What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, the molded image, a teacher of lies, that the maker of its mold should trust in it, to make mute idols? Woe to him who says to wood, “Awake!” To silent stone, “Arise! It shall teach!” Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet in it there is no breath at all. But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him. (Habakkuk 2:18-20)

The Lord Is In His Holy Temple

Reverence and worship belong only to the Lord. The abomination of idols is found when men carve images from stone and wood overlaid with gold and silver to give reverence and worship to. Nothing is more absurd for a man to take a tree from the forest to carve a totem of his choosing to call his god with his own hand. The idol is mute. There is no breath in the carved image. An idol cannot teach and instruct. Yet man will create his god and fall down before it to give it the reverence due to the Lord. He worships the idol, which cannot benefit the worshipper. There is no value or profit for the teacher of lies. The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.

Idolatry has always been the plague destroying the hearts of men. An idol can be an image of stone or wood shaped like a man or an animal. Mythology is the storytelling of idols created by men to satisfy their carnal nature. Created by men to serve them, idols represent the expression of the lustful hearts of human wisdom to fill the needs of what they demand. The idol cannot speak because man cannot put life into stone or wood. The idol has no mind as it is a material, inanimate object without life. An idol depends on its maker to care for it, and the worshipper becomes the protector of the god he worships as his protector. Idol worship is folly. The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.

Idol worship has never gone away. In modern times, many civilizations create and worship idols. Hindu, Buddha, and Jainism religions are built on veneration of idols. Indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest worshipped totems. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches venerate images, statutes, and icons like idols. Venerating the mother of Jesus is a form of idolatry. Habakkuk shows the folly of creating images to worship because men make them for men to worship as their gods. When Israel was camped at Mt. Sinai, and the people became restless, Aaron formed a golden calf, declaring the image as the god who delivered them from Egypt. This was an affront to the holiness of the Lord God. Allowing a man-made image as the object or worship brought the wrath of God. The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.

An idol is when something or someone becomes more important to us than God. It does not have to be made of stone and wood in the image of a man or beast. Many read passages about idolatry and think how silly it is to revere such things. They fail to realize that idols do not always come in the imagery of a stone figure. Anything that takes man’s heart away from devotion and worship to the Lord is an idol. A man’s job can be so important he neglects his family, his obligations to the work of the church, and his mind to the things of the world. He believes wealth, position, prestige, and popularity will save him. The family altar is the bank account. When he dies, he will spend his entire life working for everything he will never take with him. He served the wrong god. The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him.

Habakkuk was written to remind the hearts of men that the only thing that must receive reverence and fear is the worship of the Lord. God demands honor to be given to him. His temple is the only place of worship. The Lord demands and expects first place and will never accept anything less. As the Lord dwells in His holy temple, He declares to the world to be silent and consider who He is. His majesty will be proclaimed all over the world because the world testifies to His greatness. To create an idol or to waste a life seeking things that will be of no use in death is an abomination to the character of God. An idol cannot speak because it has no life. God has spoken because He gives life. The idol cannot receive worship; only God can receive worship. It is time to consider who God is, where He dwells, and for the earth to fall silent in the presence of the Lord God Almighty.