Articles
Man Can NOT Direct His Own Steps
Man Can NOT Direct His Own Steps
Jeremiah 10:23
Cut down a tree, carve it into a shape, decorate it with gold & silver, carry it to a 'proper' place, then nail it down so it won't topple over. THEN you step back and worship it and call it a 'god' and ascribe unto it all manner of power and ability. A god? More like a scarecrow in a cucumber field!
"There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is great in might"; "But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation"; "It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens. When he utters his voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses"; "…He is the one who formed all things, and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance; the LORD of hosts is his name" (Jer. 10:6, 10, 12-13, 16).
It was not that the people of Judah could not know this. God had revealed himself both in his Word and in creation. Earlier the Psalmist had said: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. " (Psa. 19:1-2). This was willful rejection of the obvious. They chose to ignore and deny God and to follow their own thoughts.
This led them to their silly, pathetic idolatry. Jeremiah appraised the situation saying: "I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps: (10:23).
Anytime that man rejects God's word and sets out on his own course, he is doomed. Yet, men continue to think that they are smarter than God. They argue with His word, they change His teaching, they write their own rules. Men (at least in America) don't worship a decorated chopped up tree, they now worship themselves. It is still just as futile and foolish.
