Modern Idolatry

Isaiah 40:18-20 “Modern Idolatry”

It was almost impossible to sleep in when we lived in Guyana. The morning noises were sometimes deafening. The birds especially, but also the donkey next door, and sometimes our pet macaws contributed to this roar. All creation was screaming the praises of God. Like any normal human, I would look out the windows when I woke up. I would see what our dogs had killed in our yard the night before or what animals were wandering down the street. Of course, you would see what our neighbors were doing.

Our first term, we had next door neighbors who were Hindu. That was nothing strange, because the three main religions in Guyana were Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. They had a small god house in the corner of their yard near our house. It wasn’t an impressive structure like some of the richer and more-devoted Hindus had. It was about the size of a dog house, with a little roof that protected the platform where they would put their offerings. Early in the morning, when creation was singing the praises of the Creator, the husband or wife would shuffle out through the wet grass to leave some fruit or some flowers for their gods.

It is built into humans to worship. We are worshippers by design. If we are not worshipping the God who made us, we are will worship gods that we have made. Idolatry is nothing news. It was flourishing in Guyana, and very visible with idols and offerings happening right next to us. Idolatry is even wide spread in America, even though we may not worship statues of false gods.

As we dig into Isaiah 40 again, we will find the heart of idolatry that is present in every society, culture, and human heart.

In vs 1-11, Isaiah has presented the good news that God will save his people. Our verses (18-20) are in the middle of God’s argument with Israel. He is arguing against their wrong view of him by presenting who he really is. He is helping them believe that great news of comfort in vs 1-11. Verses 12-17 present God as completely powerful, wise, and transcendent. There is no one like him.

Read Isaiah 40:18-20

Before we unpack our text, I would like to read two more passages about idolatry in Isaiah. They expand what we have read here. God is taking his people to task about the worship of idols. The cannot do what God can do!

Read 44:6-20; 46:5-7

What, then, is the heart of idolatry? How can we spot it in our society, and in our own hearts? How can we see it, even when we don’t see statues of false gods worshipped?

1. Comparison (18)
After presenting the absolute power and wisdom of God, Isaiah states: how can you even compare him? I would read vs 18 and 19 likes this: AN IDOL?! Ridiculous! Inconceivable!

In vs 18, the word for God is El. There are four main names for God in the OT:

-Yahweh (LORD) is God’s personal name: the covenant-keeping God of Israel
-Adonai- Lord, ruler, master
-Elohim- the generic term for God of gods
-El- used less frequently, it is the most transcendent of God’s names. It shows God’s otherness and power above all.

In other words, God is holy. He is separate from his creation. Holiness does not first mean purity, but otherness and separation. Even though God created the world, he is far above it and not like it. Modern idolatry first compares God. We want to get a handle on God…to get him down to our level. I guess we could use the common expression: put God in a box. But God is untamable. And beyond our understanding. Inscrutable is a word we have used before (beyond our comprehension). We must remember that all we need to know about God is in his Word. To neglect that or go beyond that is idolatry.

God created us in his image. Idolatry is creating God in our image. Or creating God as we imagine him. What are some modern comparisons people make? What are some ways sinful humans reimagine their Creator?

A. God is a permissive parent
This view of God speaks not only of our bad theology but our culture’s bad parenting as well. God is conceived as a parent who has rules he would like you to obey, but knows that you won’t always obey. He sits on the couch and yells “no” at you when you do wrong, but doesn’t do anything else about our disobedience. This is false. Just because God does not automatically judge sin on the spot, doesn’t mean he doesn’t care and won’t judge it in the future. God is righteous and just. That’s what the Bible says. You can bank on it that he will judge sin.

Another way this shows is when people believe that if you are relatively good, you will go to heaven. I’ve heard it before: God’s love is big enough for everyone. Certainly God’s love is beyond measure. Outside of Christ, you will face his wrath. In Christ, you have all his love.

B. God is a doting grandpa
Sometimes people imagine that God is like a doting grandpa. He gives us good stuff, but is mostly uninvolved and cares little for what happens in our lives. Ask him for stuff, and he will be inclined to give it to you…Especially if you spend a little time with him around Christmas and Easter. This has been also like treating God as a genie in a bottle. God is not a cosmic vending machine, doling out gifts for those who throw money at him.

We looked this morning in I John 3 at being God’s children. If you are God’s child, he loves you perfectly. Since you are his child, he will love you like your Father. He will give you what is necessary to be like himself. He will give you what your truly need. If you are not his child, you a child of the devil and under his wrath.

C. God is an incompetent scientist
Others things of God like a scientists who with a wild experiment created the world. The things went horribly wrong. “Oops, I didn’t see that coming. That wasn’t part of the plan.” They think that God has a general idea of what is going to happen, but he doesn’t know the specifics. And sometimes, evil dictators and natural disasters escape his notice.

The Bible says that God is all wise and has planned all things. Everything is in his control and goes according to his plan.

D. God is an angry ogre
Sometimes people think of God as an angry ogre. He is out to get people who mess things up. If you do something wrong, he may strike you with lighting! “See what happened in your life? If looks like God was out to get you!” When a tragedy happens, people assume that God had it out for someone. The Bible teaches that God is the Judge. But he judges righteously…not on a whim. He does not wake up in a bad mood one day and starting zapping people. He is perfect in all his ways.

E. God is a therapist
Others think of God as their heavenly therapist. God’s only thought is to make them happy. “God loves me. Why, then, he exists to fulfill my needs and make me happy.” God first exists for his own glory. Isaiah 48:9-11- God says to Israel:

9 “For my name’s sake I defer my anger,
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
that I may not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for how should my name be profaned?
My glory I will not give to another.

F. God is evil
Modern philosopher and atheist Sam Harris says this about God.

“Either God can do nothing to stop catastrophes like this, or he doesn’t care to, or he doesn’t exist. God is either impotent, evil, or imaginary. Take your pick, and choose wisely.

The only sense to make of tragedies like this is that terrible things can happen to perfectly innocent people. This understanding inspires compassion.
Religious faith, on the other hand, erodes compassion. Thoughts like, ‘this might be all part of God’s plan,’ or ‘there are no accidents in life,’ or ‘everyone on some level gets what he or she deserves’ – these ideas are not only stupid, they are extraordinarily callous. They are nothing more than a childish refusal to connect with the suffering of other human beings. It is time to grow up and let our hearts break at moments like this.” –Sam Harris

This is dangerous reasoning. Sam Harris knows neither the extent of human sinfulness nor the blinding radiance of God’s holiness. He is a fool. When we take away the Bible as our foundation, we will sink. If our compass is not pointed to the North of God’s Word, we will go astray.

Don’t make God into your image. Don’t compare him. Let him define himself in the Scriptures.

2. Control
Another key part of idolatry is control. It might not be obvious at first.
-Making an image of God is an attempt to control him. In order to control God, you first need to see him and touch him. Bring him down to our level.
-Why do people make offerings to idols? Out of love? No way! They want something from that god. Either protection from the god or getting some material thing from it.

In the OT, the 2 main idols were Baal and Asherah. Baal was worshipped so that he would send rain on Israelite crops. In a society completely dependent on agriculture and therefore rain for survival, you can see the temptation to serve Baal. Your life depended on rain!

The Asherah was fertility goddess. She would supposedly give you wife children and multiply your flocks and herds. Worship this goddess, and you will have abundant wealth. Back then, wealth could be measured by the extent of your flocks and herds of animals.

This is clearly a barter system. I do this for the god, and the god does this for me. I give Baal the offering he wants, and I get rain for my crops. I give Asherah the offering she wants, I get lots of wealth. The barter system is still very much in use today.

For example, Ed Young, a pastor of a large church in Texas, had a 90 day tithing challenge in 2014. The website said this: “We commit to you that if you tithe for 90 days and God doesn’t hold true to his promise of blessings, we will refund 100% of your tithe.” That’s bartering with God. It’s foolishness.

You can also see this in thinking like this: if I go to church and live a good life, God will bless me. In America, this has generally worked. If you behave yourself ad work hard, you can often have a level of financial prosperity. This idea of bartering is the heart of the prosperity gospel. Give money to God, and he will give you even more back. Or give money to this pastor, and God will heal you. That’s false and dangerous theology that leads people away from the true worship of God.
In the OT, the nation of Israel is promised material blessings for obedience. That was then, and for God’s covenant nation. He has not extended that promise to us. Beware of serving God for things! Beware of trying to control God by serving him!

3. Capitol (our resources)
In verses 19-29, the poor and rich alike were pouring their resources into making idols. The rich used gold and silver; the poor bought what they could- a wooden idol. Better make it out of oak, not pine, so it won’t fall over!

How we use our resources shows what we worship. When I read vs 20 about the poor, I think of casinos. They advertise money and glamour and excitement. What do you actually see in a casino? People with glazed eyes fixed on the slot machine. Some of them smoking and on oxygen. All of them spending every last cent on trying to get more money. You can see what they worship. I can’t but think of Walmart on black Friday. People clamoring and pushing for TVs…or even killing others for hunks of plastic and glass. That says less about TVs then it does our sinful hearts.

What does your use of time, money, and energy say about what you worship? What will you spend long hours on? What will you give up sleep for? What do you use your expendable income on? What does your budget say about your heart?

Here are two questions to ask yourself to expose idols in your heart.
1. What will you do to get something? Will you sin? Will you neglect what God has given you to do?
2. What do you do when something is taken away from you?
These questions are windows into hearts, exposing what we truly worship.

Conclusion: the folly of idolatry

Idolatry is absolute foolishness. Romans 1:21 “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” Worshipping creation instead of the creature is utter stupidity. Idolatry shows the sin in our hearts. John Calvin put it something like this: our hearts are perpetual idol factories.

Your idol gets its strength and beauty from you. You get what you put into an idol. It has nothing to offer you, except expose the folly and sin in your heart. What has your idol done to help you? Nothing. It needs your help! Isaiah 46:7-

They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble.
Our neighbors in Guyana were worshipping idols of their own making. They hoped the idol would do something for them. But the folly of idolatry showed in their lives. The father was quiet drunk and the son who lived with them, a violent drunk. Often, I would lay on my bed on Friday nights and hear the family scream and swear at each other. Sometimes my dad had to go over and get involved before it got deadly. The only thing the idols were doing were causing them to self-destruct. We often thought of this verse in Psalm 16:4- “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply.”

Idolatry is utter folly. Guard yourself from it.