March 5, 2025 - Jeremiah 10:14 - Brutish Sinners

Jeremiah 10:14

"Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them."

The LORD, directing His Word through the prophet Jeremiah, delivers a message of judgment against idolatry. In this verse, He exposes the futility of idol worship, emphasizing that those who trust in idols are ignorant, misguided, and blind—just like the idols they have fabricated. This verse highlights the emptiness and powerlessness of idols, contrasting them with the True and Living God, who alone possesses true power and life. It serves as a call to turn away from false gods and acknowledge the one and only God as the Creator and Sustainer of all His creatures.

“Every man is brutish in his knowledge…”

The term "brutish" in this context suggests a lack of understanding, a foolishness beneath human dignity. The people who turn to idols display a spiritual ignorance that leads them to make decisions contrary to reason, truth, and wisdom. Jeremiah is highlighting that the very act of idol worship reveals a profound lack of insight. Instead of turning to the living God who created them, they are spiritually blind. Their minds are darkened, and their actions are foolish. "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart" (Ephesians 4:18).

This serves as a warning to our generation in a world filled with distractions and false ideologies—both physical and spiritual idolatry. To be "brutish" is to seek fulfillment in things that cannot satisfy, to trust in systems, relationships, or ideologies that ultimately fail. The idols of our modern culture—success, materialism, status, and even the pursuit of self—can blind us to the true wisdom found only in God.

As elect, redeemed, and justified sinners, called to Christ by His Spirit, we are told: "If [since] ye then be risen with Christ [when He rose from the grave], seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:1-3). Notice the word "affection" is in the singular and describes a heart drawn to the Victorious Risen Savior, Who alone is the Object of all affection.

“Every founder is confounded by the graven image…”

The "founder" refers to the craftsmen who make idols. Jeremiah speaks to the absurdity of these individuals who, in their efforts to create something that will be worshiped, are confused by the lifelessness of the objects they form. The very hands that shape the idols are confounded, realizing that they’ve created something incapable of responding, acting, or speaking.

This is a sobering reflection for us as well. We are often the creators of our idols—the things that we elevate above God in our lives and worship. We may not craft physical images out of wood or stone, but we "form" idols through the depraved ideas of our minds. The word "idol" is derived from the word "idea" and begins with "I." When people say, "I think," when attempting to justify their false ways, they are reasoning as idolaters. When the creature faces difficulty or trouble and turns to his imagination and thoughts for the remedy, they can only find inability and impotence because such thoughts are vain and cannot help. To hope in anything other than the True and Living God, in the Person of the LORD Jesus, is an idolatrous vain hope that can never bring peace and can only confound. This is the example of building on quicksand, rather than on the Rock, which is Christ Jesus (Matthew 7:24-27).

“For his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.”

The molten images—crafted through fire—are described as falsehoods. They are not real gods; they are lifeless, deceptive, and ultimately powerless. Jeremiah clarifies that these idols have no true substance; they lack the breath of life. This contrasts sharply with the God of Israel, Who is the living Creator, breathing life into all things.

The message here is clear: idols are not only powerless, but they are also lies. They promise fulfillment, security, and peace, but they can offer none of those things. They are like shadows—existing only to deceive, leaving their worshipers with nothing but emptiness. God, on the other hand, is alive, and in Him, there is true life and hope. The LORD Jesus said, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3).

The call here is to examine the objects of our trust that are not in the One True and Living God, revealed in the LORD Jesus Christ. An idol does not even have to be a physical object before which someone may bow in worship. Every false way begins in the heart. We may not carve idols out of wood or stone, but we often elevate things or people to a place in our lives that belong to God alone. The pursuit of career success, the need for approval from others, material wealth, or even close relationships can become idols when we look to them for any measure of hope and comfort, rather than to the LORD God of the Bible alone.

Common sense would tell us that such things are vain and futile. However, because of the fall, as fallen creatures, the sinner will trust in anything or anyone other than the Truth. It takes the Spirit of God to reveal God in Truth in the heart and to see the work of the LORD Jesus as God's Substitute to reconcile them to Him (I Corinthians 2:10). Any trust or hope aside from God in the LORD Jesus can only disappoint and lead to condemnation. Vain idols (ideas) cannot breathe life into the soul. Only the Living God, by His Spirit, can do that.

As we reflect on this verse, let us be reminded that True Wisdom comes from the revelation of the LORD Jesus in the heart, from the Sovereign Creator of life—physical and spiritual—and not from anything that He has created. By His grace, through the LORD Jesus, we trust Him alone, the One who came, lived, died, rose again, and ever lives to give life to those whom the Father gave Him before the foundation of the world, and for whom He laid down His life as their Substitute (1 Thessalonians 5:10)

Doxology

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.