I recently started teaching a course on the book of Jeremiah to ninth and tenth graders. Last week we read Jeremiah 10, which is a back and forth contrast between the LORD (Yahweh) and idols. For example,
Idols
For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.
5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them;
they can do no harm
nor can they do any good.”
the LORD
6 No one is like you, LORD;
you are great,
and your name is mighty in power.
7 Who should not fear you,
King of the nations?
This is your due.
Among all the wise leaders of the nations
and in all their kingdoms,
there is no one like you.
Idols
8 They are all senseless and foolish;
they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made
is then dressed in blue and purple—
all made by skilled workers.
the LORD
10 But the LORD is the true God;
he is the living God, the eternal King.
When he is angry, the earth trembles;
the nations cannot endure his wrath.
Question
After reading this chapter, I asked, “What idols do we have today?”
“Our phones,” one student blurted out.
Others agreed.
I was surprised how quickly they honed in on this specific modern-day idol.
One student asked for permission to show me his screen time. It showed about 6 hours per day on TikTok alone.
Another student said he had almost a 1,000 day streak on Snapchat and he didn’t want to lose it.
“Who wants you posting on Snap everyday?” I asked.
No one answered.
“Snap does,” I said. “The makers of the app want you to stay on their app for as long as possible. This makes them more money and gives them more data.” This seemed to be a new thought for the students.
I asked, “Have you ever tried to go without looking at your phone for a while?”
“I tried, but I failed” one girl answered. “I made it to an hour and a half.”
“That’s really good,” another young lady said.
I also encouraged her, “That’s a good start.”
“We’re not doing anything bad on our phones” another student said.
“But what else could you be doing with your time?” I asked.
That didn’t get much of a response.
“They call it doomscrolling,” I said, “when you are wasting your time, endlessly scrolling through your feed.”
I added, “I just read an article that said young people are going back to an analog lifestyle. They are playing board games together. They want to be in person.”
“What are we supposed to do? Go home from school and play board games?” one student skeptically asked.
Another student said something like, “Monopoly is awesome.”
“We know being on our phones all the time is bad for us, but we do it anyway,” a young lady said.
“Right. We are no better than the people of Judah who were constantly going after their idols. Jeremiah is showing us something about the human heart. We prefer our manufactured idols to the true and living God. We forsake ‘the spring of living water’ and dig out our own ‘cisterns that cannot hold water'” (Jer 2:13).
I didn’t expect a book written 2600 years ago to lead us into a conversation about screen time.
I have served as a high school Bible teacher and counselor in Asia and the U.S. I am passionate about understanding and teaching the Bible. Here’s a link to my book page.
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