Meaningless Idols

The LORD invites idols and their advocates to present their case and prove themselves by explaining the past accurately or announcing the future reliably. When they cannot do either good or evil in any meaningful way, the verdict is immediate: they are nothing, their works are less than nothing, and devotion to them is itself an abomination.

“²¹Present your case,” says the LORD. ²²“Let them come and tell us what will happen. ²³Tell us the things that are to come, ²⁴Behold, you are nothing

In contrast to silent idols, the LORD declares that He has raised up the coming conqueror from the north and east, one who will trample rulers like clay. No idol announced this beforehand, but God was first to tell Zion that good news was coming; when He looks among the idols there is no counselor, no answer, and no substance, only emptiness, delusion, and wind.

²⁵I have raised up one from the north, and he has come — ²⁶Who has declared this from the beginning, ²⁷I was the first to tell Zion: ²⁸When I look, there is no one; ²⁹See, they are all a delusion;