Would you worship a pencil? Not a rhetorical question. Literally. Would you worship a pencil? Give it your money, go to pencil services, have celebrations to the pencil and firmly believe that a pencil made the universe? I’m guessing no. Why?
Because you know that the pencil is made by a mere human from a tree out in the woods. It most certainly did not make the universe. It has no power. It is simply a pencil. It would be idiocy to cut down a tree, use some of it for firewood and then some of it to make a pencil, and then worship it.
Yet this happened.
But before we can pass any judgment, consider this:
- We don’t know what a “woman” is
- People think men can get pregnant and that’s ok
- People think we can transition gender
- Multiple hospitals (Boston, Seattle & others) think “gender affirming hysterectomies” are Ok to perform on children
- Some Christians think abortion is acceptable
Those outside the US think this is crazy. And that it will never happen in their country. I’m sorry to say, it’s on the way.
These things are just as absurd as worshiping a pencil. But back to worshipping a pencil. As this is what Isaiah 44 is addressing. And he addresses the ludicrousness of their stupidity as they make and fashion gods to worship. I can’t say it any better than this:
14 He cut down cedars,
or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.
15 It is used as fuel for burning;
some of it he takes and warms himself,
he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
But he also fashions a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it.
16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire;
over it he prepares his meal,
he roasts his meat and eats his fill.
He also warms himself and says,
“Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships.
He prays to it and says,
“Save me! You are my god!”
18 They know nothing, they understand nothing;
their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see,
and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
19 No one stops to think,
no one has the knowledge or understanding to say,
“Half of it I used for fuel;
I even baked bread over its coals,
I roasted meat and I ate.
Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left?
Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
20 Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him;
It is ludicrous. And yet a person doesn’t stop and think, “I used half for fuel and the other half I bow down and worship after I formed it with my own hands.” This is probably where mysticism has stepped in and spiritualized that block of wood. And yet, it is still is just a piece of wood. How can they not see??? How can we not see???
God says repeatedly, I am the only God. There is none before me or after me. I alone am eternal. I am the one who made the heavens and earth. Those who make idols do so because there is money in it.
10 Who shapes a god and casts an idol,
which can profit nothing?
Stop the nonsense. This is what God says. This is ridiculous. Their eyes have been blinded to that which is obvious. And we are not different.
Then God says something that is staggering:
22 I have swept away your offenses like a cloud,
your sins like the morning mist.
Return to me,
for I have redeemed you.”
Do you see it? They weren’t humbling themselves and crying out to him for forgiveness. He offered them forgiveness BEFORE they do so. He says I’ve forgiven you, return to me. This. Is. Love. And a very good message for us.
The ways of God are not to wait until someone asks for an apology or repents of their wrongdoing against us. The way of God is to forgive and trust Him to deal with things. Like Jesus we don’t exact revenge but “entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet 2:23).
Then God says he will bring restoration of Israel through man named Cyrus (v. 28). Now consider that Isaiah is an 8th Century BC writing. Cyrus did come on the scene and Israel was restored 100 years later through the man named Cyrus (580-529 BC). The Israelites had been exiled as a nation to Babylon and when Cyrus became leader, he sent them back home.
This brings up questions, was Isaiah the writer of chapters 40-55? If so, this would be a prophecy fulfilled. Others say that chs. 40-55 were written by someone else as there is no mention of the prophet, and it was written later during the exile. The main beef is two fold — how could such a prophecy be so specific and why does Isaiah not mention any more personal details of himself in the second half?
Here’s my thoughts:
- Many more detailed and specific prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus. This one is nothing compared to the many that Jesus fulfilled. Consider Is 53 and Ps 22 and the whole book of Matthew.
- Why would Isaiah need to mention more personal details? He already did that. And some say that he does not associate his name with any of the prophecies concerning Babylon in the second half of Isaiah. But actually he does. “The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.” (Isaiah 13:1)
- The description of the gods and Israel’s worship of them is much more descriptive of the pre-exile times. The sins were practiced heavily prior to the exile and not hardly at all after the exile. Prior to the Babylonian exile, the sins were listed as sacrificing their children to Molech, worshipping the gods, worship of Baal, etc… (Jeremiah 7:31; 19:5, 2 Kings 16:3, 21:6-16; 23:26, 24:3-4; 2 Chronicles 28:3, 33:1-19). Post exile the sins listed in Malachi are intermarriage with those outside of Israel, not bringing in the full tithe, the rich oppressing the poor, Sabbath violation and other things. Their “post” sins were very different than their “pre-sins.”
- John and other New Testament writers affirmed the inspiration as well as the designation of Isaiah’s authorship such as John 12:38-40 (hover to see Scripture). In this example we see that John affirms Isaiah’s authorship, even quoting Is 53:1 from the beginning.
- There is no gap in the Dead Sea Scrolls between chapters 39-40 that make us think there was a change of authorship or anything else.
- Some say the language is different. While it’s true there is a definitive tone change, the unique descriptor of God as “the Holy One of Israel” is used 15x in chapters 1-39 and 14 times in chapters 40-66.
The important thing is to not get lost in issues such as these and miss the point. And here’s the point–worshiping a pencil as the creator of all things is stupid. But when hearts are hard, eyes are blind. But God has taken the first step to forgive. We must all return to Him. He alone is God. He alone is good.
