Isaiah 46
Dead Idols and the Living God
1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; Their idols were on the beasts and on the cattle. Your carriages were heavily loaded, A burden to the weary beast. 2 They stoop, they bow down together; They could not deliver the burden, But have themselves gone into captivity. 3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Who have been upheld by Me from birth, Who have been carried from the womb: 4 Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you. 5 “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike? 6 They lavish gold out of the bag, And weigh silver on the scales; They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god; They prostrate themselves, yes, they worship. 7 They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it And set it in its place, and it stands; From its place it shall not move. Though one cries out to it, yet it cannot answer Nor save him out of his trouble. 8 “Remember this, and show yourselves men; Recall to mind, O you transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there isnone like Me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times thingsthat are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ 11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it. 12 “Listen to Me, you stubborn-hearted, Who are far from righteousness: 13 I bring My righteousness near, it shall not be far off; My salvation shall not linger. And I will place salvation in Zion, For Israel My glory.
What a great message! God is so good. Here Israel has made many golden and wooden images and called them gods, they bowed down in worship to things they had made with their own hands. And they forgot to serve and worship the one true God. But God in His goodness and mercy sends them and us this message...
3 “Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Who have been upheld by Me from birth, Who have been carried from the womb: 4 Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you. 5 “To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal And compare Me, that we should be alike?
then he continues in verse 9
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 that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’
What an amazing promise! I know there are times in life when we get distracted, and though we may not bow down to a golden or wooden image, we bow our hearts to material things allowing them to take priority, forgetting to make serving the only Living God our priority. But this promise from God directed at a rebellious Israel, also is for us today! God formed us, He has and will carry us, even into our old age...His counsel shall stand and He will do all of His good pleasure, in our lives.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
God has great plans for us...He is working in every situation and working out his good pleasures in our lives...even when we have made bad choices, and feel unworthy. God's love and His plans for us, do not change based on our actions. He has and always will love us more than we can imagine. And even when we slip up and fail Him, He still is working to bring us back to a place of right relationship with Him, and He will use even those bad times to bring about good for us.
I am so thankful! What an good and faithful God we serve!!!
GOD IS GOOD!!
