God CARRIES us from CRADLE to GRAVE!
July 31 Bible Reading: Isaiah Chapters 46-48
God CARRIES us from CRADLE to GRAVE!
"Listen to Me, O house of Jacob,
and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been upheld by Me from
birth, who have been carried from the womb: Even to your old age, I am He, and
even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; even I will
carry, and will deliver you. To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal and
compare Me, that we should be alike?" (Isaiah 46:3-5)
In Isaiah 46, there is a vivid picture of the siege of
Babylon and the evacuation of its idols. The carriages are creaking under the
weight of the idols and the animals are groaning under the load (v. 1). In
contrast, God carries His children from birth (v. 3) to the old age (v. 4).
Thus, Isaiah 46 has two major contrasts: idols, which must be supported as
opposed to Yahweh, who supports Israel (vv. 1-7)
The idols of Babylon, Bel and Nebo, are being carted away by
the Persians. As the weary beasts plod on, the idols topple. The gods they
represent cannot save the load; instead they are carried off into captivity. In
contrast to the idols which are carried by the people, the true God will carry
His people even to their old age. We are here told that the false gods will
certainly fail their worshippers when they have most need of them (v. 1, 2) and
that the true God will never fail his worshippers (v. 3, 4).
There are two kinds of gods in this world: the idols we carry and the One God who carries
us! Let us understand that an idol is a substitute for God, something that
we value and serve other than God. We trust it and sacrifice for it; but in the
end, it can do us no good. Isaiah mocked the idols of the nations and affirmed
repeatedly that Jehovah was the only true and living God (40:18–20; 41:5–7;
44:9–20; 45:15–21; 46:1–7). Martin Luther said that “all such as rely and depend upon their art, wisdom, strength,
sanctity, riches, honor, power, or anything else are guilty of worshiping idols.”
The idea in this passage is that all the idols that we trust
and serve passionately will one day fall before the Lord. The rhetorical
question is that to whom can we liken God? The obvious answer—no one! There is
no one like the God we serve. Yahweh is the unique and incomprehensible God. It
is this great God who has promised to carry us from cradle to grave! Let us put
our faith and trust in Him alone for He alone will carry us from our cradle to our grave!
"The eternal God
is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut 33:27)
"But You are He who took Me out of the womb; You made Me trust while on My mother's breasts. I was cast upon You from birth. From My mother's womb You have been My God." (Psalms 22:9-10)
