Foolish Substitutes

Whom do these statements describe?

• Measured the heavens with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure
• Stretches out the heavens like a curtain and spreads them out like a tent
• Creator of the ends of the earth
• Created the heavens and stretched them out, spread forth the earth and that which comes from it
• LORD who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by himself.

They all come from a long passage in the prophecy of Isaiah (chapters 40-44) in which the prophet points out the foolishness of worshiping man-made idols rather than the living God. He describes a man using one log to warm himself and cook his food, and with the remainder making a god to bow down to. He compares the man-made god with the Creator of all things.

Intuitively when we observe the vast starry sky, we recognize the greatness of the Creator. This is why Isaiah used the heavens as a major part of his argument. Evolutionary scientists insist on the self-formation of the universe, although they have no evidence for it other than their own imaginings.

Idols do not have to be made with hands. They can also be made of ideas. Philosophical idols are just as foolish as wooden idols. Isaiah added that God "turns wise men backward and makes their knowledge foolishness."