Jump Start # 147 

Jeremiah 10:5 “Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, and they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, for they can do not harm, nor can they do any good.”

  This is one of my favorite Jeremiah passages. God is speaking here. Through the prophet He warns Judah of the false idols of the nations around about them. Earlier in the chapter God warns Judah not to learn the ways of the nations. He then tells them of the folly of idolatry.

  Our passage is packed full of negatives. The idols simply cannot do what their followers think they can. Notice, they cannot:

• Speak
• Move
• Do harm
• Do good

  Having heard that, we’d ask, “what can they do?” And the answer is nothing! The analogy is a scarecrow in a cucumber field. Being from the Ohio Valley, I’ve never seen that. I’ve seen scarecrows in corn fields but never a cucumber field. Unlike the Wizard of Oz, where the brainless scarecrow could speak and dance, these brainless idols are less than that. They cannot scare birds away and they cannot even keep the birds from pulling straw out of them to build a nest. They are worthless. They are a waste of time. Yet, the pagans pray to them. The pagans bow down to them. The pagans would sacrifice, sometimes even their small babies, to them. This is beyond us. Our first reaction is to think, ‘we’re people really that dumb back then?’ The answer is ‘No.’ They are not a lot different than we are. They were fed lies from false prophets. They had no system of belief. Their faith was based upon feelings and the lies fed to them from the false prophets. Our faith is different. It is based upon the word of God, which is proven, tested and sure. When the storms come, which Jesus said they would, our faith stands, because it is based upon the word of God.

  The faith of the pagans is not much different than what is being written in popular books today and being preached in many pulpits. The faith of so many is based upon personal experiences and feelings rather than the word of God. It is easy to get excited. The music, the drama, the emotions fill the air and people get charged up. This is true of a pep rally and it is true of many church services today. The direction is backwards. Today so much emphasis is placed upon the atmosphere and creating excitement rather than teaching the pure word of God which stirs one up from the inside out.

  Jeremiah adds in the next verse, “There is none like You, O Lord; You are great, and great is Your name in might.” Nothing is like God.

  Why do you believe what you believe? Is it because of the way you feel? What if you didn’t feel that way? Is it because it seems to work? Or, could it be because it is what is right! The Bible isn’t presented in a fashion such as, if you like it then it is for you. Rather, it is for you, whether you like it or not. It is from God. It does not change to fit you, but rather you fit it. The pagans were bowing down to what amounted to scarecrows in a cucumber field. What are you bowing down to?

Roger