Read Isaiah 46:1-13.

Introduction⤒🔗

One of my friends who had looked forward to receiving a substantial monthly benefit at retirement is now without a job. The company he worked for went bankrupt. Moreover, the retirement funds no longer exist. Suddenly the future for him and his wife is far less secure than he thought.¹

Another friend, a man with financial security who had anticipated a decade or more of happy retirement, is terminally ill. The good years he was anticipating are not going to become a reality.²

The two people here mentioned have both stated that they do not live in continual worry. They sleep well. They trust God. One of them related this sound advice: The God who cares for me never sleeps. I see no need in both of us staying awake.

When we face a present crisis or contemplate an uncertain future, we will feel threatened, if we lose sight of the God who can take care of us. In the midst of a crisis, or when facing an uncertain future, let us be sure to place our trust in the LORD our God, because He alone is the God who can take care of us. This is the message of the passage presently before us.

In Isaiah 46 we are transported into the distant future, from Isaiah’s time in history, to the time when the mighty Babylonian Empire was invaded by the Medes and the Persians under Cyrus the Great. At that time, the Babylonians would look to their idols, their “gods of gold,” for deliverance, but to no avail.

The LORD directs His covenant people’s attention to that tragic scene, and assures them that, as the true and living God, He is not like the impotent “gods of gold.” On the contrary, His people can confidently put their trust in Him to take care of them.

Trust the LORD to Take Care of You, Throughout All Your Life ←⤒🔗

In verse three of Isaiah 46 the LORD declares,

Listen to me, O house of Jacob, even all the remnant of the house of Israel—those who have been borne [by me] from [the time of] their birth, those who have been carried [by me] from [the time they came out of] the womb.

Just as a father carries his new born babe in his arms and lovingly cares for the little infant, so the LORD lovingly cares for each one whom He has begotten by His Holy Spirit—each one whom He has brought to faith in Christ Jesus.

In verse four the LORD assures His covenant people, “Even to your old age I am he—the LORD, [your God]; and even when you have gray hairs, I will carry you.” Even in old age, even when our hair turns gray and white, the LORD will continue to take care of His children in Christ.

Why can we continue to rely upon His loving fatherly care? We can do so because He ever remains the same, He ever continues to be the great “I am.” Note Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” The LORD’s covenant people can have confidence in His continued loving care because He, as our Maker and Redeemer, faithfully assumes responsibility for us: “I have made you, and I will bear you; indeed, I will carry you and I will deliver you” (Isa. 46:4b).

Do you sometimes entertain, or even express, the same concerns as the Psalmist, “Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone” (Psl. 71:9)? Does such a concern sometimes enter your mind, or occupy your thoughts, especially in this present age with its orientation towards youth and its view of the elderly as being an expendable inconvenience? If so, take confidence and comfort from Moses’ reply to Pharaoh, when asked, “Who are the ones that are going?” Moses said, “We will go with our young and our old.” (Ex. 10:9) Not one Israelite would be left behind; all would make the journey to the Promised Land.

When the LORD’s people utter the plea voiced by the psalmist in Psalm 71:18, “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God,” they need to remember the LORD’s reply as recorded in Isaiah 46:3-4,

Listen to me, O house of Jacob, and all you who remain of the house of Israel—those who have been borne [by me] from [the time of] their birth, those who have been carried [by me] from [the time they came out of] the womb. ⁴Even to your old age I am he—the LORD, [your God]; and even when you have gray hairs, I will carry you. I have made you, and I will bear you; indeed, I will carry you and I will deliver you.

As a Christian, you may confidently trust in the LORD to take care of you, throughout all the years of your life. The writer, Erma Bombeck, tells a touching story of the transition to old age:

When her daughter was a very young girl, Erma would place her in the passenger seat of the family car and buckle her in. When she had to slam on the breaks, Erma would instinctively thrust out her arm to restrain her little daughter. Now, Erma found herself occupying the passenger’s seat in her daughter’s automobile. As they drove along, suddenly her daughter had occasion to slam on the breaks. As she did so, she instinctively thrust out her arm to restrain her mother. That little incident brought home to Erma the fact that the years had passed, now it was the mother who needed to be cared for—and she was grateful for a caring daughter.

May we, as Christians, be ever grateful for a caring God.

As a Christian, you can be grateful for, and place your confidence in, your caring heavenly Father, knowing that He will be faithful to take care of you throughout all the years of your life.

Trust the LORD to Take Care of You, Instead of Trusting in the “Gods of Gold”←⤒🔗

In verses 5-6 the LORD compares and contrasts Himself with the “gods of gold.” He inquires,

To whom can you liken me, and with whom can you equate me, and with whom can you compare me, and whom do I resemble? ⁶There are those who pour gold out of their money bags and weigh out silver on the scales; they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god. Then they bow down to it; indeed, they worship it.

The LORD is the incomparable God, He asks, “To whom can you liken me?...and with whom can you compare me?” There is no response to His inquiry, because there is no one with whom He can be compared, He alone is God and there is none other.

As the LORD Himself points out, the gods of the nations are nothing more than idols of gold (vs. 6). A man donates a lavish amount of gold, with his silver he hires a goldsmith, and the smith fashions for him an idol of gold before which he and his family then bow in worship.

Speaking of the Babylonians, verse seven indicates how utterly foolish it is to trust in such “gods,”

They bear [their idol] upon their shoulder; they carry it and set it in its place, and there it stands—from its place it will not move. One may cry out to it; but it cannot answer, nor can it save him from his troubles.

The man carries his golden idol home; there he sets it in its appointed place—the place from which it shall not move. In time of need he may cry to this god for help, but it cannot answer and it cannot save. This would certainly prove to be true of the gods of Babylon; they would prove themselves to be unable to rescue their Babylonian worshipers in the hour their homeland was invaded by the Medes and Persians. The same is true of all the gods of gold, all the idols of this world.

Just as the Babylonians foolishly trusted in their “gods of gold,” in a similar way, many other men trust in their gold as their god. Consider Jesus’ parable recorded in Luke 12:16-21,

And he told them this parable: 'The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. ¹⁷He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ ^18'Then he said, ‘This is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I will say to myself, 'You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.' ^20'But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ ^21'This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.'

Let us hear what the Word of God says about trusting in the “gods of gold” for one’s security:

Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. ⁵Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.Prov. 23:4-5

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. ¹⁸Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. ¹⁹In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Tim. 6:17-19

Here the Apostle Paul provides some practical ways in which we are to fulfill our Lord’s command to “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matt. 6:20).

Riches do not profit on the day of wrath; but righteousness delivers from death.Prov. 11:4

That righteousness is none other than the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ the Son of God, provided for each one who trusts in Him for their salvation.

As a Christian, you should confidently trust in the LORD to take care of you, instead of trusting in the “gods of gold.”

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, 'Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.' Heb. 13:5

...having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. ⁹But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition, ¹⁰for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.1 Tim. 6:8­-10

Trust the LORD to Take Care of You, Because He Alone is Able to Save←⤒🔗

It is ironic that the “gods” in whom the Babylonians trusted had to be carried around and set in their appropriate place; those “gods” could not move, nor could they save (vs. 7b).

As verses 1-2 indicate, far from saving anyone in time of trouble, they themselves had to be saved! “Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low;” the chief gods of Babylon are brought to a state of humiliation. Isaiah here envisions the great golden idols of Babylon being taken down by their worshipers to be carried away to safety from the approaching Persian invaders.

“Their idols are borne by beasts of burden;” the great gods of Babylon must be transported on the backs of beasts of burden; the picture here is reminiscent of a funeral procession. “The [images] that are carried around are burdensome; [they are] a burden to the weary beasts. ²They stoop low and bow down together;” just as the weary beasts of burden stagger under the dead weight of these massive idols, so the idols themselves—being compared to the dumb beasts—stagger and stumble under the great burden laid upon them, namely, the burden of saving their nation and protecting their people.

“They could not bear the burden;” indeed, the burden of saving their people proves to be too great for them, they cannot save those who trust in them. Far from saving those who have trusted in them and worshiped them, “They themselves have gone into captivity.” The idols of Babylon prove to be unable to save their people, and there is no one who can save them: along with their worshippers, they are carried off into captivity.

In contrast to these so-called “gods,” let us consider the LORD our God:

• He invites us to cast our burdens upon Him, “Cast all your care upon him because he cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:7).
   
• He is faithful and able to uphold us: “Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be moved” (Psl. 55:22).
   
• He has taken upon Himself the burden of our sins: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him [Jesus the Messiah] the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6).

Again, consider the contrast between the “gods” of the nations and the LORD our God:

• Those so-called “gods” cannot answer when their people call upon them (vs. 7); but the LORD our God stands ready to answer us when we call, indeed, He urges us to do so: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psl. 50:15).
   
• Those “gods” are lifeless (vs. 7b), and behind them is the one who destroys life, the devil himself. As noted in the previous study on Isaiah 45, the Apostle Paul identifies the devil as the spiritual power behind the idols of this world (1 Cor. 10:20).
   
• But the LORD our God is the living God. His very name identifies Him as the One who is the self-existent Possessor and Author of life; as He identifies Himself to Moses, “I AM that I AM” (Ex. 3:14). The Lord Jesus testifies, “the Father has life in himself” (Jn. 5:26a), i.e. He is self-existent. The Lord Jesus goes on to further testify that, as He, the eternal Son of God, has come forth from the Father and entered into His incarnate state, “[the Father] has granted the Son to have life in himself” (Jn. 5:26b). Furthermore, He desires to give us life; the Lord Jesus declares, “I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance” (Jn. 10:10b).

As a Christian, confidently place your trust in the LORD to take care of you, because He alone is able to save. A missionary ministering in Japan relates a moving story that well illustrates the contrast between the “gods” of men and the Lord of heaven:

One of Japan’s frequent earthquakes sent tremors through the land. As the rumble of the earthquake shook her house, a Japanese lady observed the little idols trembling and clattering on her shelf. In contrast to her trembling idols, this lady noted the calm steadfast heart exhibited by her Christian neighbor. That Christian lady trusted in the LORD, and the LORD was faithful and able to uphold her in the midst of the life-threatening ordeal.

Conclusion←⤒🔗

The LORD exhorts His people, “Remember this” (vs. 8). That is to say, we are to ever be mindful of the fact that the LORD is God, and there is none who can be compared to Him (vs. 5-7). In remembering this, let us place our trust in Him and not depart from Him,

...do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. ²¹Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. 1 Sam. 12:20b-21

Discussion Questions←⤒🔗

1. Whom does the LORD address in Isaiah 46:3a? Like the remnant who remained steadfastly faithful during the Babylonian Captivity, has there ever been a time when you have had to stand alone for the LORD; did you look to Him for the grace to remain steadfastly faithful? Note 2 Tim. 4:16-17a,

Listen to me, O house of Jacob, even all the remnant of the house of Israel—those who have been borne [by me] from [the time of] their birth, those who have been carried [by me] from [the time they came out of] the womb. Isa. 46:3

At my first defense, no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them.¹⁷But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me... 2 Tim. 4:16-17

2. How does the LORD describe His relationship to the faithful remnant, and what promise does He make to them? See Isa. 46:3b. As a Christian, can you testify to the LORD’s faithfulness to you throughout your life; can you join with Paul in his testimony to Christ’s faithfulness to him? See 1 Tim. 1:12b. As you approach old age, what concern might you have (cf. Psl. 71:9); but of what does the LORD assure you? See Isa. 46:4; 1 Cor. 1:4, 8-9,

Listen to me, O house of Jacob, even all the remnant of the house of Israel—those who have been borne [by me] from [the time of] their birth, those who have been carried [by me] from [the time they came out of] the womb. Isa. 46:3

...I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that Day. 2 Tim. 1:12b

Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails. Psl. 71:9

Even to your old age I am he—the LORD, [your God]; and even when you have gray hairs, I will carry [you]. I have made [you], and I will bear [you]; indeed, I will carry [you] and I will deliver you. Isa. 46:4

I always thank my God for you, because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus...⁸[God] will also confirm you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Cor. 1:4, 8-9

3. In Isaiah 46:8 the LORD is addressing those members of the covenant nation that had become enamored by the religion of their captors and were drifting into apostasy; what does the LORD call upon them to remember? See Isa. 46:1-2, 7. Upon considering the futility of idolatry, or any religion of the world, what are these wavering “Christians” called to do? See Isa. 46:8a. What are we as Christians called upon to do? See Col. 2:6-7; note, also, 2 Pet. 3:18a,

Remember this, and stand firm; take this to heart, O you transgressors. Isa. 46:8

¹Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low; their idols are borne by beasts of burden, [they are placed] upon the cattle. The [images] that are carried around are burdensome; [they are] a burden to the weary beasts. ²They stoop low and bow down together; they could not bear the burden; rather, they themselves have gone into captivity... ⁷They bear [their idol] upon their shoulder; they carry it and set it in its place, and there it stands—from its place it will not move. One may cry out to it; but it cannot answer, nor can it save him from his troubles. Isa. 46:1-2, 7

As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, ⁷rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, with thanksgiving.Col. 2:6-7

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. 2 Pet. 3:18

4. What does the LORD challenge wavering Christians to do? See Isa. 46:5. What other god has done, or could do, what the living God, the God of the Bible, has done? See Jn. 3:16. What testimony does the Apostle Peter make? See Jn. 6:67-68. To whom, other than Christ, can you turn for the forgiveness of your sins and eternal life in the kingdom of God?

To whom can you liken me, and with whom can you equate me, and with whom can you compare me, and whom do I resemble? Isa. 46:5

...for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Jn. 3:16

Jesus therefore said to the Twelve, Will you also leave? ⁶⁸Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹We have believed and know that you are the Holy One of God. Jn. 6:67-68

5. Whom does the LORD address in Isaiah 46:12? Have you ever forsaken your fidelity to the LORD because you wrongly judged that He had forsaken His fidelity to you? What does the LORD say to such people? See Isa. 46:13. Verse 13 is referring to Cyrus’s conquest of Babylon, by which Israel was released from their bondage to the Babylonians; where do we find the LORD’s greatest act of fidelity? See Col. 2:15. Christ’s conquest was in fulfillment of what promise the LORD had made to our forefather? See Gen. 3:15,

Listen to me, you who are stubborn-hearted, you who are far from fidelity [to my covenant]. Isa. 46:12

Thinking that the LORD had abandoned His covenantal faithfulness by giving His people over to their Babylonian captors, these people have abandoned their covenantal fidelity to the LORD.

I am going to bring my righteousness near, it shall not be far away; and my salvation shall not tarry. ¹³I will grant salvation to Zion for Israel my jewel. Isa. 46:12-13

The LORD informs such people that He is about to display His covenantal fidelity by the deliverance of His people from the Babylonian captivity.

Having disarmed principalities and powers, [Christ] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by [the cross]. Col. 2:15

The LORD declared to the serpent (i.e. the devil):

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel. Gen.3:15

Here is the promise of the incarnation: The Savior will be of the offspring of the woman. Here is the promise of salvation by the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ the Savior: The serpent shall bruise the Savior’s heel—in one sense, that was a deathblow, because a venomous serpent normally strikes his victim in the heel; but in another sense, that was a non-lethal blow, being only a blow to the heel and not to the head. Finally, here is the promise of complete victory and salvation: The Savior shall crush the serpent’s head, which is to inflict a fatal blow.