Habakkuk 2:18, 19 What profits the graven image that the maker thereof has graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies… What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? 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. We have said that the prophet denounces upon the Chaldeans, in vers. 6-19 of this chapter, five different woes of a most terrible nature. We have noticed four of them. This is the fifth and the last; and it is denounced on account of their idolatry. We have seen no translation of the text more faithful to the original than this, the Authorized Version. The note of Henderson on the text deserves quotation. "These verses expose the folly of idolatry, to which the Babylonians were wholly addicted. It might be supposed, from all the other stanzas having been introduced by a denunciatory הוי, 'woe!' that a transposition has here taken place, and that the nineteenth verse ought to be read before the eighteenth; and Green has thus placed them in his translation. But there is a. manifest propriety in anticipating the inutility of idols, in close connection with what the prophet had just announced respecting the downfall of Babylon, before delivering his denunciation against their worshippers themselves." Now, idolatry, as it prevails in heathen lands, idolatry proper as we may say, is universally denounced by the professors of Christianity everywhere. We need not employ one word to expose its absurdity and moral abominations. But its spirit is rampant in all Christendom, is rife in all "Christian Churches," as they are called; and it is the spirit, not the form, that is the guilty and damnable part of idolatry. We raise, therefore, three observations from these verses. I. THAT MEN OFTEN GIVE TO THE WORKS OF THEIR OWN HANDS THE DEVOTIONS THAT BELONG TO GOD. These old Chaldean idolaters gave their devotions to the "graven image" and to the "molten image" that men had carved in wood and stone or moulded from molten metals. It was the works of their own hands they worshipped. They made gods of their own productions. This was all they did; and are not the men of England, as a rule, doing the same thing? They yield their devotions to the works of their own hands. It may be wealth, fame, fashion, pleasure, or power. It is all the same. Are men's sympathies in their strong current directed towards God or towards something else? Do they expend the larger portion of their time and the greater amount of their energies in the service of the Eternal, or in the service of themselves? This is the question; and the answer is too palpable to the eye of every spiritual thinker. Exeter Hall may "weep and howl" over the idolatry prevailing in India, China, and other heathen parts; but thoughtful Christ-like souls are showering in silence and solitude their tears on the terrible idolatry that reigns everywhere in their own country. II. THAT MEN OFTEN LOOK TO THE WORKS OF THEIR OWN HANDS FOR A BLESSING WHICH GOD ALONE CAN BESTOW. These old idolaters said to the "wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise!" They invoked the dead forms they themselves had made, to help them, to give them relief, to render them happy. Now, it is true that men do not say formal prayers to wealth, or fashion, or fame, or power; yet to these they look with all their souls for happiness. A man's prayer is the deep aspiration of his soul, and this deep aspiration is being everywhere addressed to these dead deities; men are crying for happiness to objects which are as incapable of yielding it as the breathless gods of heathendom. "There is no breath at all in the midst of it." Men who are looking for happiness to any of these objects are like the devotees of Baal, who cried from morning to evening for help, and no help came. III. THAT IN ALL THIS MEN ENTAIL ON THEMSELVES THE WOES OF OUTRAGED SEASON AND JUSTICE. "Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise!" 1. It is the woe of outraged reason. What help could they expect of the "molten image, and a teacher of lies"? What answer could they expect from the "dumb idols" that they themselves had made? What relief from any of the idols, though overlaid with gold and silver? "There is no breath at all in the midst of it." How irrational all this! Equally unreasonable is it for men to search for happiness in any of the works of their bands, and in any being or in any object independent of God. 2. It is the woe of insulted justice. What has God said? "Thou shalt have no other gods before me;" "Thou shalt worship no graven image;" "Thou shalt love me with all thy heart," etc. All this devotion, therefore, to the works of our own hands, or to any other creature, is an infraction of man's cardinal obligation. "Will a man rob God?" Go, then, to the men on 'Change, who are seeking happiness from wealth - to the men in scenes of fashionable and worldly amusements, who are seeking happiness from sensual indulgences and worldly applause - and thunder, "Woo unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise!" "And still from him we turn away, And fill our hearts with worthless things The fires of avarice melt the clay, And forth the idol springs! Ambition's flame and passion's heat By wondrous alchemy transmute Earth's dross, to raise some gilded brute To fill Jehovah's seat." (Clinch.) - D.T. Parallel Verses KJV: What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusteth therein, to make dumb idols? |
    |