When was the last time you thought about idols or idolatry? Frankly it’s not something I think about often. Idols and idolatry are relics from another time and place, or are they?
In today’s reading, Isaiah rails against the idolatry of his people.
Read More idolatry, worship, Ten Commandments, idolsGod’s people are in exile and it was tempting for them, as it is for us, to measure God according to their circumstances. Israel despaired that God even knew their name, much less cared.
Almost reflexively they began to compare God with the gods of the nations around them that seemed to be more prosperous.
Read More waiting, God’s faithfulness, idols, eagles’ wings
Read Reflect The themes of forming and creating come up over and over in Isaiah. People in rebellion against God form and create idols. God, here, forms and creates Israel. When people create idols, they turn to them for salvation. When God creates his people, his people need to turn to their creator for salvation. […]
Read More trials, God’s presence, idols, forming, creatingRead Reflect This passage is about forming and there are two kinds of forming going on. First, God is forming his people. The passage begins and ends with God telling his people to “fear not” because he has formed them, and as such they “will not be forgotten by me.” The second forming was Israel […]
Read More salvation, Possessions, idols, forming, technologyRead Reflect “New and improved” are an unassailable pair fortifying each other in our modern culture. We take it so much for granted that new is better that it’s difficult for us to understand that the Bible assumes what is old and enduring is better. The potter comes before the clay, and the virtues of […]
Read More wisdom, idols, new, pots, God’s goodness, design
In the book of Acts, Luke often calls Christianity, “The Way” of the Lord (9:2; 19:9; 22:4; 24:14, 22). This was an appropriate term because it accurately described the Christians beliefs, practices and preaching of Jesus Christ as “The Way”!
This “Way” was actually at the source of the great riot recorded in this chapter.
Read More confrontation, idols, “the Way”Read Reflect Self-confident Christians think they can wander close to temptation. This is fine, until the day they get their fingers burned – or worse. Asked how close he could drive to a precipice without going over the edge, a bus driver is said to have replied, “As far away as I can get!” Wise […]
Read More temptation, devil, idolsRead Reflect “Eat!” (v 25). Some Christians have such desperately sensitive consciences that they don’t seem able to do anything without long heart searchings about it. Their consciences become utter tyrants. Paul says, “If you want to buy food in the market, don’t ask a lot of questions about where it came from. Buy it, […]
Read More wisdom, discernment, conscience, idols
