Isaiah · chapter 46 of 66
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Isaiah 46 contrasts the idols of Babylon, Bel and Nebo, which collapse and must be carried by animals, with the Lord, who carries his people from birth to old age. The chapter mocks idols made of gold and silver, declares that only the Lord announces the end from the beginning, and promises to bring his salvation to Zion.
Isaiah 46 follows the announcement about Cyrus in chapter 45 and prepares for the fall of Babylon described in chapter 47. The exiles will live among powerful gods displayed for all to see, and this chapter reminds them that those gods are burdens others must carry, while the God of Israel is the one who sustains his people.
The chapter opens with scenes of defeat. Bel and Nebo, leading gods of Babylon, bow down and stoop. Their statues are loaded onto beasts of burden, a weight for weary animals, and the idols themselves go into captivity along with those who carry them. They cannot save the load they bear.
Then the Lord calls to the house of Jacob and the remnant of Israel. Unlike the idols, which are carried, he has carried them since before they were born and will keep carrying them to old age and gray hair. He made them and will bear them: he sustains, carries and rescues. The Lord then asks to whom they can compare him. Those who make a god pour gold from the bag, weigh silver on the scales and hire a goldsmith, and then the idol is bowed to and worshiped. They lift it onto the shoulder and set it in its place, where it stays without moving. If someone cries out to it, it neither answers nor saves him from trouble.
Verses 8 through 11 call them to remember: the Lord is God and there is no other. He declares the end from the beginning, and what has not yet happened, and his purpose will stand. He calls a bird of prey from the east, a man for his purpose from a far country, referring to Cyrus. He has spoken and will bring it about. The chapter closes with a summons to the stubborn of heart, who are far from righteousness: the Lord brings his righteousness near, and his salvation will not delay, and he will give salvation in Zion to Israel, his glory.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord promises to carry his people to old age and gray hair: he made them, and he will sustain, carry and rescue them. In contrast to idols that must be carried, the true God is the one who carries his own throughout life.
The Lord asks his people to remember the former things and states that he is God and there is no other, no one like him. Remembering what he has already done is the foundation for trusting what he will do.
The Lord declares from the beginning what is to come, and assures that his purpose will stand and that he will do all he pleases. His sovereignty over history comforts those who see powerful empires around them.
The Lord brings near his righteousness and his salvation will not be delayed, and he will place it in Zion for Israel. Even the stubborn receive the promise of a deliverance that does not depend on their merit.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Bel and Nebo. — Isaiah 46:1
Answer: The Lord carries his people from before birth; the idols are carried by animals. — Isaiah 46:1-3
Answer: To old age and gray hair. — Isaiah 46:4
Answer: They pay a goldsmith who makes it, carry it on the shoulder and set it in its place, where it neither moves nor answers. — Isaiah 46:6-7
Answer: That he declares the end from the beginning and what has not yet happened. — Isaiah 46:10
Answer: A bird of prey, a man from a far country who will carry out his purpose. — Isaiah 46:11
Isaiah 46 invites us to ask what we carry ourselves and what carries us. Few people today bow before statues, but many place their security in money, success or the opinions of others, things that end up weighing on the one who bears them. In a small group you can talk about which modern idols demand more than they give.
Verse 4 offers a special comfort for the different stages of life. Someone who is aging or going through a hard season can remember that the Lord promises to keep carrying him to gray hair. For a youth group, the question is different: whom do I trust when there is no one who can carry my weight?
Isaiah 46 teaches that the God of Israel carries his own while idols need to be carried. Chapter 47 shows the result for Babylon itself: the proud city that thought it would last forever will be humbled.
Bel, a title linked to the god Marduk, was the chief deity of Babylon; Nebo, his son in Babylonian religion, was the god of writing and wisdom. Both had a central place in the city's festivals, so Isaiah names them to show that not even the empire's most important gods can save themselves.
Most interpreters understand this as Cyrus, king of Persia, who came from the east of Babylon, and the context of chapters 44 and 45 supports it. The image of a bird of prey underlines the speed with which he would come against Babylon in line with the Lord's purpose.