For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Isaiah 46:1-4     

1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops low;
    their idols are borne by beasts of burden.
The images that are carried about are burdensome,
    a burden for the weary.
2 They stoop and bow down together;
    unable to rescue the burden,
    they themselves go off into captivity.

3 ‘Listen to me, you descendants of Jacob,
    all the remnant of the people of Israel,
you whom I have upheld since your birth,
    and have carried since you were born.
4 Even to your old age and grey hairs
    I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
    I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

A. Find Out:

1. Which gods do what ? v.1a
2. How do they move and what does that impose? v.1b-d
3. What happens to them? v.2
4. To whom does the Lord then speak? v.3a,b
5. What does He say He’s done for them? v.3c,d, 4a
6. What does He say He will do for them? v.4b-d

B. Think:

1. What point is the Lord making about the Babylonian gods?
2. How does He contrast Himself?
3. Why do you think He’s saying this?

C. Comment:

The Lord has already a number of times decried the worship of idols. Now He specifically derides the gods of Babylon. Bel was the chief city-god of Babylon and Nebo was his son. They are represented by idols that are carried in and out of the city, but they are just burdens on their worshippers. They are just dead weights to be humped around, wearying their followers. Of course they don’t actually exist so the whole idol thing is pointless; they don’t actually exist so the whole idol thing is a pointless exercise! When Babylon falls, these lumps of wood will just be carried away. They can do nothing to stop it.

Then the Lord contrasts Himself with these ‘gods’. Instead of being carried by them, they have been carried by the Lord throughout their history, right up to the present time.

He reminds them that He has sustained and carried them and uses that as a basis to promise that He will carry and sustain them in the future, and will rescue them from what is coming. He is the Lord, the One who has all power, the One who comes to His people and provides for them. He is not a burden like these worthless idols. To the contrary, He is a burden carrier! Israel are the burden and the Lord carries them. Similarly the Lord carries us.   

D. Application:

1. Nothing about the Lord is burdensome.
2. Everything about the Lord is life and freedom. Praise Him!

Passage: Isaiah 46:5-9

5 ‘With whom will you compare me or count me equal?
    To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?
6 Some pour out gold from their bags
    and weigh out silver on the scales;
they hire a goldsmith to make it into a god,
    and they bow down and worship it.
7 They lift it to their shoulders and carry it;
    they set it up in its place, and there it stands.
    From that spot it cannot move.
Even though someone cries out to it, it cannot answer;
    it cannot save them from their troubles. 8 ‘Remember this, keep it in mind,
    take it to heart, you rebels.
9 Remember the former things, those of long ago;
    I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me.

A. Find Out:    

1. What does the Lord ask? v.5
2. What do some people go about doing? v.6
3. What do they then do with it? v.7a,b
4. But what then happens? v.7c-e
5. How does He then address them and instruct them to do? v.8
6. What are they to remember? v.9a

B. Think:

1. How is verse 5 a continuation from the previous verses?
2. What is the point the Lord is making here about idols?
3. Why do you think He says, “Remember the former things”?

C. Comment:

In this chapter the Lord has been deriding the Babylonian idols who He says are just a burden.  He, by comparison, carries the burden of Israel. Come on, He says, who have you got that you can compare with me?  He then derides the idols again!

Watch what goes on (implied) and you’ll see the rich people weighing out silver and gold and giving to those who work with such metals, and they turn them into ‘gods’. They then hoist them up, carry them around and then set them down (presumably) in a place of honour – and there they stay! It just sits there and you can cry out to it as much as you like but it won’t do anything or say anything, it’s just a dumb idol!  And you call this a god?????

Come on, He continues, clear your minds and get this clearly fixed in them, you rebellious idol worshipping people – think about your history! Think back to what has gone on in the past. What is He saying here? Think back to all the times in history when God has interacted with Israel and all the things He has done for them. Dumb idols sit there doing nothing. God is an active God who does things for Israel. There is no comparison, so why worship silver and gold that can do nothing!

D. Application:

1. God is a living active God who desires to interact with you in your life. Submit to His Lordship.
2. Do not put your trust in “things”, whether they be money, jobs, prestige, nice houses or whatever.

Passage: Isaiah 46:9-11     

9 Remember the former things, those of long ago;
    I am God, and there is no other;
    I am God, and there is none like me.
10 I make known the end from the beginning,
    from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, “My purpose will stand,
    and I will do all that I please.”
11 From the east I summon a bird of prey;
    from a far-off land, a man to fulfil my purpose.
What I have said, that I will bring about;
    what I have planned, that I will do.

A. Find Out:

1. What, again, does the Lord instruct them to do? v.9a
2. What does He say about Himself? v.9b,c
3. What does He say He does? v.10a,b
4. What does He say about that? v.10c,d
5. What does He say He will do? v.11a,b
6. What does He say about all of this? v.11c,d

B. Think:

1. What does God say about the duration of his purposes?
2. What does He say about the detail of His purposes?
3. What does He say about the certainty of His purposes?

C. Comment:

The Lord has derided the idols that can do nothing, that have no impact on the world because they cannot move or speak. Now by way of stark contrast He speaks of His own activities. As we saw yesterday He tells them to remember His activities in their history. Now He speaks about Himself and His eternal purposes.

First, He again declares His uniqueness. We need to be reminded of this again and again. There ISN’T another God, He alone is the One Supreme Almighty Being.

He plans and purposes. Perhaps we sometimes take this for granted, but He denies that He is a God who simply made everything and then sat back and let it all happen. No, His purposes involved Him interacting with His people, Him acting on their behalf.

From the very beginning of all things, He saw the future, saw what would happen if left to ourselves, and so He planned into history His acts that would create a people to reveal Him and prepare the way for His Son to come and bring the salvation the world would so desperately need. Those purposes even involve Him interacting with Gentile unbelievers, so that he could use them as a means to bless His people. More than that, these plans cannot be thwarted by men or demons, these plans take them into account and so these plans are sure and certain and WILL be fulfilled.

D. Application:

1. Rejoice in the fact that God IS in control of His plans.
2. Rejoice in the fact that these plans are certain – an involve you!

Passage: Isaiah 46:12 – 47:3       

12 Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted,
    you who are now far from my righteousness.
13 I am bringing my righteousness near,
    it is not far away;
    and my salvation will not be delayed.
I will grant salvation to Zion,
    my splendour to Israel.

1 ‘Go down, sit in the dust,
    Virgin Daughter Babylon;
sit on the ground without a throne,
    queen city of the Babylonians.
No more will you be called
    tender or delicate.
2 Take millstones and grind flour;
    take off your veil.
Lift up your skirts, bare your legs,
    and wade through the streams.
3 Your nakedness will be exposed
    and your shame uncovered.
I will take vengeance;
    I will spare no one.’

A. Find Out:

1. Who does the Lord tell to listen to Him? v.12
2. What does He say He is bringing and when to whom? v.13
3. Who then does He address? v.1
4. What does He tell them to do? v.1
5. What further does He say to do? v.2
6. With what result, and why? v.3

B. Think:

1. In what way does the Lord promise to lift Israel?
2. How is He warning of Babylon’s downfall?
3. How is He revealing Himself generally?

C. Comment:

The Lord has been chiding Babylon for their idols (v.1,2) but then He chided the idol worshippers of Israel (v.3-10) concluding that He will yet use someone from that far off land to work out His purposes (for His people Israel, implied).

Now the Lord comes and scolds unbelievers, whether they are of Israel or of Babylon doesn’t matter; they are stubborn and they are far from righteous. But says the Lord, despite you (implied) I’m going to bring salvation to Israel, I’m going to bring righteousness back and I’m going to make Israel splendid again.

We need to understand that God won’t simply justify those who remain in their unbelief and their unrighteousness. The salvation that will come with the accompanying righteousness will come to the remnant or the next generation who will repent and believe.

Then the Lord turns to Babylon specifically, because it stood majestic and affluent, untouched by decay, yet unbelieving. The Lord may take their leader and use him but the Lord will deal with Babylon so that they will be reduced to hard work and poverty, and they will be exposed to the rest of the world, and this will clearly be the work of the Lord. There is more to come, but humbling and chastising must come first to this proud and arrogant people.

D. Application:

1. The Lord opposes the proud and exalts the humble.
2. Which are we?