idol was taken from somewhere on earth. The idols are made by craftsmen, but those people are also foolish for believing in such a big lie. It is artful work with an evil goal. The teaching of the idols is worth as much as the wood of which those gods are made.

Opposed to idolaters and their works is the God of truth (Jeremiah 10:10). Through Him we know the truth about all things. He is the true God, He is true in all His judgments and actions. He is also “the living God”. Through Him life came into being and through Him we know life. He is also “the eternal King”, He governs and controls everything always and everywhere. Nothing is out of His control. This makes Him the judging God, Who does not let sin go unpunished.

There are three contrasts here: 1. the idols are false, God is true; 2. the idols are dead, God is the living God; 3. the idols are transient, they perish, God is eternal.

Jeremiah must point out to the people that God will completely wipe out the idols (Jeremiah 10:11). These are idols to which creative power is attributed, but which, of course, have brought nothing into being. The belief in causes outside of God by which creation is said to have been brought about is thereby designated as idolatry. Behind the idols are demons. The theory of evolution is a teaching of demons.

He, the living God, and not some idol, is the Creator and Sustainer of all His works (Jeremiah 10:12; Psalms 135:5-12; 15-17). His works show the great contrast with the impotence and folly of the idols, which are also merely territorial gods, gods with a limited sphere of authority. Thus He made the earth by His power and established the world by His wisdom. The heavens, which the idolaters look to for signs, He has stretched out by His understanding.

We see here three features of God as Creator: 1. the earth, matter, was made by an act (speaking) of “His power”; 2. the world, the ordering and arrangement of the earth as a place for man to dwell, is the work of “His wisdom”; 3. the stretching out of the heavens as a tent over the earth He has done by “His understanding”.

His word is His might. When He speaks, always something happens (Jeremiah 10:13; cf. Psalms 33:9). His voice is heard in the various natural phenomena, to which Jeremiah refers here (cf. Job 37:2-3). We say “it rains”, but here we read that God makes His voice sound and then there is “a tumult of waters in the heavens”. The idols of the nations are captives of nature. God is not. He disposes of nature and determines its course (Job 28:24-26).

He “causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth” to make clouds of them that pour rain on the earth. He also made the lightning flashes that accompany them. He also “brings out the wind from His storehouses” (cf. Job 38:22). This omnipotence over nature is the omnipotence of its Creator, which is the Lord Jesus through Whom God made the worlds (Proverbs 30:4; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16).

If we think about the comparison of the LORD with the idols, we see that the prophet is not only saying here that the LORD is the Creator of the matter from which the idols are made. He also draws attention here to the natural phenomena that show that the LORD is the God Who sets nature in motion. But the greatest is that He is the Living God Who wraths and exercises wrath.

How stupid man is to exchange that exalted, all-transcending and governing God for a molten image that is “deceitful” (Jeremiah 10:14). Man who is “devoid of knowledge” of the true, living, eternal God resorts to falsehood. He goes to a goldsmith to put together a god for him. What that blacksmith makes is to his own shame. It is flimflam. In the image there is not a whiff of breath, not a trace of life. How can you expect any activity from that. This is really very stupid.

Do they not see that what the hands of the blacksmith have made is “worthless”, empty, hollow, totally without substance (Jeremiah 10:15)? And not only that. An idol is also a work of mockery. You can only mock it, that’s all. How ridiculous it is to expect anything from an idol. Finally, such a god has an expiration date. You can only believe in it for a limited time, because a time of punishment will come and then it will perish, along with its worshipers. Then it becomes what it always was: nothing (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

Opposite is the imperishable “portion of Jacob”, which is the LORD Himself (Jeremiah 10:16). He made everything, He is “the Maker of all”. In the midst of it all, He took Israel as “His inheritance” (Exodus 19:5-6). In spite of all their deviation and sin, that remains. Only “the LORD of hosts” can conceive and do such a thing. It is the Name that indicates that all the powers in the universe are subject to Him. He will not let anything or anyone deny or dispute His connection with Jacob and Israel, no matter how much He must judge them for their unfaithfulness and rejection of Him, as the following verses show.

Jeremiah 42:14

The Majesty of God

Then comes the great contrast. Alternately, these verses speak of the utter idiocy of the idols, their absolute worthlessness and deadness, and in contrast to this the all-transcending glory of the LORD Who works mightily. Opposite the foolish idols, those nullities, Jeremiah places the absolute majesty of the LORD (Jeremiah 10:6). No one is equal to Him. He is indescribably great and His Name is great in might. His Name contains all that He is. That gives peace to everyone who believes. He is the “King of the nations” – not just of Israel (Romans 3:29) – and only He inspires fear (Jeremiah 10:7). No wise man of the nations compares to Him.

In Jeremiah 10:8-9, the absurdity of the peoples worshiping their self-made and decorated objects is pointed out once again. The material needed to make an idol was taken from somewhere on earth. The idols are made by craftsmen, but those people are also foolish for believing in such a big lie. It is artful work with an evil goal. The teaching of the idols is worth as much as the wood of which those gods are made.

Opposed to idolaters and their works is the God of truth (Jeremiah 10:10). Through Him we know the truth about all things. He is the true God, He is true in all His judgments and actions. He is also “the living God”. Through Him life came into being and through Him we know life. He is also “the eternal King”, He governs and controls everything always and everywhere. Nothing is out of His control. This makes Him the judging God, Who does not let sin go unpunished.

There are three contrasts here: 1. the idols are false, God is true; 2. the idols are dead, God is the living God; 3. the idols are transient, they perish, God is eternal.

Jeremiah must point out to the people that God will completely wipe out the idols (Jeremiah 10:11). These are idols to which creative power is attributed, but which, of course, have brought nothing into being. The belief in causes outside of God by which creation is said to have been brought about is thereby designated as idolatry. Behind the idols are demons. The theory of evolution is a teaching of demons.

He, the living God, and not some idol, is the Creator and Sustainer of all His works (Jeremiah 10:12; Psalms 135:5-12; 15-17). His works show the great contrast with the impotence and folly of the idols, which are also merely territorial gods, gods with a limited sphere of authority. Thus He made the earth by His power and established the world by His wisdom. The heavens, which the idolaters look to for signs, He has stretched out by His understanding.

We see here three features of God as Creator: 1. the earth, matter, was made by an act (speaking) of “His power”; 2. the world, the ordering and arrangement of the earth as a place for man to dwell, is the work of “His wisdom”; 3. the stretching out of the heavens as a tent over the earth He has done by “His understanding”.

His word is His might. When He speaks, always something happens (Jeremiah 10:13; cf. Psalms 33:9). His voice is heard in the various natural phenomena, to which Jeremiah refers here (cf. Job 37:2-3). We say “it rains”, but here we read that God makes His voice sound and then there is “a tumult of waters in the heavens”. The idols of the nations are captives of nature. God is not. He disposes of nature and determines its course (Job 28:24-26).

He “causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth” to make clouds of them that pour rain on the earth. He also made the lightning flashes that accompany them. He also “brings out the wind from His storehouses” (cf. Job 38:22). This omnipotence over nature is the omnipotence of its Creator, which is the Lord Jesus through Whom God made the worlds (Proverbs 30:4; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16).

If we think about the comparison of the LORD with the idols, we see that the prophet is not only saying here that the LORD is the Creator of the matter from which the idols are made. He also draws attention here to the natural phenomena that show that the LORD is the God Who sets nature in motion. But the greatest is that He is the Living God Who wraths and exercises wrath.

How stupid man is to exchange that exalted, all-transcending and governing God for a molten image that is “deceitful” (Jeremiah 10:14). Man who is “devoid of knowledge” of the true, living, eternal God resorts to falsehood. He goes to a goldsmith to put together a god for him. What that blacksmith makes is to his own shame. It is flimflam. In the image there is not a whiff of breath, not a trace of life. How can you expect any activity from that. This is really very stupid.

Do they not see that what the hands of the blacksmith have made is “worthless”, empty, hollow, totally without substance (Jeremiah 10:15)? And not only that. An idol is also a work of mockery. You can only mock it, that’s all. How ridiculous it is to expect anything from an idol. Finally, such a god has an expiration date. You can only believe in it for a limited time, because a time of punishment will come and then it will perish, along with its worshipers. Then it becomes what it always was: nothing (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

Opposite is the imperishable “portion of Jacob”, which is the LORD Himself (Jeremiah 10:16). He made everything, He is “the Maker of all”. In the midst of it all, He took Israel as “His inheritance” (Exodus 19:5-6). In spite of all their deviation and sin, that remains. Only “the LORD of hosts” can conceive and do such a thing. It is the Name that indicates that all the powers in the universe are subject to Him. He will not let anything or anyone deny or dispute His connection with Jacob and Israel, no matter how much He must judge them for their unfaithfulness and rejection of Him, as the following verses show.

Jeremiah 42:15

The Majesty of God

Then comes the great contrast. Alternately, these verses speak of the utter idiocy of the idols, their absolute worthlessness and deadness, and in contrast to this the all-transcending glory of the LORD Who works mightily. Opposite the foolish idols, those nullities, Jeremiah places the absolute majesty of the LORD (Jeremiah 10:6). No one is equal to Him. He is indescribably great and His Name is great in might. His Name contains all that He is. That gives peace to everyone who believes. He is the “King of the nations” – not just of Israel (Romans 3:29) – and only He inspires fear (Jeremiah 10:7). No wise man of the nations compares to Him.

In Jeremiah 10:8-9, the absurdity of the peoples worshiping their self-made and decorated objects is pointed out once again. The material needed to make an idol was taken from somewhere on earth. The idols are made by craftsmen, but those people are also foolish for believing in such a big lie. It is artful work with an evil goal. The teaching of the idols is worth as much as the wood of which those gods are made.

Opposed to idolaters and their works is the God of truth (Jeremiah 10:10). Through Him we know the truth about all things. He is the true God, He is true in all His judgments and actions. He is also “the living God”. Through Him life came into being and through Him we know life. He is also “the eternal King”, He governs and controls everything always and everywhere. Nothing is out of His control. This makes Him the judging God, Who does not let sin go unpunished.

There are three contrasts here: 1. the idols are false, God is true; 2. the idols are dead, God is the living God; 3. the idols are transient, they perish, God is eternal.

Jeremiah must point out to the people that God will completely wipe out the idols (Jeremiah 10:11). These are idols to which creative power is attributed, but which, of course, have brought nothing into being. The belief in causes outside of God by which creation is said to have been brought about is thereby designated as idolatry. Behind the idols are demons. The theory of evolution is a teaching of demons.

He, the living God, and not some idol, is the Creator and Sustainer of all His works (Jeremiah 10:12; Psalms 135:5-12; 15-17). His works show the great contrast with the impotence and folly of the idols, which are also merely territorial gods, gods with a limited sphere of authority. Thus He made the earth by His power and established the world by His wisdom. The heavens, which the idolaters look to for signs, He has stretched out by His understanding.

We see here three features of God as Creator: 1. the earth, matter, was made by an act (speaking) of “His power”; 2. the world, the ordering and arrangement of the earth as a place for man to dwell, is the work of “His wisdom”; 3. the stretching out of the heavens as a tent over the earth He has done by “His understanding”.

His word is His might. When He speaks, always something happens (Jeremiah 10:13; cf. Psalms 33:9). His voice is heard in the various natural phenomena, to which Jeremiah refers here (cf. Job 37:2-3). We say “it rains”, but here we read that God makes His voice sound and then there is “a tumult of waters in the heavens”. The idols of the nations are captives of nature. God is not. He disposes of nature and determines its course (Job 28:24-26).

He “causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth” to make clouds of them that pour rain on the earth. He also made the lightning flashes that accompany them. He also “brings out the wind from His storehouses” (cf. Job 38:22). This omnipotence over nature is the omnipotence of its Creator, which is the Lord Jesus through Whom God made the worlds (Proverbs 30:4; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16).

If we think about the comparison of the LORD with the idols, we see that the prophet is not only saying here that the LORD is the Creator of the matter from which the idols are made. He also draws attention here to the natural phenomena that show that the LORD is the God Who sets nature in motion. But the greatest is that He is the Living God Who wraths and exercises wrath.

How stupid man is to exchange that exalted, all-transcending and governing God for a molten image that is “deceitful” (Jeremiah 10:14). Man who is “devoid of knowledge” of the true, living, eternal God resorts to falsehood. He goes to a goldsmith to put together a god for him. What that blacksmith makes is to his own shame. It is flimflam. In the image there is not a whiff of breath, not a trace of life. How can you expect any activity from that. This is really very stupid.

Do they not see that what the hands of the blacksmith have made is “worthless”, empty, hollow, totally without substance (Jeremiah 10:15)? And not only that. An idol is also a work of mockery. You can only mock it, that’s all. How ridiculous it is to expect anything from an idol. Finally, such a god has an expiration date. You can only believe in it for a limited time, because a time of punishment will come and then it will perish, along with its worshipers. Then it becomes what it always was: nothing (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

Opposite is the imperishable “portion of Jacob”, which is the LORD Himself (Jeremiah 10:16). He made everything, He is “the Maker of all”. In the midst of it all, He took Israel as “His inheritance” (Exodus 19:5-6). In spite of all their deviation and sin, that remains. Only “the LORD of hosts” can conceive and do such a thing. It is the Name that indicates that all the powers in the universe are subject to Him. He will not let anything or anyone deny or dispute His connection with Jacob and Israel, no matter how much He must judge them for their unfaithfulness and rejection of Him, as the following verses show.

Jeremiah 42:16

The Majesty of God

Then comes the great contrast. Alternately, these verses speak of the utter idiocy of the idols, their absolute worthlessness and deadness, and in contrast to this the all-transcending glory of the LORD Who works mightily. Opposite the foolish idols, those nullities, Jeremiah places the absolute majesty of the LORD (Jeremiah 10:6). No one is equal to Him. He is indescribably great and His Name is great in might. His Name contains all that He is. That gives peace to everyone who believes. He is the “King of the nations” – not just of Israel (Romans 3:29) – and only He inspires fear (Jeremiah 10:7). No wise man of the nations compares to Him.

In Jeremiah 10:8-9, the absurdity of the peoples worshiping their self-made and decorated objects is pointed out once again. The material needed to make an idol was taken from somewhere on earth. The idols are made by craftsmen, but those people are also foolish for believing in such a big lie. It is artful work with an evil goal. The teaching of the idols is worth as much as the wood of which those gods are made.

Opposed to idolaters and their works is the God of truth (Jeremiah 10:10). Through Him we know the truth about all things. He is the true God, He is true in all His judgments and actions. He is also “the living God”. Through Him life came into being and through Him we know life. He is also “the eternal King”, He governs and controls everything always and everywhere. Nothing is out of His control. This makes Him the judging God, Who does not let sin go unpunished.

There are three contrasts here: 1. the idols are false, God is true; 2. the idols are dead, God is the living God; 3. the idols are transient, they perish, God is eternal.

Jeremiah must point out to the people that God will completely wipe out the idols (Jeremiah 10:11). These are idols to which creative power is attributed, but which, of course, have brought nothing into being. The belief in causes outside of God by which creation is said to have been brought about is thereby designated as idolatry. Behind the idols are demons. The theory of evolution is a teaching of demons.

He, the living God, and not some idol, is the Creator and Sustainer of all His works (Jeremiah 10:12; Psalms 135:5-12; 15-17). His works show the great contrast with the impotence and folly of the idols, which are also merely territorial gods, gods with a limited sphere of authority. Thus He made the earth by His power and established the world by His wisdom. The heavens, which the idolaters look to for signs, He has stretched out by His understanding.

We see here three features of God as Creator: 1. the earth, matter, was made by an act (speaking) of “His power”; 2. the world, the ordering and arrangement of the earth as a place for man to dwell, is the work of “His wisdom”; 3. the stretching out of the heavens as a tent over the earth He has done by “His understanding”.

His word is His might. When He speaks, always something happens (Jeremiah 10:13; cf. Psalms 33:9). His voice is heard in the various natural phenomena, to which Jeremiah refers here (cf. Job 37:2-3). We say “it rains”, but here we read that God makes His voice sound and then there is “a tumult of waters in the heavens”. The idols of the nations are captives of nature. God is not. He disposes of nature and determines its course (Job 28:24-26).

He “causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth” to make clouds of them that pour rain on the earth. He also made the lightning flashes that accompany them. He also “brings out the wind from His storehouses” (cf. Job 38:22). This omnipotence over nature is the omnipotence of its Creator, which is the Lord Jesus through Whom God made the worlds (Proverbs 30:4; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16).

If we think about the comparison of the LORD with the idols, we see that the prophet is not only saying here that the LORD is the Creator of the matter from which the idols are made. He also draws attention here to the natural phenomena that show that the LORD is the God Who sets nature in motion. But the greatest is that He is the Living God Who wraths and exercises wrath.

How stupid man is to exchange that exalted, all-transcending and governing God for a molten image that is “deceitful” (Jeremiah 10:14). Man who is “devoid of knowledge” of the true, living, eternal God resorts to falsehood. He goes to a goldsmith to put together a god for him. What that blacksmith makes is to his own shame. It is flimflam. In the image there is not a whiff of breath, not a trace of life. How can you expect any activity from that. This is really very stupid.

Do they not see that what the hands of the blacksmith have made is “worthless”, empty, hollow, totally without substance (Jeremiah 10:15)? And not only that. An idol is also a work of mockery. You can only mock it, that’s all. How ridiculous it is to expect anything from an idol. Finally, such a god has an expiration date. You can only believe in it for a limited time, because a time of punishment will come and then it will perish, along with its worshipers. Then it becomes what it always was: nothing (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

Opposite is the imperishable “portion of Jacob”, which is the LORD Himself (Jeremiah 10:16). He made everything, He is “the Maker of all”. In the midst of it all, He took Israel as “His inheritance” (Exodus 19:5-6). In spite of all their deviation and sin, that remains. Only “the LORD of hosts” can conceive and do such a thing. It is the Name that indicates that all the powers in the universe are subject to Him. He will not let anything or anyone deny or dispute His connection with Jacob and Israel, no matter how much He must judge them for their unfaithfulness and rejection of Him, as the following verses show.

Jeremiah 42:17

The Majesty of God

Then comes the great contrast. Alternately, these verses speak of the utter idiocy of the idols, their absolute worthlessness and deadness, and in contrast to this the all-transcending glory of the LORD Who works mightily. Opposite the foolish idols, those nullities, Jeremiah places the absolute majesty of the LORD (Jeremiah 10:6). No one is equal to Him. He is indescribably great and His Name is great in might. His Name contains all that He is. That gives peace to everyone who believes. He is the “King of the nations” – not just of Israel (Romans 3:29) – and only He inspires fear (Jeremiah 10:7). No wise man of the nations compares to Him.

In Jeremiah 10:8-9, the absurdity of the peoples worshiping their self-made and decorated objects is pointed out once again. The material needed to make an idol was taken from somewhere on earth. The idols are made by craftsmen, but those people are also foolish for believing in such a big lie. It is artful work with an evil goal. The teaching of the idols is worth as much as the wood of which those gods are made.

Opposed to idolaters and their works is the God of truth (Jeremiah 10:10). Through Him we know the truth about all things. He is the true God, He is true in all His judgments and actions. He is also “the living God”. Through Him life came into being and through Him we know life. He is also “the eternal King”, He governs and controls everything always and everywhere. Nothing is out of His control. This makes Him the judging God, Who does not let sin go unpunished.

There are three contrasts here: 1. the idols are false, God is true; 2. the idols are dead, God is the living God; 3. the idols are transient, they perish, God is eternal.

Jeremiah must point out to the people that God will completely wipe out the idols (Jeremiah 10:11). These are idols to which creative power is attributed, but which, of course, have brought nothing into being. The belief in causes outside of God by which creation is said to have been brought about is thereby designated as idolatry. Behind the idols are demons. The theory of evolution is a teaching of demons.

He, the living God, and not some idol, is the Creator and Sustainer of all His works (Jeremiah 10:12; Psalms 135:5-12; 15-17). His works show the great contrast with the impotence and folly of the idols, which are also merely territorial gods, gods with a limited sphere of authority. Thus He made the earth by His power and established the world by His wisdom. The heavens, which the idolaters look to for signs, He has stretched out by His understanding.

We see here three features of God as Creator: 1. the earth, matter, was made by an act (speaking) of “His power”; 2. the world, the ordering and arrangement of the earth as a place for man to dwell, is the work of “His wisdom”; 3. the stretching out of the heavens as a tent over the earth He has done by “His understanding”.

His word is His might. When He speaks, always something happens (Jeremiah 10:13; cf. Psalms 33:9). His voice is heard in the various natural phenomena, to which Jeremiah refers here (cf. Job 37:2-3). We say “it rains”, but here we read that God makes His voice sound and then there is “a tumult of waters in the heavens”. The idols of the nations are captives of nature. God is not. He disposes of nature and determines its course (Job 28:24-26).

He “causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth” to make clouds of them that pour rain on the earth. He also made the lightning flashes that accompany them. He also “brings out the wind from His storehouses” (cf. Job 38:22). This omnipotence over nature is the omnipotence of its Creator, which is the Lord Jesus through Whom God made the worlds (Proverbs 30:4; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16).

If we think about the comparison of the LORD with the idols, we see that the prophet is not only saying here that the LORD is the Creator of the matter from which the idols are made. He also draws attention here to the natural phenomena that show that the LORD is the God Who sets nature in motion. But the greatest is that He is the Living God Who wraths and exercises wrath.

How stupid man is to exchange that exalted, all-transcending and governing God for a molten image that is “deceitful” (Jeremiah 10:14). Man who is “devoid of knowledge” of the true, living, eternal God resorts to falsehood. He goes to a goldsmith to put together a god for him. What that blacksmith makes is to his own shame. It is flimflam. In the image there is not a whiff of breath, not a trace of life. How can you expect any activity from that. This is really very stupid.

Do they not see that what the hands of the blacksmith have made is “worthless”, empty, hollow, totally without substance (Jeremiah 10:15)? And not only that. An idol is also a work of mockery. You can only mock it, that’s all. How ridiculous it is to expect anything from an idol. Finally, such a god has an expiration date. You can only believe in it for a limited time, because a time of punishment will come and then it will perish, along with its worshipers. Then it becomes what it always was: nothing (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

Opposite is the imperishable “portion of Jacob”, which is the LORD Himself (Jeremiah 10:16). He made everything, He is “the Maker of all”. In the midst of it all, He took Israel as “His inheritance” (Exodus 19:5-6). In spite of all their deviation and sin, that remains. Only “the LORD of hosts” can conceive and do such a thing. It is the Name that indicates that all the powers in the universe are subject to Him. He will not let anything or anyone deny or dispute His connection with Jacob and Israel, no matter how much He must judge them for their unfaithfulness and rejection of Him, as the following verses show.

Jeremiah 42:18

The Majesty of God

Then comes the great contrast. Alternately, these verses speak of the utter idiocy of the idols, their absolute worthlessness and deadness, and in contrast to this the all-transcending glory of the LORD Who works mightily. Opposite the foolish idols, those nullities, Jeremiah places the absolute majesty of the LORD (Jeremiah 10:6). No one is equal to Him. He is indescribably great and His Name is great in might. His Name contains all that He is. That gives peace to everyone who believes. He is the “King of the nations” – not just of Israel (Romans 3:29) – and only He inspires fear (Jeremiah 10:7). No wise man of the nations compares to Him.

In Jeremiah 10:8-9, the absurdity of the peoples worshiping their self-made and decorated objects is pointed out once again. The material needed to make an idol was taken from somewhere on earth. The idols are made by craftsmen, but those people are also foolish for believing in such a big lie. It is artful work with an evil goal. The teaching of the idols is worth as much as the wood of which those gods are made.

Opposed to idolaters and their works is the God of truth (Jeremiah 10:10). Through Him we know the truth about all things. He is the true God, He is true in all His judgments and actions. He is also “the living God”. Through Him life came into being and through Him we know life. He is also “the eternal King”, He governs and controls everything always and everywhere. Nothing is out of His control. This makes Him the judging God, Who does not let sin go unpunished.

There are three contrasts here: 1. the idols are false, God is true; 2. the idols are dead, God is the living God; 3. the idols are transient, they perish, God is eternal.

Jeremiah must point out to the people that God will completely wipe out the idols (Jeremiah 10:11). These are idols to which creative power is attributed, but which, of course, have brought nothing into being. The belief in causes outside of God by which creation is said to have been brought about is thereby designated as idolatry. Behind the idols are demons. The theory of evolution is a teaching of demons.

He, the living God, and not some idol, is the Creator and Sustainer of all His works (Jeremiah 10:12; Psalms 135:5-12; 15-17). His works show the great contrast with the impotence and folly of the idols, which are also merely territorial gods, gods with a limited sphere of authority. Thus He made the earth by His power and established the world by His wisdom. The heavens, which the idolaters look to for signs, He has stretched out by His understanding.

We see here three features of God as Creator: 1. the earth, matter, was made by an act (speaking) of “His power”; 2. the world, the ordering and arrangement of the earth as a place for man to dwell, is the work of “His wisdom”; 3. the stretching out of the heavens as a tent over the earth He has done by “His understanding”.

His word is His might. When He speaks, always something happens (Jeremiah 10:13; cf. Psalms 33:9). His voice is heard in the various natural phenomena, to which Jeremiah refers here (cf. Job 37:2-3). We say “it rains”, but here we read that God makes His voice sound and then there is “a tumult of waters in the heavens”. The idols of the nations are captives of nature. God is not. He disposes of nature and determines its course (Job 28:24-26).

He “causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth” to make clouds of them that pour rain on the earth. He also made the lightning flashes that accompany them. He also “brings out the wind from His storehouses” (cf. Job 38:22). This omnipotence over nature is the omnipotence of its Creator, which is the Lord Jesus through Whom God made the worlds (Proverbs 30:4; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16).

If we think about the comparison of the LORD with the idols, we see that the prophet is not only saying here that the LORD is the Creator of the matter from which the idols are made. He also draws attention here to the natural phenomena that show that the LORD is the God Who sets nature in motion. But the greatest is that He is the Living God Who wraths and exercises wrath.

How stupid man is to exchange that exalted, all-transcending and governing God for a molten image that is “deceitful” (Jeremiah 10:14). Man who is “devoid of knowledge” of the true, living, eternal God resorts to falsehood. He goes to a goldsmith to put together a god for him. What that blacksmith makes is to his own shame. It is flimflam. In the image there is not a whiff of breath, not a trace of life. How can you expect any activity from that. This is really very stupid.

Do they not see that what the hands of the blacksmith have made is “worthless”, empty, hollow, totally without substance (Jeremiah 10:15)? And not only that. An idol is also a work of mockery. You can only mock it, that’s all. How ridiculous it is to expect anything from an idol. Finally, such a god has an expiration date. You can only believe in it for a limited time, because a time of punishment will come and then it will perish, along with its worshipers. Then it becomes what it always was: nothing (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

Opposite is the imperishable “portion of Jacob”, which is the LORD Himself (Jeremiah 10:16). He made everything, He is “the Maker of all”. In the midst of it all, He took Israel as “His inheritance” (Exodus 19:5-6). In spite of all their deviation and sin, that remains. Only “the LORD of hosts” can conceive and do such a thing. It is the Name that indicates that all the powers in the universe are subject to Him. He will not let anything or anyone deny or dispute His connection with Jacob and Israel, no matter how much He must judge them for their unfaithfulness and rejection of Him, as the following verses show.

Jeremiah 42:19

The Majesty of God

Then comes the great contrast. Alternately, these verses speak of the utter idiocy of the idols, their absolute worthlessness and deadness, and in contrast to this the all-transcending glory of the LORD Who works mightily. Opposite the foolish idols, those nullities, Jeremiah places the absolute majesty of the LORD (Jeremiah 10:6). No one is equal to Him. He is indescribably great and His Name is great in might. His Name contains all that He is. That gives peace to everyone who believes. He is the “King of the nations” – not just of Israel (Romans 3:29) – and only He inspires fear (Jeremiah 10:7). No wise man of the nations compares to Him.

In Jeremiah 10:8-9, the absurdity of the peoples worshiping their self-made and decorated objects is pointed out once again. The material needed to make an idol was taken from somewhere on earth. The idols are made by craftsmen, but those people are also foolish for believing in such a big lie. It is artful work with an evil goal. The teaching of the idols is worth as much as the wood of which those gods are made.

Opposed to idolaters and their works is the God of truth (Jeremiah 10:10). Through Him we know the truth about all things. He is the true God, He is true in all His judgments and actions. He is also “the living God”. Through Him life came into being and through Him we know life. He is also “the eternal King”, He governs and controls everything always and everywhere. Nothing is out of His control. This makes Him the judging God, Who does not let sin go unpunished.

There are three contrasts here: 1. the idols are false, God is true; 2. the idols are dead, God is the living God; 3. the idols are transient, they perish, God is eternal.

Jeremiah must point out to the people that God will completely wipe out the idols (Jeremiah 10:11). These are idols to which creative power is attributed, but which, of course, have brought nothing into being. The belief in causes outside of God by which creation is said to have been brought about is thereby designated as idolatry. Behind the idols are demons. The theory of evolution is a teaching of demons.

He, the living God, and not some idol, is the Creator and Sustainer of all His works (Jeremiah 10:12; Psalms 135:5-12; 15-17). His works show the great contrast with the impotence and folly of the idols, which are also merely territorial gods, gods with a limited sphere of authority. Thus He made the earth by His power and established the world by His wisdom. The heavens, which the idolaters look to for signs, He has stretched out by His understanding.

We see here three features of God as Creator: 1. the earth, matter, was made by an act (speaking) of “His power”; 2. the world, the ordering and arrangement of the earth as a place for man to dwell, is the work of “His wisdom”; 3. the stretching out of the heavens as a tent over the earth He has done by “His understanding”.

His word is His might. When He speaks, always something happens (Jeremiah 10:13; cf. Psalms 33:9). His voice is heard in the various natural phenomena, to which Jeremiah refers here (cf. Job 37:2-3). We say “it rains”, but here we read that God makes His voice sound and then there is “a tumult of waters in the heavens”. The idols of the nations are captives of nature. God is not. He disposes of nature and determines its course (Job 28:24-26).

He “causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth” to make clouds of them that pour rain on the earth. He also made the lightning flashes that accompany them. He also “brings out the wind from His storehouses” (cf. Job 38:22). This omnipotence over nature is the omnipotence of its Creator, which is the Lord Jesus through Whom God made the worlds (Proverbs 30:4; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16).

If we think about the comparison of the LORD with the idols, we see that the prophet is not only saying here that the LORD is the Creator of the matter from which the idols are made. He also draws attention here to the natural phenomena that show that the LORD is the God Who sets nature in motion. But the greatest is that He is the Living God Who wraths and exercises wrath.

How stupid man is to exchange that exalted, all-transcending and governing God for a molten image that is “deceitful” (Jeremiah 10:14). Man who is “devoid of knowledge” of the true, living, eternal God resorts to falsehood. He goes to a goldsmith to put together a god for him. What that blacksmith makes is to his own shame. It is flimflam. In the image there is not a whiff of breath, not a trace of life. How can you expect any activity from that. This is really very stupid.

Do they not see that what the hands of the blacksmith have made is “worthless”, empty, hollow, totally without substance (Jeremiah 10:15)? And not only that. An idol is also a work of mockery. You can only mock it, that’s all. How ridiculous it is to expect anything from an idol. Finally, such a god has an expiration date. You can only believe in it for a limited time, because a time of punishment will come and then it will perish, along with its worshipers. Then it becomes what it always was: nothing (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

Opposite is the imperishable “portion of Jacob”, which is the LORD Himself (Jeremiah 10:16). He made everything, He is “the Maker of all”. In the midst of it all, He took Israel as “His inheritance” (Exodus 19:5-6). In spite of all their deviation and sin, that remains. Only “the LORD of hosts” can conceive and do such a thing. It is the Name that indicates that all the powers in the universe are subject to Him. He will not let anything or anyone deny or dispute His connection with Jacob and Israel, no matter how much He must judge them for their unfaithfulness and rejection of Him, as the following verses show.

Jeremiah 42:20

The Majesty of God

Then comes the great contrast. Alternately, these verses speak of the utter idiocy of the idols, their absolute worthlessness and deadness, and in contrast to this the all-transcending glory of the LORD Who works mightily. Opposite the foolish idols, those nullities, Jeremiah places the absolute majesty of the LORD (Jeremiah 10:6). No one is equal to Him. He is indescribably great and His Name is great in might. His Name contains all that He is. That gives peace to everyone who believes. He is the “King of the nations” – not just of Israel (Romans 3:29) – and only He inspires fear (Jeremiah 10:7). No wise man of the nations compares to Him.

In Jeremiah 10:8-9, the absurdity of the peoples worshiping their self-made and decorated objects is pointed out once again. The material needed to make an idol was taken from somewhere on earth. The idols are made by craftsmen, but those people are also foolish for believing in such a big lie. It is artful work with an evil goal. The teaching of the idols is worth as much as the wood of which those gods are made.

Opposed to idolaters and their works is the God of truth (Jeremiah 10:10). Through Him we know the truth about all things. He is the true God, He is true in all His judgments and actions. He is also “the living God”. Through Him life came into being and through Him we know life. He is also “the eternal King”, He governs and controls everything always and everywhere. Nothing is out of His control. This makes Him the judging God, Who does not let sin go unpunished.

There are three contrasts here: 1. the idols are false, God is true; 2. the idols are dead, God is the living God; 3. the idols are transient, they perish, God is eternal.

Jeremiah must point out to the people that God will completely wipe out the idols (Jeremiah 10:11). These are idols to which creative power is attributed, but which, of course, have brought nothing into being. The belief in causes outside of God by which creation is said to have been brought about is thereby designated as idolatry. Behind the idols are demons. The theory of evolution is a teaching of demons.

He, the living God, and not some idol, is the Creator and Sustainer of all His works (Jeremiah 10:12; Psalms 135:5-12; 15-17). His works show the great contrast with the impotence and folly of the idols, which are also merely territorial gods, gods with a limited sphere of authority. Thus He made the earth by His power and established the world by His wisdom. The heavens, which the idolaters look to for signs, He has stretched out by His understanding.

We see here three features of God as Creator: 1. the earth, matter, was made by an act (speaking) of “His power”; 2. the world, the ordering and arrangement of the earth as a place for man to dwell, is the work of “His wisdom”; 3. the stretching out of the heavens as a tent over the earth He has done by “His understanding”.

His word is His might. When He speaks, always something happens (Jeremiah 10:13; cf. Psalms 33:9). His voice is heard in the various natural phenomena, to which Jeremiah refers here (cf. Job 37:2-3). We say “it rains”, but here we read that God makes His voice sound and then there is “a tumult of waters in the heavens”. The idols of the nations are captives of nature. God is not. He disposes of nature and determines its course (Job 28:24-26).

He “causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth” to make clouds of them that pour rain on the earth. He also made the lightning flashes that accompany them. He also “brings out the wind from His storehouses” (cf. Job 38:22). This omnipotence over nature is the omnipotence of its Creator, which is the Lord Jesus through Whom God made the worlds (Proverbs 30:4; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16).

If we think about the comparison of the LORD with the idols, we see that the prophet is not only saying here that the LORD is the Creator of the matter from which the idols are made. He also draws attention here to the natural phenomena that show that the LORD is the God Who sets nature in motion. But the greatest is that He is the Living God Who wraths and exercises wrath.

How stupid man is to exchange that exalted, all-transcending and governing God for a molten image that is “deceitful” (Jeremiah 10:14). Man who is “devoid of knowledge” of the true, living, eternal God resorts to falsehood. He goes to a goldsmith to put together a god for him. What that blacksmith makes is to his own shame. It is flimflam. In the image there is not a whiff of breath, not a trace of life. How can you expect any activity from that. This is really very stupid.

Do they not see that what the hands of the blacksmith have made is “worthless”, empty, hollow, totally without substance (Jeremiah 10:15)? And not only that. An idol is also a work of mockery. You can only mock it, that’s all. How ridiculous it is to expect anything from an idol. Finally, such a god has an expiration date. You can only believe in it for a limited time, because a time of punishment will come and then it will perish, along with its worshipers. Then it becomes what it always was: nothing (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

Opposite is the imperishable “portion of Jacob”, which is the LORD Himself (Jeremiah 10:16). He made everything, He is “the Maker of all”. In the midst of it all, He took Israel as “His inheritance” (Exodus 19:5-6). In spite of all their deviation and sin, that remains. Only “the LORD of hosts” can conceive and do such a thing. It is the Name that indicates that all the powers in the universe are subject to Him. He will not let anything or anyone deny or dispute His connection with Jacob and Israel, no matter how much He must judge them for their unfaithfulness and rejection of Him, as the following verses show.

Jeremiah 42:21

The Majesty of God

Then comes the great contrast. Alternately, these verses speak of the utter idiocy of the idols, their absolute worthlessness and deadness, and in contrast to this the all-transcending glory of the LORD Who works mightily. Opposite the foolish idols, those nullities, Jeremiah places the absolute majesty of the LORD (Jeremiah 10:6). No one is equal to Him. He is indescribably great and His Name is great in might. His Name contains all that He is. That gives peace to everyone who believes. He is the “King of the nations” – not just of Israel (Romans 3:29) – and only He inspires fear (Jeremiah 10:7). No wise man of the nations compares to Him.

In Jeremiah 10:8-9, the absurdity of the peoples worshiping their self-made and decorated objects is pointed out once again. The material needed to make an idol was taken from somewhere on earth. The idols are made by craftsmen, but those people are also foolish for believing in such a big lie. It is artful work with an evil goal. The teaching of the idols is worth as much as the wood of which those gods are made.

Opposed to idolaters and their works is the God of truth (Jeremiah 10:10). Through Him we know the truth about all things. He is the true God, He is true in all His judgments and actions. He is also “the living God”. Through Him life came into being and through Him we know life. He is also “the eternal King”, He governs and controls everything always and everywhere. Nothing is out of His control. This makes Him the judging God, Who does not let sin go unpunished.

There are three contrasts here: 1. the idols are false, God is true; 2. the idols are dead, God is the living God; 3. the idols are transient, they perish, God is eternal.

Jeremiah must point out to the people that God will completely wipe out the idols (Jeremiah 10:11). These are idols to which creative power is attributed, but which, of course, have brought nothing into being. The belief in causes outside of God by which creation is said to have been brought about is thereby designated as idolatry. Behind the idols are demons. The theory of evolution is a teaching of demons.

He, the living God, and not some idol, is the Creator and Sustainer of all His works (Jeremiah 10:12; Psalms 135:5-12; 15-17). His works show the great contrast with the impotence and folly of the idols, which are also merely territorial gods, gods with a limited sphere of authority. Thus He made the earth by His power and established the world by His wisdom. The heavens, which the idolaters look to for signs, He has stretched out by His understanding.

We see here three features of God as Creator: 1. the earth, matter, was made by an act (speaking) of “His power”; 2. the world, the ordering and arrangement of the earth as a place for man to dwell, is the work of “His wisdom”; 3. the stretching out of the heavens as a tent over the earth He has done by “His understanding”.

His word is His might. When He speaks, always something happens (Jeremiah 10:13; cf. Psalms 33:9). His voice is heard in the various natural phenomena, to which Jeremiah refers here (cf. Job 37:2-3). We say “it rains”, but here we read that God makes His voice sound and then there is “a tumult of waters in the heavens”. The idols of the nations are captives of nature. God is not. He disposes of nature and determines its course (Job 28:24-26).

He “causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth” to make clouds of them that pour rain on the earth. He also made the lightning flashes that accompany them. He also “brings out the wind from His storehouses” (cf. Job 38:22). This omnipotence over nature is the omnipotence of its Creator, which is the Lord Jesus through Whom God made the worlds (Proverbs 30:4; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16).

If we think about the comparison of the LORD with the idols, we see that the prophet is not only saying here that the LORD is the Creator of the matter from which the idols are made. He also draws attention here to the natural phenomena that show that the LORD is the God Who sets nature in motion. But the greatest is that He is the Living God Who wraths and exercises wrath.

How stupid man is to exchange that exalted, all-transcending and governing God for a molten image that is “deceitful” (Jeremiah 10:14). Man who is “devoid of knowledge” of the true, living, eternal God resorts to falsehood. He goes to a goldsmith to put together a god for him. What that blacksmith makes is to his own shame. It is flimflam. In the image there is not a whiff of breath, not a trace of life. How can you expect any activity from that. This is really very stupid.

Do they not see that what the hands of the blacksmith have made is “worthless”, empty, hollow, totally without substance (Jeremiah 10:15)? And not only that. An idol is also a work of mockery. You can only mock it, that’s all. How ridiculous it is to expect anything from an idol. Finally, such a god has an expiration date. You can only believe in it for a limited time, because a time of punishment will come and then it will perish, along with its worshipers. Then it becomes what it always was: nothing (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

Opposite is the imperishable “portion of Jacob”, which is the LORD Himself (Jeremiah 10:16). He made everything, He is “the Maker of all”. In the midst of it all, He took Israel as “His inheritance” (Exodus 19:5-6). In spite of all their deviation and sin, that remains. Only “the LORD of hosts” can conceive and do such a thing. It is the Name that indicates that all the powers in the universe are subject to Him. He will not let anything or anyone deny or dispute His connection with Jacob and Israel, no matter how much He must judge them for their unfaithfulness and rejection of Him, as the following verses show.

Jeremiah 42:22

The Majesty of God

Then comes the great contrast. Alternately, these verses speak of the utter idiocy of the idols, their absolute worthlessness and deadness, and in contrast to this the all-transcending glory of the LORD Who works mightily. Opposite the foolish idols, those nullities, Jeremiah places the absolute majesty of the LORD (Jeremiah 10:6). No one is equal to Him. He is indescribably great and His Name is great in might. His Name contains all that He is. That gives peace to everyone who believes. He is the “King of the nations” – not just of Israel (Romans 3:29) – and only He inspires fear (Jeremiah 10:7). No wise man of the nations compares to Him.

In Jeremiah 10:8-9, the absurdity of the peoples worshiping their self-made and decorated objects is pointed out once again. The material needed to make an idol was taken from somewhere on earth. The idols are made by craftsmen, but those people are also foolish for believing in such a big lie. It is artful work with an evil goal. The teaching of the idols is worth as much as the wood of which those gods are made.

Opposed to idolaters and their works is the God of truth (Jeremiah 10:10). Through Him we know the truth about all things. He is the true God, He is true in all His judgments and actions. He is also “the living God”. Through Him life came into being and through Him we know life. He is also “the eternal King”, He governs and controls everything always and everywhere. Nothing is out of His control. This makes Him the judging God, Who does not let sin go unpunished.

There are three contrasts here: 1. the idols are false, God is true; 2. the idols are dead, God is the living God; 3. the idols are transient, they perish, God is eternal.

Jeremiah must point out to the people that God will completely wipe out the idols (Jeremiah 10:11). These are idols to which creative power is attributed, but which, of course, have brought nothing into being. The belief in causes outside of God by which creation is said to have been brought about is thereby designated as idolatry. Behind the idols are demons. The theory of evolution is a teaching of demons.

He, the living God, and not some idol, is the Creator and Sustainer of all His works (Jeremiah 10:12; Psalms 135:5-12; 15-17). His works show the great contrast with the impotence and folly of the idols, which are also merely territorial gods, gods with a limited sphere of authority. Thus He made the earth by His power and established the world by His wisdom. The heavens, which the idolaters look to for signs, He has stretched out by His understanding.

We see here three features of God as Creator: 1. the earth, matter, was made by an act (speaking) of “His power”; 2. the world, the ordering and arrangement of the earth as a place for man to dwell, is the work of “His wisdom”; 3. the stretching out of the heavens as a tent over the earth He has done by “His understanding”.

His word is His might. When He speaks, always something happens (Jeremiah 10:13; cf. Psalms 33:9). His voice is heard in the various natural phenomena, to which Jeremiah refers here (cf. Job 37:2-3). We say “it rains”, but here we read that God makes His voice sound and then there is “a tumult of waters in the heavens”. The idols of the nations are captives of nature. God is not. He disposes of nature and determines its course (Job 28:24-26).

He “causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth” to make clouds of them that pour rain on the earth. He also made the lightning flashes that accompany them. He also “brings out the wind from His storehouses” (cf. Job 38:22). This omnipotence over nature is the omnipotence of its Creator, which is the Lord Jesus through Whom God made the worlds (Proverbs 30:4; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16).

If we think about the comparison of the LORD with the idols, we see that the prophet is not only saying here that the LORD is the Creator of the matter from which the idols are made. He also draws attention here to the natural phenomena that show that the LORD is the God Who sets nature in motion. But the greatest is that He is the Living God Who wraths and exercises wrath.

How stupid man is to exchange that exalted, all-transcending and governing God for a molten image that is “deceitful” (Jeremiah 10:14). Man who is “devoid of knowledge” of the true, living, eternal God resorts to falsehood. He goes to a goldsmith to put together a god for him. What that blacksmith makes is to his own shame. It is flimflam. In the image there is not a whiff of breath, not a trace of life. How can you expect any activity from that. This is really very stupid.

Do they not see that what the hands of the blacksmith have made is “worthless”, empty, hollow, totally without substance (Jeremiah 10:15)? And not only that. An idol is also a work of mockery. You can only mock it, that’s all. How ridiculous it is to expect anything from an idol. Finally, such a god has an expiration date. You can only believe in it for a limited time, because a time of punishment will come and then it will perish, along with its worshipers. Then it becomes what it always was: nothing (cf. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6).

Opposite is the imperishable “portion of Jacob”, which is the LORD Himself (Jeremiah 10:16). He made everything, He is “the Maker of all”. In the midst of it all, He took Israel as “His inheritance” (Exodus 19:5-6). In spite of all their deviation and sin, that remains. Only “the LORD of hosts” can conceive and do such a thing. It is the Name that indicates that all the powers in the universe are subject to Him. He will not let anything or anyone deny or dispute His connection with Jacob and Israel, no matter how much He must judge them for their unfaithfulness and rejection of Him, as the following verses show.