Isaiah 46: There is None Like God

Building on chapter 45's ending section on Salvation by God alone, chapter 46 is a treatise on how God is not like anything or anyone else. He has made these assertions before, but we need to be reminded of them because we tend to make much of self and little of God. Peter opens his second letter with a description of the characteristics of Christians and then says, "Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you have." (2 Peter 1:12) Se let's bear with Isaiah as he reminds us of what we've already been taught.

Isaiah 46:1-2 (HCSB) Bel crouches; Nebo cowers. Their idols are consigned to beasts and cattle. The ⌊images⌋ you carry are loaded, as a burden for the weary ⌊animal⌋. The gods cower; they crouch together; they are not able to rescue the burden, but they themselves go into captivity.

"Bel" is likely a reference to the chief god of Babylon, Marduk. Nebo was Marduk's son - the god of wisdom and scribes. The idols made to represent these demonic gods would have been large and heavy, hence the need of animals who were wore down from transporting them. Note God's perspective of these gods: they cower and crouch in fear, they cannot bear the burden of the idols but are carried away by whoever conquers Babylon.

Isaiah 46:3-4 (HCSB) “Listen to Me, house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been sustained from the womb, carried along since birth. I will be the same until ⌊your⌋ old age, and I will bear ⌊you⌋ up when you turn gray. I have made ⌊you⌋, and I will carry ⌊you⌋; I will bear and save ⌊you⌋."

YHWH now turns His attention to the elect in ethnic Israel, the remnant of Jacob and Israel - those whom He had sustained from conception (actually, from before the foundation of the world!) and carried them along in His protection. He does not change, He is the faithful One! As I've grown older and my beard turned gray, I like this verse more. God will bear us up when we are weak (even when we are young and strong, we are weak!); He made us, He will carry us (no mundane beasts of burden!); He will save us!  This is all of God - doing what no man or god of man can do.

Isaiah 46:5-7 (HCSB) “Who will you compare Me or make Me equal to? Who will you measure Me with, so that we should be like each other? Those who pour out their bags of gold and weigh out silver on scales— they hire a goldsmith and he makes it into a god. Then they kneel and bow down to it. They lift it to their shoulder and bear it along; they set it in its place, and there it stands; it does not budge from its place. They cry out to it but it doesn’t answer; it saves no one from his trouble."

Here we see the futility of idol worship, which goes way beyond the idols described here. These are examples from history, idols that folk were used to seeing and hearing about. In our day, we don't call them idols, but we have standard of living, spouse, kids, dogs, motorcycles - all sorts of acceptable things that tend to take up space they aren't meant to! As it was with Baal, idols made of gold or other things within creation tend to be expensive in more ways than one and they cannot bear their own load. These lesser things cannot hear, cannot speak, cannot save anyone from trouble. YHWH, on the other hand, hears all things, spoke the universe into existence, and saves people from their sin!

Isaiah 46:8-10 (HCSB) “Remember this and be brave; take it to heart, you transgressors! Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; ⌊I am⌋ God, and no one is like Me. I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: My plan will take place, and I will do all My will."

Short and simple - remember these things about God, take them to heart, and be brave - fear not, only believe! When the women went to the tom and found it empty, Luke's account reveals the angels of God telling them to remember what Jesus had spoken to them; and they remembered His words! (Luke 24:1-8). We will be prone to fear and anxiety if we do not remember what God has spoken to us. He alone is God, everything else is a mere god. No one is like Him - one of the problems ethnic Israel had was to forget what God was really like. Forgetting this makes falling into sin all the easier. They engaged in a long list of sin; at the end of which, we read "These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you." (Psalm 50:21 (ESV)) Bear in mind what you know to be true about God - it will help keep one holy and humble.

God declares the end from the beginning, while we cannot even say we'll go a town and conduct business tomorrow unless God wills it. Without comparison to anything in creation, the Creator plans it and does it. His will is certain; He will do ALL His will. I cannot see how any man can think himself able to "ask Jesus into his heart" when - not only is natural man unable to do anything good - natural man does not have the will to make anything happen. Unless God wills it, it cannot be done!

Isaiah 46:11-13 (HCSB) I call a bird of prey from the east, a man for My purpose from a far country. Yes, I have spoken; so I will also bring it about. I have planned it; I will also do it. Listen to me, you hardhearted, far removed from justice: I am bringing My justice near; it is not far away, and My salvation will not delay. I will put salvation in Zion, My splendor in Israel.

The note in my study Bible says the bird of prey is Cyrus; those with an earthly hermeneutic might agree. I rather think of this passage, among others: Revelation 19:17-18 (HCSB) Then I saw an angel standing on the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice, saying to all the birds flying high overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of their riders, and the flesh of everyone, both free and slave, small and great.” These birds of prey are God's judgment on the world - the people described are those mentioned in Rev 6:15 who wanted the mountains to fall on them to hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. While Cyrus was called and served God's purpose in the shadowlands, the light of eternity reveals a different scene.

A warning to those who consider Him not, who trust in the works of their hands and their own wisdom rather than trust in God's judgment. His justice is coming, the birds will eat the flesh of His enemies, no matter how strong or powerful they are. Salvation is of the Lord! Those in Zion will be saved - His glory and splendor will be displayed in Israel! The remnant will glorify the Son on that day!

Hebrews 4:6-7 (HCSB) Since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience, again, He specifies a certain day—today—speaking through David after such a long time, as previously stated: Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.