The Idols of Babylon and the One True God

Isaiah 46

1 o Bel bows down; Nebo stoops;
their idols are on beasts and livestock;
these things you carry are borne
as burdens on weary beasts.
 2 They stoop; they bow down together;
they cannot save the burden,
but p themselves go into captivity.

3 "Listen to me, O house of Jacob,
all the remnant of the house of Israel,
q who have been borne by me from before your birth,
carried from the womb;
 4 r 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 s "To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike?
 6 t Those who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
u then they fall down and worship!
 7 v They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
w 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 stand firm,
recall it to mind, x 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 y declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, z 'My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,'
 11 a calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
b I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.

12 "Listen to me, you stubborn of heart,
you who are far from righteousness:
 13 c I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off,
and my salvation will not delay;
d I will put salvation in Zion,
for Israel my glory."

  1. Cross References
    Jeremiah 50:2
    "Declare among the nations and proclaim, set up a banner and proclaim, conceal it not, and say: 'Babylon is taken, Bel is put to shame, Merodach is dismayed. Her images are put to shame, her idols are dismayed.'
    Jeremiah 51:44
    And I will punish Bel in Babylon, and take out of his mouth what he has swallowed. The nations shall no longer flow to him; the wall of Babylon has fallen.
    Isaiah 21:9
    And behold, here come riders, horsemen in pairs!" And he answered, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon; and all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the ground.
  2. Cross References
    Jeremiah 48:7
    For, because you trusted in your works and your treasures, you also shall be taken; and Chemosh shall go into exile with his priests and his officials.
    Hosea 10:5 - 6
    The inhabitants of Samaria tremble for the calf of Beth-aven. Its people mourn for it, and so do its idolatrous priests - those who rejoiced over it and over its glory - for it has departed from them.
  3. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 1:31
    And in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.
    Deuteronomy 32:11
    Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions.
  4. Cross References
    Psalms 71:18
    So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.
  5. Cross References
    Isaiah 40:18
    To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?
  6. Cross References
    Isaiah 44:10
    Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing?
  7. Cross References
    Isaiah 44:15
    Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it.
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 45:20
    Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you survivors of the nations! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save.
  9. Cross References
    Psalms 115:7
    They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat.
  10. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:25
    I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
  11. Cross References
    Isaiah 41:26
    Who declared it from the beginning, that we might know, and beforehand, that we might say, "He is right"? There was none who declared it, none who proclaimed, none who heard your words.
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 44:26
    Who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, 'She shall be inhabited,' and of the cities of Judah, 'They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins'.
    Isaiah 44:28
    Who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose'; saying of Jerusalem, 'She shall be built,' and of the temple, 'Your foundation shall be laid.'
    Psalms 33:11
    The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.
    Proverbs 19:21
    Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.
    Hebrews 6:17
    So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath.
  13. Cross References
    Isaiah 41:2
    Who stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step? He gives up nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow.
  14. Cross References
    Numbers 23:19
    God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:5
    My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait.
    Isaiah 56:1
    Thus says the Lord : "Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.
    Psalms 85:9
    Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.
  16. Cross References
    Isaiah 62:11
    Behold, the Lord has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your salvation comes; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
    Joel 2:32
    And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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