Habakkuk: Idols, the Teachers of Lies

“What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes speechless idols!
Woe to him who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and there is no breath at all in it.
But the LORD is in his holy temple;
let all the earth keep silence before him.”

Habakkuk 2:18-20

We have finally reached the fifth and last of Habakkuk’s woes. This one is a little different because the word “woe” (hoi) appears in the middle rather than the beginning. He begins by talking about making idols.

Lifeless Statues

Habakkuk uses multiple words translated as “idol”, each with its own nuance.

The first word (translated “idol” in the ESV above) is the Hebrew word pesel. Its verb form comes in the next line: shaped (fasal). A pesel is typically something that can be carved like wood or stone. This word appears in the Ten Commandments: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image (pesel)” (Exodus 20:4, Deuteronomy 5:8).

The next word is masechah (ma-say-chah, translated “metal image”). This is metal that was cast, related to the verb nasak, meaning to pour. Imagine pouring out molten metal into a cast to form a product. Alternatively, it could refer to gold or silver plating. When the people of Israel came out of Egypt, they made a “golden calf” (Exodus 32:4), which is literally “masechah calf” – cast metal (which we can tell is gold based on earlier in the verse). I can imagine some hair-splitting Israelites saying, “This isn’t a pesel, it’s a masechah – God didn’t prohibit that!” Thus we find God’s command a little later: “You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal (masechah)” (Exodus 34:17).

Our third and final word is elilim in the phrase “speechless idols” (elilim elmim, which has a playful ring to it). It sounds similar to elohim (gods / God). “For all the gods (elohim) of the peoples are worthless idols (elilim)” (Psalm 96:5). Elilim encompasses the idea of being worthless.

These words often appear with each other. “Cursed be the man who makes a carved (pesel) or cast metal image (masechah)” (Deuteronomy 27:15). “Do not turn to idols (elilim) or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal (masechah)” (Leviticus 19:4). “You shall not make idols (elilim) for yourselves or erect an image (pesel) or pillar, and you shall not set up a figured stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 26:1).

No Profit

Habakkuk rhetorically asks, “What profit is an idol?” What good can these carved or sculpted statues do? Isaiah and Jeremiah make similar statements. “All who fashion idols (pesel) are nothing (tohu, used in Genesis 1:2 to describe the unordered creation), and the things they delight in do not profit (ya’al). Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. Who fashions a god or casts (nasak) an idol (pesel) that is profitable (ya’al) for nothing?” (Isaiah 44:9-10).

What drew the people to these lifeless statues? What draws us away from the True God? It isn’t that they thought that these were literally their gods or that this is what these gods literally looked like – they’re a representation of the gods. God adamantly prohibits any depiction of him. He is too big to imagine. Any representation of him is an insult. Moses reminded the people that they saw no form when God appeared to them at Mt Sinai. Therefore they were not to make a pesel in the form of anything (Deuteronomy 4:15-19).

We love to make idols. We would rather create gods who represent what we want rather than submit to the God who wants to direct our lives according to his purposes. How does Habakkuk describe these objects? They are a “teacher of lies”. Why do we look for truth from silent statues?

To Ponder…

What are you placing ahead of God? What “unprofitable” behaviors or objects are there in your life?

Think of objects which direct you towards God, teaching about truth. Is there anything that distracts you from him, teaching lies?

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