Isaiah 46 notes

Since I’m teaching Isaiah 46 for the middle school group this Sunday, I figured I would post some notes as I study it. Hopefully this will help me process it.

So Judah sins…and about 46 chapters later, Yahweh decides to poetically pwn the other gods.

Isaiah 46: 1-7 

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, O house of Jacob,
       all you who remain of the house of Israel,
       you whom I have upheld since you were conceived,
       and have carried since your birth.

 4 Even to your old age and gray 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.

 5 “To 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.
       Though one cries out to it, it does not answer;
       it cannot save him from his troubles.                  (NASB)

The first section seems to simply be Yahweh comparing himself to the other gods. I love the contrast of who does the “carrying” in the relationship. Bel and Nebo need to be carried around by animals. In verse 7, the people have to carry the idols they have created. Yahweh, however, carries His people from birth until old age (verses 3 and 4). In verse 8, the idol is unable to deliver the people that cry out to it.

Isaiah 46:8-13 

8 “Remember this, fix 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.

 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 fulfill my purpose.
       What I have said, that will I bring about;
       what I have planned, that will I do.

 12 Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted,
       you who are far from 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 splendor to Israel.           (NASB)

Yahweh is the true God. The gods that appear in the first half of chapter 46 don’t compare. Verse 10’s idea of God forseeing what will happen is repeated often in the book of Isaiah. And verse 11’s image of the eagle from the east, from the distant land, is very similar to Deuteronomy 28:49. Which is a great verse to follow the one about God saying what will happen before it happens. (thanks to Joey Wulf)

Deut 28:49

“The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth             as the eagle flies,  a nation whose language you will not understand,”

Then verses 12 and 13 seem to just be thrown in there at the end. Whcih makes it great. A little bit of hope/Jesus action to end it all. God will bring salvation to His people, and unlike the false gods of the first half of the chapter, He is able to deliver.