Isaiah 44:12

"The smith maketh an axe, and worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with his strong arm; yea, he is hungry, and his strength faileth; he drinketh no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretcheth out a line; he marketh it out with a pencil; he shapeth it with planes, and he marketh it out with the compasses, and shapeth it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the holm tree, and the oak, and strengtheneth for himself one among the trees of the forest: he planteth a fir-tree, and the rain doth nourish it. Then shall it be for a man to burn; and he taketh thereof and warmeth himself; yea, he kindleth it, and baketh bread: yea, he maketh a god, and worshipeth it; he maketh it a graven image, and falleth down thereto. He burneth part thereof with fire; with part thereof he eateth flesh; he roasteth roast and is satisfied; yea, he warmeth himself, and saith, Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire. And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image; he falleth down unto it and worshipeth, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god."

This is a most remarkable statement about idols. As Adam Clarke stated it:

"The sacred writers are generally large and eloquent upon the subject of idolatry; they treat it with great severity, and set forth the absurdity of it in the strongest light. But this passage of Isaiah (Isaiah 44:12-20) exceeds anything that was ever written upon the subject, in force of argument, energy of expression, and elegance of composition."[12]

A few lines are not clear, for example, why would the smith be faint from hunger and thirst? Some have suggested that fasting and abstinence were sometimes used when men were making an idol; but the smith was, in this line, merely making an axe to cut down the tree, a portion of which would be made into an idol! The mention of the smith's strong hands is interesting. All generations, except our own perhaps, have marveled at the strength of blacksmiths.

"Under the spreading chestnut tree.

The village smithy stands;

The smith a mighty man is he

With strong and sinewy hands!"

But how absurd an idol is. First there must be a tree. One must be found, or planted; and then it must be nourished by God's rain until it is grown. Then a workman must take an axe, the axe itself having been made by another workman, and then cut down the tree. Part of it is used for firewood, or cooking, or nearly anything else; and then somebody decides to make a god out of part of it! There must be the carpenter, and the artist, and the pencils, and the compasses, etc.; and then, finally, when the idol is finished, the one who made it falls down in front of it and worships it! What stupid folly is this?