#Idolatry – I and Thou Reflections

Christmas Hope & Redemption: Day 10 Twelve Days of Isaiah 40

Day 10~ Isaiah 40:25-27

Once we can wrap our heads around the fact that we can’t begin to fathom the greatness of God, we must rely on our faith.

If we believe that God is everywhere, the imagery of looking up in the sky reminds us of the vastness and limitlessness of our Divine Creator. Don’t you think?

Then, why do we often feel abandoned or overlooked by God?

Could it be in that very same vastness of the universe? We ask ourselves how God can possibly know our hearts when we seem so small in comparison.
We feel lost.
Lost in the vastness.

In this passage, the Creator of the heavens invites us to lift our eyes to heaven. Why? To show us how Each star in the universe is named, pointing to the fact that God knows every minute detail of ALL his creation, including us.

Let’s read this passage in Isaiah. Shall we?

1. New International Version
2. The Complete Jewish Bible.

Scripture from: http://www.biblegateway.com.

^{Lift Your Eyes to the Heavens}

Isaiah 40:25-27 NIV

²⁵“To whom will you compare me?
    Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
²⁶Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
    Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
    and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
    not one of them is missing.
²⁷Why do you complain, Jacob?
    Why do you say, Israel,
“My way is hidden from the Lord;
    my cause is disregarded by my God”?

Isaiah 40:25-27 CJB

²⁵“With whom, then, will you compare me?
With whom am I equal?” asks the Holy One.
²⁶Turn your eyes to the heavens!
See who created these?
He brings out the army of them in sequence,
summoning each by name.
Through his great might and his massive strength,
not one of them is missing.
²⁷Why do you complain, Ya‘akov;
why do you say, Isra’el,
“My way is hidden from Adonai,
my rights are ignored by my God”?

*Image Created by AI using scripture reference and key words*

#Hope&Redemption #12DaysofIsaiah #Christmas #Comfort #ComfortOneAnother #LiftUpYourVoice #SpiritoftheLord #SpecksofDust #Idolatry #Universe #Heavens #IandThouReflections

Christmas Hope & Redemption: Day 9 Twelve Days of Isaiah 40

Day 9~ Isaiah 40:21-24

This passage speaks of a canopy or curtain that is spread from the heavens to protect the grasshopper from harm.

I can’t help but wonder if this is somehow related to the “veil” between life and death. In Matthew 27, we see that at the moment Jesus dies on the cross, the curtain of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom. Then, in 2 Corinthians, we read that “whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”

Could these all be related and point to the sovereignty of God. Not only as the Creator but the divine presence between life and death?

Let’s read this passage for Day 9 of the 12 Days of Isaiah. Shall we?

1. New International Version
2. The Complete Jewish Bible.

Scripture from: http://www.biblegateway.com.

^{We are Like Grasshoppers}

Isaiah 40:21-24 NIV

²¹Do you not know?
    Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
    Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
²²He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
    and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
    and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
²³He brings princes to naught
    and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
²⁴No sooner are they planted,
    no sooner are they sown,
    no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
    and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

Isaiah 40:21-24 CJB

²¹Don’t you know? Don’t you hear?
Haven’t you been told from the start?
Don’t you understand how the earth is set up?
²²He who sits above the circle of the earth —
for whom its inhabitants appear like grasshoppers —
stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
spreads them out like a tent to live in.
²³He reduces princes to nothing,
the rulers of the earth to emptiness.
²⁴Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
scarcely their stem taken root in the ground,
when he blows on them, they dry up,
and the whirlwind carries them off like straw.

#Hope&Redemption #12DaysofIsaiah #Christmas #Comfort #ComfortOneAnother #LiftUpYourVoice #SpiritoftheLord #SpecksofDust #Idolatry #IandThouReflections

Christmas Hope & Redemption: Day 8 Twelve Days of Isaiah 40

Day 8~ Isaiah 40:18-20

In Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, the question “To whom will ye liken God?” is asked. In this commentary, the error is not worshipping Jehovah by images, but in fact the thinking that God can be created by human hands.

So we ask ourselves, is this the folly of idolatry?

Here is my take on this. I’m sure we all know people of diverse faiths who worship in different ways. Some might pray to Saints and light candles and others may touch or kiss icons as a sign of worship and reverance. Would this be idolatry? No one knows. Yet, if we have faith, we have the ability to discern what might be pleasing or displeasing to God. Afterall, who else do you have to answer to?

Now, we turn to Isaiah 40:18-20.

1. New International Version
2. The Complete Jewish Bible.

Scripture from: http://www.biblegateway.com.

An Image?

Isaiah 40:18-20 NIV

¹⁸With whom, then, will you compare God?
    To what image will you liken him?
¹⁹As for an idol, a metalworker casts it,
    and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
    and fashions silver chains for it.
²⁰A person too poor to present such an offering
    selects wood that will not rot;
they look for a skilled worker
    to set up an idol that will not topple.

Isaiah 40:18-20 CJB

¹⁸With whom, then, will you compare God?
By what standard will you evaluate him?
¹⁹An image made by a craftsman,
which a goldsmith overlays with gold,
for which he then casts silver chains?
²⁰A man too poor to afford an offering
chooses a piece of wood that won’t rot,
then seeks out a skilled artisan
to prepare an image that won’t fall over.

*Image Created by AI using faith based words*

#Hope&Redemption #12DaysofIsaiah #Christmas #Comfort #ComfortOneAnother #LiftUpYourVoice #SpiritoftheLord #SpecksofDust #Idolatry #IandThouReflections