◄ Jeremiah 10:15 ►
They are worthless, a work to be mocked. In the time of their punishment they will perish.
Study Bible
They are worthless
This phrase refers to the idols and false gods that the people of Judah were worshiping. In the context of Jeremiah 10, the prophet contrasts the living God with these lifeless idols. The Hebrew word for "worthless" can also mean "vanity" or "emptiness," emphasizing the futility of idol worship. This echoes the theme found in Isaiah 44:9-20, where idols are described as nothing and those who worship them are deluded. The worthlessness of idols is a recurring theme in the Old Testament, highlighting the contrast between the true God and man-made objects of worship.

a work to be mocked
Idols are described as the work of human hands, crafted by artisans but lacking any divine power or life. This phrase suggests that idols are not only powerless but also deserving of ridicule. The mocking of idols is seen in passages like 1 Kings 18:27, where Elijah mocks the prophets of Baal. The idea is that these idols, despite being revered by their makers, are ultimately laughable because they cannot act or respond. This reflects the biblical understanding that only God is worthy of worship and reverence.

In the time of their punishment
This phrase indicates a future time when the consequences of idolatry will be fully realized. The "time of their punishment" refers to the judgment that God will bring upon those who worship idols. Historically, this can be linked to the Babylonian exile, where the people of Judah faced the consequences of their unfaithfulness. The prophetic literature often speaks of a coming day of the Lord, a time of judgment and reckoning for sin, as seen in passages like Zephaniah 1:14-18.

they will perish
The ultimate fate of idols and those who trust in them is destruction. This phrase underscores the temporary nature of idols and the futility of relying on them. In contrast, the God of Israel is eternal and unchanging. The perishing of idols is a theme that runs throughout the Bible, as seen in Psalm 115:8, which states that those who make idols will become like them. This serves as a warning to the people to turn away from false gods and return to the worship of the one true God.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
A major prophet in the Old Testament, known for his prophecies concerning the judgment of Judah and the coming of the New Covenant.

2. Idols
The subject of Jeremiah's critique in this chapter, representing the false gods worshiped by the nations surrounding Israel.

3. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, to whom Jeremiah directed his prophecies, warning them against idolatry and urging them to return to the worship of Yahweh.

4. Babylonian Exile
The impending punishment for Judah's idolatry, which Jeremiah prophesied would come as a result of their unfaithfulness.

5. Nations
The surrounding peoples who worshiped idols, serving as a contrast to the people of God who were called to worship Yahweh alone.
Teaching Points
The Futility of Idolatry
Idols are described as "worthless" and "a work to be mocked." This highlights the emptiness of trusting in anything other than God. Believers are called to examine their lives for modern forms of idolatry, such as materialism or self-reliance.

The Certainty of Judgment
The phrase "in the time of their punishment they will perish" serves as a reminder of God's justice. It encourages believers to live in a way that honors God, knowing that He will hold all accountable.

The Unchanging Nature of God
Unlike idols, which are temporary and powerless, God is eternal and sovereign. This truth should lead to a deeper trust and reliance on Him in all circumstances.

The Call to Faithfulness
Jeremiah's message is a call to return to faithfulness to God. Believers are encouraged to remain steadfast in their devotion, resisting the cultural pressures to conform to idolatrous practices.

The Role of Prophetic Voices
Jeremiah's boldness in speaking against idolatry serves as an example for believers to stand firm in truth and speak out against ungodliness in their own contexts.
Bible Study Questions
1. What are some modern-day "idols" that people might be tempted to worship, and how can we guard against them?

2. How does understanding the futility of idols help us to deepen our relationship with God?

3. In what ways can we apply the certainty of God's judgment to our daily lives and decision-making processes?

4. How can we encourage one another to remain faithful to God in a culture that often promotes idolatry?

5. What lessons can we learn from Jeremiah's example about the importance of speaking truth in love, even when it is unpopular?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 20:3-5
The Ten Commandments, where God commands His people not to worship idols, establishing the foundation for Jeremiah's critique.

Isaiah 44:9-20
Isaiah's similar denunciation of idols, emphasizing their futility and the foolishness of idol worship.

Psalm 115:4-8
A psalm that describes the lifelessness of idols and contrasts them with the living God.

1 Corinthians 8:4-6
Paul's teaching on the reality of one God and the non-existence of idols, reinforcing the message of monotheism.

Revelation 9:20
A New Testament reference to the persistence of idolatry and its consequences, even in the end times.
Sermons
Hearing the Word of the LordW. Stevens.Jeremiah 10:1-16
IdolatryS. Conway Jeremiah 10:1-17
People
Jacob, Jeremiah, Tarshish
Places
Tarshish, Uphaz, Zion
Topics
Delusion, Destruction, Erring, Error, Errors, Inspection, Judgment, Mockery, Nothing, Objects, Ones, Overtake, Perish, Punishment, Vanity, Visitation, Worthless
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 10:14-15

     4345   metalworkers

Jeremiah 10:14-16

     8782   mockery

Library
May 16. "It is not in Man that Walketh to Direct his Steps" (Jer. x. 23).
"It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps" (Jer. x. 23). United to Jesus Christ as your Redeemer, you are accepted in the Beloved. He does not merely take my place as a man and settle my debts. He does that and more. He comes to give a perfect ideal of what a man should be. He is the model man, not for us to copy, for that would only bring discouragement and utter failure; but He will come and copy Himself in us. If Christ lives in me, I am another Christ. I am not like Him, but I have the …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Possessing and Possessed
'The portion of Jacob is not like them--for He is the former of all things: and Israel is the tribe of His inheritance. The Lord of Hosts is His name.'--JER. x. 16, R.V. Here we have set forth a reciprocal possession. We possess God, He possesses us. We are His inheritance, He is our portion. I am His; He is mine. This mutual ownership is the very living centre of all religion. Without it there is no relation of any depth between God and us. How much profounder such a conception is than the shallow …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

An Instructive Truth
"O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps."--Jeremiah 10:23. This declaration follows after Jeremiah's lamentation over the Lord's ancient people, who were about to be carried captive into Babylon. The prophet speaks of a fact that was well known to him. It is always well, brethren, to know the truth, and to know it so certainly that you are able to remember it just when you most need it. There are some people, who are very much like …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 50: 1904

Dwight -- the Sovereignty of God
Timothy Dwight was born at Northampton, Massachusetts, in 1752. He graduated from Yale in 1769, served as chaplain in the army during the Revolutionary War and was chosen president of his university in 1795. He died, after holding that office for twelve years, in 1817. Lyman Beecher, who attributed his conversion to him, says: "He was of noble form, with a noble head and body, and had one of the sweetest smiles that ever you saw. When I heard him preach on 'the harvest is passed, the summer is ended, …
Grenville Kleiser—The world's great sermons, Volume 3

Of the Exercises of a Religious Man
The life of a Christian ought to be adorned with all virtues, that he may be inwardly what he outwardly appeareth unto men. And verily it should be yet better within than without, for God is a discerner of our heart, Whom we must reverence with all our hearts wheresoever we are, and walk pure in His presence as do the angels. We ought daily to renew our vows, and to kindle our hearts to zeal, as if each day were the first day of our conversion, and to say, "Help me, O God, in my good resolutions, …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

Of Hiding Our Grace under the Guard of Humility
"My Son, it is better and safer for thee to hide the grace of devotion, and not to lift thyself up on high, nor to speak much thereof, nor to value it greatly; but rather to despise thyself, and to fear as though this grace were given to one unworthy thereof. Nor must thou depend too much upon this feeling, for it can very quickly be turned into its opposite. Think when thou art in a state of grace how miserable and poor thou art wont to be without grace. Nor is there advance in spiritual life …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

A Wise Desire
I remember once going to a chapel where this happened to be the text, and the good man who occupied the pulpit was more than a little of an Arminian. Therefore, when he commenced, he said, "This passage refers entirely to our temporal inheritance. It has nothing whatever to do with our everlasting destiny: for," said he, "We do not want Christ to choose for us in the matter of heaven or hell. It is so plain and easy that every man who has a grain of common sense will choose heaven; and any person …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 1: 1855

"And Hereby we do Know that we Know Him, if we Keep his Commandments. "
1 John ii. 3.--"And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." This age pretends to much knowledge beyond former ages, knowledge, I say, not only in other natural arts and sciences, but especially in religion. Whether there be any great advancement in other knowledge, and improvement of that which was, to a further extent and clearness, I cannot judge, but I believe there is not much of it in this nation, nor do we so much pretend to it. But, we talk of the enlargements of …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"Hear the Word of the Lord, Ye Rulers of Sodom, Give Ear unto the Law of Our God, Ye People of Gomorrah,"
Isaiah i. 10, 11, &c.--"Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah," &c. It is strange to think what mercy is mixed with the most wrath like strokes and threatenings. There is no prophet whose office and commission is only for judgment, nay, to speak the truth, it is mercy that premises threatenings. The entering of the law, both in the commands and curses, is to make sin abound, that grace may superabound, so that both rods and threatenings …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

How Christ is the Way in General, "I am the Way. "
We come now to speak more particularly to the words; and, first, Of his being a way. Our design being to point at the way of use-making of Christ in all our necessities, straits, and difficulties which are in our way to heaven; and particularly to point out the way how believers should make use of Christ in all their particular exigencies; and so live by faith in him, walk in him, grow up in him, advance and march forward toward glory in him. It will not be amiss to speak of this fulness of Christ …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Meditations for Household Piety.
1. If thou be called to the government of a family, thou must not hold it sufficient to serve God and live uprightly in thy own person, unless thou cause all under thy charge to do the same with thee. For the performance of this duty God was so well pleased with Abraham, that he would not hide from him his counsel: "For," saith God, "I know him that he will command his sons and his household after him that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

"For if Ye Live after the Flesh, Ye Shall Die; but if Ye through the Spirit do Mortify the Deeds of the Body, Ye Shall Live.
Rom. viii. s 13, 14.--"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." The life and being of many things consists in union,--separate them, and they remain not the same, or they lose their virtue. It is much more thus in Christianity, the power and life of it consists in the union of these things that God hath conjoined, so that if any man pretend to …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Creation
Q-7: WHAT ARE THE DECREES OF GOD? A: The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he has foreordained whatsoever shall come to pass. I have already spoken something concerning the decrees of God under the attribute of his immutability. God is unchangeable in his essence, and he-is unchangeable in his decrees; his counsel shall stand. He decrees the issue of all things, and carries them on to their accomplishment by his providence; I …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

God's Sovereignty and Prayer
"If we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us" (1 John 5:14). Throughout this book it has been our chief aim to exalt the Creator and abase the creature. The well-nigh universal tendency now, is to magnify man and dishonour and degrade God. On every hand it will be found that, when spiritual things are under discussion, the human side and element is pressed and stressed, and the Divine side, if not altogether ignored, is relegated to the background. This holds true of very much of the …
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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