“That day man will look to his Maker and his eyes will look on the holy one of Israel.”
– Isaiah 17:7
The whole picture here in Isaiah 17:7 is God denouncing idolatry, denouncing all of these foreign gods that are being worshiped, crafted by human hands. God is saying there’s coming a day when man will look not to the work of his own hands but will look to the Maker, the one who makes all things, the one who is the creator of the world and the one who forms and fashions our lives by his hands. Our eyes will look to him. He’s the holy one of Israel. We realize there is no one like him.
Isaiah 17:7 Calls Us to Flee the Idols in Our Life
We must flee the idols of this world and trust the one true God.
This was a day of idolatry in Isaiah 17:7. We would be foolish to think that we are not surrounded by such idolatry in our day right now as well. The fact is we are tempted on a continual basis to worship other things, to worship people, to worship pursuits, possessions, position, so many good things even that we are tempted to trust in, give our affection and our attention to in a way that pulls us away from looking to God, giving our attention and affection to God supremely above all things.
The reality is a day is coming when we’re all going to look at God as our Maker, and we’re going to realize how futile these things in the world were, that we sought after and we pursued, and we loved and even gave our lives to.
Isaiah 17:7 Tells Us to Resist Temptation to Worship Idols
We’ve got to root out continually in all of our lives any, every bit of idolatry, anything that we’re tempted to worship, to trust in, to look to, to lean on instead of God. God help us, we pray. God help us not just on that day in the future but this day right now. Help us to look to you as our Maker, to fix our eyes on you as the holy one. There’s no one like you. So God, there’s nothing like you. We need you alone. We trust in you alone. Oh, we love you alone. We want to turn aside from all idols in this world, all things, good things, bad things, Lord, that pull us away from you, from affection for you, from trusting in you. Lord, please, cleanse us of all idolatry.
This Verse Gives Us Undivided Hearts
So give us hearts that are undivided in fearing your name. In glorifying your name, undivided in our affection toward you. We pray. Help us today to look to you as our Maker. To see you as the holy one and to worship you alone. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
