Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Carving » Idols manufactured by
This is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, break their pillars, cut down their ritual pillars, and burn their carved idols in fire,
Now, all the forming of images means nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their own witnesses cannot see, and they know nothing. So they will be put to shame. Who would shape a god or cast an image that profits nothing? To be sure, all who associate with it will be put to shame; and as for the craftsmen, they are only human. Let them all gather together and take their stand. Then let them be terrified they will be humiliated together. read more.
The blacksmith prepares a tool and works in the coals, then fashions an idol with hammers, working by the strength of his arm. He even becomes hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter measures it with a line; he traces its shape with a stylus, then fashions it with planes and shapes it with a compass. He makes the idol like a human figure, with human beauty, to be at home in a shrine. He cuts down cedars, or chooses a cypress tree or an oak, and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. Or he plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow. He divides it up for people to burn. Taking part of it, he warms himself, makes a fire, and bakes bread. Or perhaps he constructs a god and worships it. He makes it an idol and bows down to it. Half the wood he burns in the fire, and over that half he places meat so he can eat. He sits by its coals, warms himself, and says, "Ah! I am warm in front of the fire." And the rest of it he makes into a god. To blocks of wood he bows down, worships, prays, and says, "Save me, since you are my god."
The blacksmith prepares a tool and works in the coals, then fashions an idol with hammers, working by the strength of his arm. He even becomes hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter measures it with a line; he traces its shape with a stylus, then fashions it with planes and shapes it with a compass. He makes the idol like a human figure, with human beauty, to be at home in a shrine. He cuts down cedars, or chooses a cypress tree or an oak, and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. Or he plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow. He divides it up for people to burn. Taking part of it, he warms himself, makes a fire, and bakes bread. Or perhaps he constructs a god and worships it. He makes it an idol and bows down to it. Half the wood he burns in the fire, and over that half he places meat so he can eat. He sits by its coals, warms himself, and says, "Ah! I am warm in front of the fire." And the rest of it he makes into a god. To blocks of wood he bows down, worships, prays, and says, "Save me, since you are my god."
"Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save.
"Where is the benefit in owning a carved image, that motivates its maker to carve it? It is only a cast image a teacher that lies because the engraver entrusts himself to his carving, crafting speechless idols. "Woe to the one who says to a tree, "Wake up!' or "Arise!' to a speechless stone. Idols like this can't teach, can they? Look, even though it is overlaid with gold and silver, there's no breath in it at all."
Idolatry » Other customs of » Prayers to idols
"Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save.
At this point the mariners became terrified, and each man cried out to his gods. They began to throw the cargo into the sea in order to lighten the vessel. But Jonah had gone down into the vessel's hold, had lain down, and was fast asleep.
And the rest of it he makes into a god. To blocks of wood he bows down, worships, prays, and says, "Save me, since you are my god."
Go and cry out to the gods that you have chosen for yourselves. Let them deliver you in your time of trouble."
And they lift it on their shoulders, carry it, set it up in its place, and there it stands. It cannot move from that spot. One may even call to it, but it cannot answer nor save him from his distress.
Idolatry » They who practice » Look to idols for deliverance
"Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save.
And the rest of it he makes into a god. To blocks of wood he bows down, worships, prays, and says, "Save me, since you are my god."
Idolatry » Objects of, described as » Graven images
The more I called out to them, the farther they fled from me; they sacrificed to Baals, burning incense to carved images.
"Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save.
Idolatry » Objects of, described as » gods that cannot save
"Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save.
Isaiah » Prophecies, reproofs, and exhortations of » Fortells the conversion of the gentiles and the triumph of the gospel
I am the LORD, and there is no other besides me: and there are no gods. I'm strengthening you, although you have not acknowledged me, so that from the sun's rising to the west people may know that there is none besides me. "I am the LORD, and there is no other." "I form light and create darkness, I make goodness and create disaster. I am the LORD, who does all these things. read more.
"Shout, you skies above, and you clouds, and let righteousness stream down. I am the one who says to the earth, "Let salvation blossom, and let righteousness sprout forth.' "Woe to the one who quarrels with his makers, a mere potsherd with the potsherds of the earth! Woe to the one who says to the one forming him, "What are you making?' or "Your work has no human hands?'! Woe to the one who says to his father, "What are you begetting?' or to a woman, "To what are you giving birth?'!" This is what the Lord says, the Creator of the signs: "Question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands. I myself made the earth and personally created humankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the skies; I marshaled all their starry hosts." "I have aroused him in righteousness, and I'll make all his pathways smooth. It is he who will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price nor reward, " says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. This is what the LORD says: "The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, those Sabeans, men of great heights. They'll come over to you and will be yours; They'll trudge behind you coming over in chains, they'll bow down to you. They'll plead with you, "Surely God is in you; and there is no other God at all.'" "Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior. All of them will be put to shame indeed, disgraced! The makers of idols will go off in disgrace together. But Israel will be saved by the LORD with everlasting salvation; you won't be put to shame or disgraced ever again." For this is what the LORD says, who created the heavens he is God, and the one who formed the earth and made it, and he is the one who established it; he didn't create itfor chaos, but formed it to be inhabited "I am the LORD and there is no other. I didn't speak in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I didn't say to Jacob's descendants, "Seek me in chaos.' I, the LORD, speak truth, declaring what is right. "Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save. Explain and present a case! Yes, let them take counsel together. Who announced this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides me, a righteous God and Savior; and there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn from my mouth has gone out integrity, a promise that won't be revoked: "To me every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear.' One will say of me, "Only in the LORD are victories and might.' All who raged against him will come to him and will be put to shame. In the LORD all the descendants of Israel will triumph and make their boast."
"Shout, you skies above, and you clouds, and let righteousness stream down. I am the one who says to the earth, "Let salvation blossom, and let righteousness sprout forth.' "Woe to the one who quarrels with his makers, a mere potsherd with the potsherds of the earth! Woe to the one who says to the one forming him, "What are you making?' or "Your work has no human hands?'! Woe to the one who says to his father, "What are you begetting?' or to a woman, "To what are you giving birth?'!" This is what the Lord says, the Creator of the signs: "Question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands. I myself made the earth and personally created humankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the skies; I marshaled all their starry hosts." "I have aroused him in righteousness, and I'll make all his pathways smooth. It is he who will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price nor reward, " says the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. This is what the LORD says: "The wealth of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, those Sabeans, men of great heights. They'll come over to you and will be yours; They'll trudge behind you coming over in chains, they'll bow down to you. They'll plead with you, "Surely God is in you; and there is no other God at all.'" "Truly you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior. All of them will be put to shame indeed, disgraced! The makers of idols will go off in disgrace together. But Israel will be saved by the LORD with everlasting salvation; you won't be put to shame or disgraced ever again." For this is what the LORD says, who created the heavens he is God, and the one who formed the earth and made it, and he is the one who established it; he didn't create itfor chaos, but formed it to be inhabited "I am the LORD and there is no other. I didn't speak in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I didn't say to Jacob's descendants, "Seek me in chaos.' I, the LORD, speak truth, declaring what is right. "Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save. Explain and present a case! Yes, let them take counsel together. Who announced this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides me, a righteous God and Savior; and there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn from my mouth has gone out integrity, a promise that won't be revoked: "To me every knee will bow, and every tongue will swear.' One will say of me, "Only in the LORD are victories and might.' All who raged against him will come to him and will be put to shame. In the LORD all the descendants of Israel will triumph and make their boast."
Knowledge » Who has no knowledge
"Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save.
If anyone teaches false doctrine and refuses to agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, and godly teaching, he is a conceited person and does not understand anything. He has an unhealthy craving for arguments and debates. This produces jealousy, rivalry, slander, evil suspicions, and incessant conflict between people who are depraved in mind and deprived of truth. They think that godliness is a way to make a profit.
Now, all the forming of images means nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless. Their own witnesses cannot see, and they know nothing. So they will be put to shame. Who would shape a god or cast an image that profits nothing? To be sure, all who associate with it will be put to shame; and as for the craftsmen, they are only human. Let them all gather together and take their stand. Then let them be terrified they will be humiliated together. read more.
The blacksmith prepares a tool and works in the coals, then fashions an idol with hammers, working by the strength of his arm. He even becomes hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter measures it with a line; he traces its shape with a stylus, then fashions it with planes and shapes it with a compass. He makes the idol like a human figure, with human beauty, to be at home in a shrine. He cuts down cedars, or chooses a cypress tree or an oak, and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. Or he plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow. He divides it up for people to burn. Taking part of it, he warms himself, makes a fire, and bakes bread. Or perhaps he constructs a god and worships it. He makes it an idol and bows down to it. Half the wood he burns in the fire, and over that half he places meat so he can eat. He sits by its coals, warms himself, and says, "Ah! I am warm in front of the fire." And the rest of it he makes into a god. To blocks of wood he bows down, worships, prays, and says, "Save me, since you are my god." They don't realize; they don't understand, because their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds, too, so they cannot understand. No one stops to think. No one has the knowledge or understanding to think yes to think! "Half of it I burned in the fire. I even baked bread on its coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And am I about to make detestable things from what is left? Am I about to bow down to blocks of wood?"
The blacksmith prepares a tool and works in the coals, then fashions an idol with hammers, working by the strength of his arm. He even becomes hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter measures it with a line; he traces its shape with a stylus, then fashions it with planes and shapes it with a compass. He makes the idol like a human figure, with human beauty, to be at home in a shrine. He cuts down cedars, or chooses a cypress tree or an oak, and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. Or he plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow. He divides it up for people to burn. Taking part of it, he warms himself, makes a fire, and bakes bread. Or perhaps he constructs a god and worships it. He makes it an idol and bows down to it. Half the wood he burns in the fire, and over that half he places meat so he can eat. He sits by its coals, warms himself, and says, "Ah! I am warm in front of the fire." And the rest of it he makes into a god. To blocks of wood he bows down, worships, prays, and says, "Save me, since you are my god." They don't realize; they don't understand, because their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds, too, so they cannot understand. No one stops to think. No one has the knowledge or understanding to think yes to think! "Half of it I burned in the fire. I even baked bread on its coals, and I roasted meat and ate it. And am I about to make detestable things from what is left? Am I about to bow down to blocks of wood?"
You must realize, however, that in the last days difficult times will come. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, read more.
traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people. For some of these men go into homes and deceive foolish women who are burdened with sins and swayed by all kinds of desires. These women are always studying but are never able to arrive at a full knowledge of the truth.
traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people. For some of these men go into homes and deceive foolish women who are burdened with sins and swayed by all kinds of desires. These women are always studying but are never able to arrive at a full knowledge of the truth.
Prayer » Those that pray to a God that cannot save
"Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save.
Salvation » What cannot save
"Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save.
"But where are your gods that you made for yourselves? Let them rise up, if they can deliver you in the time of your trouble. You have as many gods as you have towns, Judah.
The LORD replied to the Israelis, "Aren't you away from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, and the Philistines? And when the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites harassed you, you cried out to me, and I delivered you from under their domination. But you have abandoned me and served other gods. Therefore I will no longer be delivering you. read more.
Go and cry out to the gods that you have chosen for yourselves. Let them deliver you in your time of trouble."
Go and cry out to the gods that you have chosen for yourselves. Let them deliver you in your time of trouble."
according to your multiple schemes. Let them stand up now those who conjure the heavens and gaze at the stars, predicting at the new moons and save you from what is about to happen to them.
"He will say, "Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge? Who ate the fat of their offerings and drank the wine that was their drink offering? Let them rise and help you and be your hiding place!'
The towns of Judah and the residents of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they'll be no help at all to them in the time of their disaster.
Those who pour out gold in a purse, weigh silver in a balance, hire a goldsmith in order to make a god, and then they bow down and even worship it. And they lift it on their shoulders, carry it, set it up in its place, and there it stands. It cannot move from that spot. One may even call to it, but it cannot answer nor save him from his distress.
"I am the LORD your God from the land of Egypt, and you have known no god except for me, because except for me there is no savior. I took care of you in the wilderness, in a waterless land. As their pastures flourished, all their desires were met. As they were satiated, they became arrogant and therefore ignored me. read more.
"So I will be like a lion to them. Like a leopard I will stalk them along the road. I will confront them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their ribs. I will devour them like a lion the wild beasts will rip them apart. "You have destroyed yourself, Israel, although I remain your help. Now where is your king? Will he save you in all your cities? And where are your judges, about whom you demanded, "Give me a king and officials!'? I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my fury."
"So I will be like a lion to them. Like a leopard I will stalk them along the road. I will confront them like a bear deprived of her cubs; I will tear open their ribs. I will devour them like a lion the wild beasts will rip them apart. "You have destroyed yourself, Israel, although I remain your help. Now where is your king? Will he save you in all your cities? And where are your judges, about whom you demanded, "Give me a king and officials!'? I gave you a king in my anger, and I took him away in my fury."
Salvation » Sought in vain from » Idols
"Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save.
"But where are your gods that you made for yourselves? Let them rise up, if they can deliver you in the time of your trouble. You have as many gods as you have towns, Judah.
false Worship » Idols characterized, as » Helpless
"Gather together and come; draw near and enter, your fugitives from the nations. Those who carry around their wooden idols know nothing, nor do those who keep praying to a god that cannot save.
Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They can't speak! They must always be carried because they can't walk! Don't be afraid of them because they can do no harm, nor can they do any good."
Even by saying this, it was all Paul and Barnabas could do to keep the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.