Commentary - Jeremiah 10:6-10

Bird's-eye view

In this potent section of Jeremiah, the prophet pivots from a satirical description of idols to a glorious declaration of God's utter uniqueness. The contrast is stark and intentional. On the one hand, we have the idols, inert, man-made, and foolish. On the other, we have Yahweh, the living, mighty, and eternal King. This is not a comparison of two roughly equivalent options on a religious menu. This is the difference between everything and nothing, between the Creator and a bit of decorated wood.

Jeremiah’s purpose here is to fortify the hearts of God's people. They are surrounded by nations who trust in these empty vanities, and the temptation to assimilate is always present. The prophet therefore lays down a bedrock theological assertion: our God is not like their gods. He is in a category all by Himself. This truth is the foundation for all right worship and the only sane response to it is fear, which is to say, awe-filled reverence. The passage climaxes by identifying Yahweh as the true, living, and everlasting King, whose wrath is a cosmic reality that no nation can withstand. This is polemics at its finest, designed to knock the props out from under idolatry and to call the people of God to an exclusive and robust worship of the one true God.

Outline

The Incomparable God

v. 6 There is none like You, O Yahweh; You are great, and great is Your name in might.

The prophet begins with a sweeping, absolute statement. This is the foundational premise of all true religion. "There is none like You." This is not to say that Yahweh is simply at the top of a pyramid of other, lesser deities. The Bible does acknowledge the existence of other spiritual beings, what it calls gods in a lesser sense. But what Jeremiah is saying here is that Yahweh is in a category of His own. The distance between the Creator and the most exalted creature is an infinite one. He is not the best in a class of gods; He is the only one in His class. He is uncreated, self-existent, and omnipotent. All others are created, dependent, and limited.

Jeremiah then gives the reason for this uniqueness: "You are great, and great is Your name in might." God's greatness is not an abstract concept; it is demonstrated. His "name" in Scripture refers to His reputation, His character as it has been revealed. And how has it been revealed? In "might." In the creation of the world out of nothing, in the parting of the Red Sea, in the establishment of His covenant people. His name is great because His actions have been great. This is not an empty boast; it is a conclusion drawn from the evidence of history and creation.

v. 7 Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? Indeed it is Your due! For among all the wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You.

The question is rhetorical, but it is a piercing one. Given who God is, the only rational, sane, and appropriate response is fear. This is not a cowering, servile terror, but rather a profound and all-consuming awe and reverence. It is the kind of fear that banishes all other fears. And notice who He is addressed as: "King of the nations." Yahweh is not a tribal deity. He is not just the God of Israel. He is the sovereign ruler over every nation, every kingdom, every president, and every prime minister, whether they acknowledge Him or not. Their failure to bend the knee does not in any way diminish His authority. He is King of the nations.

And this fear is "Your due." It is what He is owed. It is a moral obligation. To fail to fear God is to rob Him of the glory that is rightfully His. It is cosmic larceny. Jeremiah then repeats the central theme for emphasis, grounding this obligation in God's uniqueness. You can search "among all the wise men of the nations," the philosophers, the strategists, the policy makers. You can survey "all their kingdoms," with all their pomp and military might. And what is the conclusion of this exhaustive search? "There is none like You." All human wisdom and power, when set against the wisdom and power of God, is nothing. It is a flickering candle in the face of the sun.

The Foolishness of Idols

v. 8 But they are altogether senseless and foolish; They are in a discipline of vanities, it is mere wood!

Now the prophet turns back to the idols, and the contrast is jarring. From the great and mighty King of the nations, we descend to things that are "altogether senseless and foolish." The word "altogether" is important. There is no redeeming quality here. Idolatry is not just a minor error; it is intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy from top to bottom. The worship of idols is described as a "discipline of vanities." Think about that. It is a training in emptiness. It is a curriculum of nothingness. The more you study it, the more devoted you are to it, the emptier you become. And what is the object of this "discipline"? The prophet states it with blunt, almost contemptuous simplicity: "it is mere wood!" You can dress it up, but you cannot change its nature. It is a piece of a tree.

v. 9 Beaten silver is brought from Tarshish, And gold from Uphaz, The work of a craftsman and of the hands of a goldsmith; Blue and purple are their clothing; They are all the work of wise craftsmen.

Jeremiah now describes the process of creating these "vanities." The materials are expensive and exotic. Silver from Tarshish, gold from Uphaz, these were distant, almost legendary places, signifying the great cost and effort involved. The workmanship is exquisite. It is "the work of a craftsman," a goldsmith, "wise craftsmen." The idol is clothed in royal colors, blue and purple. The point of all this detail is to show the height of human folly. Men take the most precious materials they can find, apply the highest skill they possess, and expend enormous effort and wealth, all to create something that cannot see, hear, speak, or act. It is the application of maximum human effort to produce maximum spiritual emptiness. The idol is a monument to man's ability to deceive himself. It is a testament to the fact that we become like what we worship. They worship things made by human hands, and in so doing, they reduce their own spiritual state to that of an object.

The True and Living King

v. 10 But Yahweh 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.

Here is the climax of the contrast. "But Yahweh." This is one of the great "buts" of Scripture. It is a hard turn, a complete change of subject from the dead to the living. Yahweh is the "true God." The word "true" here means genuine, authentic, the real thing. The idols are fakes, counterfeits. Yahweh is the reality to which they are a pathetic and fraudulent imitation. He is the "living God." This is perhaps the most fundamental distinction. The idol is dead wood and inert metal. God is alive. He thinks, He speaks, He acts, He loves, He judges. He is a person, not a thing. And He is the "everlasting King." His reign has no beginning and no end. Earthly kingdoms rise and fall, but His throne is established forever.

And this living, true, everlasting King is not to be trifled with. The prophet concludes with a sobering reminder of His power. "At His wrath the earth quakes." This is not poetic hyperbole. The God who created the tectonic plates can certainly shake them. His wrath is a cosmic force. The nations, with all their armies and their so-called wise men, "cannot endure His indignation." When God decides to act in judgment, no human institution can stand against Him. This is the God we serve. He is not a decorated piece of wood. He is the living God, the King of all creation, and the only proper response to Him is humble, reverent, and joyful worship.

Application

The message of Jeremiah 10 is not a relic for a museum of ancient religions. Idolatry is alive and well, though it often takes more sophisticated forms today. We may not bow down to statues of wood and stone, but we are constantly tempted to put our trust in created things rather than the Creator. We make idols out of our careers, our finances, our political ideologies, our families, and even our own righteousness.

This passage calls us to conduct a thorough inventory of our hearts. What are our "disciplines of vanity"? What are the things we pour our time, money, and emotional energy into that are ultimately "mere wood"? The test is simple: whatever we look to for ultimate security, significance, or satisfaction, apart from the living God, is an idol.

The remedy for idolatry is not simply to try harder to stop worshiping idols. The remedy is to be overwhelmed by a greater vision of the one true God. We must saturate our minds with the truth that "there is none like Yahweh." He is great in might. He is the King of the nations. He is the living God and the everlasting King. When we are rightly captivated by His glory, the cheap trinkets that the world offers as gods will lose their luster. We must see that to fear Him is our highest duty and our greatest privilege. And we see this glory most clearly in the face of Jesus Christ, who is the very image of the invisible God, the one who came to destroy the works of the devil and to turn us from idols to serve the living and true God.