"They that fashion a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and their own witnesses see not, nor know: that they may be ashamed. Who has fashioned a god, or molten a graven image, that is profitable for nothing? Behold, all his fellows shall be ashamed; and the workmen, they are of men: let them all be gathered together, they shall fear; they shall be ashamed together. The smith makes an axe, and works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with his strong arm: yea, he is hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water, and his faint. The carpenter stretches out a line; he marks it out with a pencil; he shapes it with planes, and he marks it out with compasses, and shapes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in the house. He hews him down cedars, and takes the cypress and the oak, and strengthens for himself one among the trees of the forest: he plants a fir tree, and the rain nourishes it. Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he takes thereof, and warms himself; yea, he kindles it, and bakes bread: yea, he makes a god, and worships it; he makes it a graven image, and falls down thereto. He burns part thereof in the fire; with part thereof he eats flesh; he roasts roast, and is satisfied; yea, he warms himself, and says, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire. And the residue thereof he makes a god, even his graven image; he falls down unto it; and worships, and prays unto it, and says, Deliver me; for you are my god. They know not, neither do they consider: for He has shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand. And none considers in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree? He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" (Isaiah 44:9-20,RV)
One must search long to find a finer piece of description than this. True to the life, it is at the same time wonderfully cutting and sarcastic; its accuracy, however, is what makes it so. The passage will bear reading many times, and after the reader has done with laughing at the poor, stupid idolater, who makes his own god, he may turn the laugh against himself; for this imagemaker's descendants and counterparts are found in every country under heaven, and in every society, and every church.
The careful reader cannot fail to notice that the court is still in session. We ourselves are in the court room. The case will be on until the Judgment day comes. Now the witnesses are being examined, and are giving in their sworn testimony. The trial is to decide who is God, whether the Maker of the heavens and the earth, or the things that man makes, and so, really, man himself.
Witnesses for the Lord
In the verses preceding the beginning of this lesson, we have the Lord's witnesses again addressed. Indeed, the whole of the preceding chapter concerns them. "Fear not, neither be afraid: have not I told you from that time, and have declared it? you are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any." (Isaiah 44:8)
They are the redeemed of the Lord, those whom He gathers out of every country, (Isaiah 43:5-6; 56:6-8) who are "called by His name," (Isaiah 43:7) and whom "He has created for His glory," (Isaiah 43:7) and who show it forth. (Isaiah 43:21) God has blotted out their iniquities, (Isaiah 43:25; 44:22) and poured His Spirit upon them in floods, which they have gladly received, (Isaiah 44:3-4) so that they may testify to Him. (Isaiah 44:8) "One shall say I am the Lord's; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel." (Isaiah 44:5)
To them God speaks, and tells them not to be afraid. (Isaiah 44:2) He is "the first and the last," (Isaiah 44:6) the only God, and they, as His witnesses, are not to be afraid to lift up their voices with strength, and to declare His name and fame. (Isaiah 40:9) "We know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no God but one." (1 Corinthians 8:4)
Idols and Idolaters are Nothing
There are many that are called gods, but there is only one God, namely the living God, who made all things. No idol is anything, and "They that make them are like unto them; so is everyone that trusts in them." (Psalm 115:8)
Therefore the maker and worshipper of an idol is nothing. That is what our lesson tells us: "They that make a graven image are all of them vanity." (Isaiah 44:9)
This word "vanity," is from the Hebrew word meaning "emptiness," "confusion," as in: "The earth was without form." (Genesis 2:1) "He that stretches out the north over the empty place." (Job 26:7) "The city of confusion is broken down." (Isaiah 24:10) "He shall stretch upon it the line of confusion." (Isaiah 34:11) "A thing of nought." (Isaiah 29:21) "Their molten images are wind and confusion." (Isaiah 41:29)
That is all there is to an idol, and it is all there is to the one who makes and trusts in one. That is, it is all there is to anybody who does not trust in the Lord Jehovah. The Judgment day will prove this, when all who have rejected God will cease to be, so that neither he, nor his place, will be found: "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, you shall diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." (Psalm 37:10) "Eyes have they, but they see not." (Psalm 115:5)
This is spoken of the idols of silver and gold, which are the work of men's hands. These false gods have their witnesses, even as the Lord has His; but on the principle that everybody is like the object of his worship, "their own witnesses ... see not, nor know." (Isaiah 44:9)
The Testimony of God's Witnesses
The reason for this will soon be made clear, if the reader has not already seen it. But first, let us contrast these witnesses with the "Faithful and True Witness," (Revelation 3:14) and with those who range themselves on His side. He says, "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen." (John 3:11)
Peter and John, two of the Lord's witnesses, said, "We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:20)
God does not desire that His witnesses shall speak anything else. He says, "Go and tell the things which you do hear and see." (Matthew 11:4; Luke 7:22)
A man who testifies to what he has seen, and what he knows, can answer without fear under any circumstances; but the one who tries to tell what he has not seen, and what he knows nothing about, and what indeed does not exist, will very speedily be put to shame. "If any man wills to do His will, he shall know of the teaching." (John 7:17)
There is therefore no need for anybody to be in doubt. The mere curiosity seeker will not find anything; the man who wishes to make an exhibition of his knowledge, will not be able to give any testimony that will bear cross-examination; but whoever wishes to do the will of God,--whoever yields himself to the Lord,--will know. "If you continue in my Word, then are you my disciples indeed; And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32)
True and False Worship
What constitutes the real difference between the worshippers of the true God and those who trust in the things of nought? Just this, that the first trust in something, and the others in nothing. Now remember that a man is absolutely nothing of himself. It is only by the Spirit of God that men are made, and by the breath of the Lord that they receive life and understanding. "But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding." (Job 32:8) "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty has given me life." (Job 33:4) "All nations are before Him as nothing; and they are counted to Him as less than nothing, and vanity." (Isaiah 40:17)
All the substance, the reality, that there is to any man is the presence of God. This is the grand truth that all the world needs to learn. "Whoever thinks that he is something, when he is nothing, deceives himself." (Galatians 6:3)
That is the trouble with the idolater here described as a type of his class. "A deceived heart has turned him aside." (Isaiah 44:20)
He does not know that there is nothing real but God, and that in Him all things hold together. That is what makes men so proud and boastful. That is the secret of all self-confidence and vainglory. Now if a man recognizes this truth, and trusts in the Lord wholly, yielding his body as the temple of the Holy Spirit, he will be "filled with all the fullness of God," (Ephesians 3:19) and there will be substance, reality, to him and his words. He will be able to speak with authority. It is God that works in him, and it is the Holy Spirit that speaks in him.
But when a man who is nothing to begin with, rejects the source of all life and wisdom, and trusts in that which he himself has made, and which must of necessity be nothing, it follows that the whole thing is emptiness. His words and deeds are wind, and he himself is but chaff. His own testimony carries him away; or, as in Isaiah 1:31, the strong is tow, and his work is a spark, so that he has nothing but destruction in himself.
No Strength in Numbers
"Let them all be gathered together, let them stand up; yet they shall fear, and they shall be ashamed together." (Isaiah 44:11)
Numbers do not make strength. A thousand million ciphers (Cipher: the number zero) are of no more value than one alone. A lie does not become the truth because ten thousand men testify to it. Men cannot create anything; and that is the root of the whole matter. People who know that a single lie will be of no avail, imagine that very many of them will stand. But it is folly. "You have ploughed wickedness, you have reaped iniquity; you have eaten the fruit of lies: because you did trust in your way, in the multitude of your mighty men." (Hosea 10:13) "The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place." (Isaiah 28:17)
No man can possibly have any more strength than he has with God in him alone. God's presence in another man will not answer for me; so that I cannot trust even in a good man; how much less, then, in a wicked man. "You shall not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shall you bear witness in a cause to turn aside after a multitude to wrest judgment." (Exodus 23:2) "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished." (Proverbs 11:21)
Let no one rest in any way that he is pursuing, confident in the thought that "everybody does so," or that it has been the custom for many years. Find out for yourself what the Lord says, and then you will know that you have the truth, and that your way will stand. His Word is the only real foundation. "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 3:11)
Anyone who reads this, anybody who can read the Bible, can see at once the folly of the man who makes a god out of a tree. It would seem that no one could possibly be so foolish as to worship a thing that he himself has made, and could say to it, "Deliver me, for you are my god." (Isaiah 44:17)
Part of the tree he uses for cooking his dinner, and the remainder he makes into a god. Surely he ought to be able to see that there is no more power to the portion of the tree which he worships than in that which he burns in the fire. Yet the thing is done by men of as good mental ability as any of us. "The deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:13) is amazing; and this deceitfulness is in every human heart. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9)
Excuses or Confession?
There is nothing more common in this world than self-justification--the desire to maintain one's own cause, and to demonstrate that one is in the right, and has done no wrong. We have all had experience in this. The tendency is inherent in human nature. "They all with one consent began to make excuse." (Luke 14:18)
That is, they all began to show what they regarded as a good reason for not complying with the summons that the king issued. Now if a good reason, a reasonable excuse, can be given for any course, that shows that the course is right. So every excuse that anybody makes for his acts,--for not serving God,--is a claim that he is all right in himself, without heeding the Lord. In what are we trusting, when we do that? Manifestly in ourselves,--in the works of our own hands. Then we do not differ a particle from the man who is described in this chapter. "A deceived heart has turned [us] aside, [and we are] feeding on ashes." (Isaiah 44:20)
If we confess our sins, we shall find mercy from God, because in confessing them we are acknowledging that God is, and that He is in the right; and He is mercy. All that is needed therefore, is for us to confess our sins, not because God stands on His dignity, and wishes to humiliate us, but because only by confessing that we are wrong and that He is right will we trust in Him, who is the only source of life and righteousness. "Go and proclaim those words toward the north, and say, Return, backsliding Israel, says the Lord; and I will not cause my anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, says the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge your iniquity, and that you have transgressed against the Lord your God." (Jeremiah 3:12-13) "A deceived heart has turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" (Isaiah 44:20)
How is there a lie in the right hand of the man who trusts in the works of his hands, that is, in anything that he has done,--the man who will not confess to God, but who maintains that he has life and righteousness in himself? The answer is very easy. Read the preceding verses. The man who proposes to save himself by his own works, "is hungry, and his strength fails: he drinks no water, and is faint." (Isaiah 44:12)
But afterwards he eats and drinks, "and is satisfied." (Isaiah 44:16)
But he did not make the food and drink, and he knows it. All the strength that he has comes from what he eats and drinks, that is, from something outside of himself, which he has received. The strength of our right hand is the strength that God has given us, yet we talk and act as if it were our own.
Therefore it is evident that there is a lie in our right hands whenever we do so. Yes, we ourselves are lies, for we profess to be something when we are nothing. Every morsel of food that we eat, and upon which we depend for strength to go about our daily work, or which we use in self-gratification, is an evidence that we are wholly dependent on God.
The easiest thing in the world to know is God. Anybody who has sense enough to know that eating will give strength, has no excuse for not knowing God. Ah, there are very many stupid people in this world; very many false witnesses. Shall we hearken to the Lord, and be wise, or shall we continue in our folly?--Present Truth, December 14, 1899--Isaiah 44:9-29.