How to break the power of idolatry (Jer 10:1-16)

We tend to think of addiction as having chemical hooks that keep users trapped in the habit. In a TED Talk I heard recently,[1] the speaker explained that this narrative is based on an experiment in the 20^th century, when a rat was placed in an empty cage with two bottles, one with normal water and the other laced with heroin and the rat always chose the drugged water until it died. However, in a different experiment, a cage was set up like an amusement park for rats. Having companionship and other stimulation, the rats had no compulsion to take the drugged water. This result seems to have been confirmed in Vietnam war soldiers many of whom took drugs while in a high-pressure environment but most of whom stopped without outside intervention when they went back to their normal lives. Based on the above, the speaker suggested that addiction is rooted in genuine lack and pain and the more those felt needs are filled with relationships and purpose in life, the more addiction loses its power.

The similarity between addiction and idolatry

For Israel, idolatry was a compulsive habit, like addiction, a way of turning to something tangible that could meet their needs and fulfil their hopes and they could not let go of it even though those gods could never deliver on their promises. Today in the West, we do not look to idols in the form of figurines, but we nevertheless seek to satisfy our inward hunger in a variety of ways, whether through material things, careers, power, connections through social media and the like. Although different in form, these fulfil the same function as idols did in the ancient world. Given how compulsive these habits can be, what can we learn from our passage about the nature of idolatry and its remedy?

Idols – the work of human hands

The most fundamental aspect of the problem is that idols are the work of human hands (Jer 10:3). It follows from this that they are impotent, lifeless and without ability to talk, walk or do anything (Jer 10:5). Since they are made of created things like wood or metal (Jer 10:8-9), they will not last but eventually disintegrate (Jer 10:11, 15). Of course, ancient peoples understood the difference between a god and a figurine – the latter being merely a vessel for the deity – and there was normally a ceremony before the gods placed some of their essence into physical objects.[2] Chris Wright argues that when Israel’s prophets ridiculed idols, they were fully aware of the above distinction. Their point was that idols have no divine reality, they are no-gods, of a different category to God, and their imagined spiritual force is as much a human creation as are the material figurines that are thought to contain them.[3]

Idols – a delusion and a lie

This absence of any real power to act on behalf of their worshippers meant that idols were a delusion (hevel translated as ‘delusion’, ‘worthless’ in NASB, Jer 10:3, 8, 15). The Hebrew word is the favourite of Ecclesiastes (‘vanity’, e.g. Eccl 1:2) and means something ephemeral or transient like vapour, nothingness, emptiness or futility, i.e. without real substance. Jeremiah also refers to it as ‘deception’ (sheqer, Jer 10:14), a self-serving lie Israelites told themselves. This is a striking description of aspects of life valued today that people feel they cannot live without. As the ancients, so we too endow things and experiences with the supernatural power to give us meaning, fulfilment and happiness. Yet they are merely shadows and the imagined reality behind them is without substance. We can never get enough of them to feel satisfied, so we keep chasing them all the more.

The alternative – relationship with the living God

Our reading, however, gives an alternative to idols, the living God, who is not created but the Creator over all things, who is present and active, the true reality (Jer 10:10, 12-13). Moreover, He is Israel’s portion and they are His inheritance (Jer 10:16).[4] In other words, God belongs to His people and they belong to Him. Just like in the case of addictions, true purpose and connections break the power of obsessive behaviour, so in that deepening relationship with the Lord the unreality of our compulsions is revealed. What we feed will grow in our lives. May we nurture closeness with the Lord.

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[1] Johann Hari, ‘Everything You Think You Know about Addiction Is Wrong’, Ted Talks, 14 Sep 2022, https://www.ted.com/talks/johann_hari_everything_you_think_you_know_about_addiction_is_wrong?language=en.

[2] See John H. Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament (Nottingham: Apollos, 2007), 114-118.

[3] Christopher J.H. Wright, The Mission of God (Nottingham: IVP, 2006), ch.5 (see esp. pp.149-154). He points to Isa 46:1-2, where the prophet makes the distinction between the gods pictured as stooping down but being impotent to save even their physical images (p.150).

[4] Jacob was the patriarch whose sons became the tribes of Israel, so his name is sometimes used to refer to the people of Israel.

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