This passage (Jeremiah 10:1–16) is a poem by Jeremiah that is scathing of the foolishness of worshipping worthless and powerless man-made idols compared to knowing and worshipping the Lord who is the all-powerful creator and ruler of everything.
The poem is introduced by a brief section of prose in which the Hebrew preposition al may also be translated as against.
This would make the poem an attack on the idol worship that was taking place in Judah.1
Throughout the poem the idols are compared to the Lord and so the following sections in the poem can be identified:2
Jeremiah 10:2–5 - The weakness of the idols.
Jeremiah 10:6–7 - The power of the Lord.
Jeremiah 10:8–9 - Idols are dead.
Jeremiah 10:10 - The Lord is the living eternal God.
Jeremiah 10:11 – The idols create nothing.
Jeremiah 10:12–13 – The Lord made the heavens and the earth.
Jeremiah 10:14–15 – The foolish worshippers of idols.
Jeremiah 10:16 – Israel, the tribe of his inheritance.
The poem begins with a warning to the people of Judah to not learn the way of the nations. The Hebrew word is tilmadu and may have the meaning of becoming a disciple
.3 It is a warning against following the nations in their worship of false gods. In particular, mention is made of not being dismayed at the signs of the heavens.
Jeremiah has already spoken of Judah following the nations in their worship of heavenly bodies (Jeremiah 7:16–20; Jeremiah 8:2). The nations ascribed great power to the heavenly bodies especially when unusual things happened in the skies such as comets and eclipses. These were often seen as bad omens and caused dismay. Astrology was seen as a way of understanding what the gods were thinking about the future. If that future looked ominous, then the worshipper could participate in certain rituals to ward off danger.4 Judah was not to do any of this because it is the Lord who created the heavenly bodies and controlled not just them, but everything in his world.5 Judah was not to live in fear of creation but by trusting in and worshipping its creator.
This poem highlights the surprising and unthinkable ease with which the people of Israel were drawn into following the culture and worldview of the nations around them instead of hearing and trusting the Lord who had revealed himself to them over generations as the powerful creator and redeemer. The allure of following the way of the nations was powerful and the Lord’s people needed constant reminding of who their God was so that they would turn to him. This poem is just such a reminder.6
2 Ainsi parle l'Eternel: N'imitez pas la voie des nations, Et ne craignez pas les signes du ciel, Parce que les nations les craignent.