Cannot See or Hear or Eat or Smell

Deuteronomy 4:28 – There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

Isaiah 44:17-19 – From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!” They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”

Application:

• ·         Whereas those who worshiped idols associated the god with the idol, for Isaiah there was no god for the idol to represent, so he depicts idolatry as worship of a mere “block of wood”.
• ·         “Eyes are plastered…minds closed” ironically characterizes both the idols and those who worship them.
• ·         The Lord detests idols. Those who worship idols are also called detestable.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV