Isaiah 46 ~ I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me

Isaiah 46

David Cochran, English Standard Version

¹ Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and livestock;
these things you carry are borne
as burdens on weary beasts.
² They stoop; they bow down together;
they cannot save the burden,
but themselves go into captivity.

³ “Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
who have been borne by me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
⁴ even to your old age I am he,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.

⁵ “To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike?
⁶ Those who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship!
⁷ They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble.

⁸ “Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
⁹ remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
¹⁰ declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
¹¹ calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.

¹² “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
you who are far from righteousness:
¹³ I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
and my salvation will not delay;
I will put salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory.”

An amazing Scripture passage. In Jesus Christ, this is your passage.

You were borne by Me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
⁴ even to your old age I am He,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.

Call it to mind
⁹ remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
¹⁰ declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all My purpose,’
¹¹ calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.


Of course, now would be an obvious time to talk about idols we make of things we own and how they come to own us. And it is true. But more important are the depths of those burdens. My dad was born in Greenville, Mississippi. In the early 1930s, he was in a parade because on his father's side - he was 6th generation Mississippian.

He often told in incident happening to him as a child - a 40 something African American man plowing a field when the voodoo priest came along, took the plow from him and placed the man in a 12 foot diameter circle. The voodoo priest told the man, he had a choice - he could stay in the circle and die at sundown, or he could cross the circle line and die immediately. Apparently there was an unpaid debt. My dad, a boy at the time, saw many people visiting the man during that day, lots of loud and whaling voices were heard - but he never knew if it was vendetta or a money debt. The man was very vocal during the day, but as the sun set, the man grew quiet and died. True story. It was said the attending doctor, there that day, said his heart had failed.

Bird Type Idols from the Israel Museum. These date back to 1000 B.C. - the time of King David.

If you aren't from the Southern United States, you might not know voodoo believes God is God Almighty. But He gets busy and ignores our prayers. A Deist Theory. Then voodoo acknowledges lesser gods and goddesses and they somehow are more interested and intervene in prayer. Whereas God is not interested in our negative prayers to get someone in evil intention prayer, the lesser gods help out in that area. Unfortunately, there is payback. And sadly, people resort to voodoo because they feel like sinners or second rate. Things like astrology and psychic readings, go along with this.

So the man in the story was killed by his burdens. It is Interesting ... all the idols are usually ugly. Bone deep ugly. And yes, the Israel Museum is filled with ugly idols archaeology has found in Israel. Lessing Photo Archives. There is still a higher point to this story.

This man died in the ugliness of idol worship. Yet, that day, so many years ago, God is still God of that day. And His purposes prevail. The man was a child of God and falls into God's hand.

Three things to keep in mind. 1. Idol worship is ugly and it goes deeper than we are aware on a daily basis. 2. Negative thought can kill you. 3. God is God. No point in fear over the spiritual battle - it is already won.

There is a spiritual battle. However the Good News in Jesus Christ is better still. We have a God who is never too busy. God's purposes will prevail. Jesus Christ did not remain in the grave after an entire government and the Temple government sought to kill Him. The disciples did not stay, locked in fear, and in doubt. These men were in the Temple, itself, within a very small amount of time, proclaiming Jesus as God, with the government and Temple unable to get them to stop. God was willing to meet them in their sins, in their doubt, in their fear. They knew it and they ran to the Possibility of their Jesus. The Goodness of the Lord is beyond compare. It is still up to us to know all prayer Is answered, in our faith. We just don't always get the yes answer. God is Love.

The Disciples Peter and John Running to the Sepulcher on the Morning of the Resurrection, painted by Eugene Burnand in 1898

You were borne by Me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
⁴ even to your old age I am He,
and to gray hairs I will carry you.
I have made, and I will bear;
I will carry and will save.




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