“Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.’ ”” Isaiah 44:8 NKJV
Reflection: what things do you do to extend your life expectancy?
You probably noticed that the government decided to basically turn the food pyramid upside down. What they have been recommending to the citizens for decades was basically wrong, according to the current “science”. To live longer, you should follow the new recommendations. Interesting, right? The government has also decided to change a number of other food and health care recommendations. So it leads to the natural question, what else can we do to improve our life expectancy?
But, as Christians, should we even think about and focus on this?
We read in the focus verse today that God has to make the point, again and again, that He is the only God, and therefore the only source of life, “Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.’ ”” Isaiah 44:8b NKJV, and then continues saying “Those who make an image, all of them are useless, And their precious things shall not profit; They are their own witnesses; They neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed. Who would form a god or mold an image That profits him nothing?” Isaiah 44:9-10 NKJV.
But, who is He talking to?
It seems at first glance the Lord is talking to those who create idols from physical images for the explicit purpose of worshipping them. And, certainly, we still see this across the world, in most cultures, whether it is a figure representing a “god”, or some object that becomes worshipped (I am sure you can think of many examples here). When we read on in chapter 44 of Isaiah, we run into this long, detailed story in v12-20, of a craftsman who takes half of his wood to burn for heat and to make food, and the other half to make an idol. Let’s read a couple of key verses “He burns half of it in the fire; With this half he eats meat; He roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He even warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm, I have seen the fire.” And the rest of it he makes into a god, His carved image. He falls down before it and worships it, Prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!””Isaiah 44:16-17 NKJV. Kind of a strange story, don’t you think? Why so much detail?
There is a deeper meaning here, clearly.
Notice what the craftsman says to his carved image, “Deliver me!” Bowing down before something his own hands have made. Pretty primitive, we would say, right? We might even mock him. But, let’s be careful here. Do we do the same thing, when we look to our bank accounts, our investments, our health care or religious institutions, perhaps even our government to “Deliver us”, or extend our life? What or who do we look to, for “life”? Of course, most of us “use” those things for physical life. But there is no “life” in them, although some might promise “life”. Because, “life” is clearly more than physically being alive. Perhaps we can therefore define an “idol” to be anything that promise “life” other than God, who is the only giver of true life. The only Rock, as He calls Himself.
This is not just for primitive cultures, who carve images of gods. It is not just for non-Christians. In his parting words towards the end of his life, John wrote “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” I John 5:21 NKJV. He is directly talking to the believers, to those who have been born again, born of God. Why would that be his final message, unless, of course, it was absolutely essential to every Christian? Leading into his warning about idols, John wrote “We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him. We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” I John 5:18-20 NKJV.
In here, tucked away, we see the reason for keeping from idols repeated. As the Lord said through Isaiah, John writes to all who are born of God, “we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” I John 5:20b NKJV. Notice there is “life”, true life, eternal life, in no one else but Jesus Christ. He is our life expectancy.
