Isaiah 44:13-20

A carpenter measures a piece of wood with a line. He draws a pattern on it with a marker. He cuts out a statue with sharp tools. He marks it with compasses. He shapes it into the form of a beautiful human being. He does this so he can put it in a temple. He cuts down a cedar tree. Or perhaps he takes a cypress or an oak tree. It might be a tree that grew in the forest. Or it might be a pine tree he planted. And the rain made it grow. A man gets wood from trees to burn. He uses some of it to warm himself. He starts a fire and bakes bread. But he also uses some of it to make a god and worship it. He makes a statue of a god and bows down to it. He burns half of the wood in the fire. He prepares a meal over it. He cooks meat over it. He eats until he is full. He also warms himself. He says, “Good! I’m getting warm. The fire is nice and hot.” From the rest of the wood he makes a statue. It becomes his god. He bows down and worships it. He prays to it. He says, “Save me! You are my god!” People like that don’t even know what they are doing. Their eyes are shut so that they can’t see the truth. Their minds are closed so that they can’t understand it. No one even stops to think about this. No one has any sense or understanding. If anyone did, they would say, “I used half of the wood for fuel. I even baked bread over the fire. I cooked meat. Then I ate it. Should I now make a statue of a god out of the wood that’s left over? Should I bow down to a block of wood? The LORD would hate that.” That’s as foolish as eating ashes! The mind of someone like that has led him astray. He can’t save himself. He can’t bring himself to say, “This thing I’m holding in my right hand isn’t really a god at all.”