He cuts down cedars…Half of it he burns in the fire…And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” (Isaiah 44:14-17)
As modern people we read this passage and agree that it is foolishness to worship as a transcendent god, a block of wood that you carved with your own hands. We think that is something that only primitive people did/do. This is just modern, chronological snobbery.
We are guilty of the same foolishness. We develop technology and create wealth, and think these things we have made will deliver us. We find our identity in our work. We think technology will rescue us from the brokenness of our world. We believe wealth is the answer to our hopelessness and despair.
Wealth, technology, a good job, these things are all gifts from our Creator. We should enjoy them and be thankful, but too often we make them into gods. We cry out to them “Deliver me, for you are my god!”
We may be 2,700 years removed from Isaiah’s time, but we’re still worshiping the woodpile!
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