Isaiah 44:20 He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
Feeding on Ashes
One of my earliest memories is of my fourth birthday party. I remember there was a large white candle in the shape of a four on a beautiful cake with white icing. The four looked just like part of the cake. I knew from experience that cake tasted sweet, and the candle looked just like the cake. So I thought to myself, “It’s my birthday, my party, my cake. I’m going to have it.” I grabbed a fist full of sweet and took a bite full of wax. My expectations were disappointed.
There are so many people going through life feeding on substitutes. They feed on ashes instead of that which would nourish them. This is what happens when people make idols in their image instead of realizing that people are made in the image of God.
Isaiah 44 addresses such people. It speaks to people who rely on human strength instead of an infinite Creator. Verses 15-17 give us the ridiculous picture of an idol maker. He goes into the woods, chops down a tree, cooks his supper with half of the tree, and makes a god out of the other half. How ridiculous!
Verse 13 says that such people make their idol according to the beauty of a man. Whenever we reject God’s sovereignty, authority, and provision in our lives, we replace God’s provision with a shallow substitute. In fact, verse 20 says of the idol maker, “He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?” We are made in the image of God. In verse 21 God says, “I have formed thee.” That is in stark contrast to all the things that we make in the image of man. Anything made in the image of man has the weaknesses of mankind. It is flawed.
I don’t know what your need is today, but God does. Though it is our natural inclination to replace God in our lives, nothing can take God’s place. To rely on the strength of anything manmade in the place of trusting our Creator is to feed the hungry soul with ashes.