Half for the Fire
Start
Isaiah tells about a man who cuts down a tree, cooks his dinner over half of it, and bows down to the other half.
Read Together
In Isaiah’s day, people carved idols from wood and metal and prayed to them. Isaiah tells this story to show how strange it is to worship something you made with your own hands.
16He burneth part thereof in the 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: 17And the residue thereof he maketh a god, even his graven image: he falleth down unto it, and worshippeth it, and prayeth unto it, and saith, Deliver me; for thou art my god.
19And none considereth in his heart, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, I have burned part of it in the fire; yea, also I have baked bread upon the coals thereof; I have roasted flesh, and eaten it: and shall I make the residue thereof an abomination? shall I fall down to the stock of a tree?
What It Teaches
The man in this story is busy, warm, and well fed. Verse 19 names his one mistake: “none considereth in his heart.” He never stops long enough to think about what he is bowing to.
Babylon makes the same mistake on a larger scale. In chapter 47 she says, “I am, and none else beside me,” which is almost word for word what God says about himself in chapter 45.
President Spencer W. Kimball wrote about modern idols. “Whatever thing a man sets his heart and his trust in most is his god; and if his god doesn’t also happen to be the true and living God of Israel, that man is laboring in idolatry.”
President Spencer W. Kimball, “The False Gods We Worship,” Ensign, June 1976
An idol today might be a phone, money, a team, or what other people think of us. Verse 19 gives the test. Stop and consider what you are trusting to save you.
Talk About It
What do people today give their time and trust to, the way the man trusted his carved wood? Which one is hardest for you to keep in its place?
Take to Church
The things we make can warm us and feed us, and only God can save us.