Jeremiah 19:3b,11

Let’s be serious. God wanted Israel to be serious. God wanted Israel to know the consequences of their idolatry. Indeed, He tells Jeremiah to take the elders of the people to the valley of Hinnom, also called Tophet, which was a valley that ran E-W near the South gate of Jerusalem. There he declared to them:

‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will tingle.”’. (Jeremiah 19:3b)

For the Israelites had been offering sacrifices to Baal there. Indeed, they were sacrificing their own sons, burning them alive on altars to Baal (vs. 5). The name ‘Tophet’ comes from the Hebrew word for drum. Drums were beaten to drown out the screams of the children being burnt. The rubbish from Jerusalem was dumped in this valley and continually burnt as well, making the place a symbol for the burning fires of hell.

God told Jeremiah to break a pot in front of the elders of Israel and declared:

‘Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury them in Tophet till there is no place to bury.”’ (Jeremiah 19:11)

Such a catastrophe! So many people would be slain that the valley could not hold the dead. Indeed, the place became a place of massacre, where people ate their own family and friends during a long siege. God is not kidding around. Idolatry is evil. And these Israelites should have known better, since the true God had explicitly revealed Himself to them and saved them time and time again!

It reminds me of a story that I heard on camp which the study leader (Bryson Thomas) told, about his friend in India. In India, the Hindu religion is prominent, and they have many gods, in fact every object basically has the potential to be a god, so there are hundreds of thousands of them. One of their gods is the river Ganges. His friend was walking around in the river, telling people about Jesus and the true God, while hundreds of people stood in the river worshipping their false god. He saw a lady crying uncontrollably and went up to her and asked her why she was crying. She said ‘I cannot do anything to appease Ganges. Nothing I do is enough, he is never happy with me.’ He went on to tell her about Jesus and His love for us and the true God, and how we cannot appease Him, but we can only let Him wash us clean. She was amazed and said ‘why didn’t you tell me five minutes ago?!’. He was a bit confused, and said ‘well I only just got here’. She told him that just before he came she had thrown her one year old son into the river in an attempt to please her false god.

It’s a heartwrenching story. The sickness of idolatry. But she didn’t really know any better! These Israelites had ample experience of God, and yet they committed the same ugly sin. And don’t read this lightly. For as Christians, we know infinitely better, for God has revealed Himself in our very hearts. And yet so often we turn to the world for pleasure, for fulfillment. How can we do this?!! We may not be burning our children on pagan altars, but by loving the world we burn our children’s consciences. We might not kill our children, but by worshipping our own ego we kill others’ faith. We must be serious. We must put God first at all times. He is the fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 2).

Isaiah 47:8a,9a

Isaiah 47 is a proclamation against Babylon, who captured Israel according to God’s will, but had no mercy upon them. God remarks on their arrogance and self-assurance, thinking there was ‘no one else besides’ themselves. Again it was a nation who was used of God for a specific purpose but thought themselves worthy of the praise for their actions. Plus they used magicians and sorcerers and astrologers and stargazers and everything in between.

‘Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures,
Who dwell securely,
Who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me;
…
But these things shall come to you
In a moment, in one day…’ (Isaiah 47:8a,9a)

Does this remind you of anyone today? Maybe we’re not all into sorcery (though a fair few people are still into astrology somehow), but I think all of us at least in some way can relate to this. We dwell securely, given to pleasures, and so many of us (humans in general) say in our heart that there is no one else besides ourselves. We are proud, arrogant, self-centred. But don’t be fooled by the comforts of this life, especially in such a place like Australia where we do have such great comfort and security. Life was never meant for comfort. It merely has the potential of dimming our passion for God. Or blinding us to God altogether. So don’t be fooled, comfort in this life, or security in and of yourself only will not save you on that last day. Only a relationship with Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord, will save you on that last day.

Isaiah 46:9

‘Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me.’ (Isaiah 46:9)

Isaiah 46 again addresses the issue of idolatry (which has been a common theme for the last few chapters). God talks about the idols being dead, not being able to save anyone because they can’t even talk or move! In fact, when Cyrus came to capture Babylon, the idols were laid across cattle to carry them back to Persia. They couldn’t get themselves off the cattle, or relieve the burden!

But again God says, ‘For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me’. How true these words are! There is none like God. Nothing like God. Who else can create a universe with a word? Who else can know the name of each star in the universe (that’s a trillion trillion – if you could count five of them a second, you’d be counting for about 10 billion years!)? Who else can hold the oceans in his hands? Who else knows how many hairs are on your head? Who else loves you enough to die for you? Who else could live a perfect life to make that possible?

No, there is none like Him. None even close to being marginally like Him. And yet daily we trade Him for worthless things in a failed attempt at immediate satisfaction. It doesn’t make any sense at all, but we all do it. But as long as we see that there is nothing else like God, then it is hard to turn to other things!

So today, try to meditate on the glory of God. That which sets Him apart. His holiness, majesty, love, grace, righteousness, power, sovereignty, wisdom, and everything else!

Isaiah 44:28

Isaiah 44 contains a very scathing attack on idolatry, which is almost funny to read to us, until we realize that idolatry, of course, is not merely worship of handmade bits of material. Then we realize what a sad state this world is in. However, today I’m not going to focus on this ‘negative’ as it were, but the magnificent positives in the last five verses.

God is again convincing Israel that He is faithful to them. That He is their only hope. He is the only One that can restore them, and that He will definitely do that (remembering at this time they are captives in Babylon). It seems every time He does this He starts by saying something very similar to ‘Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb’ (Isaiah 44:24a). That is, He always starts with saying something about Him being there before they were created, watching over their creation and development with the greatest care. I think He is trying to hit home with them that He cares infinitely much about them. He is like an infinitely good father watching over his children. If He was there before they even began, and watched them closely as they developed, and has cared for them greatly up until now, then why should He lose interest in them now?

On this occasion, He repeats the phrase ‘Who *insert present tense verb* something for you’ many times over. For instance, in verse 26 He says ‘Who confirms the word of His servants…’. He says many things that only He could do – spreads abroad the Earth, stretches out the heavens (all alone!). And then He says

‘Who says of Cyrus, He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,”
And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”’ (Isaiah 44:28)

Of course, it was Cyrus, 100 or so years later, that let the Israelites go back to their homeland and build the temple and the walls again. You see, God already knows how He is going to deal with the problem! He wants them to trust Him. He wants the Israelites to realize that only He can do it! He wants them to return to Him. That is the reason they were taken captive in the first place.

Are we captive in any part of our lives at the moment? Are we burdened by any sin that seems to dominate us? Are problems taking over us? Perhaps exams are weighing us down? In any of these cases, we must realize that it is only God that can fix our problems, or lead us out of them! It is only God who has been there from our birth, who can move the stars, who looks after the earth, who confounds the wise, who gives sight to the blind, heals the broken. And it is only God who will restore us. I think often He is just waiting for us to realize that before He does so.