WTW 2021
March 16
Isaiah 44
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. Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?” Isaiah 44:9, 20
Idolatry. A lie.
Easy to point fingers.
Impossible to read Isaiah 41 42 43 44…
Without being shocked by the matter.
Without being reminded of Ezekiel 14
Without recalling Jeremiah 10
Without beginning to see the extent.
The extent of idolatry.
The extent of God’s hatred of idolatry.
The extent of His WORD on idolatry.
Then…
You have to consider Catholic images.
You can understand Islamic shirk.
You can appreciate the Shema.
We have a dear friend, a dear brother beginning to enter dialogue with a Catholic man called by a title we are told not to be called. That is a tiny matter.
So is an idol, a fetish a man can conceal in his right hand.
Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?” Isaiah 44:20
Can you talk with everyone you meet today about idolatry? Will you also listen to them to begin understanding the ubiquity of the lie?
It’s easy to point fingers.
We usually point with our right hand.
The Catholic you speak with today is surrounded by lies.
The Muslim you speak with today is surrounded by lies.
The Jew you speak with today is surrounded by lies.
You are surrounded by lies.
I am surrounded by lies.
If you are unsure, ask your Jewish coworker what he thinks of Isaiah 44.
Ask your Muslim neighbor what he thinks about Isaiah 44.
Ask your Catholic relative what he thinks about Isaiah 44.
What do you think about Isaiah 44?
What does God say in Isaiah 44?
Idolatry.
A stumbling block.
A lie.
“Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars. Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles beside the spreading trees and on the high hills. This is what YHVH says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from YHVH. The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I YHVH search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:1-2, 5, 9-10
Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. Then the word of YHVH came to me: “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what Lord YHVH says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I YHVH will answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’ “Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what Lord YHVH says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices! “ ‘When any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire of me, I YHVH will answer them myself. I will set my face against them and make them an example and a byword. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am YHVH. “ ‘And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I YHVH have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their Elohim, declares Lord YHVH.’ ” Ezekiel 14:1-11
Wisdom in the WORD 
The sin of idolatry lives on today as well. I was thinking how prominent it is for man to devise new concepts, new philosophies, whether about origins, accomplishments or goals we should aspire to. The culture venerates the new, the well packaged ideas and concepts, the quippy expressions and ideas that claim to encapsulate maxims of life. And those who invent them.
God puts this in perspective: these are “mere men” (vs 11).
He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?” Isaiah 44:20
How silly man is to concoct these things of significance that belong to God. With their minds they dream up grand ideas that they present to the people, who are struck by their wittiness, so they bow down; the creator is so filled with pride, he starts to believe it himself, bows down and gives himself fully to it, forgetting that his own feeble mind devised it (with the input of demons). This is as ridiculous as taking a piece of wood, using half of it to fashion a god and the other half to make a fire to cook food and stay warm by.
They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.
Isaiah 44:18
“Remember these things.” vs 21
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Fayde?
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Bringing in the sheaves
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Sjitok
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