Gods of Babylon
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Isaiah 46
1. Bel bows down, Nebo stoops, their idols are on beasts and cattle; these things you carry are loaded as burdens on weary beasts. 2. They stoop, they bow down together, they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. 3. "Hearken to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from your birth, carried from the womb; 4. even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save. 5. "To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike? 6. Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! 7. They lift it upon their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble. 8. "Remember this and consider, recall it to mind, you transgressors, 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 not yet done, saying, `My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' 11. calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. 12. "Hearken to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from deliverance: 13. I bring near my deliverance, it is not far off, and my salvation will not tarry; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory."
Bel was the chief deity of the Babylonians, and Nebo was his son, the god of writing and learning. God points out through Isaiah that these two great gods, with all their attributed power and might, were unable to sustain the Babylonians. Instead they shared in their struggles—and, in fact, end up becoming a burden, since they must be transported from place to place. They must accompany their worshippers into exile!
Our God, on the other hand, has borne us from our birth – and thought of us and planned for us even before our conception! He carries us through the struggles in our lives. Other gods share in the struggle, and end up adding to it. They get in the way and become a burden. The prophets throughout the ages have shared their divinely inspired messages about the future God plans for His people. And without exception, they have been fulfilled. How many times must God make the same point? Say the same thing? Deliver the same warning? Extend His hand of mercy and love? Fortunately, no matter how many times we fail to understand, He has one more word, one more warning, offers us one more chance to “get it.”
Our God is not forged out of gold or silver. Our God makes it very easy to worship Him! Christ even assured us “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” That’s because God does all the hard work! He thought of us, created us, sustains us throughout our lives, and then will take us to heaven to live with Him in eternity! All we need to do is trust in Him! All we are required to do is to accept that He is the one true, living God.
So let us give up our idols—large and small—and turn to the living God, who offers us the unimaginable, unbelievable, unmerited gift of His grace! No other god in our lives offers that to us! No other god could ever sustain and carry us as the one true God does! All other gods require much from us – this God only requires our acceptance of His gift!
I hope you spend your day turning away from the false gods in your life, hearkening to the one true God who sustains us through all generations.
Mary
