Jeremiah 10:5

My Notes

What Does Jeremiah 10:5 Mean?

Jeremiah describes idols with mordant humor: they stand upright like a palm tree (rigid, stiff, unable to move). They can't speak (no mouth that functions). They must be carried (they can't walk — someone has to transport them). And the conclusion: don't be afraid of them. They can't do evil. They also can't do good. They're inert. Completely, comically inert.

The humor is the theology: the things people worship can't do the two things that define a living being — harm you or help you. They stand there. Silent. Immobile. Requiring human labor to move from room to room. The worshipper has to carry the god. The god can't carry the worshipper.

"Be not afraid of them" — the fear people direct at idols is as irrational as the worship. The idol that can't speak can't curse you. The idol that can't walk can't pursue you. The fear and the worship are both misplaced — directed at objects that literally cannot act.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What are you 'carrying' (maintaining, serving, worshipping) that can't actually carry you?
• 2.Does Jeremiah's humor (the god that must be carried by its worshipper) describe any idol in your life?
• 3.Where is fear directed at something that literally can't harm you?
• 4.How does the test (can it do evil? can it do good? — if neither, it's not worth fearing or worshipping) apply to what you give your devotion to?

Devotional

They stand there like scarecrows. They can't talk. They can't walk. You have to carry them. Don't be afraid of them. They can't hurt you. They also can't help you.

Jeremiah describes idols with the precision of a comedy routine: they're upright like a palm tree (stiff, rigid, planted where someone placed them). They don't speak (no voice, no communication, no response to prayer). They must be carried (they can't locomote — wherever they go, a human puts them there). And the punchline: they can't do evil OR good. They're as dangerous as a rock and as helpful as a stick.

"Be not afraid" — the fear is the most irrational part. People tremble before objects that can't move. They offer sacrifices to things that can't eat. They pray to entities that can't hear. The fear is directed at the most impotent things in the universe — and the fear controls them.

The idol's complete inability is the mockery: it can't do evil (so don't fear it). It can't do good (so don't worship it). The two things that define a living agent — the capacity to harm and the capacity to help — are both absent. The idol is as alive as the wood it's carved from. Which is to say: not at all.

"They must needs be borne" — the god needs the worshipper to carry it. The worshipper lifts, transports, positions, and maintains the god. The relationship is completely inverted: instead of the god carrying the worshipper (the way the living God carries Israel — Isaiah 46:4), the worshipper carries the god.

Every idol still works this way. Not carved wood anymore. But the thing you worship that can't actually help you — that you have to maintain, carry, and serve — while it does nothing for you in return. The career that demands everything and can't save you. The relationship that requires your worship and can't respond. The pursuit that you serve but that can't serve you back.

Don't be afraid of what can't hurt you. And don't worship what can't help you.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture