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Isaiah
There are also many places where the Bible uses some type of technology as a metaphor for something more spiritual. Examples include:
* Winnowing out the wicked ([[Proverbs 20:23]])
* Job says his days go past as fast as a weaver's shuttle ([[Job 7:6]])
* God is a shield around us ([[Psalm 3:3]] and many other places)
* God's word is a lamp ([[Psalm 119:105]])
* God as refiner ([[Isaiah 1:25]], [[Isaiah 48:10]], [[Malachi 3:2]])
| [[Genesis 27:3]], [[Genesis 27:40]]
| Weapons: bow and arrow, sword.
| Note that the first mention of a weapon is the sword wielded by an angel to keep people away from the tree of life ([[Genesis 3:24]]). Other references to God using a manufactured weapon include [[Isaiah 27:1]], [[Isaiah 34:5]], [[Isaiah 66:16]].
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| [[Genesis 28:12]]
| [[Deuteronomy 22:8]]
| Build a railing around the roof of your house so nobody falls off.
| Israel's first OH&S policy! We have a responsibility to pre-empt technological dangers.
Compare [[Deuteronomy 19:5]] and [[Deuteronomy 22:8]] with modern legal interpretations of duty of care and negligence.
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| [[2 Kings 20:7]]
| A poultice of figs is used to heal a boil.
| This same remedy is used in [[Isaiah 38:21]]. Where else in the Bible is medicine used for healing rather than magic?
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| [[2 Kings 20:20]]
| [[2 Kings 21:13]]
| "Measuring line" and "plumb-line"
| See also [[Isaiah 28:17]] where these tools represent justice and righteousness, as well as other references listed for [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=%22measuring-line%22 measuring line] and [http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=%22plumb-line%22 plumb line].
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| [[Psalm 20:7]]
| "Some trust in chariots and some in horses but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."
| See the converse in [[Isaiah 31:1]].
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| [[Psalm 38:2]]
| "Honor the Lord ... then your barns will be filled ... and your vats will brim over ..."
| Maybe it's not too much of a stretch to infer that if we honor God, then our technology will succeed.
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| [[Proverbs 17:3]]
| "The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart."
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| [[Proverbs 18:19]] - [[Proverbs 18:11]]
| "The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe. The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall."
| We might imagine that our money makes us impregnable like a well-built castle, but in the end security only comes from trusting God.
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| [[Proverbs 20:26]]
| "A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them."
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| [[Proverbs 25:5]] - [[Proverbs 25:6]]
| Removing the dross from silver compared to establishing a righteous kingdom.
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| [[Proverbs 27:21]]
| "The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but man is tested by the praise he receives."
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| [[Proverbs 27:22]]
| "Though you grind a fool in a mortar, grinding him like grain with a pestle, you will not remove his folly from him."
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| The Teacher built houses and made reservoirs to water his gardens, but it was meaningless (v11).
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| [[Ecclesiastes 2:17]] - [[Ecclesiastes 2:23]]
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| It can seem as though the whole of our life's work is just meaningless toil.
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| [[Ecclesiastes 10:9]]
| "Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them; whoever splits logs may be endangered by them."
| Working with technology can be dangerous.
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| [[Ecclesiastes 10:10]]
| "If the axe is dull and its edge unsharpened, more strength is needed but skill will bring success."
| This probably generalises to most tools. If your equipment is sub-standard then it takes a lot more effort to get results. Nevertheless, a good tradesman never blames his tools. If you have the skill, you can still succeed -- maybe by sharpening the axe!
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| [[Isaiah 2:4]]
| Turning swords into ploughshares and spears into pruning hooks.
| The same materials can have different technological applications. Indeed, the same technology can be used for both war and peace, for good and for evil.
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| [[Isaiah 2:12]] - [[Isaiah 2:22]]
| The Lord has a day planned when all human arrogance -- lofty towers, fortified walls, trading ships, idols or silver and gold -- will be be brought low.
| This is a condemnation of arrogance rather than of technology. But how often does humanity show its arrogance by seeking power and control through technology? In the end, humans are an insubstantial breath (22).
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| [[Isaiah 5:28]]
| God calls nations to battle against Israel, knowing that their weapons (bows, arrows and chariots) will overpower Israel.
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| [[Isaiah 10:15]]
| "Does the axe raise itself above him who swings it ..."
| Tools are subservient to their user. In context, God is wielding Assyria as a weapon against Israel and it is inappropriate for Assyria -- as the tool -- to think that they acted independently. A similar point is made in several places (e.g. [[Isaiah 29:16]], [[Isaiah 45:9]]) about the relationship between a clay pot and the potter.
As a more general saying, however, this verse points out that no technology is greater than it's wielder, but merely a tool in the wielder's hand. Does that continue to be accurate in the age of intelligent machines?
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| [[Isaiah 40:18]] - [[Isaiah 40:19]]
| To whom will you compare God? Certainly not to any idol crafted by human hands!
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| [[Isaiah 41:15]]
| God will make Israel into a threshing-sledge to thresh/crush/winnow their enemies.
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| [[Isaiah 44:12]] - [[Isaiah 44:20]]
| A blacksmith or a carpenter may fashion an idol, but so what? The blacksmith still gets hungry, tired and thirsty like anyone else. The carpenter uses the same wood as his carved idol for kindling a fire to cook on! But he can't see that the wooden idol he created is a lie.
| Craftsmen and technologists should have a sense of humility about their work.
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| [[Isaiah 64:8]]
| "We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand."
| God as craftsman and technologist: a potter who chooses the raw materials, follows an intentional process, and makes use of tools (such as a potting wheel and kiln) in order to turn a design into a product.
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