The Ready Kindling of our Idols: Isaiah 1:29-31

Isaiah 1:29-31

            Recalling that the wicked would be broken into splinters, the prophet now brings the section and chapter to a close. The sacred trees are both literally and figuratively meant for the fire and destruction. No longer can the people turn to the created order to find their meaning.

Vs. 29 (cf. 2:8, 57:5 Hosea 4:13): In some manuscripts verse 29 reads as “they will be ashamed of the sacred trees” other manuscripts replace “they” with “you.” The sense is the same. In cases where we see sin at work, it is important to remember we are all capable of the sin at hand in the text. If we come to the text and assume it cannot be also implicating us, we miss out on the possibility of conviction and repentance which is one over-reaching goal of the text. In any case, to cast the blame at either a “they” or “you” without seeing our own sin is willful ignorance.

The sacred trees are signs of the fertility cults at work in and among the Jewish people. A few years ago, I was privileged to be able to view some of the Dead Sea Scrolls while they were in the United States on tour. Along with the scrolls, there were several archaeological items from the Ancient Near East from the area of modern-day Israel. Included in these objects were a surprising number of fertility tokens like items from other cultures around the world. Sometimes when we think of the ancient people of Israel and Judah, we see them as unique within their regional or global contemporaries. What stood out to me was how similar parts of their culture were to cultures from the same time period.  What made the people of God unique was not their holiness on their own, but rather their inimitable, called out relationship to God. The syncretism and repeated failure of the people to be holy failed to surprise the Lord.

To put it differently, there is nothing special about having fertility cults in a culture. This did not set the people apart in a special way. Instead, it made them just like the people around them, coarse and set toward destruction. Destruction, or more accurately resolution toward entropy should always be expected. What is unexpected is when something genuinely new breaks in to the standard model and creates. This is the narrative offered by the Lord, and yet the people have abandoned the One for the many which offer no respite from death, destruction, and the lot of sin.  Therefore, the people should be ashamed. They have traded in gold for dross. Dripping with irony, the word “chosen” leaps out in the face of mundane. As they have opted to be like the nations around them, the people’s abandonment of worship of the Lord betrays their own singular calling.

Vs. 30: Although the people believe they are picking the path of strength (the oak tree) and beauty (the garden), God shows how their plans are full of feebleness and desiccation.  The very things which they turned to for inspiration and hope are hollow and empty. This image is particularly apt for the people who have filled their hearts with longing for another god than their Creator. Instead of finding themselves full, they are empty and corrupted. In a world where uniqueness and individuality is sometimes worshiped, we must wonder the same thing today- does the unending search for beauty and strength ever end? The believer’s response must be that the search will only end when we seek out our Creator as the source of these things.

            As seen in the post-modern works of Banksy (arguably) and countless other artists (definitely) in recent years, art of art’s sake is a false premise. Even the utilitarian use of art, as compromised by Marxists and capitalists alike fails to provide adequate reason for art. Art serves a purpose, and that ultimate purpose must be something outside of the work itself.* Beauty is a means towards an end, not an ontological end in and of itself. Believers can point to true beauty, precisely because they know the source of beauty and truth. This also allows us to recognize pieces of that beauty in other places.

Vs. 31: Since basic strength was such an essential component of life in the ancient world, the prophet ends by tearing down the people’s self-assessment of strength. Explicitly, the strength of the sacred oak trees is turned into an object of fuel used to bring heat and destruction. It’s not hard to see the implied idols in this section. Just as the mighty tree can produce the idol of wood, both the tree and its ancillary product have no strength or power to save on their own. Whether someone tries to find an idol in nature or in the works of man produced from the raw materials of nature, the same fate occurs to both. The world is not enough.

            Without a doubt, Jesus brought the prophets to the people’s mind when he talked about destruction and the coming judgment (e.g. Matt. 3:12; Mark 9:43).  Additionally, as the people heard in this passage no water would be sufficient to quench the fire, it would be hard for them to forget the story of the flood (Gen. 6-9). We must not forget that Genesis is a family story, delivered from God to Moses for the people of Israel as they forged their identity in the wilderness.  The flood, for them, was not just a story of destruction but of mercy as a family was spared for a purpose. In contrast to the mercy of the flood, the people are now left without water as salvation when they abandon the one who brought them identity. No one will be able to quench the flames primarily because they are the ones who are on fire. 

Although it would not have been a part of the narrative (at least in the same way) for the people hearing or reading Isaiah’s text during his lifetime, it is hard not to think of the waters of baptism. While we are in sin, we are destined for destruction. But God wills we should not be abandoned to this destruction, therefore He sent Jesus. Through Jesus, we are baptized in the water which quenches death through death to self. When we come out of the water, we are new creations in Christ (cf. John 3:5-8; 1 Peter 3:21; Col. 2:12). Isaiah should be read in the total context of what God was going to bring about for all people. Sin leads to death. The Good News of Jesus is that we can have life. The fires of destruction can be quenched as we are raised to new life.                                     

Final thoughts:

1.     When I create, do I create for a purpose?

2.     What idols do I worship that need to be removed?

3.     In what ways do I try to rely on my own self-sufficiency instead of trusting the Creator?

4.     How do I balance trust and faith with the call to be a whole person (e.g. using my intelligence while also submitting my will to God)?

5.     Have I shared the joy and life that Jesus brings with other people recently?

*In this respect, I am deeply indebted to the book Art in Action by Nicholas Wolterstorff