Isaiah 44:16–22; 46:1–9

Isaiah 44:16–22; 46:1–9

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Dean, School of Christian Studies, University of Mobile

WORSHIP NO OTHER
Isaiah 44:16–22; 46:1–9

Earlier in Isaiah 44, the Lord had said, “Apart from me there are no gods,” and stated a challenge, “Who is there like me?” (6–7). The Babylonians had many gods so Isaiah developed this point. All idols are nonbeings (44:9) and could never help their worshipers even in their most troublesome times.

Men who make their own gods should not be shocked if those gods prove unable to help them in life (44:10–11). Isaiah took an ironworker as a specific example. How on earth, Isaiah implied, can a man who gets tired and thirsty making his god produce a deity who does not grow weary and who can give strength to his worshipers (44:12)? For his second example, Isaiah turned to a carpenter (44:13–15). From the choicest materials, this man carefully shaped an idol that he bowed to in worship. The rest of the wood he used to cook dinner — an indictment Isaiah repeated three times in 44:15–16, 19.

Worship of Idols: Part One (44:16–20)
Isaiah’s picture was at once humorous and shockingly pathetic. The carpenter prostrated himself before and sought deliverance and strength from a god he made from firewood. Never once did he stop to think how absurd his deed was. Of idolators that bow to man-made gods — ancient or modern — Isaiah said, “Their minds are blind and cannot see.” So deceived was the idol worshiper that he could not see that his misplaced faith could not save him (“soul” here means the whole person) and could not admit that the image he held in his right hand was a lie.

Worship of the Lord: Part One (44:21–22)
Israel must take the message about idolatry to heart and remember that the Lord made the nation to serve Him. She should never forget Him also because He forgives the people’s sins, making them vanish just as clouds before a rising sun.

The Lord pled with Israel to return to Him as their only hope for protection and redemption.

Worship of Idols: Part Two (46:1–2)
Babylonian deities were gods that must be carried; the Lord is the God who carries His people. Bel — meaning “Lord,” was equivalent to the Hebrew Baal and was a generic title for any god — was Marduk, the head of all Babylonian gods; Nebo, or Nabu (Babylonian name), was Bel’s son, the speaker of the gods like Mercury or Hermes for Romans and Greeks. Nebo was the patron god of the Babylonian kings, three of whom — Nabo-polassar, Nebu-chadnezzar and Nabo-nidus — had names compounded with his. In the end, Babylon’s greatest gods would be useless before the Persian troopers: Bel’s knees would give way and Nebo would topple over.

The prophet pictured the gods loaded onto pack animals and into the arms of worshipers, presumably to be carried to safety from the Persian conquerors. It is not clear whether “they” in 44:2 who cannot deliver the burdens are their worshipers or the pack animals. But the general sense of exhaustion and futility remains clear. These idols proved to be heavy burdens for the weary. Under the weight of the gods they carried, their knees gave way.

Their gods should have carried them, but they would have to carry their gods. Even their patron deity Nebo, the savior god, could not save himself, much less save them.

Worship of the Lord: Part Two (46:3–9)
In contrast to Bel and Nebo who had to be carried by their people, the Lord had carried Israel and her people since her birth as a father carries a child. What was true in the past was certain to be true in the future. The Lord will carry His people for all their days.

It was utter foolishness for men to worship gods that had to be carried by their worshipers and were nothing compared to the Lord. So long as their images were hidden in a gaudy temple, there was an air of mystery about Bel and Nebo. But in the open street, it became clear they were merely fancy dolls.

The prophet appealed to the revelation of God in the past, i.e. the exodus, as evidence that He would carry out all He purposed for the future.