Daily Devotions
Isaiah
"The craftsman stretches out his rule"
Text: Isaiah 44:13
THE ARTISANS AT WORK
There were different types of craftsmen who made idols. Three were described in this text.
“The blacksmith with the tongs works one in the coals,
Fashions it with hammers,
And works it with the strength of his arms.
Even so, he is hungry, and his strength fails;
He drinks no water and is faint.
The craftsman stretches out his rule,
He marks one out with chalk;
He fashions it with a plane,
He marks it out with the compass,
And makes it like the figure of a man,
According to the beauty of a man, that it may remain in the house.
He cuts down cedars for himself,
And takes the cypress and the oak;
He secures it for himself among the trees of the forest.
He plants a pine, and the rain nourishes it.”
Isaiah 44:12-14
1. The blacksmith.
a) He works with tongs.
b) Coals are used to make a fire.
c) He fashions whatever he is asked to make.
d) He uses a lot of strength.
e) But he is but a human being whose strength fails if he is hungry and thirsty.
2. The craftsman.
a) He measures things with his ruler and compass.
b) He works on his design using chalk.
c) He makes a design, for example, a human being.
d) What he designs is kept in his house as one would keep an idol.
3. The logger.
a) He goes to a forest.
b) He chooses the trees he wants and obtains the wood desired:
i) The cedar
ii) The cypress
iii) The oak
c) He even tries his hand at planting the pine.
d) But he needs the rain to nourish it.
e) From the wood he obtains, he makes an idol and secures it firmly
so that it would not fall down easily.
4. What Isaiah was doing.
a) He was describing how these artisans worked.
b) He noted that they were making idols that were sold to devotees for worship.
c) These were but artisans. How could they create idols that were worthy of worship?