Bible Commentaries

The Gods of the Heathen

Jeremiah 10:3-5

Before coming to the exact subject of these verses, two or three particular points in the chapter as a whole will be found to be worthy of attention. The chapter is an address delivered to the house of Israel, which had been told that it was uncircumcised in heart, or on a level with the heathen nations around it; the writer proceeds from a general indictment against Israel to prefer a special complaint—namely, that Israel was disposed to adopt the customs of heathen nations, and was not indisposed to accept the work of astrologers, stargazers, and monthly prognosticators ( Isaiah 47:13), and to find in all these phenomena portents of divine protection or judgment. "The customs of the people" is an expression which must not be supposed to refer merely to common usages: the reference is exclusively to religious institutions; and by the words "the people "must not be understood Israel, but the heathen nations around them. When the gods are described as "upright as the palm tree" ( Jeremiah 10:5), the meaning is literally—"A pillar in a garden of gourds are they." The Hebrew word translated "pillar" we have already seen illustrated in Exodus 25:18, Exodus 25:31, Exodus 25:36. The reference is to the twisted palm-like columns of the Temple, and to these columns the stiff, formal figure of the idol is compared. The sixth verse opens with the words "forasmuch as"; but the literal Hebrew is "none is there like unto thee." In the seventh verse we come upon the expression "king of nations," which ought to be rendered "king of the heathen," which expresses the universal sovereignty of Jehovah, in contrast with the mistaken impression that Jehovah was the God of the religious only. Again and again in Holy Scripture an effort is made to enlarge the idea of God so as to include within it infinite and universal sovereignty, and not the mere patronage or defence of any particular people. In the eighth verse we find the words "the stock is a doctrine of vanities," which is somewhat obscure. The literal rendering would seem to be, "The teaching of vanities, or of idols, is a word, or is a log:" the meaning is—that is really all that vanities or idols come to; it is but a breath at the best; it is but a log of wood, dumb and useless, and for religious purposes to be despised. In the tenth verse the words "the Lord is the true God" are better rendered "Jehovah is the God that is Truth,"—truth in its sublimest and completest form. Jesus Christ says concerning himself, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Christ's application of many Old Testament titles and designations to himself is difficult to account for on the ground that he was a man only. The same verse gives the expression "an everlasting king": whilst this is not wrong, it is certainly inferior to the Hebrew idiom—"king of eternity." In the fifteenth verse the expression "the work of errors" should be amended by "a work of mockery."

Coming now to the section Exodus 25:3-5, we are reminded that it is often said of God that he is unknowable. It would seem as if this was advanced as a kind of reason for not concerning ourselves about him. The form into which this thought would be thrown is something like—If there is a God, he cannot be known by the human mind, and therefore we need not try to know him. It is remarkable, however, that the Bible distinctly warns us against gods which can be known; and, indeed, the very fact that they can be known is the strong reason given for distrusting and avoiding them. It is said that if we could know the true God it would be our duty to worship him; but the true God distinctly warns us that any god that can be known is by that very fact proved to be no god at all. The Bible even makes merry over all the gods that can be known. It takes up one, and says, with a significant tone, This is wood; another, and laughs at it as a clever contrivance in iron; another it takes up, and setting it down smiles at it as a pretty trick in goldsmithery: "One cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." This is the Bible estimate of gods that can be known! "The carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved." Concerning the false gods of his time, Isaiah says ( Isaiah 46:7), "They bear him upon the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place, and he standeth." Thus everything can be known about the false gods: we can walk round them; we can tell the very day of their manufacture; we can give their exact weight in pounds and ounces; we can set down their stature in feet and inches; we can measure them for a suit of clothes; we can change their complexion with a brush: because they are known they are contemptible. "They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat." "Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it."

In opposition to all this view of heathen deities stands the glorious revelation of the personality and nature of the true God. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." A conviction of the vital difference between the God of the Hebrews and the god of the heathen seems to have forced itself into the minds even of those to whom the true revelation had not come: "Their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges"—Power is ascribed unto God—"Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?"—Holiness also is ascribed unto the God of Israel—"Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy:... thy judgments are made manifest"—There would be nothing noteworthy in the ascription of mere power to God; but when his character is described, and is throughout a character of righteousness, holiness, purity, mercy, we come into the real difference as between the true God and all manufactured or imagined deities.

All human history would seem to show that men must have either a knowable or an unknowable God. Nearly all nations have gods of some kind. That is a fact which must not be lightly passed over in thinking deeply upon this subject. Even the meanest gods must be accounted for. They are not among the a priori probabilities of life. They trouble men; they turn down the light suddenly at the feast; they put a drag on the fast chariot; they are seldom welcome. Yet there they are, and men will have them, as if though they are troubled with them they would be infinitely more troubled without them. What is it that clings to some god-form? An easy answer is the word "Superstition"; but there is nothing in such a reply except its ease and flippancy. Superstition itself must be accounted for. Every thinking man has what to him is equivalent to a god. His thought stretched to the point of perplexity—because so much appeals to it that is beyond absorption or reconciliation—becomes to man a species of deity, or in other terms an unknown and bewildering quantity, which will not allow him to put a fullstop to his thinking, saying, Human life ends here, and beyond it there is no field of legitimate inquiry. On the other hand, a child loved to idolatry becomes very near to occupying the position of a god: or the expectation excited into a hope which throws a light upon the whole life, and oftentimes sets things in a wrong relation to one another, or alters the just perspective of life, may exercise such a fascinating influence upon thought and action as to usurp the place of personal sovereignty and intelligence: or there may be but a dream radiant with poetry, which a man accepts as a species of Jeremiah 10:7-24

The prophet is now in the midst of a review of the whole situation of which he himself constituted a living part; he is looking round and making notes; we have the advantage of reading his journal. It is an advantage to read what a man of such large mental capacity had to say respecting the religion and politics and the general civilisation of his day. We are accustomed to speak of the tears of Jeremiah; sometimes his tears were sparks of fire. He did more than weep. There was no sharper critic of the day. Few men could take in more horizon than Jeremiah when he fairly looked things in the face. It may be profitable to follow him, therefore, in his review, to see where human nature was long ago, and to compare its ancient condition with its immediate circumstances and purposes. The prophets were always wrathful when they came in presence of idols—clay, wooden, metallic gods. They then writhed with splendid scorn; their satire was inspired; the gods withered away before their intelligent and holy sarcasm. They spat upon the gods, lifted them up, set them down, walked around them, defied them; but never for the sake of doing so; always for the purpose of bringing in a clear revelation of the true God. Here is the function of satire. We are not called upon merely to mock one another. It was not enough for the prophet that he should mock the worshippers of Baal: he must reveal the true God. All mockery, all sarcasm, all jibing and sneering at other men's religion, how much soever they may be mistaken, should lead up to positive instruction, direct Jeremiah 10:11-15 he shows the relation of the false to the true, and the true to the false:—

"Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his Jeremiah 10:23).

This is a very apt interposition, for whilst the prophet was denouncing the hand-made gods, who did not think of turning to himself as a refuge and a defence? It was well, therefore, to say something about man himself. What can man do when thrown upon his own resources, when he is called upon to tackle the great problems and the solemn questions of life and destiny?

Jeremiah ventured an opinion upon this. Is it a true one?—"O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." Now, that is either true, or it is not true; and we ought to be in a position to say whether it is the one or the other. It is most true; for we have tried to direct our way, and we have failed, we have made more mistakes than we have ever confessed; sometimes with a modesty that is difficult to distinguish from self-conceit, we have owned that we have fallen into occasional error; but who has ever taken out the tablet of his heart, held it up within reading distance, that others might peruse the record of miscarriage, misadventure, and mistake? On the other hand, how many are. there who would hesitate to stand forth and say, In proportion to trustfulness, docility, obedience, has real prosperity come? How many are there who would confess that they had been stronger after prayer than they were before it, readier to deal with rough life after they have had long communion with God? These are experimental matters; we do not call fancy to our aid in these discussions. Here is the hold which Christ has upon us. We are called upon to say what we were before we saw him, what we were after he wrought the mystery of grace within us; and the change is so complete and definite and absolute that there can be no mistaking it: it is the change from death to life. Who ever mistook summer for winter? Who is there that knows not the eloquence of the sun, the persuasiveness of light, the allurement of all heaven's singing ministry? On experience we stand. Experience is our argument. If Christianity were a question of grammar against grammar, interpretation against interpretation, who could maintain that he alone was right? The moment we leave our conflicting interpretations and come into a common experience, we feel that, explain it as we may, there is now a daily inspiration of the individual life. Sometimes we are surprised by its action, and we exclaim, That was an inspiration! How did we come to do so? Our purpose lay in another direction, but suddenly we changed the whole plan, pursued another policy, and on the road we have met angels, and opening heavens, and welcoming hospitalities. If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and begrudgeth not, upbraideth not. Christians should be more definite in their statements upon these matters. They should not hesitate to use such words as "inspired by God," "guided by Heaven," directed by the loving Father of creation. Were we more frank, definite, and fearless about these matters, we should make a deeper impression upon the age in which we live.

The prophet recognises the need of another ministry which for the present is never joyous, but grievous:—

"O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing" ( Jeremiah 10:24).

He would have judgment with measure; he would have chastisement apportioned to him, not indiscriminately inflicted upon him. Indiscriminateness of justice often becomes injustice. Penalty becomes instructive and even hopeful in proportion to its being critically measured, so that there should not be one stroke too many. It is well to have an odd number of stripes, for they need the more careful counting. The law says, "forty stripes, save one." It is not, Shall be smitten, scourged, leaving the number of strokes to the smiter; the law was made before it was broken, and the law was made before the penalty was thought of. Before the offender had committed trespass, punishment was meted out to the offence. Here we have philosophy, forethought, the economy of strength, the wise outlay of ministerial and penal activity. But who prays to be corrected? Who prays to be judged? We should get great advantage if we could begin at that point. If we could ask for the penalty, we should take out of it a good deal of its sting. It is resistance to penalty that makes the punishment the heavier. If we could invite the stroke, we must kiss the hand that deals it. We should say, We deserve thy wrath; if we do not suffer from its smart, we should lose much instruction, yea, and much spiritual strength,—Lord, we have come this day to be smitten; we have not come with outstretched hands to seize heavenly treasures, but we have come with bowed heads that thy lash may be laid upon our back. Correction that is prayed for becomes a means of grace; it is received in the right spirit because asked for in the right spirit; but to accept it dumbly, sullenly, or in the spirit of fatefulness, is to lose the advantage of chastisement. He holds all things wisely and profitably who holds them loosely—that is, who holds them only at God's bidding. The man who says, "I am but a tenant-at-will," holds his house, his body, on the right conditions. He says: "I may be dismissed tomorrow, I cannot tell, I am not the freeholder; I am but a tenant-at-will; I am ready to go, because the universe is so governed that an obedient soul is never called away from a house until he is called to some larger habitation; but to leave this poor little house I am perfectly willing, I shall be clothed upon with the house from heaven; you should congratulate me when I tell you that the Lord Jesus hath showed me that I must shortly put off this tabernacle; we should have a feast to-night, yea a banquet, and music, and singing all round, for tomorrow I am to be liberated." But we are, meanwhile, the victims of the body; we are the prisoners of time; we are scourged by the very limitations we sometimes scorn. It is a strange life, it is a tragic comedy; we laugh and cry in the same breath; we worship and blaspheme within the same hour. Yet all the while, as we have just seen, there is what is called the law of tendency, and amid all the laughter and crying, praying and blaspheming, the shout of triumph and the groan of defeat, there is steady progress. Men cannot see it. We cannot see it ourselves. But we are made conscious of it now and again, and in those moments of high consciousness we claim to have been under the inspiration of God, and to be in very deed his children, in the sense of having been created by his power, redeemed by his grace, and directed by his Spirit.