Jeremiah 10 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Jeremiah 10

Idols and the Living God

10:1 Hear the word that the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the LORD:

  “Learn not the way of the nations,
    nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens
    because the nations are dismayed at them,
3   for the customs of the peoples are vanity.¹
  A tree from the forest is cut down
    and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman.
4   They decorate it with silver and gold;
    they fasten it with hammer and nails
    so that it cannot move.
5   Their idols² are like scarecrows in a cucumber field,
    and they cannot speak;
  they have to be carried,
    for they cannot walk.
  Do not be afraid of them,
    for they cannot do evil,
    neither is it in them to do good.”
6   There is none like you, O LORD;
    you are great, and your name is great in might.
7   Who would not fear you, O King of the nations?
    For this is your due;
  for among all the wise ones of the nations
    and in all their kingdoms
    there is none like you.
8   They are both stupid and foolish;
    the instruction of idols is but wood!
9   Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish,
    and gold from Uphaz.
  They are the work of the craftsman and of the hands of the goldsmith;
    their clothing is violet and purple;
    they are all the work of skilled men.
10   But the LORD is the true God;
    he is the living God and the everlasting King.
  At his wrath the earth quakes,
    and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

11 Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”³

12   It is he who made the earth by his power,
    who established the world by his wisdom,
    and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
13   When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
    and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
  He makes lightning for the rain,
    and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
14   Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
    every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
  for his images are false,
    and there is no breath in them.
15   They are worthless, a work of delusion;
    at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16   Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
    for he is the one who formed all things,
  and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
    the LORD of hosts is his name.
17   Gather up your bundle from the ground,
    O you who dwell under siege!
18   For thus says the LORD:
  “Behold, I am slinging out the inhabitants of the land
    at this time,
  and I will bring distress on them,
    that they may feel it.”
19   Woe is me because of my hurt!
    My wound is grievous.
  But I said, “Truly this is an affliction,
    and I must bear it.”
20   My tent is destroyed,
    and all my cords are broken;
  my children have gone from me,
    and they are not;
  there is no one to spread my tent again
    and to set up my curtains.
21   For the shepherds are stupid
    and do not inquire of the LORD;
  therefore they have not prospered,
    and all their flock is scattered.
22   A voice, a rumor! Behold, it comes!—
    a great commotion out of the north country
  to make the cities of Judah a desolation,
    a lair of jackals.
23   I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself,
    that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
24   Correct me, O LORD, but in justice;
    not in your anger, lest you bring me to nothing.
25   Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not,
    and on the peoples that call not on your name,
  for they have devoured Jacob;
    they have devoured him and consumed him,
    and have laid waste his habitation.

Footnotes

[1] 10:3 Or vapor, or mist
[2] 10:5 Hebrew They
[3] 10:11 This verse is in Aramaic

Commentary

v1: The word to the house of Israel; the Lord looked again for the distinction between Jew and Gentile. The ways of the Gentiles were not for the people of God.

v2: The signs of the heavens, horoscopes and spiritism, characteristics of Babylonian religion. Isaiah speaks much of this. Astrology cannot give hope, it brings terror to those who follow. We are not to be dismayed by such things, rather we must seek the truth from God.

v3: The folly of idolatry, linked with spiritism in ancient religion; but this had also become common in Israel.

v4: The wood is cut, carved, decorated, fixed, otherwise, like the idol of Dagon, it would topple. These words expose the idol's impotence.

v5: Idolatry was extremely popular with the vast majority, even in Israel. But idols must not be feared. They are impotent; although the idol cannot do evil, due to the imagination of the human heart, the idol effectively promotes evil.

v6: Jeremiah's personal testimony and declaration, "No-one is like you, O Lord."

Such a testimony to the greatness of God is an antidote to idolatry. God is great; the Hebrew word, used frequently in the OT, implies that He is the greatest (the word is the superlative).

v7: He is worthy to be respected and feared, Rev 15.4. Even the wisest of men fall short in comparison with God. God is King of nations, not just a single nation. The message of the true God is carried to all nations.

v8: Idolaters are described as senseless and foolish. Again, in comparison with God, all are senseless and foolish. The idol is a worthless doctrine, something that ought to be thrown away.

v9: Some go beyond wood, and use valuable metals, and clothe them. They remain idols, and the comparisons with God also remain valid. The verse emphasizes the efforts to which men will go to pursue folly.

v10: God is the living God, the true God; idols are both false and dead. God shows His power in judgment; which an idol cannot do.

v11: The idols have an end, God will make them perish. Idols are distinguished from God, for He made the heavens and the earth.

v12-13: All creation is subject to God; at His voice (contrasting with the silent idol) creation itself trembles.The power of God in creation is truly awesome.

v14-16: The idol is a fraud, worthless, an object of mockery. Those who seek them are senseless and ignorant, and will be put to shame. Neither idol nor idolater can stand before God's judgment.

In contrast the Lord is the maker of all things, including His people. The theme from 9.23-24 continues.

v17-18: The warning about departure; the people would be forced to leave the land. Judgment had now become inevitable. The wording here is violent and dramatic; “I will hurl out those who live in this land.”

v19-22: Jeremiah's prayer. He had to bear his own hurt, although his wound was "incurable," such was the depth of his sorrow. Those things around him were taken away; his tent, his sons, and others had suffered similar loss. Although Jeremiah shared the sorrow of the people, he also expressed the sorrow of God Himself.

Jeremiah condemned the leaders; they were foolish, not seeking the Lord, like idolaters.

The coming desolation would make the cities empty.

v23-25: Closing request. Jeremiah acknowledged man's folly. He acknowledged also his own need to learn, and to receive correction. Obedience does not come naturally. Correction and discipline is part of God’s work in and for His own people (Heb 12.7-8); and He will not reduce us to nothing.

His prayer maintains that God has made a distinction between His own people and the Gentiles.