Our verse comes after several verses of Jeremiah prophesying about Israel's idolatry. His aim is now to show us the foolishness of idolatry. It starts by exclaiming the difference between the idol gods Israel had given themselves to and the God of Israel who gave Himself for them, "The Portion of Jacob is not like them," and goes on to tell in several different ways how this statement is true. The Bible is an eternal book, and this message may not have been addressed to us, but it was certainly addressed for us and bears as much weight of instruction today as ever.
He was the Former of all things, he was before everything else and therefore the creator of all things. The false gods did not exist until a man cut down a tree, shaped his idol, covered it over with gold and silver, and pronounced it his god. While they were pronounced a god, they were not. They had eyes that could not see, ears that could not hear, a mouth that could not speak, hands that could not carry a single burden, and feet that could not move. Our God is not like this, we did not give him life, but he gave us life.
That is why the text says that Jacob is the rod of his inheritance, that is a branch. God did not shoot forth from us, as did the false gods, but we shot forth from Him. He formed us, and gave us real life not imagined life. He formed a man with eyes that could see, ears that could hear, a heart that could love, a mind that could think, a soul that was in the likeness of God himself. Not only does he give real life to animate our bodies but he gives real life to animate our souls, to make us alive to God and dead unto sin. This life was given at creation but lost shortly thereafter, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He came and defeated death for us and resurrected and now we too can pass from death to life and be quickened together with him! Our God serves us, while false Gods demand service from their worshipers with absolutely nothing in return. Our God served and serves us even now, and our service to him is not for what He will do in return but for what he already did, so great was his work for us that our small service that we gladly give cannot be compared to what he did and still does for us.
It seems that at the core of all false religions, there is the same motive: we want to be like the Most High. After all, wasn't that part of the very first temptation? "Ye shall be like gods." Mankind wants to mimic what our Creator did for us; we want to form our own gods and speak life into them. But the issue is that we may speak until there is no breath left in us, but being the creature and not the creator, we can never speak the breath of life into anything.
Our hands may cut and carve and create trinkets to be played with, but the creations of man are not to be worshipped. In less developed cultures, we form our idols and pronounce them as gods and fall to worship them, and in the case of Israel, even sacrifice to them. In more developed cultures, we form our philosophies and myths and make sacrifices to the imaginations of our minds, like those in the Greek culture did, worshipping the gods of mythology. In the modern world, we create our wealth, and corporations, all for the supposed betterment of self, and we sacrifice our lives for the advancement of wealth and self-indulgence. Many in this hour have killed their unborn children on the altar of self-advancement and pleasure. We are just as idolatrous as any society that has ever lived because, still, to this day, we worship what we have made for ourselves instead of the one who made us.
Who do you worship? That is a question that every human really needs to ponder. Before you answer too quickly, we need to define what it means to worship. Worship is not lip service, nor is worship religious duties and deeds. Worship is first mentioned in the Bible when Abraham describes what he is going to do on Mount Moriah with his only son Isaac, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship.” He was about to give to God the most precious thing in his life because God had asked it of him. He had already given God his firstborn son Ishmael, and he had already given up his family and home life in Ur, there wasn’t much that Abraham had not already given up for the Lord, but now the one thing that remained, the one love of his life had to be also torn from his heart so that God might sit alone upon the throne of Abraham's life. So he must, in an act of worship, give up everything for the one he worshipped. That gets as close to worship as we can fathom. What do you sacrifice for? What do you love enough to give up everything for? The answer to those questions will reveal who or what it is that you really worship. Is it family? Is it work and wealth? Is it pleasure? Possibly even something as silly as a hobby? That throne is for your God. Do you have a god on His throne?
In closing, look at how different the God of Jacob is from the gods of the region where Abraham lived. When Abraham was about to sacrifice his child, God gave his son back to him! Truly, our verse could not be more true, “The portion of Jacob is not like them.” Those false gods would have kept their mouths closed while their worshippers slew their children on their altar, but not our God. From heaven, He cries, “Abraham, Abraham, lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him.” Then, as Abraham lifts his eyes, he sees that God has prepared a lamb to take Isaac’s place. Our God is not like the false gods who callously receive the lives of their worshippers. No, our God laid down His life upon the cross for us. When death was about to deliver its blow and sin was about to take its toll, Jesus stepped in and laid down His life for the sheep. Surely, “The Portion of Jacob is not like them!” You may make sacrifices to your gods, but they are not like the God of Jacob who gives up His life for His worshippers. Your little gods of pleasure, self-indulgence, and betterment will gladly receive your sacrifices of time, money, wealth, and life, but they will not give anything in return. Give your life to the One who gave His life for you, and then you will find what your heart has been looking for all along: joy, peace, contentment, and abundant life!
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