Bel is bowed down, Nebo bendeth; their idols are upon the beasts, and upon the cattle the things ye carried are laid on, a burden to the weary [beast].
Isaiah 46 opens with a public collapse. Babylon's two great gods sag on the backs of pack animals, and the enemy hauls them away as loot while the city falls. It raises the question the chapter answers: can what you worship carry you, or must you carry it?
Bel and Nebo were Babylon's own gods. One writer gives their rank, matches them to gods the Greeks knew, and says what their fall proves:
Bel [their chief god, matching the Zeus of the Greeks] bows down, Nebo [matching the Greek Hermes] bends. So, whether chief or lesser, these false gods could do nothing for their worshippers, and could not deliver themselves. The victorious enemy carries them off as part of the loot.
Another writer ties the picture to the conqueror he had already seen taking the city:
The opening verses of Isaiah 46 pick up the theme that runs through these chapters — the persistent idolatry of the people. Bel and Nebo were two of the idols of Babylon, and the prophet sees the images that represent them placed on beasts ready for flight, just as at the beginning of the last chapter he had seen Cyrus taking the city.
Some older English versions call these loads "carriages." That word misleads a reader today. It points to the cargo, not to the cart:
This word does not seem to be used anywhere in Scripture in the modern sense [a vehicle]. It means "the thing carried," "baggage." In Isaiah 46:1 the meaning is probably that the idols once carried with joy in festival processions are now lifted up as loads on beasts of burden.
The prophet is not just reporting. He writes with a smile, and the joke falls on everyone who trusted these images:
So verses 1 and 2 are full of irony. The heavy images rode on the backs of oxen, which staggered and at last collapsed, unable to bring the gods to safety. Bel and Nebo could not even deliver themselves; much less anyone who trusted in them!
A god that has to be manufactured is a god that has to be moved:
Idols are contrasted with Jehovah, but cannot for a moment be compared with the true God. Jehovah is the Maker, but an idol has to be made. Once made, instead of bearing others it has to be borne. And when set in its place it cannot move, cannot answer the cry of need, and cannot save from trouble.
The next verses turn the picture around. God takes the opposite role toward His people:
In contrast to these helpless idols that have to be carried, the house of Israel is reminded that Jehovah carries the remnant of Israel. And while His people may change and grow old, there is no change with God. He can say, "even to your old age I am He" (literally, "I, the SAME"). He made His people, carries them, and will deliver them from all their enemies.
Carry and deliver: those two words become a test anyone can apply to what they believe:
The great test of our religion is twofold: Will it carry? Will it deliver? Every false religion breaks down under this simple test. A false religion, or a true one taken up falsely, has to be carried. True religion carries. A false religion cannot deliver; a true one must.
The test also lands on people who never bowed to an image:
Untold thousands profess Christianity and know nothing of its reality. They take it up in its outward form, and are strangers to its inward power. This outward form is a burden too heavy to bear; to the real Christian Christ's yoke is easy and His burden light.
One writer reads these opening verses as comfort, and sees the chapter's close reaching past Babylon's own fall:
The opening verses are comforting. The helplessness of the Babylonian idols is described. They have to be carried. They cannot deliver out of captivity, for they themselves have gone into captivity. But Jehovah carries His people from birth to old age. The last verse takes us beyond the fall of the Babylon of the past.
- Carried. Bel and Nebo, the chief and lesser gods of Babylon, ride off as loot. Idols once carried in joyful processions are now baggage.
- Collapsing. The irony bites. The oxen stagger under the weight, and the gods cannot rescue themselves — let alone anyone trusting them.
- Made. An idol must be made before it can be worshipped, and once made it must be moved, cannot answer a cry, and cannot save.
- Carrying. Against this, God says He bears His people from birth to grey hairs and never changes — "I, the SAME."
- Testing. Ask of anything you believe: will it carry, and will it deliver? A false faith is a load; the true one lifts the load off you.
They bend, they are bowed down together; they could not deliver the burden, and themselves are gone into captivity.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Hearken unto me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, ye who have been borne from the belly, who have been carried from the womb
Chapter 46 opens with Babylon's gods strapped onto the backs of weary animals: helpless idols that have to be carried. Then God turns to Israel with the opposite picture — a people He has carried since before they were born.
One side of the picture is a god that must be loaded up. The other is a God who does the loading.
In contrast to these helpless idols that have to be carried, Jehovah reminds the house of Israel that He carries the remnant of Israel. His people may change and grow old, but God does not change. He can say, "even to your old age I am He" (word for word, "I, the SAME"). He made His people, carries them, and will deliver them from all their enemies.
The verse calls on the "house of Jacob" and "all the remnant of the house of Israel." One writer notes that the choice of words is deliberate.
Notice who the appeal goes to. It goes to "the house of Jacob," in contrast to "the seed of Israel," mentioned earlier — even though a remnant of the house of Israel was to be found among them. The Babylonian gods had to be carried on the backs of weary beasts, and to no purpose. Here, in contrast, is One who would support and carry those who trusted Him, from their birth to the grey hairs of old age. He would never let them down, but would deliver them. What a great contrast!
The words about the womb point first to the birth of the nation, not to any one person. The promise that follows also assumes real danger on the road.
It is the same precious truth, that from the infancy of Israel, when God called His son out of Egypt, He bore and He carried him. The added thought of deliverance here enriches the blessed lesson even more. It reminds us of the dangers of the path and the opposition of the enemy. But what does that matter, if God's own shoulders carry us and His almighty strength delivers us?
Why point back to the womb at all? Because a record of care already given is the argument for care still to come.
And see how tenderly God appeals to the past as His pledge for the future. He had carried His people from the womb, and He would carry them to old age and grey hairs — from the weakness of infancy to the weakness of old age. At the end God says to them with force, "And will deliver you."
This leaves a plain test anyone can apply to whatever they trust.
The great test of our religion is twofold: Will it carry? Will it deliver? Every false religion breaks down under this simple test. A false religion, or a true one taken up falsely, has to be carried. True religion carries. A false religion cannot deliver; a true one must.
Babylon's images are long gone, but the same two options still stand open.
The contrast exists around us today. It is still a fair question — do you go your way, carrying the things you idolize, or does your God carry you? The idols of the modern English-speaking world are not images. They are more subtle things, such as money, pleasures, lusts. Yet as life draws to its end they let you down. The God whom we know, revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ, carries us through to the finish. We are in the embrace of the love that will never let us go.
- Carried, not carrying — Babylon's gods rode on the backs of weary animals. Israel's God carries His people Himself.
- From the womb — God bore and carried Israel from the nation's infancy, when He called His son out of Egypt.
- To grey hairs — the promise runs from the weakness of infancy to the weakness of old age. His people change and age, but God says "I am He" — which means "I, the SAME."
- And will deliver — the added word admits real perils and a real enemy on the road. God's own strength answers them.
- The test — will it carry, and will it deliver? Money, pleasure and appetite have to be carried, and they let you down at the end. The God revealed in Jesus Christ carries His own through to the finish.
Even to old age, I [am] HE, and unto hoary hairs I will carry [you] It is I that have made, and I will bear, and I will carry, and will deliver.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
To whom will ye liken me and make me equal, or compare me, that we may be like?
God has just described Himself as the One who carried Israel from birth to grey hairs. Babylon's gods were the opposite: weary animals had to carry them away. The question in verse 5 lands on that contrast: if that is what God is like, what could anyone possibly set beside Him?
The question is not asking for information. It shuts off every answer in advance. The verses that follow show why, by exposing what idol-worship involves.
So, as verse 5 declares, God stands out alone, beyond all comparison with any other. One more look at the follies built into idol-worship backs this up. Here are men bowing down and worshipping a god they shaped with their own hands. It is a fixed object, unable to move or speak or save. And here is the true God, who acts and speaks, and foretells things that then come to pass.
The verse piles up four verbs — liken, make equal, compare, be like. Each one needs two things of the same kind. One writer shows that idols fail at the first step.
Idols stand in contrast to Jehovah, but they cannot for one moment be compared with the true God. Jehovah is the Maker; an idol is something people have to make. Once it is made, it carries no one — it has to be carried. Set in its place, it cannot move. It cannot answer a cry of need, and it cannot save anyone from trouble.
The urge to picture God grows out of a real loss. Scripture warns against it because it ruins the person who tries.
It has been said that truth about things we do not know can reach us in two ways: by resemblance or by analogy. God made man in His own likeness at the start. The fall spoiled that likeness badly, and man lost the true knowledge of God. So men have groped after God and tried to gain some knowledge of Him through resemblances or likenesses — and it ruined them. That is why Scripture warns us not to liken God to anything, in passages such as Isaiah 40:18, 25; 46:5-7.
If nothing can stand beside God, then every rival can be put to the test. One writer draws two plain questions out of this passage.
The great test of our religion is twofold: Will it carry? Will it deliver? Every false religion breaks down under this simple test. A false religion, or a true one taken up falsely, has to be carried. True religion carries. A false religion cannot deliver; a true one must.
Nobody needs a carved image to fall into this. The things people set beside God today are harder to spot. They collapse just when you need them.
The contrast exists around us today. It is still a question worth asking — do you go your way, carrying the things you idolize, or does your God carry you? The idols of the modern English-speaking world are not images but more subtle things: money, pleasures, desires. Yet as life draws to its end they let you down. The God we know, revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ, carries us through to the finish. The love that will never let us go holds us.
The challenge comes with a call to think. God does not leave the question hanging; He tells the people who drifted into idols what to do next.
The transgressors — those in Israel who had turned aside to idols — are called to remember these things and to act like men. Let them remember what God has done in the past. Let them admit that there is no other God but Jehovah, and none like Him. He declares the end from the beginning. He brings His purposes about and carries out His plans.
- Carried. Babylon's gods had to be carried. God carries His people from birth to old age. That is the contrast the question rests on.
- Compared. Comparison needs two things of the same kind. An idol has to be made before it can do anything, while God is the Maker — so the two never stand on the same shelf.
- Corrupted. Man was made in God's likeness, but the fall ruined it. So every try at reaching God through a resemblance ends in loss. God is revealed in Jesus Christ, not reconstructed by us.
- Confronted. Two questions test any rival to God: will it carry you, and will it deliver you? Money, pleasure and desire are today's images, and they let people down at the end.
- Called. The challenge expects a verdict. Remember what God has done, admit there is none like Him, and act like people who have understood it.
-- They lavish gold out of the bag, and weigh silver in the balance; they hire a goldsmith, and he maketh it a god they fall down, yea, they worship.
Isaiah 46 opens with Babylon's great gods, Bel and Nebo, loaded onto pack animals — a dead weight for the beasts that carry them. God then asks His people who they think He resembles. Verse 6 is His answer to His own question: here is how a god gets made, out of a purse and a set of scales.
This is not a one-off complaint. It runs through this whole part of the book. And God aims it at His own people, not at outsiders.
In the first division of this portion of Isaiah, we find references to idols in every chapter, and this in connection with Israel (see Isa. 40:18–25; Isa. 41:21–29; Isa. 42:17; Isa. 43:12; Isa. 44:9–20; Isa. 45:16; Isa. 46:1–7; Isa. 47:12–15; Isa. 48:5). So it becomes clear that the leading subject is God's controversy with Israel about their idolatry.
The verse follows straight on from a question about comparison. God asks who compares with Him, and the answer here is not an argument but an invoice.
Next comes the challenge: who would they compare the God of Israel to? As for the gods of Babylon, it was only a question of gold and silver. The goldsmith shaped them, and the people fell down and worshipped.
Two ordinary objects carry the whole scene. The first is the bag the gold comes out of — a common item elsewhere in Scripture.
A bag for money or weights. Prov. 1:14; Isa. 46:6; Luke 10:4; Luke 22:35-36; John 12:6.
The second is the weighing instrument, and the Hebrew word here is not the usual one for a pair of scales.
In Isa. 46:6 another Hebrew word appears, qaneh. It means a reed, rod or beam. This may refer to the beam of the scales, since there is no evidence that the steelyard was in use then.
Gold from a bag, silver on the beam, a fee to the craftsman — then the buyer kneels to what he ordered.
Put the two side by side and the absurdity shows. God makes; someone must make the idol. God carries His people; someone must carry the idol. And once it stands where its owner set it, nothing more happens.
Idols are set in contrast with Jehovah, but cannot for one moment be compared with the true God. Jehovah is the Maker, but an idol has to be made. Once made, it does not carry others; it has to be carried. And when it is set in its place, it cannot move. It cannot answer the cry of need, and it cannot save from trouble.
A simple test sorts out the true God from the manufactured one, and it is a test the idol of verse 6 fails at both ends.
The great test of our religion is twofold: Will it carry? Will it deliver? Every false religion breaks down under this simple test. A false religion, or a true one held in the wrong way, has to be carried. True religion carries. A false religion cannot deliver; a true one must.
The picture has not gone out of date. Only the shape of the idol has changed.
The contrast exists around us today. It is still a fair question — do you go your way, carrying the things that you idolize, or does your God carry you? The idols of the modern English-speaking world are not images. They are more subtle things, such as money, pleasures, lusts. Yet as life draws to its end they let you down. The God whom we know, revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ, carries us through to the finish. We are in the embrace of the love that will never let us go.
- Made — Jehovah is the Maker; the idol has to be made. That single difference settles the question God asks about comparison.
- Weighed — gold from the purse, silver on the beam of the scales, a goldsmith's fee: worship here starts as something you buy.
- Carried — what you pay for, you then have to lift and set in place; it cannot move from where you left it.
- Carrying — the true God does the opposite. He carries His people; they never carry Him.
- Tested — ask of anything you serve: will it carry, and will it deliver? Money, pleasure and lust fail the question at the end of life; Christ does not.
They bear him on the shoulder, they carry him, and set him in his place; there he standeth, he doth not remove from his place yea, one crieth unto him, and he answereth not; he saveth him not out of his trouble.
Isaiah 46 opens with Babylon's gods riding out on pack animals as the city falls. This verse follows that picture to its end and presses one question — who is carrying whom?
The verse turns on a reversal of roles. What the worshipper leans on is the thing he has to carry. Each phrase exposes the same helplessness: set in its place, unable to move, deaf to the cry for help.
Here the idols stand next to Jehovah, but they cannot for a moment be compared with the true God. Jehovah is the Maker, but an idol has to be made. Once made, instead of carrying others it has to be carried. Set in its place, it cannot move, cannot respond to the cry of need, and cannot save from trouble.
The setting sharpens the irony. Bel and Nebo were Babylon's leading gods, and they left the city as captives on the backs of animals.
Then comes the complete humiliation of Bel and Nebo, the chief idols of Babylon. They were clearly more powerless than the beasts that carried them: unable to save, and gone into captivity themselves.
The idol stays silent. The God of verse 5 speaks and moves. Verse 5 asks who can be likened to Him, and the answer here is that what He says and does puts Him beyond comparison.
So, as verse 5 declares, God stands alone, beyond comparison with anything else. This is backed up by another look at the follies built into idolatry. Here are men falling down and worshipping a god made by their own hands, a fixed object, unable to move or speak or save. And here is the true God, who acts and speaks, and foretells things that soon come to pass.
The chapter does not stop at mockery. Against the god that has to be carried it sets a God who carries, and for a whole lifetime.
The Babylonian gods had to be carried on the backs of weary animals, and it did no good. Here is One who would support and carry those who trusted Him, from birth to the grey hairs of old age. He would never let them down, but would deliver them. What a contrast!
The idol fails twice: it cannot move, and it cannot rescue. That gives a test anyone can apply to whatever they trust.
The great test of our religion is twofold: Will it carry? Will it deliver? Every false religion breaks down under this simple test. A false religion, or a true one taken up falsely, has to be carried. True religion carries. A false religion cannot deliver; a true one must.
Readers who own no statues are not off the hook. The same failure shows up in things nobody would call a god.
The contrast exists around us today. It is still a question worth asking — do you go your way carrying the things you idolize, or does your God carry you? The idols of the modern English-speaking world are not images. They are more subtle things, such as money, pleasures, lusts. Yet as life draws to its end they let you down.
One root lies behind both the carved image and the modern substitute.
The root of all idolatry is self-will. It is making a god of our own. It starts with self and fashions a god, not necessarily out of silver, and not necessarily with our hands. Yet there is a tool more cunning and skilful than the hands, and that is the mind of man. Wherever self takes the place of the will of God, you will find the human mind fashioning a god to please itself. And it does this in the name of the Lord, in the name of the true God.
- Made — the idol is the product, not the Maker: it has to be made before it can be worshipped, and Jehovah is the One who makes.
- Carried — once made, it cannot carry anyone. It is a load on weary animals, while God carries His people from birth to grey hairs.
- Stuck — set in its place, it cannot move; the true God speaks, acts, and foretells what soon happens.
- Silent — the cry for help gets no answer and no rescue. So test whatever you trust: will it carry? Will it deliver?
- Modern — today's idol is rarely carved. The mind shapes money, pleasure and self-will into gods, and they let you down at the end.
Remember this, and shew yourselves men; call it to mind, ye transgressors.
Isaiah 46 sets two pictures side by side: weary animals hauling Babylon's gods away, and the God who carries His own people. Verse 8 is the hinge — a blunt command to stop and think, aimed not at outsiders but at people who already knew better.
The chapter opens with Babylon's own gods collapsing — the scene verse 8 tells you to remember. One writer follows what happened to them.
Chapter 46 draws a vivid contrast. On one side is the fall of the helpless objects of Babylonian worship. On the other is God's gracious care over Israel… So, chief or lesser, these false gods could do nothing for their worshippers. They could not even deliver themselves. The victorious enemy carries them off as part of the spoil.
The difference is not one of degree. It runs back to who made whom.
Here idols stand in contrast to Jehovah, but they do not compare with the true God for a moment. Jehovah is the Maker. An idol has to be made. Once made, it does not carry others; it has to be carried. Set in its place, it cannot move. It cannot answer the cry of need. It cannot save anyone from trouble.
The command does not float free. It points back to the scene just described, which one commentator quotes in full before the call lands.
Such as pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance, they hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god; they fall down, yes, they worship. They carry him on the shoulder, they bear him, and set him in his place, and he stands; from his place he shall not move: yes, one shall cry to him, yet he cannot answer, nor save him out of his trouble. Remember this, and show yourselves men: bring it again to mind, you transgressors.
(Older translations read "show yourselves men" where the ESV has "stand firm.")
An idol cannot answer its worshipper. But it does not leave him unchanged.
What were they, these idol-images? Simply matter — silver and gold — shaped by men's hands! … The idol gives its worshipper no response, by word or by look… So what can these lifeless gods do? They can only drag the men who bow before them down into beings as lifeless as themselves. And this is the just penalty on those who can forsake God to follow what are plainly their own inventions.
The word "transgressors" narrows the audience sharply, and the summons is not merely to feel sorry but to reason.
God calls the transgressors – those in Israel who had turned aside to idols – to remember these things and show themselves men. Let them remember what God has done in the past. Let them acknowledge that there is no other God but Jehovah, and none like God. He declares the end from the beginning. He brings His purposes to pass and fulfils His plans.
The call to remember does not end in regret. The chapter ends with mercy.
This is where God's dealings end, and He is very compassionate and full of tender mercy. He carried His people like a nurse through the wilderness at the beginning. At the end He will show unfailing grace. They wandered from Him long and often, though He did them nothing but good. Still He will deliver.
The statues have gone. The question behind them has not.
The contrast exists around us today. It is still a fair question — do you go your way carrying the things you idolise, or does your God carry you? The idols of the modern English-speaking world are not images. They are more subtle things, such as money, pleasures, lusts. Yet as life draws to its close they let you down. The God we know, revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ, carries us through to the finish. The love that will never let us go holds us fast.
- Carried. The whole appeal turns on one word. Weary animals hauled Babylon's gods away, and those gods could not save even themselves.
- Made. Jehovah is the Maker. Someone has to make an idol and then carry it, and once it is in place it cannot move, answer, or save.
- Degraded. A god that cannot respond drags its worshipper down to its own lifelessness. So the call is to wake up and act like a man.
- Addressed. "Transgressors" means those inside Israel who had turned aside to idols. God tells them to remember what He has done, and to admit there is no other God.
- Delivered. The chapter ends in rescue, not in blame. The God who carried His people like a nurse through the wilderness will show unfailing grace at the end.
Remember the former things of old; for I [am] God, and there is none else; [I am] God, and there is none like me;
Isaiah 46 opens with carts hauling Babylon's great gods away, and against that picture God tells His people to remember who He is. He speaks to people who had swapped Him for idols, and His question is simple: do you carry your god, or does your god carry you?
Before God says there is none like Him, the chapter has already shown why. An idol depends on someone to make it, and once finished it becomes a burden instead of a help.
Here idols stand against the LORD, but they cannot compare with the true God for a moment. The LORD is the Maker, but an idol has to be made, and once made, instead of carrying others it has to be carried. Once it stands in its place, it cannot move, cannot answer a cry of need, and cannot save anyone from trouble.
The command has a target. It lands on those who had gone after other gods, and the memory God asks for is a memory of His own past acts.
God calls the transgressors — those in Israel who had turned aside to idols — to remember these things and to act like men. Let them remember how God has acted in the past. Let them admit that there is no other God but the LORD, and none like God. He declares the end from the beginning. He brings His counsels to pass and carries out His plans. What God has said, He will bring about. What God has planned, He will do.
This is not a one-off statement. It runs as a refrain through several chapters of Isaiah.
Over and over the Holy Spirit repeats this all-important fact in chapters 43 to 46. No fewer than ten times it sounds out with force: There is none else! Israel's God is the only God! He created Jacob! He formed the nation! He redeemed her! He called her by name: "You are Mine!" So she can bear witness not only against idols, but to the only God.
God does not just claim to be unique. He points to something no idol can do: He announces what has not yet happened, even the man He will call from far away, and He says it to people at their lowest point.
Isaiah 46 brings the complete humiliation of Bel and Nebo, the chief idols of Babylon. They showed themselves more powerless than the animals that carried them. They could not save, and they went into captivity themselves. Again the LORD, in His patient love toward Israel, stands in contrast with the image that could not move or speak or save. He was giving proof, while they lay in the misery their sins had brought on them, and above all their idolatry, that the LORD is God, and there is none else, and none like Him. He declares the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things not yet done. He would soon show it by calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of His counsel from a far country.
If no rival exists, then nothing outside God can block Him and nothing inside Him can shift. Long delay is not failure.
God appeals to His people through the prophet Isaiah to remember the former things of old, because He is God and there is none else. He is God and there is none like Him. He declares the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things not yet done. He says, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all My purpose." So no one can frustrate His counsels, however long He may delay carrying them out. His purposes will not collapse through a change of mind in the One who formed them.
Carved images are not the modern temptation, but the structure of the choice has not changed. What we serve either holds us up at the end or lets us down.
The same contrast exists around us today. It is still a fair question — do you go your way carrying the things you idolise, or does your God carry you? The idols of the modern English-speaking world are not images but subtler things, such as money, pleasures, and cravings. Yet as life draws to its close they let you down. The God we know, revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ, carries us through to the finish. The love that will never let us go holds us in its embrace.
- Remember — The call goes to people who had drifted to idols. The cure is to recall what God has already done.
- Remember whom — God makes, carries, and saves. An idol has to be made, has to be carried, and cannot answer a cry.
- Remember the proof — He declares the end from the beginning, and calls the man of His counsel from a far country.
- Remember the promise — He has no rival and no change of mind. So His counsel stands, however long He delays.
- Remember today — Money, pleasure and craving let go at the end. The God revealed in Jesus Christ carries His own to the finish.
declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure;
Isaiah 46 opens with a picture. The gods of Babylon are strapped onto pack animals and hauled away. Against that, God sets Himself — the One who carries His people, not a god His people must carry. Verse 10 is His proof of identity — He tells the end while it is still the beginning, and what He has planned He will do.
The verse belongs to a contrast running through the chapter. Human hands make one side of that contrast. The other side made everything.
Idols are set here against Jehovah, but they cannot be compared with the true God for a moment. Jehovah is the Maker. An idol has to be made. Once it is made, it does not carry others; others have to carry it. Once it is set in its place, it cannot move. It cannot answer a cry for help. It cannot save anyone from trouble.
Why does God rest His case on announcing what has not yet happened? Because no counterfeit god can fake that for long.
This is a side point, but it matters enormously for the subject we are looking at. Nothing proves divine intelligence more plainly than telling the future. This is the main challenge the Old Testament brings against the false gods. No wonder it could only strike them dumb, however loudly they had claimed before to deliver messages from the gods. While it was only a matter of confusing the people who came to ask, they could fool them with answers that meant two things at once. But Isaiah shows, in the sharpest and hardest words, that they had no power at all to reveal the future.
The scale of that claim is what should strike us: not vague hints, but detail fixed in advance.
Our study of prophecy should press on our hearts how great and majestic God is. He has the sovereign right to form His own purposes and absolute power to carry them out. So He can announce the end from the beginning thousands of years in advance, with complete certainty, down to the smallest detail.
Two things could ruin a promise. Someone stronger could block it, or the one who made it could lose interest. Neither applies here — and delay is not evidence against it.
So no one can defeat His plans, however long He waits before carrying them out. And His purposes will not fall through because the One who formed them changes His mind.
The verse does not float free of history. The next line points to a near case, Cyrus, a man God would raise up. From there the prophecy reaches far ahead.
And here is the true God, who acts and speaks, and foretells things that soon come true. The "bird of prey from the east" is surely another reference to Cyrus, whom He would raise up to carry out His purpose in the near future. The prophecy then moves from what was fairly near to God's final purpose, which was far off. At last God will place salvation "in Zion." That speaks of His stepping in with mercy. And the redeemed Israel who will enjoy it will display the glory of the God who has brought it about.
Put God's declared purpose next to human planning. The two are not in the same class.
Human cleverness can produce a bewildering run of theories and plans, but they all carry the same fatal mark of complete instability. One generation lays out its theories and drives its plans with huge energy, only for the next generation to throw them out completely. But God alone can declare "the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done," and He can say, "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose."
A settled plan is not cold theory. It changes how a believer walks through unsettled times.
Those who dwell on God's purpose can go quietly through this world of unrest and uncertainty. They know for sure that nothing can stop God accomplishing all He has set His heart on, or stop what He is doing to bring it all to pass. Kingdoms on earth break up and pass away. The great institutions people build dissolve. The cold hand of death removes those who have stood out in world affairs, and their memory soon fades. But the purpose of God remains.
- Contrast — Someone has to make an idol, then carry it, and it can neither answer a cry nor save. The God speaking here made everything and carries His people.
- Credential — He sets one test: tell the future. Nothing proves divine intelligence more plainly.
- Counsel — No one can frustrate His plans, however long He delays them, and He will not change His mind about them.
- Case study — Cyrus, the bird of prey from the east, is the near proof. Behind it stands the far purpose: salvation placed in Zion.
- Comfort — Human plans are unstable, and the next generation throws them out. God's purpose remains, so His people can go quietly through an uncertain world.
calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. Yea, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.
God answers idol worship here by pointing to one man He will summon from far away. The verse raises two questions — who is this man, and what does his coming prove about the God who names him?
The hunting bird sweeping in from the east stands for a conqueror God would raise up. From him the prophecy moves on to something far larger.
The "ravenous bird [bird of prey] from the east" surely points again to Cyrus. God would raise him up to carry out His purpose in the near future. Then the prophecy moves on from what was fairly near to God's final purpose, which was far off. At last God will place salvation "in Zion." This speaks of His stepping in with mercy. And the redeemed Israel who will enjoy it will display the glory of the God who has brought it about.
Cyrus was a Persian king. The titles Isaiah gives him across these chapters clash with the picture of a scavenging bird.
Notice how the Spirit of God through Isaiah spoke of Cyrus. He is the shepherd, the anointed, the man of my counsel (Isa. 46:11). The LORD loves him (48:14). The Lord upholds his right hand (45:1). He will carry out the LORD's pleasure (44:28). And yet he is also called "a ravenous bird [bird of prey] from the East" (46:11). As the chosen instrument, Cyrus is a type of the Messiah, Christ.
The force of the announcement lies in its timing. Anyone can name a king already on the throne.
God called the great deliverer Cyrus, and this part of the book names him. The Lord speaks of His power to tell what is still to come. He shows that power here. He names a man not yet born, and He says in advance what that man's work would be. Cyrus and his mission stand on record over 150 years before this Persian king was born.
The chapter calls Israel back from idols. God's choice of such a violent instrument is part of the case He makes.
Let them remember what God has done in the past. Let them admit that there is no other God but the LORD, and none like God. He declares the end from the beginning. He brings His counsels to pass and fulfils His plans. So God sees fit to use "a ravenous bird [bird of prey]", like Cyrus, to carry out judgment on idolatry. This proves that what God has said He will bring to pass, and what God has proposed He will do.
Cyrus proves more than one thing at once.
Here again Cyrus stands as striking proof that God really does deal with His people. He proves it in His foreknowledge, in His declared purpose, and in the way He arranged events.
The certainty that stood behind Cyrus stands behind the salvation still promised in Zion.
The closing pledge answers every human scheme for putting the world right.
God has a revealed plan. God has established His plan, and what God has planned and established, God will bring to pass. Men dream of bringing in a millennium of their own design, by their own efforts — through education, civilization, disarmament, leagues and alliances. It will all be in vain. God has made it perfectly clear that His millennium will only come about by His own direct intervention. As in Joseph's day, so in ours, "God will bring it to pass." Has He not said through the prophet, "I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it" (Isa. 46:11)?
The title "the man of my counsel" reaches beyond Cyrus to Christ Himself.
The second man is the new centre. God points, so to speak, to Him as the man of His counsel (cf. Isa 46:11), and through Him God has set the first man aside altogether.
- Spoken. God names the deliverer generations before his birth — the one proof no idol can match.
- Summoned. The "bird of prey from the east" is Cyrus, called from a far country to carry out God's purpose.
- Strange instrument. God judges idol worship through a violent conqueror, a bird of prey.
- Certain. Cyrus proves God's word three ways — God knew, God said, God arranged.
- Beyond Cyrus. The near rescue points on to salvation in Zion. The title "man of my counsel" reaches on to Christ, the second man at the centre of God's plan.
Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness
This chapter has been dealing with the idols of Babylon. God now turns to people whose hearts are hard and who have no righteousness of their own. What He announces next is not a demand. It is a gift He brings near.
The ESV calls them "stubborn of heart." Older translations say "stout-hearted," and the writers quoted here use that older wording. It describes a heart that resists God. Commentators differ on who is meant. One reading takes it as the chapter's closing call to God's own people. Their history had been one long wandering from Him.
This leads to the closing call... Such is the end Jehovah has in view, and He is full of pity and tender mercy. He carried His people as a nurse through the wilderness at the beginning. He will show unfailing grace at the end. In the face of their long and repeated wanderings from Him who did them nothing but good, He will deliver. Yet His salvation will be no more sure than His righteousness. This we know now in the gospel, as Israel also will when the kingdom comes in display.
Another reading points the words at Babylon, where the idols were, and sees two outcomes flowing from the same announcement.
In view of coming judgment, God warns the stout-hearted idolaters of Babylon, who are far from righteousness, that He is about to bring His righteousness near. The result will be judgment on the stout-hearted who resist God, salvation for His people, and glory for His own great Name.
No one could close the distance this verse names. Neither the nations nor Israel under the law had a righteousness of their own. So the prophets pointed to a righteousness that belonged to God, and they did it in the very books that recorded Israel's ruin.
Man's righteousness was nowhere among the Gentiles. Among the Jews the law asked for it, but the law got no answer except guilt. Those among them with an honest conscience admitted that all their righteous acts were like filthy rags... In the very writings that confessed their ruin the prophets spoke of Jehovah bringing near His righteousness... So the whole sacrificial system of the law pictures a righteousness of God outside man, yet truly for him. It finds its full meaning only in the mighty work and death of Jesus.
The next verse promises that this righteousness will not stay far off. So how near is near? The answer shows in who it reaches.
Grace meets the needy one just where he is, and as he is... No one can say, "the blood of Jesus was beyond me." You can put the question to each one: "how near would you have it brought to you?" "I bring near my righteousness." How near? So near, that it is "to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly" (Rom. 4:5). Again, "The word is near you." How near? So near that "if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved" (Rom. 10:9).
When Isaiah spoke, the thing itself had not yet come. He announced it as close at hand. The death and resurrection of Christ turned the promise into fact.
The death and resurrection of Christ would open the way fully, so that blessing could overflow to man. As that time drew near, grace looked ahead to the day in words like these: "I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off..." And now that Christ has come and finished the work given Him to do, God has revealed His righteousness, and His salvation has fully come. The cross broke down every barrier and removed every hindrance.
The verse names two things together: a hard heart, and distance from righteousness. The way back starts by giving up the search for a righteousness of one's own.
There was no man to lift them up. They had sinned, they had fallen, and to all appearance they were beyond recovery. But the Lord their God came to where they were. He worked in grace, and wisdom, and righteousness... Before Israel can be exalted they must give up seeking righteousness by their own works; this they will do, and find it in Christ, where it is alone to be found.
- Distance. God speaks to people far from righteousness. They have none of their own, and the law gave them only an answer of guilt.
- Direction. God makes the move. He brings His righteousness near instead of asking them to travel to it.
- Nearness. It comes so near that it reaches the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly.
- Arrival. What Isaiah announced as close has now come. The cross broke down every barrier, and God has revealed His righteousness.
- Surrender. The stubborn heart must give up righteousness by works and find righteousness in Christ, where alone it is found.
I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not delay; and I will give salvation in Zion, [and] unto Israel my glory.
Isaiah 46 sets the idols of Babylon against the God who carries His people. The chapter closes with a word for hard hearts: God's own righteousness is coming near, and He will put salvation in one named place, Zion.
The verse speaks to a named group: people who are stubborn and far from righteousness. One commentator sees God's answer to them running two ways at once.
Judgment is coming. God warns the stubborn idol-worshippers of Babylon, who are far from righteousness, that He is about to bring His righteousness near. The result will be judgment on the stubborn who resist God, salvation for His people, and glory for His own great Name.
The word may not mean what a modern reader expects. One commentator points out that here it runs so close to "deliverance" that a scholar translated it that way.
Here, and in several other places, the word "righteousness" throws light on the way the New Testament uses it. So Gesenius translates it here and elsewhere as "liberation, salvation." It is God's power stepping in, in keeping with His own character and in grace towards His people, and so it must set them free... God acts to make good His own character and His power against evil. It is God's righteousness. If we take Cyrus as a first fulfilment, God must defend His claim against the pride of the nations, their idols and their false gods. It is His righteousness, but by it His people are set free in grace.
God says His righteousness is near. One writer notes that the prophets often spoke this way, of a gift not yet given but close at hand.
When we come to the prophets, we find the great truth of the gospel, the subject of promise, in many forms, and announced as not very far away. It had not come in their day. The glorious truth was not yet revealed, but they spoke of it as near at hand.
The same prophets who recorded Israel's failure also spoke of a righteousness God would bring. It came from outside the people themselves.
Man's righteousness was nowhere to be found among the nations. The law looked for it among the Jews, but the only answer the law got was guilt... In the very writings that confessed their ruin, the prophets spoke of the Lord bringing His righteousness near. "My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out."... So, in the pictures given in the law, the whole sacrificial system sets out a righteousness that comes from God, outside man, yet truly for him. It finds its only full meaning in the mighty work and death of Jesus.
Salvation in Zion is a deliverance for the whole nation, still future. One writer says it waits for a change in the nation's heart.
The purpose of God is to save the nation — all Israel. But the heart of Jerusalem must be washed (Jer. 4:14) before God can put salvation in Zion for Israel His glory (Isa. 46:13). So the next truth stated is the coming of the One who will turn ungodliness away from Jacob... He will come out of Zion as the deliverer. In that day He will be the strength of the children of Israel, when the dark night of Jacob's trouble has come to its close.
The Hebrew word for "glory" here also means ornament: splendour and beauty. It describes God Himself in Isaiah 60:19, and here it describes Israel (Morrish Bible Dictionary). That beauty is not Israel's own work.
"Righteousness exalts a nation," and so we read, "I bring near my righteousness … and my salvation … for Israel my glory" (Isa. 46:13)... No one could lift them up. They had sinned, they had fallen, and by all appearances there was no way back. But the Lord their God came to where they were, and worked in grace, in wisdom, and in righteousness... Before Israel can be lifted up, they must stop seeking righteousness by their own works. This they will do, and they will find it in Christ, the only place where it can be found.
God's care for Israel is not new. One writer looks back to how He carried them, and forward to how sure their salvation is.
This is the end the Lord has in view, and He is full of pity and tender mercy. He Who carried His people like a nurse through the wilderness at the beginning will show unfailing grace at the end. They wandered from Him again and again, though He did them nothing but good; still He will deliver them. Yet His salvation will be no more sure than His righteousness. We know this now in the gospel, and Israel will know it when the kingdom comes in open display.
- Righteousness moves. God's righteousness here is His power stepping in. It fits His own character, and it sets His people free.
- Righteousness comes near. Announced as near, it was still promise in the prophet's day. It is a righteousness from outside man, and it finds its full meaning in the death of Jesus.
- Righteousness cleanses. God will not put salvation in Zion until the heart of Jerusalem is washed and the Deliverer turns ungodliness away from Jacob.
- Righteousness beautifies. "Glory" here means ornament and beauty. Israel becomes God's ornament only after giving up righteousness by works and finding it in Christ.
- Righteousness secures. Salvation is as certain as the righteousness it rests on. We know it now in the gospel; Israel will see it in the kingdom.