Gold_idol-screenshot To whom do you turn when troubles arise? For whom will you call when burdens press upon your shoulders?

In the days of the Old Testament there were a plurality of false idols worshiped by the various nations of the world. Where did these idols comes from? After God confounded the languages of men, people scattered across the globe. Cultures were established, and in time men largely stopped listening to God, who in those days spoke to patriarchs of the households. One such patriarch was Abram who did listen and obey (Genesis 12), but most did not. Those disobedient people eventually formed their own gods to serve, giving up on the God Who made them (Romans 1:20-25).

In open defiance against Jehovah, these false idols were praised for the working of the one true God of life. When man needed rain, God’s providence would provide it, but the false idol would get the glory. When man needed shelter, the trees of God’s creation offered him relief, but the tree would be worshiped and not its Maker.

Eventually, even God’s own people turned away from Him for the convenience of false gods. To them God asked a question…

To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?
They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he maketh it a god: they fall down, yea, they worship.
They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth; from his place shall he not remove: yea, one shall cry unto him, yet can he not answer, nor save him out of his trouble.

Isaiah 46:5-7

What can you make that compares to God? What can you discover that is equal to Him? There is nothing. The elements of gold and silver that men use to make their idols are elements made by God. The things of creation that men choose to worship were made by the Creator men have chosen to ignore. There is no equal to Him. Why worship the knock off? Why worship the made and not the Maker?

People who worship false gods have to do all the work. They have to get the gold, they have to hire a goldsmith to mold it into a shape, they have to carry it on their shoulder, they have to set it in its place. And then what? It just sits there. The people cry to it, but it can’t hear them. Why would it? And why would the one yelling think that it could? He was right there every step of the way, watching the gold be melted down and formed. There’s no mystique to an idol. There’s no wonderment.

Yet when trouble comes the idolater cries unto his idol.

Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

Isaiah 46:9

God stands alone. He shows Himself superior to all others.

Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name;
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Jeremiah 33:2-3

God says “Call unto ME and I WILL answer.” He is not made with human hands; He made us. We did not form Him; He formed us from dirt. That humbling reality of our situation should motivate us to seek out our Creator. And if we do, He will carry us. He will set us in our place. He will protect us and help us and save us from every trouble.

 

Have a great day