Sermon Tone Analysis

Israel’s God is a powerful redeemer.

In our text for this evening Isaiah paints a picture of a the true and living God, and the powerlessness of idols.

It is a lesson the Church needs to be taught from time-to-time.

he prophet introduces this theme (44:6-8) by exalting Jehovah as king and redeemer of Israel, and the one eternal living God, who founded Israel and revealed himself to him as his impregnable Rock.

/“This is what the LORD says— Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.

Who then is like me?

Let him proclaim it.

Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come— yes, let him foretell what will come.

Do not tremble, do not be afraid.

Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?

You are my witnesses.

Is there any God besides me?

No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”/

(Isaiah 44:6–8, NIV84)

After proclaiming the glory, and majesty and power of the Lord Almighty, the prophet turns his attention toward the idols that Israel is so prone to worship.

He reminds them of the shame of idol worship.

He reminds them of the folly of idol worship.

Why would the people of God turn their backs on the Lord Almighty to worship such insignificant imposters?

He gets the heart of the issue in verse 20: /“ ... a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”/ (Isaiah 44:20, NIV84)

As we shall see, Isaiah’s attack against idolatry is a satirical description of the manufacture of idols.

Idols were constructed by clumsy tools and weak workmen.

The same wood used to make an idol is used to make fires for cooking.

Those who worshiped idols practiced grand self-deception.

Isaiah tells Israel that while the heathen fashioned their gods, Yahweh fashioned his people.

They must ever remember their calling as God’s servant.

God had not forgotten his people.

In his grace he would blot out their sins.

God therefore invites his people to respond to that grace by returning to him with all their heart.

The undeserved redemption of Israel called forth universal praise to the Lord (44:21–23).

!

I. THE WORTHLESSNESS OF FALSE IDOLS

* /“All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless.

Those who would speak up for them are blind; they are ignorant, to their own shame.

Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing?”/ (Isaiah 44:9–10, NIV84)

#. those who make and worship them are fools

#.

Isaiah says that all who make idols are nothing

#. the word for nothing in verse 9 is the same word translated as without form or desolate and used in Gen. 1:2 to describe the wasteland that was earth before God’s Spirit moved upon it

#. a creature who would actually create a Creator our of wood or stone and then worship the thing his own hands have created is a person who is spiritually desolate

#. the thing they treasure is actually worthless

#. those who would defend an idol as a deity worthy of worship are blind and ignorant and out to be ashamed

#. our God is deeply concerned that nothing should deprive His people of the blessing that comes by the pure worship of the Great I Am

#. to that end Israel was given specific commandments governing the worship of God

#. the first is simple

#. /“Thou shall have no other Gods before me”/

#. the second commandment builds on the first

#.

neither are they to create a representation of any deity including a portraiture of Jehovah

!! A. AN IDOL CAN NEVER ADEQUATELY PORTRAY THE LIVING GOD

#. have you ever had a picture taken of yourself and when it was developed said to yourself, /"That doesn't look like me at all!"/

#. let's face it, some folks are just not photogenic

#. it's not any different for God

#.

I think that every time man tries to paint the face of God, God looks down and says, /"Hey, that doesn't look a bit like me.

You blew it again!"/

#. when it comes to making gods, man's problem has been that we've always invented god in our own image

#. most of the ancient civilizations that we are familiar with did this

#.

there gods were not sovereign, omnipotent, and omniscient, but were more like super heros

#. the gods of the ancients were nothing more than humans who had supernatural abilities

#. there were times in her history when Israel was guilty doing the same thing

#.

they tried to give Jehovah an outward, physical form--usually in the shape of a calf

#. what's more, they assumed that God was just like them

#.

God's response?

#.

I ain’t nothing like you!

* /“These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you.

But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face.”/

(Psalm 50:21, NIV84)

#. and yes, even Christians have sometimes been guilty of having a less than perfect image of a holy God

* ILLUS.

In his book Your God is Too Small, J.B. Phillips says we tend to give God many names which aren't actually his names: Managing Director, Puppeteer, Magician, Resident Policeman, and Fun-hater.

Perhaps my favorite word for God is munch-vasen.

It means wish-being and I think is aptly describes the ‘god’ of the health-and-wealth preaching crowd.

#. it is so tempting--and so easy--to remake God in our image

#. our society has taken Jesus and recreated him in our own cultural likeness

#. to hear some Fundamentalist preachers preach you would assume that Jesus is a white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant Republican

#. to hear some Liberal preachers preach you might draw the conclusion that Jesus is a revolutionary who, if he were on earth today, would abolish capitalism and re- distribute the world's wealth and land in a more "fair" way

#.

folks, Jesus is none of these things

#. he is the /"Son of God who taketh away the sins of the world"/

* ILLUS.

The great 3rd century theologian, Augustine, wrote that, /"Idolatry is worshiping anything that ought to be used."/

That's obvious.

But he also went on to say that idolatry is also /"Using anything that is meant to be worshiped."/

#. when we treat God as a means to an end we are just as guilty of idolatry as if we bowed before a statue of gold or silver

!

II.

THE WRATH UPON FALSE IDOLS

* /“He and his kind will be put to shame; craftsmen are nothing but men.

Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and infamy.”/

(Isaiah 44:11, NIV84)

#. in Isaiah’s day there was a whole cottage-industry in the manufacture of idols

#.

Isaiah reminds Israel that the ‘gods’ they are worshiping were made by mere mortals!

!! A. GOD IS AROUSED TO JEALOUS ANGER WHEN HIS PEOPLE SET UP IDOLS

* /“You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,”/ (Exodus 20:5, NIV84)

#. the Israelites constantly aroused God's jealousy and provoked Him to anger by straying after other Gods

#. is God jealous because there actually are other gods?

#. of course not!

* Psalm 96:5 /"For all the gods of the nations [are] idols: but the LORD made the heavens."/

* Psalm 115:4-7 /"But their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.

They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but they cannot smell; they have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but they cannot walk; nor can they utter a sound with their throats."/

#. if God knows that there are no other gods in the universe then why is He so jealous when His people worship idols that he knows don't represent anything?

#.

God is jealous because He cannot stand our divided loyalty

#. one of the saddest chapters in the life of Israel was during the period of the monarchy when Israel was ruled by wicked, idolatrous kings

#. yes, they sacrificed to the true God

#. but they also worshiped the gods of the pagans who lived in the lands around them

* 2 Kings 17:33 /"They worshiped the LORD, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they ad been brought."/