This section compares the Lord to the false and worthless religions of the world. The Bible is consistently realistic and scathing about idols. The world tries to paint Christianity as being mere superstition, but nothing could be further from the truth. The gospel is supported by evidence, and the Bible is very hard nosed about faith.
The nations fear things for no good reason, and refuse to fear what they should really fear. We need to be very careful not to be taken in by the fears of the world. The idols of the world were worthless. Jeremiah points out that they were merely wood chiselled out by the hand of man. Now we may think that we no longer indulge in these silly practices, but when we put trust in the work of our hands and our minds as providing the complete answer for everything we are fools.
The Lord is different. He is the creator and sustainer of all things. He is worthy of worship.
The purpose of all this is to make Judah realise the reason for her ejection from the land. Judah had been rebellious and foolish in rejecting the Lord and chasing after idols.
Jeremiah calls on the Lord to discipline him, "but only in due measure".
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